by Cynthia Eden
And then what the hell would he have done?
When he’d seen the wreckage, he’d been desperate to get to her. Ready to destroy anyone in his path. He’d never reacted that way before.
He didn’t have to worry about crossing a line. It was far too late for that. He’d already stepped over the damn line. He’d run past it. Now, it was just about them. “Not forever.”
She licked her lower lip.
“This isn’t forever.” He wanted her mouth again. He leaned down. Nipped her lower lip. Enjoyed her soft moan. “This is sex. This is need. This is a hot, dark lust that makes me want to strip you and fuck you right here. It makes me want to take you against the nearest wall. I want to be in you so deep that you think I’m part of you. Then I want to make you come harder than you’ve ever climaxed in your life.”
Her breath hitched. “That, um, sounds like a lovely plan.”
How the hell could she keep making him want to smile when the desire he felt for her was so savage that he wanted to roar his need? His whole body was too hot. Too hot, too tense. A haze of red had started to cover his vision, and he wanted her more than he wanted breath.
But she’d said stop. That one word pierced straight through him.
Her right hand was still over his chest. Over the heart that raced too fast for her.
“You were the one who turned away before.” Elise leaned toward him. “What changed for you?”
Everything changed when you were trapped in hell, and I couldn’t get to you. He couldn’t tell her that. So he’d give her another truth. “I realized what a great shame it would be if I never had the chance to fuck you.”
Her hand dropped. “I’m amazing so it would be a shame.” Elise gave a hard, negative shake of her head. She eased back. “But there’s more to it. There has to be. I don’t get to lie to you. So you can’t lie to me. Tell me why you’ve changed your mind. The real reason. Tell me why you were pushing me away and now—”
He locked his hands around her hips and lifted her into the air. Her hands flew out and curled around his shoulders. “Why I’m pulling you as close as I can get you?”
“Yes.” A breath.
“Because you’re not dying,” he promised her grimly. Not on my watch. “I’m not going to lose you. I haven’t ever wanted anyone the way I want you. It’s not rational or normal and I know that.” He stared into her eyes. “I just don’t give a damn. I make my own rules. I want you, so I’m taking you.”
Her body trembled. “Hunters are supposed to always have control. Yet you don’t seem to have much control right now.”
“It’s hanging on by a thread.” It was hanging in place for her. “You said you wanted me before.”
“I did.”
“Do you still? Do you want us? Not forever, that’s not what I’m offering you. I’m offering you sex. Dirty, rough, and so good you’ll scream. This isn’t mating. This isn’t love.” The last words felt brutal, but he didn’t want her to misunderstand. He wasn’t meant to mate or love anyone. That wasn’t for a hunter. Hell, most people believed hunters couldn’t love. He’d sure never loved anyone in his life.
There wasn’t softness in a hunter’s life. No tender moments. He’d never known his mother. And his father had trained him with a fierce and cold discipline. No attachments, no—
“You can love.” She leaned down and pressed a kiss to his cheek as he still held her before him. “You might not know how, but you can.”
No, no, this wasn’t about love. “Sex,” he rumbled at her. “Choose. If I can’t give you what you want—”
“I want you. Only you. You are exactly what I want.” She smiled. “I choose you. And you—”
“You’re mine.” The possessive words tore from him. He’d never been possessive about anyone or anything before, but Elise was different. He was different with her. His mouth took hers once more as he carried her out of that room and into the bedroom. Her legs wrapped around his hips and her arms looped around his neck. Her body pressed against him, her full breasts and tight nipples easy to feel through their clothes. But he wanted those damn clothes gone. He wanted her naked. He wanted her moaning. He wanted her climaxing.
Harrison kicked the door shut in the bedroom. He pulled his mouth from hers long enough to glance at the bed—and all the rose petals. The room smelled sweet and the bed was massive. Perfect for them. He headed straight for the bed and put her in the middle of those rose petals.
She shook back her hair and gazed up at him. “I have a request.”
He yanked his shirt over his head. Dropped it.
“Can you…turn on all the lights in the room? I mean, I know there’s light in here, but the sun is setting. It’s just going to get darker and darker. I’d love all the lights on.”
His hands were on the snap of his jeans.
Her stare was on his chest. Then it dropped to his abs. She bit her lower lip even as her cheeks flushed.
“Baby, I wasn’t planning to do it in the dark. I want to see every inch of you.” See her, touch her, taste her, and fuck her. Yep, that was his to-do list.
But he backed away from the bed. Made sure all of the lamps were on in addition to the overhead light. When he turned back around to her…
Elise was naked and on her knees on the middle of the bed.
He stilled. For a moment, he just drank her in. Full, pink-tipped breasts. Sensual, flaring hips—perfect for holding while he held tightly to her. And her sex—bare. Gorgeous.
His skin felt even hotter. His breath heaved as he stripped and stalked toward her. Her eyes widened as she stared up at him, and for just a moment, he could have sworn that he almost saw a flicker of fear in her eyes.
No. Elise couldn’t be afraid. Not with him.
She backed up, though, as he advanced on the bed. His hand flew out and curled around her ankle. Carefully, gently, he pulled her leg toward him. Pulled her and positioned her until she was spread on the bed, with the rose petals crushed beneath her. “You don’t need to be afraid of me. I would never hurt you.”
“Promise?”
“Hell, yes.” Hurting her was the last thing on his mind. Worshipping her perfect body? Sinking balls deep into her? Yes, yes, again. “You’re not going to know pain with me. Only pleasure.”
He angled his body between her thighs.
See her. Touch her. Taste her.
Take her.
His gaze dipped over her body. His muscles were so tense he ached, and he had never seen anyone more beautiful in his life.
His hand lifted and his fingers touched her breast.
She gasped at the contact. “You…you’re so warm.”
He was burning up for her.
“I like it.”
His fingers curled around her nipple. Stroked and teased and she arched up against him. Her breath came faster as she moaned his name.
See her. Touch her. Taste her.
His mouth took the place of his hand. Sucking and licking and she trembled beneath him. Her taste was everything he craved, and he could’ve sworn that he was getting a little drunk from her. It was crazy, but the more he tasted her, the wilder he became. The more he needed and wanted. The more he knew he would—
Take.
His hand slid down her body. Memorized every inch of her. Down, down he went with his fingers even while his mouth still worked her sweet nipple. Her sex was soft, so silky, and wet for him. He pushed his fingers between her delicate folds, pushed his index finger up into her—
“Harrison!”
She was tight. He was going to go insane once he got his dick in her.
He withdrew his finger. Stroked her clit.
“You’re so warm and, sweet hell,” she choked out, “your touch feels so good! Yes, there, there!”
He strummed her clit then slid two fingers inside of her as he tried to stretch her and get her ready for him. He twisted his fingers, he thrust, and he had her hips frantically surging toward him. Yes, yes, that was good.
It was about to get even better.
He kissed a path down her body. Her stomach trembled beneath his mouth and her hands grabbed his shoulders.
“I want you inside of me!” She was fierce with her need.
That was exactly where he wanted to be. But first…
Taste.
He intended to mark her with his touch, with his mouth, then—
“Harrison!”
He blew lightly over her exposed sex before he used his hands to push her thighs even farther apart. He stared at her, and all he could think—
Mine.
The thought was so savage and primitive, and it didn’t even seem to be his own. The darkness filling him obliterated everything else. Everything but the need to taste what was his.
Harrison put his mouth on her. He drove his tongue into her. Licked and sucked and feasted as the hunger he felt for her grew and grew. She was all he knew. All he wanted.
All he’d ever wanted.
He couldn’t get enough of her taste. Couldn’t get enough of her. His dick was swollen and aching, and he knew she’d feel like heaven when he slammed into her, but first…
She screamed, crying out as her whole body arched with the force of her release. He lapped up her pleasure, greedy for more of her taste. Greedy for everything that she had.
He kept tasting and taking, feral in his need. He’d never been so far gone with anyone. Never had such a primal, consuming drive to claim someone.
She arched against him again and moaned with another release. His tongue kept working her mercilessly because he was so hungry for her pleasure. Hungry for her.
Her hands sank into his hair. “Harrison!” She pulled at him.
Another lick, and then his head lifted.
Her eyes widened as she stared at him. Again, he could have sworn—“You will not fear me.” Harrison barely recognized his own voice.
He pushed her legs apart even more. Caught her hands. Threaded her fingers with his and pinned her hands back against the pillow.
She looked into his eyes. “I don’t fear what you are.” Her words were husky. So sensual. “I just want you. All of you.”
He drove into her. Sank as deep as he could go and her legs clamped eagerly around his hips. There was no holding back. There was no restraint. There was only madness. Hard, heaving thrusts as he plunged into her. He drove deep, took and took because he was with the woman who finally belonged to him.
Savagery roared from within him. She was his. She’d been born for him, and somewhere, in a deep, dark place inside of him, Harrison knew that. Every thrust destroyed his control. Every soft moan from her chipped away at a wall he hadn’t known was there. A wall that had been sealing away a part of himself. The wall kept weakening…
Until…
“Harrison!” She called out his name again in pleasure. Screaming for him, as he’d told her she would.
But while she was screaming, something had broken in him. Heat lanced his skin. No, no, the heat came from within him. A strong, sweeping force. His grip on Elise turned even harder, and he pounded into her again and again. His mouth went to her neck. Kissing. Licking. Down…the curve of her shoulder. Right there.
Right there.
His mouth opened. His teeth pressed against her skin.
“Do it.” Her whisper. Tempting.
He bit her and seemed to erupt and the pleasure was so consuming that he bellowed her name. Bellowed and held her tighter as the release splintered through every cell of his body. He poured into her. His hands freed hers, and he grabbed for the sheets. His fingers dug into them because he was afraid if he held her, he’d hurt her—the pleasure was too intense. Nothing had ever been like this before. Nothing ever would be again. No other lover would compare.
No other lover would ever be Elise.
Mine.
Harrison’s head lifted as his breath heaved out. He stared into her eyes. “Mine.”
Chapter Nine
The flames of hell stared back at her from her lover’s eyes. Elise tried to pull in a breath, but Harrison was crushing her. Crushing her and gazing at her with eyes that burned with fire.
Fear trickled through her once more even as her sex still trembled with pleasure. She’d known what hid inside of Harrison. Known that it would need to escape soon, but being face to face with the beast he secretly held…
Holy hellfire.
“Don’t.” Harrison’s voice. And yet it wasn’t. It was deeper and rougher. A rumble of a beast from the mouth of a man.
His body was like a furnace on top of hers. Way hotter than he’d been when they’d stood in front of the fireplace. Not like she was gonna lie, though, that heat of his felt good. When he’d stroked her with his warm fingertips on her breasts and between her legs...
How many times had she come for him?
Now she licked lips that were dry—probably from screaming his name and all the panting she’d been doing—and managed to ask, “Don’t…what?”
“Be afraid,” he said in the voice that seemed to roll through her with its dark power. “I wouldn’t hurt you.”
He’d bit her on the curve of her shoulder. The bite hadn’t been intended to give pain, she knew that. It had been a mating bite. Did he know that?
All along, her plan had been to wake the beast who lived inside of Harrison. A hunter? Oh, hell, no, there was so much more to him. He’d just needed to let go of his control so the real Harrison could come out and play.
He had let go. With her.
He was still thick and heavy inside of her, and his eyes—his eyes swirled with flames. A hunter’s eyes didn’t do that. A hunter’s eyes couldn’t do that. The beast was doing that. She was staring right at the beast he’d secretly carried all his life.
When she’d discovered the truth about him, following a legend from a voodoo priestess who owed her a long-ago unpaid favor, Elise had been thrilled. The beast—if he truly existed—could save the day for her. He would be a game changer in the battle she fought. She’d planned to use him. To do anything necessary to wake the sleeping beast. But as the beast stared down at her with his burning eyes…
I want the man.
Her hands flew up and cupped his cheeks. Rough stubble pressed against her palms. She pulled Harrison’s face toward her. Kissed him. Deep and frantic.
Harrison shuddered above her. And then his hands curled around her wrists. He kissed her back. Not with the wild need of moments before, but with a tenderness she hadn’t expected. For an instant, tears stung her eyes.
She didn’t let them fall.
He slowly lifted his head and looked down at her. The flames were gone from his eyes. The familiar blue had returned. Harrison didn’t speak and that was probably a good thing. She was trying to gather her thoughts and pull together her pretty much shattered heart and body and figure out just what the hell she was supposed to do next.
She’d had this grand plan in place. Find Harrison Key. Seduce Harrison. Bring forth his beast. Use him.
Only now…
Harrison slowly withdrew from her. She flinched.
“Elise, are you okay?”
No, not really. Once again, her world had imploded. “I liked having you inside me.” It was easier to just give him another truth instead of answering the question he’d asked.
“I liked being in you.” A pause. “I didn’t use a rubber, but, baby, you’re safe—and that’s not just some bullshit line. Hunters don’t get diseases. There’s nothing I can spread to you. And as far as pregnancy is concerned—”
“I’m not worried.” She wasn’t. As far as pregnancy was concerned…her body, her control. She controlled when she would get with child and when she didn’t. That was the way it had always been for her kind, and even the unfortunate curse she’d encountered wouldn’t change that—she’d checked with her voodoo priestess informant to make sure of that detail. “There is no chance of a child now, so you don’t need to worry. Birth control is taken care of.” Though she d
id have a quick flash of a little girl with his bright eyes. Wouldn’t the child be—
Stop. Do not go there. Not now.
He slipped from the bed.
She stretched. And missed him. But he was only gone a few moments before he was back and—scooping her up?
Elise let out a startled cry as she threw an arm around his neck.
He gave a warm chuckle. “Relax. I just thought you might like a hot soak.” He carried her into the bathroom. More rose petals were in there—rose petals and even a giant, heart-shaped tub. He’d turned on the tub—a Jacuzzi tub—and bubbles danced on the surface.
He lowered her into the tub, and the water was heaven. Elise tipped back her head and closed her eyes as the water jetted over her body.
Harrison slid into the water with her. Her head had lowered to rest on the side of the tub, and his body brushed against her. She didn’t open her eyes to look at him. She was afraid he’d ask questions, and she just felt too hollowed out to answer him.
She hadn’t expected the intensity of her reaction to him. Sure, she’d wanted him. She’d figured the sex would be good, but Elise hadn’t expected it to be mind-blowing. Life-changing.
Absolutely addictive.
I already want him again.
A thousand warning signs were flashing in her head.
His knuckles brushed down her neck, then slid over to the tender spot he’d nipped during sex. “I left a mark on you.”
That was the way mating worked. For certain paranormals. Shifters. Not for hunters. Put the pieces together, Harrison. I don’t want to be the one to shatter your world.
Oh, damn. Her breath caught. Her eyes flew open as she gaped at him. When had she started caring about whether or not she shattered his world?
His eyes were on the little mark. A mark she didn’t even feel. “I’m sorry.” He sounded it. “You must think I’m the biggest bastard on earth. I’m saying I won’t hurt you even while I’m leaving a mark on your beautiful body.” He leaned forward and brushed his lips over her skin. “I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.” Another kiss. He pulled back.
