His stance changed. He was tense. Had she made him angry? Her neck began to tingle. She felt something in the pit of her stomach. The same feeling she’d had at the ball Friday night. Someone was watching her, someone evil. “Niklas, we have to…”
“Shh.” He bent his head, placed his lips against hers. His mouth trailed kisses along her jaw toward her ear, he whispered, “I feel him, too. He has been following me. I believe he doesn’t want me to complete my mission. Do not allow him to know we are aware of his presence.”
His mission? What mission? She opened her mouth to ask just that when his hands roved slowly over her body, leaving a trail of burning awareness behind. The thumping of her heart drowned out the sound of the waves crashing on the beach as she stood in his embrace, his warm body pressed tightly against hers. Brianna wrapped her arms around him, reveling in his scent and the warmth of his embrace. She was glad for the excuse to hold him close and accept his kiss. No regrets, no excuses, just feeling. His lips left hers, nibbled along her jaw once more, then he placed a kiss behind her ear.
“We need to make it back to the car. He will not be able to get to us in my house or yours. We must find a way to get there without arousing his suspicion.” His hands wandered lower, his fingers splaying over the small of her back.
“What mission?” she finally remembered to ask. “You have a lot of explaining to do, Niklas,” she whispered, pulling his earlobe into her mouth. She ran the tip of her tongue around the outside of his ear. “Although I don’t think you are entirely correct. I think whoever it is, is after me. They were following me around at the Witches’ Ball on Samhain.”
Niklas groaned with obvious pleasure as he pressed his lower body tight against her. “Later, Brianna. I will answer your questions later.” His hands cupped her bottom, pressing her lower body tighter against his own. Brianna felt the ridge of his erection against her pubic bone like a steel rod. He squeezed her rear and let his hand wander slowly up her back.
Moaning, she pulled away with a scowl. She slapped him, then winked. “I think that’s just about enough! I’m not that kind of girl. Take me home now, please,” she said imperiously, her words loud enough to carry far along the beach. She glared at him for good measure before she stuck her nose into the air, then turned and began to walk from the beach. Kneeling, she picked up her towel, gave it a snap to shake the dirt off it, then stood and marched to the shower rooms to rinse the sand and saltwater off.
Niklas bent to retrieve the towel she’d brought for him to use, picked up the rest of their things and followed her from the beach, looking properly cowed.
* * * *
Silently, he watched from the bushes, following them with his dark malevolent gaze, his scarred face filled with biting hatred. His black, venomous eyes held nothing but contempt for the couple on the beach. Good! She was leaving him alone on the beach. Perhaps she wasn’t the one he searched for after all. He wanted to be sure. He disliked the idea of putting an innocent to death. Karma was a bitch. He knew if he killed an innocent, it would return upon him threefold, especially if he did the deed himself.
The whole concept of murder was distasteful. He didn’t like to get his hands dirty. In fact, he would rather pay someone else to do it. Either his people were all dead or they refused to report in because they feared his wrath at their incompetence. He shrugged carelessly. Still, if murder served his purpose and would buy the time he needed, it would have to be done. The more time that passed, the better. Each hour, each minute, each second brought them closer to the end, closer to the eventual rule of the rightful heir.
He took a deep breath, and released it slowly. Yes, one day he would be King. He had lots of time. He could afford to wait, to be generous. But if she had the stone, he wouldn’t be generous. If she had the stone, she would die a very painful death that it would be his pleasure to inflict. He smiled a parody of a smile. He knew it was merely a cruel twisting of his thin lips and that his malignant black eyes were filled with a cold fury. He spat on the ground, the hate eating at him like a cancer. Perhaps it was too late to worry about Karma. Perhaps his soul was already black and irredeemable. He looked down at his fingers, clenched into tight fists. Perhaps his soul was already lost.
“Niklas,” he hissed, his hatred showing in the pronunciation of that one name. He grimaced. Just saying it aloud had left a bad taste in his mouth. Niklas would never keep her. He would leave her if she wasn’t The One, and if she was, she would die. He would see to that.
The man reached down and rubbed his nearly erect staff in an obscene gesture. He licked his lips in lustful anticipation. She was beautiful and passionate. He had seen that before she pulled away from the usurper. If she was The One, she would die, but, before he killed her, he would taste her sweetness. He needn’t kill the woman if she was innocent, but he would still taste her. She wanted it, after all. She’d been panting after Niklas like a bitch in heat since he’d first seen them together.
Reaching down, he rubbed himself again, resisting the urge to unfasten his trousers and ease the lust he felt while the sight of her rare beauty was still fresh in his mind. But he waited, watching as they left in a vehicle Niklas drove. He followed them discreetly. He didn’t want to alert them to his presence. He would not reveal his presence until he was ready.
The fools! Don’t they know what real power is? No one could ever sneak up on me. Watch me without my knowing, without my feeling their presence. They are weak fools, not even close to being my equal. He watched scornfully as Niklas left her at her door, returned the truck to his garage, and ran back to her house and pounded on her door, begging her to let him in.
The weak fool! I wouldn’t have begged. He laughed under his breath. I would have demanded admittance. Or I would have destroyed the door and taken what I wanted. Women don’t know what they want. They say no when they really mean yes.
Licking his lips, he caressed himself again, grateful for the privacy of his vehicle. He watched when she opened the door, a scowl on her beautiful face, and Niklas entered the house.
I know what Niklas wants, what he is going to get. I will get it, too. She will beg me for it. Yes, I will have her before I leave this forgotten land. Whether she lives or dies will be up to me. Smiling cruelly, he rubbed his hands together in anticipation. “Oh, yes, you will beg for it, you teasing bitch.”
* * * *
Niklas took Brianna in his arms and swung her off her feet.
She squealed with surprised delight. “Put me down, Niklas!”
“You were wonderful!” He grinned, setting her down. “I would bet he didn’t even suspect we knew he was watching us.” He held her to him tightly, his hands roaming up and down her back in a light caress.
She tilted her head back, her laughter forgotten, her wide indigo eyes filled with fear. “What does he want with you? What type of mission are you on? Do you work for the government?” She fired her questions off quickly, unsure what to think.
“Yes and no. My mission is very important. It could mean life or death for millions. Am I doing this for my government? Yes. Do I intend to harm anyone here? The answer is no.” Niklas straightened and paced the room with long strides. “There are so many things I must tell you. Things you should know.” He paused, giving Brianna a look of pure longing. “Yet every time I look at you, I can’t concentrate. My heart pounds, and all I can think of is kissing you. How warm and wonderful you feel in my arms, how much I want to…”
Brianna stepped closer to him, slid gentle fingers down his arm, stoking the fire already burning out of control in his blood. “How much you want to do what, Niklas?” She smiled softly. “How much you want to make love with me?”
He turned to her, pinned her with his tortured gaze. “Yes, but there are other things I should be thinking of.” He fisted his hands at his sides. “Other things that are so much more important than sex.” He turned away from her, away from temptation. He closed his eyes, trying to bring his body under some semblance of cont
rol.
She walked around him, gliding in front of him, looking at him with those sultry indigo eyes, and waited for him to look at her. When he did, she lifted her hand to her hair and brushed it back in a sexy movement he found irresistible. “Then we should definitely devise a way for you to concentrate on your mission.” She put her hand on his chest, then let it slide down toward his waistband. Reaching up with her free hand, she pulled his head down to hers. Before their lips met, Brianna whispered, “I’ve never been so bold or so brazen, and I’ve never wanted anything more in my life. There might never be a second chance to find out what it’s like to make love, and I’m determined to live for once.” She gazed deep into his dark chocolate eyes. “I’ll worry about regrets and consequences later.”
He groaned as he bent down to cover her lips with his. She was so soft and pliant in his arms. His hands moved over her hips, her firm round bottom. He pulled her against his hard length, felt her jutting breasts rubbing their hard peaks against his chest. He devoured her with his lips and tongue, reveling in the fact that she wanted him as much as he wanted her.
He picked her up and carried her into her bedroom, to the bed. He needed to have her beneath him, to feel her soft body welcoming his, even for just a short while. He pushed the straps of the suit from her shoulders, down her arms and looked on with wonder as he uncovered the treasure that awaited him. His eyes darkened with the intense desire to touch her, to hold her. He wanted her to know she was his woman, irrevocably.
Dipping his head, he kissed the hollow of her neck, licking the tangy salt from just above her clavicle. Moving lower, he kissed the sensitive underside of her breast, his tongue sliding across her smooth, salty skin. He smiled slightly as she caught her breath when he took her pebble hard nipple into his mouth. She cried out, bringing her hands to his head. She held him there in a trap of his own choosing. And he loved it.
Gently, his hands slid across her quivering belly, pushing the suit further down her legs until she was able to kick it free. It landed on the floor across the room, discarded in a damp, forgotten heap. Again, he kissed the petal pink peaks of her breasts, suckling the hard nubs. He reveled in the feel of her soft skin sliding against his, knowing she was The One. No woman had ever made him feel the way she did. He was on fire. His body was a raging inferno that burned only for her, and he felt an undeniable need to make her his.
* * * *
Every inch of Brianna’s body felt as though it was on fire. Her blood was hot, molten, flowing through her veins slowly, thick, like lava. The volcano her body had become was centered near her stomach. The heat generated there, spreading throughout her body, scorching her, burning into her mind in a fiery conflagration. She’d never felt anything like this in her entire life.
Niklas stopped for a moment to look into her eyes. “I need to know this is what you really want, Laharra.”
Brianna groaned, “Oh, God, Niklas, don’t stop now.” She reached up and pulled his head back down to her breast, arching her back to force the contact. He chuckled and lapped at her nipple, taking her breath away.
“Slow down, Laharra, we have the entire night.”
His mouth covered hers in a drugging kiss that pushed every thought from her mind, leaving only a haze of pure desire. Every stroke of his fingers against her flesh drove her cravings higher, creating a chasm of need so deep she could barely think.
“I want to worship you for the rest of the afternoon and into the night.” Niklas looked into her eyes. His warm, chocolate eyes were glazed with need, with a fervent hunger Brianna knew she couldn’t deny if her life depended on it. Gooseflesh rose on her skin as he lowered his head, moving his lips over her jaw to her neck. She moaned when he suckled and nipped her collarbone, and she canted her head, giving him better access to the sensitive spot behind her ear.
Brianna was on a dreamy passionate cloud. Gripping Niklas’s shoulders, she tried to push him up and away. She wanted to look into his eyes, needed to tell him she would die if he didn’t complete this soon. “Niklas, please…” She panted. It was all she could manage.
Still, he understood. “Not yet, Laharra, be patient a little longer.” He guided her back to the bed, supporting her as he covered her trembling body with his own. He suckled her sensitive breasts yet again, bringing each velvety pink tip to a hardened peak. His sentence was broken as he alternated between them, giving both equal attention.
The hand that had once cupped her breast now slid down her body to rest on her downy curls. Niklas moved one finger, testing her moisture, before finding her nub and slowly moving in a gentle rhythm that nearly drove her mad.
Brianna’s head tossed back and forth on the pillow. She bit her lip, reached for some elusive…thing. She knew it was there, she could feel it building, waiting, burning inside her like a living entity. She felt the heat of the erotic blaze from the inside out, until she feared she would spontaneously combust. Still, Brianna was unprepared for the waves of pleasure that washed over her again and again.
Just as she reached the apex, Niklas covered her mouth with his, and he swallowed her cry of pleasure. He still performed his erotic massage until Brianna’s stiffened body collapsed onto the mattress, spent.
“So that’s what it’s like.” She sighed, shivering with aftershocks. Her hands fumbled on the mattress, too weak to raise them to brush the hair from her eyes, to wipe the perspiration from her brow.
* * * *
Niklas smiled and kissed her gently. He gave her one last chance to change her mind. The sweat beaded on his forehead. A fine sheen of moisture covered his body. He was in agony. Yet he would find a way to leave her bed, if it was what she wished. “Are you sure that this is what you want, Brianna?”
He gazed deeply into hers, searching for a way to tell her, to warn her. There would be no going back. He wanted no lies between them. “Once we do this thing, there will be no going back.” Niklas leaned down to nibble her shoulder. He wanted to keep her just a little off kilter. He knew it was a bit unfair, but later she wouldn’t be able to say she wasn’t given a choice.
She gasped as his lips closed around her sensitive nipple. Her hands held his head, her fingers tangled in his hair. “Oh, yes, Niklas, I want this.”
Standing, he quickly removed his suit then lowered himself over her once again. Closing his eyes for a moment, he inhaled sharply, trying to keep his raging body under control as Brianna reached between them to stroke him softly. His already eager flesh jumped with excitement. He captured her hand, kissed each finger slowly, then held it against his heart. “Not this time, Laharra, I am afraid that I will lose control, and I do not want to hurt you.” He released her hand, then held her chin gently and looked deep into her eyes. “You understand, if we do this, there will be no going back?”
“Yes. Oh, yes,” she uttered breathlessly. She tossed her head on the pillow, squirming beneath him. “There is no going back. I don’t want to go back.”
Niklas let out a long breath, cupped her face in both of his hands, looking into her indigo eyes. “Brianna, do you choose me?” His voice was gruff, a mixture of husky longing and disbelief.
She smiled and squirmed impatiently beneath him. “Yes, Niklas, I choose you. How could I not? Since the moment we met, I’ve been drawn to you like the wave to the shore.” Her hands smoothed the worry lines from his face. “You need someone. Someone who can love you, for you, I think.” She grinned impishly, then leaned up and kissed him passionately.
Niklas squeezed his eyes shut and groaned as he entered her slowly. Throwing his head back, he clamped his teeth together, laboring to keep himself under control. He was so near the edge. She was so hot and tight, and her inner walls closed around his shaft like a hot, velvet glove, clasping and flexing, milking his sex. He moved forward slowly and was pleasantly surprised to find her maiden’s barrier still intact.
A muscle jumped rhythmically in his jaw and he forced himself to move even more slowly. Leaning down, he suckled her once more, d
rawing on her breast fiercely. He wanted to distract her from the pain he knew would come when he pushed past her virgin’s barrier.
She had chosen him. Niklas wanted to cry to the heavens, thanking the Goddess for this great gift. He wanted to be sure she would have no reason to regret it. It didn’t matter that her mind didn’t know what she’d just done, her heart knew, her soul knew. That was what mattered. “Brianna, Mi Dara, I choose you. We are one, in this life and in the next. We have gifted ourselves unto each other. Now we are one.”
“Yes, Niklas, we are one.” Brianna panted.
As he eased in and out ove, and over again, she was completely mindless. Still, she was affirming their bond, making it easier for Niklas to bind her to him without her knowledge.
He deliberately moved with a gentle rhythm that was killing him, so he would not hurt his Brianna. His body shook with the effort to move so slowly, even as he burned for the ecstasy of release. He knew he would soon find the ultimate pleasure in the solace of her body. Niklas groaned as he finished the ritual. “One heart, one soul, in gifting ourselves we are bound to each other. For all time.”
Brianna screamed beneath him, her climax so intense, she nearly bucked him off her. Her slick velvet walls gripped him, milked him, until he was the one who was nearly out of his mind with pleasure. He forgot the promise to himself to be gentle and drove into her, shouting to the heavens. Thanking the Gods for the precious gift they had given him, his beloved, his wife. Niklas had his mate. He had finally found her. And she had chosen. Later, she wouldn’t be able to deny he’d given her the choice.
She collapsed beneath him spent, aftershocks rippling through her body, her breathing hitched and ragged.
He leaned down and claimed her lips as she lay panting beneath him. He wasn’t looking forward to explaining exactly what they’d just done. But now might be the best time. She was too tired to put up much of a fight. “Brianna, I must thank you,” he began formally. He took her hand and kissed her palm sensuously. Niklas searched though his mind, wanting to find a way to tell her that she would understand, that she could forgive.
Briannas Prophecy Page 13
