Heart of a Warrior

by Theodora Lane

  “Darlin’, tell me no one has touched you like this.” Nic looked into her eyes.

  “No one. I waited for you.” Her fists were buried in the sheets, fingers clutching as she writhed under his tonguing. Slipping a finger just inside, she contracted around it. Her thrusting hips demanded he sink his finger deeper into her wet tunnel, and he knew she was ready. He was past ready; his leaking cock stood against his belly, balls tight against him.

  Kneeling between her legs, he swiped the tip of his engorged cock against her opening and felt the first flicker of the heat that waited inside for him. Arching her hips, Fiona spread her legs wider to accommodate him and wrapped her legs around his thighs.

  “I need you, darlin’, to be inside you.” How much longer he could hold out, he couldn’t tell. He was so close to coming he needed to concentrate on her needs to hold off his release.

  “I need you too. I want to feel you deep inside me, Nic. Every glorious inch of you.” Her gaze locked on his cock.

  Nic was large, and he’d have to ease himself inside her or risk hurting her. Raising himself up on his arms, he hung over her, gazing deep into her eyes, searching for her signal. Finely tuned to her, he understood when her lips curved in the slightest smile to signal she was ready.

  His cock throbbed and jerked as he took hold of it and positioned his tip against her wet, hot core. Entering her inch by inch, Nic pushed his cock deeper, stretching the walls of her tunnel wider, his cock wrapped in moist velvet, until he met resistance.

  “What the hell?” He was only halfway in.

  “Virgin,” she mumbled as she licked his neck.

  He closed his eyes in a silent prayer and pulled her closer to him. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

  “You’ve never done this before?”

  “No, not even my first time.”

  “Well, it’s a first for both of us, but I don’t think there is any way around this.” She gave him a soft smile of reassurance. “Just do it quick.”

  With a powerful thrust, he sank himself deep inside her. “Fiona!” As he broke through, Nic groaned her name at the incredible pleasure of being the first to take her.

  “God, Nic!” she cried out, and her hips rose to meet his down-thrust as they began to move in the ageless dance between man and woman.

  •

  The branch under Cho shook.

  Lucky bastard.

  •

  Nic rested on his forearms; his hips powered his thrusts, legs bracing his body in the mating instinct built inside every male. Closing his eyes, he let go; his body knew what to do, how to do it, when to move deeper, when to go slower or faster as it received primal signals from Fiona’s body, letting her lead him.

  Building momentum, he responded to her urgings, soft cries, low moans, and deep growls as he mated with her. She shuddered. There, that was the spot. He angled to reach it, to rub his cock against it with each thrust. Her sounds deepened, her breath came in harder pants as her back arched, and her belly tightened beneath him.

  “Oh God, Nic.” She clutched him; her legs gripped him so tight that it took his breath away as her orgasm broke over her. Frozen, her back arched, her eyes closed, her mouth opened in a soundless cry erupting from deep in her throat.

  When she found her voice at last, he couldn’t recognize it for its rawness. Crushing contractions milked his cock as wave after wave of the orgasm tore through her. Nic gritted his teeth to ride it out and to keep from emptying himself inside her.

  Not yet. Not yet.

  Her body was left quivering, boneless, exhausted by the ultimate pleasure, and she melted into the bed. He lowered his head to hers, kissed her forehead, and wiped away the salty tears clotting her thick lashes with a gentle pass of his tongue.

  Swallowing, she tried to speak, but still couldn’t seem to find her voice.

  “Shhh, darlin’, don’t try to talk,” he rasped to her.

  She reached up, touched his face, and smiled. “Damn,” was all she could get out.

  “Yeah.” Nic was so moved that his own voice couldn’t make it above a hoarse whisper. Christ, he loved her.

  •

  As a wave of Fiona’s psychic sexual energy exploded outward, Cho clung to the quivering branch.

  Damn.

  •

  It had taken everything Nic had not to explode with her. Now, selfishly, he wanted more. Just a little more, and then he’d be satisfied. That was a lie. He’d never be satisfied, never tire of her.

  As if she could read his mind and knew his needs, she whispered, “More, Nic,” and began to move her hips beneath him, withdrawing, letting him slide almost to the end, and then covering him again with her sex, making him quiver in anticipation.

  Kissing her, he began to stroke. Pulling almost all the way out, he hung at the entrance and then plunged deep inside. The thrusts began to build in speed and power. He’d been afraid of hurting her, but God, she took everything he gave her, every thrust, every inch of his throbbing cock. He was getting close, it was harder to hold back as his animal brain took over, telling him to come, now, nownownownownow…

  He fought it as his orgasm built, his balls squeezed tighter and tighter as he reached for it, hanging on the very precipice of the cliff, desperately needing to leap off and rush toward the sweet death that waited below.

  “Fiona, you’re mine! My woman. Promise me. Swear it to me,” Nic begged as he lost all sense and reason.

  “I swear it, Nic.” Fiona tightened her legs around him as Nic’s hands found hers and their fingers entwined in a tight grip, fusing their palms and souls together.

  In a final thrust, he buried his cock balls deep into her hot, liquid depths, and his entire body tensed. With a hoarse cry, he exploded inside her, pleasure pumping from his cock to his entire body, and filled her with his hot seed. Damn, the ecstasy lasted forever and shook him to his bones.

  Nic shuddered and collapsed on her. Fiona’s hands made soft gentle sweeps across his shoulders, lower back, and then to his ass. The sweet caresses brought him on a slow downward spiral from the pinnacle of pleasure. As his body returned to normal, all he wanted was to lie like this forever and to feel her heart beat beneath him. Then make love to her again.

  Shifting his body off hers, he rested next to her and pulled her into his arms, cradling her against his body. Nic buried his face in her neck.

  •

  The lizard shuddered.

  Goddamn, Nic.

  •

  “Thank you, darlin’. Thank you,” he whispered. “It was a gift, Fiona, and a privilege to be with you this way, to be the first. I never understood how much it would mean to me until now.”

  Fiona sighed and kissed his lips. He had to tell her, needed her to know he valued her and her gift, and that he’d never waste it.

  “To know that my hands are the only hands that have touched you like this. That my cock is the only one that has ever been inside you. Oh God, I love you.” He looked into her eyes and then kissed each lowered lid.

  “It was more than I ever dreamed. You are more than I ever let myself hope for.” She stroked his jaw with her fingertip. Even spent, he felt himself stir for her.

  After a mutual sigh of satisfaction, they snuggled, drowsy, content, and secure in their love and each other’s arms.

  •

  Cho settled back on the branch and fell asleep. He dreamed many small, green lizards surrounded him.

  They look just like me. Huh.

  Chapter Eleven

  Ivan held Annie in his arms as they lay naked on the bed in his lair.

  “You saved me, Annie. I don’t know why you want me. I swear I don’t understand it.” He shook his head.

  “I fell in love with you. The day we met and you brought me back here. Remember? You were thrashing around, furious, in that stupid toga.” She laughed.

  “I was wearing a toga when you fell in love with me?” Ivan choked.

  “No, I took it off. I touched you, remember? You sa
id you didn’t want me to, but I knew you were lying.”

  “You said I needed to be touched. I remember.” He stroked her cheek.

  “I think you’ve needed it for a long, long time.” Her kiss was so tender against his lips.

  “Annie, my Annie, has anyone ever told you that you have an old soul?”

  “No. Has anyone ever told you that you’re a good man?” Her eyes held love and something he’d never seen before.

  “When you said that to your sister, I thought you were just saying something to make your parents feel better.” Ivan tried to keep his vulnerability and need from showing in his eyes. Damn it, he was four hundred and fifty fucking years old, and she made him feel as if he were forty and alive again.

  “No, I was talking about you. I wish we could have known each other before all this.” She touched his cheek and looked up into his eyes. “You must have been a hell of a man, Ivan.”

  For a long moment, he stared into her eyes, and then he recognized what it was he saw.

  Pride.

  Fear he knew; he’d seen that countless times. Hatred, terror, sadness, revulsion, disgust, all he’d seen in the eyes of man. But what he saw in her beautiful blue eyes, oh God, he would have never thought, if it took another four hundred years, that someone would see his worth as a man and be proud of him.

  Goddamn, it rocked him.

  — • —

  “Nic, that’s your phone,” Fiona mumbled into his chest. Nic moved, grunted, and pulled her to him.

  “Let it ring.” He nuzzled the top of her head and then tucked his chin over it, amazed at how well their bodies fit together.

  The phone stopped. Half a minute later, it began to ring again.

  “Damn!” Fiona moved over, and Nic reached for the phone. “Nic,” he mumbled.

  “We have information on those two actors you were looking for.” The familiar voice came over the line.

  “Oh, yeah, them.” Nic rubbed his face and grimaced.

  “They’re extremely dangerous, Nic. Destroy them.”

  Nic bolted up. Something wasn’t right. “Did you say ‘extremely dangerous’?” That was a term used for only the most vicious, sadistic vampires. Those who’d gone on killing sprees or had alerted the authorities to something odd. From what he’d seen, that was far from describing Annie and Ivan.

  “Yes. You’re being ordered to finish the job, and do it right away.”

  “Where did you get this info?” Nic was confused. Fiona sat up and looked at Nic.

  “What’s the problem, Nic?” the voice shot back.

  “No problem. But I have a few questions.”

  “Questions? We don’t pay you to have questions, Nicodemus.” The voice got very hard.

  Fuck, this stank on ice. Maybe it was that he’d learned about the Council being controlled by other powers that made him so leery.

  “I want to see the Council.”

  Fiona’s eyes widened.

  “When?”

  “Today, if possible.”

  “All right, I’ll check the schedule.”

  There was the sound of a keyboard clicking, and then he came back on the line.

  “At two this afternoon. Be at the Main Library. Go to the reference books. Ask for Mr. Deeds.”

  “Mr. Deeds? Are you joking?” Nic laughed.

  “I never joke. Deeds will show you the door.”

  “Right. Main Library, reference section, Mr. Deeds, two o’clock.”

  The line went dead.

  Nic scratched his chest and pulled Fiona close.

  “A meeting? With the people you work for?”

  Nic nodded. “Yeah. He was calling about Ivan and Annie. Said they were ‘extremely dangerous’ and gave me orders to get rid of them right away.”

  Fiona’s eyes widened. “But, Nic, they’re leaving. They helped us rescue Amy.”

  “I know.” Nic looked pissed, but he set his jaw. “I have my orders.”

  “Orders? What the hell are you talking about? How can you think about killing them, Nic? You stood side-by-side and fought with Ivan! He took out just as many of them as we did! He probably saved my life.” Fiona climbed out of bed and headed to the bathroom.

  “Look, darlin’, I don’t like it any more than you do. In fact, that’s why I’m going to the Council to see about it.” Nic followed her into the bathroom. “Trust me. I’ll get to the bottom of this.”

  “Fine.” She wasn’t sure she liked the way that sounded, but for now, it would have to do. Maybe after Nic saw his people and explained about Ivan and Annie, things would be different.

  Fiona turned on the shower and pulled out a couple of towels. Steam began curling around the top of the spacious glass-encased double shower. She stepped around the opening and into the stone-tiled shower.

  Nic leaned against the counter and watched her. God, she got him hot and bothered. Especially when she argued with him, like right now. He watched the water running over her body, and unable to stand a minute more without touching her, he entered the steamy shower.

  “Darlin’, you look so good wet,” he murmured as he reached for her. Her back was to him as he wrapped his arms around her, putting his hands over hers. They worked the bar of soap into a frothy lather in each other’s hands.

  Nic ran his soapy hands over Fiona’s belly, gliding up to her breasts. As he fondled them, he let them slip between his fingers as she moaned and leaned back into him. His erection nestled between the cheeks of her ass while he kissed her shoulder. Her hands reached behind her and found his body, and she soaped his hips and cupped his tight ass in her hands.

  Wet, soapy, and needy, Nic turned Fiona to him. The front of her body was covered in the soapy lather. She stood on her toes and moved her breasts in slow circles across his broad chest. Her hard nipples brushed every now and then against his nipples, driving him crazy as she teased him.

  Bending her knees, Fiona moved her breasts over his taunt stomach, and then lower as they passed over his throbbing cock. She captured it between her breasts and soaped it without using her hands. Nic thought he would lose it right then and there, but he wanted to see what she had planned as she explored his body.

  •

  Nic’s body was a delight. She loved all the responses she got from just the touch of her fingers, her breasts, or the way she looked at him. She wanted to touch him everywhere, and she knew just where to start.

  Cupping his balls in her soapy hands, Fiona lathered them up, let them slip through her fingers as she gently washed them, feeling the way they were made, how they were soft, and yet, if she squeezed tight enough, she could discover their hard core. She recaptured them only to do it again.

  “Am I hurting you?” She gave his balls a squeeze.

  “Oh God, no.” Nic groaned, ran his hands over her firm ass, and let his soapy fingers slide between her buttocks. She clenched at the unfamiliar touch, and then began to relax into it. Moaning as he massaged her cheeks, Fiona blushed as Nic ran his thumbs between the cheeks of her firm bottom, pressing into sensitive tissue, sensitive openings. It made her so hot to have him touch her where he shouldn’t, but it felt so good. No one said this would feel so wickedly good.

  She arched, pushing her ass against his hand, and his fingertip slipped inside her puckered hole. She felt her core tighten as he pushed in just a little deeper and felt his intake of breath just before he pulled out.

  “Fiona, darlin’, you make me so hard.”

  Once again, it was time for payback. Fiona wanted him to become putty in her hands, to turn him inside out, to make him lose control. She wanted him helpless at her feet, begging her to let him fuck her.

  Wrapping her hand around his cock, she stroked him, the lather helping her hand to slide over his sensitive skin without resistance. Nic shuddered, his shoulders shook, and he gasped.

  “Christ, Fiona, you’re going to make me lose my load.”

  “Damn right, I am.”

  Their eyes locked, and she ran her t
ongue over her lips to entice him to taste her. He kissed her and sucked her tongue into his mouth. Their open mouths drank each other and water from the showerhead as it rained down on them.

  She stood on her toes and angled the showerhead toward them, and the warm water rinsed their bodies, washing soapy lather down the drain.

  As they kissed, Fiona’s hands squeezed the soapy water from the hair on his chest, and it ran down his body. With her hands, she gently washed his cock and rinsed his balls, and then massaged the sensitive spot behind the sac. She made sure his black hair was clean. It glistened, wet and dark, droplets of water caught in its curls.

  “You are so beautiful,” she whispered to him. “God, I love your body.”

  •

  As she played her hands over him, teasing him with her fingertips, Nic had to hold on to his load or lose it.

  “I can’t stand this anymore. I have to taste you, Nic.” He could hear the frustration in her voice. “I’ve never done it before, so if I do it wrong, let me know, but I’ve been dreaming about it since I first saw you.”

  “Doing what? Taking a shower?” Nic laughed. Then the top of her head disappeared as she sank to her knees in the shower and touched the tip of his cock with her tongue, ran it over the swollen head, and discovered his slit. A tremor ran through him, and his legs weakened.

  “Fuck!” He closed his eyes, leaning back against the tile wall and locking his knees to keep himself upright. She was going to kill him, right here in the shower, if he didn’t hold on.

  Fiona relented, only to have her lips glide over his cock as she took him deep inside her mouth. She held him there and then retreated, kissing it good-bye.

  “Goddamn!” he shouted.

  She teased the tip, her tongue dancing over it. Taking its tender head in her mouth, she then pulled away, letting it slide over her lips until she again left it with a kiss.

  “Does this feel good?”

  “Oh, darlin’, you’re doing it just right,” he drawled.

  Cupping his balls in her hand, she caressed them tenderly, and she dived down, covering his thick long shaft with her mouth until she could take it no farther. It drove him insane the way she sucked him.