by LJ Swallow
I tense as his grip on my hair tightens, forehead firmly against mine. "Why?"
"Because I think you want me, too. And I want to do this. With you."
I climb onto Ewan's lap and his dark eyes edge between surprise and lust. My legs rest either side of his hips, and he holds my backside hard against him. I expected a rough kiss, but when our mouths meet his lips move gently against mine before he teases his tongue into my mouth. I grasp his head hard as he digs his fingers into my thighs, and deepens the kiss.
The streaming memories and emotions between us match those I felt with Heath and the experience is more than the physical response I had to the fake Ewan’s kiss. His touch and taste pull everything tight inside, arousal as instant as if he’s flicked a switch. I want comfort, but different to that Joss gives. I’m loved by these men, and right now, I need to let go of my control around them and take our physical connection to the next step.
Am I high on my new powers? Liberated by the fact I’m stronger than them all? I don’t care because this feels right.
We remain, bodies interlocking and mouths unwilling to part as we release the frustration we have with each other in tugging lips, nipping skin, and long, hard kisses. I tip my head back as he lands kisses along my neck, hands sliding beneath my shirt and along my side.
"We're alone for how long?” I whisper, fingers lost in his hair.
"They'll contact me first." He nods at the phone, but he's disoriented by desire the same as I am. "We're fine."
I hold his broad shoulders, and he circles my weight in his arms. "Are we?"
The unspoken passes but I say the words anyway, the one that changes our dynamic forever. "Yes. We are."
Still he hesitates, a characteristic I never expected from the guy with his powerful bulk and edgy look. I yank his T-shirt upwards. Ewan grabs the collar and pulls it over his shoulders with one hand. I watch the movement, at muscles moving under his skin, and the honed magnificence I stared at in the kitchen days ago revealed again.
Holy hotness. This is why I fantasise about this man.
Ewan's kiss and touch unleashes, and I'm suffocated by the passion pouring from his body into mine. We struggle with clothes, mine following his T-shirt onto the floor, until I'm naked apart from my underwear as a thin barrier between us.
I straddle Ewan again, and his erection pushes against his jeans, between us. I unashamedly rub myself against him. His rough denim scrapes my skin in the same way his scruff does, shooting heat and a welcome ache through me.
We pause, and I wrap his face between my small hands, holding onto the moment. My body aches, the heavy feeling between my legs growing. Ewan cups my breast, and I shiver as his large thumb pushes across the peaked nipple. He closes his mouth over, teasing with his tongue, but the gentleness doesn’t match the forceful need growing inside me.
"Ewan?" He doesn't respond. "Stop holding back."
"Don't say that," he growls, and runs his tongue across my skin.
"You hold back too much, Ewan. Not just with me, but—"
"Shut up." His mouth crashes onto mine, his touch exploding sensation beneath my skin. He grips my hair and pulls my head back, and I can barely breathe, unable to move as he deepens the kiss. I'm lost to this moment and to him as I spin away from the world. Lips still on mine, he stands, one arm around my waist, my legs around his, and pushes everything on the kitchen table aside.
A glass spins to the floor and shatters.
He lays me down, and I wriggle against the table, cold beneath my back.
I murmur something, and I don’t know what; my mind can’t focus on anything but the aching need for Ewan. He growls my name and pushes my panties to one side, his fingers seeking my clit, his breath harder against my face, as he glides the tips along my wetness. I move myself against his hand, and Ewan’s finger pushes inside me. The sensation jolts through my body, and I catch my breath as Ewan strokes a spot inside hardwired to the rest of my body.
I dig my fingers into Ewan’s back, running my hands across his powerful shoulders, as he gives himself over to pleasuring me. The pressure and I spiral to the edge, blood pulsing in my ears, the need for release shaking through my body. I’m aware the moans in the room are coming from my mouth; but I no longer care as my vision blurs, close to the edge.
I grab Ewan’s hair and breathe out at him to stop, and he looks up at me, eyes shining, before running his tongue along his lips.
"I want more than this," I croak out.
He moves back towards me, kissing along my heated skin, before covering my body beneath his weight and strength. "I don’t think that’s a good idea."
No. No. My raging hormones take over again, and my fingers go to his jean’s buttons. "Why?" Ewan squeezes his eyes shut, lips parting as I push my hand inside his jeans and curl my fingers around his hard length.
"Because we need things to stay calm, and this isn’t calm." His hoarse voice disagrees with his words. "Vee. Stop."
I run my hand along him. Maybe if I’d had sex within the last few months, I wouldn’t be as driven to get as up close and personal with one of the guys as this, but a girl deserves some fun, right?
We return to fierce kissing, almost bumping teeth, pouring our denied needs into each other. He slides his fingers along my slick heat again with one hand, and uncurls my fingers from him with the other. Hair sticks to his forehead as he looks back down at me.
"You have no idea the amount of self-control it’s taking not to pull these off and keep going." He hooks a thumb through the side of my panties. "But I’m going to prove to myself I have some control around you."
I groan with frustration. "You don’t need to prove anything."
Again, he closes his eyes and takes a sharp breath. Ewan slides his mouth across my breasts and down to my belly, inch by tormenting inch, and my body buzzes in anticipation.
"Fuck it," he mutters and pulls at my panties, down my legs, and they drop to the floor.
He switches to kissing along my thigh, and his hot breath caresses my heated flesh, before he swipes his tongue along my wet centre. His mouth covers me as he leisurely draws his tongue the length of me until he reaches my clit, teasing. Lightning arcs from the place his tongue touches, through my limbs, and I close my eyes, yielding.
I grip his hair again as he thrusts two fingers back inside me. His tongue skillfully strokes and teases, as he sucks on my clit until I’m heading upwards again. This man can do things with his tongue I never imagined possible, each stroke pushing me further into a natural high, driving me out of my mind, and craving one thing. More. Him. Everything.
Ewan pulls me to the blinding edge, burying his face further between my legs. His day’s growth scratches, the harsh contrast to the soft adding to my arousal. The rhythm of his tongue and fingers against the soft spot inside, drag me into an intensity I’ve never experienced. Blood roars through my ears, my vision blackens. The orgasm shatters me, body and soul.
I'm dragged down from where I float around with the stars in my eyes as Ewan kisses along my belly, and I wrap my shaking legs around him. Now he will, surely. He’s a guy and has his needs too. His lips touch mine, briefly, and then he looks down, chest rising and falling rapidly. I reach out for him again, aching to feel him moving inside me.
"I’m not about do anything else, Vee," he says, voice hoarse.
"What?"
"I can’t do this with you right now."
"On the table? We can move?"
He chuckles at me as I begin to slide off. "No. I think we need to wait until things are less charged between the five of us before taking that step."
"What?" I repeat. "Don’t you want to?"
His broad palm covers my cheek. "Hell, yes. More than anything but not like this."
"I’m good with continuing, seriously."
"Vee, I have a lot I want to do to you, but we could be interrupted at any minute. Not what I want." He sits back and pulls me upwards, arms surrounding my waist. He rests his
head against my breasts, my heart thumping against his cheek.
As if fate conspires against my decision to put everything into persuading Ewan he’s wrong, his phone buzzes.
Dark eyes on me still, he takes the phone and answers. "Yeah?” Ewan clears his throat. "Yeah?"
There should be something awkward about sitting naked on a man who’s not strictly my lover as the real world shoves its way in.
"How long?" he asks, eyes on his hand resting on my hip. He traces a circle and I shiver. "Cool." Another pause as he listens with a furrowed brow. "Good. See you in half an hour."
I chew the edge of my lip as Ewan's interest returns to me, fingers softer against my skin after his bruising touch. He places his lips on my forehead, a soothing spot between my eyes.
"Half an hour? That’s time," I ask ever hopeful.
"Half an hour to clear your clothes off the floor," he whispers.
I smack him in the chest. "You pick them up, since you put them there." He moves away and looks down, and I fight pouting as he buttons his jeans. "Uh huh. Then you'll need to explain to the others why I'm naked on the dining table."
Ewan smiles, the strain often surrounding him lost from his face, the way it was in the moments between us. He strokes my cheek, studying my face in a way that flips my stomach. Not just the desire he’s holding back, but as if I’m the centre of his world. "I don’t have Joss’s skills, but I’d like to hold you for tonight."
I play my fingers along his lips. "I guess it’s about time I tried someone else’s bed. I might have more fun than in Joss’s."
He arches a brow. "I said, hold you."
I exaggerate a frown and pout. "Fine. Maybe next time?"
Ewan picks up my clothes and drops them in my lap. "Next time. The chances I’ll exercise anything close to that control again are slim to none."
I bite my lip. "I’m happy you said ‘next time’."
Ewan holds my head between both hands and the intense lust burns in his eyes. The heat and need still between us isn’t going anywhere soon.
His erection pushes against the rough denim as I run my fingers along him. "But ‘this time’ something needs dealing with, doesn’t it?" I unbutton his jeans
16
EWAN
My first thought when I wake? Shit, what did I do? Not because I regret what happened, but because I'm hers now. Here I am, the guy who told her we needed to avoid this situation and I'm the first she shares herself with. Vee invited me to touch that awesome body, pour our frustration into pleasure, and blow both our minds. Like I'm gonna say no. As if any one of us would, including the constantly in denial Xander.
I grab my jeans from my bedroom floor and pull them on, gazing at the empty bed, sheet still creased with Vee's shape. How the fuck did I sleep with her naked body in my arms and not unleash what she asked from me? Man, I deserve a fucking medal. But I’m trying to respect her—and the others. It’s early days, and we need less conflict not more.
But we’ve spoken when Vee isn’t around, acknowledging she’s more than just some chick who’s joined our group. Even Heath agrees none of us could claim her as theirs, and that she told him and Xander as much.
Now we’ve discovered her real power, that she already holds a part of each Horseman, this makes more sense. Where do we go from here as a group? I guess we’ll find out soon.
The moment Vee walked into our lives everything changed, but now I understand. The chaos her arrival caused doesn't come close to what she's capable of doing to us all.
Vee's in the kitchen when I walk downstairs. A black and grey shirt from my bedroom floor covers her body, stopping just beneath her backside, stirring more than just the memories inside me. She leans against the kitchen counter, chipped blue mug in hand.
"I think you guys need a proper coffee machine. I can't stand drinking this instant stuff." Vee pulls a face. I blink at her—she focuses on weird shit sometimes. "I understand that you don't have time for frivolity when you're saving the world, but decent coffee? Everybody needs decent coffee."
Vee smiles into the mug, amused by her own joke. "I'll get Joss onto it," I reply.
She steps towards me and places her soft hand on my cheek, lips briefly touching mine. I wrap an arm around her waist and she trips, almost spilling her drink.
"How are you feeling?" I ask.
"Better now I've dealt with a couple of things over the last twenty-four hours."
"Like me, you mean?" I arch a brow.
She slaps my bare chest. "And the demon. I feel more able to be this... whatever I am."
"I think you're amazing," I kiss her forehead. "In a lot of ways."
"But you think last night was wrong?" she asks. "You're hesitant."
"I’m worried about the other guys."
Her expression surprises me. I'd expected some doubt, maybe even her avoiding me this morning, but she's genuinely confused. "This whole situation is different to usual."
"That's one word to describe it." I let her go and search for my own mug. When I turn back around, Vee's watching as she drinks, eyes dark the way they were last night as she rakes her gaze over my naked chest. "Need me to put my shirt on so you can control yourself?" I ask her.
"You want me to take your shirt off? Okay." Vee's fingers go to the buttons and I freeze, convinced she'll get naked in the kitchen for a second time, but she laughs again.
I'm three steps away from heading over to kiss her, absorb some of her happiness the way Joss can from people. Because with Vee that’s something I haven't felt for a long time. But Xander walks into the kitchen from outside, red cheeked from his usual morning walk. He flicks a look between us, then spends a good few seconds studying the point my shirt stops and Vee’s smooth tanned legs start. The partially unbuttoned shirt also attracts his attention. Yeah, she's naked under there, Xander.
I'm unsurprised by the way they look at each other—his attempt at impassiveness is spoiled by the effect she has that he denies. I've spotted something I don't think Xander has—she's up to his challenge, and he has no hope of winning.
"Aren't you cold, Vee?" he asks. "You're not wearing much."
"A little, but I needed a drink."
He unzips his jacket and gestures at Vee. "Nice shirt, hey, Ewan? Yours, isn't it?"
We glance at each other, and Xander's mouth tugs into a knowing smile. "Ha, Ewan! Now I didn't expect this."
What do I say? Vee's nonplussed. She drains her mug and sets it in the sink.
"I heard Joss slept in his own bed last night," Xander continues. "Alone. Where were you, Vee?"
I blow air into my cheeks. "I expect Joss and Heath will be up soon. Maybe get dressed, Vee?"
"That was next on my list." She smiles at me, and hell I want her to kiss me.
Xander crosses his arms and watches Vee's arse as she leaves the room. He turns to me and smirks. "Dude, you are in so much trouble."
17
VEE
I spend longer than usual in the shower as I think about last night’s events. I can definitively say I have never had a night like that before. Discovering I had one power had been a shock, and discovering I have several more terrifies me. What if I can’t control them? How do I control them?
And then there was Ewan.
Omigod, last night there was Ewan. And kissing. And touching. And hell, so much more than I imagined would happen. I close my eyes and soak up the arousing memories as my hair soaks with the water flowing onto me. Why don’t I feel weird about what happened? Yes, I wanted him, but I want Heath too. And Joss. Xander? No. But I’m in denial because I’ve imagined us battling out our conflict into a different, more naked direction.
Is this wrong? I’ve struggled with the idea since I arrived. I shouldn’t want all the guys but I do, and I can’t change that. I excuse my thoughts and behaviour by telling myself we’re not human, and we don’t need to live by anyone’s standards but our own. The issue is, there are very human reactions happening between us—whatever and wh
oever we are. The emotional and physical tie joins us as strongly as whatever else links us.
Now this has happened with Ewan, I need to talk to the guys about everything. We need to be clear what’s happening and how we deal with the situation.
I head downstairs where the guys sit around in the large lounge room. I squish myself between Joss and Ewan on the sofa, and they both shuffle closer. Heath is in an armchair opposite, feet on the table, focused on his phone, and Xander sits upright in the opposite chair. The TV is off, and the nearby low coffee table clear. The early sun shines through the large window, the light picking up dust in the air.
"We need a debrief on what happened last night," Xander says and taps his phone on his leg. "Don’t we, Ewan?"
Ewan and I both snap our heads to look at Xander. A muscle in his cheek twitches as he continues, fighting amusement at our reaction, "I mean Vee proving she’s the most powerful person sitting in this room. Isn’t she? Heath filled me in on what Vee told him happened last night. At the demons’ house, I mean."
"Oh. Right." Ewan relaxes again. "Yeah."
Joss wraps an arm around my shoulders. "I think it’s awesome. If we harness this power, we’ll be unstoppable."
"I wouldn’t get too cocky," puts in Heath. "Early days. How do you feel about what happened, Vee? Do you think you can control the power?”
"None of us could early on," puts in Xander. "It’s a learning process." He turns to me. "Let me get this straight, Vee. You used mine, Joss, and Heath’s powers. But not Ewan’s?"
"Not this time. I felt you all but I think maybe Ewan is harder." I smack Joss on the knee as he sniggers like a twelve-year-old. "Harder for me to tune into, dumbass. I don’t know. Perhaps I react with the powers I need to use."
"Hmm." Xander continues to tap his phone. "You had difficulty with Ewan, huh?" I glare at his continued amusement and he shakes his head at me. "Yeah, maybe next time Ewan’s power will come through."