Viper Game

by Christine Feehan

  He inhaled and threw back his head, holding still for just a moment, struggling for some semblance of control. She tried to move, but he held her still, pushing another inch inside of her and again stopping, feeling her surround his sensitive head with fiery heat and a tightness that nearly strangled him. Still, he held on, clenching his teeth, waiting for her eyes to meet his.

  She thrashed for a moment, desperate to draw him into her, but it was necessary to keep her thinking he was in total control while she was burning out of it. Pepper had to know he could take her heat.

  Her lashes lifted and her gaze moved over his face. He held her legs draped over his shoulders, shifting just a little, lodging a bit deeper. Pleasure flared, warred with intense desire in her dark, purple eyes. The strange, beautiful starburst had gone through her eyes so that they glittered like diamonds back at him.

  "Who are you goin' to trust with you, Pepper?"

  She didn't hesitate this time. "Wyatt. You. I trust you with me. Please, Wyatt, make it go away. Just take it away."

  He knew what she meant. The terrible driving hunger that never left her alone, that grew and grew until she thought she would lose her mind, until she had no choice but to go out and find a man to seduce. They'd done that to her in the laboratory, given her a curse beyond all others, and he damned well was going to beat them at their own game. Pepper was his, not theirs. She would know he would take care of her, protect her and when she needed this, crazy, violent sex, he would be more than happy to give it to her as well.

  He ran his finger from the valley between her breasts down the center of her body to her belly button, watching her shiver in anticipation. All the while her tight channel surrounded the scant inches he'd allowed himself inside her, closing around him like the tightest of fists.

  She bucked her hips, trying to force him deeper, but he held her there, knowing she needed this brutal, almost violent possession. He read it in her mind, although she'd tried to hide from him, ashamed of what they'd made her. Terrified he'd despise her for what she was. A tinge of fear skated into the deep purple of her eyes, as she tried to hold still for him, tried to give him what he silently demanded.

  He rewarded her, sliding in another inch, forcing his way through those tight folds. She was more than ready for him, but so tight he could see the burn of discomfort in her eyes, on her face, before the pleasure took hold once more.

  "I need you now," she gasped out, pleading.

  He surged into her. Hard. Fast. Deep. The floor didn't give an inch and the thrust was brutal, taking him all the way. Her sheath was tighter than a skintight glove. Wet. Slick. A raging fire surrounding him with silken flames. He began to piston his hips, a fury of deep thrusts, each bumping her cervix, piercing her to go even deeper.

  He felt her muscles reluctantly stretching to accommodate him, but still, she was tighter than any fist and the friction sent fire streaking through his cock to his belly and thighs. Her inner muscles gripped him, clamping down hard like a vise, trying to strangle him. He let go of every thought, spinning out into space, letting the pleasure take him.

  He was rough, taking her in a violent storm of powerful, hammering strokes, giving himself up to the fantasy, the perfect lover, the woman he could do it all with. Every erotic thought or dream, slow and lazy, or rough and brutal, her body accepted and craved his.

  He watched them come together, his cock slamming into her, disappearing while fire streaked through him and the breath left his lungs in a heated rush. The view was erotic, her breasts moving with every hard thrust. He loved the look on her face, the stark need and the wild passion to match his own.

  He rode her hard, driving in and out of her until the agonizing fire consuming them both was nearly intolerable. His cock expanded, pushing back at the tight muscles, increasing the terrible friction. She cried out, clamping down around him in a vise-like grip, her body trying to strangle his. He thrust harder, using powerful strokes, feeling the throb in her body.

  He rode the wave of madness, pleasure drenching him until his body was covered in a fine sheen of sweat, and still he pounded into her. Her body clamped down a second time. Throbbed again.

  "Now, baby." It came out a command and he meant it that way, but he gentled his voice, praising her. "That's my woman." Letting her know he wanted this for her. That she was pleasing him. "Come for me. Give it to me. Give me you, Pepper. Wild. Hot. Give yourself to me."

  She cried out and her body tightened around his, clamping hard. Hot, delicious cream enveloped him, scorching him, but he welcomed the fluid, the biochemically treated honey that he'd be forever addicted to. He wanted her to have multiple orgasms, produce as much as possible of her liquid gold. It was the only way for her to ever get a respite from the terrible drive that refused to allow her peace. He was giving her that gift.

  She cried out again and again, as her body rippled with another powerful orgasm. He waited for the aftershocks, breathing through his mouth to stay in control when his own body wanted to rocket with her. He didn't allow her to catch her breath. He timed it perfectly, moving again, slamming deep, driving home to take her back up just as her body was settling.

  "Again, baby, give it to me again," he demanded, moving inside her, feeling the pleasure pouring over him.

  "I can't. I can't, Wyatt." Her head tossed back and forth, but her eyes clung to his and he could see the need still there.

  "Yes, you can. Because I want you to. You'll do it for me. Just let go for me. I'm here. I'll always be here for you." He dropped his voice an octave, but he had to say it behind clenched teeth.

  The silken glove was scorching hot, holding him in its fist as he slammed into her ferociously with his cock, over and over, driving deep and hard. He found her left nipple with one hand, tugging and rolling until she was crying out again, and he felt her muscles gripping even tighter.

  He could feel her fighting to stave off the impending orgasm. There was fear in her eyes, but so much hunger, so much desire, he didn't hesitate to pound into her, letting the flames take him higher.

  Pepper stared up at his face, undecided if he was the very devil or not. There was no way to stop him, no way to catch her breath. She didn't want to stop but feared he was going to kill her if her body went over the edge another time. She'd lost count and was terrified that she was the one out of control - not him.

  Tension coiled deep inside her and mindlessly she shook her head, trying to deny the flood of pleasure pouring into her, melting even her bones. She was somewhere between darkness and subspace, teetering right there, unable to distinguish between pleasure and pain but wanting him never to stop.

  For one moment, everything in her stilled. She could hear her sobbing breathing, so ragged, her lungs desperate for air. She could hear the slap of their bodies coming together as with each stroke, fire arced through her. His hand at her nipple was relentless, pulling, tugging, and as if her nipple had a direct line to her center, she felt the spasm start there first.

  Wyatt felt her body clamp down hard on his. It was exquisite. He'd never felt anything like it in his life. Her silken sheath, so hot he was burning up, dragging over his sensitive cock, making him feel more alive than he ever had in his life. He wanted her to feel exhausted, limp with sex, fully satisfied and too tired to lure other men, the biochemical drained from her body so that she had a long reprieve.

  He felt the gathering in her body, starting around his cock, building to hurricane force. He tightened his grip on her hips, tilting her body to fit even more tightly with his, so he could go deeper. Around him her body rippled and gripped, while her head tossed and her body writhed, fighting off the inevitable storm as he slammed into her again and again in a kind of wild fury.

  She stiffened under him, her body clamping down on his, a vicious vise. It seemed impossible to breathe, to get air into his burning lungs, but that didn't matter. Nothing mattered to him but the ferocious joining of their bodies. He drove through the fury of the storm once more, burying himse
lf with the flames stroking over him. He thought he might have gone a little insane, the inferno so hot and tight it bordered on pain, but there was no stopping the driving force that had him hammering into her over and over like a machine totally out of control.

  Agonizing pleasure radiated from his groin to every part of his body as her body shuddered, clamped down on him even tighter, milking and strangling, a fiery massage that sent him careening off the edge of a cliff. His body of its own accord went still. He felt the pulse throb in his cock. A single heartbeat of pure anticipation.

  Pepper screamed, nails digging into his back and shoulders, a wild, heart-wrenching cry as the orgasm took her with hurricane force. It ripped through both of them, every cell in their bodies, muscles, bones, radiating down their thighs to the soles of their feet and up through their bellies to chest and finally the roar in their heads.

  His body shuddered, the release so violent, his seed jetting deep into her over and over again. The sheath surrounding him seemed to be made of living, breathing hot velvet, as it kept squeezing and milking long after the thunder in his ears subsided.

  He allowed himself to collapse over her, pinning her to the floor with his weight, his body blanketing hers. He needed to feel her soft body imprinted on his. He kept his arms around her, refusing to allow her to withdraw from him.

  "Put your arms around my neck, sugar," he whispered softly, keeping his voice gentle. She was fighting for breath, but he could feel her sudden confusion, the wariness in her, as if suddenly, he might have become the enemy.

  Slowly, almost reluctantly, her arms crept around his neck. He kissed her throat and blazed a trail up to her chin, all the while enjoying the aftershocks. He held her to him, nuzzling her ear, nipping at her earlobe.

  "What are you doing?"

  "Did you think we would just get up and put on our clothes?"

  Wyatt lifted his head to look into her eyes. Definitely confused.

  "I don't know. I've never done this. Training involved me doing things to others, not them doing anything to me. I've never felt like this and I don't know what I'm supposed to do now." She sounded lost. Afraid. Vulnerable. "Aren't we finished?"

  Because any man she seduced was supposed to die. That was her job. Seduction and assassination. There was no aftermath, no loving arms to be held in.

  "No, baby, we're not through yet. We got what we both needed. What we had to have, but I still want to love on you. I need to do that, sugar. It's important to me."

  He kissed her eyelids, her temple and smoothed back her hair. "I get to love on you, honey. Just like this. Hold you close to me and let you know how amazin' you are. How much you matter to me. That what we did together wasn' just about sex. It will never be just about sex with you. I don' know what's growin' in me for you, but it's there, Pepper."

  She lay beneath him, looking up at him with questions in her eyes. His hand stroked her long hair from her face, his fingers gentle, soothing even.

  "I don't understand."

  "You deserve tender. Gentle. I can do that now that we've been through the storm of the century." He grinned at her as he leaned down to brush a kiss along her throat. His hand stroked her breast and then he leaned down and flicked her nipple with his tongue before rolling off her to lie on the floor close, his body pressed to hers. "You are incredible, Pepper. My woman. Incredible. How do you feel, sugar? Are you all right?"

  Was she? Pepper wasn't certain of anything. She lay very still beside him, wanting to touch each place on her body where he'd kissed her. Where he'd touched her with such gentle fingers. He'd gone from fierce to tender in minutes and the change threw her. Wyatt was... She didn't know.

  And then it dawned on her. Her body wasn't hurting. There was no burning. No tension. For the first time she could recall in years, her body was her own. Completely sated. Satisfied. There was no terrible drive for sex. No unwanted hunger she couldn't assuage or stop.

  "Oh, my God, Wyatt." She turned to him, her eyes wide with shock. "It's gone." She felt the burn of tears, her only warning and then she was sobbing, breaking down completely, another first for her.

  Wyatt immediately gathered her to him, holding her close, cradling her in strong arms, sitting, his back to the wall with her in his lap. He actually rocked her as if she were a child in need of soothing, and at that moment, Pepper had to admit she was. No one had ever been kind to her like Wyatt. Never. She couldn't remember anyone ever holding her or brushing kisses over her temples or down to the corner of her mouth.

  "I'm sorry," she managed to blurt out in the middle of the storm of tears.

  "Don' be. I'm here. I've got you. I told you to trust me, honey. I'm not goin' anywhere. When it happens again, we know what to do."

  He touched her mouth with his finger, and then slid his finger between her lips so that she sucked on it. Extracting it, he put his own finger in his mouth, tasting her. Tasting that addicting spiced honey. His cock twitched. He couldn't lie to her, as much as he wanted this moment for her. She had to know.

  "It will come back, Pepper. That need. But I'll be here to take it away for you. Whenever it gets too much, long before it begins to drive you insane, do you understand, babe? Me. I'll do that for you."

  Pepper's heart clenched hard. He was right. Sadly. For the moment the terrible need was gone, wiped away by Wyatt, but if he wasn't around... "You can't really tie yourself to me, Wyatt. We both know that. Living with me would be hell. You'd lose all your friends, even family members. You won't always be around. You're a GhostWalker and you have to leave to go on missions. What happens then? What if I have a meltdown and can't take it?"

  He ruffled her hair and dropped a kiss on top of her head. "Silly woman. Your man is a fuckin' genius. One of my best friends is even smarter than me. Do you think we can' beat them at their own game? Once I have the children squared away, we're devotin' our time to helpin' you out. We'll find a way to overcome it or at least tone it down so you're not sufferin' every minute of the day without me."

  "It's so horrible, Wyatt. Once it starts the hunger builds every day and I can't think. I can barely eat anything. How can you keep up with that?"

  He laughed softly. "Seriously, babe? I'm a GhostWalker. I guess I'll just have to do my duty."

  "It's not funny." But there was a faint smile in her voice.

  "It's occurred to me that if I get you pregnant, the cycle will stop for the duration. If that's so, every time I have to leave, you'd better be prepared to have a baby. We might end up with a dozen little ones runnin' around, but I'll know you're not steppin' out on me." He was half serious. He'd given it a lot of thought and it would make sense that if she got pregnant the biochemical might not be able to move through her so quickly.

  "A dozen? Children? Are you crazy?"

  "I'm Cajun, babe. Of course I'm crazy." He looked down at her face. "Are you okay now? I didn't hurt you, did I?"

  She moistened her lips. "I'll be a little sore, but in a nice way. Thank you, Wyatt. For understanding and trying to help me. No one's ever done anything like this for me."

  He didn't like a certain note in her voice. A hesitation. A kind of embarrassment. "What we did together is a good thing, Pepper," he said, trying to understand what was going through her head.

  She took a deep breath and let it out, shaking her head and then subsiding against his chest, her head tucked down so her hair fell around her face.

  "No, honey. You're not hidin' from me. From us. We talk things out. That's how we're goin' to make this work. I know you're not used to a partner, but that's what we're formin' here. A partnership. You tell me when somethin's not right. Or when you're upset. I'll do the same. We have to be honest with one another."

  Pepper kept her head down, her mind racing. Wyatt made her want the life he was tempting her with so much she couldn't breathe. He didn't know how truly bad it would get with other men wanting her when her guard came down, or the women despising her for being around their men. But she wanted him to be her ma
n. The moment he'd used those words, a thrill had gone through her.

  "Put your eyes on mine, sugar. Right now."

  She even loved the way he could go from an easygoing Cajun charm to a commanding arrogance that sent shivers of need through her body. She had never wanted to please a man before, but she wanted to please him. She wanted to belong to him. She wanted his body and his mind and his protection. Most of all, she wanted him to love her. She had never considered being loved by anyone until she met him. But to confess that to him...

  She shook her head before she could stop herself, a metallic taste of defeat in her mouth.

  Wyatt caught her chin in a firm grip and lifted it, forcing her head up. "Say it." His voice was rough, but his eyes were gentle. Tender even.

  "I don't want you to want me for sex." She blurted it out in a little rush. "I don't understand how all of my training failed. I didn't realize how truly flawed I really am. The one thing I'm supposed to be good at, controlling a man through sex, just went straight out the window. You were in control, not me. And still, I don't want you to stay with me because of..." She broke off and waved one hand down their naked bodies.

  "Because the sex was better than either of us ever imagined or thought possible?" he finished for her. He bent his head to hers and brushed a gentle kiss across her mouth. "You're really fucked up, aren't you, babe? They did a real number on you. The sex is off the charts and I'd be a fool not to want that every day of my life. That's all you, sugar. Not their damn enhancements. I have three little girls who desperately need a mother who will fight for them alongside of me and protect and love them. That's you. I need a woman who can put up with my jealous, arrogant, demandin' nature and love me anyway. That's you too. I like holdin' you in my arms and feelin' you in my bed. I like listenin' to you laughin' and touchin' your skin. I like knowin' you're goin' to be wet for me and that anytime I want you, that you're goin' to want me right then, at that moment."

  She swallowed hard, his words penetrating through her brain and finding their way to her heart. It hurt, an actual physical pain in her heart to hear him talk like that - to her - about her. Did she dare take a chance? She'd be risking so much more than he realized. She'd be risking him. Wyatt.