Apocalypse Dance

by M. Barnette

  No, he wasn't Roderik. He was something very different. And Nikki wanted more of that difference.

  When her panties were gone, he knelt on the bed between her knees and just looked down at her, gaze bright with passion.

  For a few wild heartbeats she stayed where she was, frozen on the bed. Emboldened by his earlier reaction to what she'd done, Nikki sat up, her hands grabbing his shoulders. Her mouth locked to his in a demanding kiss that he returned without reservation. Their bodies pressed tightly together, and the feel of his hard chest against her breasts, the touch of his cock brushing her sex sent electric sparks of excitement up her spine from the cleft between her thighs.

  She broke the kiss, but her mouth found other employment. Nikki kissed down the side of his face following the line of his jaw, lips dancing across the strong cords of his throat until she reached the expanse of his chest and a tiny peak of male nipple. She licked it, biting as gently as he'd bitten her.

  * * * *

  Bells groaned, his arms around Nikki, face pressed to her soft hair, breathing in the scent that was her very essence. Female musk. Female heat. It shifted, sliding against the chains, holding it captive, seeking freedom. The pull of strong emotion, of desire and an undercurrent of hate disturbing its long slumber.

  Her kisses and caresses were a balm to the loneliness he'd felt. Her touch healing the terrible indefinable ache in his soul, an emptiness that only a woman could fill.

  Yin and Yang, positive and negative energies in balance. Harmony.

  Except for the struggling of the thing that wanted free of the constraints he'd put upon it.

  Delicate fingers stroked the bruises beneath the skin of his back, but instead of awakening pain they gave easement, soothed the hurt. He groaned as soft lips touched his chest, rested briefly over his racing heart, a tongue dancing over the jutting nub of a pale nipple. Downy hair tickled the head of his cock and he could feel the drenched heat between her thighs, feel the silken wetness of her cleft. She wanted him as much as he needed her.

  "Nikki,” he murmured, lowering his head to kiss her shoulder, nipping tenderly.

  Her hands cupped his ass and drew him closer, nestling his cock between her thighs, tormenting his body with the nearness of what lay there.

  "Hell with it,” he growled, feeling the chains over the thing at the center of his being snapping, falling away. But not completely. No, not totally. He didn't dare that. Not here, perhaps not ever. Just a little, enough to give them both a taste what he really was under the human skin.

  He eased her to the bed, mouth burning a new trail down her body, over her belly. His breath tickled at the dark ‘V’ between her spread thighs and he turned a sexy grin on her right before he plunged downward with his face, tongue slipping into her honeyed slit, sliding like a bolt of lightning over her clit.

  Her gasp of pleasure sent an answering flash of electricity though his groin. Molten heat roiled deep within his body, his balls tightening with the incandescent flame of sensuality that had fully overridden every vestige of his control. It was the pleasure a man got from knowing he was driving his woman mad with need. The Beast was still leashed, but it was free to play. And it had one of its favorite games waiting. Slowly, enjoying every twitch of her body, every roll and clutch of her sex in his face he licked her, savoring the taste, the thrill of knowing she wanted him, lusted for him. The velvet heat, the sweet cream of her passion were for him and him alone.

  His tongue rolled and flicked, thrust and fluttered over her clit, darting and delving into her hot channel, while his hands held her thighs spread, keeping the feast of her body open to his hunger.

  Her hands were locked on him, one tightly woven into his braids, the other gripping his shoulder with a fierceness that gave a hint of pain. Sweet, cherished pain.

  When she came she screamed out in a bold, unhindered shriek of passion, his name on her lips, fingernails cutting his skin, the hand locked in his hair twisting tightly.

  It felt good, and the Thing purred, the sound leaving his throat as a groan of pleasure.

  * * * *

  Nikki returned to awareness from an orgasm that had resounded to the very depths of her soul, one that echoed through her mind. It's power reverberated through flesh and bone with the power of a symphony, the crescendo leaving an indelible mark on her very being. Erasing some of the fears residing in her mind and heart because she'd been the one in control, at least nominally because she understood they were both out of control. If they hadn't been, they wouldn't be having sex. But she wanted to feel him inside her, wanted to hold him and make love with him.

  Bells was watching her, eyes full of unsatisfied hunger and unutterable self-satisfaction. His expression told her that the man knew exactly what he'd done to her, and he was pleased with himself the way a only a man could be, that satisfaction in himself shining in his gaze.

  The cold aloof killer was gone, and Nikki found herself confronting the real man, the heat of the passion had driven away every trace of Bells's normal emotionless mask. He gave her a brilliant unreserved smile, leaning down to take a nipple into his mouth, his tongue laving over the heated flesh. Nikki shuddered and arched her body into the exquisite torment of his mouth. She knew first hand exactly what that mouth was capable of accomplishing.

  "Liked that, did you?” he asked, his breath cool and teasing across the sensitive peak he'd just warmed.

  "Yes. And I want more!"

  "Do you?” he asked, teasing her with words as he dropped his head down to capture her mouth with his, kissing her deeply, their tongues dancing. She the flavor of her musky cream was in his mouth.

  "You taste so good. Everywhere,” he whispered after the kiss. “The more I taste, the more I want."

  "I want more of you,” she replied, lifting her head to kiss him.

  He laughed softly and didn't deny her wishes, their lips meeting in hot desire. She broke the kiss, hand locking into his hair.

  She saw a very visible shudder pass through him and tightened her fingers a little more to see if she'd imagined his reaction. She hadn't, he actually trembled.

  He dropped his head down, kissing, the tip of his tongue darting out and she came to the realization he was tasting the dried tears on her face.

  "Can I watch you cum again?” he asked softly, his mouth roaming along the graceful curve of her cheek down to her ear, the trail leading him her throat, and along her collar bone before making the journey toward her aching breasts.

  Everywhere his mouth touched, she tingled.

  "Yes. Whatever you want, Bells."

  "Jason. My real name is Jason,” he told her. He was kissing along the soft rise of her right breast, his lips painting a flame of desire across her skin. Pleasure seared through her mind in an unchecked inferno of quickly rebuilding need.

  "Jason,” she moaned. “Fuck me. Please. I want you so much."

  He laughed softly. “I prefer making love to fucking,” he murmured, “and I thought making love was what I was doing."

  "I want more!” There was a demanding, almost commanding note in her voice. She was actually surprised when he smiled.

  "Well I'll be happy to oblige. Who am I to deny such a beautiful woman her desires?"

  She smiled at him, hearing his playful tone, wondering where the man in bed with her had come from because he certainly couldn't be the coolly emotionless killer she'd met by the road two days ago. “Stop talking, start fucking!"

  "Is that an order?"

  "Has anyone ever told you what an ass you are?” she asked as she pulled his hair.

  "If memory serves, yes, on several occasions."

  That did make her laugh because she knew he didn't have any real recollection of his past. Hawk had been very clear on that point while they'd been watching the second DVD.

  Sadness filled her for a moment. But she wouldn't let it ruin what he was giving her. There was time enough for the real terrible world to intrude on them: later.

  "Now where w
ere we?” he asked. “Ah, yes, I do remember what you wanted.” He lifted her hips, carefully positioning himself. He grinned. “You're sure?"

  In answer she reached down between her spread thighs and wrapped her hand around his cock. “I want this,” she said firmly, and pulled gently on the fistful of manflesh until the head touched her wetness, “inside this."

  "As my mistress commands,” he said and slid himself into her waiting heat.

  She watched the intensity of the pleasure he felt burning in his cobalt eyes, hearing it in the way his breathing hitched, seeing it in the gritting of his teeth as he fought for control.

  Nikki gripped his biceps as he rested inside her for a moment. Panic stepped up her racing heartbeat a few notches and she fought the urge to shove aside. She was not going to ruin this for them. Jason was not Roderik. But arguing with herself wasn't taking the fear away. Nikki's body was reacting the way it was trained to react, with fear when a man was above her.

  You're no better than Pavlov's dog, she chided herself, battling the terror.

  His hips pulled back slowly, moving in a constrained glide, the inward thrust delivered with the same feeling of carefully reined power. He felt good, filling her completely yet giving no hint of discomfort. She remembered nothing with Roderik but agony. But the man had only cared about his own pleasure.

  Bells was different. He treated her as if only her pleasure mattered. He'd even allowed her to take control when it suited her without any compunctions. And while he was cool and standoffish normally, she could tell he was a man at ease with his own sexuality.

  But the anxiety wouldn't go away and Nikki's breathing became ragged as desire and rational thought warred with the things that Roderik had done.

  "Is this what you had in mind?” he asked her, his dulcet voice warmed by the pleasure they were sharing.

  Instead of answering him, Nikki pulled his head down for a kiss which he accepted and returned. She refused to admit defeat. Roderik would not ruin her life.

  He broke the kiss to give her a wicked grin.

  "Want to be on top?"

  For a moment Nikki just stared at him. He was going to let her ride him? To take the dominant role? It stunned her into silence and at the same time she wondered if he'd read her fear the way he'd read the events beside the wading pool back at the farmhouse. Then she smiled and gave an enthusiastic nod. “Yes, I'd very much like that."

  * * * *

  Shifting his legs, he pulled her into his lap and then lay back, Nikki straddling him, his feet firmly planted on the bed, hips canted up slightly. He gripped her thighs and started to move, the pace slow, meant to last.

  They were both tired. But sex made a good balm to wounded souls, and Nikki's soul had been battered and beaten tonight. Ravaged in the not too distant past. He wanted to make this good for her. If it was good for him, too, then that was just a wonderful side benefit.

  With Nikki's hands braced on his shoulders, they started to move slowly, learning one another's rhythms. She felt good, her soft heat encasing him firmly, the fit perfect, just the right amount of tightness for him without being painful to her.

  Leaning down, she kissed him, and he knew she was tasting her own flavor there on his lips.

  Sure that they would stay synchronized, he started to run his hands over her body, lightly pinching her nipples, skimming his hands over her ribs, her buttocks and thighs, learning the feel of her, the poetry of her form coming alive beneath his touch.

  Her whispers of pleasure, her gasps, each shudder of her body sang though him, heightening his own awareness, adding to the sensations.

  She was female. Life. And she gave herself to him, surrendered the sweetness of her body, her soul to him.

  In return he could do no less.

  * * * *

  Bells stepped up the pace of his hips, driving into her, taking her breath away. Nikki had never had sex with a man who'd had this kind of stamina, and her mind informed her that the truth of the matter was, she wasn't exactly having sex with a man, per se. If Hawk had been correct, Bells—Jason—was an Immortal Dragon which was a completely different beast altogether.

  Aqua mist swirled around them, and for the first time Nikki caught a glimpse of his Immortal self, wings spreading, a shimmer of aqua scales tipped with gold, the ghostly image of the Dragon fully revealed before her in its brightly shimmering splendor. The blond's eyes burned bright as lightning, hot as an arc welder's flame, and he started driving himself into her, the pace faster, harder. Deeper.

  Nikki felt him wrap his arms around her, felt the power of his body as he sat up, their groins still locked. His cock thrust deeper as he lowered her to the bed, his pace never slowing, his erection never slipping completely free.

  Dimly she marveled at the strength he'd just shown. From experience she knew it wasn't easy to change positions mid-fuck as readily as this man managed. And what he was doing was exquisite, his lean body driving the spike of flesh into her with powerful, tightly controlled thrusts.

  On her back once more, the fear lost amid the pleasure, Nikki wrapped her legs around his hips, moving with him, hands locked on his shoulders, fingernails digging in, eliciting a gasp from Bells. But it wasn't a cry of pain, it was one of passion unchained.

  Wrapped in the blue mist, the scent of vanilla candles and sex swirling in the air, Nikki screamed as her second orgasm of the night roared though her body, a Dragon's shouted pleasure resounding like a million wind chimes in her mind.

  Chapter Seven

  The pallid light of dawn trickled in through the shattered windows at the front of the department store, coming in through the skylights above to illuminate the woman on the bed. But the man watching her didn't really need the light in order to see how beautiful she was. He'd seen it by candlelight and through the eyes of the Dragon living in his soul.

  His gaze roved over her body in a heated visual caress, the slow rise and fall of her breasts entrancing him. He remembered their taste, their softness, and swallowed the knot in his throat, battling emotions he shouldn't allow himself to feel. Almost reaching out to touch the pink-tipped round of a breast, he refrained instead because he knew what he'd done was wrong. Wrong for her.

  He'd made a mistake. Several in truth.

  First, he'd let Anya die.

  Second, he'd made love to Nikki.

  Third, he'd fallen in love with Nikki.

  And that was the worst of the three. The most unforgivable sin.

  Her taste, her scent, the way she'd looked as he'd taken her, had driven him over the edge. The carillon ringing through his body as he'd come to her scream of pleasure had set bonds on him, mind, heart, and soul. If she'd wrapped him in real chains she couldn't have possessed him more thoroughly than the bindings of her gentle spirit had done.

  Bells could feel those bonds. Cool, soothing, a gentle spring breeze caressed by the sun, wrapped around everything he was, good and bad.

  It was wrong for him to love her. Very, very wrong. She didn't need someone like him. A killer. An Immortal.

  But he very badly needed someone like her to give his wretched existence some sort of meaning. He closed his eyes, but her image was burned into his mind. Only Beauty could tame the Beast. And he was easily domesticated. Too easily.

  His gaze slid along her body, remembering how she'd reacted with such unrestrained passion, with such vital urgency. He wanted her again. His cock went hard, his heart beating a little faster, the Dragon shifting restlessly beneath the chains of his control. Now that he had set It free, even if only during the act of love, it was harder for him to contain. More difficult to keep under the constraint of his will.

  And he didn't dare let it free. Not completely. There was too much danger. For himself and for those around him, too.

  For her.

  He closed his eyes for a second, opening them to see her with the second sight. Golden light emanated from her, pouring forth from her very soul.

  Roe Deer.

  His
heart banged in his chest, hard and sharp, sending pain through his back and arms. For a moment he saw not the woman lying before him, but one who was smaller, her skin a honeyed cream, black hair, sweetly formed lips, almond eyes.

  Kimiko.

  So long ago. Lost to him for all time.

  He'd freed the Dragon to save her life, and they'd survived. But she'd died in a wreck a few much too short years later, and he'd lived, only then discovering the that price the Dragon exacted for its freedom was the dubious gift of Immortality. And now he couldn't die.

  But everyone he loved did.

  Kimi had. Nikki would. Sooner or later they all did.

  And there had been so very many. Women mostly. A few men. It was the women who meant most to him. Their gentleness. Their passion. Fleeting memories, faces, names rose up out of the blankness that was his memory. Most of them had been dark haired and dark eyed, like Nikki. Like Kimiko. She'd been the first and, like Nikki, the center of her soul had been the gentle creature he'd just seen as he stared at Nikki. A Roe Deer.

  Swallowing down his sorrow, pressing tears out of tightly closed eyes, refusing to let them fall, he slipped off the bed and started getting dressed. He wanted a bath, but there wasn't any water.

  Much as he'd have enjoyed just lying there, watching Nikki, pretending there could be more between them than pain and sadness, they didn't have that luxury. The Rangers could well be following, and the issue of food, water and weapons remained. He'd lost his katana and very much wanted to find another one. He had no bullets for his revolver, and that was a serious problem, too.

  "Nikki?"

  "Hmmm?"

  "We need to go."

  Sable eyes opened, and stared at him in confusion for an instant, the woman waking from a dream of being home with her parents, introducing them to her new boyfriend. A boyfriend named Jason.