The doorbell rang.
Fucking finally.
“I got it.” He put out a hand when she started to get up.
“I’m not sure who it’d be. Deliveries are left downstairs.”
“It’s something for me.” For you.
He moved down the short hallway and opened the door.
“Receipt’s in the envelope.” The guy handed him a white box and walked off like he’d delivered a bomb.
Ah, New Yorkers.
“Thanks.” He closed the door, wondering how he’d surprise her now. Or maybe she’d hate a surprise, so he should hand her the box and hope for the best.
Ah, hell. He and best were definitely not friends.
The most delicious scent he’d ever smelled cut across his nose.
“I’m going to get dressed, and then I have a few calls to make,” she called from the kitchen, then came into the hall, looking from his hands to his face. “What’s that?”
“A surprise. Well, not a surprise. A thing. A tiny thing. For your birthday.” Okay, he was eight again and had gotten busted stealing warm cookies from his mom’s kitchen.
“You got me a surprise?”
Her timid smile stabbed him right in the heart, and the blade twisted.
“I did. Go back in the kitchen, and we can open it.” He nodded in that direction, wishing he’d had a chance to look at it first.
“What is it?” Her tone turned a bit bubbly.
“Don’t laugh.” He came up behind her and put the small package on the table. “I got you a cake. It’s kind of a do-over since we didn’t get to replace the pie we lost in the alley.”
Her hand brushed over the name engraved on the lid. “This isn’t any ol’ cake. This is from Brooklyn’s best bakery. They don’t whip up cakes to sit around for purchase.” She met his eyes. “You planned this.”
Kind of. Most folks made things fast if the price was right.
She bent at the waist, her nose an inch from the top of the box. She took a long inhale and straightened, her smile wavering. “It’s lemon. You remembered,” she whispered, her chin quivering.
“Happy birthday, Elspeth. I’m thankful for this day and that I met you. I meant what I said. You truly are my one good surprise.” A warm, fuzzy feeling spread inside him at the sincerity anchored deep in her eyes. “Go on. Open it.”
Her hands shook as she lifted the lid.
Sweat formed on his brow as she took in the pale yellow, round cake. The baker had done a kickass job with the elegant cream swirls dotted with little lemons and green vines covering the edges of the top and down the sides. He’d asked the baker to mimic the bushy Meyer lemon tree he remembered from back home, the one that had provided the fruit his mother had used to flavor his favorite desserts.
He watched her face, riveted by the smile creasing her perfect mouth.
“I’ll get plates and forks. You get it out of the box.” She turned toward the cabinets.
He caught the catch in her voice as he unfastened the tabs at the sides so he could lift out the six-inch cake, thinking it’d been worth every penny to see her happy. He took in her exhales and absorbed the bittersweet cocktail of emotions.
As he pulled the cake from the box, relief burned steadily within him that he’d chosen the reusable porcelain plate option from a local artist the bakery used. Little lemons and green leaves had been hand-painted on the white rim, the design on the girly side, but he hoped she’d use it and think of him after he got reassigned. And he would be put back on his regular rotation eventually. Knowing Seanair, he’d be lucky to still be around next week.
His gaze drew to the elegant script of her name written beneath the words Happy Birthday.
“Elspeth.” He loved the taste of her name across his senses.
A gentle hand landed on his back. He turned, his power flaring that she stood only inches from him.
“I’ve never received a nicer gift.” Her gaze slowly searched his face.
“I’m glad you like it.” He stepped to her and swept her hair behind her ear.
“I do, but that’s not the best part of the gift.” She closed the space between them and rose on her tiptoes, her mouth hovering off his. “I like the way I feel when I’m with you. I’m happy.” Her lips softly and sweetly brushed his.
Her eyes closed as a feeling of rightness flooded her. She wrapped her arms around his neck and strained to maintain contact because he was so tall. He didn’t return the kiss, and she almost stepped away. Then his tongue brushed her upper lip, his mouth moving over hers, the intensity building, rising, until he was kissing her like she was life’s first breath.
So much had happened that she couldn’t remember all the things they’d experienced together, but it felt like everything. He felt like everything. She could be with him now. He was the shiny thing in the broken pieces of her life, the bright spot in her dark heart.
She was free.
Free to pursue him like she wanted.
And oh, how she wanted.
He broke away sharply, leaning down and pressing his forehead to hers, his large, warm hands cupped around her face. “We can’t. I’m going to get reassigned.” Tension rippled from him, the room’s temperature rising. “I want you so much, you have no idea, but you’re not a fling. I can’t tell myself this won’t mean anything. I can’t treat you like a regen when you’re so much more.”
She closed her eyes, overwhelmed by the care in his voice. There was so much between them. So much electricity. The need for connection.
“Look at what’s happened since you got here. We have no idea what’ll happen tomorrow, but we have now. We have this day.” Goddess, she wanted longer. “I don’t know how, but no one’s taking you away from me. The only way I’ll let you leave is if you want to go.”
His forehead tensed against hers, his eyes pinched shut. “You deserve better, Elspeth, better than me. You deserve someone who can be in your life. We’re not the same status. There’s no public future for us, and I don’t want a secret life for you. You’re not from a family where you can do whatever you want without consequences.”
Goddess, why did he think he was such an awful person? All he’d done was protect her. He’d never hesitated to put her first in that alley, even though he could have been hurt. He’d held her while she’d cried in the bathroom at the gala. And now he worried for her reputation. Her. The null. The nothing.
She leaned back, looked to the cake and back to him. She wanted one thing. One thing she could call hers.
“Why would I want to let go of the best thing that’s ever happened to me?” She dropped her watery gaze to his mouth, lingered, and longed to feel the press of it against her own again. “Your concern for me makes me want you even more. You respect me. You see me.” She trailed her finger down the scar. He was so brave, so brave and so…good. “Be with me.”
The knot in her throat held, inching larger as the seconds burned between them.
“I’m not a good man. I’ve done horrible things.” His hand raked through her hair and settled on her jaw.
“You’re a good man to me.”
“Do you know how I got this scar?” He turned his head so the mark was a blaze right before her eyes.
“Yes, I do. I read a diary entry of my grandfather’s. I know everything, and I don’t blame you for hating him. I’d rather focus on what I want, rather than what Seanair’s done. His list of sins is longer than I ever imagined, but I won’t add losing you to that list. I won’t let him take this from us.” She looked at the cake and back to him, her tone laden with intent. “Have you ever had cake sex?”
He did a double take, and his gaze darkened. “No.”
“It’s a birthday party game. I paint my favorite parts of you with icing and cake.” She shot him a sly smile. “And lick it off.”
Two blue rings lit around his reddened irises. “You shouldn’t tease me like that. I’m struggling to do the right thing.”
“You’re struggling t
o do what you think you should do, not what you want to do.” Desire pooled inside her. “I want you so bad I ache.”
His finger teased below her bottom lip. She closed her eyes at the sensation, the heat spooling like wildfire, her pulse alive beneath his touch.
“I am lost when it comes to you.” He cupped her jaw, his face coming toward hers, nothing but desire in his gaze. His tongue drew across her upper lip, little licks and nips building to teeth and breath and a hot-as-lava kiss. “I’m done fighting this,” he said into her mouth, his hands sliding up her face and slipping into her hair. “And I get to go first on this game.”
A delicious heat sizzled in her breasts, between her legs, her body alight for him. His arms went around her, his hands gripping her ass as his searing kiss sent a shower of sparks over her skin. With her hands clasped around his neck, she realized the feeling was him. All him. No Fire. No power. Like they were two humans who wanted nothing more than each other.
He wanted her. Just her.
And she wanted him.
Her fingers found the edge of his shirt. She pushed it up, groaning at the muscles beneath. Her gaze went to the rings hanging on a chain around his neck.
“What are these?” In all the chaos, she’d forgotten to ask about them..
The desire in his eyes dulled. “They’re the only things I have left of my dad. His wedding band and a relic that didn’t destroy itself. I don’t like to talk about it.”
She was sorry she’d brought it up, sorrier still as she realized she’d assumed something about sex with an Alpha.
She teased a finger along the corner of his mouth and leaned up and gave him a quick kiss. “I won’t mention it again. I wondered…” Goddess, this was embarrassing. “Since I have no power and can’t refuel you, can you enjoy sex without a power exchange?”
“If it’s with you, I’m gonna enjoy it.” His arms crossed in front of him, and he tugged the shirt over his head, tossing it to the floor. “You’re nothing but good for me. Feel what you do to me.” His eyes dipped slowly south and back to hers.
She drew her hand down his warm chest, tracing her fingers over his firm pecs and into the dips of his abs. Reaching the waistband of his jeans, she didn’t let go of his stare, watching his eyes go molten as she cupped the firm heat of him.
“You have no idea how hard it’s been to stay away from you.” His breath came faster.
She drew back, tugged her shirt over her head, and let it fall, her breasts swaying free. Cool air hit her skin and instantly warmed. He was taking care of her again, tending to the smallest of her needs. The little things were how she’d known. The coffee. Her food. How she never had to zip her coat anymore, even in February. Things he wasn’t paid to do but did anyway.
“Then don’t stay away anymore.” She took his hands and guided them to her breasts.
“Goddess.” His eyes flared red as he cupped her and teased his thumbs over her nipples, his wicked smile lighting something wanton deep inside her. “You’re so damn beautiful.” His hands went to her hips, and he backed her to the wall. “Tell me again how this cake-sex game works.” The flames in his irises burned bright against the whites of his eyes.
“We have to be completely naked.” She pushed him away enough so she could hook her thumbs in the waistband of her long johns, pushing them down slowly and toeing them off.
“Mother N.” His wide eyes narrowed to a wicked gaze, promising the best possible burn.
His jaw tensed, and his throat bobbed as he swallowed. She’d never considered herself provocative, but seeing his reaction made the last of the old voices go away. For the first time, she was gloriously in charge. It was heady to feel sexy. Flirtatious. Desired.
No, desire was too tame. This was craving. Deep. Raw. Insatiable.
She reveled in the clink of his belt buckle against the tile, the swash of his jeans, the slaps of his boot laces, the gentle whoosh of his socks.
He straightened to his full height and palmed himself, his cock long and hard and ready. “Turn around. I want to see all of you before we start.”
Her heartbeat surged into her throat, her nerves alive, her thoughts firing like bottle rockets. Two things weren’t small or even medium-sized on her: her boobs and her ass. But the old voices telling her to be embarrassed were silenced by his hum of pleasure as she obeyed.
His hands grazed her shoulders as he split her hair and pushed it forward onto her breasts. His finger teased slowly down her spine, tracing a circle in a sensitive spot where the bones ended and the want began.
“I have dreamed of this.” He kissed his way down the trail his fingers had taken, her need growing with the brush of his breath against her skin. He went to his knees behind her, his hands spanning her ass as though he’d found perfection and had to be sure she was real.
He gripped her hips and turned her, his head drawing back so he could look up at her, stark, raw need carving his features into harsh lines. “I want to take this slow, but I’m not sure I can. Not the first time.”
Desire raged and consumed her, her body a breathless, needy thing.
“What? You think I’d only want you once? You are a fire I can’t extinguish.”
He pressed a kiss below her belly button, and a hard shiver went down her body.
“I think I know how to play this game. I’ll paint frosting here.” His finger trailed across her lower belly. He eased back, standing enough to lean toward the cake and scoop a glob of icing with his finger. “Now, where was I?” He returned to his knees and swiped a long, sugary stripe in the spot he’d kissed. “If I’m going to win, I’ll need a baseline. Widen your stance for me.”
Her heart went into overdrive. You’ll never tire of a night with a Fire. She somehow managed to move.
“The goal here is to decide which I like better, the taste of lemon or you, right?” He cocked a brow.
She nodded, the word yes stuck in her fist-tight throat.
With his other hand, he dragged a finger through her slickness and sucked it clean, his eyes closing. “Definitely sweet, but I need to play a few rounds before I know for sure.”
Honestly, she hadn’t been sure where her wild-ass cake-sex comment had come from, but hell yes, she was going to play.
His tongue did a slow drag along the path of icing. Her stomach tensed, the nerves there electric, live wires of want and need and lust splintering through her veins.
“First birthday present of the day, and round one.” A dark smile pulled across his face, and he pushed toward her, lifting one of her legs and placing it over his shoulder.
His hot breath washed over her sensitive skin. With one of his hands braced against the wall, he grasped her ass cheek with the other, his fingers digging in the more he licked and sucked and teased her. Her head fell back, her body stringing tight, tight, tight at the feel of his greedy mouth.
There he was, giving himself to her again, seeing to her satisfaction, putting her needs first. The tension built, her body on fire. So close, so close, so—
The orgasm struck, her eyes slamming shut, her breath a harsh moan. Her hands smacked the wall, one landing on his, her nails scoring his skin. She pitched over, falling into sensation, nothing but a black sun of bliss eclipsing behind her eyelids as he wrung wave after wave of pleasure from her.
“Aleron,” she cried, his strong arms holding her up, his grip tight as he kissed her inner thighs.
His rested his forehead where he’d licked off the icing, his body taut. “That.” His breath was ragged. “Was better than cake.”
She focused on the heat of him as he rose, the dusting of hair on his chest tickling her along the way. “You like me better than lemon?”
His hands cupped her bottom again, and he lifted her like she weighed nothing. “I like you better than everything, no contest.”
He kissed her, his body pressed against hers, the tease of his teeth sending shivers down her. Goddess, he was intense, the urgency in his grip, the heat in his eyes, his
voice dark. A glorious smoke mingled with his breath and the leather-scented soap she’d put in his bathroom.
She breathed him in, all in, the essence of him the sweetest high.
Her eyes locked with his, and her breath caught at the need blazing bright in his hot gaze. “You’re the first thing I’ve ever gotten that I wanted.”
Something had broken free inside her. She wasn’t following the rules anymore. She would make her own.
Rule one? Aleron was in her bed, and inside her, as often as possible.
“I’d forgotten how to want. Until you.” His words, quiet as they were, drowned out the refrigerator’s whirr. Everything slowed, the room around her receding until she was surrounded by nothing but the sight and sound and scent of him.
Hers. All hers. This man she couldn’t get enough of.
“Come here.” He helped her get steady on her feet and guided her to the small rug on the floor. His gaze predatory, he followed her down, bracing his hands so she didn’t absorb the full weight of his naked, hard body.
“Guide me in. I’m dying here.” He ground against her.
She slipped a hand between them and found his hot, hard length. He wasn’t a small man by any stretch, and a curl of worry sprang that she wouldn’t be able to take all of him.
“Stop thinking.” He breathed near her ear. “I’ll go slow until you’re ready.” He leaned back, his head lowered, watching her position him. His eyes met hers as he slowly pushed inside. “Tell me if it’s too much.”
The stretch burned enough to let her know she’d be oh-so-yummy sore tomorrow, but she couldn’t look away from his hot gaze, her body a riot of sensation. No one had ever looked at her like that. No one had ever wanted her so openly. No one had ever made her feel so desired.
You’ll never tire of a night with a Fire.
No. No, she wouldn’t. Not with him.
He inched his way inside, a sheen of sweat across his forehead, his muscles straining as he patiently pushed all the way in. “Mother N, you will be the death of me, and I’ll go with a smile on my face. Are you okay? I don’t want to hurt you.”
The Call of Fire: A Natura Elementals Novel Page 20
