Everything seemed to happen in an instant. My body was responding on autopilot—clumsily clutching his bulging biceps and moving my lips in response to his.
I wasn’t sure if a full minute or mere seconds had passed before I managed to grab hold of sanity and pull back from the kiss. “Riggs,” I breathed. But when I looked up to meet his eyes, they were fully yellow. Glowing yellow, even.
He was breathing hard, and I wasn’t sure if I was imagining it, but he looked bigger.
I put my fingertips on his cheek, running them against his stubble gently. “Riggs,” I whispered.
He blinked a few times. Gradually, the yellow in his eyes dimmed, returning to their usual mocha brown.
I could practically see him returning to his mind blink by blink, and when the real Riggs was back, he looked ashamed. He averted his eyes, then tried to rush toward the door.
Without thinking, I grabbed his arm, pulling him back toward me. “If it’s you in there, then it’s okay,” I said.
He stared wordlessly, brown eyes searching mine.
“I mean,” I said, starting to talk too fast. “I’m not saying you have to. And I don’t really know how these things work. Like maybe your wolf has different taste in women, or you could be totally disgusted by what-”
Riggs crashed into me. He cupped my face, kissing me hard, but more tenderly than before. I backed up with him, letting the wave of physical sensations blast me into senselessness.
A few minutes ago, I’d been sure Riggs was about to write our death wishes in his own handwriting. I’d sensed how near I really was to the end of it all. Even as he kissed me, hands greedily exploring my body while we blindly backtracked toward the bed, my mind raced.
I’d told myself how much I hated him too many times to count. I’d sworn he was the worst thing since YouTube ads. But the truth was in the way my body was reacting, wasn’t it?
Our breath mingled and his scent filled my nose—heady and woodsy, like campfires and fresh air. I was amazed by how much it all seemed to happen on its own. I thought being with a man would be hard, like solving a puzzle with a deadline. Instead, my body seemed to already know the moves. It knew what it wanted and how to get it.
Did I think I could fix him? The question rang in the back of my mind, but I tried to shut that all off. This wasn’t the time to psychoanalyze myself. I was doing this, and I was going to enjoy it. It could be that simple, couldn’t it? Yes, I decided. Especially when any moment could be my last.
“I don’t know what I’m doing,” I breathed between kisses. Riggs had me pushed down on the bed now. My legs were bent over the side of the bed and he was still standing but bent over me and kissing my neck.
“But you know what you want,” he said, breath hot against my skin.
Oh. I’d been talking in a more metaphorical sense. He wasn’t wrong, though. Mild embarrassment spiked through me at how my hips were bucking up against him, grinding on his torso in desperate arching movements.
He pressed the flat of his hand between my legs, dizzying me with the sudden rush of warmth I felt there. He expertly found exactly the right spot and started rubbing while he still kissed his way down my neck and to my chest. The buttons on my uniform got in his way, but he undid those easily with his free hand without missing a beat with his other.
“Maybe this is a bad idea,” I said. I wasn’t thinking. The words were just spilling out of me. My brain was too overloaded with all the wonderful sensations of friction and heat to filter my mouth.
“It definitely is,” he agreed, but showed no sign of stopping.
“Are you sure we sh-”
Riggs finally paused. He lifted his eyes, glaring into mine. “It doesn’t have to mean more than it means.”
I wasn’t sure I knew what that meant, but I nodded, feeling comforted by the seeming simplicity of the statement. It didn’t have to mean more than it meant. Right. But what if it felt like it meant a lot?
He interrupted my thoughts by yanking my skirt down, panties included.
I expected to be more embarrassed if I ever had a guy see me like this, but there was a ravenous hunger in his movements and expression. I could plainly see how much he was enjoying this—just much as I was—and that did wonders for my self-confidence.
“I’ve never done this before,” I said.
Riggs had been ripping off his shirt, but he paused at that. “Is this okay?” he asked.
The question caught me off guard. I realized until that moment, I’d felt like I had no choice at this point. I’d let him get this far, and he would be mad if I changed my mind—or so I thought. Three little words made me see there was far more to Riggs than I’d given him credit for.
I nodded, smiling shyly.
It was like I’d pressed “resume” on a movie. He leapt back into action, stripping off his shirt and tossing it to the side.
His torso was dusted with dark hair mostly concentrated around his chest. A seemingly endless row of abdominal muscles flexed and shifted while he worked on his belt and pants.
I had sat up halfway at some point and my hands were on him, warm skin and soft hair tickling my fingertips as I ran them down his muscles.
Riggs took my wrist and pushed it down his stomach, plunging it toward his underwear, which was the last article of clothing he had on. They were tight-fitting black boxers that revealed a thick bulge that looked too big to be what I thought it was.
I immediately blushed and tried to pull my hand back.
Riggs let go of my wrist and took a fistful of my hair. He gripped it, which pulled my head back slightly, but not painfully. He used his leverage to force my chin up toward him. He studied me with parted lips and hungry eyes, then a faint smile formed. “I haven’t done this in a very long time,” he said.
“Really?” I had to admit I’d already puzzled that question over in my head. The truth, I’d decided, was that someone like Riggs probably had a new woman in his bed every weekend. Abstinence on his part wouldn’t be for lack of willing partners, and that made me further re-write my understanding of him.
He pushed me down gently by my chest. My legs still hung over the edge of the bed at the knees and he was between my legs. He planted his chiseled arms on either side of my head so his heavy frame made my head sink into the plush comforter deeper.
“It seems I was waiting for the right suicidal, bat-wielding, immune compromised human woman to come along.”
“Oh,” I whispered. “I guess I should go, then. It sounds like you’re still searching.”
He cupped my chin, then planted his first tender kiss on my lips. It took me by surprise.
All the contact until now had been part of a frenzy. It was all instinct and hormones. Rough hands and heavy breaths.
But the kiss was different. It was soft and purposeful. It made my breath catch and my skin feel like it was crawling with little motes of fuzzy warmth.
I practically melted into the comforter, body going slack as his lips brushed mine.
He pulled back and our lips made a quiet sound as they parted. “Unfortunately for you,” he said. “I seem to have a fondness for you.”
“Unfortunately for you,” I countered. “I-” I swallowed. I’d been planning to say something suave and clever. The truth was neither. “I like you too,” I blurted. “But I don’t know if that’s just the fact that you’ve saved my life a few times talking.”
“Then maybe it’s time to stop talking,” Riggs said. His eyelashes looked so long up close. I could feel the soft puff of warm air from each word that left his lips.
“Did you just tell me to be quiet?” I asked.
“That depends. Are you going to produce a baseball bat from somewhere and hit me again if I say ‘yes’?”
I grinned, eyes trailing down his abs to the bulging spot in his underwear. Just looking at it made my stomach turn to lava. “That depends if you’ll let me borrow the one you brought.” I internally winced. Did I really just say that?
&nbs
p; Riggs smiled with half of his mouth, then pulled down his underwear.
I stared, and in that moment, I felt certain I was in far, far over my head.
26
Riggs
I couldn’t quite believe what I was doing. I’d just pulled out my cock in front of Sylvie. A human.
The part I didn’t tell her was that I’d never slept with a human. Ever. Werewolves treated sex as more of a means to an end or like a pressure release valve. It didn’t carry as much meaning, and I’d never assigned any to it.
Except I couldn’t stop looking down at the small woman lying under my arms and letting my thoughts spiral. I wanted it to mean something. But why?
She was staring between my legs with widened eyes. “How does that even fit?” she asked.
I chuckled. “Gentle persuasion.”
She raised her eyebrows. “Like gently trying to persuade a semi-truck into a residential garage?”
I kissed her again. God. She was different. Each time I met her lips, the thought struck me like a sledgehammer.
Usually, my wolf rose to the surface and dominated the encounter during sex. But he was oddly dormant now. I could barely sense him in the back of my mind, like he was slumbering.
It made everything feel strangely new. Exciting.
Maybe that’s why sex had never seemed special. It was more like letting my wolf out of his cage and taking a backseat.
I slid Sylvie farther onto the bed and climbed above her. She still had on her top, so I spent a few moments fixing that problem.
I bent to kiss her breasts, cupping a handful of the pale, impossibly soft skin with my hand. Her nipple hardened immediately against my tongue and she squirmed, letting out quiet moans through closed lips.
I kissed up toward her neck, hungry for another taste of her mouth.
“Riggs?” She asked. “Do you need a, uh, condom?” For some reason she whispered the word, like it was vulgar.
“A werewolf can’t get a human pregnant.”
“Wait, really?” she asked. She halfway sat up like she was about to start another session of twenty questions, naked edition. Instead, I pushed her back down, keeping one hand on her shoulder to keep her where I wanted her.
“Only a vampire or another werewolf has strong enough blood to feed our young in the womb.”
“Kinda creepy,” she said, smirking.
“No more questions.” I kissed her chin, then her neck.
For once, Sylvie complied without a fight. I wanted to do a thousand things to her. I wanted to taste her everywhere. I wanted to feel her lips wrapped around my cock. I wanted to take her from behind and watch her ride me.
But I was all out of self-control. More than anything, I just needed to be inside her. I needed it now—before something could interrupt us or before either of us came to our senses.
I positioned myself, gripping the base of my length and pressing the tip against her warmth.
She gasped, arching her back into me. “What do I do?” she whispered.
“Trust me. And relax.”
She did, and I pressed a little harder until I felt the pressure of resistance give. My cock slid into her, just an inch or two at first.
She clasped her hands against my back, fingertips digging in. “Oh, God, Riggs…”
I took it slowly. She was right. It was a nearly impossibly tight fit, but it felt so unbelievably good I didn’t want to stop. I didn’t want to hurt her, but she made no sign of protest.
Before long, I was finding a rhythm. I’d slide myself in just a little more with each thrust, and her excitement already had my cock soaked in her warm slick arousal.
I buried my face in her neck, kissing the smooth skin there until I could feel her rapid heartbeat against my lips.
I let everything else fade away until it was only me and her. Just the pleasant way my fingertips made small indentations in her breasts. Only the goosebumps that rose in waves across her pale skin. Nothing but the warmth and the sounds of our mingling breaths.
I flipped her over, drawing a surprised giggle from her. Her laughter was silenced when I drove myself into her from behind. I pressed my body against her, lifting her to her knees and taking her from behind.
I buried every inch of myself in her, then rocked my body against her up and down, making her knees try to give out. I took her by the waist, keeping her upright as I drove her right to the edge and then forced her to linger there.
Maybe it was cruel to edge a virgin like this, but I wasn’t ready to be done so soon. I didn’t want her coming yet. I wanted her to come with me because I was a selfish bastard.
She kept looking back over her shoulder like she wanted to watch me, then her eyes would squeeze shut and she’d gasp, letting her head fall to the pillow where her hair would spill all around her.
I finally couldn’t hold myself back any longer. No more games. No more teasing.
I took her ass in both hands, gripping until her skin went red around my fingertips as I pulled her into me, groaning with enjoyment.
My orgasm rushed out with surprising force. I gasped, squeezing her tighter as I came and felt her body start to tremble as well. I leaned over her back, kissing her neck while I was still inside her, still filling her with my seed.
My seed that was useless in her body.
For some reason, that thought hit me with a sour note.
I kissed the back of her neck, trying to shake that disturbing feeling loose. I didn’t care if my seed was useless in her because this was just sex. Except that rang hollow, even in my own head.
Fuck. What was I getting myself into?
27
Sylvie
The sound of Riggs’ steady heartbeat filled my ears. It was shockingly slow.
I ran my fingertips idly through the short hair on his chest, then tilted my chin up to look at his face. He was watching me with a grin.
“Does this mean you’re going to be nicer to me, now?” I asked.
“I’ve been nice to you since the start.”
I sat up beside him, lifting the sheets to cover my bare breasts. It was silly to be self-conscious, but without the thick flow of chemicals from my brain, I didn’t feel quite as cavalier about my nudity anymore. “You literally introduced yourself to me by calling me an idiot.”
“To protect you,” he countered.
“And then you tried to break into my apartment and scare the living shit out of me.”
“To protect you,” he echoed.
I smirked. “Just admit it. You’re a sour grump who is mean to everybody.”
“I’m not grumpy. Everybody else just needs to learn to stop being such dumbasses.”
“Hm,” I said. “So you’re saying other people should think more before they act? That they shouldn’t do things that serve no logical purpose? That they should remember the goal their trying to accomplish before they let emotions get in the way?”
Riggs narrowed his eyes. “Why do I feel like this question is a trap?”
I smiled sweetly. “Well?”
“Yes. People should do all those things.”
I jabbed my finger at his chest in triumph. “Then welcome to the dumbass club, Riggs. Because the way you’ve been talking to the vampires here checks all the boxes on your application. Congratulations. You’re an honorary member.”
The corner of his mouth twitched in amusement, but a darkness passed over his eyes a moment later. “It’s not safe to trust these vampires, Sylvie.”
“But we have to. They have my sister. If we don’t trust them, then we should’ve never brought her here. So we either trust them, or we made a mistake.”
He shook his head. “We can use them, even if we don’t trust them. That’s all we’re doing. We’re taking advantage of the help they can offer, but we’re not letting ourselves get lulled into thinking of them as allies. Believe me, they’d offer us up in a heartbeat if it furthered their cause.”
“And that makes them the bad guys? Because woul
dn’t you do the same for them? What would you do if the Coven vampires said they’d trade me and Maisey’s freedom for the lives of every vampire here?”
“Then this place would burn.”
A wave of anger flashed through me. “You can’t be serious.”
He didn’t flinch. “I’d watch them all burn.”
“Your sister is one of them. My sister is one of them.”
“It doesn’t matter, anyway. The Coven isn’t going to offer that up.”
“Yes, it does matter. Because so far, vampires have been hospitable towards us and they’ve saved my sister. On the other hand, there’s you who would happily stab them in the back if you could. I’m not sure your side is the one I want to be on.”
Riggs reached out for my hand. “Sylvie. You’ve got to understand-”
“I think I do,” I said. My voice caught, because the enormity of how stupid I’d been felt like it was crashing down on me. “You’re hateful and you never plan to change, do you? You’re going to wish death on vampires, no matter what happens. And if I was one of them, you’d probably kill me yourself, wouldn’t you?”
“No. Never.”
I shook my head, taking the sheets with me as I got up and awkwardly bent to gather my clothes. “I don’t believe you. I’m going to take a shower. Maybe it’ll get your smell off me.”
I stormed into the bathroom and slammed the door. As if my senses were conspiring to infuriate me, I caught a hint of his scent. It was delicious, and that only made me want to clean it off even more.
I turned on the shower and rushed in, not caring that the water was still cold. A cold shower was probably exactly what I needed, anyway.
Now I had to decide what to do next. Being here meant I didn’t actually need Riggs’ protection anymore, didn’t it? I could go to the vampires of Blackridge and ask them to shelter me. As far as I knew, there were no rules about how long I could stay here like there were at The Wet Flea. I could maybe convince them to let me finally talk to Maisey again. Together, she and I could figure out what the hell to do from here. How to piece together some version of our life again.
I Bite She Sucks Page 13
