“Speaking of pussies.” Lucas stalked forward. “Stop hiding behind the woman.”
“Fine.” Wes released her and shoved her to the floor. “Since you put it that way. I’ll let her watch as I kill you. Choose your dueling pistols, sir. I demand satisfaction.”
“Right.” Lucas cocked his head side to side, cracking his neck. He tipped his chin up and roared. His skin began to ripple. He staggered forward, dropping to his hands and knees. Bones popped and elongated. Muscle rippled across his new shape. Lion feet. A tail. Lean bulging muscle. All animal except his face.
Holy shit. Nadia stared. Her mouth fell open, but she couldn’t scream. He’d told her about shifting, but hearing about it and seeing it were two entirely different things. Watching was both fascinating and terrifying. She couldn’t turn away. She could barely breathe. He was a….
“A sphinx. Nice touch.” Wes stretched and began to shift. “But I don’t play by the hunter’s code, blending with your environment. It’s nice to know you do.”
Nadia had no clue what rules Wes referred to, but the area around him began to smoke, hiding him in a dark cloud. Flames flickered within the sooty fog. Then a tail thrashed out, hitting her and sending her across the room into a wall. A dragon emerged, three times the size of Lucas. Fire poured from its nostrils. The giant fire serpent slithered across the floor, coiling around her date.
Lucas snorted. “Amateur.”
Her eyes rolled back, and the last thing she remembered was an inhuman scream and the sprinklers raining down.
***
Having worn a stone facade for the last three weeks, Lucas figured that would be the best thing to go with, and instinct served him well. Fireproof, squeeze proof, and, yeah, hard to puncture. The flesh of the scaled dragon Wes had chosen was another thing altogether. It was like a game of rock, paper, scissors—with the hybrid on the losing end.
Yeah, nothing sweeter than when your opponent screwed up.
It took the hybrid seconds to realize his mistake, and by then, they were in combat and a shift would be impossible. Choose your form wisely; you’ll wear it until you defeat your opponent. Saarian Zen. Lucas’s mentor taught him a lot, and, fortunately for him, Wes hadn’t been as lucky.
Just because he was big and could breathe flames, didn’t make him the toughest kid in the sandbox, as Lucas quickly educated the fire-breathing menace. He sank his stone claws into his soft underbelly. Even a spider in the right position could bring a beast down.
Wes roared and rolled, attempting to dislodge the hold Lucas had on him. Around and around they tumbled across the ballroom, smashing tables and chairs, crushing everything in their path. Fire blasted from the dragon’s mouth, turning the droplets from the sprinklers to steam. Wes whipped around, slinging his coils against the wall, smashing Lucas’s stone body to stone wall, the one weakness he had in this form. He lost his grip and was thrown across the room, hitting the other wall. He staggered to his feet and began to circle Wes, who now stood in the middle of the room, over Nadia, his woman gripped in his talons.
Lucas stepped toward him, and Wes drew an outline of flames, circling them, shaking his head in warning. He could do nothing that could cause her harm, and the bastard knew it.
“Whatever you do, it’s not going to end well for you.”
The dragon smiled, knowing the delay gave him a chance to turn his body to stone. Wes scraped his claws across the marble floor, gouging it, as if to say, two can play that game, but in doing so, he exposed his underbelly, not quite as hard as the rest of him at that moment.
It would be seconds before the area became as hard as granite. Lucas didn’t hesitate. He launched himself at his target, knocking him back and freeing Nadia in one action. He slashed and shoved his razor-sharp nails into his enemy’s body. Wes screamed.
“I told you it wouldn’t end well.” He thrust his claws deeper, severing the main artery to the dragon’s heart. The scaled coils loosened, and Wes flopped around on the floor, his body shrinking back into his human form as he died. Lucas stumbled back, shifting as he went, swiping his tux from the floor and pulling a matter disrupter from a shoulder holster he’d shed minutes before. He pointed, fired, and the ex-boyfriend disintegrated before his eyes into a pile of ash. “By the way, hunters don’t have rules.” He shoved the weapon in the holster and pulled his pants and shirt on, leaving the coat and shoes behind.
The fire raced up the drapes hanging from the ceiling. The building was solid stone and wouldn’t burn down. Still, the smoke was toxic, and he had to get Nadia out before the emergency crews arrived. He scooped her limp form in his arms and raced for the rear exit, slipping into the crowd in the dark alley, thanking the gods she didn’t witness the ugly side of his job.
***
Nadia opened her eyes and stared at the ceiling. Not her room. Not any room in the hotel the party had been in. Lucas lie next to her, on his side, watching. “Where are we?”
“My private ship.”
“You have a boat?” She scrunched her nose and made to sit up. Lucas pushed her back to the mattress.
“I have a space vessel. But yes, I also have a yacht. And you need to rest.”
“I’m not tired.”
“You will be.”
“What?”
“Our date. Have you forgotten?”
“After everything that went down tonight, you still think you’re going to get lucky?”
“I know I am. We….” He grasped her hand and lifted it to his lips, kissing softly. “Were meant to be.”
She frowned. “No, not really. You change into stone statues and I don’t. You kill people for a living. I don’t.”
“Let me rephrase that. There is no other woman in the galaxy more perfect for me, who I desire more, or who I would give my life for without a second thought.”
“Lucas….”
He leaned in and kissed her cheek. “Enough talk. Being bound to me won’t make you a prisoner. If you crook your finger, I will come. Smile and I will shower you with gifts. Ask and you shall receive. We can go anywhere you want. Do whatever you want to do. I am yours, as you will be mine.”
Nadia’s mouth tingled and heat moved through her. What he said didn’t sound so bad, actually, pretty damn good. She shoved him to his back and straddled his hips, leaning down until they were nose-to-nose. “Did you slip me something?”
“No.” He flipped her over and pressed his hips into hers. “Our natural chemistry has taken over from our first kiss. Nothing can stop it or reverse the process. You are about to transition, and I mean to make it the most memorable event of your life. Let me change your world, show you all I have promised you.”
Her human reasoning said creepy stalker, but her Saarian body thought differently. God she wanted him. Nadia slowly smiled. “Most women would call the police.”
He cocked his head. “You’re not most women.”
“No, I’m not. Rock my world, Lucas. If you do it right, I might just give you an encore.”
He captured her mouth. The room began to buzz, and her body ignited. The longer she kissed him, the more she wanted him. She scratched down his back to his pants, raking and tearing at them, not realizing she’d shredded the fabric until she fisted the scraps in her hands. She ripped her mouth away. “What the fuck is wrong with me?”
“You’re chemistry is changing. Go with it. It will be good. Real good.”
She tossed the scraps into the air. “Naked. Now.”
“As you wish.” He tore her dress off first, using teeth and hands. Her body roared to life with need the moment his palm splayed across her bare stomach.
“You’re so beautiful.” His husky voice moved through her, fucking her with words, driving her nearly to climax. She clamped her knees together. What the fuck was that?
“Let me show you.” She bucked up and cried out, coming hard and fast, not realizing he’d removed all of his clothing until he was on top of her, pinning her wrists over her head and sniffing his wa
y down her neck. “Saarians like it rough.” He looked at her, waiting.
For an answer. Does he want permission? “Rough as in whips and chains?”
“Rough as in hard and fast. Against the wall, from behind, and yes, sometimes bondage and a slap to the ass.”
“Are you asking?”
“I am.”
“Yes, please.”
He growled and flipped her over. He jerked her hips up and shoved her head to the mattress, her cheek pressed to the cool sheets while her body burned against him. Fingers pinched her clit then slid between her lips, plunging deep into her core. First one. Then two. Fuuuuck. Three. He fucked her with them until she came, exploding on his digits. At the apex of her orgasm, he drove his cock inside her, sinking to his balls, his girth, his length filling her as no man had, instead of coming down, she shot higher.
“Oh my fucking god.”
His balls slapped her ass as he pumped in and out of her. His fingers dug into her cheeks, guaranteeing a bruise or two, and perhaps difficulty walking after. But the faster, more intense he became, the more she liked it and wanted more. Her juice coated his cock, dripped onto his balls, and more than likely left a puddle on the bed. She came again, a nuclear ball of heat releasing inside her, sucking the oxygen from the room. That’s when she felt her teeth, sharp canines. She seized up, going still.
He stopped. “You won’t fully change. Don’t worry. Not while you’re in action.” He pulled out and wrapped his arm around her waist, taking her off the bed and swinging her around to a wall. He shoved her against it. “Look at me.”
Nadia lifted her eyes and held his gaze.
“Don’t be afraid. You won’t change, not while we are mating. It doesn’t happen during sex. Watch me, my face, while I drive into you. I might fang up, but I won’t change.”
She bit her lip and nodded.
He lifted her, sliding her down the wall until she impaled his cock, sinking inch by excruciating inch, until he was fully buried inside her. “Wrap your legs around me and hang on.”
She did and he bucked against her, driving his cock in and out, taking her as no man ever had, or ever would. Bang. Bang, bang. Her backside connected with the wall. The harder he fucked her, the louder it became. She clawed. She bit. She screamed at the top of her lungs. When she came again, he went with her.
Things did indeed explode and then implode. Her universe expanded in that moment, and Nadia knew without a doubt what it meant to be his.
Epilogue
Nadia lay on her side facing him, naked, the very same way she’d been for the last week. Lucas stared into her eyes, lacing his right hand fingers into hers. They’d only left the bed to eat, drink, and relieve themselves, and only because their bodies demanded it. If he’d had his way, they’d stay this way forever, but at some point, life had to get back to normal and the honeymoon would end.
But not today.
“Okay, I do it how again?”
Lucas smiled. “Focus on a color, think of something that reminds you of it. For me, I think of purple hyacinths, blades of lush grass, the lovely pink of my mate’s pussy.”
She pulled her hand free and smacked him. “Did you just make your eyes the color of my va-jay-jay?”
He rolled to his back and laughed. “I can’t believe my mate just called her womanly bits a va-jay-jay.”
“Womanly bits?” She rolled over and straddled him. “Who calls a pussy, womanly bits?” She leaned in and nipped the corner of his mouth, reaching down and grabbing his cock, guiding it to said va-jay-jay, but not sinking onto it.
“Mercy.”
“You want to cry for mercy?” She gave him a lecherous grin and backed off. “I think I need some rope.”
“Second drawer down on the nightstand.”
“Since this is forever, I thought I’d get started with a little bondage.”
Lucas groaned. “I don’t feel like tying you up right now, babe.”
“Who said anything about me?” She grabbed his wrist and made a loop, working a fancy knot around the joint and over the bed post before grabbing his second hand, kissing it and securing it in the same manner, with loops, wraps, and knots. “College lingo isn’t the only thing I learned on campus. Seems they have some interesting electives in the classes geared towards couple’s therapy, including the art of Japanese knot tying.”
Lucas grinned. “I knew you were perfect the moment I met you.”
“Babe, if this excites you, just wait till you see what else I know.” She straddled him again, taking him to heaven.
Chapter One
Tierney stared into the mirror. The cover-up did a great job hiding the bruise under her eye, but it didn’t take the hurt from her heart. She chewed on her lip. Can I do it?
He’d sworn it would never happen again. No, it would, unless....
She lifted her pearl and diamond-encrusted skirt, studying it. So that’s what a hundred thousand dollars looks like. She’d left her clothes back at the hotel and would be unable to change out of the monstrosity at the church. A pity. She was pretty certain taking off with it could get her charged with grand larceny. Lucky for her, the dressing room sat near a fire escape leading into an alley, not far from a ramp to the interstate, where, hopefully, she could make a getaway before the authorities caught her.
Maxwell had flown the designer from Paris to create this gown exclusively for her. Her fiancé’s choice of fabric, his choice of style. Even the fortune in jewels sewn onto the fabric, his. Nothing about the god-awful gown spoke to her. Actually, she looked like a very expensive harlot in it. She’d tried to argue she’d pick her own dress, opting for something simple and elegant, but what Max wanted, Max got. So here she stood, looking like a stripper, exactly as he wanted.
What about this wedding wasn’t?
The guests were his, even the cake a flavor he’d chosen—rum raisin. Who the hell chose rum raisin for a wedding cake? He’d all but told her he owned her—bought and paid for—and demonstrated his control by tugging her strings and watching her dance to his music. But he’d made one mistake. He’d failed to squash her rebellious streak, the same streak which had her standing here, asking what the heck she thought marrying him would accomplish.
No, he didn’t own her. Not yet. She hadn’t said I do. So, when she got somewhere safe and away from him, she’d ship the dress back. No harm—no foul. Except. Well, the wedding was bought and paid for to the tune of sixty grand. Lord, what had she gotten herself into?
Plus, if he caught her, he wasn’t the forgiving type. Since she didn’t have a family nearby, and the only friends she had were the ones he picked for her, nobody would miss her if she disappeared. At least, not right away. Long enough he could dispose of any evidence of her demise.
She should just marry him. But her granny, God rest her soul, would roll over in her grave if she did. She’d always told Tierney someday she’d find a man who would love her the way her father had loved her mother. A forever guy. She’d told her to hold out for him because out there somewhere, under that big sky, a man existed who would love her to his dying breath.
Yeah, and that man isn’t Max. She slipped her engagement ring off her finger and set it on the stand beside the mirror. For all the excess Max went to, the ring was the one thing he’d kept simple. If he’d spent one hundred dollars on it, she’d be surprised. Another way he’d shown her the only value she had was what he assigned to her.
Knock, knock, knock. “Five minutes,” Celia called from the other side and walked away, her heels clicking on the imported Spanish tile. Celia, Max’s assistant and the one he fucked in his office at night, when he said he had to work late, the very woman he swore he’d never touched. Tierney’s inquiry of said whore’s lipstick on his collar had been the reason for the black eye she’d had to cover up. No way would she marry a man who hit her or smashed away at her self-confidence.
Now or never. Tierney raced over to the window and pushed it up. She slipped her heels off and dropped
them to the ground. Lucky her, a ledge about eighteen inches wide gave her access to a fire escape no farther than ten feet away. She’d need only edge along the narrow brownstone and climb onto the metal stairs to make her escape. A piece of cake. If only her dress didn’t weigh so much. Oh, this would in no way be fun.
She reached up, plucked her diamond tiara off her head, tossed it across the room like a Frisbee, gathered the excess fabric of her skirt, and climbed out the window. Two stories below, she could hear the music of the organ start up. In another minute, her cue to start down the aisle would play. She needed to move, and now.
Step. Slide. Step. Slide. She pressed her back to the stone and moved as quickly as she could. As she reached the fire escape, the wedding march started. Dun, dun-dun, dun, dun, dun-dun....
There goes the bride.... Tierney swung onto the metal staircase and flew down the steps as fast as she could go, stopping under the window only long enough to retrieve her heels and slip them on. She took off running down the alley, her bustle knocked loose from rubbing against the stone, the excessively long train flying behind, certainly drawing more attention than she’d like.
She reached the street in seconds and made a beeline for Interstate 90. Lucky her, she ran every morning, only not in heels. They did slow her down a bit. Plus, nobody would miss a bride in a priceless gown bolting down the street, even in the dark. She stuck out like a sore thumb. The faster she got to the interstate, the better the chances she could disappear.
***
“How much? I don’t think I’m reading this right.”
“Three thousand, two hundred fifty nine dollars.” Felix pushed the button on his steering wheel, lowering the volume on the call. Gee was ready to blow and, when he did, Felix didn’t want him to take his eardrums with him, especially after he told him about the section he’d missed on the emailed manifest. Now or never. “And, if you add in the cost for shipping, and special handling...I’ll round it up to an even four thousand and call it a day.”
He Sphinx I'm Sexy (1Night Stand) (1Night Stand Series) Page 4
