“Because I must. You are human. Free will’s your right. You say yes, I’ll never let you go, bond or not…”
He gently traced the damp skin beneath her eyes. Remorse flickered in those sun-bright irises. Then his warm lips took the place of his fingertip, and her heart nearly stopped.
“I’m sorry I hurt you and made you cry.” He pressed his mouth beneath her other eye. “It was never my intention. I only wanted to keep you safe from the violent side of my nature. Gods, Shae, you take over my thoughts awake or asleep. When you’re not with me, my mind’s a fucking mess—”
Her heart filled with longing, but she refused to let hope bloom only to be crushed again. She’d been hurt too many times. “You blame me for this?”
“Hell, no! The fault’s all mine. Nik, the bastard, licked your wound better…” He picked up her left hand and gently pressed his lips to the newly healed lesion where she’d cut herself. “Angelus worships the ground you walk on, and bloody Harvey teaches you to fight. You like them.”
“I do.” At his dark look, she finally relented, said softly, “But they aren’t you. Mad as I get, and God knows at times I want to stake you with your own damn sword, I only want you. I feel it so deeply inside here…” She took his hand and placed it over her heart. Naturally, that hand cupped her breast and squeezed, his thumb lightly flicking her nipple.
He lowered his head and ran his lips over the jagged scar on her cheek. “I don’t deserve you, but I need you…” A whisper of aching need.
Her chest tightened. She swallowed, and then asked him about the one thing that stood between them like a canyon. “What about your feeding?”
His big body went motionless for an endless second, before his shoulder lifted in a shrug. “I’ll have to use that iron will you often think I have when it comes to you to not go feral when we make love.”
“That’s not what I meant—”
“I know.” He kissed the corner of her mouth as he unbuttoned her top. The next moment, it disappeared, along with her bra. “I’ll be fine. Animal blood will do.”
“Dagan—”
“Later.” He palmed her breasts, squeezing the mounds. Lowering his head, he ran his tongue around her areola, and she shuddered. Then he sucked the hard, aching nipple into his mouth, and Shae forgot her concerns, a wave of pleasure sweeping through her body like liquid heat to settle in her core. Her fingers tangled in his hair as he bent her backward over his arm, the hard bulge in his pants rubbing against her jeans-covered core.
“Dagan…” A whimper escaped her.
“I’ll give you what you need—we both need soon, Shae-cat. First…” He turned his attention to her other breast, sucking her aching nub with even deeper pulls.
Oh. She squirmed. There was no way she could endure this sensual assault.
Letting go of her nipple, he pulled her upright and lowered to his haunches. She grabbed his shoulders as he unlaced and removed her boots, followed by her jeans and underwear. He peeled off her socks and paused, his stare tracking slowly up her naked body to linger on her damp, brightly flushed nipples. He lifted those searing yellow eyes to hers. At the hunger there, her heart thudded in anticipation.
“You’re beautiful, Shae-cat.” He pressed his lips to her lower belly then rose to his feet. He put his mouth on hers, claiming her in an all-consuming kiss. A low growl of satisfaction rumbled deep in his throat when she kissed him back.
Shae drowned in the sensation of his tongue, licking and caressing hers, his hands stroking her body to squeeze her backside.
Panting for breath, she broke free of his kiss. Needing to touch him, she pushed her hand between their bodies to the waist of his jeans and stroked his sex. But his rigid erection made the task of unbuttoning his jeans difficult—suddenly, the fastenings popped open. Thank God for his telekinesis.
The fly parted. His impressive cock sprang free. Slowly, reverently, she wrapped her fingers around his rock-hard sex. He was smooth and hard…satin over steel. Tightening her grip, she moved her palm over his rigid length.
“Fuck,” he groaned, the sound raw, sensual, and incredibly masculine. She looked up. His eyes were shut. His head kicked back, the veins on his neck straining with his desire. Christ, the vision he presented was utterly consuming and so mind-numbingly sexy. And she wanted him with every fiber of her being. More, she wanted to watch him come. She worked his cock harder, but he had other ideas.
With a growl, he pulled her to her feet, dislodging her hand from his shaft. He picked her up, and she anchored her legs around his hips, the searing length of his sex pushing between her folds.
Then he was moving, walking across to the bed, his erection sliding in her wetness and rubbing against her clit. Pleasure escalated. His mouth came back on hers, his kiss raw. Insatiable. The dangerous tips of his fangs scraped against her tongue, hiking her arousal. Desire stormed through her with the strength of a gale force.
He put her on the bed. Instantly, she pushed up to her elbows. He ran his gaze down her body. “I haven’t eaten for thousands of years, but you are an absolute feast, my wildcat… Spread your legs for me.”
Her body strung taut with need, she parted them.
He hauled off his t-shirt, tossing it aside. Muscles rippling beneath his skin, he settled between her legs. It was the sexiest, hottest thing ever, seeing this hard, dangerous man between her thighs.
His mouth came down on her core. “Ohhhh…” She grabbed his hair, her legs sliding over his broad shoulders. He licked down her folds then up again, lightly flicking his tongue over her aching clit. Shae nearly came off the bed. With a hand on her stomach, he held her down. His mouth tormenting her cleft with feather-light kisses, he pushed a callused finger into her, then added another, stretching her.
Oh…God! She moaned, pushing into his mouth, seeking release.
His burning gaze held her as he thrust slow and deliberate as if to drive her out of her mind. Her body a vortex of sensation, he hauled her higher and higher. Shae could do nothing but hold onto to him. Pressure built. Agonizing pleasure grew, coalescing between her thighs. She grabbed his hair. Then his mouth closed around her clit and he sucked on the throbbing flesh firm pulls. A cry tearing free, her body bowed, an orgasm shattering her mind…
Shae came back to herself some moments later and met his intense gaze. The rigid lines of his jaw revealed just how hard he held onto his control. Still, he placed a kiss on her tummy before moving off her. Her gaze shifted to the gauze on his side, but he didn’t seem to be bothered by it.
As he reached for his pants, she sat up. “Let me.”
* * *
His body wired like a spring, Dagan lowered his hands. Shae slid off the bed and dropped to her knees in front of him. She didn’t pull off his boots or tug his jeans down like he expected, but instead wrapped her fingers around his painfully stiff shaft and stroked him. Then her grip tightened like a vise. Fuck, he groaned. It felt so damn good. He smoothed back her tangled hair from her face.
She looked up. “I wanted to do this the other night. But you wouldn’t let me.”
“Cause I’m a damn idiot—” He hissed as her warm tongue licked the head of his sex. Gray-gold eyes met his, then she took his cock into her mouth and tightened her lips around him, her fingers encircling the extra inches she couldn’t quite reach.
Desire pounded in his blood and thundered to his head, need gripping him by the balls as she worked him with her lips and tongue. Eyes squeezed shut, he flung his head back. Release hovered. Fuck, he didn’t want to come in her mouth the first time.
He grasped her arms and pulled her up, shaking his head. “In. You.”
Kissing her deeply, he tasted himself, but it was her he wanted to savor, to taste. Desperate now, he picked her up, and those long legs he adored wrapped around his waist. He braced her against the nearest wall, ran a finger down her folds—she was deliciously wet—and in one thrust, he was sheathed straight into the heaven of her body, her feminine muscles cl
osing around him like a glove. She stiffened at the invasion. Her face buried in his nape, her gasp filling his ears, he waited for her to adjust to him.
“You okay?” he rasped. He had to have her—all of her. He’d waited an eternity for her.
She looked up and smiled, her eyes almost gold in her passion. Tenderness flooded him for this incredible female who was his mate, he kissed her deeply as he pulled out and thrust back into her. Then he lowered his head to her shoulder. Harder, faster he drove, the slap of flesh on flesh echoing in the softly lit bedroom. Everything in him focused on her. Pressure built along his spine with each desperate thrust. The urge to possess coursed through him. He wanted her etched on his soul. She was his.
Today. Tomorrow. And in every other lifetime.
As if attuned to his thoughts, the mystical light hovering inside him rose. Light as gossamer wings, it emerged from the deepest part of his soul. It grew stronger, burned brighter, and spread in a wave.
Her body shuddered, clenching him as he thrust into her, the heels of her feet digging into his backside. He sucked her neck, and another, darker need slithered awake. His incisors lengthened, and he scraped them over the skin of her carotid. The desperate urge to sink his fangs into her neck took hold—
“Do it,” she whispered.
Yes, do it—it’s what you hunger for—human blood, the insidious voice rose in a cacophony.
Fuuuck. He bit into his lip instead, shutting off the damn taunts. Tasted blood.
His body tensed, and release ripped down his spine in a tidal wave, squeezing his balls in excruciating pleasure. He lowered his hand between their bodies and found her clit. A firm tug gave her that final push.
“Dagan!” Her cry echoed in his ears, her orgasm sending her over the edge. It triggered his own release. A harsh groan lodged in his throat, he spilled himself into her. Panting like he’d run a thousand miles, he dropped his head to her nape and held onto her as the white light swept through him and into her.
When he could breathe again, and his limbs hopefully functioned, he lifted his head. She smiled, and everything felt right in his world. She pressed her mouth to his, and his heart stuttered…in happiness?
He’d forgotten what that felt like—no, he realized, he’d never experienced that emotion. Since he was a boy, his life’s purpose had always been to defend. With a mother and sister who relied heavily on him, and a whoring sire they wanted to avoid.
Still intimately joined, Dagan walked to the bed and sat down with Shae in his arms. Desperate to savor this transcendent moment—the unexpected peace he’d found in her—because he realized it was transient.
Shae eased back on his lap. Her gaze dropped to his lengthened incisors and skipped back to his eyes. He knew what the look was about, but he didn’t want to go there just yet. He shook his head when she opened her mouth to speak. “Later, we’ll talk. I just want to hold you. I need this.”
She nodded. Sliding her arms around his neck, she hugged him tightly, and his heart clipped painfully. Then she eased off him. He didn’t hold her back. Although he regretted the loss of her warmth, he knew he had to get this damn thirst under control. Clamping down on his molars, he picked up the remaining inch of the still burning cigar from the nightstand.
“Dagan?”
“Yeah?” He inhaled deeply of his smoke then stared at the trailing wisps. He’d hoped this narcotic shit burning in the room would keep the urge at bay. No such luck.
“Are you okay?”
He glanced sideways at her, sitting naked on the bed beside him, her arms wrapped around her bent knees, her red hair a seductive mess—and he wanted her again.
“I’m fine,” he said instead. “Let me finish this first.” He indicated the cigar between his fingers. Pushing to his feet, he crossed to the window and opened it.
As he inhaled the sedative smoke, he rubbed a palm down his side and bit back a vicious curse. He hadn’t given two craps about his injury while making love to Shae, but now the fucking thing hurt like hell. And it was seeping again. Shit.
Before she saw it, he strode to the bathroom, put his cigar between his lips, and ripped off the dressing. Grabbing more gauze from the cabinet, he wiped away the blood, slapped on more healing salve, then taped on a fresh bandage.
With his thirst blocked for now, he killed the end bit of his smoke and tossed it into the toilet. He removed his boots, pulled off his jeans, and dropped them into the laundry basket. A wave of his hand, and his ropey braids slipped free.
He walked into the bedroom. Shae turned, her gaze roaming down his naked body and up again. Stopping in front of her, he cocked a brow in amusement. “What?”
She reached out and touched his stomach, and his muscles clenched in response. He breathed in deeply through his nose, trying to get his damn body to calm down. He’d never experienced a carnal hunger like this before.
“You’re beautiful, you know that? Your hair, this body—this…” Her fingers lightly stroked his semi-erect sex, pulling a groan from him. Sighing, she removed her hand and slid off the bed. “I’ll be right back.”
“Hold it.” He grabbed her, his arms banding around her waist. “You don’t get to tease me then decide to leave.”
“Dagan—” Laughter fell out of her as she tried to free herself, then she lightly traced the tattooed sword on his biceps with a fingertip. “I’m glad the goddess Gaia was there and looking out for you through the centuries.”
Frowning, he glanced at his mystical ink. “Yes…she gave us purpose in our lives again after escaping Tartarus. Once we pledged our oath to her to be Guardians, she gave us our powers back, and gifted us with these tattooed swords and the obsidian daggers…”
As he explained about the day Gaia had approached them, Shae didn’t even blink while she listened. But he was all too aware of her warm, sexy body aligned with his. His blood fired up, and he was rock-hard again.
He picked her up and dropped her on the bed. A startled squeak escaped her. He settled between her parted thighs and continued speaking as if he weren’t the least bit affected. “But then we were a rabid bunch, and with five hundred years of barely suppressed anger from being imprisoned in that hellhole pressing down on us, we needed an outlet. It had to be why she took us on, so we had something to direct it at. Now, I need to work off that energy.”
“What?”
He shifted his hips, letting her feel what he meant.
Her face reddened. She smacked his arm and rolled her eyes. “We just made love—” She tried to push him off her. He didn’t budge. Amusement and tenderness crowded him for his mate. His life had been a violent one—even sex, until now. Shae didn’t use him. She gave.
“Dagan,” she sighed. “I’m hungry.”
Dammit, how could he let something so important slip his mind?
“I’m sorry, Shae-cat, I should have remembered.” He rolled off her. “You stay. I’ll go get food.” He headed for the door.
“Wait-wait. You aren’t going out there without any clothes on, are you?”
He glanced back. “It’s just Angelus and Nik. They won’t care. But if they look at me the way you do, I’ll castrate them.”
She laughed, but her discomfort had her flush deepening. “They’ll know that we—that we…”
He shook his head. “Shae, I don’t care if the entire world heard us when I made love to and claimed you. You are mine. Stay here and don’t move. I’ll be right back.”
* * *
Shae sighed as Dagan walked out of the room, his inky hair swaying down his very naked, very sexy backside. The man was shameless. Hell, if she had that kind of body, she’d probably walk around bare-assed, too. No, not really.
She slid off the bed and hurried to the bathroom. A quick shower later, she walked out, but Dagan wasn’t back yet. She got a t-shirt from his closet, pulled it on, and wandered out onto the balcony. Even though the night had a crisp bite, she didn’t feel the cold with the higher temperature she now seemed to possess.<
br />
She leaned her arms on the railing and inhaled another lungful of cool air. Down below, the forest appeared like a darkened blur.
A scuttling sound and faint squeaks drifted to her. Rats? Ugh. Hastily, she sat down on the wooden chair, pulled her feet up, and wrapped her arms around her knees. Content, she stared at the stars littering the dark sky. More, there was this faint spark of light inside her, one she sensed was all Dagan, and she sighed in pleasure. She didn’t know why, but she’d expected a more incandescent…transcendent moment at their soul-joining.
Still, in his arms, she’d found her safe place–her safe haven.
Now, just one more hurdle to cross, and that brought her happiness down several notches.
Soft footsteps sounded. “Shae?”
“Balcony.”
He appeared in the doorway, carrying a tray, a frown on his gorgeous face. “What are you doing out here?”
“Everything’s so peaceful,” she breathed, turning to stare into the night again. “I like it up here.”
“Good thing since I tend to live here more than any of our other houses. Don’t worry, I’ll get this place done up better.” A clatter of dishes echoed as he set the tray on the table and scooped her up. She yelped, her arms flying to grip him around his neck.
Without a word, he claimed her seat, shifted her knees, and had her straddling him. Her eyes widened in disbelief as he eased that hard, thick length into her. “What-what are you doing?”
“Getting what I want while you partake of what you need.” He nodded to the tray behind her.
Her mouth opened, but no words came out. When she made no move to take the food he’d brought, he asked, “Aren’t you going to eat?”
“How can I? When you—with you—”
“Me what?” A dark brow lifted.
Was he kidding her? He carried on like they were dining at a five-star restaurant—all polite, considerate, and everything, as if he didn’t have his cock inside her.
“Let me sit on the other chair so I can eat.”
Guardian Unraveled: Fallen Guardians Page 18
