by Rayne, Sara
“I didn’t.” The dog-eared cards slid through his fingers in an effortless shuffle. “I’ll say this, though—if you don’t step up, my money’s on her leavin’ with him tonight. It’d be a damn shame, if you ask me.”
“What do you know?”
“More than you, dead man.” He drew two cards and flipped them over. They were both the ace of spades. Tricky.
Ice slid down Voo’s spine. “You’re the one with a skull painted on his face.”
“Yeah, but you’re the one acting like a fuckin’ stiff.” He dropped a pair of eights on the aces then reshuffled.
Voo snorted. “How many aces you got in there?”
“Play me and find out.”
“No, thanks. You seem the deck-stacking sort.” He leaned back, hooded eyes following Lex and Boone. “Lex is too smart to fall for him.”
And she’s in love with me.
Voo frowned. In love with him or not, he’d made it pretty clear they couldn’t be together. Lex wouldn’t be the first woman to want a rebound lay.
“What a man like my dear Monsieur Brulé offers a woman ain’t got nothin’ to do with smarts. It’s the wicked part of him she’s drawn to.”
He must be well acquainted with Boone. “Don’t mean it’s good for her.”
“Have another drink, stiff.” He poured two more shots. The mocking moniker rankled. “You ever heard denying your nature’s a dangerous game?”
“Seems a familiar sentiment.”
“Nature’s like the House, son. She always wins. Seems a guy with the dead man’s hand inked on his wrist would’ve learned that particular lesson. You want her. Why deny yourself?”
“Just because I acknowledge my base instincts doesn’t mean I gotta give in to ‘em.”
“Let me know how that works out for you.”
“She’s not mine.” Every fiber of his being screamed he was lying. “And they’re just friends.”
“Yeah, he looks like a real friendly guy. I’m sure he’s whispering in her ear exactly what’d be good for her.”
“You’re a dick.”
“So my brother says. But he’s a pussy who wastes his time bein’ nice. People only hear the truth when you beat them with it.” Samedi chuckled darkly.
Boone twirled Lex, her skirt swishing up her thighs. She flung her head back, letting him move her supple body to his will.
“You want my advice?” The man blew another smoke ring over his head.
“I surely don’t.”
“When the spirits bless you with a gift, you should reciprocate with offerings in thanks, not sulk about at garden parties. Seems to me the good loa saw fit to toss a fine woman in your lap, and your ungrateful ass threw her away. You’re as bitter as your god-awful beans.”
The man’s intuition was irritatingly spooky. This must be what it felt like for his brothers when they tried to talk to him. “How do you—”
“Women appreciate a man who knows what he wants and takes it. Give your woman what she needs. And since you’re stupid, I’ll spell it out for you. It’s not you telling her what’s best for her.” The man leered. “What she needs is in your pants.”
Voo bit back a laugh.
“Let me put it another way, son. If the good Baron Samedi dug her grave tomorrow, would you still be proud of resisting your ‘base instincts’, was it? Or would you be regrettin’ every second you missed of burying yourself in that sweet, tight—”
“Excusez-moi, but I didn’t ask for your help.”
“No? My mistake.” Samedi stood and adjusted his hat. “It’s your funeral, stiff. Do what you want. I’m sure Boone will wait to fuck her until you make up your mind. Seein’ as how the two of you are old friends.”
Samedi had stirred something deep and primal in Voo, a dark instinct determined to claim what he wanted. Ambition was the sin of a young man, but Voo remembered the thirst of reaching for what he desired. He’d sworn never to lie to himself or anyone about who he was or what he wanted again.
Voo wanted Lex.
And he was damn tired of denying it.
His control slipped further with every second Lex spent on the dance floor. Need scorched through him, demanding satisfaction. Demanding he take the blonde twirling like a river lily on the dance floor. He’d been trying to warn her before it was too late and he swept her into his undertow. A rapidly growing part of him was glad she hadn’t heeded.
Maybe she was with Boone right now, but he could stop it if he wanted to. Like Dani had said, the only thing standing in his way—was him.
When he glanced at his irritating companion once more, Voodoo could make out the tip of his hat wandering under the trees towards the darkness.
And he’d stolen Voo’s knife.
Fils putain.
Voo turned back to the dance floor, the jealousy ratcheting up another notch as Lex rested her head against Boone’s shoulder. His fists clenched. He should go inside, stop watching Boone and Lex. No, he should get on his bike and get the fuck out of Nawlins. If he stayed another second his control would slip, and he’d do something he’d regret.
Lex’s laughter skipped across the dance floor as she twirled with Boone, her skirt spinning around her slim, tan legs. Then he dipped her, bending her back over his arm. Boone winked at Voodoo.
Then the bastard planted a kiss right on her mouth.
Fine. They wanted Rafe back from the dead?
He knew exactly what his former self would do.
Chapter Seventeen
“You’ll thank me for this later,” Boone whispered in Lex’s ear seconds before his lips landed on hers.
She giggled, about to push away, when he vanished. She heard a loud crack, and the next thing she knew, Boone was on the ground as if the earth had been pulled from beneath his feet.
Voo stood over him, hands fisted.
“Bonne soirée, Rafael,” Boone said, wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth. “Something I can help you with?”
“Keep your damn mouth off my girl. And your other parts, for that matter.”
“Your girl?” Lex folded her arms over her chest. “Since when?”
He turned to her, and his gaze impacted her like a physical force. Passion burned in his eyes, turning the silvery depths molten. “You want him?”
“What if I do?” She tried to hold tight to her self-righteousness, but his dangerous tone and burning voice ignited a dark flame inside her. A wilder part of herself liked his possessiveness, his fury over her possible interest in someone else.
Voo caught her around the waist and tossed her over his shoulder. She shrieked, balancing her hands against his back as they left the dance floor and headed away from the party. Boone laughed, and when she glared from her less-than-dignified position, he saluted her.
Jerkface.
They stopped in front of Voo’s bike, and he deposited her on the ground. “What do you think you’re doing?”
He framed her face in his wide hands, and her breath caught. The intensity on his face scalded her. “If you’re bound and determined to fuck the wrong man, it’s sure as hell gonna be me.”
His mouth covered hers, and Lex was lost. Voodoo’s desire burned through her, an inferno inflamed by every sure sweep of his tongue past her lips. He ground his hips into hers, thrusting his thigh between her legs and pressing against her core. She moaned, and he devoured the sound. His hands tangled in her hair, angling her head to deepen the kiss as she gasped.
Lex wound her arms around Voo’s neck in full surrender, undulating against him with undisguisable hunger. His taste and scent overwhelmed her senses. Her knees shook, and she clung to him. He broke away, his lips sliding along her jawbone to her neck, mouthing the line of her jugular.
“Take your panties off,” he demanded.
“Voo….”
He squeezed her hips, long arms boxing her in his embrace. “The night I took you home from Perdition, this is what I wanted. What you wanted. And I’m tired of resisting.”
/> She caught her lower lip between her teeth, hesitating. “Is this because of Boone?”
“Non. This is about you and me. You’ve been wantin’ a piece of me for a while. You know the truth now—the man I really am. Where I came from, what I’ve done. I’ll respect whatever decision you make.” He stepped back, his arms holding her securely while she found solid footing. “If you get on this bike with me, I’m gonna take you away and find a soft place to lay you down and make love to you until dawn.”
Her knees weakened, mouth suddenly dry.
“If you don’t, I’m going back to Hell. And I’ll leave you here in peace.” He caught her hand, raising it to his soft, full lips. They brushed over her knuckles, sending heated tendrils shooting through her center. He whispered against her skin, “If you know what’s best for you, you’ll say no. But the truth is I want you to come with me anyway, ma petite. I want you. Let me take you.”
Lex broke. She put her hand in his. “Yes.”
He tugged her tight against his chest, hands roving her body, leaving trails of goosebumps in their wake.
“You feel so good against me.”
She murmured an assenting noise as his fingers brushed the hem of her skirt, sliding up the outsides of her thighs. His index fingers hooked in the waistband of her lace panties.
His silvery eyes met hers. “You wanted a ride, non?”
“Thought there was an exception in the rulebook for hellspawn.”
“And I thought you were done with rules.” He slid the panties down her legs, lifting each foot to disentangle them, and tucked them into his back pocket. As he rose to his feet, he trailed his fingertips up her legs, skating her hipbones as he spanned her waist. “I’m gonna give you the ride of your life, Lex.”
He climbed on the bike, giving her a wicked smile over his shoulder and crooking his finger. Come and get it.
Lex melted. Knees shaking, she climbed on the bike behind him. He was warm between her thighs, the cool draft of air licking over her bared skin a stark and delicious contrast. She wrapped her arms around his waist, pressing her breasts against his back, reveling in the feel of his shudder.
“Hold on tight.”
She planned to never let go.
The bike roared down the road, the rumble of the engine rending the silence of the night as they sped under the sweeping magnolias. Lex rested her cheek against Voo’s shoulder blade.
She didn’t know if she’d made the wrong decision, didn’t even know where they were going, but nothing had ever felt as right to her as touching Voo. She hungered to feel all of him, to wrap herself around him and let him take her over.
The roads narrowed until they faded into dirt and gravel paths through wide swaths of thick vegetation. Cypresses sprawled amidst the Spanish moss, and in the distance, the rushing sound of the mighty Mississippi wandering toward the sea filled the air.
Voo parked in front of a vacant lot. Trees old enough to have seen the birth of America lined the property, shielding it from view of the road.
“Where are we?” she asked as he cut the engine. They climbed off the bike, and he pulled a road blanket out of one of his saddlebags. Then he took her hand and led her to the middle of the lot.
He let out a hard breath. “This is…was…my home. Grand-mére and I had a cabin here before it washed away.”
Lex swallowed. “This place is beautiful.”
Voo’s eyes shimmered in the moonlight, his face achingly beautiful but full of naked pain.
“What is it?” She squeezed his hand.
“I was always embarrassed to bring people here. I was…ashamed. Before.”
She couldn’t help but wonder if, by “people”, he meant Artemis.
“Never be ashamed of who you are and where you came from. I love—” Cutting herself off, she cleared her throat. “I love who you are.”
“Do you?” He framed her face with his large hands, the heat of his touch tingling up her scalp. “Even knowing all the bad I’ve done, all the hurt I’ve caused?”
Her trip to New Orleans had become a visit to Voo’s past. Seeing this place, its people, how it had shaped him, helped her understand Voo on a deeper level. She could see how the delta had influenced him, the same way the vegetation around a grape orchard influenced the wine it produced. New Orleans had also worked its magic on her, giving her a chance to catch her breath, to heal. The parts of the city she’d fallen in love with she saw flowing through Voo.
“I do.” She gestured at the empty lot bathed in moonlight. “I especially love where you came from.”
He held her so tight she couldn’t breathe for a second. Then his lips crashed down on hers. The kiss transformed from something sweet and full of gratitude to something hungry and demanding. Voo made a low, needful sound deep in his throat.
Emboldened, Lex slid her hands under his shirt, stroking the broad expanse of his chest. Her fingertips brushed his flat nipples, and he gasped, nipping at her bottom lip. She trailed her fingertips down the hard ridges of his deeply lined abs to the sharp “V” cut into his hips.
His breathing was labored. “Don’t stop.”
She dipped her fingertips below the waistband of his leather pants, and he jerked. Lex marveled at the power of her touch, the way she made this mountain of a man shudder and shake. She popped the button on his pants and, holding his gaze, lowered the zipper.
“Touch me.” Voo swallowed hard, his hands gripping her waist.
Lex reached into his pants, wrapping her hands around his erection. He was long and thick, her fingertips barely encircling his hard girth. A flood of wetness pooled in her center, her clit stiffening as she ached inside. She’d wanted this for so long.
Alone in her dorm room, fingers under her panties as she pictured making love to Voodoo after they had spent the day texting and flirting. Imagining the feel of his arms around her, the fullness of his cock inside her. She squeezed his thick length, and he groaned.
“You’re gonna be the death of me.”
She smiled, biting her lip mischievously. “La petite mort.”
Voo growled, yanking her closer. His mouth fused to hers. He grasped the hem of her dress and dragged it up her body. The soft slide of the fabric brushed across her skin in a silken caress. He slid it over her head, letting it fall to the ground behind her. She hadn’t worn a bra under the backless dress, and with her panties still tucked in his back pocket, she stood naked before him.
“You’re a goddess.” His eyes feasted on her, memorizing her body bared to the Louisiana night. “And I intend to worship you tonight.”
Voo stripped off his shirt and cut, then shoved his unfastened pants down his legs. She devoured the sight of him in all his naked splendor. Over six feet of mocha-dark skin wrapped around two hundred and some odd pounds of sheer muscle. His limbs were twice as big around as hers, his chest broad and shoulders wide. Narrow hips wound down to heavily muscled legs. He was the finest specimen of manhood Lex had ever seen.
“I’ve thought about this for so long. Wanted you for so very long.”
Lex opened her arms. “Then have me.”
“With pleasure.” He grinned wickedly.
Voo scooped her up, spreading out the blanket he’d brought with one hand. While he trailed kisses along her shoulder line, she relaxed in his arms, secure in his strength. He’d never drop her. Reverently, he lowered her to the blanket. Warm fingers grasped her ankles, spreading her wide. Voo settled between her thighs, heated muscles searing against her tender flesh.
His thick cock nudged against her aching center. She wriggled, trying to get closer.
“Patience, ma petite.” He grabbed a foil packet out of the pocket of his abandoned pants, making blessedly short work of rolling the condom into place. Then he leaned down, mouthing along her collarbones as he ground against her, the blunt head of his cock rubbing against her swollen clit. He tested the weight of her breasts in his palms. Her nipples hardened against the rough heat. He rubbed the pads of hi
s thumbs over the sensitized peaks, making her moan.
Loving the feel of his smoothly muscled back, she dug her fingernails in as the sensations built inside her with his slow, hitching rhythm. She bit into his shoulder on a gasp as his hands skated past her hipbones and down her thighs to hook behind her knees.
He lifted her leg, adjusting the angle of her body to his satisfaction. The tip of his cock pressed against her aching pussy.
“Voo, please….”
“The sound of your voice….” His eyes fluttered shut. “Hearing you so ravenous wrecks me. Call me Rafael. I want to hear you say my name. My real name.”
“Rafael,” she gasped. Lex thrust her hips up, desperate for the contact as arousal built inside her. Voo cradled her face. His eyes locked on hers, pupils blown with lust, focus unrelenting.
Torturously slow, he slid deep inside her, pushing until she felt his cock bump against her cervix, the weight of his balls against her opening. His pelvic bone rocked against her clit, making her gasp. Then he repeated the movement over and over, the slide and fullness hitting every pleasure spot. He pulled out, poised at her entrance.
Lex’s spine arched as she clawed his back. Pleasure had never built like this before, so overwhelming she felt mindless and overtaken.
He pushed back into her, and she moaned, the sound echoing off the cypresses surrounding him. He grinned with pure alpha-male satisfaction, the possessive light in his eyes reverberating through her. Then he wrapped her legs around his waist and sat back, still buried deep inside her, pulling her into his lap. The new position thrust him deeper, created a fullness bordering on pain.
Lex cried out.
Voo wrapped his arms around her back, rocking his hips up in a steady, unrelenting motion. His eyes locked on hers, holding her gaze as she came undone.
“Rafael…,” she whispered, feeling his breath hot on her neck.
