More than my physical desire of Kale, I cared for this maddening warlock in a way I never experienced before—not even with the Bryon I once loved—and my heart flooded with the need to have his protection all around me. I cupped his strong face, and he inhaled a sharp breath, surprised. “No more secrets, Kale. I can’t take it.”
“Never again.” His tone had lowered a few octaves with a promise we both wanted to fulfill.
I could’ve answered him, but figured actions would convey my point well enough. I leaned up toward him and pressed my mouth against his, releasing all my strained emotions onto his lips. I poured all the stress we’d been through, all the worry and fear, and the concern for Kale’s life, into the kiss. He drew in a ragged breath through his nose, cupping my legs and bringing them up around his hips.
He shifted against me and his erection connected with my body so firmly it stole my breath. His lips were everywhere: on my neck, my mouth, my face. He devoured me and I damn well consumed him back.
Gripping his shoulders, I reveled in the muscles there and needed the fabric to go. After an impressive swirl of his hips, sending a round of pleasure tickling through me, I forced my legs to lower and reached for his shirt. The T-shirt only lifted to his belly button before Kale did the rest of the work and had it over his head, and then he dropped it to the floor.
My breath became trapped in my throat as I scanned every single sexy inch of this warlock. Sure, the smooth tanned skin covering some of the most impressive muscles enticed me, but Kale was a bad boy, even if he was good.
An intricate tattoo of runes spread across his shoulder and ran over his chest before continuing all the way down the left side of his body and fading into his jeans. “Wow.” I traced the tattoo over his shoulder, and followed the path down his chest and over his ripped stomach. Dancing my fingers over his six-pack, his muscles flexed, and then I finally lifted my head. Oh, did his gaze simmer with wicked intent, and clearly my touch excited him. “What’s this mean?”
“It’s my runes.” His voice never sounded so husky and so sexy, making me melt as he said, “All of them I use, but blended together in this design.”
“It’s beautiful.” I glanced over him again. This warlock was hot with his shirt on, but off…I licked my lips and squirmed. “Seriously, Kale, you are so damn sexy.”
His lips twitched. “Glad you think so.”
With that burn in his eyes he owned, he reached forward and gingerly lifted up my shirt—too slow for my liking—but the devilish nature in his expression explained his motives. He enjoyed torturing me. His fingers brushed against my sides as he lifted my shirt, and I raised my arms to assist him.
This was torture.
Once he dropped my T-shirt to the floor, he zoned in on my black lace bra, and no part of me was shy now. I wanted him to see all of me. Being the sex kitten I am, I reached back and unclipped the hook, letting the straps fall down my arms.
Kale stiffened as he stared at my breasts, and after a long pause, he finally arched an eyebrow at me. “Pants. Off. Now.”
As I reached for the waistband of my yoga pants, he swiped my hands away, tucking his fingers into the sides and pulling them down, along with my panties. He remained squatted in front of me as I stepped out of them, and he did a full sweep of my body to stop at the juncture between my legs, where he grinned. “Very pretty, Libby.”
He stood then. His grin remained but had deliciously darkened. “You make me impatient.” His attention lowered again to my most intimate place and so did his fingers. My eyes fluttered closed as he worked magic on my heated flesh. Each swirl of his fingers weakened my knees and caught my breath.
I forced my eyes open, reached for his belt, and had his pants to the floor within a single breath. Kale kicked them aside and I was lost in the sight of this warlock; no part of him didn’t impress me. Heat ripped like wildfire through my veins as he pressed his body and a very hard, very thick, erection against me.
When I writhed along his hardened length, he grunted and his demeanor shifted. He might have taken his time to undress me, and I understood—we both had waited for this moment and needed to appreciate the first look of each other. But that control he’d kept in check was now gone, and apparently he’d been honest—urgency drove him.
His nostrils flared as he pressed the full weight of his body against me, making me feel feminine beneath his hard, powerful body. “Next time, I’ll be gentle.” His fierce look brought forth a throb between my thighs. “Now I cannot.”
With the promise of what lay ahead, I leaned in and flicked my tongue over his bottom lip. “Gentle is overrated.”
Those shadowy eyes lost all of their color as his pupils dilated, and before I could catch up, he gathered me in his arms. He strode forward, and then I was flipped over the side of my couch with my bottom raised high.
I gasped in shock when Kale’s tongue licked heaven against my flesh—I hadn’t expected his mouth to be there. But my surprise didn’t last long, not with his talented mouth on my sensitive skin.
I never thought of myself as a loud lover, but clearly I thought wrong. The moans and a few curse words and Oh, Goddesses that poured from my mouth shuddered into my soul. Each swirl of his tongue and insertion of a finger brought me higher and higher, and drove me wild until…
The force and speed at which my orgasm hit made my eyes widen and shook the world around me. Waves of pleasure washed over me, making me whimper from the power my body released.
Without a chance to recover, hardness pressed against my back, and I forced my eyes open as Kale wrapped his arms around my middle. He lifted me into his arms and strode toward the kitchen table, where he placed me. He didn’t give me the chance to catch my breath from the switch of positions, or find my way back from my orgasm. He pressed his erection against my tender flesh and slammed himself all the way home in one fluid stroke, and I arched up off the table as he made me soar.
For a second I nearly called out for him to stop—I’d become so used to sex with humans, I had a moment of surprise that he didn’t talk about protection. But warlocks and witches were magically protected against disease and pregnancy, unless they wanted to become pregnant. Besides, I was only too glad because the thickness of Kale inside of me, the length of him, and the silkiness of him were pure pleasure.
Bracing my hips with his firm hands, he thrust with ruthless strength as he released the sheer frustration of what we’d been through, and maybe even his anger at what his responsibility put him through, into me. The claim he made on my body spoke volumes that he’d been tormented these past nights, and I didn’t mind one bit that he released his heady emotions on my very aroused body. Hell, I wanted more, and fully accepted his domination over me.
The table rocked beneath me as I gripped Kale’s strong forearms and watched the delicious way his muscles flexed deeper with each thrust. His eyes were focused and possessive, and I met him thrust for thrust. His hands swept over my breasts and tweaked my taut nipples in a bite of pain, instantly flooding me with tingles starting at my head and soaring all the way down to my curled toes.
When he leaned down over me, I tangled my fingers in his hair as he took a nipple between his teeth and worked it to the highest form of pleasure. The feel of his mouth, and his hard thrusts building pressure low in my body, made my breath hitch. When he gave me a hard bite, my orgasm smashed into me like a harsh wave I happily drowned in.
I heard myself scream Kale’s name, lost myself in the highest peak of my climax, and sensed his body tense around me, but not until I had the ability to think straight did I realize he didn’t thrust anymore. When I garnered the strength to open my eyes, his face was tight with strain and his body quaked.
“Big one. Nice,” he murmured with a satisfied grin—he apparently knew he’d given me an orgasm to stop time. He lifted me to him and I wrapped my arms around his neck, inhaling the woodsy scent of Kale and savoring it like a fine wine. “If I release here, I’ll fall to the floor, and
I doubt I’d have the strength to move.”
His voice sounded husky in my ear as he carried me off to the bedroom, and I agreed, because I doubted I would walk after this. In fact, I suspected my bones and muscles would be nonexistent.
Once in my bedroom, he dropped me down on the bed without breaking contact and blanketed his body over mine. Sliding his hands along the back of my shoulders, he cupped them, pinning me beneath him.
The smile on his face was so wickedly sexy, I gasped, which turned into a loud moan as he thrust forward. With his tight hold, as he refused any movement on my part, he unleashed himself in a way to prove his strength. A human couldn’t match the force of his thrusts, and even though I had already climaxed twice, he wouldn’t take no for an answer.
On each mighty thrust, he slammed against my little nub and the hardness of his erection brought me to a level of ecstasy equaling no other. My lips parted as the sensation rose to a level I couldn’t control, my screams now faded away, and Kale’s eyes widened. My orgasm would’ve hit regardless with the intensity of his strength, but the sheer possession held in his face and the hints of strong emotion increased it.
Bucking against him, I lost myself in my pleasure as he lowered himself on top of me, pressing his hot, sweaty body tight against mine. His claim of owning me—overpowering and possessing me—and taking me in the most primitive form burned across me, and I eagerly accepted.
His mouth was right by my ear and the sounds of his harsh breaths and his low grunts echoing around me set me aflame. I squeezed myself around him, urging him on while wave after wave of pleasure blinded me, and Kale cursed. He then thrust in a rapid brutal speed that, if I wasn’t in the peak of my climax, might have killed me.
With a final slam forward, he cursed again in a loud roar, and then all his weight dropped down onto me as his release overtook him. His hands cupping my shoulders squeezed, his hard body trembled and jerked, and his deep moans echoed his satisfaction.
For long moments, neither of us moved, remaining in a tangled mess of satiated bodies, quivering and exhausted.
As I recovered from being liquefied, his ragged breath remained by my ear. Eventually, he rolled onto his back and pulled me with him so I straddled him. My head rested on his chest and he tucked it under his chin.
It took a good ten minutes to gather my breath, to focus, and to form a coherent thought. His hard, sweaty body rested beneath me. I wiggled, and I liked him there.
Once my breath returned and my heartbeat slowed, I lifted up and stared down at him. His eyes were closed, but he smiled. “Well, you certainly have many talents, don’t you?”
“I don’t enjoy being teased.” He opened his eyes and the fierce light in them had dimmed. “You have teased me for nights now. That is the result.”
Oh, a discovery. If I teased Kale it got him all fired up. I grinned.
He arched an eyebrow. “Don’t get any ideas.”
I laughed, as did he.
The amusement stayed on his face a moment longer before he shed the softness in his eyes on a long sigh, and his eyebrows drew together. He tucked my hair behind my ear and blew out another long breath. “I’m sorry my duty to the Alchemy hurt you, and while it showed me you feel much like I do, I never want to see that type of pain in your eyes again.”
I sighed, not really wanting to revisit the topic. Hadn’t we already gotten over it? Clearly, I had accepted his apology. “Okay.”
Wrapping his arms around my back, he drew me in close so our noses almost touched. I couldn’t help but notice that for the first time since Bryon, I felt completely safe and content in the arms of a warlock. His gaze on me had been the one I longed for so often, but now I didn’t only see trust in his eyes, but the first hints of deep affection. “You will feel and accept my apology, Libby.”
Tight emotions I tried to force away so many times arose once again, and perhaps in his hold it became harder to fight. Maybe with the multiple orgasms he’d cracked a wall down, because my control sucked. This warlock was set to make me cry, and he was good at it.
All the stored up pain from the shock of this, Kale’s betrayal, and my broken heart rose into my chest. In fact, all the disappointment I’d suffered from warlocks. It seemed I’d always been good at hiding things, pushing them away, but Kale wouldn’t allow it.
With his tender features holding me captive, his eyes boring so deeply into mine, my heart broke wide open and I had no control. My lip quivered and tears welled in my eyes. It seemed that Kale’s apology held a world of weight.
A tear sped down my cheek and Kale hummed, “There you go.” He ran his hands over my back, and looked at me with such conviction that I believed he’d be there for me. He didn’t see my raw emotions as a weakness, but he appreciated that I trusted him enough to cry in his arms. “Don’t hold it inside anymore, Libby, let it out.”
And did I ever.
It took much longer than I had expected for my sobs to lessen, and maybe my breakdown was a long time overdue because once it started, I couldn’t stop it. Through the rush of tears, I realized I had soaked his chest, and I rose up to wipe at them. Kale stared at me with a world of pain, too, as well as regret.
“You hurt me,” I whispered.
He nodded with sad eyes. “I did.”
“Don’t ever do it again.”
He raised his head off the pillow and cupped my cheeks. “Never. Again.” Then he pressed the sweetest kiss to my lips and I welcomed the safety he presented. He nibbled at the side of my mouth a little longer, and then he backed away and smiled in his soft way. “You’re refreshing to me, Libby. I protect anything important to me.”
While I didn’t doubt him in the least—the possession in his eyes declared it—I didn’t quite understand what he meant. “Refreshing?”
“You see me as a warlock, as the man I am, and not a High Priest.” He brushed his thumbs over my cheeks, and right now, in this moment, Kale’s smile was so honest and very sweet. “It’s refreshing.”
I tilted my head, studied him, and a thought rose I had to voice. “Is that why the interest in me is there, because I don’t see you as a High Priest?”
He shrugged, lowering his hands, and clasped them behind his head against the pillow. “At first I wondered if that was some of the appeal, since I enjoyed having a witch look at me as a warlock, and nothing more.” His gaze twinkled when his eyebrow arched. “I quite like a woman who challenges me, and once I accepted the role as High Priest that ceased to exist.”
I snorted a laugh. “So, you’re saying you like when I shove you and get mouthy?”
“Absolutely.” His expression was dead serious. “It’s real.”
I understood his point, since High Priests were viewed in a different light, yet there was a problem to his theory. “But I do see you as High Priest now.”
“Do you?” His eyebrow arched higher. “I’m pretty sure you defied my orders tonight at the cemetery, told me off, and also tried to kick me out of your house.”
Maybe I had done those things.
At my silence, he leaned up and kissed the side of my mouth. “My other interest in you is just because you are a witch who will tell me off, defy my orders, and challenge me.” He grinned. “I enjoy you.”
I snorted. “You’re lucky I didn’t end your life tonight.”
He wrapped his arms around me so tight it felt safe and nice. “You nearly did when you vanished from my sight.” He sighed, low and deep, and it heaved his chest beneath me. “The storm is coming, Libby, and we need you. I need you.” At my pause, since I hadn’t made a decision regarding the Alchemy, Kale’s expression firmed. “The choice to join us is yours. If you refuse, we will accept that decision.”
Now that I had answers my hesitations were gone, which brought to light the seriousness of the situation. The thought that this rebellion might destroy the very foundation of what protected my world brought the awareness that the choice wasn’t mine. I acted now not for Kale, not for the Alchemy, b
ut for all the innocent lives that would be affected if I didn’t. Most of all, for the Goddess, who told me this path was right.
“All right, Kale. I’ll join.” The moment the words left my mouth a thought rose I hadn’t considered, and I said on a quick breath, “But wait, does that mean I have to live in New Orleans?”
Relief washed over his features. I suspected it wasn’t only for my abilities, but because it did mean I’d be closer to him, which I had to admit I liked, too. “For now, yes.” His eyes fluttered closed. “Once the threat is over, you can return to Charleston, if it suits you. The Alchemy will only call upon you when needed, but we need you close now.” He peeked open an eye. “I need you close.”
The latter sounded rough on his voice, and I had the feeling Kale wouldn’t be too pleased if I left New Orleans to come home. I almost mourned my house for a moment before I pushed aside the thought, because it’d ruin my good mood. But then, I realized again I shouldn’t have answered him so fast. “One more thing,” I hurried along before he closed down the conversation. “If I must move there, I have a condition.”
His eyebrow arched. “Which is?”
“Peyton comes with me.” His lips parted, so I added in haste, “which means Jace too since I doubt he’d let her go to the Alchemy without him.”
“Those demands are obtainable.” He chuckled, shutting his eyes again. “I’m sure my mother would like more time with you, especially once she hears you summoned Baal. I imagine she’ll fulfill any demands you set out.”
I blinked. “Why?”
“The spell has never worked for a witch of the Alchemy before.”
Never? My blood ran cold and I shivered.
Kale opened both eyes, tightening his arms. “You’re special, Libby. We need to explore that.”
I wasn’t sure how I felt that no one expected the spell to work, and more to the point, I didn’t even want to consider what would’ve happened if it had failed. I gulped as Kale went on. “Alistair told me tonight after you left, most of the rebellion has been caught by the covens, and we took out the biggest threat in Charleston, which gives us time to refocus our efforts. We need to find out who leads this group before he can strike again, and until we have him in our grips the threat remains.”
The Cat's Meow Page 22
