Charming Marjani

by Rebecca Rivard

  His lips curved in a wicked smile. She’d removed his shoes the first day to make him more comfortable. Now he slowly and deliberately undid the button of his jeans.

  She drew a sluggish breath. The air in the cavern felt heavy, thick.

  His smile disappeared. They stared at each other as he slid down his zipper and stepped out of his jeans. His socks followed, and then he stood before her in dark knit boxers tented with an impressive erection.

  “Now you.” He stepped closer to undo her cargo pants. Dropping to one knee, he helped her out of each leg in turn, leaving her naked except for her black briefs. He caught her hips and nuzzled her belly, rubbing his night beard over the tender skin.

  She inhaled in pleasure, taking in his arousal, a hot, salty spice overlaying the grassy green. He pressed a kiss to her mound—and then blew warm, moist air against the material over her clit.

  Heat licked up her spine. She grabbed his shoulders and made a low sound, half cat, half human. He nipped and sucked at her sex through the cotton, stoking the heat, getting her good and wet for him.

  He gave her a last kiss and lifted his head. “Bath first.”

  She blinked down at him. “No…”

  “Yes. Believe me, you don’t want me close to you right now.”

  And despite her grumbling that she’d been “close” to him for two days, he helped her out of the briefs and rose to his feet.

  His gaze tracked down her body in one searing look, and then he dragged her into his arms. “If you knew how fucking much I want you…”

  “Same,” she managed to say before his mouth covered hers.

  It was a deep kiss, involving tongues and teeth. A kiss that demanded she meet him halfway. He’d stopped being careful with her, and she loved it.

  She twined her arms around his neck and rubbed her breasts against his bare chest, reveling in the feel of his wiry hair against her nipples. His erection pressed against her belly through the knit boxers. He palmed her bottom and squeezed, muttering hot, sexy things about how he’d wanted to see her naked since the very first day in the pub, how he’d fantasized about her ass.

  This time, it was Marjani who broke the kiss.

  She walked the few steps to the pool. “Coming?”

  His gaze swept over her body again. She had time to see his eyes darken and then she did a shallow dive into the pool, coming up at the opposite end. She swiped the water out of her eyes and watched as he shucked his knit boxers.

  His cock was long and hard. He wrapped his hand around himself and looked down at her as he stroked himself.

  She moistened her lips, enjoying the view—and then gulped.

  Something about the way he stood above her, legs apart, playing with himself…and the bad memories coated the back of her throat, sending fear skittering like a spider up her spine. She set a hand over her jumping heart.

  “Jani.” He released himself. “Don’t.”

  “Don’t what?”

  “Don’t think.” He stepped into the pool and gave her a lopsided grin. “Thinking is way overrated. Ah…that feels good.” He sank down on a ledge, the steamy water up to his chest, and stretched his long arms out along the edge of the pool.

  She swallowed hard. Gradually, her heart slowed as she realized he was waiting for her to come to him. No coercion here, just a beautiful man who wanted her as much as she wanted him. She let out a breath and removed her hand from over her heart.

  You got this, Jani.

  If she stopped now, no one would judge her, not even Fane. She’d survived a gang rape. Fane might not know the details, but she knew he had a pretty good idea of what had happened.

  But she didn’t want to live the rest of her life celibate. Sex was good, a pleasure she refused to let Corban and those warped, feral river fada steal from her.

  Fane rested his head against the ledge. His eyes drifted shut.

  She frowned. How the fuck could he be so relaxed? Then she shook her head at how ridiculous she was being, and somehow she was moving, crossing the pool in a few strokes to take a seat on the ledge beside him.

  She tipped her head back and let the hot water do its magic on her muscles. Fane touched the back of her head, and when she murmured in pleasure, began stroking it. Her tension eased. She moved her head against his palm, seeking more.

  He massaged her nape, his fingers gentle, knowing. Something pinched in her chest.

  It had been so long…

  She turned her head to look at Fane. His eyelashes were a dark crescent on his lean cheeks, and his corn silk hair floated around his face.

  “You may be right,” she told him.

  ”About what?”

  “That thinking is overrated.”

  His smile had a self-mocking edge. “Some would say I live my life by that principle.”

  “I don’t believe that.”

  “You don’t know me very well.”

  “I know you well enough. If you couldn’t think several steps ahead, you wouldn’t have lasted long in a fae court. Especially this one.”

  “Are you saying I’m as devious as they are?”

  “Yeah.” Her mouth quirked. “I think I am.”

  He threw back his head and laughed aloud. Then he sobered. “Gods. It’s been so long since I talked to someone like you.”

  “Like me?”

  “Someone who tells me exactly what she thinks of me. I’m so bloody tired of all the doublespeak. If only I’d met you before I―” He shook his head.

  She moistened her lips, equal parts flattered and sad for him. “I wasn’t even alive when you signed the contract with the king.”

  “No.” He let his eyes drift shut again. “You weren’t, were you?”

  She studied his sculpted features, the pointed ear peeking through his wet blond hair. How in Hades had she ended up here, naked in a pool with this man?

  She had a fada’s prejudice against rich, entitled fae. They used fada—as servants, assassins, bodyguards, or for sex—and then looked down their glittering noses at the “animals.”

  But she was beginning to see that Fane was almost as much an outsider among the purebloods as she was.

  Without opening his eyes, he rubbed a lazy hand over his chest. The water beaded on the curly blond hairs.

  She drew a breath, her fingers literally tingling with the need to touch him.

  “You didn’t find any soap in that hut, did you?” he asked.

  “No. And I looked, too.”

  He slid the rest of the way underwater, surfacing in the center where he scrubbed himself off with handfuls of grit before swimming back to her. He stood up in the pool, his waist level with her eyes. The tip of his cock bobbed above the water.

  “Come here.” He reached out a hand.

  She swallowed—and not in a good way. No, this was an I’m-not-sure-I-can-do-this swallow. She instinctively crossed her arms over her breasts.

  Fane’s eyes flickered and she grimaced.

  “Sorry.” Cat’s balls, she was a mess. But she couldn’t make herself uncover her breasts.

  His mouth thinned. “Don’t.”

  “What?”

  “Don’t apologize.”

  She opened her mouth again and he raised a hand, palm out. “I mean it. You have nothing to be sorry for.”

  She sank deeper in the pool. “I wasn’t always like this,” she muttered. “So weak.”

  “You’re not weak.”

  “How the fuck could you know?” she snapped, and then felt ashamed at how bitchy she was being. She was pushing him away, but she couldn’t seem to stop herself.

  “I just do.” Sitting on the ledge, he curled an arm around her shoulders. When she didn’t resist, he eased her onto his lap, cuddling her against his chest. “You’re a badass to the core, and I’m happy just to hold you.”

  She sat there stiffly as strong fingers massaged her nape, stroked down her vertebrae. His erection was there against her hip, but he didn’t draw attention to it, just kept pet
ting her.

  Her shoulders relaxed. How did he always seem to know exactly what she needed? She set a tentative hand over where his heart thumped slow and even beneath her cheek.

  He kissed the top of her head. “Nothing’s going to happen unless you want it to. You know that, don’t you?”

  “But I do want this. I do.”

  “Then we’ll take it slow, okay?”

  She nodded against his chest. “Thanks,” she whispered. “For being patient.”

  He gave an odd little chuckle. “For you, Jani, I have all the patience in the world.”

  He nudged her chin with the back of his hand, bringing her mouth up so he could kiss her. She caressed his face, letting herself float on his kiss, a warm, weightless feeling. They explored each other’s mouths, tasting all the hot, dark corners, sucking on each other’s tongues.

  By the time he rose to his feet with her in his arms, she thought she just might be able to do this after all. She wrapped an arm around his neck and let him set her on a nest made of their two sweaters.

  Even then, he was in no hurry. He knelt beside her, his fingers whispering over her body: her breasts, her thighs, the sensitive skin behind her knees… A slow, easy seduction.

  “You’re so beautiful.” A murmur in the dim light cast by the flickering fire. His wet hair fell around them, the diamond stud glinting in his left earlobe like a star.

  Heat slid through her. Her breasts felt full, sensitized. Then his hot mouth closed over her nipple and she heard herself moan.

  He gave a hard suck to that nipple, and then moved to the other, flicking the tip with his tongue, and then drawing it into the wet cave of his mouth. Stoking her arousal with teasing touches and sexy murmurs.

  Wonder filled her.

  That she wasn’t afraid.

  That she only wanted more.

  Because this, what Fane was doing, was nothing like what those men had done to her. That had been an assault. They’d done their best to break her, and damn near succeeded.

  But this, this was beautiful. How a woman and a man were meant to come together, in mutual pleasure.

  Fane cupped her face and nuzzled her neck. His hairy thighs were between hers, his erection rubbing against her center.

  And it felt good. Right.

  She drew a breath, and then to her dismay, tears stung her eyes. She never cried.

  Fane lifted his head. “What’s wrong, love? Do you want me to—”

  “No!” She dashed the tears away. “Nothing’s wrong. It’s just so good…”

  Their eyes met, and she could’ve sworn he saw right to the heart of her. “It is for me, too.”

  He touched his lips to each of her eyelids in turn and then continued his exploration of her body, kissing his way down her breastbone to her belly. He trailed his lips over her mound, and she bent her knees to give him more space.

  “Mm.” He licked her, long and slow. “You taste so good.”

  Another lick, and then another.

  And the good feelings got even better. Desire fizzed in her veins like champagne. She stroked his hair where it lay wet against her thigh.

  Without warning, he sucked her clit into his mouth, and she let out a high, surprised mewl. He sucked harder, strong tugs that sent heat sparking through her. He moved lower for more of those delicious licks before returning to her clit again, learning what made her gasp and buck her hips.

  Meanwhile, his long, knowing fingers played over her body—her nipples, her bottom, her inner thighs.

  She reached for his head, trying to hold him against her sex, and he pulled back, his breath warm against the heated flesh.

  She moaned. “Fane.”

  “I just want a look at you. You’re like a flower.” He teased her opening with his fingers. “A hot, wet, gorgeous flower that opens only for me.”

  She bit her lower lip. Desire climbed in her, but somehow she couldn’t let go.

  Then he husked, “Open for me, love. I want to see you come.” He set his mouth to her clit and with a few self-assured licks, broke the tight hold she had on herself.

  “Yes,” she said. “Yes.”

  He inserted two long fingers in her, and that was even better. Her sex clamped around him. Stars burst behind her eyes, shooting down to her toes and to the top of her head. Warming her to her very soul.

  Fane stroked her inside with his fingers and outside with his tongue until she shuddered back to awareness with a sigh.

  He raised his head. “Enough?”

  “Oh, yeah. Too much.”

  “Never too much.” With a sexy chuckle, he crawled back up her body to fit his mouth to hers. She tasted herself on his lips, mixed with his own male flavor.

  She felt happy, even triumphant.

  Because it felt like a victory.

  She wrapped her arms around Fane and kissed him back as hard as she could.

  24

  Fane lifted his head from Marjani and rolled to one side. Propping his head on his hand, he traced a finger down her nose and over her plush lips, swollen from his kisses. Her delicate features had a faint flush, her cat-shaped eyes heavy with satisfaction.

  His heart swelled, because he’d been the one who put that look on her face.

  He toyed with one of her small, pretty breasts. He loved her lean, streamlined body. He ached to bury himself in her, but he’d promised he’d move slowly, and he meant to keep that promise.

  That this hurting, complicated woman had trusted him with herself as far as she had was an incredible gift.

  He’d hated to see those flickers of fear. The gods knew he wasn’t a violent man. A wayfarer didn’t have to be. When things got rough, Fane simply…disappeared. But at the thought of anyone hurting Marjani, something dark and ugly balled in his chest.

  She turned on her side and set her hand on his chest. “Now you.” She tiptoed her fingers lower and encircled his erection.

  He sucked in a breath, practically jumping out of his skin with pleasure. But he made himself say, “Only if you want.”

  “I want.” The seriousness on her face made his lungs constrict.

  “Then have at it, love.” He rolled onto his back, pulling her on top.

  “Mm,” she purred. She straddled his hips, her eyes sparking blue-green.

  He filled his hands with her taut, round ass. “I love it when I see your cougar.”

  She leaned forward to rub the tips of her nipples over his chest. “The cat wants to eat you up.” The movement brought her mound against his cock. She gave another sexy purr and wriggled against him.

  Heat sizzled up his spine. He flung out his arms. “I’m all yours.”

  She straightened up, her gaze on where his erection curved between their bellies. His fingers curled into his palms, but he kept still.

  “Your move,” he murmured.

  She smiled—and did exactly what he’d hoped, wrapping those slim, competent fingers around him.

  “That’s it,” he rasped. “Harder.”

  She slid her hand up and down his hard length, stroking and squeezing. The pads of her fingers were calloused, the slight roughness oddly arousing. The slit wept liquid and she smoothed it over the flushed cap.

  His breath quickened. Remaining still became an impossibility.

  With a low, inarticulate sound, he thrust into her fist. She worked him with one hand while with the other she played with his balls. Then she curved over his abdomen and swiped her hot little tongue over the cap.

  His entire body clenched. “Holy fuck.”

  And then it got even better, because she lapped at the sensitive underside, licked her way up and down. It was so good, it hurt—and he wanted it to go on forever.

  But of course, it couldn’t. His balls drew up tight, and pleasure gathered at the base of his spine. He was close to exploding when she came higher onto her knees and placed his tip at her entrance.

  He stilled, recalling they had no protection. Teeth clenched, he gripped her hips and lifted her
a little away. “I don’t want to give you a baby.”

  Thank the gods she was fada. No STDs, hardly any risk of pregnancy without the mate bond. But even so, he was careful these days. He’d gotten Evie’s mom pregnant, after all.

  Her brow furrowed. “But we’re not mates.”

  “I wasn’t mated to Evie’s mom, either. I’ll pull out.”

  She nodded and eased down on his dick. His mind went blank as wet, silky heat enclosed him.

  When he was fully inside her, she stroked her hands down his abdomen with an appreciative hum. “You’re all muscle.”

  “One advantage of being a wayfarer.”

  “You grow hot muscles?” She trailed a fingertip down the ridges of his abdomen.

  He chuckled. “We burn a lot of energy, and we’re natural athletes.” He moved his hips, enjoying how her pupils dilated.

  “Ah.” She leaned forward, set her hands on his chest and began to move. The milky quartz banged against his chest, and without breaking her rhythm, she dragged it off and dropped it on the cavern floor.

  He caressed the smooth, golden-brown skin of her hips and ass. “That’s it, love.”

  He moved his hands to her breasts, playing with her firm little nipples. He gave them a pinch and her breath hissed out.

  He smiled. “You like that.”

  At her murmur of assent, he pinched them harder. She twisted his nipples in playful retaliation, and his balls drew tight.

  He began to move, meeting her thrusts with his own. She ground her pelvis on his, and contracted around him.

  “More,” she husked. “I need it harder.”

  Oh, yeah.

  Happy to oblige, he rolled over so she lay on her back on the sweaters. Bracing himself on his forearms, he gave her a deep, leisurely kiss and, when she wrapped her arms and legs around him, began thrusting again. Slow at first, and then, when she dug her fingernails into his ass and urged him on with broken cries, hard and fast.

  Heated inner walls squeezed him. She breathed out his name and came, the pulsing of her sex almost sending him over the edge with her.

  He gritted his teeth and slowed down, riding out her orgasm, and then pulled out. A few strokes against her abdomen, and a goddamned fireball exploded through him. He groaned and buried his face in her neck, breathing her in as he rode the searing wave.