by Wood, Vivian
And yet Rhys had barely touched her. He trailed quick, damp kisses over her neck and shoulder, strong, calloused fingers holding her head in place. Echo let out a pent-up breath and hooked a hand over his shoulder, trying to pull his lips to hers.
Rhys didn’t give an inch, instead brushing his lips along her jawline from her chin up to her ear. He teased her ear with the tip of his tongue, nipping her earlobe and blowing a gentle breath into her ear, driving her crazy. Echo bit her lip and pressed closer to him, clenching her thighs against the ache growing there.
Rhys kissed the very corner of her mouth and her lips parted on a sigh. He tightened his grip on her neck, stopping her restless movements as he dragged his bottom lip over hers, then pulled back when she tried to kiss him back.
“Relax, Echo,” Rhys said. She opened her eyes and gazed up at him, blushing at the intense male satisfaction on his face. She wanted him, yes. And he was toying with her, making sure she knew he was in control.
“Just kiss me,” she demanded, her gaze narrowing to a glare.
“Mmm,” Rhys murmured, noncommittal. “Patience.”
He released her instead, shocking her to the core when he grabbed the hem of her shirt and tugged it up over her head, tossing it aside. He didn’t ask for permission, but his gaze never left her face as he stroked her arms, her hips, her ribs.
Rhys licked his lower lip as he slid his fingers under her bra straps, pulling and releasing them with a soft snap. Echo’s breathing grew ragged as he skimmed his fingertips over the cups of her bra, and she couldn’t resist arching in to his touch.
“I want to take this off,” Rhys said, hooking one of the cups with a finger and tugging it away from her body.
Echo swallowed, raising her chin to issue her challenge.
“Not unless you kiss me first,” she insisted.
Rhys grinned, and Echo knew she’d said just the right thing.
10
Chapter Ten
Rhys
If Rhys had been trying to evoke a response from Echo, he’d succeeded. His sultry blonde would-be mate was stripped down to a filmy pink brassiere, her lips plush and pouty and begging for his kiss. Just this moment, Echo was staring at him with a distinctly hungry look in her eyes, and Rhys was struggling to keep his more primal impulses in check.
He blamed the lingerie she wore; in his day, women were either fully clothed or completely naked, and as it turned out, there was nothing so enticing as a woman who hovered in between. Though Rhys had seen photos of models in such clothing and had researched modern women’s garments online, seeing Echo in lingerie was infinitely more exciting. He tried not to stare at her brassiere, but the way the thin fabric clung to her body made him want to see what lay under her tightly-fitted jeans.
He wanted nothing more than to strip her bare, flip her over so her undoubtedly perfect ass was in the air, and fuck her until she was hoarse from screaming his name. If he had ever been this tempted by a lass back in Scotland, he would’ve no doubt already taken her in a dark castle hallway.
Unfortunately, Echo wasn’t some lusty serving wench. She was modern, first off. Second, she was going to be his mate, and the last thing Rhys wanted was to sour things between them by moving too fast.
Just because he knew they were going to end up together was no reason for impatience. The lass who would carry his bairns deserved the sun and the moon, not some rushed and unsatisfying rutting.
“Not unless you kiss me first,” she’d fired back as he toyed with her bra.
Well, if it was a kiss she wanted…
Rhys slid his hands around Echo’s waist and yanked her closer, dropping his mouth to hers. He waited, his lips a heartbeat from hers, stretching the moment as long as he could. Echo sighed against his lips, her hunger and desire reflecting his exactly. She leaned against him, her bare skin warm against his arms, and her eyes fluttered shut.
The perfect moment.
Rhys fused his lips to hers, devouring the soft sound of pleasure that Echo released. Her mouth was everything he could want, so warm and sweet as she welcomed him in. Rhys coaxed her lips with his own, using the kiss to test her responsiveness. Echo met him stroke for stroke, the movement of her clever tongue making his cock throb.
Rhys slid his hand up her back to her bra, trying not to lose his focus on Echo as he worked out how to unclasp the flimsy silken material. He managed it after a moment, then brought both hands up to her shoulders to draw the straps across her shoulders and down her arms. He watched her face the whole while, enjoying the blush that spread over her cheeks even as the desire in her eyes grew.
Rhys kissed her deeply once more before he pulled the garment from her body, taking a moment to admire her bared breasts. They were high and full, perfectly round and tipped in dusky rose nipples that made his cock twitch even as his mouth watered.
Reaching out, Rhys watched Echo’s face as he brushed the pad on his thumb over one pebbled nipple. Her eyes were dark with lust, skin flushed with excitement. She swept her tongue over her lips as she watched him watching her, and Rhys was suddenly overwhelmed by the need to watch her find release, to brand her in an unforgettable way.
Rhys settled Echo back onto the pillows propped against the couch, bowing her back and thrusting her breasts higher. He slid his hands up from her waist, teasing her ribcage, and shaped her breasts with his hands. The creamy globes were more than a handful each, firm and warm to the touch.
Rhys shifted and lowered his mouth to her breast, building the anticipation for both of them as he explored the valley between her breasts with his lips. Echo squirmed, and Rhys caught a hint of her excitement despite her remaining clothing.
Unable to wait another moment, Rhys closed his lips over her nipple, tonguing it slowly. Echo’s throaty cry of pleasure nearly killed him. Rhys didn’t stop for a second, tormenting both her breasts with his lips, tongue, and teeth until she begged him for more.
“Rhys, please…” Echo said, her fingers clutching at his t-shirt.
“Please, what?” he asked, releasing her nipple.
Echo pulled back a few inches and practically ripped his shirt off, which made him grin. His smile only grew wider when he saw her blatant admiration of his body. She bit her lip and explored his shoulders, chest, and stomach with gentle touches.
When her fingers trailed down his abs toward the waistband of his jeans, his body clenched involuntarily, muscles flexing. Echo licked her lips again, and Rhys lost his patience.
“Lick your lips again while you’re staring at my cock,” Rhys challenged. “I dare you, lass.”
Echo’s gaze jumped up to his and she went completely red.
“I—” she started, but Rhys had no patience for it now. He got to his feet and swept Echo up in his arms, carrying her through the living room and into his bedroom.
Tossing Echo to his bed, he unzipped his jeans but left them on. He’d never quite got the hang of underwear, finding them too restrictive, and he didn’t think Echo was ready for the full show just yet.
Her jeans, on the other hand, were unzipped and removed immediately. True to his fantasy, she wore a tiny scrap of pink gossamer underneath. Rhys rubbed his hand over his abs and groaned to himself, trying to emblazon the image in his memory.
“Turn over,” he said, twirling his finger in the air. “I think I need to see the whole thing.”
Echo’s brows shot up, her chest rising and falling a couple of times. After a moment, she rolled over onto her stomach, instantly giving Rhys a lifetime’s worth of fantasy material.
Her rear was broadly formed, her legs long and lush, and a tiny strip of pink silk peeked out from between the twin globes of her ass.
“Fuck, woman. You’re killing me,” Rhys said.
He knelt on the bed, trapping her legs between his knees. Running his hands up the backs of her inner thighs, he noticed that she trembled under his attentions. He cupped and squeezed her buttocks, spreading them a little to admire her lingerie once more.
He plucked at the band of her panties where they nestled near the top of her buttocks.
“I’m going to take these off,” he told Echo.
She turned her head for a moment to glance at him, then nodded. She’d gone quiet at his display of dominance, but the fevered longing in her eyes was crystal clear. As was the dampness of her panties as Rhys peeled them from her body.
Finally Echo was naked before him, spread out on his bed, ready for his touch. Rhys leaned down and kissed her upper back, then the side of her buttock, suppressing a little smile when she tensed, unsure of his intentions.
He moved back for a moment, releasing her legs.
“Roll over, lass. I want to see your face,” he told her.
Echo rolled over, watching him closely. Rhys guided her to move as he wished, raising her knees off the bed. He nudged her knees apart, giving a little smirk when she resisted, looking abashed.
“Rhys…” she said, looking uncomfortable for the first time since he’d met her.
“I want to see you, Echo. All of you,” Rhys said. “I want to make you feel very, very good.”
Echo’s mouth pressed into a firm line, but she let him spread her knees wide, her thighs parting to reveal her glistening pink sex. Rhys admired her for several long moments before stretching out beside her. He lay on his side, facing Echo, and hooked her knee over his hip to give himself full access to her body.
“You are exquisite,” Rhys murmured to Echo. “I hope you know that.”
He trailed his fingertips from her navel to her hip, down to her knee, then traced a line back up her inner thigh. She tensed a little, but Rhys took his time, building up the moment, teasing her dark blonde curls, running touch his over her mons in light strokes.
The air filled with her scent, an intoxicating musk that had Rhys’s bear clawing wildly for escape. He ignored the filthy images streaming through his mind, images of him filling and fucking his mate in every imaginable position, and focused on coaxing her release first.
Rhys traced her outer lips with two fingertips, watching Echo’s hunger build, noticing when a fine sheen of perspiration broke out over her skin. He longed to have her stroke him in the same manner, but when her searching fingers found his waistband, he gently pushed her hand away.
Echo shot him a look of utter frustration, but Rhys only smiled and ran a single fingertip up and down her slick slit, keeping the pressure too light for any real stimulation.
When Echo’s body began to dampen the sheets below, when she was breathing hard and groaning with frustration, only then did Rhys find and circle her clit with his thumb.
“Ah!” Echo cried, her hips jerking up to meet his touch.
“Easy,” Rhys chided, moving her leg and shifting to kneel between her legs.
He hadn’t done this before, but he’d watched plenty of modern pornography. He hadn’t understood the desire until about five minutes ago, but he suddenly needed to taste his mate… intimately.
Echo shot him a look that was somewhere between wild desire and utter fear, and Rhys was shocked to realize that this might actually be an important moment between them. Echo had surrendered control to him, and in exchange, he must fulfill his promise to bring her to climax.
To his surprise, exploring Echo with his mouth came naturally. He buried his face in the juncture of her thigh, inhaling a deep dose of her scent, dropping teasing kisses on her sensitive skin.
When he spread her lips wide with two fingers, she was already soaked for him. He exposed the small bud at the very top of her sex, tracing the delicate folds with the tip of his tongue. Echo nearly shot off the bed, her back arching as she cried out. One of her hands cradled the side of Rhys’s head, the other clutched the sheets.
Rhys let his eyes close as he swirled his tongue around her most tender flesh. He kept his pace slow, his touch soft. He knew precisely how he wanted her to finish, and he didn’t want to rush to get there.
As he tongued her clit, he slowly pressed one thick finger into her core. Her body was slick with need, accepting first one and then two fingers with ease, her muscles fluttering and gripping him in a way that made his cock throb with need.
When he finally had his mate, she would be incredible; in all likelihood, she would unman him in moments unless he kept himself tightly controlled.
Rhys had never tasted a woman like this before, but pleasing one with his hands was nothing new to him. As he kissed and lapped at her clit, he rotated his hand just so, fingertips curling up toward her navel, seeking…
“AH!” Echo cried, writhing against his hand. “Rhys, yes! Oh, oh…”
Rhys closed his lips over her clit and sucked gently, tapping an insistent tattoo with his fingertips, working his fingers in and out of her tightness. Echo lasted less than a minute more before she exploded, a sob escaping her lips as her body tensed and gushed against Rhys’s mouth and fingers. Her release went on and on, and Rhys helped her ride and crest the wave, drawing out her pleasure until she finally dragged him away.
Echo wrapped herself around Rhys and kissed him deeply, taking control for the moment, and Rhys didn’t mind. The sensation of kissing her with her musk clinging to his lips and tongue was erotic, and the feel of a sated mate in his arms was unbeatable.
When Echo’s kiss turned heated once more, her hand crawling down his stomach, he trapped her seeking fingers and brought them up to his lips for a kiss.
“Tomorrow,” he said, not wanting to spoil the moment. Tonight had been about Echo, about showing her what he could offer as her mate, showing her why she would return to his bed night after night. Why she would gladly refuse all others, just as Rhys would do.
Unfortunately, Echo didn’t seem pleased with his answer. Her disappointment was evident.
“You think I’ll hurt you,” she said, looking hurt.
“What?” Rhys asked.
“You think I’ll do what I did to that… that creature at Tee-Elle’s house.” She wiggled her fingers to indicate vanishing, and Rhys puzzled over that for a moment.
“The succubus,” he said at last.
“Yeah. You think… I mean, I can’t control my powers very well,” Echo said.
“Lass, I don’t think that,” Rhys reached for her, but Echo drew away.
Clambering off the bed, she retrieved her panties, shooting him a last glance before fleeing the room. Rhys laid back on his bed with a loud huff, wondering how Echo had gone from pleasure to anger so quickly.
Where had he gone so wrong?
11
Chapter Eleven
Echo
Echo sighed as she tugged on an olive sundress she’d discovered in her seemingly bottomless wardrobe, wondering whose job it was to select and purchase her clothing. Somehow she couldn’t imagine Duverjay picking out dressed and panties and strappy sandals, perhaps because she’d only ever seen him in formal attire.
“No, Echo, you can’t help find your aunt,” she said, butchering Rhys’s accent with her mimicry. “Just let us do our job, Echo. Stay in the house, Echo.”
Echo sized herself up in the mirror, biting her lip. The dress clung to her body in all the right places, the neckline cut a little low to show off Echo’s cleavage. She’d picked out a pair of low wedge heels and pinned her hair up with a flower.
All part of her scheme to torment Rhys, who was being awkward as hell around her and demanding that she take no part in rescuing her own kidnapped family member.
“No way, buster,” Echo muttered, though Rhys wasn’t around to hear her. “You don’t get to stay away from me and still be all possessive. One or the other.”
To be fair, most of the awkwardness was Echo’s doing. She was researching her abilities, trying to figure out how to keep herself from turning Rhys into a piece of werebear toast if and when she ever got close to hooking up with him again.
And oh, did she ever want that. The lure of Rhys was stronger than ever, seemingly growing by the moment. It was partially her curiosity,
partially the magical cosmic chemistry between them… and maybe just a teeny, tiny part pure lust on Echo’s account.
But none of that meant that she should risk his well-being, of course.
Echo sighed and headed downstairs, but this time she sought not Rhys but Aeric. Since she’d had a decent amount of free time while Rhys made himself scarce, Echo had come up with a good plan to find Tee-Elle, a plan that she was fairly certain would actually work.
The problem was that she needed a scrying mirror to find Tee-Elle, and someone to watch her back. She was still uncertain of her magical abilities. She didn’t want to make some tiny mistake that might have catastrophic repercussions, so she needed someone more experienced to stay with her while she used the mirror.
After a bit of consideration, she’d chosen Aeric. Of the three Guardians, Aeric seemed the most likely to help Echo without feeling the need to tell Rhys every little thing. Gabriel and Rhys were too chummy, but Aeric didn’t seem like anyone’s buddy.
Echo found Aeric alone in the living area on the first floor, sitting at the big conference table. He was studying a massive book bound in cracked brown leather, lips moving silently as he read. She watched him from a distance, realizing that his perpetual expression of anger masked just how handsome he was.
His ash blond hair was immaculately groomed, just long enough to look amazing parted on one side and brushed back from his face. He was just as tall as Rhys and even more solidly built, his torso resembling nothing so much as a tree trunk.
Echo grabbed a bottle of water out of the kitchen fridge and then sauntered over to him, trying to appear casual.
Her nervousness ruined any attempt at being suave when she dropped the unopened bottle of water on the table. It bounced and landed right on the book, making Aeric scowl and swat the bottle away.
