by Hazel Gower
“Do you need anything from Tessa, sir? She is only a human and is willing to do anything to keep this job, so if she has—”
“She hasn’t done anything. If you touch a hair on her head, councilman’s son or not, I’ll kill you.”
The pup had turned white and nodded. Lucian narrowed his eyes on him. “I want her to stay back tomorrow night.” The pup nodded and Lucian had stormed off.
He’d found out everything he could about Tessa. Her full name was Tessa Jackson, she was twenty-four and lived in a granny flat at her parents’. She had left her parents as soon as she turned eighteen and racked up a huge amount of debt with a boy named Ben Nixs. Tessa came back to her parents at age twenty and had spent the last four years working to pay off her debts. She loved children and helped out at Vision Australia in her spare time, doing the fun days and being a camp leader on their weekend trips. That had been all his private investigator had been able to dig up on her. She made friends easily and was close to a group of women who worked and volunteered at Vision Australia. He was keen to learn more and get to know her.
The further Tessa ran from him, taking away her sugary sweet scent, the more he let his demon take over. Inhaling deeply, he slowly let it out and chased after his mate. Lucian caught her before she reached the elevator and stairs exit. His picked her up and threw her over his shoulder, and pressed the elevator button.
Tessa fought, kicking at his chest and punching his shoulders. “Put me down. Put me down this instant! You have no right to manhandle me like this.”
He chuckled as she used all her might to fight him. His mate was a little hellcat. “Kitten, I have every right to take you like this.” He’d waited centuries to find the one woman he and his demon would accept. The elevator opened and he pressed the top floor button. When the doors closed he placed her on the ground, his arms around her waist. “Tessa Jackson, you’re mine. I have waited many, many years for you. I’m not giving you up now that I have you.”
Startled, big brown eyes stared up at him. Lucian leaned down and met her lips with his own. For a moment she didn’t respond. He gathered her closer to him and deepened the kiss. His hands yanked open her shirt and slid up her soft, smooth stomach to cup and caress her breasts.
The elevator dinged and the doors opened. Moving his hands down to her waist, Lucian picked her up and walked to his office. He was going to claim his mate and take her home and look after her. He was going to make her love him and care for him, and give him everything he craved from a mate.
Lucian placed his fighting mate on the table and hiked up her skirt. Spreading her legs as she cursed at him, he settled down between them, burying his face into her heat and nuzzling the prize he was eager to taste. His fangs lengthened and Lucian ripped Tessa’s pantyhose and moved her underwear to the side. Spreading her pussy lips, he licked from bottom to top, sucking in her clit. Tessa lost her fight and froze. Lucian let his fangs scrape each side of her clit.
Tessa gasped and arched into his touch. “Oh. My. God. What are you doing to me? What have you done?”
He didn’t answer. He knew he was devious by using the mating pull to make her his. He lapped at her pussy as he sank one long, thick digit into her core and pumped it in and out.
“Mmm, feels so good.” She panted out as he added another finger and picked up speed.
Lucian kept his demon in place. Tessa wasn’t ready to see his demon fully released and the power they wielded. He needed to know she would stay once she knew what he was, and the war he fought. Lucian was going to do everything he could to make her stay with him, even become the demon his people were known to be. He licked, lapped, and sucked her in, loving her sugary sweet taste. Lucian felt her legs tighten around him, and the fingers he buried inside her felt her muscles contract around them.
“Lucian, Lucian, Lucian,” Tessa chanted as she fell apart and her orgasm came over her. His fangs sank into either side of her clit and he drank her blood and come, the mix giving him a high like never before.
Lucian knew what he had to do. Centuries of instinct kicked in as his strength tripled to a level he’d never experienced before. Closing off his entry points, he eased away and quickly shed his clothing, then gathered Tessa back to him. Pulling her closer to the edge of the desk, he lined his cock up with its home as he spread her legs further, then pushed into her core. Tessa moaned and clenched around him as he moved further into her. She leaned back against the table, her elbows helping to support her. She wrapped her legs around him, driving him deeper. She moaned and pushed her body to meet his.
Concentrating on keeping his demon contained, he closed his eyes, unable to watch her arch her back and pant at his touch. Her smell and the look of ecstasy on her face was pure torture, and messing with his renowned stamina. He gripped her hips and drove into her over and over. Lucian felt like he was in Heaven, home.
Tessa moaned and it sent thrills of power through him. Lucian argued with his demon to stay hidden as the pleasure swamped over him. He thrust into her faster and relinquished in the sweet scent that surrounded him, telling him after centuries of loneliness he’d found his mate. The tides would turn and he would get happiness.
Opening his eyes when he knew he’d won the fight with his demon, Lucian saw that Tessa now sat up, looking at his face. She pushed back at him as he retreated and slid back home.
“What are you doing to me? It’s never been like this before. I feel like I’m going to explode.” Tessa’s voice was coming out in pants as she helped his movements, pushing herself down so he went deeper each time.
His hands fell from her waist and Lucian reached up and stroked her cheek. “You’re special. You’re mine, Tessa.” Needing to mark her so all knew what she was to him, he leaned down and kissed her neck from bottom to top until he rested his lips over the juncture where her shoulder met her neck. He pumped into her with a purpose. She was going to come and squeeze the life out of his cock. He was going to come deep inside her, planting his seed. Tessa would be his mate. Letting his fangs lengthen, he pounded into her and pierced her shoulder. He drank from her as she convulsed around him, her pussy quivering and gripping him like a vice that had him pulling on her blood harder and letting himself go. He felt his wings unfurl and they closed around them, blocking out the moonlit night.
Lucian was happy the endorphins from his fangs would make her drowsy until he finished the mating bond by giving her his blood. He licked her wound enough so it would leave a mate scar. Staring down at Tessa, her head thrown back and her big brown eyes glazed over in bliss, he lengthened a sharp fingernail and sliced where his shoulder met his neck, then lifted her up to where his blood dripped. Still in a daze, he opened her mouth and held her to him. Lucian knew when his sweet taste hit her mouth—she groaned and leaned closer to him, pulling in his blood. He held her onto him until he knew she wouldn’t fight.
His cock hardened again as her moans around his flesh brought his need roaring back. Using his wings, he moved to sit on his chair and positioned her legs so she straddled him. This time he let the demon out to help claim her. Lucian knew she could handle his demon now she’d had his blood. He grew and his wings hardened. Tessa’s pulls became deeper and her nails dug into his shoulders as he moved within her. Her pussy kept going off with mini orgasms, thanks to his blood heating her and making her body burn so high that all he had to do was stoke the inferno.
Holding onto her waist, he lifted her only to slam her back down and ground himself against her. With her nails digging deeper and her pulls getting stronger, he struck, biting deeper this time. Together they came as they both bit—him to remark her, her as she shattered around him.
Tessa’s core squeezed the life out of him until he didn’t know, for the first time in his life, if he had anything left to give. Spent, Lucian grinned as his blood-drunk mate fell back against his wings, her euphoria evident.
Taking in a deep breath, he sighed with contentment as he smelt the change in Tessa. She smelt mated.
She smelt of him. She mumbled incoherently, her eyes barely fluttering open as he eased out of her. Not bothering with clothes, he went to his balcony and opened it, still cradling her in his wings. Switching her to his arms, he fluttered his wings and stepped up over the edge. Holding his precious bundle tighter, Lucian took in a deep breath of the fresh night air then stepped off the balcony and flew into the night.
Chapter Two
Tessa stretched her sore muscles and pulled the covers tighter around her. Her bed was soft and warm and she really didn’t want to get up. All she wanted to do this weekend was sleep.
She squeezed her eyes shut as her vivid dream from last night came back to her. Tessa felt her body heat and the aching need resurface. Rubbing her thighs together, she frowned at their stickiness. Assessing the rest of her body, she moaned when her tender core made itself known. Snapping her eyes open, she bolted up right in bed and gazed around as her surroundings came into view.
“This isn’t my room.”
The room was huge with sky blue walls with ornate borders, high ceilings, and central heating. A lavish, dark wooden dresser and mirror took up one wall, with a door and a bookshelf on the other side. The huge bed matched the dresser, bookshelves, and bedside tables. Everything looked expensive.
Tessa didn’t remember coming to someone’s house, let alone putting herself to bed. The last thing she remembered was ….
Holy crap, what have I done?
It wasn’t a dream. Easing out of bed, she squealed at her nakedness. Grabbing the quilt, she wrapped it around herself and looked around for her clothes or something else to wear. Her mind kept going over what she thought she’d seen. She remembered drinking a sweet fruit drink. It had tasted wonderful, like nothing she’d ever had.
Everything was hazy, but the more she thought about last night the more it came back to her. Oh, God, she’d had sex with Lucian Samson. No, no, no, she’d had unprotected sex with Lucian Samson. Crap, she wasn’t on the Pill. What if she got pregnant? What if she caught a disease? She vaguely remembered Lucian telling her he was disease free and sterile.
Opening a side door, she saw a massive bathroom with a spa bath and huge shower. Letting go of the quilt, she washed her face and did her morning business before covering herself again. Tessa debated if she should shower or wait until she got home and could get properly clean and relax in fresh clothes. Sighing, she walked to the opposite door. Bingo, a closet filled with suits and shoes. Reaching up, she got a shirt off the rack and put it on—it came to her knees, she swam in it. Doing one last search of the room for her clothes, she exited the room.
The hall was long. Black tiles with cream walls greeted her. Tessa could see stairs on her right and walked toward them. Paintings of places graced the walls and a couple depicted fights between what looked like angels and demons.
The house was quiet, and when she reached the bottom of the stairs she saw a huge open plan kitchen, dining room, and family room. Tessa needed to find Lucian, or at least a phone so she could call a taxi and leave.
Wandering around the mammoth house towards what she thought of as the front, she heard voices.
“I’ve found my mate. Gather Michael and Jacob, it’s time. I need to up the guards. I want my best. I don’t trust the angels. They grow bold of late.”
“I will fetch them myself, Lucifer.”
“Good, Seth. I need you to find them and bring them home ASAP. Stay safe, brother.”
Tessa waited until she didn’t hear the voices and stepped around the corner. She jumped as Lucian’s voice startled her. “You can come out of hiding now, Tessa. Seth has gone, although he was eager to meet you.”
Straightening her shoulders, she stepped into his view. “I wasn’t hiding. I was waiting for you to be done talking to your friend...er, brother?”
Lucian grinned at her, his dark hair falling just over his bright blue eyes as he strolled to her and gathered her into his embrace. She held herself stiff and unsure against him. “Seth is my youngest brother.”
Tessa nodded, unsure of what Lucian wanted her to say. “How many brothers do you have?”
“Five. I am the oldest.”
Wow, six brothers. His poor mother. “Um…I didn’t know that. They must stay out of the public light.” Tessa definitely hadn’t heard about Lucian having brothers. It was strange.
Lucian shrugged. “Over the years we have gone our separate ways, it’s safer. All of them, bar Seth, live in different countries.”
“Oh, okay.” Tessa wasn’t sure what else she should say. His hands on her skin were like fire; her whole body came alive from the slightest touch from him. She needed to get away before she missed her chance. She’d already crossed a major no-no, sleeping with the big boss. She felt like an idiot. She needed this job so bad and she’d stuffed it up sleeping with Lucian. Maybe if she left and pretended this never happened he’d let her keep her job. “I, argh…”
His lips came down to hers and he brushed them back and forth, sending delicious tingles coursing through her. “I was just going to come up and check on you. Would you like me to order breakfast for you?”
Wriggling in his embrace, Tessa tested to see if she could get out of his hold, but he held her firm. “Um…ah…I came to find you to ask if you’d take me ho…” He shook his head and his eyes narrowed. “Well… You see I want to leave. Er… I mean…can I use your phone to call a taxi so I can go home?”
“No.”
Shocked at his abrupt no, she stared up into his blue eyes that swirled with black. Captivated, Tessa watched as a storm began to brew in them. Her inner radar was going off, telling her she needed to get away from Lucian. Something wasn’t right. She expected a billionaire playboy to be eccentric, but she thought he’d be keen to get rid of her. Lucian Samson wasn’t known for keeping women or having the same woman more than once.
“What do you mean by no? I have to go home. I don’t normally sleep with men I don’t know. Actually, I never do what I did last night. I don’t know you, Lucian. You’re not my type. Well, I don’t know if I have a type. I’ve only ever been with one other person and he wasn’t very good.” She pushed at his chest to get out of his hold, but he wouldn’t let her go. His arms and body were like steel. “Lucian, last night was…unbelievable, but it’s time for me to go home. I can’t stay here. I don—”
“Yes, you can. You’re mine, Tessa. You’re special. I want you.”
Okay, Tessa needed to get away. Lucian was intense. The sex she’d had may have been amazing, and the way her body reacted to him was scary, but his possessive and strange ways now were freaking her out. She needed to get away. “I need to go home and get some clean clothes. I’m hungry, too, but I need clothes to go anywhere to eat. Where are my clothes?”
Lucian released her and held her hand. “Come. I‘ll take you home to get some clothes and then we can get some food.”
“That sounds great.” Right now she’d say anything to leave. Tessa needed time alone to think. Something was going on. As much as she would like to think Lucian all of a sudden wanted her and thought they had something, Tessa knew better. Men like Lucian didn’t go for women like her. Tessa didn’t think she was ugly—she just wasn’t hot playboy billionaire girlfriend material.
****
Lucian ducked his head as they walked into Tessa’s little granny flat. The flat was about the size of his bedroom and bathroom combined. The bathroom had a shower, a sink, and toilet, and there was barely room to move. The kitchenette, one small bench and sink with a tiny fridge, sat in one corner with her bed on the opposite side of the room. A wooden painted folding divider separated the room. A TV sat next to her bed with a tattered two-seater sofa.
Tessa rummaged through drawers against the wall and then went to a small closet and grabbed some clothes. She clutched her items to her chest. “Um… thanks again for dropping me home. You can let yourself out. I’ll er…see you Monday?”
“No.” Ha, his little mate thought she was escapi
ng him. No way was he letting his mate stay here another night. “You will get changed, then gather a bag and some of your things. I’ll buy you some more clothes later. You’re coming back with me.”
“Excuse me?” Her mouth gaped opened and her eyes widened.
Advancing on her, he tilted her head up so she gazed into his eyes. He wanted her to know he meant business. “You’re staying with me from now on. Grab the things you want. Anything else you need I will buy for you. Be quick now. I think this place is making me claustrophobic.” He let her go.
“You’re crazy,” she whispered. Tessa blinked and shook her head.
“Do you need help to get changed?” He chuckled when she backed up and, if at all possible, her eyes got bigger.
“N…n…no,” she stuttered. “Give me a moment and I’ll be back.”
Lucian watched as she scurried to her tiny bathroom. While she hid in the bathroom he snooped. In the fridge sat milk, butter, cheese and yogurt. The cupboards had two-minute noodles and bread, bowls, plates and some containers. The two draws held utensils. He sighed, her kitchen contained the bare minimum. He walked the couple of steps to her closet, opening it to find three pairs of shoes, two dresses and four skirts, six blouses and five t-shirts with three pairs of jeans. Lucian shook his head and walked to the draws, surprised to find a large draw filled with fancy bras and underwear. Another draw held two flannelette PJs and three tracksuit pants with five old, big shirts. The bottom draw held papers and knickknacks.
Going over to the sofa, he sank into it. Holy crap, that was it—she was not coming back to this place…ever. It was a death trap. Standing, he marched to the bathroom door and opened it. Tessa sat on the toilet with the seat down, her arms hugging her legs. “No more hiding. Get up and pack or I will do it for you.”
