by Paige Tyler
Jayson tenderly brushed a tear from her cheek with his finger, then leaned forward and kissed her. His lips were warm and sweet, and her mouth opened of its own accord to give him an all-access pass. His tongue slipped in to tangle with hers, making her moan. He tasted like the chocolate bar they’d had before going to bed last night mixed with something else that was intrinsically his and more delicious than any candy.
He rolled onto his back, pulling her with him. Layla slowly slid atop him, cautiously straddling his hips. She was very careful not to put too much weight on him, worried she could hurt him. But the position didn’t seem to bother him at all, and as his hands slid down to her hips to tug her down a little harder, she couldn’t help noticing the impressive erection he had in his jeans.
She dragged her mouth away from his and looked down at him with amusement. “It seems there’s someone down there that loves me too.”
He groaned. “Yeah, that would be true. He’s definitely in love and has been from the moment we met.”
His words made her think of all the times they’d gotten close to making love but never had. Those make-out sessions on the couch or in bed had been seriously hot, and she’d felt him get hard every time. Now that she knew he’d been into her from the start, she wondered why things had never gone any further.
She straightened up, sitting back on his thighs. “Can I ask you something?” When he nodded, she continued. “Why didn’t you ever make love to me?”
The pain that flashed in his eyes took her breath away. “I wanted to—a lot of times—but then doubt would creep in. I was never sure if I would be physically capable—not just of making love to you, but pleasing you.”
Layla was taken aback by his honesty—and his stupidity. “That is the absolutely sweetest and dumbest thing anyone has ever said to me. Trust me, that hard-on tells me you’re completely capable, and as far as pleasing me, something tells me you could do that in your sleep.”
He chuckled. “You think so, huh?”
She wiggled against him. “Only one way to find out for sure, I guess.”
His beautiful blue eyes widened. “Um…you serious? Not that I’m complaining, but aren’t you worried about Dylan and the others coming back?”
She gave him a lazy smile. “I’ll keep my ears open for them.”
“You can do that?” he asked. “Make love and listen at the same time?”
“Of course.” She smiled wider. “I’m a woman, which means I can multitask.”
Deciding that they’d talked enough, Layla leaned forward and kissed him again. Jayson’s hands slid up her thighs and cupped her ass, massaging her firmly through the material of her jeans. She remembered him squeezing her bottom like this when she’d first gotten here and couldn’t help wondering if Jayson had a thing for her butt. She hoped so, since she was very fond of having his big, strong hands there.
Sighing, she let her mouth move across his scruff-roughened jaw to his ear. Jayson groaned as she nibbled on the lobe, gripping her derrière even harder. Heat flooded her midsection, and she nipped his ear before slowly kissing her way down his neck.
His pulse beat under her lips, and she ran her tongue over it. She was so caught up in how scrumptious his skin tasted that she didn’t realize Jayson had started undoing the buckle on her belt until she felt her jeans being tugged open. A moment later, she felt him push her jeans and panties down over her hips just enough for him to get a grip on her bare bottom. Mmm, if she thought those hands had felt good before, it was nothing compared to how they felt now.
Layla closed her eyes and buried her face in the curve of his neck with a sound that was close to a purr. She’d never had a guy pay so much attention to her ass. If they were back at her place, she could have him worship that part of her body for hours on end. But sadly, they were in the middle of a bombed-out library where three teenagers could walk in on them at any moment.
She sat up with a groan. “If we were anywhere but here right now, I’d let you do that all day. But since we don’t know when Dylan and the other guys will be back, we’d better move this along.”
He looked as reluctant to stop playing with her ass, but he didn’t protest as she pulled up her panties and jeans, then swung her leg off him and stood up. She knew she was taking a risk getting completely naked, but there was no way in hell she was going to let her first time with Jayson be a half-dressed quickie like she was a teenager in the back of a car.
If the heated look Jayson gave her as she stripped off her T-shirt was any indication, he definitely approved. Gaze locked with his, she reached around and unhooked her bra, letting it fall to the floor. His blue eyes turned the color of a midnight sky as they caressed her breasts. Her nipples tingled under their intensity and it was all she could do not to give them a squeeze. Kicking off her shoes, she shimmied out of her jeans and panties.
Jayson stared, his expression one of awe as he took in her totally nude body. Layla had to admit there was something extremely arousing about being naked in front of him while he was still completely dressed. She’d always been a little shy in front of guys, but the way he was devouring her with his eyes right then, she felt anything but shy. In fact, his gaze made her feel more confident than she’d ever been.
He sat up, one hand gliding up her bare thigh and making her quiver. “I spent so many sleepless nights picturing you like this, but you’re even more beautiful than I imagined.”
Layla blushed despite herself. Not trusting herself to speak, she took his hand and urged him to his feet, then kissed him. Her hands went to the bottom of his T-shirt, finding their way underneath and pushing it up. Being the only one without any clothes might have been a serious turn-on, but she needed him naked too. Jayson took the hint, breaking the kiss to yank his shirt over his head.
Since time was of the essence, Layla should have immediately reached for his belt, but all she could do was stare. When it came to seeing his body up close, it was something she simply couldn’t rush. It was like unwrapping a Christmas present. She always did that slowly too, preferring to savor the moment.
Jayson didn’t seem to mind as she ran her hands over his chest and shoulders. She’d seen him with his shirt off of course, but those had just been glimpses. She’d never been able to really explore. He had a beautifully muscled chest, his pecs straddling the line between bulky and wiry. His shoulders and arms were the same—thick but built more for fast movement than lifting weights.
His abs were just as spectacular. She ran the tips of her curved claws down his chest and traced them along each and every curve and twist of those muscles, then back up again.
As she did so, she couldn’t help noticing the tiny, barely visible scars where some of the frag that had entered his back had come out the front. It made her heart thud in her chest to imagine how badly those had hurt and how much damage they’d done. It was difficult to think about and a part of her wanted to stop looking, but Jayson’s scars were a part of him. They had made him the man he was today. If she wanted to be in his life, she had to accept all of him—even the scars. So she lovingly trailed her fingers over those marks, memorizing each and every one of them.
Those included the ones on his back.
Pressing a kiss to his lips, she walked around behind him. Jayson tensed, and for a moment, she thought he might stop her, but then he relaxed again.
When they’d first started dating, she’d frequently massaged his back to help ease the soreness there, but he’d always kept his shirt on. Now that they’d declared their love for each other, she refused let him hide his scars from her any longer.
Jayson’s upper back was unmarked and laden with glorious muscles that rippled as he turned his head to watch her out of the corner of his eye. The scars started at the middle of his back, running in ragged crisscross patterns all the way down to his belt line. She knew from the small glimpse she’d gotten when she’d given him m
assages that they continued another few inches lower. If not for the occasional markings left from his stitches, it would have looked like Jayson had been whipped.
Blinking back tears, she kissed the skin at the base of his neck as she glided her fingers down his back. Even though they were as healed as they were likely to ever get, the scars there were rougher than those on his abs. She traced each of them, silently letting him know that she loved them as much as she loved the rest of him.
To emphasize her point, she kissed his shoulders while she caressed him, alternating between soft licks and harder love bites. He shuddered and shivered under her ministrations, letting out an appreciative groan as she wrapped her arms around him and pressed her breasts against his back.
Jayson reached around and rested his big hand on her hip, his fingers grazing her ass. Layla ran her hands down his abs and unbuckled his belt, then unzipped his jeans. She slowly worked them over his hips to midthigh before turning her attention to his erection. She couldn’t see anything standing behind him, but when she wrapped her hand around his shaft, she knew she was going to like what she saw.
Jayson’s hard cock pulsed in her hand, and he let out a husky sound of appreciation when she gave him a gentle squeeze. She sighed her own gratitude. The mere thought of what he was going to feel like inside her had heat pooling between her thighs.
She rubbed his cock up and down, smiling as her fingers got a little sticky when she reached the tip. He was as excited as she was.
Releasing him, she sauntered around front and saw that her fingers had failed to do him justice.
She lifted her gaze to his. “You are the perfect one.”
Then, without giving him a chance to answer, Layla wrapped her hand around his cock and went up on her toes to kiss him again. Jayson let her play for a while, but when she ran her thumb up and down the sensitive part of his shaft right below the head for the umpteenth time, he dragged his mouth away from hers with what sounded suspiciously like a growl.
“Hold that thought,” he said hoarsely.
She’d rather hold on to something else, but Jayson obviously had other ideas. She tried hard not to laugh at how cute he looked trying to get his jeans off as fast as he could. She failed of course.
Jayson chuckled too. “Hey, this is harder than it looks.”
Kicking his pants aside, he caught her hand and gave it a tug, pulling her down with him onto the makeshift bed they’d slept in last night. Layla threw her leg over his hips and straddled his lap again, but instead of his hard-on trapped beneath a layer of clothing like before, it was wedged nice and comfy between her legs.
“We don’t have any protection.” Jayson rested his hands loosely on her hips. “Are you okay with that?”
Layla nodded. Based on her cycle, she was in her least-fertile time of the month and would be for about another week. But she wasn’t going to get into all that with Jayson.
“I’m very okay with that,” she said. “If you are.”
He grinned. “We both already know we’re in this together forever, so I’m not scared about whatever the future holds, even if it happens to be kids.”
She leaned forward and kissed him, loving him more with each minute. “Well, there’s not much chance of that happening right now, but it’s nice to know you’re okay with kids since I want us to have a very large family.”
Jayson probably would have replied, but she interrupted him by reaching down between her legs and wrapping her hands around his shaft. He was still hard as a rock—even with all the talk about kids and large families—and he inhaled sharply as she lined up the tip of his cock with her pussy and slowly slid down on his length.
Layla gasped. She had never been more ready to be with a man, but she’d also never been with anyone quite as big as Jayson. Feeling him fill her took her breath away. He was touching her in places she’d never known existed.
Jayson tugged her down until she was firmly seated on him. “You don’t know how often I dreamed of doing this with you.”
She made a sound that was half-laugh, half-moan. “I think I might. I’ve been dreaming of the same thing.”
“Ride me,” he rasped, his hands on her bottom urging her to obey.
Layla placed her hands on his chest and rotated her hips the slightest bit. Even that tiny wiggle was enough to send sparks pinging all over her body, not to mention make Jayson groan.
“Like this?” she teased softly.
“Just like that,” he said. “Don’t stop.”
She gyrated a little more, slowly moving up and down. His hands slid from her butt, up her sides, and around front, to cup her breasts. He brushed his thumbs over her nipples, making it difficult to think straight.
Luckily, she didn’t need to think right then. All she needed to do was feel.
The urge to ride him fast and hard was almost impossible to resist, but she did. This first time was going to be slow and gentle. In addition to being worried about hurting Jayson’s back, she was also concerned someone might hear them and come investigate if they were too loud.
But slow and gentle was just as pleasurable. The combination of Jayson’s hands on her breasts while she took him deep with each rocking motion of her hips was absolutely heavenly, and she let out a whimper.
Jayson gave her a lazy smile. “Do you like that?”
“Mmm,” she sighed.
“What about this?” he asked, taking her sensitive nipples in his fingers and treating them to a firm squeeze.
She jumped a little, which only made Jayson chuckle and tweak them again before he took her hand and pulled her down on top of him. She caught her breath as her nipples came into contact with the hard muscles of his chest, but the sound was lost as he captured her mouth with his. One hand found its way into her hair while the other immediately settled on her butt. Oh yeah, he definitely had a thing for her ass.
She undulated her hips, falling into an easy rhythm that Jayson quickly matched. The tip of his cock caused little zaps of lightning to course through her every time he plunged deep, and despite how slowly they were moving, that little trick soon had her breathing hard and quivering all over. She dragged her mouth away from his with a groan and buried her face in the curve of his neck, sliding both hands up to grasp his shoulders.
She was so caught up in how wonderful he felt in her pussy that she almost missed the tingling in her clit. Having that kind of orgasm while in this position was something she’d never been able to do. Until now. She and Jayson fit together so perfectly that every time she moved, her clit ground against the base of his cock, resulting in the most exquisite sensations.
Layla lifted her head just as her orgasm began to peak so she could gaze into his eyes when she climaxed. Jayson tightened his hold on her bottom, taking control of her body and yanking her down even harder, then holding her there. The move ground her clit against him perfectly, pushing her over the edge, and she had to bite her lip to keep from screaming as her orgasm washed over her.
She was still quivering from aftershocks, so she was a little fuzzy about how he did it, but the next thing she knew, she was on her back and Jayson was between her legs. He thrust fast and hard, taking the climax that had been just about over and ramping it up again.
Layla might have screamed a little then, but it wasn’t her fault. There was no way she could be expected to stay quiet when Jayson was making her come that hard.
Above her, Jayson suddenly tensed, and she knew he was coming too. She wrapped her arms and legs around him, holding on to him tightly as he buried his face in her hair and groaned his release.
They stayed entwined like that for a long time, him nuzzling her neck while she purred with pleasure in the afterglow of their lovemaking. They had gotten a little more intense than she’d intended, but if it bothered Jayson’s back, he gave no indication of it. She sighed and ran her tongue over her lips. Tha
t was when she realized her fangs were out and fully extended. Crap. They must have come out when she’d orgasmed. That had never happened before. Then again, no one had ever made love to her like Jayson.
Layla was still marveling at that when he lifted his head and kissed her, fangs and all. She was worried she’d nick him with their sharp tips, but he navigated them as expertly as he had the rest of her body.
“In the event that you still had some doubts,” she said softly, “I think you can rest easy when it comes to the question of whether you can please me in bed—or out of it. That was ah-mazing.”
He chuckled, the sound deep and sexy. “That was nothing. Wait until I get you back home. I promise we’re going to make up for all the time we wasted…on every piece of furniture in your apartment.”
She pulled him down for another kiss, loving the sound of that. First, they had to get a diplomat’s son, his girlfriend, and their friends back to Kiev in one piece. Then they could worry about getting home.
Chapter 11
Ivy had really been hoping she was wrong, but the moment she and Landon got out of the SUV, the scent of death wafting into the street from the alley told her that the world didn’t care what she wanted. Unfortunately, there wasn’t a river nearby to help mask the smell this time. There was still the requisite group of gawkers, however, and she and Landon had to push their way through the crowd trying to get a glimpse of the crime scene from the end of the alley.
“Before you ask, it’s not our shifter,” she whispered to Landon.
That didn’t mean she still didn’t hate this case. People were being tortured and murdered, and the body count was only going to rise until Thorn got back what the shifter had stolen from him.
Beside Ivy, Landon’s face darkened. He was just as frustrated as she was. They’d been trying for days to identify the female shifter who had broken into Thorn’s place so they could figure out what she’d taken, then get it back to the former senator without her or anyone else getting killed. So far, they were doing pretty crappy on all counts. Last night, two other well-known thieves Braden Hayes had questioned had been beaten to death. Assuming this latest victim was also someone he’d questioned, that meant every single suspect Hayes had talked to about the robbery had ended up dead.
