“Please,” he added.
Slowly she crawled up him...until her breasts were poised over his waiting mouth. Her black curls fell over her line of vision as he eagerly sucked on her, dissolving her fear, filling her with pleasure. Contact with his hot, hot mouth was like nothing she’d ever experienced, volts of electricity lancing through her body.
She groaned, the sound broken and rough.
While Joachim sucked her, she continued to imagine. Had his hands been free, he would have traced them over her back, over the ridges of her spine. Over the curve of her bottom. Yes, yes! She saw it happening, somehow felt it. Everywhere his phantom hands touched, his mouth followed, his phantom tongue laving her skin. She writhed against him, so wet she slid back and forth with ease.
“You taste like heaven,” Joachim said.
In her mind, his big hands circled her and urged her to straighten, allowing his fingers to sink into her moist, hot center. Yes, oh, yes!
Why had she tied him? she mused.
He sucked her nipple with delicious force.
“Yes,” she gasped out, unable to say anything else. “Yes.”
“Do you want me to lick between your legs?”
“Yes.” She didn’t try to deny it or play coy. She wanted Joachim’s mouth there. She wanted it fiercely. Madly.
“Come here,” Joachim said. Sweat beaded his brow. His jaw was tense.
She crawled forward until she was poised over his face, the apex of her thighs mere inches from his beautiful lips.
“Lower,” he commanded, a rough snarl.
“Joachim,” she said, sinking into him and in the next instant he devoured her with tongue, lip and teeth.
She screamed at the intense sensation, the heady pleasure. Her hips ground against him.
“Come, Brenna. Come for me,” he said, and she obeyed.
Her pleasure exploded. Erupted. Her entire body shook and trembled with her climax, propelling her to new heights. Joachim drank her up until she thought she could take no more.
“Take me,” he said. “Put me inside you.”
Limbs weak, she straddled his waist without hesitation. As she rose up, she placed his shaft at her entrance.
Am I ready for this?
Her gaze met Joachim’s. His lids were half-closed His pupils completely overshadowed his irises. His lips were stretched taut over his teeth. Sweat glistened on his skin, and a pleasure flush darkened his cheeks.
This man...he was all in. Metaphorically speaking.
I’m ready.
“What about a condom?” she asked.
“Can’t get you pregnant.”
Now? Or ever?
Whatever! They’d work out the particulars later.
She sank down on him, accepting every inch he had to give.
All in, literally now, she thought, and wanted to burst out with a joyous laugh. He was big, and it had been so long. He stretched her, but it was a wonderful feeling. For the first time in years, she was alive.
“Joachim...”
He roared.
She rose up, panting his name. “Joachim.” She slid down. “My Joachim.”
She was safe. She was sated—and she would soon find release again. Her nerve endings were already sparking with renewed life.
“My Brenna. Faster. Go faster.”
She anchored her hands on his chest. Their faces were inches apart, his breath a part of hers and her breath a part of his.
“Kiss me,” he said. “Please.”
Her mouth meshed against his, and she gasped in pleasure; he swallowed the sound. Hard, hot, gentle, fast, slow, his tongue sparred with hers and she rode him, meeting his tempo. Total ravishment. Total bliss.
The kiss became savage, and in turn, the loving became savage. Her teeth banged his; her body slammed up and down. She purred and groaned and gasped some more.
“That’s it,” Joachim praised. “Take it all.”
“Yes.”
“No more fear.”
“No more,” she panted.
“Come for me, sweet.” He nipped her collarbone. He strained against his bonds. “Show me how much you like having me inside you.”
At that point, she could no longer hold back, could not prolong the pleasure. She erupted for the second time, the new orgasm so intense a black web clouded her vision. She was dying slowly, quickly, unable to breathe, yet so alive she could have stayed exactly where she was forever.
“Joachim,” she screamed, and for once she didn’t care how broken her voice sounded.
“Brenna.” He roared loud and long and reared up, sinking deep, deeper than she’d ever thought possible.
When he stopped shuddering against her, he collapsed on the mattress and she collapsed onto his chest.
“Thank you,” she panted. “Thank you.”
“Untie me,” he ordered harshly.
She didn’t think to deny him—though she would bet he could have busted free very easily. Blindly she reached up and removed the bonds. His arms instantly wrapped around her, pulling her close and holding her tightly, cherishing her.
“No more fear with me,” he said again.
“No more,” she agreed. She would have agreed with anything he said just then. Marry him—yes. Be his slave—well, maybe. His heat surrounded her, enveloped her, beckoned her.
“Mine,” he said.
“Yours,” she breathed. “Joachim’s.” Her eyes closed, her lids growing heavier and heavier with every second that passed. Sleep summoned, a peaceful sleep she’d needed for so long but had been too afraid to take. “Don’t let me go.”
“Never.”
As oblivion claimed her, she was smiling.
* * *
SHIVAWN STOOD IN the hallway for a long while. He wished Brenna had chosen him, but it had been Joachim her eyes had heated for. Joachim she’d probably wanted all along. He was angry, so very angry. She was beautiful, passionate and kind. But she wasn’t his. He knew that now. No matter how much pleasure Shivawn could have given her, no matter how safe he could have made her feel, she would always have wanted Joachim.
The two were meant to be together. They were mates.
How could he have missed the signs?
Now he was alone.
Perhaps one day he would find a woman who wanted him above all others.
He blinked when he realized vampire Alyssa had glided into the hallway and now stood a few feet away from him.
He scowled. She frowned.
“You smell like a human,” she said, her tone flat. “Have you been with one? Is she your one and only?”
Always she asked him a thousand questions. What was he doing? What did he like to eat? What made him happy? Sad? Would he like to kiss her?
He told her what he’d always told her. “What business is it of yours?” He leaped into a quick stride in an effort to escape her.
She followed, keeping pace beside him. “Is she?”
“No,” he snapped.
“See! I told you she wasn’t. I told you! Because I am. I and I alone can attend to your needs,” she snapped back. “You should have come to me.”
“And I told you how wrong you are.”
His mate would not be vampire. He’d never shared Valerian’s love for the race, and he never would.
Alyssa was beautiful, and as usual Shivawn even felt himself stir for a taste of her, but he would never touch her.
Vampires survived on blood, and they sometimes took more than a donor wished to offer. Or often took without asking permission. He’d made the mistake of bedding a vampire only once and had almost died for it. Never again, he’d vowed. Alyssa knew that, but she always sought him out whenever she came to visit.
“Goodbye, Alyssa,” he sai
d, and strode away from her.
She wasn’t content to remain behind. She never was.
She rushed after him, even jumped in front of him, her eyes aglow. Determination radiated from her. “I’ve always known I would have you one day, Shivawn, and I’ve decided today is that day.”
She threw herself at him, her lips slamming into his, her tongue forcing its way into his mouth. The taste of her filled him in an instant. Not a taste of blood and death, but of woman. Sweet, needy woman.
His body responded.
He might hate himself in the morning, but she could help him forget his loneliness.
“One night,” he growled. “That’s all I’ll give you.”
Triumph blazed in her eyes, and her red, red lips curled in a sensual smile. “That’s all I’m asking for. For now.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
SHAYE LOUNGED AT the edge of the bathing pool. Hot water lapped at her ultrasensitized skin. The scent of orchids filled the room, sweetly perfuming the air with sultry ambiance. She inhaled deeply and savored. Her body was sore, but her spirit was invigorated.
Valerian sat behind her, massaging her shoulders. His magical fingers worked her muscles expertly. He knew exactly where to rub, the precise amount of pressure to apply for optimum enjoyment. Her head lolled back, resting on his shoulder. Steam coated them both.
“Have I thanked you for gifting me with your virginity?” he asked.
“Only a thousand times.” She should probably be the one thanking him. She’d never enjoyed herself more. Had never thought losing all control, all sense of her cool facade, could be so blissful.
In the pleasure-filled hours they’d just spent together, she’d realized a few things. She’d given Valerian more than her body; she’d given him pieces of her heart, just as she’d feared. She hadn’t meant to, and had tried to guard against it, but it happened regardless.
No matter. Everything would be okay.
He was a nymph, and nymphs liked sex. Lots of it. She would be the one he came to, always; she was going to trust him. Not love him, she assured herself, still distrustful of the emotion itself—but trusting him.
It would be hard, she didn’t doubt that, but all the best things were. To keep him in her life she was willing to try anything.
“This means you’ve forgiven me,” he said. A statement not a question.
She gave a mock pout. “I guess it does.”
He banged his chest like a gorilla, making her giggle like a girl. “Me man. You woman.”
“And that’s why I couldn’t maintain my mad,” she said, glancing over her shoulder. “I’m a sucker for caveman theatrics.”
A glint in his eye...
She laughed. “I was kidding, only kidding! Do not turn into a caveman in an effort to please me.”
“But I want to please you. I like to please you.”
Uh-oh. His voice had lowered. She had better change the subject before he seduced her again.
“I’m too sore,” she told him. “But at least your wounds finally healed.”
“I believe I mentioned they would heal the moment you surrendered to me.”
Lookie there. The nymph version of I told you so. “In romance novels, the heroines always have magic vaginas. I guess with nymphos, it’s actually true.”
He snorted. “I insist we read these romance novels together.”
“Maybe I’ll let you read mine. I’ve already written the opening.”
“Well, I just figured out what I want you to give me for my six hundred and fourth birthday. Your first romance novel.”
She nearly choked on her tongue. “You’re six hundred and three? Years old?” Just to be clear.
Mind...can’t...handle...
She backed away from that subject. For now. “Never mind. My head might exploded if we discuss our age difference. You have the strength to tell me the secret spot on a woman’s body,” she pointed out. “The place that brings maximum pleasure. So tell!”
“I’ll tell you—” he nuzzled the side of her cheek “—for a kiss.”
Ah, she loved his bargaining. “Only one,” she said throatily, grinding against the erection pressed against her lower back.
He hissed in a breath. “Keep doing that, and I’ll tell you anything you want to know. Even my deep, dark secrets.”
Up, down she moved. “Start with the pleasure spot.”
His hands tightened on her waist. “Close your eyes,” he commanded softly.
They’d made love only an hour ago, but it felt like an eternity. She needed him inside her again. Addicting...that’s what he was.
“Shaye.” He tsk-tsked. “Close. Your. Eyes.”
Her eyelids fluttered shut. Darkness blanketed her mind. His hands glided over her shoulders, caressed her neck, then dipped to her breasts, kneading.
“Picture what I’m doing to you.”
“I thought—”
“This is how I’m going to tell you, promise.”
Picture it, he’d said, so she did. In her mind, she could see the thickness of his hands covering the pale mounds of her breasts. Her nipples, pink and pearled, peaked through the crevices of his fingers. Pleasure spiraled through her, hot and needy. Seemingly unquenchable.
Unbidden, her legs spread, silently begging for his attention. A single touch, a pinch, something. Anything. She ached, oh, she ached.
One of Valerian’s hands glided down her stomach. She felt it, yes, just the way she’d wanted it, but more than that she continued to see it in her mind. Another picture of them. Valerian behind her, this time with his hand between her legs, parting her wet folds. But he didn’t touch her where she needed him most. Not yet. He stayed poised, inches above her entrance.
“What do you picture?” His voice was strained, as if he required all his strength to remain still.
“You. Me.”
“Do you see me licking you here or sliding my fingers into you?”
“F-fingers,” she managed.
“Are they moving slowly, savoring or pounding in and out?”
As he spoke, images flooded her. Yet he didn’t do anything, didn’t do what she needed. Her hips moved forward, seeking. Back, seeking. Forward, back. Writhing and arching.
“Touch me, Valerian. Please.”
“I thought you were too sore.”
“But now I’m dying for you.”
His warm breath fanned her skin. “Tell me. What do you see right this second? Are my fingers moving slowly or quickly?”
“Quickly. Hard.” Her breath caught. Water sloshed over the pool’s rim. “So hard.”
He pinched her nipple, and a lance of desire hit directly between her legs. She cried out, loving the amazing torment.
“Shaye. Moon. Your mind shows you the things your body needs before you actually know you need them.”
No more talking, she wanted to shout. Make love to me. But still she said, “I don’t understand.”
“The most erotic place on a woman’s body is her mind. By giving her the right images, a man can increase her pleasure a hundred times over.” He bit her ear. “Lean forward for me, Moon. I’ll give you fast and hard.”
She did, and even that served as a stimulant. The water stroked between her legs, making her shiver.
“Hold on to the ledge,” Valerian said.
Angling forward a few more inches, she curled her hands as instructed. Her breasts and hips were out of the water now, granting Valerian a full view of her from behind.
A long while passed in silence. She stayed where she was, anticipating the first touch. Wet hair tumbled down her back and shoulders. Some of the ends trod the water’s surface.
When would he caress her? She needed him to caress her. “Valerian?”
“You are magnificent,” he said, his voice heavy with awe. He traced the tattoo on her lower back.
A shiver danced through her.
“I like this,” he said. “A skull with a pretty bow on top. It’s a mark that says you are both warrior and woman.” His lips brushed the tattoo; the hot wetness of his tongue traced it. He kissed his way up her spine and grazed the back of her neck, smoothing her hair aside to get to her.
“The first time I saw you,” she said, “I thought you were a god, rising from the sea.”
“And I thought you were the thing I needed most in my life.”
His words acted with the heady intoxication of a caress. She licked her lips, then bit into them to tamp down a loud, long scream of pleasure when his shaft pressed into her opening.
“So tight,” he praised.
“More. Hard and fast, like you promised.”
He gave her another inch. “Is this enough?”
“No! Give me more.”
Another inch, but it still wasn’t enough. “And now?”
“More, more, more.”
With a roar, he pounded all the way in. She gasped. He groaned. But he didn’t move, just left them both at the edge.
“Hard! Fast!”
He ignored her, saying, “Do you know the most erotic place on a man’s body, Moon? His heart,” Valerian said.
His heart...
She had an orgasm in that moment, exploding, throbbing, throbbing so hard. Screaming and sobbing. The force of it raked her, causing bone to vibrate and hum against muscle, every part of her affected.
Valerian slid out and pounded forward. Over and over, driving hard and deep, just as she’d commanded.
He rode her until another orgasm caused her spirit to leave her body. An out of body experience. She was raw sensation. A phantom forever climaxing.
“Shaye,” he roared, shuddering into her a final time. “Love. You.” His hands dug into her hips. Gripping, bruising deliciously. “Love you so much.”
* * *
“TALK TO ME,” Valerian said a long while later. He lay on the bed, Shaye had wiggled out from under him a few minutes ago and though she hadn’t gotten up, she maintained stiff and distanced on the bed. “Tell me what’s wrong.”
Forbidden Craving Page 27
