by Aliyah Burke
“You know, this works better if you’re naked as well.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.” She took some more out, and without giving him time to think on where it was going, placed it on the cut on his left shoulder. This time his fingers just dug into her hips. She could feel the pain push through him.
“How can you have that in your mouth if it’s making me burn like hell?”
“It’s burning me as well.” She didn’t want to get off him. “Do you have cuts on your back?”
“No.”
She readjusted so she could see the rest of his body. Even making him turn over. The slightest cut, she put some on. When she finished, her mouth had gone numb. She went to the bathroom and rinsed away the lingering remnants of the paste.
Back in the room, she frowned as he rose from the bed and approached her. “You should be lying down.”
“I plan on it.”
Her gaze drifted back to his cock and she battled the yearning in her gut. A whimper almost escaped.
“You checked me. Now it’s my turn.”
“I’ll heal fine.”
His gaze glowed as he stared. “Strip.”
“You don’t have anything to put on my wounds.”
“So make me something from that bag of yours.” He wove slightly on his feet. “I’m administering to you as you did me.”
Aware he wouldn’t be able to handle the one she’d used, she grabbed a general herb, not entirely sure why she was going along with this. She also pulled out a small bowl, aware she had numerous cuts. Soon the paste was in his hands and he held her stare, eyebrows up.
“What?”
“You’re still dressed, and as sexy as the leather is to me, I want you as naked as I am.”
She flicked her tongue over her lips and undid the snaps on the front of her jerkin. “Very well.”
Luc almost dropped the bowl as she exposed her body to him. Succulent. Magnificent. There were so many other words he could come up with as he stared.
High, firm breasts, a small waist with flaring hips. Toned legs and, overall, a body to die for. She was all wiry muscle and yet not a bit of that took away from her femininity. “Stop,” he ground out as she stepped toward him.
She froze, one eyebrow lifting in question.
“Give me a second to look.” At least a second. I could stare all day and still not have enough time.
Her pussy drew his attention, covered by a neat thatch of trimmed hair. He wanted nothing more than to drop to his knees and place his mouth on those lips. Push his tongue deep inside and taste her flavor. Would she be sweet? Or spicy? Something totally different?
He walked around her, cataloging all the cuts on her exposed skin as well as the art form she created. Her ass was something he could jack off to for years. Perfect. Women had been a passing fancy for him until now—he could give offhand stats about them…measurements, information on their big breasts, tiny waist, something like that, but Dracen… He would be able to give a full description of her to any artist for a rendition. He wouldn’t ever forget her.
“On the bed,” he rasped. His cock bobbed as he stared.
She walked to the edge of the mattress and climbed on, lying on her front. He turned and stood over her. The tattoo was there again in a wings outstretched, talons extended position. The lone eye, he swore, followed him.
She had a few small cuts along the backs of her thighs and on her calf. He crouched beside her and picked up some of the concoction before smoothing it along her skin. She was warm to the touch and he looked up at her head. A gray mist hovered around her entire body.
“Turn over,” he ordered once the few cuts had been attended to.
She did without any hesitation. Her eyes were open and sought his. Dracen was a beautiful woman. He gave her a small smile and turned his attention to doing the job he needed to complete before anything else could happen.
Up one leg then down the other, he attended injuries. Then he bypassed her pussy and focused on her torso. Taking care of the sides then her arms. Her breasts were fine, in more ways than one, and he soon had nothing left to do.
His cock was so hard it hurt. He put the poultice off to the side and reached for a cloth to wipe his hands off. “Now?”
“We heal.” She reached a hand out to him, tugging him beside her.
“You know this is hell, right? Being this close to you, seeing you naked, and wanting to be inside you so bad I can barely see straight.”
“Let the medicine work. You’ll be asleep in no time.” Her words were confident.
“And then?”
“Depends on how you feel when you wake.” She closed her eyes and he tucked her as close as she could get. Her body fit perfectly against him and he bit back a groan as the warmth he’d encountered on her skin flowed over him as well.
She’d not been lying—his eyes struggled to stay open. Giving in, he buried his nose in her hair and inhaled deeply. This is the second time I’ve been with this woman, naked, and nothing is happening. I want to fuck her so bad it’s not even fair.
That was his last thought as he drifted off to sleep.
When he woke, he knew nothing had changed. Dracen still lay in his arms and he was still hard as stone. He didn’t bother opening his eyes, for he didn’t give a damn how much time had gone by.
Moving his hand down, he brushed the outside of her breast as he moved to rest it upon her hip. She flexed against him, bringing his erection closer to her pussy.
“Dracen,” he uttered.
“How are you feeling?”
“Horny.”
She curved her fingers around his cock and stroked him. God, her touch was electric.
“Don’t tease,” he begged.
“Not teasing.” She swiped her thumb over the crown, smearing the pre-cum residing there. Dracen guided him inside her pussy, and with a buck of his hips, he sank smoothly into her.
“Shit,” he bit off.
Her body hugged him like a glove. Her wetness was instantly addictive. The velvet heat surrounded him and he never wanted to leave. He began thrusting his hips and gripped her ass with one hand while he sank the other into her hair. Tugging her head back, he possessed her mouth.
His tongue burned as he pushed it around. Her pussy had him in one hell of a tight hold, and as he moved inside her, the walls of her slickness grabbed him, over and over, as if not wanting to release him.
Muscles rippled, passion arced as he continued. She slid her arms around his chest and dug her nails into his shoulders. Her grip was unmerciful and the bite from her fingernails only added to his pleasure.
He closed his eyes and forced himself to slow down. This was too good to be over in seconds, no matter how tight his balls had drawn. More images flashed before his eyes. All of them involving the woman in his arms and himself. Sex on tables, against walls, her on him, him on her.
His body shuddered as she began moving against him. Taking him in deep and undulating her hips, keeping him on edge. He knew he was close to coming. Her cream coated his cock as he slipped in and out of her.
He wanted more. Rolling her to the side until she lay beneath him, he picked up the pace of his driving strokes. He opened his eyes and found hers waiting for him. In the depths of her gaze, he saw a ruby flame surrounded by iced diamond dust. Hot and cold all combined into one. That was this woman. Fire and ice.
“Come for me,” he muttered.
Her stare became proprietary and she clamped her legs around his waist as she came, hard. He thrust deep once more and allowed himself to find release. Dracen hooked her legs around his ass, keeping him buried deep within her. He got the message—she wanted him to stay there.
She gave him a small smile and closed her eyes once more. He followed suit. Twice more they dozed, only to wake up with him buried deep inside her and start all over again.
Right now, she lay on his chest, his arms were secured around her, and they’d pulled the blankets up over them.
; “I think you may have given me more wounds,” he teased.
“Guess at some point I’ll have to look you over again then.”
He pressed her head close to him, fingers buried in her locks. She gripped his arm—he liked the possessive way she held him.
“I look forward to it.”
“Did your phone call reveal anything to you?” Her breath was warm along his skin.
“We’re in bed naked, my cock is deep inside you, and you want to know about my call?”
“Yes.”
Dracen didn’t hesitate with her answer and he realized he was seeing the true woman here. She didn’t pull punches nor did she do things to be coy. For some reason he trusted her, and so told her about the call to his father.
She didn’t speak while he told her, just listened. Once he’d finished, he flexed the hand in her hair, expecting her to pull back. He was surprised by her motionlessness.
“Do you remember who took you? Or what?”
“What? Why would you ask what?”
“I have a hunch.”
This time he did move back so he could see her face. Her eyes were guileless as she stared back at him. “What does that mean, exactly?”
Dracen told him. He lay there, joined on the most intimate of levels with another human being, and listened to her explain about her being a Guardian. She didn’t go into an overabundance of detail, but he got the picture.
“And you think,” he said once she finished, “my appearing here has something to do with it?”
“You were engaged in a battle with demons when I found you. Most of the time they don’t show that form to humans unless they plan to kill them, given that form was obvious at that time. Aside, of course, from the one who looked human. But it doesn’t explain why they would have been after you unless you’re part of the prophecy.” She blinked. “I didn’t see any signs of the artifact around you, nor did I see anything which would have marked you. So if they were after you, it means you’re giving off a sign that They can see. And that’s made you a target.”
“And this They are the large creatures who are older than time?”
“Yes.” She flicked her fingernail over his nipple and his cock hardened in response. “That’s correct.”
“Are you saying this was going to happen one way or another? You and me?”
“Yes.” She dipped her head and allowed her tongue to follow the same path her nail had just taken.
He groaned as new lust flared to life inside him. “What does this have to do with the one that brought me here, if it was one of Them?”
“Not sure, I haven’t figured all that out yet, but I’m not sure how else you would have gotten to a place where I was with no recollection of it, and put in the middle of a battle that I happened to come upon. Seems like a bit too many coincidences to me.” She turned her attention back to the nipple, sucking, laving and nipping at it.
He tightened his grip in her hair and she growled, the vibrations pouring through him. Luc pushed on her head, guiding her down to the cock he withdrew from her slickness. “Suck me.”
As he thought about what she’d said, her warm breath wrapped around his shaft seconds before she took him in her mouth. Then all thoughts vanished from his mind other than how magical her touch was.
Chapter Four
Dracen stood in the doorway to the bedroom and stared at the man lying on the bed. He had his hands behind his head as he watched her in return.
“I’m confused,” he said. “Can you go over it once more?”
She carried the food to the bed and set the tray between them as she settled onto the mattress. The soup’s heat spiraled up from the bread bowls it filled.
“You sure you want to eat in here?” she asked.
“Yes. I find I like being in bed with you.”
She shook her head, amused by him. They’d spent the majority of the day in bed, talking and fucking. “What do you need me to go over once more?”
“Why you’re here if your fellow Guardians are back at the vineyard.”
Irritation at the question flared briefly before she took a deep breath. “They were in danger from me.”
He spooned up some of the cheddar, potato and bacon soup. “Delicious. How are they in danger from you? You’re one of the Guardians.”
“I had to get away,” she said, touching her chest. “In here, I knew.”
“Then maybe it wasn’t because they were in danger, perhaps it was you.”
She narrowed her eyes as she tore off a piece of bread and dunked it. “Explain,” she ordered before eating.
“Sounds to me like you’ve taken on more than you should have to. As if you think it all rides on your shoulders and not sharing it with the team.”
“I have more time. They have mates who take up their time and concentration.”
“You’re still a team, though. Teams share the responsibility. Not everyone has the same strengths or same weaknesses. You have a healer, that’s like how we have a medic in the military. It’s nearly the same thing.” He ate a few more bites. “I just think you’re trying to do it all on your own.”
“They don’t need to be burdened by my problems.”
“That’s where you’re wrong. It’s not your problem.”
Dracen put down the spoon and canted her head to the side. She acknowledged that if this revelation had come from Tiarnán, she would have been angry he felt the need to point it out. But coming from Luc it was different. He was different.
“They are my problems,” she insisted.
“No.” He punctuated that single word with a firm shake of his head. “If something is bothering you, you share it. Whatever is going on is everyone’s problem because if it ultimately affects you in the end, they are at risk as well. You need to tell them and not keep them in the dark about it. This is something they need to hear. Then as a unit, a group, as one, you move forward from it.”
She mulled over his words. “I’m a danger to them.”
Luc shifted on the bed, drawing her attention to his long, strong legs before she worked her way back up his body, taking her time, until she met his gaze again.
“In what way?” he asked, placing his plate on the tray between them. She didn’t speak and he cleared his throat. “Dracen. This is the second time you mentioned you’re a danger to them. How?”
“Do you ever have the feeling that you just have to go?”
“Yes. Which would make it back to that your reason was your personal reason and not that you were a danger to them. Yet, you seem insistent on making it about that you were, or are, a danger to them. So tell me why that is.”
“I was jealous.” She shrugged. “Am jealous, I suppose, in a way. That they’ve all found their mates. I’m the one who hasn’t. I’m the one who hasn’t found their artifact either. So if this battle begins, I’m the weak link.”
He reached over and covered her hand with his. “You’re being far too hard on yourself.” When she tried to pull free, he tightened his grip, keeping them connected. “How is this helping them? What you’re doing now? They’re going to be worried about you. Not to mention, how do you know for sure you’ve not found your artifact?”
“I would know,” she insisted.
“How? You claim that you don’t know unless you see the signs but if you’ve not met your mate, then perhaps the sign hasn’t let you know it’s what you’re looking for.”
She pulled free of his touch and attacked her soup, eating in silence for a short while. Was she just being a petulant child because she was the last one, the one who hadn’t gotten their mate? No, something told me to leave. I had to go.
“This one you told you were leaving, has he contacted you?”
She shook her head as she licked the soup from the spoon. “No. Not a peep from him.”
“So then you know nothing is wrong. Why don’t you just let it go for now and see what you were sent here to find out?”
“As in?”
“Give
in, let it tell you what it is trying to tell you. Listen to it instead of fighting it every step of the way.”
He made sense. More than she’d like to say. Full, she put her spoon down and sighed. “Okay, so your proposal is that I let whatever is going on in my head win, and see where I end up?”
“Yes.”
“And that’s a smart thing to do?” She waved off his suggestion. “I’m deadly, I can’t just give in and listen to what it tells me.”
“You really think that whatever is trying to get you to do something is going to send you on a killing spree of innocents?” He cocked an eyebrow at her. “You kill demons and those you say are members of The New Order. Why do you assume you’ll just turn into a blind killer and go after anyone?”
“Because I’m changing,” she blurted out, hopping off the bed in sudden burst of unsettled energy. “I don’t know what’s going on with me.” She wrung her hands as she paced the bedroom. “If I don’t stay in control, I have no idea what will happen.”
She’d never voiced those words before, not even to Lian or to Altair. When she left the vineyard, all she’d told the former assassin was that she had to go. He’d merely nodded and memorized the number she’d given him. She hadn’t spoken to Lian at all, and that still burned at her gut.
Luc rose and neared her, ignoring her backing away from him until he had her between him and the wall. “You’re a Guardian, Dray. You’re not designed to hurt the innocent. They wouldn’t have searched the cosmos to find the one they sought, you, if you weren’t perfect for what they wanted. For what was needed.”
His warmth had her wanting to close her eyes and curl up against him. Let his touch take away any and all thoughts of everything outside the two of them. Her insides tightened at his use of Dray. Like they had a personal connection. Something she’d craved so much, but she had spent so long keeping herself apart from people, aside from her fellow Guardians. He could be her mate, if her hunch was right. He could be hers and she could belong to him. A situation she didn’t mind so much.
