Her breath shallowed and her lips parted. She pushed her shoulders back, a proud defiant stance that raised the swell of her breasts above her neckline. “I’m sorry I threw that on you. It was wrong. Completely unacceptable.”
“Undress.”
Galena gasped. Silence rumbled in behind the breathy sound and a tiny blush stole across her cheeks.
“Only a fool would turn you away, Galena. You asked what I imagined. Lose the gown and I’ll show you.”
She licked her lip.
Oh, sweet mother of all that was holy. Her whole demeanor transformed, a spark he’d never seen before flaring soft, but beautiful. Her lips curved, slow and sultry, and she trailed her fingers up between her breasts to toy with one strap of her gown.
“Like this?” Her smooth voice wound between them as she pushed one strip of evergreen fabric over her shoulder. In hung, teasing around her bicep, prevented from traveling farther by the gathered waist of her gown, but displaying the upper swell of one breast.
She traced a path across her collarbone to the other strap, toyed with the slick fabric long enough to make him wet his lips, and tugged the material so it hung lose and matched its mate. The bodice barely covered her nipples, and the smile on her face taunted him to step in and finish the job. A test of wills and a greedy game of anticipation all rolled up into one. Definitely a game worth playing.
With a grin, he pulled his T-shirt free and loosened the top two buttons of his jeans. Not nearly enough to ease his aching cock, but enough to tease her with what lay beneath. “Show me, Galena.” He palmed his dick through the denim, and her eyes darkened to near black, locked on the motion of his hand. “I’ve had enough of fantasies. Show me the real thing.”
Her gaze lifted slowly along his torso, and his muscles flexed as though she’d physically touched him.
She nibbled her lip and hesitated, the barest tremble where her hands hovered at the top of her gown. She sucked in a shaky breath and pushed the fabric free.
The gown pooled at her feet, and all the air in Reese’s lungs followed suit, his feet anchored only by the lust paralyzing his mind. “Perfect.”
Had he said that out loud? It was all he heard in his head. He’d dreamed, but reality was so much better. Luscious curves, rosy nipples, and full breasts. This was happening. Really happening. Tomorrow didn’t matter, because he’d already found nirana.
Her flush deepened and crept down her neck to the top of her chest.
He prowled closer, the air between them fairly snapping with energy. “My imagination didn’t do you justice.” He traced a path along her jaw, down her neck, and between her breasts, the perfect mounds so ripe and ready for touch, it was all he could do not to give in and fill his palms with their delicious weight. At her navel he drew slow, teasing circles. “Will you let me show you more?”
Galena whimpered. “Please.”
Eager to oblige, his cock twitched behind the painful confines of his jeans. Hell, he’d give her everything. With a mental push, he swirled cool air around her legs and up her torso, stirring the hair at her shoulders. He streamed a thin gust between her thighs.
Galena whimpered and her eyes fluttered shut. Her nipples jutted hard and ready for his mouth.
Praise the Great One, he wanted to touch her. To explore and sample every inch of her until he found the spots that made her moan and beg for more. He fisted his hands at his sides and tried to bank his escalating lust. He couldn’t give in yet, not until he’d proven his point. “Lie on the bed.”
She moaned and reached for him, her fingertips grazing his abs.
He captured her wrist, her pulse frantic beneath his thumb. “That’s not what I said. I want you in my bed and stretched across my sheets.”
She tugged until he freed her, a conflicted scowl on her face.
“Your call, Galena. I’d never force you into something you don’t want, but I won’t shortchange you either.”
Seconds ticked by, every damned one of them prodding the pacing beast inside him.
Slowly, she turned and crawled to the center, her perfect, heart-shaped ass swaying with each movement. Auburn hair spilled nearly to her hips, fire against golden, Myren skin.
He’d take her that way. Not now, but soon. Drape himself against her back and plunge deep.
She rolled to her back and rested her head on his pillow, knees crooked to one side.
Dear God, her hips were meant for a man’s hands. His hands. He sucked in a breath and reached deep for control. Tonight was for her. To show her the image she’d seen wasn’t just his perception, but reality. The same reality for any sane man with a beating heart.
Popping the remaining buttons on his jeans, he pushed them past his hips. His cock sprang free, his pulse a steady, pounding presence along the shaft. “Draw your knees up and wide. Bare yourself me.”
She tensed, and splayed her fingers at either side of her hips against the sheets.
“Look at me.” He couldn’t give in. Wouldn’t let her give in until he’d shown her the truth. He fisted his staff, the touch not nearly enough to sooth the raging throb just looking at her created. He teased her thighs with another swirl of wind, an invisible but subtle pressure at the insides of her knees. “You can do this.”
Her eyes went wide, so trusting and vulnerable. She sucked in a shaky inhalation and shifted, centering her knees. Her thighs parted and she arched her back, head thrown back and eyes closed in surrender. She stroked between her folds and a ragged moan filled the room. “Reese.”
Enough. More than enough to prove his point and light years past the amount of temptation he could bear. He kneeled between her legs and covered her hand with this own, their fingers sliding together through her wetness.
Her eyes popped open and locked onto his.
“You see?” He overpowered her movements, guiding her slender fingers and gathering her juices to slick around her clit. “You can’t be the woman in my mind just once.” He circled the swollen nub and teased one nipple with his tongue. “You are that woman. Always.” He pressed one finger deep and sucked the tip in his mouth.
Galena cried out, her hands fisting in his hair, holding him to her breast while her hips undulated in a slow, sexy cadence.
He nipped the tight peak and laved the sting away with the flat of his tongue, reveling in her ragged moans and the thickening scent of her arousal. Bracing himself on one arm to see her face, he added another finger. Her walls clamped around them with each thrust, so wet and tight his cock flexed against his belly. “That’s it, sweetheart. Let it happen.” He licked her lower lip, no more than a tease. “Ride my fingers. Let me watch you come undone.”
Her eyes flared and a tiny whimper huffed past her lips.
He circled her clit with his thumb once, twice.
Her hips quivered.
Angling his wrist, he stroked her front wall and pressed his thumb against the swollen nub.
“Reese.” Her grated wail filled the room, husky and so damned enticing his nuts tightened to the point of pain.
Ah, but the clench and release of her pussy was heaven. He worked her sex and kissed his way down her torso, milking every drop of her climax while he feasted on her sweat dampened skin. “So slick and sweet.”
“Reese.” Galena clawed his shoulders, her efforts useless against his determined path. “Let me touch you, please.”
He sat back on his heels and palmed her hip with one hand, her legs still wide, but now boneless from release. Her release coated his fingers, still leisurely pumping in and out of her pretty pink pussy. He pressed her knees wide and his mouth watered. “Later. Right now I want you on my tongue.”
Galena wriggled beneath him, pressing up to her elbows. “But you—”
“I’m the happiest fucking man alive.” He tugged her hips up to his ravenous mouth and devoured. In every dream, every fantasy, this was how he’d wanted her. Spread wide and open to every touch, every lap of h
is tongue and scrape of his teeth. God she tasted good, a decadent feast he’d never get enough of.
Galena collapsed to the bed and widened her legs farther.
He licked and sucked her labia, gathering up every trace of her pleasure, driving her for more.
She clenched the sheets at her sides, and her whimpers stroked like velvet along his staff. “It’s not enough.” She fisted his hair, pushing him closer one second and tugging him away in the next. She clenched her fists harder and the bite of pain shot straight to his nuts. “I need more.”
Hell, yes, more. And then some.
Pressing one of her legs high and wide, he dragged his cockhead through her folds. The site of his flared head against her deep pink core nearly yanked his climax free. A growl rumbled from his chest. No more waiting. “Say it again.”
She met his gaze, her breaths short and ragged. “I need you. Please.”
Thank The Great One.
He surged forward and their rough shouts mingled, her nails scoring his back. Damn, but she was tight. Tight and so damned perfect he could barely breathe.
He pulled back slow, nearly to the tip, and powered deep, angling his hips to rub her just right. Over and over he pounded, punctuated thrusts and the gentle smack of his sac against her flesh spurring a wild rhythm.
She tossed her head, her auburn hair tousled against his sheets. Squeezing his hips, she dug her heels into his flanks and met each spear of his cock. With every lunge, her breasts bounced. The most delicious torment on the planet topped by nipples hard and berry-ripe.
His climax built, balls drawn tight and full. Lifting her legs to rest on his shoulders, he drove deep. “You’re coming with me, sweetheart. Show me how it feels to have you come on my cock.”
He fired energy at her every pleasure point, relentless, rasping pulses to match his unforgiving rhythm.
“Yes.” Galena’s relief rang out and her pussy fisted his length.
His climax fired and his hips rammed home, his shaft flexing in time with his frantic heart. He kissed and licked her sweat-dampened shoulder, lungs burning for air as he rode the ebbing storm with slow, leisurely rolls of his hips.
Damn, but she’d turned him inside out. Dragged him miles past bliss and rocketed him to rapture wrapped in slick heat. He’d never get enough, never be able to settle for anything less than what burned between them in this moment. And didn’t that just figure. The fates had finally given him a taste of perfection the night before he was sure to die.
Chapter 11
Maxis cracked one fifty-pound eyelid open, his blood sluggish and muscles unresponsive. Sunshine framed the closed black velvet curtains across the room, and dull red embers glowed in the large hearth on his left. He tugged the thick gold coverlet to his chest and settled into the warmth along his side.
Warmth. He snapped awake, his hazed focus sharpening in one blink.
Serena lay stretched out on her belly with her pillow tucked lengthwise against her. Her near-white hair spilled in a well-fucked mess down her back, her breaths deep and even.
He’d actually done it. Claimed a mate.
He propped himself on one elbow and rubbed his chest. The flesh stung where welts rose in a starburst over his heart. A growl rumbled in his throat and an odd approval stirred. Serena had met him pound for pound in the course of their joining, insatiable, demanding, and downright dirty.
A flash of black caught his eye and he stretched out his arm. Her mark.
He’d forgotten that little aspect of his new turn in life. Hard to think about anything else the night before with Serena’s slick heat gripping his cock.
He sat up for a better view.
Oh, she’d marked him, all right, and with flowers, no less. Five-pointed blossoms, the long wavering petals crushed beneath a warrior’s fist. The blooms spilled down his forearm toward his wrist, deceptively beautiful. One, lone petal stretched and rounded at the end and formed a drop of blood.
The ivory silk sheets rustled beside him and Serena inhaled slow and sleepy. She pushed to her side, a sliver of white hair pointing toward one uncovered breast. Her screams and moans from the night before sounded in her roughened voice. “They’re oleander.”
“I know what they are.” Maxis pressed her to her back and gripped the hair at her nape. Damn, but the skin along her neck was decadent. Creamy perfection. “They’re deadly.” A message he’d be wise to heed, as well as appreciate.
Serena wrapped her arms and legs around him, lips tilted in a sultry smile and a sated glow on her cheeks.
“Eager to play again, my baineann?” He cupped one breast, the mound filling his palm, but not overflowing. “I would have thought you had your fill last night.”
“You could always fill me again.” She flexed her hips and chuckled, a delightfully wicked sound.
Maxis played her stiff nipple with his thumb, a languid back and forth that made her arch into his touch. Oh, yes, he’d be wise to exercise caution where she was concerned, else he’d wake up one day and find his balls canned and stored in the kitchen pantry. “Don’t think to lead me around by my cock, Serena.”
Her cool blue eyes fired hot. She bucked against him and fisted her hands at either side of her head. “Get off me.”
“Mmm. Perhaps I grazed too close to the truth.” Maxis rolled to his side of the bed, tossed a fresh log into the hearth with his mind, and strode toward the closet. “I offered you a partnership. More than I’ve offered anyone else. It’s best you remember that and mind your place.”
He summoned Uther with a thought and dressed in leather pants and black drast to match the warriors they’d soon meet.
Feminine grumbles sounded from the bedroom, and muted heel strikes beat against the carpet.
Serena rounded the closet door and planted her fists on her hips. A flush spread across her collarbone and cheeks. “Mind my place? Or you’ll what?”
He’d give her credit for her fire and fearlessness. Still, better to solidify her place before things got out of hand. He tugged on his last boot, straightened, and prowled close until he towered over her. “You’ll keep to your role as my mate and confidant. You will not rule me, Serena.” He paused long enough to ensure he had her attention. “I slit my own father’s throat. Don’t think for a minute I’d hesitate to choke yours.”
A knock sounded at the bedroom door.
Maxis pulled his robe from its hanger and tossed it her direction as he strode past. “Cover yourself.”
At his command, candles throughout the bedroom and his adjoining office flared to life. He rounded his desk. “Enter.”
The whitewashed doors swung open and the fire’s glow caught in the gold filigree. Uther filled the entrance, outlined by vicious sunshine.
Leaning back in his brocade chair, Maxis propped one foot on the corner of the French antique desk and laced his fingers behind his head. “Give me an update.”
Uther sauntered forward. Either he’d pulled off several feats in the two days Maxis had given him to work, or he didn’t give a shit how well or poorly his efforts were received. “Men are relocated. Slave pens are ready. Drills start after you meet with them this afternoon.”
Impressive indeed. Maybe he’d earned that cocky stride. “We’ll meet within the hour at the main training hall. I need an hour—”
“Did I hear someone at the door?” Serena, glided into his office, all sugar-sweet and fabricated innocence with his black robe precariously cinched at her waist. Nothing so flagrant as walking naked in front of his new strategos, but enough to make it clear she wore not a stitch underneath.
Uther spun and stepped back.
“Oh.” She halted mid-stride, a hand at her mouth. “I thought I’d imagined the voices.”
Troublesome wench. “I’m not buying it,” Maxis said. “Neither is he.”
She shrugged with an unrepentant smirk and aimed a come-hither look at Uther. She lifted the black sleeve, not enough to show the
entire mating mark, but enough to register her new status. “We had a busy night.”
Uther took her hand, a roguish glint in his eyes. “So I see.” He glanced at Maxis. “It appears congratulations are in order. May I?”
Damn it all, the two made an impertinent and troublesome pair. If he denied Uther, he’d give Serena too much power. If he approved, The Great One only knew what message he’d send to Uther. He nodded.
Keeping her hand in his, Uther pushed the sleeve to her elbow with his free hand.
A Deathstalker scorpion covered her forearm, its pinchers reaching toward her elbow and its tail wrapped around her wrist. Two swords crossed the center of its back. It should have been obscene on her delicate frame, but Serena made it elegant.
“A powerful mark.” Uther laid a chaste kiss to her knuckles.
“Enough.” Maxis shoved to his feet and stomped toward the bedroom. This was why he chose to work alone. Less drama and infinitely less bullshit. “Get a man to Serena’s home and move her things here. Serena it’s time for your tour.”
“No.”
Maxis halted, clenching his torso muscles to keep from backhanding and marring his mate’s beautiful face. He pivoted. “You think to be my mate and live under another man’s roof?”
“I think I’ve waited years to see the look on my father’s face when I slide out from under his thumb. No one, not even you, will steal that from me.”
She pulled her robe tighter. Only a sliver of creamy skin showed beneath the dark silk. Her chin lifted, mouth as stiff as her spine, and wary.
“Fair enough.” A small win he’d allow. “Dress in the gown you wore last night. You’ll not meet our men like some common slut. We’ll retrieve your things together later.” He motioned for Uther to follow with a jerk of his head and resumed his trek to the bedroom. “We’ll wait for you in the tunnels.”
“What tunnels?” Serena scurried behind them.
Maxis unlatched the hidden mechanism deep within the gilded ivory walls. “Dress and find out.”
Healing Eden Page 10
