“Ah.” Evvan dismounted, the sound of his boots echoing throughout the chamber. He held his hands up to her.
After a second’s hesitation, she leaned toward him, allowing him to lift her off L’th’amir’s back and settle her on her feet. His palms felt hot around her waist, and for a moment she could only look up at him.
“Come,” he said, his tone telling her that he expected no argument. And somehow, she wasn’t inclined to give him one. His expression remained dark and intense as he took her hand and led her to the corner of the chamber. Natalie couldn’t help but wonder at this fierce man who could be so dangerous one moment, yet gentle in another.
She’d chattered a lot on the ride, here, but for some reason she now had no inclination to talk. But then again, Evvan was rubbing his callused thumb over the back of her hand in such slow, sensual strokes that made it hard for her to even think, much less form a coherent sentence.
He drew her away from L’th’amir, leaving the horse behind as they walked around an enormous green column of faceted crystals and started down a path that led deeper underground, into an even more beautiful world of emerald crystals. It was like being in the center of a geode.
“Oh, my god.” She glanced up at him from under her lashes. “This is so intense. What is this place? Where are you taking me?”
Evvan’s dark gaze met hers. “You require a bath, sustenance, and rest.”
Natalie opened her mouth to reply, but at that moment he brought her to a stop before a tranquil pool of water. It appeared so serene, that it might have been a mirror. The surface glittered, reflecting emerald sparkles from the surrounding and overhead crystals. Steam rose in wispy trails above the pool and the air felt warm and moist. In dark corners of the pool, small swirls broke out and Natalie realized it was not so calm as it appeared on the surface.
Kind of like the predator beside her.
“Remove your clothing,” he said in a rumble.
“Beg your pardon?” She cut her gaze to Evvan. “I don’t take orders from anyone.”
“Now.” He folded his arms across his bare chest and scowled. “Or I shall throw you in.”
Natalie bit at the inside of her lip. The pool did look awfully tempting. After that ride, she really needed to cool her lust. Her body might want to climb this man, er, Elf, but she didn’t have sex with just anyone.
Although she couldn’t call Evvan just anyone.
Evvan’s muscles flexed as he watched his l’tiani remove her tunic. Her eyes, green as the D’euan Forest, taunted him as she slowly unbuttoned the tunic down toward her navel, as though daring him to help her take it off. He clenched his fists at his sides, forcing himself to keep from indulging in that most distinct pleasure. By the goddess, he should just rip her clothes from her body and be done with it.
“Turn your back.” She tossed her hair over her shoulder. “I don’t want you to watch.”
He shook his head. “I have the right to see what is mine, l’tiani.”
“No.” A spark lit her gaze and the pain in his erection magnified. Never had his breeches felt so tight, his cock nearly strangled in its desire to mate with his woman. “I am not yours, or anyone else’s, understand?” she said.
“Remove your clothing, Natalie.” Evvan took a step toward her. “Or I will rip it from you.”
“Jerk,” she mumbled. With a defiant tilt to her chin, she let the tunic drop to the floor. Evvan frowned that her breasts were not yet bared. What was that cloth that bound her plump breasts, showing him only hints of her ripe nipples through the black lace?
In the next moment her short skirt slid down her legs to her ankles, and she stepped out of it. Her tantalizing mound with jensai-red curls caused his mouth to water in anticipation of tasting her again. Evvan started to walk toward her, but she turned around, treating him to a view of her most delectable ass.
The bizarre clothing both perplexed him yet inflamed his desire for her. When he had mind-touched her, he had only sought answers to her life and had not delved into the odd clothing habits of the world from whence she came.
Slowly she brought her hands up and unfastened her breast bindings, letting it drop to the floor before moving to the water’s edge.
Natalie’s hips swayed and Evvan’s cock grew unbearably hard as he watched her bend over to dip her finger into the pool and test its waters. He could clearly see her sweet folds, the flesh swollen with her need, the curls glistening with her juices.
The Sorceress. She was most definitely aware of what she was doing to him.
As she stepped down into the water and moved toward its center, Evvan quickly dispatched himself of his boots and his breeches. Her back was still to him as he strode toward the pool and entered its welcoming waters.
Natalie sighed as she closed her eyes and relaxed. The water flowed around her, warm and soothing. Oh, but Evvan had been right. She needed this. Underwater jet streams massaged her legs, her thighs. And when she moved just right, one of them even caressed her pussy.
She wondered how long he intended to watch her. Hell, maybe she should give him a show. It was what he deserved for ordering her to strip in front of him. Maybe a little flash of her breast—
A small splash interrupted her thoughts and her eyes flew open as she whirled to find Evvan directly behind her.
He was completely naked, the water only reaching him mid thigh—and oh, my god.
“Wow. Jeez. I, ah, didn’t know they made them that big…and ribbed,” she said as she stared at his impressive erection. Starting just under the thick head of his cock, ridges formed—kind of like those on a Klingon’s forehead in Star Trek. Only these were more of concentric circles—ripples—down the length of Evvan’s cock all the way to its base.
Surprisingly she felt no intimidation at the size or ridges. Rather, she could almost imagine what it would feel like inside her, stretching her, filling her, stimulating her…
Completing her.
Reluctantly her attention moved away from that fascinating and enticing cock, but she was more than pleased to take in his powerful thighs and narrow hips, and to continue on up to the well-defined muscles of his hard abs. Damn, but the man didn’t just have a six-pack, he had an eight-pack. Her gaze continued moving on up to his broad chest and shoulders, and then her eyes met his.
She studied his face, taking in the strong features, the tense line of his jaw. A flare sparked in his black eyes, and his wild mane of black hair fell carelessly about his shoulders.
Even his pointed ears now seemed normal to her, and she couldn’t for one moment imagine him without them, or sans the tattoos along his cheekbones. The marks reminded her of the black smudges football players put under each eye to help fight the sun’s glare during games, or of a Native American in the Wild West with war paint streaked across his face.
“L’tiani.” His voice rumbled from his chest, his eyes intent and focused on her. Natalie shivered despite the warmth of the pool when he said, “Does your heart not recognize me?”
She allowed all that was Evvan to flow over her. His gruff exterior, fierce possessiveness, and equally intense protectiveness. His powerful, commanding presence. Yet at the same time she remembered how he spoke of his people and home, how gently he’d attended to her wounds, his sensual touch, his kisses… and omigod, the way he’d licked her pussy.
And yes, inside she knew this man on a soul-deep level. So strong, so extraordinary that her heart nearly exploded with the knowledge.
Could she possibly be falling in love with this man, this Elf, from another world?
No. That was stupid. Something like this could never work. She had to find a way back to New York City where she belonged. She had friends, a home—a life—waiting for her there.
And this…all of it was just a dream.
Chapter Seven
Even as Natalie realized a relationship with Evvan would never work, she found herself moving toward him, almost as though she was possessed. The bottom of the pool fe
lt smooth beneath her feet, the water a warm and sensual caress to her skin. Around them the cavern’s emerald crystals sparkled, and it seemed as though a sort of green dust glittered in the air—like hundreds of fireflies twinkling everywhere she looked.
As she reached her fearsome Elvin warrior, Natalie smiled. Tinkerbelle, eat your heart out.
He watched her, his dark features as unreadable as always while she moved her palms to his chest. Her fingertips began exploring the marble hardness of his pecs, shoulders and biceps, and the iron corded muscles beneath. Mixed with the mineral smell of the pool, Evvan’s scent surrounded her, his wild musk of male and forest breezes drugging her, making her crazy with need.
Nat worked her way back down to his rippled abs, feeling their rock hardness beneath her palms. “You’re incredible,” she murmured. “You must work out for hours every day.”
He cocked an eyebrow. “Work out?”
At the perplexed tone of his voice, Natalie said, “Well, I suppose as an Elf, maybe you were just born perfect.”
A muscle along his jaw twitched but his features remained serious. “Nay, l’tiani. ’Tis you who are perfection.”
“Mmmm.” She dropped her gaze to his thick erection. “Now this is what I call absolutely stunning.” His long cock thrust out toward her, and she licked her lips. What would it feel like in her mouth? How deep could she take him?
“So big,” she murmured, allowing her fingers to caress the length of him and to skim through the cloud of wiry black hair.
He was so tall that the water level was below his balls. She dipped her fingers into the warm fluid to cup him and feel the weight of his sac in her palm, and then moved her hand up along his ridged length. Wow. His cock felt just like her new vibrator with the pearl beads, only better. She could already picture herself riding him, could already imagine what it would feel like having that fabulous cock plunging in and out of her.
Evvan bit back the urge to take his woman now. Natalie’s every touch was torture, driving him mad with lust and need. He was not accustomed to struggling with his desires, and the realization that she endangered his normally fierce control disturbed him, greatly.
Perhaps if he took her now, hard and fast, it would curb the lust that threatened to turn him into a daft fool instead of the proud warrior he was.
Natalie’s jensai-red tresses fell in waves about her shoulders, her lids lowered as she fondled his cock. “If this is all real, and I’m not dreaming,” she said, “explain to me why I’m here.”
He dipped his fingers into the water and trailed them over the star design around her navel, and over the gold ring that pierced her fair skin. “The will of the goddess brought you to me,” he said as he raised his gaze to meet hers.
Her brows furrowed. “I don’t know any goddesses.”
“You are my heartmate.” Evvan reached up with both hands and cupped her breasts in his palms, and she trembled at his touch. “There can be no doubt.”
“Heartmate.” Natalie repeated the word as she continued to fondle his mouth-watering cock, and gave a small shake of her head. “I belong in New York.” With her free hand she gestured to the cavern around them. “Not here, and not as anyone’s heartmate.”
“My heartmate.” The look on Evvan’s features grew impossibly darker and more dangerous than ever before. He roughly pinched her nipples with the thumb and forefinger of each hand. “You have only to open your mind and your heart to see that I speak the truth.”
With a gasp, Natalie arched toward him. Damn that felt good. Somehow the danger and primal strength she sensed in him only made her want more.
“Hours ago I was having dinner with my friends,” she said, her words fractured as she fought to speak. “And now…look at me. I’m standing in a hot spring with a gorgeous naked Elf stud.”
Evvan’s expression remained hard while he tweaked her nipples. “What was that sling you used to bind your breasts? A trap for unwary hands, perhaps?”
“It’s a bra.” Natalie’s laugh turned into a gasp as Evvan pinched her nipples, just hard enough to send a burst of pleasure through her. “What was that—whatever it was you did to me before, when you made me climax?”
Evvan never stopped touching her as he spoke. “Devline Enforcers are born with the talent to mask or shroud another’s every sense, or select senses. ’Tis quite a rare ability.”
She closed her eyes, giving into the sensations of his touch while she continued to stroke his cock. “That must come in handy.”
“It makes us feared opponents…and much sought after lovers.”
Natalie’s eyelids shot open and her hand paused in mid-stroke as her gaze met Evvan’s. The hot waves of jealousy rushing through her body were so fierce and so sudden that it shocked her. “You have a lot of lovers, do you?” Nat said, wondering if it were possible to squeeze off his cock.
The corner of his mouth twitched and she thought perhaps he might smile, which would be a first. But it only made her want to bury her fist in his abdomen—though likely she’d just break a nail on those iron hard abs.
“The thought of me being with other women upsets you,” he said, clearly as a statement. “Very good.”
Okay, she was not going to put up with that. Nat scowled and braced her palms against his chest and tried to push away, but he still held on to her nipples. Pain shot through her as her body jerked back to his. A cry tore from her throat, but it swiftly turned into a moan as the pain transformed into an intense burst of pleasure.
Her senses dimmed again, just as they had in the passageway, only this time the sensation was entirely focused on her chest. The emerald sparkles of the cavern faded to nothing and Natalie could no longer see anything, not even Evvan. She could feel only hands and his breath upon her breasts and her nipples. All sound vanished with the exception of Evvan’s powerful voice. Perhaps she should have been afraid, knowing that this powerful man had such complete control over her, but she felt safe and protected, and entirely pleasured.
“’Tis true I have fucked many women,” he murmured as the intensity of feeling in her breasts and nipples reached orgasmic levels. “But now that I have found you, l‘tiani, my heartmate, there will never be another. You will be the first and only woman I will make love with.”
Wow. The way he told her that she was now the only one for him, left no doubt in her mind that he was dead serious. And damn but it turned her on even more.
With her senses shrouded, it was almost as though he had been speaking in her mind. It was only the two of them in the entire galaxy. No one else existed, nothing else existed…just the two of them.
The sensation of his touch, of all her senses concentrated in that one area, was so exquisite that tears formed in her eyes. Heat pulsated from him in waves, and in the next moment flames licked through her, filling her with absolute ecstasy. More incredible than she had ever experienced in her life—even more than when he’d made her come in the tunnel.
“Do you feel it, l’tiani?” he asked as she climbed higher to the peak. “’Tis a sign of the goddess that our mating is meant to be.”
“Oh, god—uh, make that goddess.” Almost dizzy from the intensity of the sensations Natalie grasped his biceps with her hands, afraid her knees just might give out. Her body trembled as the waves of erotic energy continued flowing through her.
“I must have you.” With a groan, Evvan lowered his head to capture her nipple in his warm mouth. He flicked his tongue against the nub and Natalie screamed as she came, hard and sudden.
Her body rocked against his and she clenched her fingernails into his biceps harder than ever. Evvan moved his tongue to her other breast and laved the nipple and another orgasm slammed into her.
Natalie’s head was spinning, her body throbbing, and she was vaguely conscious of him picking her up in his arms and cradling her to his chest. The cavern’s glittering crystals pulsed in and out of focus as she clung to Evvan and he moved to the edge of the pool. He disentangled her arms from
around his neck and eased her down so that she was sitting on the floor of the cavern, her feet still dangling in the warm pool. The stone floor felt surprisingly warm beneath her ass.
“I shall never get enough of you.” Evvan kissed a path down her neck, his long black hair sliding over her skin in a sensual caress. His lips moved between her breasts and to the gold ring at her belly button. She shivered as he flicked his tongue against the ring and licked the star tattoo. Tingling sensations skittered through her belly and she moaned as his mouth moved away, down to the fine hair of her mound.
Placing his hands on the inside of her knees, he pressed her legs apart and then knelt between her thighs. Even kneeling, the water level only reached Evvan’s biceps, and his face was level with her pussy. Natalie trembled as he closed his eyes and inhaled—a long, deep and slow breath. Like he was drawing in her scent and savoring it.
Dang, but that turned her on.
Evvan opened his eyes, his expression serious while he studied her naked flesh. Bringing one finger to her pussy, he stroked the folds, his skin dark brown against her paleness. “You are such a beautiful creature.”
Natalie’s body vibrated at his touch. She leaned back, bracing her hands behind her, the rock damp beneath her palms. “I need you now. I want to feel that incredible cock inside me.”
He growled and slid his large hands under her butt cheeks and brought her closer to the edge of the stone. His expression turned dark and fierce, and a frightened thrill shot through her. She almost expected him to sprout fangs and sink his teeth into her, like a vampire.
“You test my control.” He brought his mouth closer to her pussy and she trembled with anticipation. “I fear with you I have little.”
Nat’s breathing was so heavy she could barely speak. “Fuck me, Evvan.”
He ignored her, and moved his mouth to the inside of each knee and slicked his tongue back toward her core. She quivered as his lips reached her pussy and he just kissed it lightly and flicked his tongue into her folds, as though he was kissing her mouth in a delicate and sensuous kiss. Nat thrust her hips closer to his face and a growl rumbled within his chest.
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