Conception

by Sarah McCarty

  “That’s not your call.”

  He shook his head. “I will kill any who try to take you from me.”

  “What if I choose to walk away? What will you do? Will you kill me, too?”

  “It is impossible for me to harm you.”

  Which didn’t really answer her question as to what he would do.

  She closed her eyes as he leaned over. The mattress creaked and dipped to the right as his hand came down, tilting her slightly away. And then she was tilting back as the mattress on her other side dipped under the weight of his body. “Open your mouth, Edie mine.”

  God help her, everything inside was ordering her to obey. She started counting back from a hundred in an effort to regain control. She made it to ninety before she realized that when it came to this man, her body simply was not her own. Something hard brushed her lips. His cock? She jumped, repulsed and attracted at the same time. The glancing caress came again along with a softly worded order.

  “Open your eyes.” She did, seeing it was his thumb that brushed her lips. “Look at me.”

  All she had to do was lift her lids and she would be able to see Deuce’s face, the satisfaction he had to be feeling from being the master puppeteer to her puppet. All she had to do was lift her lids and say goodbye to the last of her illusions. It shouldn’t have been so hard to face the truth. With the last of her reserves, she yanked her gaze up, meeting his black eyes with a sense of defiance. The sadness in him shocked her to her core. She searched his expression for the source, once again experiencing that sensation of tumbling into the unknown.

  “Know that I did not want things this way between us.”

  His regret shouldn’t have mattered—she was still being forced into a decision she didn’t want to make—but it did.

  “How did you want it?”

  “I would have courted you in the way of my people. Shown you your value to me. Eased you into our relationship.”

  “Would I still be doing this?”

  His fingers at the base of her skull tipped her head back, and he gave her the only thing she’d ever known from him. Honesty. “Yes.”

  “Then I guess it doesn’t matter.” His cock loomed huge in front of her as it approached, the slit in the center welling with the fluid he thought she required.

  “It matters.” His thumb pulled her lip down. “I would blur this for you.”

  The offer was tempting, but if she let him blur this, where did she draw the line? “No.”

  “I can feel your distaste.”

  Chosen or not, he was a good man making the best of a bad situation and deserved more than pretense from her. “I wouldn’t call it distaste, exactly.”

  “No?”

  She shrugged. “More of a panic.” She brought her hand down to clasp him. His breath hissed through his teeth.

  “You were told to keep your hands in place. You are disobedient.”

  “Get used to it.” He was hard as steel in her grip, throbbing with a pulse a half beat slower than hers. “Disobedience is becoming a way of life for me.”

  “I will allow it this once.”

  Damn nice of him. If she didn’t feel so badly, she’d let him know just what she thought of his “allowing”.

  His hand glided over her jaw, down the arch of her throat to the swell of her breast. “What has you panicked?”

  “If you’re to be believed, you’ve lived for centuries.” He rubbed the back of his fingers over her left nipple. Lightning shot through her body, nearly jerking her double. She lay back on the bed, gasping as if pain tore through her, but feeling none.

  “I do not lie.”

  “Well then, I’m far from the first to do this to you, and as this is my first time trying, I can think of about a hundred ways I’m going to crash and burn.” A chill snaked down her spine and then radiated outward.

  “You are my mate. There is no comparison.” The room swam in and out of focus around the edges. His curse seemed to come from far away. His “We are out of time” let her know he felt what was happening to her. He gently removed her hand from his cock and replaced it above her head. “This time, you will just lie there and let me tend to you.”

  “I don’t think I’ve ever heard a blowjob described quite that way.” The room spun harder. She closed her eyes and let the creeping darkness seep into her thoughts. The bed dipped as another curse echoed beyond the veil clouding her mind. The veil that shouldn’t be there. He was blocking her.

  “No, Deuce.”

  “You will not remember this as our first coming together.” The cloud swirled over reality.

  She gritted her teeth and resisted, reaching deep for strength. Pain sliced through her skull. The cloud whipped back to a speck and then was gone.

  Deuce yanked the edge of the comforter and pressed it against her nose. “You bleed again.”

  She glared at him over the puff of white. “I said no.”

  She could actually hear his teeth grind. With a grunt, he threw the comforter to the side, the streak of red on the white surface was not as bright as it should have been. She stared at that smear a moment, the reality of what was happening slowly sinking in.

  Deuce’s big hand cupped her cheek. “Let me help you through this, Edie mine.”

  She shook her head. “I may be weak, dying even, but I’ll be damned if I’ll play the victim again.”

  “Letting me ease this for you makes you a victim?”

  “No. But running from reality does.”

  For the longest moment, he stared at her, and then he motioned to the bed. “I’m going to help you turn to your side.”

  “I can do it myself.”

  “You will allow your mate to extend this consideration.”

  He was turning her gently even as he spoke. This close, she had a bird’s-eye view of his cock. It was never going to fit.

  “Have you done this before?”

  She wished she had a list of lovers a mile long to recite, but the reality was, her grandfather kept her too secluded for there have to been much opportunity. There was nothing like being faced with centuries of experience to make a newcomer to the game feel inadequate. “No.”

  He rubbed the back of his fingers from her temple to her jaw. “It is not a crime to be inexperienced.”

  “It’s nothing to brag about either.”

  She thought he was going to argue, then he shook his head and cupped the heavy weight of cock in his hands. “I will come in your mouth. “

  She waved off his explanation. “And I suck, I get the mechanics. I’m just not sure it’s going to fit.”

  He was shaking his head again before she finished the sentence.

  “I do not want you to do anything this time. It will be hard enough as it is to maintain my control. And mate?” He raised his eyebrow. “I will ensure your pleasure.”

  Once again her hands were anchored above her head. With the same unrelenting gentleness, her face was tipped up. At the same time, his cock surged forward, pressing against her lips. Hard, hot and huge, it demanded admittance.

  “Open.”

  On a deep breath that drew his scent deep into her lungs, feeling like she was stepping off a ledge, Eden parted her lips.

  With a steady surge, he pressed in. “Accept me, Eden.”

  She had thought it would be so easy. Just part her lips and in he’d go, but that wasn’t the way it was. He was too big, the angle off. She had to twist her head back and forth, working him in slowly, remembering at the last minute to cover her teeth.

  She had expected to be repulsed, at the very least bored, but the feel of the thick stalk sliding past her lips set off tiny explosions in her extremities. Explosions that detonated to the pulse of his heartbeat throbbing against her sensitive lips. She took him a little deeper, accepting the offer of his life and his passion. His flavor, salty and male, spilled through her mouth, and legions of cells leapt forward as if they’d been waiting for nothing more than this moment.

  His fingertips
grazed her cheek. “Just like that. Just hold still and let me feel that sweet tongue.” He worked his cock deeper, in small thrusts, pulling out before the reflex to gag could give birth to action, sliding back in on her next breath. Easily, gently, he fucked her face in a relentless rhythm that caught her desire and spun it taut.

  Was she pleasing him as well? She glanced at him from under her lashes. His lips were drawn back from his teeth, his handsome features chiseled with the force of the emotion sizzling between them. With every draw of her mouth something intangible passed from him to her and back again. This was more than sex. This was a bonding. One she didn’t know if she could get out of, but she was too involved to turn back. She was so screwed.

  Another quick glance showed his black eyes with those swirling hot depths locked on her lips, watching as she took him inch by inch, the lids flicking as the ridge of the broad head caught on her teeth. Another pulse of fluid washed over her tongue, feeding her need and triggering more. She reached for his hips. He caught her hands, holding them in his as he kept up his easy rhythm, shaking his head as she bared her teeth. “Soon.”

  She wanted it now. Her womb tightened into a knot of expectation, sending shards of agony splintering through her body. Hunger built on need. Demand on hunger. She groaned around him, wanting more. He shuddered and held perfectly still.

  “Do you want my come, Eden?” His deep voice resonated along her nerves with the gentleness of a touch. “Do you want me to fill that sweet, tight mouth with my seed?”

  The civilized part of her was horrified at the question. The primitive side responded with a resounding “Yes!” She wanted him, his seed. She wanted to fill the horrible aching hunger inside, to sate the pain that wouldn’t stop, the unrelenting agony that sapped her strength.

  He stopped moving, his cock resting on the shelf of her teeth, pressing her tongue flat. His thumb tucked against the corner of her mouth, stroking her and himself in one easy glide as his dark gaze met hers. “Then take from me what you need.”

  Chapter Eight

  Take from me what you need.

  The ancient words flowed easily from Deuce, filling the space between them. This was more than sex. More than pleasure. This was how it was between the Chosen and their mates. She gave him light, purpose and freedom from loneliness, and he nourished her with his seed, his blood, providing all that she needed in all ways. His cock pulsed. His balls pulled up tight. He cupped her cheek, steadying her pulse. She took his first offering with a soft whimper of satisfaction that centered his attention.

  “Whatever you desire from me, I am here to provide.” His body throbbed with the agony of holding back. And still she lay there, staring at him with those big blue eyes, a seductive combination of pure wantonness and innocence. Another spurt of hot come seared his control, filling her mouth.

  Her nostrils flared. Her eyes dilated. Her lips clamped around him like a vise. Her small hands twisted in his. He held steady, enjoying the pull of her lips, the heavy draw of suction pulling his seed to the burn of her need. She took his next offering with an enthusiasm that brought sweat to his brow. He held still, waiting, analyzing her body for signs of rejection. When she did not vomit, he gave her a little more, feeling her body’s scream of relief to his soul, resenting the necessity of holding back. He wanted to give her what she cried for, slice an artery, do whatever it took to relieve her pain. Instead he had to give her a just a little of himself at a time, while watching her respiration for signs of distress.

  After the fourth swallow, he noted a change in her scent. It was as Bohdan had warned. She could not take much. He needed to pull back, but the hot, wet heat of her mouth lured his inner beast. Her tongue tempted it into dominance with every swirling stroke. His control shuddered under her soft hum of satisfaction when his cock jerked. It went against everything he believed in to deny her anything, least of all his come. She sucked harder, drawing him to the edge of reason. His balls ached and his fangs throbbed. She wanted, and he wanted to give. Eden lunged forward, taking him deeper, her struggles increasing as he withheld what they both needed. He threw back his head and fought for control.

  Dusan? You have need?

  No.

  He did not want his brother here. Not now. He shut Bohdan out and conjured the willpower to yank free of Edie’s mouth. His cock jerked in an agony of regret as his come spurted on her breasts and belly, coating her soft flesh in hot cream. She arched beneath him, presenting herself for more. He gave it to her, helpless to do anything else until she was sated. She was his mate. What she needed he provided. He gently pressed her back against the comforter as the last spasm ended. Lamplight glistened on the proof of his possession. He laced her hands above her head. “Keep them there.”

  Her “Deuce” was a deep moan of distress.

  “Be easy.” He placed one hand over a warm pool of come just left of her incision scar. His other hand at her hip kept her in place. He massaged the silky liquid into her soft flesh, moving his hands up to her tightly peaked breasts, rubbing his scent into her skin. Marking her as his. He plucked at the plump nipples, watching them harden further. He rested his cock against her cheek. She turned her head, lapping his shaft, cleaning him with little dancing flicks of her tongue. His cock rose again, heeding her demand. He pulled away. “Enough.”

  She shook her head. “More.”

  He slid onto the bed beside her. The heavy curtains that darkened the room did not let in a bit of the dawn he could sense behind the windows. But he did not need light to see the agony in her eyes.

  She moaned and twisted against him. She hungered. He held her tighter, pressing her face into his shoulder, realizing his mistake when she bit down.

  Her sob when he tore her away cut him to the bone. It should not be this way between them. He brushed his lips across the riot of curls at her forehead, anchoring her in place by fisting his hand in her hair until she gained some control. “I am sorry.”

  “Why?” Her nails cut into his chest. “You didn’t do this.”

  But he had not prevented it. She was breathing too hard, twisting too much, stressing her newly repaired flesh. He lowered her respiration to a more normal level, stopping the pump of adrenaline into her system, holding her as she shuddered under the lash of what was already there. “I would take this for you.”

  Bohdan’s voice broke into his mind. No! You cannot withstand her need and your own.

  He ignored the order. He was the leader of the Chosen. He would do whatever was required. “I feel your need, Edie. Let me take it from you.”

  “Can you take it without feeling it yourself?”

  Her skin was soft as silk under his lips. Beneath his hand, she was damp with his tribute. In any other circumstance, it would be reason to celebrate. “It is unnecessary that you suffer.”

  She tilted her head back. Her hair slid through his fingers as she struggled to meet his gaze. “That wasn’t an answer to my question.”

  “I do not feel emotion as you do.”

  She frowned. “Still not an answer.”

  He sighed, inhaled her scent, her warmth, memorizing it. “No. I cannot block your need without experiencing it myself.”

  “Then we’ll be leaving things as they are.”

  A shiver shook her body. He pulled her closer. “It is not your place to be giving orders.”

  “My place is whatever I want it to be.”

  He shook his head at her foolishness. Her place was at his side, under his care. Another shudder rocked her frame. A faint clicking alerted him to the fact that her teeth were chattering. He hitched onto his side, turning her so he faced her back before carefully coming to rest against her. She vibrated against him like a leaf caught in a storm. “I will hold you now.”

  “Why am I so cold?”

  “Shock.”

  “From that little bit?”

  “Yes.” She was so small in his arms. So fragile compared to him. So easily hurt. He spooned around her, tucking his thighs under her
s, easing her cheek onto his forearm. “Do not bite,” he warned as she stiffened.

  The light chatter blossomed to a clatter, separating her words into fragmented bits. “I don’t…think I…could if…I wanted…to.”

  The violence of her shivers worried him. He pulled the comforter over them while raising his own body heat. She moaned and pushed back. His cock, pleased with her nearness, filled until it lay like a brand between them. Between shudders, she lay unnaturally still as if afraid of setting him off. Did she think he would take her when she suffered like this? “I cannot help wanting you, Edie mine.”

  Her “I know” was barely recognizable.

  “It does not mean I will not care for you or put your needs first.”

  This time her answer was a nod of her head.

  With a sudden move he did not anticipate, she twisted in his arms, curled into a ball, her knees wedged between their chests, and made herself as small as possible, which was very small. He would have to be very careful with her. He wrapped his arms around her and held her against his core.

  “When will this stop?” The muffled question came from somewhere in the middle of the shaking.

  “Your body is adjusting.”

  “That’s not an answer.”

  He rubbed his hand up and down her back, his pinkie riding the prominent nubs of her vertebrae. “I do not know.”

  The violence of her shaking was beginning to concern him.

  “Talk to me, Deuce.”

  The words were almost indiscernible, the syllables lost in her low moans.

  “About what?” He upped his body heat, ignoring the protest from his own organs. Her suffering was intolerable.

  “Anything. Just give me something to focus on besides how awful I feel.”

  That he could do. He cocooned her against him, took what he could of her distress from the edges, and rested his cheek on the top of her head. “The first time I saw you, I could not believe how beautiful you were.”

  Her snort was full of disbelief.

  “No interrupting.”

  “I’m sorry. I wasn’t expecting a fairy tale.”

  Despite the gravity of the situation, she held onto her sense of humor. She was a miracle inside and out. “You were standing outside the restaurant, waiting for your grandfather. Your beautiful hair was wild about your shoulders, almost white in the moonlight.”