by Sharon Kay
Shaking her head, she mentally cursed a foul streak. She didn’t heal as quickly as Lash demons did, but at least the wounds were already closing. She’d picked up her clutch to call Sebastian when she heard keys scrape in the gate’s lock. Damn it. Taking off at a full sprint, she ran away from the stone wall.
Black night yawned before her. The mansion backed up to the mountains, and she’d climb all night if she had to. She wanted to fist pump the air, but needed to put a bit more distance between her and those damn hounds first. Thirty feet away…now forty—
Her feet slid and shot out from under her. She gasped. She was falling. Arms flailing, feet churning, she felt nothing around her. Saw nothing in front of her. Not even the moon lit her way. She must have gone over a cliff. A ravine? What…
She landed hard on her back. The air whooshed out of her lungs, and her head bounced on small rocks. Her body rolled, sliding downward. Down where? Darkness closed in fast, blanketing all her senses.
CHAPTER 17
THE GRAY LIGHT OF DAWN attempted to fight its way into Gin’s bedroom. It was having a heck of a time, only able to squeeze out a thin border around her room-darkening shades. She needed pitch-black to sleep.
Well, usually. Last night they could have had a midnight sun and she probably would have nodded off. Sex with Mathias was beyond incredible. Beyond hot. It was like a nuclear bomb exploding in her soul, wiping out everything that had been before. He’d melted her body from the inside out, worshipping her with his mouth one minute and telling her what to do the next. He’d owned her. But he’d also respected her and made her feel beautiful.
She glanced at him lying next to her. The dim light allowed her to see only his profile. He lay on his back, one arm over his eyes, his chest rising and falling with even breaths.
That chest…that tattoo. She didn’t expect the bold swirls mixed with intricate, jagged lines. It was different from anything she’d ever seen and she wanted to look at it again, but the room was too dark. She could crack the shade just a bit…
“You’re staring.” His deep rumble startled her.
“I didn’t know you were awake.” She nibbled her lip. “You looked so peaceful.”
He rolled to his side and propped up an elbow. “You look…” He lifted a lock of her hair. “Sexy.” He moved closer, his face inches from hers. “Delicious. Good enough to eat.”
“Yeah?” She skated a finger down his bicep.
“Hell yeah.” He moved fast. His lips covered hers at the same time his knee nudged her legs apart. She shifted beneath him, cradling his warmth and loving his weight on her. She couldn’t resist squeezing his tight ass, then traced around his hip and snuck her hand between their bodies. Her fingers wrapped around the rigid steel of his erection.
“So hard for me,” she whispered.
He flexed into her hand. “Turn over.”
Holding his gaze for a moment, she debated teasing him, then decided she wanted whatever he had in mind. She rocked her hips, and he pushed back to his knees to let her up. Damn.
That position gave her a perfect view of his arousal, jutting thick and proud from his ripped abdomen. This time she didn’t allow any debate. She moved swiftly forward onto her knees, taking his cock into her mouth.
“Fuck,” he groaned, dropping a hand into her hair.
She made a humming noise deep in her throat and pulled back to flick her tongue over his tip. Her hand pumped lower down his shaft, in time with her mouth. Shifting her knees around toward the side of the bed, she changed her angle so she could look up at him.
His lips were parted. His eyes watched her mouth working him. Every chiseled muscle of his torso flexed. A surge of feminine power coursed through her, taking in the evidence of her effect on him.
His palm landed on her ass with a smack. She didn’t let up. He tasted too good. A drop of liquid burst on her tongue and she swallowed it, delighted at his response.
He caressed his way down her bottom and dipped teasingly between her legs. She stilled, helpless to do anything but drown in the sensation of his fingers stroking her, and eased back to release him. “No fair.”
“You didn’t listen, Ginger.” He threaded his other hand through her hair, using his grip to pull her head back. “Get on your belly.”
She complied and shot a glance over her shoulder at his chiseled perfection. God, she wanted to lick every inch of him.
He got off the bed to grab his pants, digging around in the pocket. The rip of foil echoed in the room as he prowled back onto the bed, hazel eyes glinting in the early morning dimness. He looked like some kind of predatory sex god, and his sight was set on her.
With powerful, deliberate movements, he guided her legs together and planted his knees on either side of her. God, yes. She was pinned, intoxicatingly vulnerable, and vibrating with anticipation. He rolled the condom on. He dropped kisses down her spine, lingering at her waist. “You smell incredible,” he murmured.
He slipped his hands under her hips to lift her, pulling her back into him. His blunt tip brushed her skin. Oh my god. A rush of liquid pooled between her legs as she waited for more. She was sore from yesterday, but her body was drenched for him. Again. She peeked back at him. “I’m ready.”
“I can see that.” His voice sounded like sex. Low and rough and full of promise. “Fuck, Gin, you look so beautiful right now.”
She couldn’t remember any man paying this much attention to her. “I do?”
Strong hands massaged her butt. “You have the sexiest ass I’ve ever seen.”
Mmm, she could get used to this. He had her contained in his hold, but she wiggled as much as she was able.
“And here,” he dragged a finger through her slick folds. “You’re flushed and wet and ready for me.”
She was going to implode. “Mathias, please.”
“Please what?”
“I need you.” Her voice came out in a tiny strained squeak, hoping he was done teasing her.
He entered her smoothly, but not all the way. He paused, then drew back and plunged in again. He held her body in place as he thrust hard, slamming his hips into her. This angle was perfect. He was big, but she could take him, and he was hitting a new and oh-so-perfect spot deep inside her.
She craned her neck, wanting to see him moving. God, he was erotic to watch. Muscles flexing in his hard abs, strong thighs braced on either side of hers. He was looking down at her ass, lips parted, as he pumped her hard. Catching her gaze, he leaned forward. His long lean body nearly covered hers, and he was more than tall enough to meet her lips in a scorching kiss.
She moaned as his mouth and body set her on fire. He broke their kiss, moving back to nuzzle her ear and take her lobe between his teeth. He didn’t bite. But just feeling the pressure, the hardness and warmth of his mouth, sent arrows of pleasure straight to her core.
Changing his position, he lowered his chest so that it barely touched her back, and increased his rhythm. His hands were planted on either side of her shoulders. The power of his thrusts reverberated all the way up to her breasts, bouncing in time with him. Her body was pushed inch by inch up the bed, and she clutched the sheets for leverage.
One strong hand slid under her to cup her breast, and she moaned at the sensory overload. She felt him everywhere. Behind her, above her, deep inside her core, and now, as his fingers toyed with her nipple, the sensations built to an overwhelming level. Her body bucked with the force of her orgasm. She screamed out something incoherent. Maybe his name, maybe some curse words. It didn’t matter. She was lost in a Mathias-induced fog, and she didn’t want to find her way out.
His grip shifted to her hips, squeezing her tightly as his massive length pistoned into her. She closed her eyes and held on, pushing back to meet him. Finally, with a thrust so hard she moved right up against the headboard, he bellowed his release and his big body stilled.
He collapsed on her for a moment as he caught his breath. She smiled, glad she wasn’t the only one whose h
eart was racing.
He shifted forward to nuzzle her ear, and she turned her head, hungry for a kiss. “You,” he brushed his lips across hers, “are one sexy scientist. How the fuck do your male students get anything done?” He moved off her and the bed dipped as he got up, then she heard the whoosh of the condom landing in the garbage. Crawling in next to her, he wrapped her in his arms, his chest to her back. “I bet they do worse than the girls.”
She giggled. “Well, I look totally boring when I teach. Jeans and a T-shirt, usually. The kids never see me dressed up. The other night was the first time for most of them. And that was mostly my dancers. I’ve had a hard time convincing my aggies to come out.”
“Aggies?”
“My endearing nickname for my agriculture science students.” She turned over in his arms, wanting to see his face.
“Guess that makes you an aggie, too. But I like Ginger.”
“Me too. No one’s ever called me that.” She reached out to trace the swirls of his tattoo.
His hazel eyes pierced her. “Really? Good.” A look resembling smugness passed across his face and he stroked her jaw. “That means this nickname is all mine.”
She blinked. She could handle that. “Sure.”
“Actually,” he cupped her chin, bringing her face up, “I have a science question for you.”
“A science question?” Now? “Um, okay. What is it?”
“It’s about dirt.”
She walked her fingers across his collarbones. “You know I love dirt. Dirt is fascinating.”
He rubbed the back of his neck. “I found some recently. And something was off about it.”
What is he talking about? He’s not a scientist. How would he know if anything was wrong with some dirt? She made her tone neutral, as if she were questioning a student. “And what made you think it was off?”
“Green grass was growing out of it.”
She stared at him. “Where’d you find it?”
“North suburbs. Near my place in Evanston.”
“You were just walking along and you found green grass, in December, in Illinois?”
“Yeah. Weird, right?”
“How long ago?”
“A few days. I thought it was odd. I scooped it up, knowing I was coming here. I figured someone in the science department could look at it.”
Interest crept into her voice. “You have it with you?”
“It’s in my hotel.”
She frowned. This is weird. But her curiosity was piqued. She would know right away if it was regular Midwest dirt. All it would take was one peek through her microscope. Something tugged at her mind, something seemed too strange about this, but she couldn’t say why. His reasons were perfectly logical. “Okay. I’ll take a look. Can you bring it over here?”
“I can do better. Not only will I bring the mystery dirt, but I’ll stop at the Coffeehouse.” He leaned down to kiss her.
“Now you’re talking. I may just stay right here while you go out in the cold.”
He groaned and pressed one last kiss to her shoulder before sitting up. “Stay naked and I’ll be back before you even know I’m gone.” He swung his long legs over the edge of her bed, then picked up his clothes from their heap on the floor.
“You’re coming back with coffee and dirt. That’s my dream combination. I’m not going anywhere.”
“Gonna hold you to that.” He pulled on his boxer briefs and pants.
“I may take a shower. Or maybe not. You’ll have to guess how dirty I am when you get back.”
She didn’t even see him move. He was on her in a heartbeat, caging her to the bed. “Keep talking like that, with your sexy little mouth, and you won’t have dirt or coffee.”
“Okay,” her voice was a tiny whisper against his lips. A fresh wave of desire washed over her. “Hurry back.”
“Sure thing. Ginger.” He winked and got up, giving her one last smile before walking out of her bedroom.
When she heard the front door close, she let out a huge sigh. The intensity that was Mathias lingered in the air. He was an enigma. Bossy but sweet. Muscles ripped to perfection, but gentle with her. A combination of opposites.
Just like me. Right and left brain. Water…and fire.
Mathias gunned the engine of the Tahoe, racing out of Gin’s parking lot and over to the main road. Def Leppard blasted from the speakers. Over the noise, his phone chimed with a text. He wondered for a second if it was Gin sending him a picture of herself in bed. Would she do that? He grabbed his phone.
It was Ria. How’s the persuading going?
He blew out a breath and debated his response. He hadn’t told Gin everything, and she hadn’t confided in him either. But they had connected on a new level yesterday.
He pulled up to a red light and texted Ria back. It’s coming along.
An image popped up next to Ria’s name—a green, vomiting smiley face. Um yeah, I heard a lot of “persuading” last night.
“Fuck!” He set his phone down and rubbed his eyes. A few more green lights and he was at his hotel, jogging across the pavement to the front door. His breathing created little white puffs of air that dissipated instantly. Still need to grab our coats from the theater. He dialed Ria.
She answered on the first ring, sweet and sarcastic. “Yes, dear brother?”
“Tell me you turned the mic off last night.”
Her laughter burst through the phone. “That would be a hell yes. I muted it as soon as I heard the rules for your little guessing game. I still had the GPS just in case you guys needed me. Which, obviously, you didn’t.”
He groaned as he took the stairs to his second floor room. “Uh, no. We were good.” Thank gods Ria didn’t hear any more than that.
“So? Is she on board?”
He shoved the stairway door open. “Didn’t ask her yet.”
“She doesn’t know about you? Or me?” Ria’s voice dropped.
“No. But I’m headed back over there in a few minutes. She’s gonna look at the dirt. And if she can’t explain it through science, which she won’t be able to, that will give me an opening to get into other topics.”
Ria was silent. Hell, he could feel her disapproval freezing through the phone.
“Ri?”
She sighed. “Okay. I’ll stay out of it. I’ll do my job and let you do yours.”
He unlocked his room and walked in, letting the door swing shut with a thud. “I didn’t feel she was ready to hear about us yet.”
“Mm-hmm. It’s your call, not mine. I just want this all to work out for the best, for everyone.”
“Me too. Of course I do. What do you mean?”
“I know I’ve only known her for a few months, but I think she’s really into you. She doesn’t date much, since she’s always working. And you’ve never settled down, and she’s such a kick ass friend, plus…she’d be good for you.”
He toed off his shoes and stalked into the bathroom. Part of him thought she’d be good for him too. But he had a job to do.
He was drawn to her on a whole different level. And the wild side of him was too. Her spunk and her playfulness, not to mention her sexy ass. Then there was the fact that she wanted to help people. She wasn’t in college to create a path to riches or meet Mr. Right.
But he was caught up in a sense that if he pushed too far too soon, she’d run. She had avoided her ability all her life, and for him to break through, he needed to proceed with care.
“Mathias?” Concern laced Ria’s voice. “I know you’re good at what you do. I’ll shut u—”
“It’s okay, Ri. I just need a little more time with her.” He emptied the contents of his pockets on the bathroom counter. “On that note, I gotta bring my little Solsti some magical dirt.”
Ria laughed and said goodbye. Mathias stared into the mirror, hand still holding up his phone. My little Solsti.
What the hell? The words had rolled off his tongue as if he’d said them a hundred times. Effortlessly and naturally. Bu
t Gin wasn’t his, in any sense of the word.
Xavier peered through his microscope and smiled. The droplet of water on the slide looked as boring as any other drop of tap water. It contained trace amounts of chemicals that humans wanted in their drinking water, like fluoride. But this latest sample also contained something they could never anticipate.
The unique chemical structure of the lily extract couldn’t be detected by the human eye, with or without a microscope. Nor could it be tasted or smelled. Supernatural species would be capable of observing it, but there weren’t any around to peer over his shoulder. They wouldn’t know what they were seeing anyway, since the lily was presumed to be extinct. His pathetic human scientist counterparts could look at this same slide all day long and only see filtered water that appeared normal and ready to go into the massive storage tanks onsite.
He raked a hand through his hair, feeling the small horns that were currently invisible, and leaned back in his leather chair. This plant was more modern than the one he’d been at a few days ago. His office was nicer here, not that he cared much. Hell, his home on Torth was Spartan by Earth standards. All he cared about was that he was the toughest predator in his vicinity. Unless of course, he was with Elegia.
Tiny and lethal. Barely five feet tall with weak, vampiric muscles. But the female was brilliant and had figured out how to enforce loyalty through a narcotic she added to the extract. He had no plans to cross her. He didn’t trust her and he guessed the feeling was mutual. Still, he liked what she was cooking up and wanted to see it unfold.
His gaze landed on the single black flower laying across a pile of folders. Humans assumed it was fake, and he was happy to go along with that. But this plant had yet to die after a week on his desk. He’d dipped it in water once. That was all it needed. This lily, with its secret existence and hardy constitution, was Elegia’s key.
He flicked a glance to his computer screen, noting a new email from the plant he’d visited a few days ago. They were still sending him lab results which, to them, looked perfectly acceptable.
