All Thorns Eve_Gems Book 1

by Diana Rose Wilson

  This was the same hall where he’d saved her the night before. She remembered his strength and how fast he’d taken care of the danger. Even now she sensed his attention shifting around them, searching for trouble. It should not turn her on so much, but the way his body tensed and his steps went from stride to prowl, she wanted to climb up his body and claim him.

  He glanced at her and his lips curled into a slow, feral smile, teeth glinting in the darkness. She gulped slowly and jerked the look away from him, heart racing. Oh, she would let him consume her completely if he asked. Right there in the hall.

  “I want to be balls deep in you.” Jackal’s voice growled low against the nape of her neck as she fumbled with her keys. His hands were everywhere. Stroking her hip and across her stomach to her breasts and the other pulling her skirts up and pushing her thighs apart, teasing her. Caressing. Squeezing.

  She felt weak and dizzy and dropped the card only to have to bend over to fetch it and when she did, rubbed against him. His cock was so hard along the cleft of her ass and he rubbed against her, only the whisper of cloth between them. All he would have to do was pull her skirts up and flip the loincloth aside and he could slide into her. She was soaking wet and had been since their painting. She wanted him raw and bare and deep inside her.

  “Wait. Not yet.” She laughed softly and blushed as his snarl of frustration. “That’s what you told me all day,” she reminded him and grabbed up the card, sliding it into the lock.

  He shoved the door open and lifted her into his arms, carrying her over the threshold with all the ritual of a groom with his bride. “Songbird. I think I’m in love with you.”

  Nina’s heart soared high and proud, spiraling into dazzling golden sunlight. Love. Her heart raced with the emotion his words stirred in her.

  “Oh, you can’t be in love with me,” she argued but it was an empty protest. She clung to his shoulders tightly, wanting to believe it could be real and unbreakable.

  He kicked closed the door and regarded her steadily behind her mask as he strode into the room and set her on the bed. “I can’t? Why?”

  “It’s too soon. You don’t even know me.” She felt her heart swell so big in her ribs as he knelt at her feet.

  Since she was a child she’d assumed her parents would find a husband for her who would unite them with some family of power or wealth capable of helping improve the empire of the business. Love was never an option in that scenario.

  But now that she’d met Jackal she saw what life could be for her. Better than that, she felt the unmistakable rocketing of her heart when he was near her. She realized that she could never live a life without love in it. She’d pretended it was all right with her just like she’d never allowed herself to let someone else drive her sexuality. Now she wanted this man to guide her and wanted to make a life together with him. If that meant she had to turn away from her family and fortune to follow her dream, it’s what she wanted to do.

  Then again, her mother and grandmother would take one look at that mark on his palm and they would know. Even her father couldn’t doubt the proof in that perfect arrowhead against his skin.

  “I don’t believe love requires a set time for processing. I want to learn everything about you and I want you to know all there is about me. My heart is very clear,” he said quietly and reached behind his head, unfastening the delicate buckles that held the mask in place. The steel made a soft clinking sound as the hinges came open and he bowed forward to pull the mask off. Even after it had come free though, he kept his face tipped away from her. His hair was cut neat, just long enough for her to run her fingers through the light chestnut waves.

  She stroked through his soft hair and still he did not look up at her, so she removed her own mask. Hers was held only by the saffron ribbon. Setting the enamel mask beside his of steel, she whispered, “Look at me.”

  His shoulders trembled, and his voice was very quiet as he rasped, “I am afraid you are going to find me repulsive.”

  “Jackal,” she whispered. “Never. My heart is very clear too, even though I’m not as bold as you. I feel the connection with you, Golubochek.” Warmth rose in her face as the affectionate name came bubbling up. Dove. Her dove, with his strong, bronze feathers.

  With a soft, shivery sigh he lifted his head and rocked back so she could get a good view of him.

  For all of his hesitation and his strange lack of confidence, she expected him to be horribly disfigured by burns or missing an eye or something horrible. Instead, she found herself gazing at a stunningly handsome man. His eyes were unusual. One was blue and the other a pale brown, the color of sand, but they were large and framed by bright gold lashes. There was a scar over the bridge of his nose and it looked like his regal nose had been broken once or twice but otherwise his skin was smooth and unblemished. He regarded her with a look of such fear that she wasn’t sure if she wanted to laugh or kiss him until the lines of worry eased from between those bright, clear eyes.

  “Jackal,” she said again and reached out with her hands to cup his cheeks.

  His eyes half-lidded, and he leaned into her touch, “I’m Chaze,” he growled quietly, searching her eyes and her face. “Chaze Kirkus.”

  “Chaze,” she repeated the name, her smile widening until her cheeks hurt. His name tasted delicious on her tongue and sounded even sweeter. “It’s so nice to meet you.” She hesitated, with her own name frozen on her lips, but her swelling affection for this man thawed her reluctance. It wasn’t like her to share her name, but this was the first time she’d taken off her mask at the party for a lover. He was the first man she wanted to know. Her heart thrummed with excitement at the prospect of exploring everything about him. “I’m Nina. Nina Terestchenko.”

  “Nina.” He tried out her name and the deep, smoky sigh at the end made her sex tighten with a wanton need for him. His mysterious eyes widened in recognition of her family name. “Terestchenko.” She could see the pieces fall into place as he searched her face. For a moment, she feared the revelation about her family would be too much for him. Her heart dropped in a low swoop at the prospect that he would withdraw his affection with the realization of who she was.

  Dozens of excuses and apologies filled her chest until she ached. She shouldn’t have told him her full name and now it was too late to take it back. “I know it’s a lot to—”

  He cupped her cheek, shaking his head sharply. “I care about you. You, Nina. My Songbird. Not your name. Not your family, titles, or wealth. Do not mistake my status as an orphan for being without means of my own. My history is very complex, and I look forward to telling you everything, my Nina.” Turning his head, he nuzzled into her hand, his exotic eyes holding her gaze as his mouth brushed across the mark of the bird silhouette flying across her palm.

  Heat ran up her arm and tingled through her chest in an erotic pleasure that was almost painful. She bit back her moan as her body arched towards him. He smiled warmly at her, that sexy, crooked smile. “Good, because I want to know everything,” she traced her fingers along his face, exploring him with her touch as well as her eyes.

  “You…don’t mind?” he whispered when her fingers trailed over the scar at the bridge of his nose. She stroked over his forehead and up into the messy tangle of his short hair.

  “No!” She laughed and leaned in to kiss him, unable to hold herself back.

  He was the most handsome man she’d ever seen, and she let him know how much she liked the way he looked in that kiss. Her body pressed up tight against him as she left the bed and launched herself into his solid chest.

  He caught her and fell back with her in his arms, sliding his hands up into her hair and grasping fists full as he kept her pulled in tight, anchoring her to him while his tongue darted forward to curl and tease around and with hers.

  He rolled her onto her back, still kissing her, sucking her lower lip, and nipping against her before pulling away with a wet, slurp. “Fuck!”

  “Mmmm. Yes. Fuck! You are the m
ost handsome man. Why do you keep looking at me like you’re afraid I’m going to hit you?”

  “Wwwell…I’ve been told I am repulsive.” He lifted a hand to touch angry necklace of scars ringing his throat, but she grabbed his hand and kissed his fingers and then pulled his head down to her so she could kiss his neck and then the mark at the bridge of his nose.

  “God! What sort of people do you have around you? You are beautiful to me. Fuck. That’s an understatement. You are utterly gorgeous!”

  “Nina.” He purred out her name and smiled, showing off a flash of white, sharp teeth. “My Songbird. I would like to shower…clean that horrible woman’s mouth off my cock. Would you join me?”

  Ducking his head, he gave her such a sweet smile through his lashes that she couldn’t help but reach out and ruffle his hair again. “You are impossible to resist. Yes. Let me bathe you.” She shivered when he moved away from her, feeling cold without the warmth of him.

  “How is it you have wings?” She asked as he led her into the bathroom.

  “Born this way.” He shrugged up his shoulders. “You’re the first person outside our circle who can see mine. That’s…very important to me.” He flapped the wings and stretched them open very wide, filling the room with their span. His muscles along his ribs tensed and flexed until she ran a hand up them and he barked out a laugh, curling playfully away from her touch.

  “No one else seemed to see them at all today,” she accused him. “You’re an…”

  “Not an angel,” he said quickly and reached for her hands, pulling her close. She caught her image in the mirror and laughed at the mess. “You let me walk around like this?” She motioned to her painted face. Brown smudges ran over one cheek, white on the other, and over her chest where the red, orange, and yellow scrawls of words: ‘Property of Jackal.’

  “Yes. You are beautiful.” He met her gaze in the mirror, odd-eyes glinting with a possessive fire. For a moment he framed her against the counter, using his body and his wings to prevent her from moving away as he kissed her cheek and down her neck, nuzzling and licking the flavored paint as he purred. His fingers stroked over the words he’d painted. “I regret having to lose this.”

  “Well, I’m property of Chaze now,” she whispered. “You will just have to find another way to mark me as yours.”

  His eyes blazed in the reflection, his cock throbbing where it nuzzled against the curve of her ass. “I know how I want to mark you.” His voice came out husky with emotion and desire.

  Nina struggled not to melt into and all over him. “I want you, my sweet virgin. Without protection.”

  Drawing his brows together, his soft murmur was full of steely promise, “I will protect you forever, Nina.”

  “Condoms. I mean, condoms.”

  The pink blush that streaked across his strong, noble features was adorable. “You are the only woman I have ever touched.” He kissed her cheek. “Or, do you believe I need protection from you?”

  She nodded and whispered, “I’m clean.” This was a conversation she never expected to have. Not this way. Would he believe her? Why did she feel so desperate for him to trust her?

  Because, she whispered to herself, you’ve been with more lovers than you can count on your hands. He has every right to question your health if you beg to go bare with him.

  “Of course. I know you are,” Chaze said without hesitation. He held up his hand so she could see his palm and the arrowhead mark in the mirror. His smile slanted crookedly at her as his wing fanned wider around them. “It’s too late for me to be saved from you.”

  “I’m on the pill,” she blurted, and his gaze softened even more, holding her with a deepening affection. Her knees weakened, and she was glad his arms held her supported.

  “Nina.” He stood straighter behind her, pressing his strong body flush to her back, every line of his hard muscles pressed to her. “I want you without barriers between us. I accept the risks that come with this. I gladly face every risk that accompanies you.” There was a fierce sort of joy in his statement, as though he’d welcome facing dragons for her if needed.

  She found it difficult to draw breath for several moments and he held her, nuzzling into her hair as she processed his words. Her heart tripped faster and a flush warmed her, spreading from her chest down her stomach to her sex. She’d never been so needy and excited in her life.

  Reluctantly he pulled away from her and folded his wings. They rubbed together with a plush whisper of soft feathers as he turned away and pulled the doors of the shower open. She hugged herself against his powerful back as he switched on the water and began to adjust the various shower heads. When she wrapped her arms around him, one of his hands covered hers, threading fingers together while the water warmed and began filling the space with steam.

  Very slowly he pulled her around to his side and bowed down to kiss her and as his mouth teased over hers, his strong fingers stripped the stained dress from her, letting the ruined silks fall to the floor. She moved down his body, kissing along his chest and stomach, familiarizing his body with her mouth. She licked her way down his body as she sank down to her knees, working her garter belt and stockings off.

  She wanted to take his proud cock in her mouth and lick him from balls to head until he was beside himself with need for her. When she unfastened the loin cloth from him and pushed it down his powerful thighs she winced at the hot pink gloss coating his cock. Swan had smeared him with her horrible lipstick. It was a disgusting blemish over his glorious hard flesh. The stain over his lovely skin made her breath hitch as she hissed out in shock. Somehow, she didn’t imagine that woman would have marked him so thoroughly.

  He grasped her by the hair and drew her up from her knees. When she looked up at him, he growled and gave a small shake of his head. “Wash me first.” He stepped into the rush of water and pulled her with him, using his body as a shield from the hot spray for a moment before he adjusted it.

  She grabbed the amber bottle of shower wash and squeezed a generous dollop of the pearly soap into her palm. The sweet scent of the berries and spice filled the steamy enclosure as she rubbed her hands together, creating a lather. He sucked in a sharp breath as she wrapped both hands around his cock and began to playfully clean him in the hot water. The massive cock was curved upward at an angle. Arching proudly up but with such a sharp turn to it, it gave her a thrill just imagining how the fat cockhead would grind up inside her.

  “I’m sorry,” he whispered. When she looked up, his stricken expression held hers.

  “You have nothing to be sorry for. We are past that. Okay?” She let the water wash away the marks and the soap as she pressed herself against his chest. Standing up on her tiptoes she whispered, “I was actually thinking about how fantastic this cock was going to feel balls deep inside me.”

  With a growl he claimed her mouth in a kiss that started out sweet and soft and swiftly deepened into a burning claim of her lips with his tongue. Her soapy hands slid up his stomach to chest washing away the paint in a lather of colored suds. Her breath gasped from her when he slammed her playfully against the slick wall of the shower and pressed tightly against her.

  Yes. Oh, fuck yes! Her legs wrapped around his hips and she squeezed her legs around him, loving the feel of his muscles bunching and tightening under her touch. Her mind whispered that they should slow down and begin with touching and progress to sex after she had tasted and licked him and enjoyed the heat of his cum on her tongue but all she wanted right now was to feel him fucking her hard and deep.

  “Need you.” She moaned when he broke from the kiss with a moan of pleasure. The head of his cock nuzzled her ass, slipping along her swollen pussy lips and up against her clit, the sharp angle of the curved length forcing her to adjust in ways she had not with other lovers. “Oh, God! Please! Please!” she begged.

  “I’ve got you baby! I’ve got you, Nina.” His hands gripped her ass and he spread her thighs wider, holding her with the support of the wall and usi
ng the leverage to lift her thigh up over his shoulder. When his fingers found her sex and stroked up from her asshole to her clit before following with his cock, guiding himself along her heat with a low moan of pleasure. The exquisite feel of him left her dizzy with her craving for him. He was steel bound in hot silk. Perfectly hard and deliciously plush where he stroked through her slick folds “Are you sure?” he asked, voice trembling.

  “Yes. Oh, fuck yes!” she cried aloud, clawing her nails down his chest, desperate and crazy with wanting him.

  He met her eyes as he nuzzled the swollen crown of his cock against her pussy, rolling his hips forward and back, groaning. Their lips brushed together, gasping out sweet pleasure and need. She couldn’t look away from his beautiful eyes, they held her prisoner as he teased her and tormented her with his huge cock. She was going to die! He was going to drive her crazy before he even pushed into her.

  “Chaze, please,” she whispered against his mouth and his snarl of desire vibrated through his chest and against her mouth as she kissed him. “I love you.”

  He sighed out the sweetest moan of desire against her mouth, “I love you, Nina.”

  The length of his cock slid slow and deep into her as he thrust forward. He was sleek and smooth against her silken pussy, driving inch by slow inch into her until his balls slapped against her skin. The rush of water and his mouth muffled her cries of pleasure as she came. Her orgasm blazed through her the moment he was pressed all the way into her. He was so deep, stretching her almost painfully around the thick girth of his cock.

  His hands squeezed her ass and he whispered against her mouth, “That’s right, Nina! My sweet, Nina. Oh, fuck!” She could feel his pulse race through him, his heartbeat rocking her and lacing a direct line down to her sex as she squeezed around him. Her hips surged forward, swirling in a slow circle and he cried out in pleasure.

  His hands gripped her as though he wanted to still her, but it was too late. She’d pushed his control to the breaking point. He jerked his hips in time with her, moving in sharp, brutal pumps of his hips as he came. She could feel his cock swelling larger, bucking as his cum shot deeper into her again and again.