by Eve Langlais
“What’s so interesting, honey?” he murmured against the back of her neck.
Interesting? His lips. Him. The way his hand slowly slid lower. His mouth and its soft nibbles. None were answers she could utter. “Um. Eh.” Words completely fled her mind as his breath feathered over her skin. Tingling, her blood heating, she froze, unsure what to do. What did he intend? Was she ready? What about Joel?
Was she ready to make a choice? Ready to possibly deal with the fact not all was as it seemed? That perhaps she was just the finish line to a competition?
Alone for the first time in days, with a man who made her panties soak and her heart stutter, did she care?
This is what I was waiting for. One of them to make a move.
Kendrick pressed closer, every inch of him molding to her back, his lips brushing the skin of her nape. Shivers ran through her, and then a small moan as he kissed a sensitive spot, then licked it.
“Wh-what are you doing?” she managed to whisper.
“What I’ve been dying to do for days,” he admitted before spinning her around and plastering his mouth to hers. About freakn’ time.
Oh, the pleasurable shock of it. Hard, yet somehow tender, he slanted his lips over hers, kissing her with a hunger she matched. How oddly delightful to have to tilt her face up to reach his lips. To have her body stand straight and tall, leaning into his, all the parts lining up perfectly.
He nipped her lower lip and she gasped, pulling back a bit. His eyes, flashing orbs in the shadowy room, appeared wild and unnatural.
She pulled out of his embrace and took a step back. “Your eyes? What’s wrong with them?”
He blinked and the strange reflection of light disappeared. “What do you mean?”
“Nothing. I—” She leaned back against the wall behind her, the cool stone inviting to her feverish skin. However, she did find it perturbing the rock moved with an ominous grinding sound.
Before she could scream, she hit the floor, a big body atop hers. Even protected behind her shield of flesh, she heard and felt the impact of rocks caving in, perhaps not directly on them, but definitely not far.
It took too long in her mind for the chaos to stop. Then, even longer for Kendrick to react.
“Kendrick.” She wiggled under him. “Kendrick? Are you all right? Speak to me.” She bucked, trying to dislodge him. Oh God, please don’t tell me he’s dead.
He got heavier, and his rough jaw rubbed against her cheek as she thrashed under his weight. “Do that again, honey.”
“What?”
Something hard pressed against the vee of her thighs as he made his meaning clear. A pity she didn’t own cheeks like Rudolph’s nose, she’d have lit that tunnel right up.
“What happened?” she asked. Dumb question perhaps, but she needed to say something other than, ‘rub me again.’
“Nature took back the passageway behind us.” He didn’t seem too bothered.
“Isn’t that bad?”
“The guys will get us out.”
“Without machinery?”
“There’s probably more than one way into this place.”
“So shouldn’t we probably start looking?”
A heavy sigh left him. “I guess we can’t stay like this.” Off he rolled, the pitter patter of rocks and dirt raining off him. Blinking in the darkness, blind without her flashlight, she blamed dumb luck for his hand locating hers and pulling her to her feet. She wobbled, but instead of reaching for a wall – given how well that turned out before – she reached for him. Her fingers encountered the fabric of his shirt, and she clung to it, terrified of losing him in the dark.
As if sensing her fear, he murmured, “Don’t worry, honey. I’d never leave you. Hold onto me and we’ll go somewhere a little less dusty.”
Ah yes, the dust, what a nice reminder to her lungs that took that moment to suddenly protest the debris she kept inhaling.
Coughing and gagging in a most delicate fashion – blerg, erk, spit – Kendrick nonetheless kept a hold of her hand and guided her away from the scene of disaster. How he could move in the dark with such surety she couldn’t figure out, but thanked his uncanny skill as they encountered no walls, pits, or other things that would have hurt. He also kept her spirits up, keeping at bay her fear they were trapped.
“So tell me about yourself. I’m assuming you don’t have a boyfriend.”
She immediately bristled. “Why, because I’m fat?”
“You’re not fat.”
“Then why do you assume I’m single?”
“Because no man in his right mind would let his woman go gallivanting off to the jungle by herself with a group of strangers.”
“Maybe you wouldn’t, but not all men are threatened by a strong woman.”
“There’s threatened and there’s the fact a true lover would have joined his girlfriend to keep her safe, not just physically, but emotionally.”
A beautiful sentiment, but Ruth didn’t know men like that. Most thought only of themselves first. “Would you have taken time off to go on a harebrained chase, as I believed you called it at one point?”
“I’d move heaven and earth if that’s what my mate needed for her happiness.”
She snickered. “Mate? Nice term.”
“Well, you have to admit, girlfriend sounds kind of high schoolish, and wife requires a whole lot of pomp and ritual. And now that you’ve skirted the original question, back to it. Are you single?”
“Yes. I find between my internship and classes, not to mention my family, I don’t have much time to meet guys. Well, I do, at school that is, but none that interest me. I’ll be finished in a year, though, and then maybe I’ll get to travel and meet someone.” But she couldn’t imagine meeting anyone who fired her libido like Kendrick or Joel.
“In case you hadn’t noticed, you’re already traveling.”
“To save my sister.”
“Yes, it is a rescue mission, and I’m the first to admit, I never expected to meet such a temptation.”
“Oh please. Now you sound just as bad as Joel with one of his cheesy pick-up lines.”
A yank of her hand, laced in his, placed her palm against his chest and his rapidly beating heart. “Oh, now you’ve wounded me. Comparing my heartfelt admission to his lines of crap.”
“Well you asked for it when you lied,” she retorted, pulling at her hand, annoyed he’d try to pretend his words were the truth. Temptation indeed.
“Do you really think so little of yourself?”
“I own a mirror and a scale. Back home, that is. I know what they show. I’m not the kind of girl to make men fall over themselves.”
“Maybe because you hadn’t met the right men. Do you know what I see when I look at you?”
Yes, she wanted to know, even if he skewed the truth.
He didn’t wait for her reply. “I see your curves. Voluptuous and absolutely delicious-looking – all your creamy skin, tempting me to taste.” She swallowed. “I see the strength you keep hidden, that inner stubborn core that doesn’t let you give up.” She had that? “I see you fighting your body, refusing to succumb to pleasure because you’re not the type to do things lightly or by halves. I see you denying your heart.”
“I think you’re seeing more to me than actually exists,” she said softly.
“I think you don’t see enough.”
As Kendrick slowed their steps to a stop, she realized she could see grey shadows.
“Hey, there’s light,” she managed to sputter in a rough voice.
“Light. Air. And a good place for you to sit awhile and catch your breath. Here, have a drink of water.”
She saw the dark blur of the canteen he held to her lips and drank, gulping the tepid liquid and letting it soothe her throat. Why she’d not thought to grab hers before wandering in here was just another mark to chalk up on her list of blonde moments.
Refreshed, she peered around with more interest. Her eyes adjusted somewhat to the gloom, and what she saw
awed. In a domed-shaped room, the ceiling high overhead, light filtered through the cracks in the stone, slits put in place by time and infiltrated by foliage.
She peeked down to see she sat on some type of stone table, a little dusty, but otherwise fairly free of debris except for one fist-sized chunk of rock, which she hefted. She cast a dubious glance upward.
“Is it safe in here?”
“For the moment. But we might not want to yell too loud.”
“Why would we yell?”
Fingers tickled up her side and she squeaked.
“Shhh,” he admonished. “What did I say about the noise?” He pushed her knees apart and inserted his body between them.
“What are you doing?” she whispered.
“Keeping you distracted. Is it working?” he asked as his fingers dug into her waist and drew her close.
“Yes. No. Can’t you think of something else to do?”
“Else? Like what?”
“Showtunes?”
“I don’t sing.”
“We could talk.”
“Too noisy. And besides, we just did that and you more or less called me a liar.”
“I did not.”
“Do you believe me when I say you’re beautiful?”
“No.”
“Then I shall have to show you.”
“How?” Was it wrong to hope he kissed her again?
“I think it’s time I took what I want.”
Her heart pattered. “What would that be?”
She couldn’t miss the white gleam of his teeth as he replied, “You know.”
A sigh left her. “Actually, I don’t. You’re very confusing.”
“Isn’t it obvious I want to kiss you again?”
Yeah, but she couldn’t figure out why. She didn’t believe his claim he found her beautiful. “Haven’t you already won your bet?”
“You think I kissed you because of a wager?” His laughter rang out and she winced as she peered at the ceiling. He quieted, but only to press his lips against the lobe of her ear. “I kissed you because you’re driving me absolutely insane, Ruth.”
“Insane good or bad?”
“Oh, bad. Definitely bad. I mean, I barely know you, but the things you make me think. They’re so freakn’ naughty. Would you like me to show you, honey?”
Yes. Now, if only she could talk. Impossible when all she could concentrate on was his warm breathing teasing across her earlobe. His hands tracing circles on her lower back and occasionally cupping her cheeks. His groin pressed against the front of her, hard, insistent, and so unavoidably aroused.
“No answer? Then I’ll take that as a yes.” He kissed her, and this time, she kept her eyes shut tight, allowing herself to focus only on the intimate joining of their lips. The sweet, moist mesh of their breath.
We should be looking for a way out, not making out. A part of her rational mind tried to get her attention. Her carnal side shoved it in a closet and locked the door. Then it urged her to open her mouth and let Kendrick’s tongue in.
Best advice ever.
Sensual, not slobbery. Exciting. He kissed her a la French. Caressed her like a pro. Had her panting and aching. Needing.
When his mouth left hers, she whimpered.
“Hush, little honey. We’re not done.” His soft endearment went well with his new destination as his lips led the way and traveled the column of her neck, nipping and sucking. Tasting her skin, teeth worrying the flesh, possibly leaving a mark, his mark. For some reason, the thought excited her.
He didn’t let her t-shirt stand in the way of his exploration. Up it came, and over her head, leaving her in only a bra. Nope. There went the pink, cottony affair and her nipples puckered as air flowed across them. In the almost dark, Ruth didn’t feel the self-consciousness she usually suffered. Didn’t worry about her size. Or shape. She just reveled in the exploratory worship of his hands as he cupped and kneaded her small handfuls. He rolled her nipples, each tug and squeeze shooting pleasure down to her pussy.
She let out a small cry when he lowered her back on the table. Her shirt, and somehow his, shed at one point, a thin barrier against the hardness of the dusty stone top. But who cared if she lay in the patina of centuries? With Kendrick’s heavy body atop hers, his mouth busy sucking at her nipples, drawing tortured gasps and moans from her, she could have lain on a bed of nails for all she noticed.
Just don’t let him stop. Because if he kept lavishing attention on her nipples and rubbing his hand against her crotch, she was going to come.
No. He stopped. Come back. Or not. His mouth left a sinuous trail down her rounded tummy, halting only at the barrier of her pants. One quick snap and he’d undone them.
Hot and sweaty wasn’t how she wanted him encountering her girl parts orally for the first time. Am I planning a second already? She dragged him back up to her mouth, her rapid grab netting her two fistfuls of hair.
“I was about to do something,” he growled.
Unable to voice her issue, she mashed her mouth to his, and he forewent further argument, kissing her back just as passionately. But he’d not completely given up on his quest. His hand entered the opening he’d created in her pants, sliding into her panties and then over her slick flesh.
She almost took his tongue off she bucked so hard.
“Oh my sweet, sweet honey. I’ve been waiting forever it seems to touch you like this.”
Her fingers dug into his scalp as her body quivered, so taut with erotic tension, her whole being sitting on the verge of ecstasy. He didn’t seem to mind her rough handling, a strength she’d previously tempered with old boyfriends. Not so with Kendrick. Judging by the moan that came out of him, he liked her rough passion. He sucked at her lower lip as he slid a finger into her. She went still, whimpering as she tried to spread her thighs further for him, but failing as her pants prevented her. She pumped her hips as he pressed into her. Her flesh sucked at him eagerly. All of her met his touches with an ardent pleasure. Even her orgasm.
It hit her with the force of a meteor, slamming into her body, shocking the air from her, and sending her consciousness soaring.
To heaven.
What had been a near disaster when the tunnel collapsed turned into utter glory. Or so Kendrick thought as Ruth’s channel convulsed around his fingers, her climax strong, lusty, and sweet, just like her.
Oh good God, he wanted inside her so bad. He pumped her with his fingers, torturing himself with the sweetness of her release, watching her face as pleasure took her. His free hand went to the buckle of his pants, his cock dying for its turn. But it seemed he wasn’t going to get his wish.
“There you are,” Joel exclaimed in a patently false, cheerful tone. “So glad to see you’re all right. We were so worried when we felt the earth shaking.”
Kendrick knew his best friend saw his middle finger extended, which is why the prick flashed him a pair. But Kendrick still won the round when a rudely interrupted Ruth squeaked as she scrambled to cover up. He wanted to tell her not to bother, however, he didn’t sense that would go over well.
Human females, especially shy ones, didn’t like to gallivant in the nude. Or at the very least, topless. Which he totally didn’t get. What was the point of having an Ontario provincial law that allowed women to go boobs bared if no one ever took advantage of it?
Then again, he revised that stance as he saw Joel’s hungry eyes watching her perfect little tits jiggle as she shimmied into her shirt, braless. He could see the benefit in covering her from head to toe and hiding her from anyone’s view but his own. God, it sucked he had to share.
“We were just taking a break. Poor Ruth got a touch overcome by the dust when the tunnel collapsed.”
“Ah, that would explain the mouth to mouth,” was Joel’s sardonic reply.
“Can we stop talking about this? I’m embarrassed enough as it is,” she hissed as she dressed, looking caught between annoyance and embarrassment. Best of all, though, she smelled of desire. Un
seen by her, Kendrick raised the fingers he used to pleasure his woman and sucked them, watching how his friend’s nostrils flared in jealousy.
Despite not achieving his goal of claiming her, Kendrick knew it was just a matter of time, and not a long time, before he placed his mark. Perhaps even as soon as tonight. How he’d dearly love to end up between her thighs, nothing between them, his cock pounding her hard and fast. As I bite into her flesh, making her my mate.
The question was, would Joel be there too?
At the first ominous rumble, Joel dropped everything and ran for the ruins. He didn’t need to see the cloud of dust puffing out to know part of it collapsed. With Ruth inside!
Darting into the tunnel, blinking furiously at the cloud silting in the air, he tried not to panic. Kendrick’s with her. He’ll keep her safe. Unless they got flattened by a rock.
Not impossible given the size of some of the chunks he found obliterating their passage. What eased his mind somewhat was he didn’t scent blood or hear any cries for help or of pain.
He took this to mean they managed to escape the architectural disaster and took refuge or searched for an exit in an intact portion. Joel loped along the debris-strewn corridors, sniffing for a sign, ignoring those that didn’t pertain.
In the end, he heard them before he saw them. Heard her cries and moans of pleasure as Kendrick touched Ruth. My woman. His wolf growled. Demanded they stop their pack mate from claiming what was theirs.
Still, Joel didn’t go rushing in like a rabid dog when he got close enough to smell her arousal. He crept along like a wraith, and peeked into the dimly lit chamber. For some reason, Fernando’s words of earlier came back to haunt him. How would it feel to watch another touch his woman? Pleasure her as he looked on? Ready or not, he was about to find out.
He eased his head around the corner and froze at the tableaux they presented. Kendrick bent shirtless over her, his mouth latched to her breasts, sucking her straining peaks while he kneaded her white skin as she thrashed in bliss.
Joel grabbed himself through his pants, stroking when Kendrick moved down the pale skin of her torso, aiming for the honey between her legs. She halted him and Joel almost groaned aloud in symphony with his friend at being diverted from the prize. But he quickly panted as they kissed and Kendrick slid a hand into her pants, stroking her. His ministrations brought her hips up and increased the pace of her cries.
