by Billi Jean
“Yeah, yeah, that’s my girl, that’s my beautiful girl,” he said, sounding so husky she barely understood him above the rush of blood in her ears.
Jaxon suddenly lifted her, startling her, and turned his body to press her down on the surface of the table. He leaned over her, sampling her breasts, and hooked his arms under her knees as he began shafting her in long, slow lunges.
“Oh, Jaxon, just like that,” she groaned. She bit her palm to keep from screaming. Every inch of him filled her, and each time he thrust forward, the brush of his balls slapping into her drove her crazy. Amazing tingles started, travelled along her spine and made the back of her neck shiver.
“Ah, fuck, darlin’, you’re so tight, so hot and wet,” he said, building to a hotter and faster tempo.
“Jaxon, oh! Jaxon, there, do that, do that,” she breathed, when he latched onto her breast with his hungry mouth, and began to bounce her against his hips. “Yes, yes, yes, oh yes!” Her grasp on reality slipped, she was so lost to the pleasure between them. He could have done anything to her and she would have loved it. She pulled his hair, holding his head so he wouldn’t stop, as the rush of her climax crashed around her.
Deep in her body, he grew impossibly thick and hard. She had only a second to worry though before the thought slipped away on a cry as he gave out an agonised groan and started coming. With frantic movements of his hips, he buried himself deeper, so deep she swore he had to have reached her womb. There, with him shoved in tight, his cock flexed with each hot spurt of his cum. Her orgasm intensified, ripping aside her ability to think, and left her reeling in his arms.
She barely registered that his body began shuddering wildly, until she did as well. She wrapped her legs around his hips, arched herself to force him as tight as possible and kissed the side of his head, holding him as he continued to come.
After long, lush minutes, they both breathed easier. Jaxon sighed heavily, then kissed her breast with slow, easy kisses. She never wanted him to move, but with another harsh groan, he slowly eased from her. “Joey,” he breathed against her jaw. He rose above her, watching her face in a way that made her trace the lines of his strong features.
“Oh, Jax, I think I might need that lesson daily.”
He laughed a long, low sound that brought a smile to her face. She hugged his sweaty head and kissed his forehead again. Had she ever heard him laugh like that? So carefree and at ease?
“That would be my vote,” he said, turning his head to kiss her on the lips. “But right now, I want to take a nap with you.”
“A nap?” She let him help her off the table, and sucked in a breath when he lifted her in his arms without any warning.
“Yeah, a nap. Soon, you will need to sleep, but I want to lie down with you,” he said gruffly.
She nibbled her lip and tried to read his profile. He seemed oddly defensive.
“Are you trying a fast one on me, mister? Because I have to warn you, I just might be on to you,” she teased.
He grinned instantly and tossed her onto the bed, following so quickly she hadn’t finished bouncing before he wrapped his arms around her. His grip was tight, unlike his soft, gentle lovemaking and wild, fierce passion. This was different. His heart raced. His body was taut with tension.
Emotions, so hot they brought tears to her eyes, filled her. Jaxon held her as if she might disappear, she understood suddenly. He wanted to hold her. Clearly, he wanted this experience of holding someone a great deal.
She had a sudden, clear vision of him, sleeping here, alone, for centuries.
He’d probably never held a woman while she slept. The suspicion brought such a wash of compassion, she hugged him back, silently snuggling against his warm body until she’d found a completely comfortable position. How lonely his life must have been, she thought. Much more than hers, even. She’d grown up without a mother or father. Her father had died in a war and her mother had turned to drugs to ease his passing. Drugs and random men. That was only her childhood. Jaxon had been alone for centuries, she abruptly guessed.
She scooted closer, pressed one hand to his chest and used the other to caress his back. Some of the tension eased from his body, but he still held her tightly.
“Mmm, now this is going to be the way I always want to fall asleep,” she whispered, hoping to soothe him. Slowly his death grip on her softened. “Is that allowed? I mean do we have to sleep in coffins, or in the dirt or—”
He cut her off with a quick, hot, hungry kiss and grinned at her after, the Jaxon she knew, all arrogant and sure of himself. “Do I look like I sleep in the dirt?”
Laughing, she considered his arrogant expression and shook her head. “No, I suppose not. So this is it?”
“This is it what?” He rearranged her so he had the covers over them, and her almost entirely on top of him. He started trailing his hand over her shoulder, then began playing with the hair at the back of her neck with the warm tips of his fingers while he pressed his lips to her shoulder.
“What else is going on in that mind of yours?” he asked.
I’m supposed to think like this?
“I mean, no coffin, no…dark room with spooky bats or hanging upside down and all that? You don’t change to a pale, gruesome monster?”
He snorted against her skin, making her shiver. “Not unless I don’t get my happy ending.”
It took her several seconds to get that, but when she did, she broke out in laughter so hard, Jaxon bit her shoulder to keep her still then kissed her breathless again.
She broke the kiss with a sigh, and wrapped her hand around his silky erection, feeling positively possessive of this particular part of him. Rubbing her body against his, she purred into the strong column of his throat.
“Once more,” she whispered, kissing a path down his chest. “If you’re up to it, that is?”
She barely got the words out before she found herself flat on her back, buried under Jaxon’s fierce, passionate body. Exactly where she planned to stay.
Chapter Five
Jaxon watched the way Joey moved in the forms he’d taught her. She flowed, each part of her body in sync. Perfect. Like her. Hell, the woman was so limber she could do a backbend, kick a foot up and land on her feet. She reminded him of a Chinese acrobat—but with such sexy possibilities, he doubted the Chinese would approve, or hell, for all he knew, they invented the moves first.
“Now try to blend into the corner,” he called.
Her slim shoulders tensed under her white tank top, but she slowly eased from his vision, the lines of her becoming dim as a darker shadow appeared in the deepest corner of the underground gym. He nodded. She’d done it. Pride filled his chest. Her hard work made such a move possible, but damn if he didn’t feel like letting out a whoop.
She slowly walked out of the corner, a big, shit-eating grin on her pixie face, and he caught her in his arms when she raced for him with a happy squeal.
“I did it, huh?”
He lifted her higher in his arms. She weighed nothing, so small he knew he could hold her like this and make love for hours. Hell, hadn’t he done just that?
She smiled at him, her hazel eyes bright with happiness. Her red hair fell forward to cover one eye, but he brushed it aside and hooked the curl behind her tiny ear then rested his hands on her rounded ass. She had the most amazing eyes, slightly tilted upward at the outer corners like a kitten’s.
“You did it, baby. Like a pro,” he added, kissing her lips once just because he couldn’t go more than minutes without tasting her.
“Mmmm, a pro? Does that mean I can now learn the wolf thingy? You know, as a reward for good behaviour, oh Jedi Master.”
He shook his head at her eagerness. “Damn, you’re perfect,” he muttered, happy as shit that she loved to tease him like this. He’d driven her hard every waking hour. Each night making her learn more and more. She rocked his world. Completely. Hell, he’d not found a thing not to like about her in the past few weeks they’d had together
. If he could, he’d watch her all night, every night. And hold her every day.
“Perfect? Why is that?”
“I have no idea, but I plan on taking the next few centuries to find out,” he told her.
Her smile grew brilliant, and that heated look he knew meant one hell of a ride lit her hazel eyes, but when his phone vibrated between them, she nearly had him splitting a gut laughing when she jumped with a frightened cry.
He only stopped when she gripped his jaw in both hands and pressed kisses all over his face. Did any other male in the world know what it was to have a woman like Joey? To wake up with her soft and warm in his arms? If he’d known such a thing as this woman existed, he’d have been searching for her just like all those other sorry bastards hunted for their mates. He wanted things with Joey that made him ache to tell her. But he held back, wanting, needing really, to give her time.
“Get that, babe, then I think you need some attention.”
“Darlin’, I always need attention,” he assured her. They’d barely scratched the surface of attention in his opinion. He’d not even got to the garters and sexy-as-hell panties she owned.
“Jaxon!”
Grumbling, he put her down and motioned to the water he’d brought. She still questioned everything about her new world, but the water she thought the oddest of all for some reason. She seemed to think the blood she drank should be enough liquid. He explained that if humans needed eight glasses of water, so did she, even more really, but she drank, and that was all he could ask. Well, drinking from him, he added silently, he wanted her lips on his neck, taking her nourishment directly from him.
He dug his phone out and lifted it to his ear. “Yeah?”
“Hey, Jaxon, I hate to break in, but…” Torque cleared his throat uncomfortably.
Jaxon winked at Joey, making the mage wait in misery for a bit before he offered, “You need me to save the day?”
Joey set her water bottle down and turned serious. She reached out and touched him, rubbing along his forearm with a concerned frown. It shocked him to realise she worried for him. Not because she must have guessed he’d have to leave her alone, but because he’d be out there fighting.
“Damn, I don’t know about that,” Torque grumbled.
“But…”
“Yeah, well, there’s been other shit going on, and we need you.”
Other shit. That never sounded good. “What’s up?”
“Still the US salt mine, but it’s gotten more complicated. We can fill you in when you get here, but we kinda need to move, and fast.”
“Understood. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
Joey’s concerned expression deepened.
“Thanks, man, we owe you,” Torque said, then hung up.
“What? You have to go? Is it safe? Will you be safe?” Joey demanded, sounding frightened.
“Whoa, hold on, I’m going, but hell yeah, I’m going to be safe. Didn’t you hear the part where I said I was over six hundred and a badass?”
His joke didn’t seem to ease her. Instead, she examined his face as if she’d somehow know if he would be safe or not. He pulled her close and kissed her. So many emotions tangled in his chest, he couldn’t break one apart enough to even tell her he loved her. He did too. He loved her so deeply, he knew that all those nights being near her in the coffee shop had laid the foundation for such a strong, deep connection it would never be broken. But he couldn’t tell her that yet, not yet.
“Who was that?” she finally asked.
He’d debated how much to tell her, and now that she’d asked he frowned, not liking his instincts, but going with them. “I think it’s better you don’t know more right now, Joey. Trust me, I—”
“I do,” she hurried to say, stalling him so badly he couldn’t get his brain to function. “I do trust you, Jaxon.”
The sincerity in her voice did things to him, like tightened his throat until he could barely breathe. What would he do if he lost her? He’d find her, that was what. Decided, he squeezed her hand. “I want you to stay in the dark on this one, baby. I think it’s the best way to keep you safe. Not that anyone is hunting for you,” he said when she looked frightened. “It’s just that until you’re settled, we’re settled, I want you hidden.”
“So in case someone gets hold of me…”
“No one is getting hold of you. If anyone comes here, I want you hidden, but I don’t want you to know too much either, just in case. Can you understand that? Trust me?”
She looked so miserable and frightened, she startled him when she threw her slender arms around his neck and pressed her face to his. “I don’t want to lose you.”
He cleared the sissy shit from his throat and held her tightly. “I’m one hell of a bastard to try and kill.”
“Jaxon! Don’t say stuff like that, okay?”
“Shh, just trying to lighten your mood, huh?”
“Try dipping yourself in chocolate then, because talking about—”
He cut her off with a deep, hungry kiss. Soon, he’d promised Torque, but first, he needed to feel Joey come apart in his arms.
* * * *
Jaxon stiffened in her arms. The things he did to her, made her feel and experience, pulled her deeper and deeper in love with him. Did he realise that?
He had to leave, but still he lingered, letting her touch the hard, strong, muscles of his body. He could survive anything, couldn’t he? She rubbed her hands over his shoulders and into his silky, slightly damp hair. He’d made love to her so sweetly, hard and fast, but so tenderly too, she could still sense the emotions surging inside her chest. She loved him. And now, he was leaving. Only for a bit, but still, it was the first time since waking in his bed they’d be apart. He was keeping from her where he was going and with whom, to keep her safe, but from what she wasn’t sure. She just knew she missed him already.
“Baby,” he breathed, “you’re going to make me late.”
She snorted a laugh at his tone. He sounded so normal, like he’d be late for work or something. She wiggled on his lap, and reluctantly eased back to stare at his flushed face. “Can’t you at least tell me where are you going?”
“I have to go meet with a warlock and head to a salt mine. That’s all I feel safe letting you know. It’s better this way.” He kissed her lips again, stopping her from saying anything. “Now, watch.” Suddenly she was dressed—in a sexy dress and thigh highs with garters. “I found your sexy stuff, you little sneak,” he whispered in her ear.
“Oh!” She nearly fell off his lap laughing when he snapped her garter.
“Yeah, you’re a bad, bad girl. When do you wear this? Don’t even fuckin’ tell me to work.”
She rubbed her fingertips over his button-down shirt, and wiggled when his penis stiffened under her butt. “Stop that!”
“Like I can control that,” he told her gruffly, and grinned when she moved again. “I have to go, though. I want to show you something before I do.”
He stood and picked her up as if she weighed nothing, grinning widely when she gasped and hugged his neck. Deep inside her body, she could clench her muscles and still remember every inch of his possession, just as he always claimed.
“I want you to drink from me,” he murmured in her ear.
The thought made her shiver and not in disgust. Every day, or night, he’d made her drink bagged blood. It got easier each time. But when they made love, the warmth of his blood surging under her mouth drove her crazy with hot fantasies of drinking from him. And him from her.
“You like that idea, baby?”
Nibbling her lip, she considered it. She would, she decided. She wasn’t going to lie to him, or pretend that the idea of going down on him, even biting him along his thigh while she stroked him didn’t turn her on. He was direct, sexy as hell and drove her nuts, but she was beginning to believe, as impossible as it seemed, that he was just as crazy for her as she was for him.
“I would. Maybe when I go down on you.”
&n
bsp; He stumbled and she squealed, hugging him harder when he nearly dropped her. “Fuck! Why do you do this to me? Did I piss you off?”
She laughed so hard, he set her down beside a big picture of a man in a kilt holding a sword with dogs lying at his feet. “What? Why do you say that?”
He placed both fists on his lean hips and glared at her. “Shit, I have to leave, and the thought of those satiny-soft lips sucking my dick just might get me killed, you know?”
Suddenly serious, she hugged him around the waist. “Don’t say that, Jaxon. Please, don’t say such things.”
He wrapped an arm around her. It felt so right, she rubbed her face against his chest to keep back the sudden rush of emotions.
“Shh, I’m teasing you, baby. I focus on my fight, not my dick. I’m not going to get hurt. Hell, I’m too tough. Have some faith, would you?”
She tipped her head back to see his face. He frowned at her, but his lips quirked when she narrowed her eyes.
“Don’t tease. Now, what do you want to show me in here? If it’s your clothing removal and then the poof, I’m dressed again thing, forget it. All I know each time is I’m naked, then I’m suddenly dressed or vice versa. I never see a thing.”
He tipped his sexy head and winked at her. “Stop lusting after my body next time and you might catch on.”
She choked on a laugh.
“Besides, this isn’t like that, no vampire skills needed.”
“Huh, I have skills—”
“Baby”—he hauled her to his hard chest and smacked his hands down on her ass possessively—“you have skills, believe me.”
“Jaxon! Not those skills.”
He laughed and shook his head, but turned to the portrait and shifted it sideways to reveal a full-sized door behind it. He took her hand, fitting it into a small depression in the stones. Something gave and the doorway began to move inside the wall with a loud, long gravelly noise.
