Devil Hills: #1 Scarlet, Lexi & Lily

by Diroll-Nichols, Karen

  “Jess…” Lily laughed, shaking her head but doing as he said, waiting with only a little case of nerves while he stretched out next to her. He shook out the quilt before laying back and opening his arm for her. “You really are tenacious,” but a sweet, instant peace seemed to wave through her when his arm circled her shoulders and she felt his cheek against her head.

  Lily looked at her palm lying on his chest, against the simple black tee shirt he’d worn. Then she realized all three of them had worn black sweat pants and tee shirts when they returned from their run.

  “Hmm…you could have called me a lot worse things. I consider that progress,” the air froze in his chest when she shifted a little lower and tilted her head back to look up at him. “Are you going to run from it, Lily? From us? I know you aren’t afraid of me. I don’t think the thought of the town frightens you, either.”

  “They didn’t tell you everything, Jess,” she drew her tongue against her lip and kept her head up to watch him. No, she corrected the lie she told herself. To look at him. To peer into those pretty eyes and see the smile he offered her.

  “What else is there, Lily?”

  “I began shooting because the purists targeted my parents for teaching in shifter schools. They had a lot of…they were sought after by several ivy league schools, but turned them all down. It was all over the news, I saw the clippings they kept. It fascinated, angered, confused and even amused them that humans…people…never managed to progress.”

  Jess brought his palm across his chest, fingers brushing the tears on her cheeks.

  “Tough kind of crumbles sometimes,” she swallowed hard.

  “I’d bet not very often,” he teased softly.

  “I was six when they started with threats and vandalism to the house and vehicles,” she stared at his shoulder, barely breathing, lashes barely moving. “My grandfather came to visit and brought his gun. He started teaching me then. Cross-bow, guns, knives…he was proud of my father and said that a lot. I think they all were sorry they were pure humans sometimes. He died in an accident a couple months before my parents.”

  “How were they killed, Lily?”

  “We were ambushed on the road one evening in February. I killed them. They didn’t know I was there. They didn’t know I had a weapon and was good with it. Two of them…wolves…but they were humans when they killed my parents and they died that way. I shot as they came for me. Grandfather was a stickler for practice,” she said quietly. “Guess I was a little obsessed about it. The police found us just before dawn. I think I spent a couple days in a shelter before Lexi’s mom came and bailed me out.”

  “Is that where the bail joke comes from?”

  Lily laughed softly, her head shaking and one brow arched. “I’ve had a few misadventures. You have no idea how many judges just can’t manage to understand how an innocent looking little thing like me could cause such a ruckus.”

  “I’ll keep bail money handy,” he felt the words dry in his mouth when she reached up and took his glasses off, stretching over him to set them on the low table.

  “They also neglected to mention I don’t settle, Jess.”

  “Are you afraid to?” He didn’t need glasses this close. He saw a flicker of anger and instant denial in her eyes. But she didn’t answer, just put her head down on his chest.

  “If you stay too long, people die,” she answered finally.

  “Is that what Lexi and Scarlet think of you? An unlucky talisman who brings death to anyone close to her?” Jess had thought himself prepared for the flat of her palm brought hard against his stomach and groaned at the impact. “In case you haven’t noticed, little human girl, this isn’t twenty-seven years ago and my family doesn’t put up with threats. We deal with them head on, especially when they affect someone we care about. Someone who’s become part of our pack.”

  “I know this isn’t twenty-seven years ago, wolf-boy,” Lily leaned up, ignoring the pain on his face when her elbow happened to sink in a rib for leverage. She gave him credit for swallowing the growl, his teeth grinding together. She moved slightly forward and up, her hip resting on him and one leg down the center of his two. “I take it very seriously,” she informed him, poking a finger into his chest. “You think there’s a sane reason to…to…”

  Jess decided having both hands free was just what he needed and used them to sink all ten fingers into the silken blond curls. He had a brief glimpse of the surprised bow of her lips before his mouth captured hers, ending the impending lecture.

  Wolf-boy?

  Lily didn’t struggle or try and break free.

  This had nothing to do with sanity, she realized as her body softened and formed along his. A fact he seemed very aware of when one hand left her head and pressed down her back and onto her behind, pulling her hard against him. Both of them groaned into the sounds of the storm.

  She felt good in his hands. She felt good lying on top of him. Jess felt his body acknowledge those feelings when she slid her hands beneath his shirt, shoving the tee shirt up and out of her way.

  “Lily…are you going to run from me?” He liked the small nips she trailed along his jaw and throat, his hands roaming down her back, hungry to know all of her.

  “Not tonight,” she returned gruffly, leaning an elbow on either side of his head. “Tell me, doc…did you come prepared for this?” She wiggled her hips, pressing them suggestively against his erection. She closed her eyes when the answer popped into his eyes, his cheeks tinted a dusty shade.

  “Lily…I don’t carry condoms around with me,” he said with a low groan. He wasn’t sure he even had them in the apartment. “But I’ll take care of it.”

  “Not tonight,” Lily sighed and kissed him, hard and hungry. “Remember that in your dreams,” she told him, sliding back to the sofa and pulling the quilt up as she snuggled down against his side. She heard his groan and let a soft giggle free.

  Chapter Thirteen

  “I am not afraid of storms,” Lexi paced into the large bedroom, barely aware that Eli closed the door behind him.

  “Of course not,” Eli pulled the blankets down on the bed and stretched out. Watching the cat pace was wearing him out. He just wasn’t sure if it was anger or fear. But he was a man who didn’t mind living dangerously. Hell, how much more danger could there be in your life after you fall in love with a cat? “Would you mind shifting?”

  This brought the pacing to a halt. Lexi turned slowly to face him.

  “What?”

  “I’d never seen a cat pace and wanted to know if your tail did that angry housecat thing with the flip-flip,” Eli felt his jaw drop open when her hands crossed in front of her and peeled the tee shirt over her head and dropped it to the floor.

  “Now it’s your turn…take off your shirt,” she said, reaching for the snap on her jeans and striding to the bottom of the bed.

  “Lexi…” Eli felt the moisture evaporate from his mouth. He tried clearing his throat.

  “You can take it off or let me shred it,” she suggested, her voice low and sexy. “I’m very good with my claws…and my tongue…”

  Lexi opened her jeans and shoved them down her legs, letting her panties fall with them. She placed a knee on the bed and grabbed the legs of the black sweats he’d worn after their run. There was excitement and trepidation in eyes that never left her. She liked the soft, pale hair that tickled her palms as she moved up his legs, parting them and crawling forward between them.

  Eli tried clearing his throat, the tee shirt clenched in one hand. Somehow she’d taken control that he wasn’t even aware was up for grabs.

  Lexi couldn't help but feel a little thrilled by what she saw. After she got her hands on him, that thrill grew even stronger. Raising one palm under his sack, she felt a mild surprise at how light it seemed in comparison to how big it looked. She allowed the fingers of one hand to play over and around them, the sound of his head hitting the wood behind him barely registering in her mind.

  She knelt between
his thighs, her other hand gliding heavily over his leg and wrapping around the hard cock. Despite the gentle grip she had on his cock, she could still tell that it was incredibly hard underneath the smooth skin she was touching.

  Slightly awed by the size of it (her hand barely wrapped around it, and its width didn't extend even halfway down the length of it), she was amazed to realize that she wasn't afraid of the idea of something that big being inside her.

  Knowing what she wanted to do, Lexi leaned forward and took a hesitant taste so she could prepare herself for actually having it in her mouth. Relieved to find that it didn't have any appreciable flavor, she opened her mouth and took in what she could comfortably fit. She applied a gentle suction to the shaft that extended between her soft lips, Eli’s low, sultry groan urging her on.

  With her palm still gripping the base of Eli's erection, she was able to keep him from thrusting himself farther into her mouth—something that told her she was getting things right. Using her tongue at different places and in different ways on his hardness, she altered the gentle suction she was applying in different ways, and even starting to slowly move her mouth along his girth.

  Tasting and inhaling his scent, she knew she was lost in the heated moment she’d begun. Having her warm, wet mouth surrounding half his dick had left Eli stunned at how good it felt.

  When she'd started to suck on him, the desire to feel even more of the sensation was more than he could deal with; it was only the realization that it was Lexi's hand around the base of his cock holding him back kept him from trying harder to stuff himself into the delightful confines of her mouth.

  Then when she started doing things to him, too... he knew that there wasn't a damn thing he could do to keep from climaxing in her mouth; all he could do was try to put it off for as long as possible. He was old enough to have control, he thought briefly, his hands clenched in the sheets to keep from going to the back of her head.

  Telling himself he had control met with only marginal success, and when she started moving her head on him in addition to those long, teasingly hot strokes of her tongue against him, it was simply too much for him to bear. He knew she couldn't have shifted her head back and forth a dozen times before he felt his balls start to pull up; a couple more times of her lips sliding up and down his shaft, and he erupted.

  Lexi lapped along the softening shaft, tasting the last drops and drawing her tongue around her lips with a long, husky sigh. She watched those gorgeous, pale lashes rise just before he reached out and pulled her over him, their mouths locked in a long, sensuous kiss.

  His hand slid down her shoulder as he tipped her to the side, fingers trailing over her hip bone and to her center. Her body tensed slightly and then relaxed when he pressed his palm against the soft fur covered mound.

  Eli laid her back on the bed, his kiss ranging over the pert, dusty colored nipples, drawing one between his teeth and letting his tongue swirl and scrape over the sensitive tip.

  A shudder raced through her when he dropped a kiss near her naval before his body moved as hers had been, between her thighs. He bent one of her knees and moved it wide, hungry green eyes drinking in the sweet gift laid out before him. Knowing that it was the scent of her arousal only added to the appeal of its slightly musky and somehow sweet overtones, and made him eager to find out if her juices tasted as good as they smelled.

  Extending his long tongue, he drew the end of it across her opening and got his first taste of essence of female cat -- and fell in love with it. Lexi's taste wasn't exactly the same as the smell, it was somehow better.

  He repeated his actions, and extended them by drawing his tongue up hungrily between the full, excited lips for a little way. Another pass of his tongue ended only after he'd made careful contact with the hard swollen nub, which drew a soft noise of pleasure from her.

  Eli felt her lifting herself up slightly to increase the contact between his tongue and the nub...something that told him she liked what he was doing. If the little mews and moans weren’t evidence enough. He tasted each inch of her, drawing first one swollen labia into his mouth and grazing it lightly with his teeth, something that sent her hands against the back of his head and a shudder through her.

  The taste of her was a treat for Eli's taste buds, and knowing that he was arousing her just by using his mouth on her left him feeling rather pleased with himself. He lapped and pressed repeatedly over the hard pulsing nub before he slid one long finger inside her, its entry eased by the sweet nectar she was producing in her arousal.

  He felt her body tighten around him, holding him and squeezing when he added another finger, widening the small entrance before he focused on the movement of her hips and the small hands that moved to grip the sheets frantically.

  Lexi could barely breathe. Never had the waves crashed through her so hard, so strong before. She grabbed frantically for a pillow, biting down hard when her hips surged and her muscles clenched his fingers. One leg was curled over his shoulders and the hard panting sound smothered in the pillow.

  Eli wasn’t surprised at the way either of them reacted to the other, he was amazed. He’d never known that kind of power in the sex act with another woman. He crawled slowly up her body, her leg sliding over him and falling to the bed. He stretched out at her side and lifted the pillow, smiling at the wide, luminous eyes staring at him.

  “I didn’t bring protection, Lexi. Or we’d continue this,” he kissed her softly, not surprised that his body had responded when he’d been between her thighs. It only hardened more but he also wanted more. But not tonight. Let the cat get used to the idea that he wasn’t about to let her get away.

  “I…umm…” her head shook slightly when he pulled the blankets over them both. “It’s never…I’ve never been able to…that was amazing,” she finally breathed and closed her eyes against the heat she felt in her cheeks.

  “I can’t offer an explanation for why us, Lexi…I just don’t know and don’t really care,” he tucked her against him with a contented sigh. “But incredible is a good word. And I like your tongue,” he teased before dropping off to sleep, the cat dozing contentedly in his arms.

  Lucas closed the bedroom door behind him, his teeth clenched when he watched Scarlet continue on to the closet. The door closed firmly behind her. Not waiting, he crossed the room and pulled the door wide.

  “Hey! A little privacy here!” Scarlet glared at him, not totally thinking and throwing the shirt she’d just peeled off toward him. Cursing the next second. “Damn it. Personal space? Ever hear the words?”

  “What are you doing?” Lucas forced himself to ask the words even though he knew the answer. He watched her set her jaw and turn away, sliding the pajama pants down her legs and leaving her in panties. He wondered just how much torture he could handle and still form sentences.

  “Oh, gee…hmm…I think you can figure it out,” she said, frowning when a black tee shirt flew past her head and landed on the floor. She spun around without thinking. “What’re you doing?”

  “Same as you.”

  “I…you can’t…put your clothes on!” She picked up the shirt and threw it back at him.

  “Shifters are used to being naked, Scarlet, no big deal,” he hoped to keep her off balance enough to talk.

  “I…it most certainly is a big deal! I don’t…” then she realized she was and hastily crossed her arms over her chest.

  “I don’t really want to sleep on the floor again, though,” he took a quick step forward, his jeans riding a little lower since he’d opened the snap. He took her palm and tugged until she was stumbling after him back into the bedroom. “Let’s use the bed tonight.”

  “The bed? I can’t sleep with you!”

  Lucas cleared his throat and swallowed. Who was trying to keep whom off balance, he thought?

  “Scarlet, we’ve spent the last few nights sleeping together. We’re…” he stopped with that one hand, one finger whipped up and stopped him. But he said it anyway. Just because it annoyed h
er. “Pair bonded.” She did have the cutest little snarl.

  “Why are you doing this?”

  “Getting comfortable?” He offered with a shrug, shoving his jeans down his legs and stepping out of them. He almost lost it when she worked real hard to keep from staring. Then he just about hit the ceiling when she swung out at him. “Ow! What the hell?”

  “Put that thing away! Sleeping means sleeping!” She growled, storming to the bed and immediately burrowing under the collection of blankets and quilts and silent.

  “You really shouldn’t go around slapping at a guy on the…” Lucas pulled his temper inside and watched her wiggling beneath the blankets. “What the hell are you doing?”

  “Trying to get comfortable. I always have this problem in new beds,” came the muffled explanation through the blankets and quilts. “And it’s cold in here.”

  Well, there was that one small thing he could fix. He wondered briefly if he should find his old baseball cup just in case she decided to slap at him again but figured he’d have to tough it out.

  Lucas was positive he’d never seen a human move as fast as she did when he slid beneath the blankets, his thigh brushing over hers. In an instant, a very darkly tousled head was up, small breasts bouncing just in front of his face.

  “Now what’re you doing? Put some clothes on!”

  “It’s bedtime. That’s the time of night when you customarily take clothing off, Scarlet,” Lucas lounged on his side, propped up on one elbow and watching her. Expressions crossed from panic to anger to frustration to mayhem. That’s when he decided it was time to distract her. “How about a kiss?”

  “A…I…you aren’t sane,” she blinked at him, snatching the blanked higher when his eyes seemed transfixed and a little crossed from staring at her chest. “Will you at least please stop staring at my…”