But she didn’t regret telling him that she loved him.
His feelings must’ve changed since the danger lifted. He felt obligated to keep her around because he’d bit her, claimed her, and she’d changed into a wolf. But she needed him to be happy.
She met his eyes then, and before he could hide it from her, she spotted disgust. Flinching, she pushed off the wall and started toward the door. He might have been able to talk himself into a relationship with her, but she would save him the torment and leave. She lowered her eyes to the ground and counted the steps as she walked. But before she made it halfway to the door, she was lifted into the air. Blinking, she found herself on her back on the soft bed. Reaper hovered over her with a fierce gaze.
“I can’t live without you. You own my soul, and no matter how many people come after you, or how dangerous you think you are, I will love you and will always be by your side.” Reaper kissed her then, one that was meant to be punishing but only managed to steal her breath.
When he pulled back, his eyes roamed over her face and she asked a question. “Why…didn’t you touch me when…”
“I was afraid I would hurt you. You’ve been in and out of consciousness for four days. You didn’t respond to me, and I was scared that I would hurt you.”
“Are you okay? How did you heal from that?” she asked.
He brushed another kiss against her lips, and held her close. “You did it. Liv said that my heart had been shredded by the hollow point bullets, but somehow, you managed to repair it. We all think that your healing ability increased when you became a shifter. This time, it took several hours to regain consciousness, but after I woke, there was no sign of what happened.”
“I thought that you didn’t want me anymore.”
“No, beautiful. I will always want you. I love you and I have forever to prove it to you.”
“I love you, too.” Her voice came out clear and sure.
Without waiting for him, she reached for the hem of his shirt and started to tug it up and over his head. She pressed a kiss against the spot where he’d been shot, and smiled against his skin.
“Easy, beautiful.”
Shaking her head back and forth on the pillow, she reached between them and snapped open the button on his jeans. With quick movements, she slid the zipper down and hooked the waistband of his jeans with her thumbs. Without any help from Reaper, she slid his jeans as far as her arms reached before she hooked his clothes with her feet and continued to strip him until she heard the distinct sound of his jeans hitting the floor.
Her hands roamed over his exposed skin, and when she reached his tight ass, she squeezed his flesh and laughed when he growled at her.
“Four days is a long time to go without my mate,” she teased.
His teeth bit against her bottom lip in an action that sent pleasure straight to her core. It was his turn to tease, and when she lifted her head to press her lips against his, he slid his tongue along the bite from moments before.
“Kiss me,” she begged.
Instead, he slid his mouth along the sensitive area of her neck, and nipped at the mark he placed. She sucked in a breath as pleasure jolted her system, and she felt his mouth lift in a smile at her reaction.
He kissed lower, dragging his teeth over her sensitive collarbone, and she bucked against him.
Moaning because she was still fully clothed, she reached to undress herself, but he prevented her movements. Instead, he caught her gaze and sliced her clothing off with one stroke, tossing aside the shreds as his fingers skimmed over her skin.
Teasing, kissing, and licking behind her ear and then moving toward her other one had her bucking against him in order to find her pleasure. His hands added to the torture when one gripped her waist to hold her still, and the other one snaked between them. He flicked her clit with the pad of his thumb, sending throbbing sensations of pleasure straight to her core.
The wetness between her legs trailed down to the sheet, and she involuntary flexed, moaning into his mouth.
Whipping her arms and legs around him, she used all of her strength to flip them around until he lay on his back. When she glanced at his face and spotted the surprise, she took advantage of it.
She nipped his ear, and kissed her way over his neck and down onto his chest, with slow, unhurried movements. Her tongue darted across his hot skin, tasting him and savoring each inch of his exposed skin. As she reached his nipple, her tongue flicked out and she shivered when his moan shook her body. Instead of moving on, she pressed her lips against him and suckled his nipple. Her tongue added pressure, and soon, she had him bucking his hips against hers, seeking her wet warmth.
As she kissed across his chest to his other nipple, she found her voice, although it was husky with need. “I love to touch you.”
Savoring each inch of skin, she continued to worship his chest before another part of him made itself known.
Sliding down while nipping and licking him, she sucked in a breath when she reached his cock and found a drop of his essence that formed at the tip. Her tongue darted against his fiery skin, and she moaned aloud.
“You taste so good.”
The first time they’d made love, he’d stopped her from bringing him pleasure with her mouth alone, but this time, she craved his taste and wouldn’t stop until he released in her mouth.
She flattened her tongue against the underside of his cock and licked him from base to tip, savoring more of the heated liquid her movements produced. With his ragged breaths and his moans of pleasure encouraging her movements, she wrapped her lips around the head of his cock, and sucked.
His hips shot off the mattress, but with her strength, she pressed him back down on the bed and proceeded to drive him wild. She enjoyed learning that the underside of the head of his cock was most sensitive, but when she swallowed him into her mouth and down her throat, he shook with a need he couldn’t control.
“Ara, fuck—Ara, I need…”
As he voiced his pleasure, she took as much of him in her mouth as she could, before slowly moving her mouth up to tease the head of his cock with her tongue. Before she slid him back inside, she pressed her tongue against the underside of his cock and moaned. The vibrations and the pressure sent him over the edge. He wrapped his hand around her long hair and tugged, letting her know that he was close, but his release took over before he could remove her mouth.
He roared her name as his sweet and salty come poured into her mouth. She swallowed and hummed with pleasure, loving his taste and his loss of control at the same time.
Several minutes passed before his body sank flat against the mattress, spent from having her mouth on him. She crawled up and cuddled against his chest, savoring his harsh breathing and his sweat-slicked body pressed against hers. He was alive and healthy, and he was hers.
“You didn’t have—”
“I did. I wanted to. I thought you were dead. I thought that I didn’t get to you in time to heal you. When I couldn’t sense you when I woke, I thought the worst. Me giving you pleasure, reassures me that you’re here, alive and well.”
She closed her eyes to listen to his heartbeat underneath her ear, and squealed in surprise when she found herself on her back. Without any pretense, he opened her thighs with his enormous shoulders and licked her lips in one, long stroke. When he reached her clit, he flicked the sensitive area with rapid, hard pulses that drew out a long, low moan from her throat.
“I love your taste, beautiful.”
His tongue moved with a few strokes, before he centered his tongue near her entrance. With deliberate movements, he sunk his tongue inside her as his thumb came up to rub circles around her clit.
She opened her mouth to scream out her release, but her orgasm struck her hard, stealing her breath and her words. Feeling wanton, she moved her hips closer to his tongue, drawing out her own pleasure, until she collapsed from the pleasure.
“Reaper, I need you inside me.”
Sensing the desperation i
n her request, he climbed up her body and captured her face between his hands. She could taste herself on his tongue as his lips met hers. The action made her core throb with need. When he slid his cock inside her with ease, she moaned into his mouth.
The passion that had been a constant between them flared when his mouth traveled to her neck. One hand pinched and soothed her nipples while the other held her hips on the bed as he drove into her. Several times she felt his cock swell, making her pussy flutter in anticipation, but his hips continued to piston, driving his cock in and out of her. The friction as her inner muscles gripped him, trying to hold him in place, drew them closer and closer to the edge.
His mouth moved to her shoulder as his movements became desperate instead of practiced. She loved that she was able to make him lose control.
“Bite me, please.”
After his last thrust, she wrapped her legs around his waist and pressed him deep inside her. His teeth clamped down at that moment and her climax ripped through her, milking his cock for his come. He moaned against her skin, and when she felt his release stream into her, her pleasure increased and she clamped onto his cock harder.
His teeth released as he growled, and she could tell by his face that his pleasure still had a hold on him. By the time he relaxed his tense muscles, she had him wrapped in her arms as he caught his breath.
“I love you.”
“Love…you,” he said.
She laughed and hugged him tighter, savoring the moment and the realization that she and Reaper had a future together. Although she must’ve cared at some point about getting married, it didn’t seem as important to her now. Reaper had marked her, claimed her, and told her that he loved her, and that was everything to her. Whatever their future held, they would go through it together.
“So, do you think Ghost will recruit me now that I’m a shifter?” she asked.
“Fuck.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Reaper
Reaper cursed again as he flew across the room for a fourth time. He landed in a heap on the mats they’d set up in their basement for training. But after close to a month of training with Ara, he wanted to call the others so they could take the beating for him. Every time he lured them over, they would refuse, tired of getting their asses kicked by his mate.
He’d taken over the training when Ghost had spoken to her about becoming an assassin, working under Ghost, but with Reaper as her partner. Ghost had partnered up the assassins when Liv had voiced her worry about Kai working alone. Reaper had yet to hear whether Ara accepted the position, but he figured they would make a great team. If he didn’t have a heart attack from the anxiety of her out on assignment.
“You really need to start defending yourself,” Ara growled at him.
From his back on the floor, he groaned. “I don’t think you need training anymore. Or, we’ll invite Ax over and he can take the hits for me. He deserves to get his ass kicked at least once.”
He heard her steps as she walked closer, but didn’t open his eyes. When she lowered herself onto his stomach, he smiled.
“Aren’t you going to kiss me?” he asked.
She waited until he had opened his eyes and caught her gaze. She worried her bottom lip between her teeth, and he knew that something else, other than the job offer, was on her mind.
“Did I hurt you when I said that your claiming meant more than marriage?”
He couldn’t help it; his mouth tipped up into a smile. He pulled her down for a scorching kiss before he bent his arm beneath his head and relaxed back on the mat.
“No, beautiful. I feel the same way, but when Kai and Liv married last weekend, I watched you during the ceremony and I thought that marriage is something you might want, with me.”
She shook her head, and slid her hands up his chest until she cupped his cheek.
“I was happy for them. The night you claimed me and left your mark meant more to me than a piece of paper and announcing our love, albeit, it would be in front of our friends. I like that fact that our commitment is between you and me.”
Her eyes were shining with the truth of her words. They were both opposed to being the center of attention, and with the extravaganza that Kai had thrown for Liv, it solidified that their declaration for each other meant more to them than an actual wedding. All he wanted was time with her, alone, to make their future the way they wanted it.
The wedding was lavish with decorations, flowers, a five-tiered cake, and a catered lunch and dinner. Liv made a beautiful bride; her simple white gown emphasized her beauty. Kai had been anxious to get Liv to become his bride, and when the ceremony was over, the vampire relaxed and enjoyed himself at the reception. Something about the extravagance fit Kai and Liv to a T, but Reaper and Ara preferred to commit themselves to each other in a different way.
“You do know you’re my life? I will love you for the rest of our existence.”
Ara kissed him and settled onto his chest. His arms wrapped around her and held her close. He loved that his mate had become a strong, confident woman who loved him back. Before Ara, he’d never thought about finding a mate, but once he set his sights on her, he knew that his life had changed for the better.
“I love you, too, Reaper.”
His arms tightened around her as he lifted them both off the ground. Jogging toward the stairs, he had other plans for his mate.
“Where are we going?” she asked.
“The bedroom. I need you.”
She laughed as she pressed her face against his neck and tightened her hold on him. Wasting no time, he ripped her shirt, followed by her bra. Before he could reach for her jeans, she slid her hands into his pants and squeezed his ass.
“Tired of me beating on you?”
“Every time we train, it makes me hard.”
As they reached the bed, he gently set her on the edge and kneeled before her, savoring the skin he’d exposed, but needing more. As he reached for her, she surprised him.
“Ghost officially hired me as your partner. Our first assignment is on Tuesday.”
Sliding his hand through her hair, he pressed her forward and kissed her. It was several minutes before they came up for air, but when they did, he knew that he had a goofy smile on his face.
“What?” she asked.
“I’m just thinking that even on assignment, I’m going to want you. You’ll need to come up with a distraction so I don’t tear your clothes off and take you wherever we are.” He smiled against her mouth.
“I think it would just be easier to let you have your way with me, and then get the job done.”
“Yeah, I doubt that.” And he proceeded to show her.
The End
Look for Seth (The Dark Assassins World Novella), arriving February 14th, 2017!
To be the first to know when the next Dark Assassins book is coming out, join my monthly newsletter at
http://www.valerieullmer.com/newsletter/
About the Author
Valerie resides in Denver, Colorado with her husband and their dog, Maddie. While she had been interested in writing a romance novel for years, it wasn’t until she wrote her first book that she really became hooked, and now she can’t stop. She has notebooks full of ideas, and she plans to write most of them in the years to come.
When she’s not writing or learning about the craft of writing, she can be found surfing the internet way too much, watching Investigation Discovery and thinking that her neighbors are up to no good, and finding new ways to get her husband to laugh.
Please feel free to contact Valerie:
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/valerieullmer.author
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/valerieullmer
Website: http://www.valerieullmer.com
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/valerieullmer
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/valerieullmer
/>
Reaper (A Dark Assassins Novel Book Two) Page 17
