First Rapture (The Rapture Series)

by Ivy, Alexandra

She was…magnificent.

  He forgot how to breathe as his gaze slid down the slender curves, revealing she wore nothing beneath the gown.

  It was a repeat of their first night together.

  Her creamy skin shimmering in the low glow of the lamp. The tightly trimmed curls just above her pussy. And the spike heels that made her legs appear as if they were designed to wrap around a man’s waist.

  But there was a new maturity in the sleek muscles and the proud set of her shoulders.

  She’d been a pretty when she was young. Now she was drop-dead, gut-wrenching gorgeous.

  Compelled by an invisible force, he moved forward, the nagging suspicion there was something odd about Madison’s behavior increasingly difficult to remember. Halting directly in front of her, he studied her with a fascinated gaze.

  “I left you with regrets last time.” He slowly leaned forward, allowing his lips to softly touch the base of her throat. The kiss was feather-light, more of a promise than an actual caress. As much as he wanted this woman, he wasn’t going to press for more until she’d given him the signal she was ready and willing. “This time I intend to make sure you’re utterly…” His lips skimmed to the hollow just below her ear. She gave a soft moan that sounded as if it’d been wrenched from her throat against her will. “Completely…” He nibbled kisses along the line of her jaw before using the tip of his tongue to trace the lush curve of her lower lip. “And so thoroughly satisfied, that it will wipe away all memory of our first time together.”

  Her lips parted on a tiny gasp, a flush of desire staining her prominent cheekbones, but frustratingly she hid her expressive eyes beneath the thick tangle of her lowered lashes.

  “That’s the plan,” she murmured.

  He frowned at her strange response.

  “Look at me, Madison,” he said, his voice an unmistakable command. Slowly her lashes lifted to reveal the hazel beauty of her eyes. His fingers threaded through the silken strands of her hair, holding her a willing captive as he studied her guarded face. “I might have walked away that night, but I never forgot you.” His thumb brushed her heated cheek. “Your skin was as silky smooth as satin, your hair looked like finest sable spread across the pillow, and your lips…Christ, they could bring a man to his knees.” His cock twitched, begging to be taken between those sweet lips. “Literally.”

  “There’s no need to pretend,” she said with a shrug. “It’s time to put the past behind us.”

  He studied her pale face, wishing he could read the emotions that churned just below the composed surface.

  He didn’t doubt her desire. Her slender body was shivering with the same excitement that pulsed through him, her nipples already hard and begging for attention. And he didn’t doubt for a minute that he could arouse her to the point she would forget everything but their mutual passion.

  But he didn’t like the suspicion she was holding a part of herself separate from him.

  He grimaced. Did she think he intended to do another hit and run?

  Damn. Maybe it was time for a full confession.

  “I’m all for concentrating on the here and now.” He allowed his gaze to run an appreciative glance down the perfect lines of her body, taking pleasure in the sight of her black, fuck-me-now stilettos. “But there’s something you should know—”

  “No,” she sharply interrupted. “There’s been enough talking.”

  Luc’s body agreed as she turned to cross the ivory carpet, crawling onto the bed with a sensuous grace. He was briefly distracted by the faintly darker patch of skin on her lower back. It almost looked like…makeup? Odd. Unless she had a birthmark she was covering up.

  Then his curiosity was forgotten as she laid back, her hair flowing across the ivory pillows.

  Shit. He reached down to undo his pants, releasing his erection that was painfully sensitive. With concise movements he had them shoved down his legs along with his silk underwear. He kicked them off, ridding himself of his socks as he prowled toward the bed.

  Madison watched his approach from beneath lowered lids, provocatively licking her lips as he perched on the mattress next to her.

  “What are you waiting for?” she asked in husky tones.

  “I’m trying to remember,” he muttered wryly.

  She reached to run a finger down his arm. “Stop thinking,” she urged. “God knows that I have.”

  It was the hint of self-derision in her tone that forced him to think past the lust thundering through his body. He wanted to claim more than just her body.

  A knowledge that should have been terrifying.

  Instead it just felt…right.

  “Not until I’ve confessed the truth.”

  Her eyes narrowed at his soft demand. “What truth?”

  “I came back,” he said with blunt simplicity.

  She stiffened, something that might have been denial rippling over her face. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “The next morning,” he said, deeply regretting when her fingers fell away. He loved the feel of her light caress. “I returned to the trailer.”

  She shook her head. “You don’t have to lie.”

  “It’s no lie.” He leaned down to steal a slow, searching kiss, tasting expensive champagne and pure female desire. It was intoxicating. “I knew when I was fleeing from your bed that I was acting like a coward. Unfortunately I didn’t have the backbone to return and face you like a man. Instead I went back to my apartment and drank myself into oblivion.” Their lips brushed as he spoke, sending white-hot darts of pleasure straight to his aching cock. “It wasn’t until I woke hours later with a pounding head and a nasty taste of shame in my mouth that I knew I had to go back.” Another long, lingering kiss. Who knew kissing could be so addictive? “When I couldn’t find you, I assumed you must be with your mother. It wasn’t until nearly a week later that I finally accepted that you’d left town.”

  “It doesn’t matter,” she muttered, sounding as if she was speaking more to herself than him. But she readily tilted back her head as his mouth moved to plant a line of kisses down her throat. “Nothing matters but tonight.”

  “It will be different, Madison,” he promised, his tongue pressed against the pulse racing at the base of her throat.

  She shivered, her breath coming in tiny pants. “Please…no more talking about the past.”

  “I want you to trust me.”

  CHAPTER THREE

  Madison struggled to think. Hell, she struggled to breathe as the erotic sensations thundered through her.

  Why was he doing this?

  She didn’t want to know that Luc Angeli had gone back to the trailer. Or that he might actually have felt guilt for having broken her heart.

  Tonight was all about revenge. A revenge she’d dreamed about for eight long years.

  Of course, her dreams had never matched this moment.

  She’d forgotten that a mere brush of his fingers could send lust jolting through her. And that his kiss would make her feel as if she were melting.

  She’d been a starry-eyed innocent the first time she’d shared her body with Luc, so overwhelmed with giddy excitement she’d barely been able to appreciate being seduced by a master. Now she was all woman, and while the giddy excitement remained, it was edged with a sharp-edged hunger that was demanding satisfaction.

  A realization that was both annoying and inevitable.

  Tonight was not going at all like she planned, but grimly ignoring the whispers of warning in the back of her mind, Madison placed her hands on his chest, exploring the satin heat of his skin.

  “This isn’t about trust,” she told him, relieved when his eyes darkened at her soft caress. “This is all about need.”

  There was a brief hesitation before Luc gave a low growl, allowing himself to unleash the hunger that she could see smoldering in his dark eyes.

  “Yes.”

  He turned on the edge of the mattress, leaning toward her reclined body.

  Madison�
��s breath tangled in her throat as his bronzed skin glowed in the muted light.

  He was stunning. Broad shoulders. A toned chest that was lightly dusted with black hair. Washboard abs, a narrow waist and a thick erection that made her pussy clench in anticipation.

  God almighty.

  It’d been so long since she’d felt this near-painful excitement. Eight long years. She’d forgotten just how overwhelming it could be.

  “No man should be so beautiful,” she whispered, openly staring.

  “I’m not beautiful. But you…” He sucked in a slow, deep breath, his eyes darkening until they looked black in the shadowed light. “I need you.”

  She licked her lips. Christ. Was she really going to do this?

  Was she going to have revenge sex with a man in the hopes it could purge him from her system?

  The answer came without hesitation.

  YES.

  And she was going to savor every second of it.

  Easily sensing the last of her hesitation being seared away beneath the heat of his hungry gaze, Luc was swooping down to claim her lips in a shattering kiss that demanded utter surrender.

  He rolled on top of her, pressing her into the mattress. She groaned in pleasure. The heat of his skin scorched her with a dizzying pleasure, the drift of his fingers down her arms leaving trails of fire behind. Everywhere he touched was tingling with an excruciating arousal, the faint tang of his male cologne teasing at her senses.

  “You feel perfect in my arms, Madison.” He cupped one breast in his hand, gently taking her nipple into his mouth.

  Madison hissed out a shaky breath at the feel of his tongue lashing the tip of her sensitive nipple, the sensation arrowing straight to her pussy. How could he enthrall her with such ease?

  And why the hell couldn’t she feel this with any other man?

  Was it because she’d fantasized about Luc from the second she’d become aware of her own sexuality?

  Or was it the simple fact that he was the most gorgeous man she’d ever laid eyes on?

  Lifting her hands, she slid them over his hot skin, stroking them down his back. Smug satisfaction spiraled through her at his low moan of pleasure. It was proof that he wanted her with the same intensity as she wanted him.

  As if the thick erection pressed against her inner thigh wasn’t proof enough.

  “You’re good at this,” she muttered.

  He lifted his head to smile down at her.

  “We’re good together.”

  “Yes.” Emotions long forgotten seared through her at the familiar bad boy smile and the heat in his eyes. The intensity of them was unnerving. As if she’d harbored a portion of her childish crush beneath the years of seething anger. All at once her instinctive fear threatened to yank her out of her sensual daze.

  No.

  It couldn’t be possible.

  Could it?

  “Luc—”

  “You were right, Madison, there’s no more need for words.” He kissed her, using his tongue to deepen his possession. Madison shuddered, her body arching beneath the greedy demand of his hands that stroked over her naked body. “Just feel.”

  Excitement raced through her like wildfire, the sheer force of his demands overriding her annoying inner voice.

  Feel…

  She closed her eyes, concentrating on the sensation of his thumbs teasing at her tightened nipples, and the hair-roughened thigh that slid between her legs to press against her sensitive clitoris. With every caress he spoke of his need for her. His blatant hunger was the finest aphrodisiac, making her wet and ready.

  Madison plunged her fingers into his hair, refusing to allow anything to destroy this perfect, wondrous night.

  “That’s it, Madison,” he whispered, his lips moving down the curve of her throat. His hand caressed the soft weight of her breast. “Let yourself go.”

  “You make my head spin,” she husked.

  “I intend to do more than make your head spin.” Nibbling a path over her collarbone, he slid down to suck a nipple between his teeth. He gently bit, making her gasp as the pleasure/pain jolted through her body. He pressed a soft kiss to the tingling nipple, then slid his mouth downward. “I’ve never wanted a woman as badly as I want you.”

  Her heart gave a sharp leap of renegade pleasure at his muttered words before she sternly chastised herself for stupidity. Luc would say anything in bed. It meant nothing.

  Instead she focused on the savage pleasure of his touch.

  She lifted her hips in a silent invitation. “What are you waiting for?”

  “Your body to tell me it’s ready,” he informed her, kissing a path down the center of her stomach. “Pleasure is all about patience.”

  Madison rubbed against the hard muscle of his thigh. “Trust me, I’m ready.”

  She tugged on his hair, trying to urge him up so she could kiss him. He refused to budge. Lifting his head, he studied her flushed face with a brooding gaze.

  “I want to lick your cunt, Madison, until you’re so mindless with need you won’t think of anything but how desperately you want me.”

  A violent surge of arousal rushed through her. Odd. She hated when men talked so bluntly about sex.

  But then, none of them had been Luc.

  Damn him.

  Slowly, deliberately Luc slid lower, keeping careful watch on her expression. She shivered at the tenderness that lurked just below his fierce hunger.

  He was acting as if he cared about her. Really and truly cared.

  She squashed her dangerous reaction to his pretense, instead concentrating on the raw anticipation humming through her body.

  He settled between her legs, his hands gripping her inner thighs as he ran his tongue through her cleft. She nearly jerked off the bed at the powerful shock of bliss that exploded through her. God almighty. Her entire body was going up in flames.

  “Please, Luc.”

  He chuckled, swiping his tongue over her clitoris. “Soon.”

  Her toes curled, a delicious pressure building beneath the stroke of his tongue. “You’re tormenting me.”

  “Sweet torment,” he muttered, pushing his tongue deep inside her.

  Madison made a sound of pure need, her gaze riveted to the sight of him perched between her legs, his tongue fucking her as he watched every flicker of emotion over her face.

  She’d never been so turned on.

  “Come, Madison,” he growled, pressing his tongue against her swollen clitoris. Instantly, a violent orgasm ripped through her, making her body shake from the force of the raw, explosive pleasure.

  She cried out, feeling as if she’d lost touch with the world as he continued to tongue her with a groan of satisfaction.

  On and on the climax rolled through her, prolonged by the stroke of his tongue.

  Come, indeed. Her head fell back on the pillow, her entire body trembling from the glorious release.

  Still, Luc wasn’t done, his tongue dipping in and out of the entrance to her body, swiftly teasing her back toward another climax.

  He’d always been an overachiever, she dreamily acknowledged, savoring his expertise.

  She hissed as he found her swollen clitoris and gently sucked it, at the same time sinking a finger deep into her body. It was almost too much. The sensual assault beating against her most vulnerable emotions.

  He was shattering her, and she wasn’t certain she would be able to put herself back together.

  He turned his head to nibble at her inner thigh, his voice a low growl. “You’re protected?”

  She nodded. She’d been planning for this night for a very, very long time. “Yes.”

  “Good. I don’t want anything between us.” He returned to tormenting her clit, his finger stroking a spot deep inside her that made her pussy flutter with bliss. “I swear I’m clean.”

  “Luc…I’m getting close. I want you inside me.”

  He gave her one last, lingering suck before he was sliding upward, the hairs of his chest tickling
her tightly budded nipples. The sensation made her moan, her hands gripping his shoulders as he reached down to tug her legs apart, his rough urgency sending sparks of excitement down her spine. No man had ever revealed such a raw passion toward her. Was that what made it so thrilling?

  Barely able to accept this was more than just another heated dream, Madison kept her gaze glued to the dark beauty of his face. His expression was tight with the strain of leashing his passion, but the stark perfection of his features and the satin ebony of his hair made her heart leap. Then she met the midnight fire of his eyes and she was lost in the power of his need.

  Luc.

  The bane of her existence.

  “Are you ready?”

  She knew what he was asking. He’d given her the sweet rapture of his mouth. Now he intended to fuck her.

  “God, yes,” she breathed, sinking her nails into his shoulders as he plunged into her wet pussy with one hard surge of his hips.

  She made a sound of shock as his large cock stretched her to the edge of pain. He was so deep she could feel his balls pressed against her ass. She felt invaded. Possessed. God. It was…frighteningly intimate.

  As if he’d become a part of her.

  Their gazes locked and held as an emotion she couldn’t name wove between them, joining them on a level that had nothing to do with their tense, sweat-drenched bodies.

  “Shit, you feel so perfect,” he at last rasped, slowly pulling out of her body before ramming forward with enough force to make her slide up the bed. He studied her flushed face, his body trembling. “Are you okay?”

  She nodded, knowing he was desperate to unleash his hunger, but terrified he might frighten her.

  “I want you,” she rasped. “Don’t hold back.”

  A dark flush stained his cheekbones and he grasped her by her wrists, pinning them above her head.

  “Hold on, Madison. You’re about to go for a ride.”

  Spreading her legs, he surged forward, impaling her with a fierce, ruthless pace.

  She released a shaky groan, her hips lifting to meet his hard thrusts. Pleasure spiked through her as her body easily accepted his savage need. He leaned down to claim her lips in a kiss of sheer possession.