Aeromancist, The Beginning (SECOND EDITION): Prequel (7 Forbidden Arts Book 2)

by Charmaine Pauls

  He straightened and slipped his hands under her knees and behind her back, lifting her with ease and carrying her to the bed. Gently, he laid her in the middle of the mattress before starting to undress. She watched as his clothes came off, piece by piece. He looked like a Greek god. His torso was lean, his skin glowing with a golden tan. After his shirt, he removed his shoes and socks, and then his pants and briefs. Her eyes widened at the size and thickness of his erection. Apprehension and embarrassment crept over her, making her flush with heat. She wasn’t a prude, but she was staring at the very large and erect cock of a man she didn’t know from Adam, a man she’d just promised could have her for a month.

  “The human body is beautiful,” he said as if reading her mind. “It deserves to be admired.”

  She envied him his confidence. Then again, with his looks, how could he be self-conscious? He had to be used to many women admiring that perfect body.

  He crawled onto the bed and stretched out over her, keeping his weight on his arms. His skin was warm and his body hard. His cock jutted at her entrance, and suddenly she was impatient to feel him inside. When she gripped his shaft and guided it to her folds he clicked his tongue, but smiled at her with approval.

  “So hot,” he said, kissing her and making her need build again.

  Soft lips molded around hers, slowly increasing the intensity of the kiss until he was fucking her mouth with his tongue. She liked tasting herself on him, but she needed the urgency of that pace in a different part of her body.

  She pushed on his shoulders. “Now. Now, please.”

  He only chuckled. “My impatient little krasavitsa.” He kissed her forehead. “Impatient, adventurous, and beautiful.”

  She moaned when he moved down to kiss her breast, licking and teasing with his tongue, and then, without warning, sucking hard. The fire shot from her nipple to her clit. She closed her eyes in ecstasy. She felt swollen and needy, and where she was biting her tongue before to smother her moans, she couldn’t care now if Alfonso or the whole world heard them. She cried out when he gave her other breast the same treatment while pushing his thumb down on her clit with steady pressure.

  “Ah.” She arched her body to his touch. “Please.”

  “Just a little longer,” he coaxed. “I want to come with you.”

  Opening her eyes, she stared at him. How could he be so steadfastly in control when she was falling apart and begging him for release?

  She pushed back her frustration and dragged her hands over his chest. His muscles rippled under her fingertips. The pressure of his thumb disappeared, and then his cock pressed at her entrance.

  “Yes,” she said in a breathy voice. “Fuck me.”

  “Slowly, krasavitsa. You’re so wet, but I don’t want to tear you.”

  He pressed forward, stretching her with the head of his cock. She gasped at the intrusion. The fire was both pleasure and discomfort. Taking her face between his hands, he kept his hips still as he kissed her, giving her time to adjust.

  The burning eased enough after a moment to make her want more. In a silent gesture for him to continue, she arched her hips.

  “Slowly,” he said, brushing his thumbs over her cheeks. “Let me savor our first time.”

  Her body had a different idea. She wanted all of him. Now. She squeezed her inner muscles to pull him deeper.

  He uttered a strained chuckle. “You’re going to make me lose it.”

  She was beyond losing it. She wanted him with a hunger she’d never felt. “You said to tell you what I want. I want everything.”

  “Patience, krasavitsa,” he said, working himself another inch deeper. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

  She wrapped her legs around him and rotated her hips.

  Gritting his teeth, he said, “Katherine, stop.”

  His reaction told her he hadn’t lied about the power he’d said she had over him. Remembering how erotic the sharp nip of his teeth had been, she bit softly into the muscle of his shoulder.

  Finally, he gave her what she wanted. He plunged deep. The stretch burned. He was no longer careful. He pulled back and buried himself to the hilt. This time, he didn’t give her more than a second to adjust before he started thrusting.

  His speed and strength pushed her body up the mattress. The world spiraled out of control. Only sensation existed. It was beautiful and frightening. It felt like life and death, like his kisses breathed oxygen into her body while his grueling pace wrought the very life out of her.

  Again and again, he slammed his hips against hers, driving inside her until her body was slick with perspiration and her muscles were quivering. She’d expected it to last for maybe a minute, but he was relentless, his stamina seemingly endless.

  “I can’t,” she said, clinging to his shoulders.

  He drew back to look at her.

  “It’s too much,” she said. “I can’t take more.”

  Sitting up, he draped her ankles over his shoulders. He fastened one hand in her hair and the other on her hip. “This is going to be intense, but it’ll be quicker for both of us.”

  He only gave her a second to register the warning before he buried himself inside her.

  He hadn’t lied. It was intense. At this angle, the penetration was deeper. Their eyes locked as he started moving even faster than before. Her cries were mangled sounds—the screams he promised to extract from her. He stroked a sensitive spot inside, making her pleasure climb again.

  “Lann…”

  He released her hair to rub her clit. When her orgasm crashed through her, he broke too.

  Pleasure contorted his face as he filled her body with his release. They rode it out together, nothing existing but the moment.

  It lasted longer for her than for him, but he waited until the aftershocks of her climax had passed before he lowered her legs and stretched out on top of her.

  She was a shivering mass of nerves, her legs shaking and her body boneless. Wrapping his arms around her, he turned them onto their sides and stroked her arm and back until she drifted into sleep.

  When she woke up, she opened her eyes to Lann’s concerned face.

  “Katherine,” he said with a relieved sigh. His exotic accent sounded more pronounced. Then gentler, “Are you sore?”

  Her cheeks heated as she admitted, “A little.”

  “How long has it been?”

  She traced his collarbone, inviting a shiver. “Six months.”

  A possessive light sparked in his eyes. “I’m looking forward to making you come in a hundred different ways, but don’t ever drive me that hard again. I wanted our first time to be gentle.”

  “I didn’t.” A first for her.

  He kissed her nose. “Not even an hour into our arrangement and you’ve got me in the clutches of your power. How can I deny you anything?”

  The word arrangement was like a splinter under her skin, but she brushed it aside. “I didn’t mean to fall asleep. What time is it?”

  “Past dinner time.”

  “Shit.” She sat up. “I have to call Diana. She’ll be worried.”

  “Done,” he said, wiping the hair from her forehead.

  She frowned. “What?”

  “I had Alfonso call and tell her you’re with me.”

  Lann had Diana’s number? “Oh. Thank you. That was thoughtful.”

  She ran her gaze over his body when he got up and walked to the dresser. When he took his glasses and put them on, her breath caught. Those dark-rimmed glasses made him look even hotter. They enhanced his features, giving the perfect, stark lines of his face a softer, academic appearance.

  He came back to the bed, took her hands, and pulled her to her feet. Then he picked his shirt up from the floor and held it open in silent instruction. She let him drape it around her and help her fit her arms. The fabric smelled of him, an alluring male scent of cinnamon spices and strength. The smell was delicious and comforting. Turning her to face him, he held her eyes as he buttoned up the shirt.


  When he was done, he stepped back and studied his work. In a sudden motion that surprised her, he dragged her to his chest for a hug before setting her aside as abruptly as he’d grabbed her, as one would move an object out of the way. Baffled, she watched him fit his jeans. He was hard again, but he ignored his erection, adjusting himself and zipping up his jeans.

  “Come,” he said, offering her a hand.

  When she placed her palm in his, he led her to the door at the far end of the room. It gave access to another bedroom similarly decorated as this one, but his scent hung in the air, telling her that was his room.

  He guided her across the floor to a desk pushed against a window. Without letting go of her hand, he reached with his free hand under the desk and slid open a secret drawer. Inside was a thumb print device, the kind that was used in businesses for identification. When he pressed his thumb on the key, a painting of Saint Teresa hanging on the wall next to the window slid to the side, exposing a small vault that worked with a digital pin. He punched in the four-digit code right in front of her eyes, apparently not worried that she now knew it. The door clicked open. He reached inside, and pulled out a small black box.

  “For the time we’re together, I want you to wear this.” He flicked back the lid, revealing a platinum ring with a large, oval diamond.

  Wow. It was magnificent.

  Wait.

  He wanted her to wear a ring?

  He removed the ring from its velvet bed, lifted her hand, and slipped it onto the ring finger of her left hand. It fitted suspiciously well. Perfectly, in fact.

  Holding up her hand, he said, “There,” looking pleased with himself.

  At a loss for words, she spread her fingers and stared at the gemstone that sparkled in the light. No man had ever given her a ring. It shouldn’t have warmed her heart the way it did, but the female in her couldn’t help but love the possessiveness of the act.

  “You’re not to take it off under any circumstances until our time together is up,” he said. “Understand?”

  Until their time together was up. There it was again, that little splinter under her skin, but this was what they’d agreed to. It was what she wanted, right? It was just sex. She would do well to remember that. But then why give her a ring?

  “I don’t understand,” she said.

  “When we’re together, you’re mine, remember?”

  “Yes, but a ring?”

  “Just humor me, Katherine.”

  He wanted to play a game of pretending? Make-believe for a month? The ring looked impossibly valuable. “Is it real?”

  “Of course.”

  “I’d be too scared to lose it.”

  “You won’t if you don’t take it off.”

  “Not even in the shower?” she asked, badly needing one.

  “Water and soap won’t damage it.”

  The request was strange, but Lann wasn’t the average man. Could it hurt to play along? A part of her liked the suggested meaning. “Fine, I guess.”

  “Good,” he said, the approval in his deep voice sending a shiver down her spine. Suddenly formal, he asked, “Would you like a swim before dinner?” When she frowned, he added, “I need to take care of some business before I can join you in…” he checked his watch, “twenty minutes.”

  “I better have a shower first,” she said.

  His gaze slipped to her thighs as if he could see the evidence of their lovemaking where it had dried under the shirt. Her cheeks turned hot, but instead of commenting, he brought her hand to his lips and kissed the ring he’d just slipped onto her finger.

  “I’ll show you,” he said.

  He took her back to her room and showed her a dressing room and a bathroom. The dressing room was stocked with towels, a bathrobe, and matching slippers. Did he entertain female guests here regularly? The thought was unwelcome, but she didn’t have any illusions about the virile man she’d bedded.

  “You’ll find the bathroom stocked with cosmetics,” Lann said. “If there’s anything you need, I’ll send for it.” He drew her to him and gave her a peck on the cheek. “Come downstairs when you’re ready. I’ll wait by the pool. We can eat on the deck. Unless you prefer indoors?”

  He was all business now, distant, as if he was trying to put space between them.

  She forced a smile. “The deck is fine.”

  “Good.” After dragging his gaze one last time over her body, he turned and left, closing the bathroom door behind him.

  So much for pillow talk.

  After a shower, not feeling like wearing her crumpled dress, Kat put on the bathrobe. Lann waited at the same table where they had shared their first dinner. His hair was wet and he’d changed into a linen shirt and pants. He was reading a document, but put the file aside when she approached. His gaze traveled over her, lingering on her cleavage, but then Alfonso appeared as if from thin air to pull out the chair for her.

  What Alfonso had to be thinking, seeing her here dressed in a robe. Maybe he’d even heard her screams. Heat rose in her neck as she took her seat. She wasn’t much of an exhibitionist.

  Lann waited until Alfonso had left before saying, “He’s been in my service for years.”

  Kat looked up to see him studying her.

  “What we did was natural, and beautiful,” he continued. “There’s no need to feel embarrassed.”

  She cleared her throat. “I have to go home to get my clothes.”

  “We’ll go after dinner. First, you need to eat.”

  Her appetite was lacking, diminished by the emotional rush that followed in the wake of their lovemaking, but Lann seemed unaffected. Or maybe for him it was the opposite. Maybe the large amount of energy he’d expended demanded replacement.

  He obviously needed plenty of food to fuel his body. Eating with abandon, he polished off a large quantity of grilled vegetables and fish, and then a fruit salad. She only managed to peck at her food, drinking more wine than what was good for her.

  After the fruit salad, Alfonso served her a bowl of her favorite ice cream—vanilla drowned in chocolate sauce. She dipped the spoon into the dessert, but lacked her usual enthusiasm.

  “Not hungry?” Lann asked, concern lacing his voice.

  “Um, not when I’m…” She wasn’t going to tell him making love always left her feeling emotional. That was the kind of information guys didn’t want to hear.

  He frowned.

  She fumbled with the spoon. “It’s all a bit sudden.”

  “Katherine,” he said gently, “I made love to you before dinner so you could relax and enjoy your meal.”

  “This is just how I am. I’ve had an experience that was really intense and I won’t have an appetite for a while.”

  His expression softened. “What would you like to do tonight? Watch a movie? Go out?”

  “I think I’ll turn in early. I’m thoroughly exhausted.”

  Immediately, his demeanor changed. Desire transformed his face, darkening his eyes. “Of course,” he said, staring at her lips. “Anything you want.”

  Who was her lover? He seemed so mysterious. She knew he liked to fly, was loaded, owned a monastery, collected old books, and was even better in bed than in her wildest fantasy. She stirred sugar into the espresso Alfonso had served, observing Lann silently. She wanted to know everything about him. She wanted to see his baby photos, know his dreams, his fears, where he’d gone to school, and what the future held for him.

  “You’re Russian,” she said, “but your name isn’t.”

  “It’s Celtic,” he said in a cool voice. “It means sword. My mother gave me a name from the place where I was conceived.”

  “Do you have siblings?”

  He tensed. “Like you, I’m an only child.”

  “Your family, are they also in South America or do they live in Russia?”

  The heat evaporated from his gaze. “I have no family.”

  “So, your parents, they’ve passed away?” Kat probed carefully.

  “My moth
er died giving birth to me,” he said matter-of-factly. “My father never forgave me for her death. He abandoned me at birth.”

  Her heart contracted. How horrible that had to have been for him. “I’m so sorry.”

  “Don’t be,” he said, the deep golden color of his eyes now flat and frosty. “I don’t miss them. You can’t feel something for someone you don’t know.”

  She reached over the table to take his hand, but he pulled away.

  “Did you grow up with a foster family?” she asked, trying to pull him back to her.

  “I grew up in the streets.” His face was hard. “I learned to trick and steal from a young age. I learned to fight for what I want, and to get it. Always.”

  His words sent goosebumps over her arms even as compassion for the beautiful man facing her constricted her chest.

  “Come.” He got to his feet. “I’ll drive you to your apartment.”

  Kat put on her crumpled dress and followed Lann downstairs. A black Jaguar with tinted windows was parked in front of the monastery, the engine idling. The driver opened and shut the passenger door for her, but he went back inside while Lann took the wheel.

  During the drive, neither of them spoke. It unsettled her that he didn’t have to ask for her address, but then she remembered the deliveries of earlier. Of course he knew where she lived. She’d given her address when she’d signed up at his library.

  “Should I say thank you for the coffee and ice cream?” she asked with a smile.

  He glanced at her before changing gears. “Only if you want to.”

  “It was delicious.”

  His lips tilted. “You’re welcome.”

  She sent Diana a text message to let her know they were on their way. She didn’t want to surprise her roommate if she was at home.

  When they arrived at her building, Lann parked on the yellow line right in front of the main entrance. He came around to open her door, and held his hand on the small of her back as he guided her inside and into the elevator. Diana opened the door the minute they exited on her floor.

  She hugged Kat briefly and peered over her shoulder at Lann. “Hi,” she said with a warm smile. “I’m Diana.”

  Lann followed Kat inside and shook hands with Diana before pulling Kat under his arm.