“Now what?” She blinks.
“Now we take a shower, make sure your muscles relax after that very strenuous exercise, not to mention the trauma of being shot, then having your virginity taken, all of which has doubtless affected you emotionally.”
“That’s why you think I am acting this way?” Her cheeks grow fiery red. “Because I am emotionally not myself?”
I feel a pulse tick at my jaw, in my throat, this time even in my fucking balls. And that's a first. What the fuck is Starlight doing to me? “I am not thinking it, I know it.” I slide back to the edge of the bed, then swing my legs over to stand.
She stays where she is on her knees. And flings her hair back. “I think you are just worried about the consequences of having mated me and having told me that you loved me.”
27
Gia
“You always take me by surprise.” His shoulders go solid.
I toss my hair over my shoulder.
“Am I right?” I swing my legs off the mattress, then walk forward to stand in front of him.
He looks down at me. There is no change in expression on his face. Yet the blue in his eyes flares with something hidden. Something that tells me I’ve touched a nerve. I need to push on, until I get a reaction. I know I am playing with fire, but that’s never stopped me. Besides, he’s just shown me how tender he can be, and I know he can’t hurt me. All of which makes me want to press home my advantage, and I’ll take every way to get the better of him.
“About what?”
“That you regret having mated me, and worse—" I tap a finger to my chin— "You can't believe that you revealed that you loved me."
He sets his jaw. “I admit I didn’t think I’d ever hear myself say those words.”
“But…?” My pulse thuds. I bring my arms in front of me and squeeze my fingers together.
“But I don’t lie. And I never speak anything I don’t mean.”
“You’ve always been this confident?” I dig my nails into my forearms. The movement stretches my muscles, and a pulse of pain radiates out from the wound on my neck.
I wince.
His gaze drops to my wounds. “You’re bleeding again.”
Bending, he scoops me up with his arms under my butt. I find my legs wrapped around his waist, and then he’s moving toward the bathroom.
“You’re really good at evading answers.” I pout.
“You talk too much.” He keeps his gaze forward.
“Then shut me up.” I raise my head and press my nose to his chest, inhaling that fresh rainwater, laced-with-sex essence of him. My belly flip-flops, and moisture beads my core.
“Oh, I intend to, after I take care of you.”
“You’re trying to soften the blow.” I rub my cheek against his chest, enjoying the hard planes flexing and flowing around me.
“Where you are concerned, I don’t have a soft anything.”
A chuckle rumbles up, and the sound of it tugs at my nerve endings. This Fae male is the sexiest, most carnal man I have ever encountered. One look from him, one touch, just a flick of his eyebrow, and I melt into a puddle inside.
He shoulders the door of the bathroom and, walking over to the tub, lowers me to the rim. “Don’t move.” He points a finger at me.
I raise my palms face up. “Me? Where am I going?”
“I don’t trust that innocent look about you.” He bends over and flicks open the tap so the hot water gushes out. The steam rises. I shiver. It makes me aware of how cold I am, that he is not close to me, not holding me, touching me.
“I am addicted to you,” I mumble under my breath.
He reaches for the salts on the side of the tub and pours them in. The scent of mint seeps into the air.
He straightens. “You always say what’s on your mind?”
I shake my head. “Only with you.”
His gaze narrows. He purses his lips. “Don’t get attached to me.”
“So it’s okay for you to say you love me but not okay for me to confess my feelings for you.”
He cracks his neck from side to side. When he straightens his shoulders, his features are composed. Any emotion I’d seen in his eyes is gone, replaced by those blue depths that both fascinate and annoy.
“Don’t hide from me, Dante.”
“Don’t try to solve me. I am not a puzzle that you can fit together that quickly.”
“Funny, I was thinking the same thing about you. That you’ve broken me, and now no one can put me back together.”
He scoops me up in his arms and for a moment he holds me close. I cuddle into his chest, enjoying the feel of his skin on mine. His body is all around me, and for a second, I let myself pretend that he wants me, that he will always protect me. My belly flutters.
“You’re not broken.” His voice softens.
“No, just mated.” I bite the inside of my cheek.
“I can’t win at this discussion with you, can I?” He eases me into the bath, then perches on the edge.
The water flows over me, seeping into my throbbing core, enveloping my muscles. I lean my head against the rim.
“Hold on.” He touches my shoulder.
I halt, and he slips a folded towel under my neck. He presses my forehead back.
I sigh and close my eyes.
He dips a flannel into the water then runs it over my shoulder, touching the mating wound where he marked me. Pain threads my skin, and I can’t stop the moan that spills from me.
“I am sorry, Starlight, I hadn’t realized how barbaric the mating practices of the Fae are.”
His voice washes over me. Soft. Sensitive. I feel cared for, and protected and cherished, and turned on at the same time. “So are Fae females more hardy, more resistant to…ah! You know.”
“What?” I hear the smile in his voice but refuse to open my eyes. “You know what I mean.” I huff out a breath.
“It’s cute that you can’t even say it aloud.”
I open one eye and stare at him. “Fae cocks. Beautiful, hard, extended Fae cocks which are obviously built differently than human cocks.” My cheeks blaze.
His gaze holds mine, and I can't look away.
The cords of his neck move. He drags the washcloth down over my breasts.
My nipples pucker to hard points. A low curl of heat springs to life in my belly.
“Fae are the most sexual of all species.”
“More than vampires?” I frown and try to avoid thinking of how my body is responding to him all over again. How I am already damp and aching inside for him, while I am still sore from that last surprise when he took me.
“More than shifters or immortals, and yep, more than vampires. We have the best of the vampire anatomy.” He bares his teeth.
“The fangs.” I stretch my hand and trace a finger over his canine.
“And our dicks are structured to give pleasure, too. More than any of the other species.”
Of course my gaze slinks down his chest to where the muscle in question is already erect. I reach out to touch it.
He snakes out his hand to curl his fingers around my wrist. Then he brings it down to draw my fingers over the slit of the distended head that juts up from his groin.
It’s velvety soft, and yet I feel the muscles under it harden, feel the blood rush to the tip.
A growl rumbles from him. A bead of precum oozes out from his dick. I don’t realize I’ve leaned forward, not until my tongue swirls over the slit and I lick it up.
He groans, and his fingers sink into my hair. His fingernails rake over my scalp. Heat shivers down my spine. All my nerve cells seem to fire all at once. I open my mouth and close it over the head, taking him in until he hits the back of my throat.
“So fucking hot.”
I drag my teeth over the head of his cock. He shudders.
“I am beginning to think you like having me at your mercy, knowing that you can make me bend to your will.” His hold on my hair tightens. “Knowing that you can make me do anyth
ing you want with just a lick of that hot tongue of yours.”
His words turn me on even more. My core shudders; my pussy weeps.
He lets go of the washcloth, only to drag his fingers down to my breast. He pinches my nipple and stars explode in my head.
28
Dante
She sucks in her cheeks and her lips squeeze around my cock.
Desire floods my veins. My ears twitch, and my canines drop. “Fuck.”
I should put distance between us.
Should just walk out of here and let her be on her own.
But I’d promised myself I’d take care of her. I’d shot her, then all but hurt her as I had taken her the first time around with no warning. I need to make it up to her.
Her breath sears the sensitive skin of my cock, and the blood rushes to my groin.
I wrap the length of her hair around my palm, then tug. My movements are gentle, yet I exert enough pressure that she peers up at me. “Amaya, you need to let me go or else you’ll never finish this bath.”
She only angles her head and takes me inside, all the way inside her hot mouth so I bump the back of her throat. She gags a little then slips her head back to accommodate the width of my dick.
My balls grow heavy, and the blood surges in my veins. My vision tunnels. And damn, but good intentions only last me so far.
“What are you trying to do?”
I tighten my fingers in her hair. I mean to pull her back but instead I hold her in place, urging her even closer.
She drags her tongue over the rough, ridged underside of my shaft. I hook my finger inside her and drag my fingertip against that sweet, soft core of hers.
Her entire body goes rigid, and her teeth scrape my dick. She cups my balls and squeezes, and I can't stop the groan that tears out of me. Blood rushes to my groin, tension stretching it. My cock strains.
“I’m so close, Gia.”
My vision closes, and everything is reduced to the touch of her mouth around my dick, and my fingers that slam into her, feeling the walls of her channel clench around me, the moisture inside her flowing out.
The scent of our combined arousal bleeds into the air and goes straight to my head. I shoot hot streams of cum into her mouth. She swallows it down.
“So fucking hot, Gia.”
The sight of my cum filling her mouth and overflowing it is more than I can bear.
I tug at her head, and she slides her mouth down the length of my dick, licking the tip. I shudder. Sweat breaks out on my shoulders and runs down my spine. She peers up at me and her silver eyes gleam. A low smile tugs at her mouth. Starlight knows exactly what she is doing to me.
“I am going to make you pay for this.”
She licks her lips. Her core quivers. She’s turned on by my words. Thank fuck.
I yank her head back, then fit my mouth over hers. I lick her lips, and when she parts them, I sweep my tongue inside. Tasting myself in her mouth, on her tongue. A surge of possessiveness grips me. I tear my lips from hers.
“Mine.” A fierce wave of need overwhelms me. “Only mine.”
I bend down and swipe my tongue over the wound on her throat. Her head falls back.
Swiveling around, I squat down next to the tub then drag my fingers down her trembling stomach to plunge my finger into her wet channel.
A scream rips up her throat, and her shoulders heave.
I add another finger, then a third, dragging thrusting them in and out of her.
She arches her spine, jutting out her chest. Still I don’t stop. I will not stop, not until she comes. Not until she shatters around me.
I pull her head back then hunch over her, drag my tongue down her neck, down to her chest. Circling one breast, I nip at the glistening flesh. She moans again. All the time I don’t stop finger-fucking her. I glide my fingers in and out of her. Kissing my way back up to her mouth, I lick her lips.
Her eyes are closed.
“Look at me.” I nip at her chin.
Her shoulders spasm, her eyelids flutter, then she raises her eyes. Her pupils have expanded enough to fill her irises, leaving only a circle of silver around them.
I hold her gaze. Then curve my fingers inside her, finding that hidden core of hers.
Her mouth opens. Color flushes her cheeks. The darkness in her pupils bleeds out, covering the silver completely. She cries out. Her back arches, her body shudders, and the water from the tub spills over the edge. I hold her gaze as she comes. Her body goes limp, and she begins to slip into the tub.
I scoop her up and cradle her in my arms.
Then, standing, I walk over to the rug and set her down. Her legs shake, and she clutches at me. Holding her close, I reach for a towel and wipe her body, slowly, gently. Her legs twitch. Her chin wobbles.
I place her hands on my shoulders as if she were a child. Reaching for another towel, I wipe her hair, squeezing out all the excess moisture.
“Dante.” Her voice is low like she’s speaking through crushed ice.
“I’m here.” I tie the towel around her breasts then sweep her up in my arms.
She cuddles close to my chest, her arm folded under her chin. The sight of it does something to me. Warmth pools in my chest. My throat closes. Something like need, love, want, all of it combines into a fierce protectiveness and grips me. “I won’t let anything happen to you.”
“I know,” she whispers, then cups her palm over my heart and closes her eyes.
29
Gia
When I wake up, I am burrowed against Dante's broad back.
His head is turned away so I can't see his features. His massive shoulders rise and fall as he breathes deeply. My gaze tracks over the planes of his back, and down to those sculpted flanks. His legs are corded muscle and peppered with dark hair.
The tender skin of my inner thighs tingles. I know how it feels when my skin chafes against his.
Desire heats my blood, and my heart stutters. My arms and legs tingle. I want to curl up against his warmth and go back to sleep. And if I do that, I'll never leave.
I swing my legs over the side of the bed, then pause. My shoulders hunch.
Maybe it’s the scent of his skin that clings to mine. Or the imprint of his fingers on my skin, the feel of his dick as it throbbed inside me. All of it calls to me, reminds me of how he'd made love to me.
I rise to my feet and take a step forward. My knees wobble. There is an ache between my thighs, and it isn’t just because I’m sore.
It’s because I am already empty. Because I miss him. How is that possible?
I had been wrapped around him just seconds ago. Now, when I have the chance to get away from him, I hesitate.
The ball of heat against my ribcage flares to life.
It’s the mating cord.
It thrums as if warning me not to leave. But I have to go, I cannot stay here. Not bonded to this Fae I don’t know.
I look around for my clothes. Oh, wait! He'd burned them off me. It had been such a turn on too. Perhaps he'd done it just to make it more difficult for me to leave? I set my jaw. Spotting the T-shirt he shrugged off earlier, I snatch it up and slip it on.
It comes to mid-thigh.
The scent of him envelops me. It's like I am wearing his skin. Hell, I have become obsessed with this Fae male. Another reason I must go.
I don’t have any footwear, too bad. I'll have to do without it. I have to leave before he imprints his presence on every cell in my body. As if he hadn't already? I snicker under my breath, then stalk to the door.
Gripping the handle, I ease the door open and step through. It closes with a soft snick. My shoulders tense. Sweat pools in my armpits.
He’s going to wake any moment now.
There’s no way he slept through that. Did he? I hold my breath and wait. Wait. There’s no movement from inside. Well, what do you know? Perhaps he’s more tired than I thought. To be fair, he hadn't slept much last night. He'd been a very busy man, and guess who had been the h
appy recipient of all his ministrations? That's right. Moi!
Every time I’d fallen asleep, he’d kissed me awake.
That last time he’d simply slipped inside me.
I’d opened my eyes to the feel of his hardness filling me. Then he’d kissed me and slid his hand down the back of my thighs and wrapped my legs around his waist. He’d buried himself balls deep in me, then extended until he’d seemed to hit my cervix walls.
I’ll never be so complete again.
Panic grips me. I tighten my fingers on the door handle.
Why am I leaving him? He’s my mate. He’s the one for me. He saved my life.
I didn’t ask to mate him. But if we hadn’t fucked, he’d slowly die.
So here I am, bonded to him.
Had he forced himself on me? No.
Had I lain with him willingly? I had.
Did I enjoy it? Heat flushes my cheeks.
And that is the problem: I had enjoyed it too much. I had become addicted to his touch.
To the rush of endorphins that accompanied his every action. To how it felt to be around him. High…I felt high on life. On love. I have fallen in love with him. I let go of the door handle and take a step back. When did that happen? He’d crept under my skin, and I hadn’t even noticed.
I push away from the door and stumble my way up the corridor.
I know I am making too much noise, but I don’t care anymore. I just need to get away from him. Away from the Fae who had come from nowhere and turned my life upside down.
From the time I’d seen him at the bar, I’d been attracted to him. I’d known then that my life was going to change. But I hadn’t anticipated it would turn out to be like this.
That I’d end up mated to him and yet had to leave him.
I must. I have no choice.
He’s an assassin.
And I am sworn to protect the very person he’d set out to kill. We belong on opposite sides, there can be no meeting place for us. The very fact that even now I am thinking of him makes it imperative that I should leave him. Right away. Before the bond consolidates further.
Stolen by the Fae Page 11
