A nervous groan drew her attention back to the scene unfolding in the room. Naked and on his knees, Chilcote wore a silver collar around his throat. Attached to the collar was a long thin silver chain, which draped along his spine. His wrists, manacled in silver-coated irons, rested on the tops of his thighs. Eleanor stood behind him, her nudity barely concealed by a sheer silk robe. She reached over to finger an object on the table beside her as she spoke softly to her client.
Anne studied the objects on the table’s surface with fascination. There were several feathers, including a peacock’s, a small glass jar filled with oil, and two whips. One of the whips had three tightly woven strands of interlaced silk and leather threads. The handle was polished silver and shaped in the form of a dildo. The other was an ordinary riding crop.
Tearing her gaze from the table, Anne focused on Eleanor when the courtesan’s voice became strident. She berated Chilcote for some imaginary misdeed, before demanding to know who he had bedded or lusted after. Apparently, it was a game the pair played each visit and, from the readiness of Chilcote’s penis, it was a very effective prelude to what came next. As Eleanor reached for the silk and leather whip, Anne wondered if she could bear to watch. This was her first time seeing the courtesan and her client at play.
Eleanor stepped in front of Chilcote and gently waved the whip before his face. “Is this what you want? Or would you prefer the crop?”
“The whip please, Lady Eleanor,” he replied eagerly.
“Since you responded so prettily, I will indulge you this time.” She walked around to stand behind him. “Hands on the floor.”
Anne’s eyes widened as he quickly leaned forward and pressed his palms on the wood, his buttocks raised slightly. A broad smile of anticipation caressed his face when Eleanor laid the whip’s strands at the base of his neck before slowly dragging them along his back. One of the strands caught between the cheeks of his buttocks and Chilcote shivered, a look of eagerness on his face. Eleanor let it linger for several seconds before jerking it away. She continued to toy with his back and buttocks until his body trembled as if fevered.
When the whip finally rose and came down on Chilcote’s flesh Anne flinched, just barely stifling a gasp. She was surprised that Chilcote’s body and his cock remained stiff as a pillar. Unable to watch as Eleanor delivered a succession of blows, Anne turned away. One of her earliest memories of Barbados was seeing an enslaved man whipped on a neighboring plantation.
Chilcote’s groans of ecstasy overtook the sound of the whip. Anne returned her gaze to the man’s face. Eleanor’s whip lay on the table while Chilcote’s body convulsed as his sperm spewed over the floor. At a signal from Eleanor, he began to lap up his own seed.
“Does the sight excite you?” a male voice murmured in Anne’s ear. “Would you like to explore the connection between submission, pain, and pleasure, life mate?”
Anne shivered at the thrill Gabriel’s voice sent through her. It took a second for her to reply. “Does the sight make your cock hard, my lord? Are you willing to partake of the same dish?”
His hands pressed against the wall, his extended arms effectively trapping her, his body barely touching hers. Anne felt desire radiating from him and pouring into her sex. Gabriel ran his tongue along the back of her neck.
“One day, life mate,” he whispered. “At the moment I’d much prefer to watch you find ways to make my cock hard and suck my seed down your slender throat.” He kissed her ear. “Shall we?”
“Shall we what?” Exasperation tinged Anne’s voice, provoking his laughter. He kissed her cheek.
“Explore,” he said. “I’m willing to let you play a game of bondage if you promise to suck my penis.”
Her cheeks grew heated at his words. She did want to try some of the games Eleanor and the others played with their clients. The idea of taking Gabriel into her mouth appealed to her, as did the image of him unable to prevent her from doing what she wanted with his body. “Are you giving me your word?”
He rubbed his erection seductively against her buttocks. “I’m giving you more than my word, Anne.”
The sound of chains falling to the floor drew her attention back to the room. Eleanor had freed Chilcote and led him to the bathing pool. Anne moved away from Gabriel when she heard footsteps coming down the passageway. Ishmael reached them and nodded. He replaced her at the window and Anne turned to look at Gabriel.
“Do you prefer to walk to my bedroom, or transport us there, Demon?”
She felt the familiar disorientation that accompanied life mate’s use of power. Seconds later, they were in her bedroom. Gabriel ignited the logs in the fireplace once he released her. She took a minute to get her bearings, then went to the table beside her desk. Lifting a silk bag, she brought it over to the bed and set it on top of the bedcover.
Gabriel glanced at the bedside table. “Expecting company?”
“You’re rather predictable, my lord,” she said. “I also know when my life mate nears. It’s the nature of our bond. Wine?”
He nodded and stretched his long frame on the bed. Anne rolled her eyes. “Remove your boots. I purchased that silk coverlet in Venice.”
“I’ll buy you another one.”
“Not the point,” she chided as she prepared food for him. “I have some affection for that one.”
When she handed him the plate, he squinted and frowned like a petulant child. “What is this?”
“Don’t make faces like a little boy, Demon. It’s an Imohag meal. That is Taguella. A flat bread filled with cheese, tomatoes and onion.” She poured steaming liquid into a cup and offered it to him. “This is keyif, fermented goat’s milk sweetened with honey, cinnamon and nutmeg.”
Anne pointed at some dark fruit on the plate. “Those are dates and you will try at least one.”
He arched an eyebrow at her command before he reached for a date and put it into his mouth. A smile floated across his lips as he chewed. “It’s quite good.”
“Try everything,” she said before she moved to the hearth. A kettle hung over the flames, water bubbling inside. She lifted the kettle and walked over to a bathing pool. Pouring in the hot water, she waited a second or two and stuck two fingers in to test the water’s warmth. She dipped the kettle in the pool.
“I can heat the water for you,” Gabriel offered.
Steam rose from the bathing pool. Anne dipped two fingers into the water before emptying the kettle’s water back into the pool. “Braggart.”
She went to him. His plate was empty so she took it and the empty wine glass over to the table. “May I undress you?”
Gabriel rose from the bed and she undid the buttons of his shirt and eased it off. Her fingers caressed his chest and flat stomach before untying the ribbons to his breeches. When he was naked, she led him to the bathing pool.
“Tonight, I take you as the Tamahaq’s husband, life mate. I will see to your pleasures as if they were my own.”
She directed him into the water. Once he was immersed, she took a sponge and began to wash his body.
Gabriel leaned back against the edge of the pool and closed his eyes. Anne’s hands were gentle as she bathed him. His acquiescence amazed him, since this was the first time he allowed a woman this much freedom over his body. Perhaps it was the lack of seduction in her touch. What her hands offered was trust. Trust that she would see to his well-being. A trust in him, despite the unnatural thing he was. The realization jarred him. Everything she did was born of trust.
That Anne trusted him was heart-stopping, especially since he’d been a complete ass from the moment they became life mates. The bond had caught him unawares, locking him into a place he resisted most of his life. He didn’t deserve to be trusted. He certainly didn’t deserve any woman’s love. His capacity to give and receive love was defined by what he was, a soulless creature born of hate and driven by revenge.
Yet in her presence, he felt as if she’d proven his thinking wrong. She accepted their union, claimed hi
m as her life mate. Her heart met his rage with spirit when warranted, calm strength when needed. She refused to bow to his arrogance yet he knew with certainty she would give her life for him, even though he didn’t deserve it.
“Will you get out, Gabriel? I would dry you now.”
Opening his eyes, he gazed at her and nodded. He stepped from the pool and she wrapped a silk sheet around him. Taking his hand, she led him to the fireplace. Again, her touch was gentle and loving as she dried his wet skin. Once she finished, she drew him to the bed and took a small glass jar from the bedside table.
“On the bed and on your belly,” she commanded. He shot her a questioning look and she grinned. “I promise not to bite.”
“I won’t mind if you do,” he said with a chuckle.
Her laughter trickled through him like warmed honey. Once he laid on his stomach, she straddled him. Her hands pressed on his shoulder blades and the scent of an exotic oil brushed his nostrils. Anne’s fingers begin a rhythmic pattern on his skin. She smoothed the oil onto his back then worked her fingers into his flesh. The motion was repeated and, closing his eyes, he gave himself up to her ministrations. Not since he was a child had he experienced the absence of rage. With Anne, he felt as if his soul was finally at peace.
She shifted her weight from him. “On your back.”
A smile creased his lips in anticipation of her hands performing the same magic on the front of his body. Gabriel turned onto his back and waited. Several seconds passed before he felt a constriction around his wrists and ankles. His eyelids flew up.
He lifted his head and glanced at his body. Anne had trussed him like a Christmas goose. Instead of twine, silk ribbons restricted the movement of his limbs. His arms and legs were spread apart, his erection resting on his belly. Gabriel opened his mouth to demand an explanation, anger alight in his eyes.
“Do you stand by your promise, Demon?”
His mouth snapped shut. He’d forgotten his words just that quickly. Settling his head on a soft pillow, he relaxed and grinned. “As long as you abide by yours.”
Anne straddled him once more, her sex hot against his stomach. She leaned forward and leisurely licked the corners of his lips. “I’m looking forward to keeping mine.”
Anne pressed her mouth against his lips before her tongue teased them open. Her entry was hesitant, an unsure tasting. After a few seconds, she deepened the kiss. Her tongue explored the inside of his mouth with a languid thoroughness that sent his heart racing. Her hands cradled his head as she sucked his tongue into her mouth, hers playfully dancing across the wet surface of his. When she finally pulled away, they were both breathless, his lungs rapidly sucking in air to replace what he exhaled.
Her lips journeyed down his throat, light kisses singeing his bare chest. Anne’s tongue, hot and wet, rasped over his left nipple before her teeth nipped the hard flesh. She soothed the hurt with her tongue and bit again, slightly harder. The pain was pleasurable and Gabriel groaned. He hadn’t expected his life mate to be so bold.
When her mouth shifted to his other nipple, he shuddered in anticipation. Cool air flowed over his skin and he lifted one eyelid to peer at her. A wicked grin lit her face before she lowered her head and sucked the hard button between her teeth. He inhaled at the exquisite sensations making his penis achingly hard. He wasn’t sure he’d survive her mouth on his erection.
He arched his hips in an attempt to rub his cock against her soft curls. Anne squeezed her knees, trapping his hips. She lifted her head and stared at him. “Remember your promise.”
“Then get on with yours,” he said through clenched teeth.
Her laughter flowed into him like seaweed drifting ashore. “In good time, Demon Gabriel, all in good time.”
She continued to meander her way down and across his body. Her lips were a cooling balm to his over-heated and very sensitive skin. She was branding him in ways no other woman had or ever could. Her mouth declared he belonged to her.
You are my life as I am yours.
Her binding words floated across his lust-ridden mind. He had fucked a number of women, from court ladies to the lowliest courtesans, and saw them as indistinguishable and mere containers for his lust. What he felt and did with Anne wasn’t the same. His life mate was teaching him how to make love, and how to be loved.
Anne rose to her knees and leaned back on her heels. Her eyes swept the entirety of Gabriel’s body. She once thought perfection only existed among angelic creatures, that humans and supernaturals lacked the physical symmetry that came naturally to the angelic. A man appeared perfect in every way except for the slight crook to his nose. Or the woman whose beauty was marred by the faint unevenness in her gait. With Gabriel she detected no defects. But for the pale pink blood flowing in his veins, he was a perfect specimen.
“Perhaps you should begin.”
She smiled and reached over to stroke his left foot, the more sensitive of the pair. His penis performed a quick awkward dance in response. Her grin widened and excitement jolted through her. Her fingers ached to continue the exploration she’d begun while he lounged in the bath. The nerves between her thighs had a differing point of view. She forced her sex to behave while she gave Gabriel’s feet and legs her attention. His soft moans of contentment pleased her and she knew peace for the first time since Fate brought them together.
Her world had tilted on its axis the day Gabriel saved her life. Despite his caustic words, his anger at the bond, Gabriel sought her out every day, even when he was away from London. He bluntly informed her he didn’t trust her word that she had emerged unscathed from the attack and insisted that she share her awareness with him. Each time they came together they shared more of themselves even if he departed from her in a huff. She was beginning to understand the complicated man Gabriel Elstone was. Knew that his anger was driven by his need to protect her, mostly from himself.
Even as he protested their life mate bond, his heart had subtly opened to her. Took her in, worried for her well-being. With every mental contact, he gave her a little more of himself although he had no idea he had done so. Gabriel surprised her the last time they made love. His arms wrapped around her, he revealed how the disappearance of his mother haunted him. What Mephistopheles’ vituperative taunts had done to a young boy. Gabriel’s vow of revenge had given him purpose, made it easy to bury his emotions, to forego love.
Her thoughts shielded, Anne silently mourned for them as life mates, dreading the day Gabriel learned the truth about his life mate’s role in his mother’s destiny. The day she would have to confess she was the one who ended Mirelle Elstone’s life.
Anne shoved the thought behind the wall where her guilt lay hidden. Tonight was about pleasuring her life mate. She would gift them this night. Tomorrow was soon enough to think about a lifetime of heartbreak and loneliness.
Her fingers released his foot and she repositioned her body to make it easier to give him more pleasure. Her tongue flicked out and licked his smooth skin, stopping when it reached a nipple. Instinctively, she took it between her teeth and gently tugged. His body responded and she sent him a thought.
Will you share with me, life mate?
Tears pushed at her eyelids when he opened his mind to her without hesitation or anger. There was still a part of him closed off to her. The locked room that concealed what he considered the ugliest memories of his existence. What he did share with her was his contentment and a growing trust in her. Guilt teased at the edge of her emotions before she quickly quashed it.
She worshiped his body with her mouth and her hands. His gruff moans letting her know what she did brought him pleasure. Desire bounced like atoms between their bodies. She returned to the junction between his thighs. Her fingers gently gripped his penis and she lowered her mouth to kiss the mushroom-shaped head. Inhaling, her lungs felt tight as if there wasn’t air in them. Gabriel’s scent had her craving the thickness of him inside her. Desire sparked the familiar incandescence and it was all she could do not
to straddle him to take what she wanted.
Instead she nibbled lightly on the velvet skin of his erection. When he raised his hips in supplication, she didn’t deny him. Her tongue teased the underside of his penis before taking it in her mouth. Gabriel’s sudden inhalation made her smile inside.
Squeeze your mouth gently around the head as you drag your tongue across the top. Celeste’s instructive voice played in Anne’s mind as she took more of Gabriel into her mouth. Relax the back of your throat. That way you won’t feel a choking sensation.
His position on the bed, his bound hands and ankles, allowed her mouth and tongue freedom. She loved the breathless groans that poured from his throat, marveled at the vivid colors dancing across their shared awareness each time she licked. He wasn’t the only one shaken by what she did. Wetness collected between her thighs, while the pressure below her womb increased to an almost unbearable weight.
Anne squeezed her lips, giving rise to greater friction between her tongue and his penis, her mouth spiraling down quickly, only to rise slowly. Gabriel began to twist against his restraints, which he could easily break. That he didn’t pleased her to no end. She continued to pleasure him until the taste of salty liquid on her tongue reminded her there was so much more to lovemaking. Reluctantly ending her foreplay, she planted a tender kiss on the tip of his penis. “I need you inside me, life mate.”
She straddled him. Her fingers gripped his cock and guided it between the flesh concealing her clitoris. For a long moment she let the thick head rest at the entrance to her womb. When she could no longer stand the emptiness, she slid down until he was fully inside her.
“Ooh, that feels so good,” she murmured.
Her palms flat on his chest, she began gliding up and down. The pressure in her womb grew and she hurried her pace. The friction of his hardness against her flesh set her alight. Flames scorched her nerve endings. She wasn’t going to last very long.
Fate's Kiss Page 18
