by Lydia Parks
He moved his mouth to the other side and repeated the treatment, and she lifted her hips into him.
He groaned against her.
At first, she thought he was about to back off and leave her panting, and she was ready to beg him not to go, but instead he sat up, unbuttoned her pants and began to pull them down over her hips. He held her gaze as he worked, and she saw something deeper than hunger in his eyes. His gorgeous lips curved into a seductive smile.
What the hell was she doing? This man she didn’t know was removing her pants and she wasn’t protesting or slapping him or even struggling. In fact, she raised her hips to help.
He drew her jeans and panties off together and tossed them aside, then took in all of her with a slow, appreciative gaze.
“Yes,” he whispered. “You are perfect.”
Excitement rippled through her entire body, and for the first time in her life, she felt truly beautiful.
He unbuttoned his pants and she watched, holding her breath, waiting to see all of him, but he disappointed her by leaning forward and lowering his mouth to the inside of her right knee.
He thrust his tongue into the bend of her knee and slowly drew it back out.
She inhaled a ragged breath as her body tightened and tingled. Did he mean to do what it looked like he was suggesting?
He repeated the maneuver, thrusting and withdrawing, and she bit her bottom lip to keep quiet. Moisture welled between her legs, and she spread her thighs in shameless invitation.
What the hell was she thinking? Some guy says don’t worry about having sex with me and she agrees? She shouldn’t even—
He licked a quick line down her thigh, and she gasped. His tongue slid hot and heavy across her most sensitive spot, and her hips rose into the air.
Her body thickened with need.
He licked her again, hard, and she began to tremble.
Her heartbeat pounded in her ears, drowning out all other noise.
He licked again and again, long, slow, wet.
She lost track of everything but his tongue.
He found her swollen nub, flicked it, then sucked, and sweet bliss rolled down her spine to erupt between her legs.
Waves of release washed over her, taking control, and she cried out.
On and on they went, pounding through every muscle.
And then it all eased away. Stray pulses of pleasure rose and fell.
His mouth rested on her belly now, where he gently nipped and kissed.
She wanted to laugh. She wanted to tell him that no man had ever done that to her before.
Cole raised his head and snared her with his golden gaze, and words and laughter evaporated.
He rose up slowly to his hands and knees and crawled up her body until he stared down into her eyes. His nostrils flared as if he was taking in her scent, and again he smiled. This time his smile looked cool and calculating, and would have terrified her if he had been anyone else. Sandy hair fell forward to frame his face.
She heard the sound of his zipper and glanced down between them to where he pushed off his pants. His cock sprang free, full and hard, and larger than she’d expected.
Her vaginal muscles convulsed in anticipation.
He lowered his lips to her neck where he grazed them across her skin.
She shivered in response and raised her chin higher.
“I want you more than life,” he whispered.
In spite of the incredible orgasm she’d just enjoyed, his words stirred something deep and primitive in her. She closed her eyes and gripped his straining biceps.
She expected him to take her then. She felt his urgency, shared it even. But he stretched out on top of her, his flesh to her flesh, his thick, swollen cock pressed between her legs.
He kissed her neck, and then slid his mouth to her shoulder, where he gently sucked as he started a hint of rhythm again.
She caressed the long muscles of his back, enjoying the feel of them stretching and bunching as his movements quickened.
Heat rushed through her and she thought of him entering her, filling her.
She raised her knees, inviting him in, needing him now.
He shifted to one elbow and moved his hand down her side. He reached between them, slid his fingers across her folds and then pressed one into her wet heat.
She gasped at the pleasure of his touch. How could she be so aroused already?
He sucked harder on her shoulder, stimulating nerves that carried signals to the small of her back and between her legs and she clamped down hard on his fingers.
He groaned.
Desperate, hungry, she opened wider.
He took her mouth, sharing the taste of her desire, and the head of his cock eased down to her opening.
She held him tighter.
He pushed, nudging against her, and moved his mouth to her ear.
“You will be mine,” he said, his voice deep and ragged.
She dug her fingers into his back and lifted her hips. “Yes,” she whispered.
He gripped her butt firmly and pushed, filling her all at once.
She gasped and rose up into him. Muscles stiffened.
He withdrew and thrust, filling her again, sliding easily, stretching her.
Need swelled, threatening to explode. She clung to him, gasping.
He thrust harder, reaching deeper.
Heat clawed up the backs of her thighs.
He drew her up to him, impaling her.
His mouth closed on her shoulder.
Nerves sizzled and fired, sparks to her fuse.
Release blasted through her, an inferno consuming her. She screamed and clung to him, scorched by the flames. Her body convulsed, uncontrollable, engulfed.
As her mind splintered, she rose up into the fire, open, greedily taking all.
He filled her, held her, melting into her and against her. And they moved as one, riding the perfection together.
Flames finally cooled to embers.
She dropped back to the sofa, her hips rising into him and falling, and he thrust against her, until they fell.
They lay together, joined, panting against each other’s skin.
Alicia reached up and stroked Cole’s hair, and he nuzzled her neck. The strange thing was that she felt as if she’d known him forever, as if they belonged together. Was that what happened after mind-blowing sex?
As her heart rate slowed, her limbs grew heavy. Her shoulder tingled almost painfully. She closed her eyes and rested her head against his.
Cole knelt by Alicia’s bed and studied her face as she slept. Peace smoothed the corners of her mouth, and dreams stirred beneath her eyelids. Did she dream of the past or of the present? Was he part of her dreams?
He gently stroked her silky hair, careful not to wake her.
How had this happened? One minute he’d been prepared to leave, and the next he was on her like a wild animal. How could he have been this selfish when there was so much at stake? Everyone depended on him fulfilling his simple mission: find the heir and bring her back. Without her, an entire species could vanish from the face of the Earth. His species.
He couldn’t take her back now. Not like this. It wasn’t as if he could hide that they were mates. They belonged to each other; he couldn’t risk her safety, maybe even her life. Sloan would be angry. How far would he go in punishing them?
For one brief moment, he allowed himself to consider staying. He and Alicia could be together in this strange world, share an apartment, sleep in each other’s arms for the rest of his life.
But it was only a fantasy. He knew what would happen if he didn’t return; they would send someone else to find them.
The thought of what might happen to her made him shudder.
No, he had to leave before she woke. He couldn’t gaze into her eyes again and still have the strength to walk away.
“Forgive me, my love,” he whispered.
Sighing under the weight of heartbreak, he rose from her bedside.
> Chapter Three
Alicia stretched, wondering at the strange kinks in her back and legs.
As she woke, she remembered the cause and smiled.
She’d never experienced sex like she’d had with Cole. After the initial round on the sofa, he’d carried her to bed and started over. With their urgent needs fulfilled, he’d taken his time, driven her mad with desire and then quenched it.
She’d planned to ask more about his tribe, or whatever it was, but they’d fallen asleep, exhausted. As she’d drifted off, she’d decided it would be better to talk over breakfast anyway.
“Cole?”
Alicia crawled out of bed, slipped on a T-shirt, and padded into the bathroom, where she found no sign of him. A few minutes later, she discovered he also wasn’t in the kitchen. She stopped to make coffee.
Had he gone back to his apartment? After all they’d shared, it seemed a little odd. Still, since he only lived next door, it wasn’t a big deal. Maybe he didn’t want to wake her and had gone home to fix breakfast.
She should go over and say hello, let him know that she was up. The thought of his golden eyes heavy with sleep and his wild hair mussed made her mouth water. And his magnificent body still warm from bed…
“Coffee,” she reminded herself.
She poured a cup, found her blue jeans, and ran her fingers through her hair. Unable to wait a moment longer, she hurried next door and rang the bell.
Sipping coffee, she turned to look out at Sandia Crest, topped by a perfectly clear sky. Not a single cloud in the sky.
Turning back to the door, she rang the bell again. Maybe Cole was in the shower, or asleep.
She knocked and the door squeaked open several inches under her knuckles.
“Cole?” Alicia leaned in. “It’s me.”
She hesitated for a moment, wondering if she should just walk in. She’d never been inside Cole’s apartment.
She wasn’t fooling herself into believing the man was in love with her, or even had any special feelings for her. It was just sex, after all.
Great sex, but still just sex.
“Cole? Where are you?”
The living room had only the furniture provided by the complex, with no knickknacks or pictures. Not even a television.
Listening for any sound, she tiptoed down the hallway past the open bathroom door, to his bedroom, where she froze in the doorway. “What the hell?”
The room was empty except for a bare mattress. She stepped in and opened the closet to find only empty hangers.
Her heartbeat raced as she placed her coffee cup on the dresser and opened each drawer. She rushed to the bathroom, ripped open the medicine chest, and looked in the drawers and cabinets.
Nothing. No sign that he’d ever been there.
What was going on? Had he left in the middle of the night?
Why would he do such a thing?
Straightening, she studied herself in the mirror. Her reflection looked strange, somehow, as if she were looking at someone else. Not that there was any obvious change. Still, there was something.
Raising her chin, she saw the hint of a hickey on her neck. She drew the collar of her shirt down.
“Son of bitch.”
On her left shoulder, she found a bright red mark. A bite mark.
As she leaned closer to the mirror and studied it, she recalled the excitement of his mouth on her shoulder. She’d had no idea he’d been biting her hard enough to draw blood at the time.
Letting her hand fall to her side, she sighed. “Great.”
Trying to ignore the heavy weight of sudden disappointment, she flipped off the light, retrieved her coffee cup from the bedroom and dragged herself back to her own apartment.
Why the hell did she feel as if she’d just lost someone she loved?
The closer Cole got to home, the more hopeless he felt. Because he’d failed in his mission, his people were in jeopardy.
Stooping, he entered the gateway and then walked slowly through the darkness, inhaling deep breaths of damp air as he went. His footsteps echoed off the walls and Guardians slid from his path. He emerged on the other side into bright sunshine, gazing down on the open field. Many nights he’d spent lying in this field watching shooting stars and wishing for a mate.
The memory of Alicia clawed at his heart.
He worked his way silently down the rocky path, in no great hurry to stand before his mother or the elders. He’d left The Valley as a savior and returned as a failure.
Movement drew his attention to three youngsters bounding across the field, laughing and grabbing at each other’s arms. They saw him and waved.
Cole raised his hand in return.
His gaze swept from the ground to the cliff across the valley and stopped on the opening that led to his childhood home. A shadow slid across the doorway. His mother, most likely.
He took another deep breath and blew it out.
No one stopped him as he crossed the narrow valley, but several waved and others stared. Maybe his expression gave him away.
He jogged up the side of the cliff, following ancient trails that wound through pumice and sandstone, climbing higher and higher until he neared the top.
He turned off the trail and climbed the ladder. Pulling back the blanket at the doorway, he entered his mother’s home.
“Cole!” She dashed forward but stopped as she reached for his arms. Her hazel eyes widened.
He tried his best to smile reassuringly but failed miserably.
Her eyes darkened. “Son?”
“Hi, Mother.”
“Did you find her?”
He nodded.
“And?”
He leaned forward and kissed her smooth cheek. In spite of her years and the gray that streaked her temples, she looked young enough to be his sister.
Her grip tightened on his arms. “What happened?”
Cole turned away from her, gently breaking free, and walked to the counter where he drank a dipper of cold water. Wiping his mouth, he faced her again. “I failed.”
“What do you mean? You explained things to her?”
He nodded again.
“And she refused to help?”
“No.” He took his mother’s hand, led her to the sofa and drew her down beside him. Cool air wafted through the window opening, carrying familiar scents of evergreens, sage, warm rocks and sulfur from the springs. “I couldn’t give her the choice.”
“I don’t understand.”
Cole swallowed hard. He’d never spoken of intimate matters with his mother, which made admitting his failing all that more difficult. “We…I, um, marked her.”
His mother’s eyes widened again. “You mated with her?”
Heat climbed up his neck and burned his face. “Yes. I don’t know what happened. We were eating dinner and talking, and then—“
“Dinner?”
He nodded, recalling the meal. “It was amazing. Chicken mole, she said.”
“Mole? Was it dark?”
He nodded again.
His mother shook her head slowly. “Chocolate. It’s intoxicating.”
He frowned at the thought. Intoxicating? If he hadn’t accepted Alicia’s dinner invitation, he might have maintained control.
His mother stared into space as if trying to comprehend the unimaginable.
After a long while, she looked at him. “Do you love this woman?”
He glanced down at his hand where it held his mother’s. “Yes, I do.”
“Do you also understand what this means?”
He nodded.
As she caressed his face with her fingers, his gaze snapped back to hers.
“So like your father,” she whispered, and her eyes filled with tears.
She drew him to her and he let her stroke his hair and lean her head on his shoulder.
When she released him, she leaned back and smiled. “I’ll prepare a meal while you rest. We’ll tell the others later.”
“I’ll tell the other
s,” he said. “This is my doing, not yours.”
She touched his cheek once more, running her fingers tenderly down the scar. “I could no more abandon you than you could me.”
Guilt tightened his gut. That was exactly what he had done by letting selfish desire lead his actions, no matter what the circumstances.
“Mother—“
She hushed him with her fingers to his lips. “Your room is ready.”
He watched her rise and move to the kitchen where she drew herbs from the shelves. With a sigh, he stood and made his way to his room.
His bed awaited, covered with the same blanket he’d had all his life. Heavily woven designs had faded a little, but still offered the comfort of his childhood. Shedding his clothes, he raised the covers and crawled in, thankful for a chance to catch up on a little sleep.
As soon as he closed his eyes, however, he saw Alicia’s face, her eyelids heavy and her lips parted as she approached release, and he groaned.
“Ko’oe please, I need to know.” Alicia studied the woman’s back. Her mother’s older sister stood at the window, facing the blue-green mountains.
“The man, the one who told you, why do you believe him?”
Alicia’s fingers rose to her throat. “He has a necklace like mine. Exactly like it. And he told me about mountain lions before I mentioned my dreams.” She pictured Cole’s golden eyes filled with concern. “He said they weren’t dreams.” She dropped her hand to her lap. “I need to know about my father. It’s not fair to keep the truth from me.”
“You know the stories,” the woman said, still looking out the window, “about how we came to be?”
Alicia fought a wave of impatience. She’d heard the stories about the Lake People. That wasn’t the history she was here to learn. But her aunt was traditional, which was why Alicia had come to her in the first place. The woman would answer questions in her own way.
“The third man who emerged,” her aunt said, “he was attacked by the animals. He asked them why they scratched him, and they told him it was their blessing. The marks of the animals meant he could walk among them without being hurt. You remember the stories?” She turned then to look at Alicia.
“Yes, I remember.”
“Good.” Her aunt sat in front of her, hands folded in her lap. “There are other stories you never heard, stories that can not be shared except with those chosen. Your grandmother, she was told the stories by her mother, and she told them to your mother and to me. I will tell my daughters when it is time. Today I tell you what your mother would have. But these stories are more sacred than sacred, and must never be repeated. Not until it is time for you to tell your daughters. Do you understand?”
