by Michele Hauf
“I am.” He rolled onto his stomach and peered into Valor’s eyes. Her hair was wet and looked like violet silk. He felt like a soggy piece of seaweed, but that didn’t lessen his attraction to the witch’s soft, parted lips. “I feel revitalized, actually.”
She nodded. “The whole elation-following-death thing?”
“That’s a thing?”
“Apparently. Guy gets close enough to kiss death. He survives. He embraces life with gusto.”
“If by embracing life you mean this...” He stroked his fingers down her neck to her breast above where the soaked fabric highlighted her tight nipple. “Then I’m in.”
She tilted her head to eye him. Moonlight glinted in her big beautiful browns. “You think so?”
He leaned over to kiss the hollow curving at the base of her throat. She swallowed against his lips. Tasting of the sea and air, she felt warmer than fire. The need to devour her so that he could feed the energy that had been taken from him was strong.
“I want you,” he said softly, and tugged at her shirt with his teeth.
“Yes. I want you, too. Right now. Here, at the edge of the world.” The witch pulled him down for a kiss.
Kisses salted with their fear and a new dose of accomplishment, they greedily took from each other. Kelyn peeled off her wet T-shirt and unbuttoned his jeans. The denim was soaked, but he managed to shove them over his hips. Valor pushed his chest and he rolled to his back. She straddled him and bent to kiss his chest, nipping at his skin and nipples as she did so. The erotic sensation and the sudden rush to grasp pleasure rocketed all feeling to his cock. He sat up, and she slid her legs about his hips. His hands clutched at her hips, then at her breasts and then her hair as he frantically sought to touch all of her, know every part of her.
Then he decided now was not the time for a thorough and detailed exploration of her body. Right now he simply wanted.
“I want to be inside you,” he said. “Can we do that?”
“Yes.” She shuffled off her boots and pants, then knelt before him, naked. A wet witch had never looked more appealing. “Let’s take life and crush it between us.”
“Now, that sounds worth the dive.”
So he dived for her, gently laying her down on the granite. His heavy erection landed in the soft nest of her curls and he groaned at the sweet, tickling sensation. She wrapped her thighs about his hips and ground her mons against him. He wasn’t going to take his time. Already his body trembled in anticipation of release.
“Come inside me,” she whispered urgently, reaching for his cock.
Ah, that firm grasp was what he needed right now. Bowing his head to her breast, Kelyn licked at the tiny swell as, with her guidance, he glided between her legs and inside her tight, squeezing heat. She might have whispered a doctor’s name; it might have been some other name entirely. Didn’t matter. He felt much the same. This was bliss.
She wrapped about him, embraced him, consumed him. And he didn’t ever want to rise from such a place. Pumping slowly within her, he drowned a second time, only this time he enjoyed every gasping breath of it.
Her fingernails dug into his back. The pain sweetened everything and he thrust faster, seeking oblivion.
“Yes,” she gasped. “Do it. Fly us both into the stratosphere. Oh, I’m so close, Kelyn. Faster!”
Being told what to do by a woman had never felt more right. Kelyn crushed himself into her, against her, about her. They crushed life together. Let the mermaids wail in jealousy, he’d chosen the woman he desired. And with a few more thrusts, they came together on the granite ledge overlooking a dangerous sea that he had taken on and defeated.
* * *
The rain picked up, forcing them to seek a different, less exposed, place for their sexual antics. The granite ledge was fine, but it was growing slick and cold. Welsh summers were never tropical.
Tugging up his jeans so he could walk, Kelyn hoisted Valor over his shoulder and bent as she gathered their remaining soaked clothing into her hands. He raced back to the Jeep, confident they had this little cove by the sea to themselves, but not caring right now if anyone had spied their naked gyrations.
The Jeep was open, though it did have a roof. Still, the rain had blown diagonally for a while and much of the vehicle was wet inside. He set her down and Valor began to sort through their clothes. Kelyn dipped his head to kiss her on the neck. She giggled, and that giggle ended in a snort.
“I love that laugh!” He picked her up and she wrapped her legs about his hips. Leaning her against the side of the vehicle, he bowed to lick her rain-slick ichor-bedazzled skin. “I also love the taste of a wet witch.”
“Oh, yeah? I can take that so many ways.”
“This is the way I meant it.”
Opening the back door, he laid her inside on the seat, but kept hold of her legs to pull her to the edge of the seat before she could sit up. He stretched out a leg and didn’t quite kneel on the ground to get a good position. Valor hiked up one foot onto the open door top, the other she put on his shoulder. Dashing his tongue along the inside of her thigh, he licked away the rain and ventured higher, seeking the treat he desired to taste.
She squirmed but didn’t push him away. Instead she scrunched her fingers through his wet hair. Everything was wet. The car, the dirt squishing between his fingers, her skin and, mmm...right there.
“Oh, Kelyn, yes. Just a little lower. And to the left.”
He smiled against her thigh and kissed her there quickly. He appreciated a woman who knew exactly what she wanted and wasn’t afraid to tell him how to get her there. And since his navigation skills had been lacking of late...
He suckled her swollen nub, tasting it, luxuriating in the moans and rocking hips that resulted from his intense ministrations. And that was the thing that sent the witch reeling. Now, with both feet hooked at his shoulders, she used the leverage to tilt up her hips. He followed her demanding movements, tending that sensitive spot with as much focus as she deserved.
She muttered another doctor’s name. Should he be jealous? No. The crazy witch.
And when she cried out a triumphant “Yes!” that was followed by a quick, gasping “Inside me now, faery!” he popped up his head and flashed her a wink.
As the witch wished.
Kelyn stood and shoved down his wet jeans. His hard-on stood at full mast, ready to please. Grabbing one of her legs to pull her closer, he guided himself inside the hot, groaning witch. The wicked tightness of her, and her heat—she was molten—lured him to the edge, where he met her in an orgasm that surely the mermaids would be jealous of for their shouts of ecstasy.
Chapter 16
The bed was blessedly dry. Well, mostly dry. And it...sparkled. As did Valor. She rubbed a palm over her glinting forearm. When Kelyn came he literally spumed dust from his pores. Way to score with the faery. This trip was turning out much better than she had expected.
She’d expected a tense relationship between the two of them, if any at all. But what had developed proved more than magical. It was actually kind of enchanting.
“What?”
Valor realized she’d been staring at the side view of Kelyn, who sat naked in a chair before the window, watching the rain pummel the tarmac outside. He had an erection, and his fingers rested about the base of it. He’d occasionally stroke it, but not with any determination, sort of a reassuring move.
It was ridiculously sexy to know that he’d forgotten himself while she was in the room, and had kicked back, lost in his own thoughts. Or maybe he hadn’t.
He turned a look over his shoulder at her and, with a flick of his wrist, waggled his cock. They’d had sex again after returning to the hotel room and showering. But they hadn’t used towels to dry off. In fact, she was still moist. Everywhere. The bedsheets were wet, too, but she didn’t care.
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“You’re sexy.” She pushed herself up to sit against a pillow. Bowing forward, she wrapped her arms about her bent legs and rested her cheek on a knee.
“And you have purple hair.” His brow furrowed, but with more of a seductive concern than consternation. It was the sexiest move she’d ever watched a man make.
“That I do.”
“Is it natural?”
“No. It’s a spell. I can streak it any color I like for months at a time. This color is my favorite. It reminds me of a ’64 Chevy Impala that I owned a long time ago.”
“If it was a ’64, then it has been a long time. Did we ever establish your age?”
“We did not. And I don’t think it’s important, is it?”
He shrugged. “Nope.” Another gentle stroke of his erection. It wasn’t quite full staff. Relaxed, his body was a study in curved muscle and hard, angular bone structure. “You like cars and motorcycles and all things greasy, including fries and steaks.”
“That I do.”
“Want to know what I like?”
“Besides running races with deer in the forest and being a super nice guy to everyone you meet? Yes. What is it that Kelyn Saint-Pierre really, deeply, honestly likes?”
“I like a certain witch.” He shot a wink over his shoulder. “With purple hair.”
The urge to rush over and wrap her arms around him was strong. But Valor decided to simply sit there and take it in. How many times previously had a man complimented her so sweetly? It was a nice moment. One to cherish.
They had spent the early evening risking their lives—okay, so Kelyn had—and by facing death they’d fallen into incredible sex. That whole passionate la petite mort thing. So the man was probably on some kind of high right now.
As was she.
They’d lie around a bit longer and come down from the sex endorphins. And then they’d head back to business. Just friends.
Maybe?
“Come here,” he said lazily. “Come sit on this.”
“You think so?”
“We’re not going anywhere until the rains stops. Well, we can, but I like sitting here watching it streak the window. The thunder is relaxing, too.”
Valor wandered over to settle onto his lap, back to his chest, directing his now-hard-again erection between her legs to squeeze it tightly with her thighs. That eased up a deep-throated moan from him. She leaned her head against his shoulder and he cupped one of her breasts with his wide, powerful hand.
“Did you think you were going to die?” she asked quietly while tracing the silver remnants of his missing sigil. Outside, lightning streaked the sky in brilliant gold.
“Yes. No.” He exhaled against her cheek, and that ended with a chuffing laugh. “Yes. I regret never taking swimming lessons when I was a kid.”
“Adults can take them.”
“They can? I suppose. I’m thinking maybe avoiding mermaids is probably the thing to do from now on. And always wear a life jacket.”
“Good call. I thought you had died, too. For a few minutes there...”
He pulled strands of half-dried hair away from her face and pressed his lips against her cheek. “I didn’t die. And you didn’t die when you were pinned in the Darkwood. We’re both alive. The universe is not done with us yet.”
“Do you believe the universe has a plan for everyone?”
“Yes,” he said. “Or rather, that we made the plan before we ever came into our bodies. Our souls wanted to find each other.”
“I believe that, too. But we didn’t have a very auspicious beginning. And you never know, the ending could be pretty crazy, too.”
“Then we’d better enjoy what we have while we can. Yes?”
She reached down to grip his penis. The man beneath her groaned and rocked his hips. Time to drive.
* * *
Valor packed her things and took inventory of the magic ingredients they’d collected so far. The mermaid’s kiss was tightly capped and secure. The pink water...
“Trapper John! See? What did I tell you?” She waggled a broken vial at Kelyn as he picked up the room.
“Can’t you bespell the glass not to break?”
“I could—well, uh...” Why hadn’t she thought of that? Valor bristled at his knowing chuckle. “Cocky faery.”
With a few Latin words, Valor spelled the remaining three glass vials not to break. It was a duh moment that made her chuckle, as well.
And Kelyn’s head rose from packing his things to home his bemused gaze on her like an arrow to the target.
“You really like the way I laugh?” she asked.
“It makes me horny.”
“What?” That information made her laugh even more robustly.
And Kelyn dived for her on the bed, pinning her wrists down and kissing her hard against her neck. He licked under her jaw and gave her a gentle nip, which spurred on her laugh even more.
“Let’s see if you’re ticklish, eh?”
“Oh, no!” She was. And he learned that quickly.
The faery went at her relentlessly, finding all her sensitive spots—goddess, behind her knee!—until she was gasping and pleading for mercy.
“Very well,” he said, and his tickles softened to kisses.
A soft touch landing on her breast made her sigh and clutch his hair. “That’s so weird that laughter makes you horny.”
“Not any laughter. Only your silly, snorting chuckles.” He kissed her forehead. “They’re amazing.”
“No one has ever told me something like that before.”
“What? That you’re amazing? I can’t believe that.”
She shrugged. “Maybe it’s the company I keep.”
“Just one of the boys, eh?”
“Bros before ohs.”
“What?”
“Eh, it’s something I say. I like my guy friends, and I like that they accept me into their confidence as just another guy. Not a frilly girl that might threaten their man cave.”
Except...when she wanted more and the man couldn’t understand that.
“What’s wrong with being frilly?” he asked. “I like a little frill once in a while.”
She shrugged. “Too much work. Seriously, Kelyn, if frills are what you need—”
He kissed her deeply, dancing his tongue with hers. Stealing away her protest. And Valor took that as a hint to shut up and let the man like her.
She could do that.
* * *
Another flight was met with but one dirty martini and a firm clasp of Kelyn’s hand through most of the quick jaunt across the English Channel to France.
He kissed her as they landed at Charles de Gaulle. “You’re getting braver.” Then he shook out his hand, the one she’d had a vise hold on through the flight. “And I may not have feeling in my fingers for a few hours.”
A snorting laugh from Valor was rewarded with a kiss. It felt wrong that such an awful sound should be answered with a hot, lush kiss, but she’d get used to it. Hell, she already was. And she intended to laugh at every opportunity.
“The ingredients in this spell are so specific. Occipital dust from a skull?” Kelyn asked as, an hour after landing, the taxi navigated central Paris toward the Île Saint-Louis, as he’d directed.
“Better specific than vague. We want this to work, right?”
“Yes.” He clasped her hand and kissed the back of it. “You smell great.”
Valor smirked. “I smell clean, not like mermaid slime or a pink lake. Is that what you’re getting at?”
“Probably.” He tilted his head onto her shoulder and nuzzled his nose against her neck, which felt so deliciously exciting Valor had to keep from turning to kiss him. She was not one for PDAs. “You know people are attracted to one a
nother by scent? We select our mates that way.”
“Hmm... But how do you know you’ve the right-smelling person?”
“It’s instinctual. We know when we know.”
“I see. And what do you know right now?”
“I know that you smell gorgeous.” He kissed her neck and licked her skin. A shiver traced her body and coalesced in her nipples, tightening them. He noticed and tweaked one with his fingers.
“Kelyn,” she admonished, and gestured toward the front seat.
“He can’t see.”
“But he knows.”
“How do you know he knows?”
“I just do.”
“Fine. Hands off. But this is the hard part.”
“Yeah? I thought that was the hard part,” she said with a glance to his crotch.
“Do you purposely do that?”
She nodded, knowing he was now horny with no means to alleviate that condition. Because of her. “Probably.”
“Did I mention we’re heading to my aunt’s place?”
“Uh, no. I thought we’d grab another hotel room.”
“Nope. Kambriel is my dad’s twin sister. She and her husband, Johnny Santiago, live on the island. They own a huge place. I’m sure they won’t mind putting us up for a day or two.”
“They don’t know we’re coming? Great.”
“They’re cool. They’re both vamps, so you know. They both sing in a goth band and travel the world a lot.”
“I like vamps. I look forward to meeting them. Your family is such an interesting mix. Your dad is a werewolf and your mom a faery. Yet your dad’s sister is vampire?”
“Grandma and Grandpa are werewolf and vampire.”
“Right, Blu and Creed Saint-Pierre. I’ve met Blu once or twice. She’s awesome.”
“Grandma rocks. And she won’t let Grandpa forget that. As for the rest of our eclectic mix, I used to be the only faery in the family until Daisy Blu chose faery over being a werewolf. She was once full werewolf with only traces of faery in her. She was forced to choose between the two. It goes back to the Denton Marx thing.”