His Feverish Embrace: Real Men of Wildridge

by Kyle, Celia

  * * *

  The moment their lips touched, he knew there’d be no stopping them.

  The warmth of her mouth remained as alluring as he remembered it to be, as did the curves of her tapered waist. With one hand resting on her left hip, his fingers digging into her thigh, he used the other one to reach behind her. His fingers pushed the door open, and they spilled into the room together.

  Closing the door with the heel of his boot, he spun Rylan around and pinned her against it. The dry crack of her body hitting the wood ignited something inside him. His tongue parted her lips, her delicious taste flooding him, and a scorching heat took residence right between his legs. With his heart thumping at a thousand miles an hour, he willingly shut down the rational part of his brain, allowing his best instincts—as well as his worst—to take over.

  Fuck, I missed this, he thought, relishing the closeness of their bodies. As she melted into his embrace, her breasts pressed against his chest, and he felt himself stiffen. Boiling blood rushed down his body and his cock thickened at once, his flesh straining against the fabric of his pants. He was rock hard, all of his desire and excitement pooling in his hardness.

  For a man who never considered deviating from his rules, he was more than willing to throw them aside now. Rylan was just too precious for him to lock her inside a box labeled as one-night-stand-only. Her presence ignited hellfire inside him, her voice made the hair on his neck stand up on end, and her gaze never failed to make his dragon stir. When it came to Thrett, she was a tinderbox, one designed to plunge him into the depths of an all-consuming wildfire.

  “I want you,” he whispered against her lips, both of his hands now resting on her hips. His overstretched fingers went down to the hemline of her dress, brushing against the naked skin right above her knees, and she moaned softly. Despite the wall she had erected between them—one that she had refused to tear down no matter what—she seemed to want him just as much as he wanted her. “I need you.”

  Threading his fingers into her auburn hair, he brought his lips down to her neck, gently nibbling at her tender flesh. She threw her head back, more than willing to offer herself to him, and he allowed his mouth to wander. The tip of his tongue navigated down her delicate neckline, and soon enough he was tasting the skin hidden in the valley between her breasts.

  Gently, he took his hands to her shoulders and tugged at the straps of her dress. He pulled them down, the fabric draping over her chest, and the outer edge of her black lace bra jumped into sight. He pulled back from her just so he could take in the half-nakedness of her breasts, and his heart tightened into a ball of desire. She was as beautiful as he remembered. No, somehow she had become even more beautiful.

  “Take me,” she breathed, her voice mellow and tender. Her half-lidded eyes found his and, never looking away from him, she hooked her fingers in his belt and pulled him toward her. “Now.”

  More than willing to oblige, he ran his fingers up her spine until he found the clasp of her bra. One quick flick of his fingers and the cups drooped over her breasts, her rosy nipples revealing themselves to him. Gritting his teeth, a tidal wave of desire washed over him. He tore the bra off of her body and pushed her dress down, bunching it around her waist.

  The magnetism of her half-naked body drew him in, and he leaned into her again. Patiently, he laid gentle kisses against the rising curve of her right breast and then sucked her hard nipple into his mouth. Twirling his tongue around it, her quivering little moans wrapping themselves around his thoughts, he found himself losing all control.

  Keeping one hand on her waist, he allowed the other to rest on her knee. He cupped it with his open palm and slid his fingers underneath the hemline of her dress. His breath caught in his throat as he caressed the tender flesh of her inner thighs, and his heart seemed more than ready to jump out from his chest as he felt the drenched fabric of her thong against his fingers.

  Without a moment’s hesitation, he pressed the open palm of his hand between her legs. Gently, he flicked his wrist a couple of times, massaging her wetness through the fabric of her underwear. No more than a second later, she started swaying her hips, pressing herself against his hand.

  The ebb and flow of their movements reminded him of their first time together, and the way those memories resurfaced so easily surprised him. He was the kind of man who’d always lived in the moment, and he wasn’t exactly known for his great memory when it came to women. If he had to guess, he would say he didn’t like having the past weighing him down.

  With Rylan, though…

  He had kept a map of her body inside his mind, and the memories of that first night were engraved in his brain. How many times had he fallen asleep remembering the way her cherry lips had felt when pressed against his own? How many times had he found himself thinking of that auburn-haired woman whose gaze had pierced his soul? Far too many times for him to count.

  Before he even knew what he was doing, he went down on one knee. He needed to experience her in her entirety, and he knew exactly how to do that. Grinning like a madman, he pulled on her dress until the fabric was pooled around her ankles, and his eyes immediately darted to the flimsy thong covering her wetness. Breathing hard, his lungs feeling like two over-inflated balloons, he moved in for the kill.

  He pressed his mouth against her drenched thong, her feminine scent driving him crazy, and his hands shot up to her backside. His palms felt just right as they rested over her curves, and he closed his eyes as he savored the moment. Then, as carefully as he could in his lust-induced state, he bit on the fabric of her thong and pulled it down her thighs.

  “Oh, god,” she moaned softly, her fingers running through his hair as she allowed him to peel her underwear down her legs. She was completely naked now, her perfection on full display, and the sight was so glorious Thrett found himself hesitating. He took in the shape of her inner lips, the skin glistening from how wet she was, and the urge to taste her welled up inside him.

  His fingers dug into her backside and he dove in.

  Resting his open mouth over her aching pussy, he ran his tongue up her inner lips. He circled her clit with a quick flick of his tongue and then went down again, tracing the contour of her sweet nakedness with maddening patience.

  Rylan, though, didn’t care much for patience.

  She brought one leg up, threw it over his shoulder, and then yanked on his hair. She forced him against her, thrusting against his mouth, and he responded to that with all the fiery intensity he was capable of. Wrapping his lips around her clit, he sucked it into his mouth and whipped at it with his tongue. He did it over and over again, enjoying how she struggled to keep her voice down, and only then did he decide to up the ante.

  Still keeping his mouth around her clit, he brought one hand up between her legs. He brushed two fingers against her inner lips, enjoying how slick they felt, and took his time parting them. Then, as slowly as he possibly could, he started easing in. Her inner walls felt warm and tight around his fingers, and his heart skipped a beat as he imagined how it’d feel to truly be inside of her again.

  One thing at a time, he thought.

  He kept going until he hit that sweet spot hidden inside of her, his fingers curled into a hook. Pressing hard against that hidden trigger, he made her moans turn into a quickly muffled scream, her sweet voice echoing throughout the dimly lit house. Eager to hear more of it, he started moving his fingers in a coming and going motion, the pace of it matching the frenzied movements of his tongue.

  It didn’t take long before Rylan succumbed to the madness of it all. She went silent, her entire body tensing up, and Thrett could almost feel the electricity crackling under her skin. Pushing her hips forward, she thrust her pussy against his mouth and fingers as hard as she could, and he returned the favor, pressing back.

  “I’m going to—”

  She never got to finish her sentence.

  Her words died in her throat as she moaned, the sound of her voice fierce enough to shatter glass
, and the tension that permeated her body vanished in a fraction of a second. She went limp, the leg she had raised weighing down on his shoulder, and he heard her ragged breathing as the muscles on her thighs softly twitched.

  Pulling back from her, Thrett rose to his feet.

  He took in the blissful expression on her face. Locks of hair tumbled over her cheeks, and her crimson lips begged for his. How could he have survived for so long without seeing that expression again?

  “You look so…” He trailed off, his right hand reaching for her face. His fingers brushed against her cheek as he tucked a stray lock of hair over her ear. She trembled softly under his touch, and her eyelids fluttered open. Her lips were slightly parted as she tried to catch her breath, but soon enough a dazed smile lit up her face. That was enough to draw him in.

  Leaning in, he kissed the corner of her mouth, that flavor of ripe strawberries and feminine wonders reminding him of how much he’d missed her.

  “What do I look like?” she asked him, her words a barely audible whisper.

  “Like the most beautiful woman on Earth,” he replied, surprised at how easily the words slipped from his lips. He knew how to use words to get a woman into bed, perhaps better than any man should be allowed to, but he wasn’t used to genuine truths like these. Yet, it felt right to say it.

  “You’ve always been a good liar.”

  “I don’t lie,” he threw back, his tone matching the quiet intensity of hers. “Especially not when it comes to you.”

  He felt as if he was walking on the edge of a sharp razor. When was the last time he had felt so exposed? When was the last time he had felt such an undeniable pull toward someone? As if to offer a reply to those questions, the dragon inside him growled. Yes, he had to admit it. He had only felt like this once before, and that had been with Rylan.

  “You think smooth talking will be enough to make me weak in the knees?” She laid both hands on his chest as she spoke, her thumbs brushing against the collar of his shirt. Looking straight into his eyes, she popped open the top two buttons. “You’ll have to try harder, Thrett.”

  “I don’t think so,” he said, cupping her breasts with his hands. Her nipples hardened even more against his palms, and her fingers started to hurry as she worked her way down his shirt. Untucking the fabric, she then splayed her hands over his abs, feeling every groove and ridge of his muscles before she moved up to his shoulders. “I was pretty close to your knees just a minute ago, Rylan, and they seemed pretty weak already.”

  “Oh, shut up,” she said, a hint of laughter in her voice. Pushing his shirt down his shoulders, she yanked it off his body and then took her fingers down to his belt. There was a metallic clink as she undid the buckle, and a leathery whoosh as she pulled the belt free from its loops.

  She didn’t even let him catch his breath. Turning her hand around, she flattened it over his boxer briefs, pinning his hard length against his body. Her fingers tightened around his cock and she started stroking him right away. Every time her fingers ran up his length made him even more delirious than he already was.

  Eager for more, he kicked off his boots, allowing his pants to fall down his legs. As he stepped out from them, Rylan hooked her fingers on his boxer briefs and pulled them down, his cock springing free so fast it slapped the back of her hand.

  “Weren’t you afraid of dragons?” he asked her, a teasing lilt to his voice.

  “Not anymore,” she replied, dragging her teeth across her bottom lip. She grabbed him by the root once more, her fingers traveling up and down his length, and he realized he couldn’t take a single minute more of this endless teasing.

  Sweeping her into his arms, he picked her up and turned on his heels. Only then did he realize he didn’t know where her bedroom was. He didn’t let that stop him. A tour of the house would be in order, surely, but not now. As it was, the couch in the living room would have to do.

  “No, not here,” she breathed out, her eyes widening as she dug her fingers into his bicep. He arched one eyebrow up, confused, but it didn’t seem like she’d offer an explanation. Instead, she merely pointed down the hallway, and Thrett followed her directions until he found himself in her bedroom.

  He put her down on the bed, his naked body following after hers, and a shiver ran up his spine as he felt his hardness brushing against her drenched pussy. It took all he had not to ease himself in right away. As much as he needed to do it, he didn’t want to rush through things. He wanted to take his sweet time and savor each detail of what was happening, even if that was the hardest thing he would ever do.

  Resting his forehead against hers, he looked into her eyes, losing himself in their sweetness. Right then, he wanted nothing more than to let that moment stretch into eternity. He wouldn’t mind being trapped there, in that last frontier in time before their bodies became one. It was the sweetest purgatory he’d ever known. Still, after purgatory lay heaven, and he couldn’t resist its allure.

  “You have no idea how much I want you,” he said, and the truth of it scared him. He didn’t even know it was possible to want someone as fiercely as he wanted her. Every cell of his body cried for her, every fiber of his being brimming with unrepentant desperation. “I wish I had the words to—”

  “You don’t need words,” she cut him short and, as if to prove her point, crushed her mouth against his. Their kiss went from gentle to frenzied, and Thrett found himself gripping his cock by the base. He angled it down until the tip was pressed against her wetness and then held his breath as everything hung in the balance. Time slowed to a crawl around them, and then he exhaled.

  One thrust and he was in.

  She felt as tight as he remembered, except there was an added edge to their encounter this time. He didn’t exactly know what that edge represented, but he didn’t particularly care. Right then and there, the only thing he cared about was the way their bodies had become tangled.

  With one hand resting on the nape of her neck, he started rocking his hips, his movements subtle and tender. That didn’t last long. Before he knew it, he was putting all of his strength behind his hips, pistoning into her as if he needed to make up for all the time they had spent apart.

  He ravaged her like a wild predator tearing into the most delicate of prey, his lips pressed against hers as he moved. Agreeing to the fury of it all, Rylan wrapped her legs around his waist, trapping him in place, and that made him go even harder. A lone bead of sweat trickled down from his temple, his muscles burning from the effort, but he refused to acknowledge his own exhaustion.

  Instead, he used it as fuel.

  He had no limits to how far he could push himself, and his dragon seemed to agree with that sentiment. He felt its powerful shape moving underneath the surface of his consciousness, and he had to bite his tongue to keep it restrained. It was unusual for his dragon to act in such an unruly manner during sex but, then again, Rylan was an unknown factor, one powerful enough to throw the shifter equation off balance.

  She let out a moan as she lost her right hand in his hair, and her left one wandered to his backside. She dug the fingers into his flesh, urging him to go even faster, and he obeyed willingly. Then, as if his intensity had become too much for her, she tightened her legs around his waist, forcing him to slow down.

  “Is something wrong?” he asked, and she replied with a devilish grin.

  Rolling her hips to the side, she forced him to lie on his back and followed after him. She placed her knees on either side of his thighs, straddling him, and then dug her fingernails into his chest. Her jaw was clenched, almost as if she was struggling with the desire coursing through her. Whatever madness Rylan had awoken inside him, it seemed like she had surrendered to it as well.

  “Nothing’s wrong,” she finally said, her voice husky and wild. Pushing herself a few inches off his body, she grabbed his cock and placed its tip right against her entrance. She lowered herself then, painfully slowly, and her mouth hung open in a silent moan.

  “Fuck, t
hat feels good,” he said, taking both hands to her ass. As if his touch had awoken her, she gritted her teeth and started swaying her hips, the motion of her body driving him straight toward the edge. Much like his dragon, it seemed as though even his own self-restraint was faltering. He couldn’t remember the last time his own body had defied him, but it was happening now.

  He drew in a deep breath, doing his best to remain in control, but Rylan was having none of it. She kissed him with wild abandon, her breasts mashed against his chest, and slammed herself down on his cock over and over again, the sound of flesh on flesh filling the entire room.

  She rode him until it felt as if his body was on fire, tall flames licking at everything he was. Sparks of electric desire flickered behind his eyes, and his heart was beating so fast he wouldn’t have been too surprised if the damn thing simply burst out of his chest.

  It was one thing to acknowledge the invisible string that tugged him toward Rylan, but this frenzied desperation of the flesh was something new to him. He wanted to keep her naked body against his at all times, almost as if to be apart would mean death. Could he be losing his mind? Could the cocktail of hormones rushing through his veins be making him delirious?

  No, his own voice said inside his head, it’s not that, and you know it.

  Now that…that was the truth.

  He felt mad and delirious, but he also knew he had never seen things as clearly as in that moment. Even if the two of them had been swept by a flood of desire, that didn’t put a dent on how right it all felt. Just like two missing pieces of a puzzle, something clicked between them, and he could feel it deep in his bones.

  “I’m not gonna last,” she muttered softly, her words escaping her ragged breathing.

  “Then let go,” he told her, every atom in his body barreling toward sweet release. He could feel the tension pooling in the pit of his stomach, much like a pile of gunpowder, and knew he was no more than a few seconds away from the inevitable.