by Brea Viragh
She deepened the kiss, growing more urgent. He couldn’t help the way his body responded immediately. Lavinia quivered against him, sending a hot whip of lust through his system.
He pushed his tongue through her lips with a groan, taking his time tasting her, drinking in every part of her. She pried one of her hands loose from his shirt and set it down on his pants just above his erection. Pike sucked air into his lungs like a drowning man, feeling her heat shoot through him all the way to his groin.
Then she squeezed. Fire pooled in his gut. He wanted her. Wanted her on him, around him.
He knew he wasn’t perfect. His hair wasn’t styled and his eyes were wild and he could still smell the sewer on them both. Sexy, he joked. Tension coiled through him, evident in the tautness in his shoulders. If she begged him, he wasn’t sure if he could stop himself now. Hard enough managing to breathe, to clear his mind of the crazed energy he should be worried about.
Lavinia arched her neck to bring their lips into contact, catching the moment the sarcastic twinkle in his eyes turned razor-sharp.
“I’m not going to bother asking you if you realize what you’re doing to me.” He caught her chin between his fingers. “I can tell you know exactly.”
Then he yanked her against his chest, her legs moving to either side of his hips, mouth ravishing hers, and he forgot all about his racing heart. The inability to breathe.
She did her best to crawl closer. Sighed when he moved to nibble her ear.
“But I smell.”
“I don’t smell anything.”
“Sewer slop!” she insisted.
“If you don’t kiss me, I’m going to explode. Sewer slop or not.”
“We can’t have that now, can we? I can think of a thousand more pleasurable things than finding out if you’re combustible.”
Need shot through him. Molten. Welcome. Pike rode the wave and tugged Lavinia as close as physically possible, her fingers walking the length of his chest, the back of his neck, and threading through his dark strands of hair. Her back arched when his lips found her mouth again.
Her hands did what they pleased and touched every inch of his skin she’d dreamed about at night. Ooh, boy, he’d turned her into an exhibitionist. Dry humping in plain sight of crosstown traffic.
“I won’t take you on the street like an animal.” He jerked his chin. “I live three blocks over.”
Lavinia shivered. “I think I can make it.”
He tugged her to her feet and they hurried along the sidewalk, Pike drawing her underneath the shelter of his arm. Her short legs had a difficult time keeping up with him. In response, he swung her up into his back piggy-back style, delighted when she laughed.
It was the longest walk of his life. A million years passed before they made it to his front door and he typed in his key code.
“Let’s get inside,” Pike demanded. Lavinia tore at his collar as he pushed the door open. He hurried up the stairs with Lavinia on his back and hastily unlocked his front door, using the heel of his boot to kick the door open. Buttons popped off his shirt and he half carried, half fought his toward the living room. His shin rapped against the coffee table and knocked it out of the way. It flew into the wall, the left leg cracking off. Her laughter rang in his head and wiped away all rational thought.
This was going too far, he mused, bending and whipping her around for a searing kiss. Some women could handle casual sex. They understood the dips and valleys. Some expected nothing, while others shot for the moon. Lavinia blew past them all. This would not be an easy thing. No sighs and moans without becoming entangled. He knew it. Recognized the moment he crossed over a line and pushed her too far.
For some reason, Pike couldn’t bring himself to care. Or to stop.
“I love your hands,” she murmured, then wrenched his belt off his jeans and threw it halfway across the room. “I want them on me. All over me. Now.”
“I think I can manage that.” God, her lips felt great. Soft and delicious. Her breasts were even better. They fit in his hands perfectly, the hardened nubs of her nipples pressing against his palms.
Until now, he hadn’t allowed himself to want her. Lavinia was his favorite food and, if he were being honest, his best friend. Nothing good came from sleeping with a friend. He’d had plenty of issues in the past with both immortals like himself and with normal humans. Although it never paid to get deeply involved with humans. They aged, and Pike had to stand by and watch them die, knowing there was no longer a chance to repair relationships or their aging bodies. He’d seen it happen too many times for him to think this time would be different. After a few hundred years, he’d simply stopped caring.
Now he was here, with this woman, this pale and beautiful creature who used to be human but wasn’t any longer, and he let himself want. Let himself sample when he knew it was wrong. There was a very real possibility that he would lose his unwitting meal ticket after this. His head was telling him that sex was not a good idea. It wasn’t that Lavinia was a bad person or unattractive. She was one of the nicest people he’d ever met, and he’d met too many to remember.
His tongue parted her lips, and they fell to the floor in a heap, her fingers busily working at his zipper. “Wait a minute, love.”
“Just let me—”
He managed to twist their bodies in time to avoid a collision with the couch. The room was all streetlights and shadows, the floor as hard as cement. Pike stopped caring as Lavinia tore at his clothing, tugging and nudging him closer with her knees. Her moan drew him against the curves of her body, the lovely lines of pale, soft skin and delicate lines. He paused long enough to look at her and take in every inch. To wallow in her.
She spread her fingers along her ribcage and slid the rest of her shirt down to where her hips flared. It pooled in a soft sliver of sound at her feet.
Pike choked. At least it felt like he choked. Something caught in the back of his throat. Then slowly, slowly moving upward to linger on the gap between her thighs, the small nip of her waist. The scrap of cotton and lace covering her chest.
“What?” she gasped. Blinking at him. Blinking and breathing and looking so beautiful it made the cavity in his chest ache. It couldn’t be his heart. Pike didn’t have one anymore.
He had to take her. Nimble fingertips removed the last of her clothes, tossing aside a tiny pair of underpants that looked like they were made of twine. “Nothing,” he answered slowly. He reached out to unhook the bra, gaze heating to the point where her nipples puckered in response. “You are just the most beautiful creature I’ve ever seen. I want to make you mine.”
Then he gave up on speech and lowered his mouth down to that perfect breast.
“Oh my God,” Lavinia said on a breath.
Her body was vibrating beneath him. She shook from head to toe. He ran his tongue along her flesh, and flashes of white curled through his mind while heat, a keen-edged blade, raced through his system. It was better than the darkest wine, the most decadent meal. When Lavinia arched under him and demanded more, her nails biting into his back, Pike felt his mind race even as his world spun out of control. Faster and faster.
Her hands were everywhere, slipping along his skin until he ached with need. His balls felt heavy. Hot. Then his fingers found the little nub between her legs. A groan slipped from between her lips.
Pike didn’t expect her to retaliate. Didn’t expect to feel her reach out and slide her hand along his length, stroking his hardness until he felt the rush build.
“Ride me,” he demanded with a groan. The tendons in his neck stood to attention when Lavinia tightened her grip. It was too late to turn back now. He twisted until he was on his back, slipping forward and guiding her. Lavinia crouched above him looking like an avenging angel. Black hair fanning in a wild halo around her face, eyes wide and innocent. She was everything he didn’t deserve. Everything he couldn’t stop himself from taking.
She slowly sank down, his fingers still playing a concerto on her clitoris, t
he area between her legs wet and open for his invasion. The tip of him entered. He gripped her hips.
“Holy—” He cut himself off before he could say more. Possibly let her know how badly he needed her. She bent to suck his lower lip into her mouth.
“I’m ready,” she said a moment before impaling herself on his dick. “Right now.”
His hands moved up to her breasts and squeezed. Tried to slow the penetration. Then Lavinia screamed in pleasure, her body clasping around him. Sharp pinpricks of desire lanced through him.
He urged her down again, resisting the need to plunge. Instead, he savored the feel of her as he drove deep. Too filled with lust to realize the implications of their mating. How Lavinia managed to touch pieces of him no one had ever gotten close to before.
He let his body take over even as his mind shattered. There was nothing but the furious, relentless need to claim her. Lavinia closed around him. Her hands, mouth, and skin urging him on faster. Heat licked his chest, and anywhere their joined bodies touched felt like sparks bursting. Pike paid them no mind.
His focus was entirely on the woman riding him. Not his tightening chest. Not his heart, beating so loudly he almost couldn’t hear her sighs. The words she moaned into his mouth. Lavinia’s body tightened and stretched like a bow above him. She wasn’t just an avenging angel, Pike mused as he burned. She was a goddess who didn’t know her own power, her own worth. The tension inside him that had been building since he met her now wound faster. Tighter. Harder. Until he knew this time with her would last him for months. This meal about to explode within him.
Her muscles tightened around him and willed him to find his release. She was close, he knew, seconds before she let out a triumphant cry. Her climax ripped through him in a geyser. Flooding his system and destroying all reason.
Pike yelled something unintelligible, his body jerking and hips thrusting as she continued to move up and down. Her back arched and the strength of her orgasm swept over them both. His lungs struggled to breathe, to bring that much-needed oxygen into his over-stimulated body. It was somehow a comfort to hear that Lavinia was in the same condition, her breathing harsh and her heart beating a wild tattoo.
With unmatched joy, Pike threw himself over the edge and emptied into her even as her emotions filled him to the brim.
CHAPTER 8
Her ears were ringing. The scent of him trailed in her nose and wrapped around her heart, refusing to let go. Later she would wonder at the temporary paralysis in her lower body and the way her arms refused to lift. But for now, her foggy head kept her warm and happy.
Even in her teens, Lavinia hadn’t felt this kind of rush. Hadn’t fumbled in her attempt to drag his pants down to his ankles. She’d been nervous and anxiety-ridden her first time. The situation worsened when she got a vision of herself accidentally ramming her elbow into the boy’s nose and the resulting Niagara Falls of blood pouring down his shirt. Talk about ruining a mood. After that, she was hesitant to try again. Her hormones were going haywire, her gift worked two times out of ten, and it was becoming more and more difficult to maintain her sanity.
Okay, her romantic trysts hadn’t all ended poorly. Some of them even turned out to be nice people. But none of them made her feel as safe, as cherished, as Pike.
“Say something. I need to know you’re alive,” he murmured when she didn’t move.
“I’m alive.”
“Speak to me, love.”
Arms weak and trembling, she pushed herself up, smiling down at the look of bemused satisfaction on his face.
“That was…” She paused. Took a deep breath. “Wow.”
He pulled her against him, teeth scraping a line along her throat. “Mmm. Glad to hear you enjoyed it.”
“I’m not very, you know, experienced. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t apologize to me. I could lick every inch of your skin and it still wouldn’t be enough.”
“You aren’t satisfied?” she asked fretfully.
“I never said such a thing.”
“Please don’t lick much more. I might be semi-clean because of your magic tissue, but I still don’t trust it enough. We are going to need a shower.”
Suddenly she was flattened underneath him. In the perfect position to wrap her legs around his hips and bring his collarbone into reach. She placed a kiss on him before lifting her head to grin.
“What?” he asked when she stared at him. “I can’t keep myself off of you.”
“I was just thinking about how this was worth the wait.” Her eyes continued to scan his face. “It was worth every moment I caught a glimpse of you and felt like I couldn’t have you. Even years before I met you in person.”
He groaned and pushed himself up onto his elbows. “It wasn’t that you couldn’t have me. There are just certain things about me I wanted to spare you. I wanted to keep the status quo. This,” he ran his fingers in a circle in the space between them, “should not have happened.”
“Guess we kind of messed up, didn’t we?” She trailed her fingers along the planes of his back. Was it possible for such muscles to exist? Not only was she dealing with a damn six pack in the front, his back could crunch a can into oblivion.
And he wanted her. Her.
Never in her life had Lavinia felt special. Not even when she’d made the biggest mistake of her life and ended up a part-time psychic. It didn’t make any difference to her tentative self-esteem. Hooking up with him had been a mistake. Getting involved with him in the first place had been a mistake. Damn her visions. Sometimes the universe made mistakes, and when it did, they ended up being a doozy. That’s how she’d felt for years.
Then she got to know Pike. She wanted him. But she knew that it would take something radical and unexpected for the two of them to be together, especially when her gift showed her otherwise. Yet here he was, on top of her, formerly inside of her, and Lavinia felt like the luckiest person alive.
God, she loved that man. Loved him with everything she had inside of her despite knowing he would leave. It made no difference. Her mother had always called her a generous heart. Someone who gave of herself until there was nothing left. Lavinia didn’t care.
“Messed up? Yes, we definitely did. There’s not much we can do about it now, though, can we?” His chest pressed against her and his breath tickled her hair. “Fancy a second round?”
She hummed in contentment. “In a little bit, absolutely. I can think of several things I’d like to do to you. Even past my bedtime.”
“Thinking about you in bed turns me on.”
“Lucky for you, we have a bed at our disposal whenever we need. And I plan on staying here for a while.”
She’d take whatever she could before it ended. It definitely would end, she knew that. There was no way they could make it work. She’d seen the future and recognized the heartbreak in store. Her hand rose to massage the area between her breasts as though a physical ache had already manifested. Her visions weren’t always to be believed, but this one she knew was true. For whatever reason. The certainty of it settled heavy on her shoulders.
“I’m sorry. I’m not thinking straight.” Pike adjusted his frame to give her more room to breathe. “Second time today I nearly crushed you.”
“It’s fine.” She ran her hands down his arms. “I don’t mind the weight. I was just thinking about the first time I met you.”
“On the street? Smoking with my friends? You caught me in a bad moment.”
“Okay, the second time, when I finally got a good look at you. It was at that party on Thirtieth three years ago. You remember? And every glimpse of you I caught, I wanted to swallow you whole. Enigmatic and dark. Dangerous. You weren’t like any other man I’d ever seen. Then you turned to me, watching me with those black eyes until I was so confused and turned on I had to leave the room.”
“Oh?” He arched a brow.
“You didn’t even know who I was. Beyond the crazy girl who ran up to you on the street going on and on about bein
g psychic. But you were staring at me from across the room. And not like I was out of my mind. Like I was somebody worth knowing.”
“Because you were. You are. I remember, you know,” he said, tapping her on the nose. “You were wearing some horrible little button-up shirt with those short pants. What do you call those calf-length slacks? Britches?”
Lavinia shuddered. “Worse. Gauchos.”
“Ah yes, the gauchos. Hideous things. I saw the shape of you beneath them, thin, streamlined, perfect. I noticed your amazing head of hair, full and black and thick enough I wanted to tangle my hands in it. I tried not to think about what might be underneath the buttons on your shirt.”
Her smile was slow to come. When it did, it refused to leave. “Are you serious? I thought you were staring because I’d spilled mustard down my front.”
“Well, the mustard was more like a homing beacon. It drew my eyes in the right direction. But you, my dear, you are the one who captured them and held them. I couldn’t stop watching you. Then you had the terrible run-in with—”
“The harpies. Ugh, don’t remind me. But I didn’t know you were really looking at me, actually seeing me. I can’t explain how it makes me feel to know that. I’ve felt like such a fool, wanting you yet thinking I couldn’t have you.” Lavinia let her eyes close, let her head drop back, and giggled. “Wow! It’s amazing! Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me. Never thank me.”
She didn’t want these feelings to stop. Not when Pike sat up, drawing her onto his lap and seducing her all over again.
“I have a crazy idea,” he murmured through kisses. “How about I grab a bottle of something bubbly and we get drunk. Piss-ass drunk. Then we can have each other until we can’t walk.”
As long as their night didn’t end so soon. Her stomach rumbled and she jumped at the chance to spend more time with him. Did it make her pathetic? Probably. She wasn’t about to hide it.
“That’s an idea I can agree with. Wait, what are you doing?” She stared after him, laughing when he sprang to his feet and jogged into the kitchen, naked as the day he was born. A hint of a smile flashed over his shoulder.
