Smoldering Hunger

by Donna Grant

  And Darius.

  With the music playing, Sophie couldn’t help but think of him. She’d come across a few Highlanders while in Edinburgh, but none compared to Darius. She didn’t even have to ask if he was a Highlander.

  It was in the way he held himself, the way he spoke. It was a look that couldn’t be faked or copied. Whatever made a man a Highlander was in his blood, in his very soul.

  Movies and romance books loved to have Highlanders as heroes. Truth be told, Sophie had always found herself drawn to such men. Highlanders valued loyalty, honesty, and family. The alphas who would give their very lives for those they loved.

  At one time she’d dreamed of finding such a man for herself. She hadn’t actually thought it would be a Highlander, however. She’d been content to find her man closer to home.

  But all that changed so quickly. Her world was shattered in a dizzying display as the layers were pulled back and the lies were revealed.

  Sophie didn’t ever think she would forget that feeling of drowning when she realized everything had been a lie and she’d been made into the biggest fool of them all with her fiancé’s affair.

  That’s what she got for thinking men were like those portrayed in films and books. Those were characters written by those who crafted them.

  They weren’t real people.

  No matter how much she wished they were.

  Darius was the closest she’d ever come to finding those heroes she used to read about. Then he proved he was as flawed as she was. Which was a good thing. She needed that so she didn’t find herself wanting him more than she already did.

  She didn’t need anyone. Hadn’t needed anyone in years. She lived her life the way she wanted without having to answer to anyone or take their bullshit.

  It was just the way she wanted it.

  Liar.

  Sophie silenced her subconscious with a vicious kick. So what if Darius made her realize just how lonely she was? Or that he made her think—for just a heartbeat—how it might be not to be alone anymore.

  She knew exactly what she wanted, and though a quick tumble with Darius did wonders for her mentally and physically, she knew better than to think of more.

  She shifted in the tub and saw the candles flicker through her eyelids. Sophie opened her eyes, her mouth falling open when she saw Darius leaning against her sink watching her.

  Had her thoughts conjured him?

  “What…? How…? There’s no…” she began, only to find her brain shut off.

  His gaze blazed with unreserved longing while his hands gripped the sink tightly. Despite his lounging, his body was strung as tight as a bow.

  How long had he been in her bathroom? How had she not heard him? And what did he want?

  Regardless of the questions running through her head, none made it past her lips. Sophie fought against the tide of desire that swept over her like a surge. It didn’t help that Darius looked at her as if he were about to toss her over his shoulder and take her to bed to make love to her.

  Sophie’s sex throbbed just thinking about it. There was no way she’d be able to carry on a conversation if she didn’t get her body under control. And there had to be a conversation followed by Darius quickly leaving.

  There would be no sex.

  Umm. Did you say something?

  Shit. She was in trouble. The kind that would have her waking up in the morning groaning from—

  Soreness?

  —bad decisions. And Darius was definitely a bad decision.

  His gaze dropped from her face to the water. A harsh breath left him. Her eyes traveled down his chest to his waist and lower where she watched the outline of his cock lengthen and harden right before her eyes.

  Her nipples tightened in response. When Darius murmured something beneath his breath in a gravelly tone, she jerked her gaze back to his face.

  That’s when she realized her nipples had broken the water’s surface, and the bubbles now drifted around her breasts. Sophie sank farther beneath the water.

  Darius closed his eyes briefly and drew in a ragged breath. When he looked back at her, he was once more in control.

  Too bad she wasn’t.

  For long minutes, they simply stared at each other. Sophie mentally undressed him, thinking how she’d run her hands over his body and feel his heat and hardness.

  “What are you doing here?” she finally managed to ask.

  As if her words were a punch, he turned his head away for a moment and said, “You’re in danger. If you ever see me, pretend you doona care. Make sure that anyone who is around thinks you’d rather see anyone else but me.”

  “I can do that.”

  Had he winced? She was sure he’d winced. Now that was a shock. Since when did her words ever hurt anyone?

  “I only came to tell you that,” he said.

  Sophie was suddenly wretched that he might be leaving. After all her erotic dreams—and daydreams—of him, he couldn’t just leave. But what did she say? “Thank you.”

  He released the sink and pushed away from it. Darius walked to the tub and leaned down. “Be safe, doc.”

  His lips briefly touched hers. A moan left him the same time her hand snaked out of the water to wrap around his neck.

  CHAPTER

  SEVEN

  Darius was on fire, smoldering from the inside out with an inferno of need that threatened to devour him if he didn’t have one more taste of her.

  In truth, he’d been burning for Sophie’s touch before he ever followed Ulrik to the hospital and saw her again. But it was discovering her in the tub that did him in.

  He’d known as soon as he walked in that he was a goner. Yet he hadn’t left. His feet refused to move, and his body … well, his body demanded he climb into the tub with her and remind her just how loudly he could make her scream.

  When she opened her eyes, Darius had been transfixed. The way tendrils of her flame-colored hair clung to the sides of her face and neck was one of the sexiest things he’d ever seen—or ever would see. Then there was the flicker of the candlelight moving seductively over her skin.

  The knockout punch came when Sophie shifted ever so slightly in the bath. Her breasts rose from the water, parting the thick bubbles. Darius’s mouth had watered at the sight of her puckered pink nipples. Every bit of blood rushed to his cock as he fought to remain where he stood.

  What possessed him to walk to her to say farewell? And to tempt himself with another taste of her lips, no matter how light? He must be daft to put himself in such a position.

  All it took was one sample, one small press of their mouths to push him over the edge. All the yearning, all the hunger he felt for her that he told himself wasn’t real, came rushing back like a tsunami.

  It consumed him, devoured him. Leaving was no longer an option. He had to have her again.

  Darius moaned when her lips moved beneath his. He braced his hands on either side of the tub, even as her arm wrapped around his neck.

  Water slid down his neck and along his back. Bubbles that clung to her fingers tickled his ear. Water lapped loudly against the side of the tub when she brought her other arm up to his neck.

  Darius was supposed to have been in and out of the flat. All he wanted to know was that she was safe. And he needed one last look at her.

  He wasn’t supposed to be kissing her, and he sure as hell wasn’t supposed to be thinking of sliding his aching rod between her legs.

  The sound of bubbles squishing was nearly as loud as their harsh breathing as he dipped one arm in the water and pressed her against his chest.

  With the music still playing in the background, Darius kissed her with all the pent-up need and longing he’d been discounting for days.

  He stood straight, bringing her with him. Water trickled down her body into the sloshing tub. Darius stopped kissing her long enough to see thick handfuls of bubbles sliding down her back, shapely ass, and legs, returning to the water.

  “Don’t stop,” she whispered with
her olive eyes heavy-lidded.

  As if he could. Darius bent and scooped her into his arms. He pivoted and carried her dripping wet to the bedroom. Just as he was about to lay her on the bed, she pulled his head down for a kiss.

  Darius was powerless to pull away. Her kisses had a way of making his brain stop functioning properly. With just a coax of her lips, he was putty in her hands.

  He put his knee on the bed and leaned forward, catching them with his free hand. Darius couldn’t contain a growl of pleasure when he found himself nestled between her legs.

  If only his clothes weren’t in the way of feeling her sleek, damp skin against his.

  As if Sophie was thinking the same thing, she yanked his shirt up to his shoulders. Darius jerked off the offending garment.

  His breath locked in his lungs when he felt her breasts against his chest. How could he have even dared to think their first time together would be the best? Especially when he hadn’t seen or felt all of her?

  With her hand traveling over his shoulders and down his back, Darius gazed into her eyes that were a beautiful mixture of green and silver.

  He hissed in a breath when she wrapped one long, lean leg around his waist, bringing him closer to her sex. Through his jeans he felt the heat of her core.

  Her hand paused at his backside, pressing just enough as she ground against him. Darius gritted his teeth as he rocked into her. His cock jumped, aching for more.

  Two weeks was too long to think about Sophie and not take advantage of the time given to them. Darius rose to his elbow and began to grab for the waist of his pants. In a heartbeat, Sophie’s hands were there.

  A second later, he was helping her push them down his hips while he kicked off his boots. It took entirely too long to take off his clothes and once more be against her.

  But when they were flesh to flesh, both held quiet and still in the moment.

  Until the passion took over once more.

  They began to frantically kiss each other. His hands were in her hair, tugging the length free from the pins. Then he was touching her arms, her hips, and her legs before he cupped her breast and found a pert nipple waiting for his attention.

  When he bent and took the peak into his mouth, her back arched and her nails dug into his back. Darius watched the pleasure move over her face, which only spurred his desire higher.

  He was so intent on learning the weight of her breasts in his palms as well as how sensitive her nipples were to his fingers, lips, and mouth that he didn’t know what her hands were about as they roamed over him until she wrapped her fingers around his cock.

  * * *

  Sophie sizzled through every particle of her body. She was so close to orgasm that if she rocked against Darius once more, she would shatter. It was the yearning to feel his length inside her that kept her still.

  Was it because she’d gone so long without having sex before Darius? She kept herself busy enough that she didn’t think about easing her body too often.

  Or was it Darius who brought out the shameless abandon? And did it really matter?

  It felt good. He felt good.

  Sophie ran her hand up and down his thick length as his tongue teased her nipple mercilessly. Each flick, each soft suck drove her closer and closer to the edge.

  It was only fair that he be there with her. Sophie loved the feel of his arousal. It was like warm velvet gliding over steel. She hadn’t realized he was so large. No wonder he’d stretched her so that first time.

  A bead of pre-cum formed, and she rubbed it around the head of his shaft. After, she cupped his ball sac and rolled them around in her palm before she softly scraped her nails over them.

  Darius hissed, his cock jumping in response. She smiled, and in return, he lightly bit her nipple. Sophie cried out from the pleasure as it tightened low in her gut.

  She could do nothing when he raised her arms above her head and held her there with one strong hand. With a slow, wicked smile, Darius kept eye contact with her as he lowered his head and nipped her breast. Then he drew her nipple deep into his mouth and suckled while his tongue lapped at the turgid peak.

  While his mouth did wonderful, decadent things to her breasts, his free hand skimmed along her stomach to her hips. He shifted his body to the side so he could then slide his fingers into her small triangle of red curls at her sex.

  Sophie’s legs fell open on their own. Her breathing was harsh, her body trembling as she anxiously awaited his finger to touch her and ease some of her need.

  But he didn’t touch her. Instead he stroked the inside of both thighs, coming just close enough to her sex that she could feel the warmth of his hand—but never touching. All the while he had her nipples so hard they hurt.

  Sophie tried to move her hips to get in contact with his hand, but Darius kept out of reach. Her sex throbbed she was so close to climaxing.

  He lifted his head and cupped her sex. She stilled instantly at the contact. Then he ran a finger along her sex to her swollen clit and back to her entrance again.

  “Is this what you need?” he asked.

  Sophie couldn’t form words so she nodded.

  One finger slid inside her. Her eyes closed from the bliss.

  “So damn wet,” he murmured. “I need to taste you.”

  He was nestled between her legs before she knew it. “No,” she cried as he licked her.

  “Nay?” he asked, pausing long enough to say the word before he found her clit.

  Sophie gripped the comforter and fought to speak past the rising passion. “I want to taste you too.”

  That got him to lift his head and look at her. She waited, her chest heaving as her sex clenched for more.

  “You’re dripping wet,” he said as he looked down at her. “You’re verra close to release.”

  Yes, but why did that matter? She wanted to know more of him to add to her memories. Feeling his body atop hers was amazing, just as it was to learn the thickness of his arms and the width of his shoulders. Not to mention his stomach that was lined with hard muscle.

  “Are you sure?” he asked with a gleam in his eyes as he circled her clit with his thumb.

  * * *

  Darius watched her eyes roll back in her head. Her legs were spread and her sex open to him. She was magnificent. The little triangle of red curls was trimmed neatly and the rest shaved to show her sex gleaming with her arousal.

  He spread her woman’s lips and found her clit. Bending, he lapped at the bud with his tongue while her breathing grew more ragged as soft cries fell from her lips.

  She tasted as wild and fiery as her passion. Her sex greedily clenched against his finger when he slid a digit inside her.

  Just as he suspected, he only had to move his fingers two pumps before a hoarse cry filled the room as she peaked. But Darius wasn’t nearly done with her.

  With the walls of her sex still clenching around his finger, he withdrew his hand and rose above her. He positioned the head of his cock at her entrance, and slowly penetrated her.

  His own eyes closed when he felt her orgasm squeeze him. She was so hot and wet that he couldn’t be inside her and not move.

  With his hips thrusting softly at first, he set up a rhythm that she soon joined in. He braced his hands on either side of her face and steadily drove within her tight sheath.

  She urged him on with her hands and legs. Her seductive gaze held his, and the wonder and pleasure he saw in her depths surprised him.

  With his own orgasm rapidly approaching, Darius thrust harder and deeper. He saw the flush on her chest and her eyes glazed over a moment before her body stiffened.

  He watched in amazement, as once more she climaxed. It was such a beautiful sight that he couldn’t get enough. The slight curve of her lips, the way her breasts heaved, the carnality that shone in her eyes.

  It all sent him careening over the edge.

  Darius pumped inside her with hard, fast strokes before he buried himself deep and let the orgasm take him. The pleasure
was intense, potent.

  As he stared into Sophie’s olive eyes, all he wanted to do was kiss her again. He lowered his head and took her lips while their bodies still shuddered from the ecstasy.

  When he withdrew from her, Darius didn’t get dressed and leave. He rolled to his back with his fingers entwined with Sophie’s.

  For every moment that he remained, it grew harder and harder to leave. Yet, if he wanted her far from the war that the Dragon Kings were involved in, he needed to do just that.

  Darius turned his head toward her, ready to spout a lie that would allow him to leave. Only he found her asleep.

  He turned toward her and ran the back of his fingers along her cheek and jaw. “Farewell, doc.”

  CHAPTER

  EIGHT

  Rhi was floating in darkness with pinpricks of light coming from thousands of miles away. She looked at them, curious. Were they stars? No. She knew what stars looked like. These were something entirely different.

  She wasn’t afraid. For the first time in a very long time she felt … nothing. No happiness, no sorrow, no anger, no regret. It was as if everything had been wiped away. Like the slate was clean, allowing her to start over.

  What a load of crap that was. No one started over. The baggage always remained. She learned that the hard way. It was what one did with said baggage that made the difference.

  Rhi knew she was at Dreagan. And she knew because of him.

  He was in the room with her again. It wasn’t the first time her lover had come to see her. She wished she could see his face. She wished she could speak so she could shout at him and demand to know why he was coming to her now.

  Was it because she was injured? Did he care now? Had he ever really cared?

  That was the question that haunted her. If the love he once claimed to have for her had been real, then he wouldn’t have been able to let her go so easily. Nor would he have sent Darius to tell her.

  She couldn’t look at Darius without hearing those words that had torn her world to shreds in a matter of seconds. One minute she was on top of the world.