by Scott, Helen
I cut the chord, relieved to hear the door didn’t open as Darius, shockingly enough, complied with whatever Raven had told him.
Settling back in the sand, I murmured, “I want a tattoo.”
Gideon froze for a second, then he released a sharp laugh. “Whatever I expected you to say, it wasn’t that.”
“Why?”
“Pursangs rarely get tattoos,” he told me, so matter of fact that if I hadn’t been aware he was feeling down, I’d have smacked him in the gut.
“No, really?” I hummed. “Totally didn’t know that.”
“Smart ass.”
Snickering, I squeezed his arm. “I know we don’t get them often. We’re elitists, after all. Plus, our pursangs would probably kill anyone who drew blood… except for someone who belonged to us.”
He snorted. “You think I’ll make one for you?”
“I know you will. Cade told me you drew the one on his back.”
“My equipment’s back East. In storage.”
“So? I’m sure Darius knows someone who’d let us use their shop.”
He stilled at my side. “You mean, you want one now?”
“Well, not at this moment, but before we leave Vegas. Yeah.”
“Why?”
I wriggled, loving how the sand cupped my body. “I want you to mark me.”
He seemed to stop breathing, then he released a low growl and before I knew it, before my pursang knew it, he’d pushed me onto my back and was looming over me.
That beast inside me wanted to purr at his dominance, apparently aware all along that this was a side of him she wanted to tangle with, allowing him to lift my arms overhead and pin them to the sand.
Spreading my legs to accommodate him, I moaned as his hardness pressed to my soft heat.
“What’s your game, Marcella?”
“I don’t play games.”
“You think I want us to cement the bond when you’re pitying me? I don’t need a pity fuck for our first time together.”
I scowled up at him, pissed for the first time. “Fuck. You.”
He stiffened. “That’s the point. I won’t if you’re just—”
It was my turn to growl, and this time, when he grew tense, it was for a different reason.
“Clever boy,” I half purred, and it was me who was speaking but somehow, it was more too.
I couldn’t begin to describe it.
It was like I had two creatures living inside me.
The Marcella who’d been me since I was born, and then this purely feral beast who Darius had stirred to life. This creature who was deadly, dangerous to a degree that I couldn’t begin to quantify. I sensed what she was capable of, and feared it, if I was being honest. Feared for my men.
“There is no pity between mates,” I told him, the pursang in control of my voice. “There is only lust, need, hunger. Craving.”
He swallowed. I watched his Adam’s apple bob, felt my body churn with arousal as I thought about tasting him there. “That’s what I want between us too.”
“Then speak not of pity, mate,” I spat. “Do you pity me for my past? McCray flayed me alive. Almost killed me. Is your cock going to soften because of that? Because of what happened to me years ago?”
“No, but I’m not a woman. I know how women think.”
I laughed, and the pursang was in control still. It was a sexy sound, one I hadn’t even known I was capable of making. It was raspy and rough, yet luscious with it, so full-bodied it might as well have been a glass of wine someone wanted to savor.
“You don’t know how pursang females think.”
He stilled, then admitted on a whisper, “No. I don’t.”
“Remember that night you chased me in the woods at Westbrook?”
“How could I forget?” he asked hoarsely, his hips arching as he rubbed his cock into me. My body vibrated with that slight move.
“I wanted to lick every single one of your tats.” I hummed with remembered delight. “One day, I want you to tell me what each rune does.”
He swallowed. “You’d want to know?”
I tilted my head to the side. “You’re not as cocksure as everyone thinks, are you?”
Gideon dipped down and pressed his forehead to mine. The move was tender, vulnerable—he wanted to hide his expression. Though the pursang preferred him strong and dominant, she didn’t complain. Tenderness was permitted between her and her mates.
And fuck, it was strange thinking of myself in the third person, but she was like this separate entity that was in control of me, yet was also a part of me too.
“You make me weak, Marcella.”
The words sank into my very marrow, and before he could argue, I surged upward, flinging him off me. In the blink of an eye, I was on top and he was on the ground. His arms above his head, my sex settled against his cock.
“No, Mate, I make you strong.” I narrowed my eyes at him. “How do you recharge?”
“Sitting outside helps.”
“Bullshit.” I studied him with anger this time. “This isn’t the moment to keep druid secrets, Gideon. Something’s going on. Tell me what it is. You’ve been acting strangely for weeks now.”
He blinked up at me. “How did you know?”
“I didn’t. Until just now,” I admitted. “When was the last time you drew from nature?”
I watched his throat bob as he swallowed. “When I was at Westbrook.”
A hiss escaped me. “That was weeks ago.”
“We’ve been criss-crossing over the damn country, Marcella. Trying to keep ourselves hidden. I couldn’t exactly commune with nature behind the fucking steering wheel.”
Though he was right, and my pursang appreciated his anger, preferring it to his world-weary state, I ground out, “You should have said something. We could have stopped in the damn woods and you could have, I don’t know, done whatever it is you need to do.”
“It isn’t as simple as that.”
“Explain.”
He flinched at the word as though it were a bullet that had pierced his skin. “Druids draw on energy from nature, but they do so through the most basic and the most raw act of them all.”
I tilted my head to the side. “Sex?”
“Yes.”
“You used to jack off outside?” I guessed, and I couldn't stop myself from snickering. “Maker, Gideon, you’re fortunate some human didn’t see you and report you as some kind of flasher.”
He didn’t like my amusement at his expense. “It wasn’t always jacking off,” he grumbled.
And suddenly, I didn’t like where he was going with this. “You dare to speak of sex with other women when you’re with me?” I hissed and, in the space of time it took for his heart to beat, I was there, my teeth raking over his throat, the warning evident.
When his Adam’s apple bobbed with fear, his cock throbbed. I felt the bead of wetness slide from the tip as it dampened the fly of his shorts and touched me.
“That’s how we recharge. Through sex, and I just…” His voice wore off.
“Why didn’t you tell me? We’d have sealed the bond weeks ago.”
“Because I wanted you to want me for me, Marcella. For fuck’s sake. I didn’t want you to have to do anything because my powers necessitated it.”
“That makes no sense. Raven and Keiran worked on me together out of necessity. It’s okay for them to fuck me because I need it? It’s okay for me to fuck you because I need to feed? Bullshit, Gideon.”
He hissed. “Why are you being so difficult?”
“I’m not. You’re being stupid. We’re mates, Gideon. Perhaps not like I am with Darius, no. It’s different, but that doesn’t mean it’s stronger or weaker. I’m your Sixth. I give you what you need, just as you give me what I need. Even if you don’t understand what that entails.”
A deep breath shuddered from his lungs. “It’s a weakness.”
Anger roared through me. “Why am I allowed to be weak but you’re not?”
“I didn’t say that.”
“You implied it. I’ve been weak around you many times, Gideon. Are you saying I’m lesser than you because of that?”
“No, of course not!”
“Then watch your tongue, Mate.” I nipped his throat and stretched, putting pressure on his wrists as I kept them pinned down above his head. “You’re mine, as I’m yours. You’re my strength when I’m weak, and you’re weak when I’m strong. That’s how it’s supposed to be. Yin and yang.”
Before I could get angry at his lack of response, he arched his hips and whispered hoarsely, “Help me recharge, Marcella.”
My pursang smiled. “That was the right thing to say, Mate.”
22
Gideon
Marcella wasted no time in taking me up on my request. Her body was off mine and she was shimmying out of her clothes faster than I wanted if I was honest, but my Sixth was determined. Our bonding was overdue, on that much I agreed, but I was worried about her getting sand in uncomfortable places out here.
When I hadn't jumped up and stripped in the same manner she glared at me. Just this once I'd let her boss me around. With a grin I stood, but instead of getting naked as fast as possible, I took my time, undoing each button slowly, gradually peeling the clothes away until I was left as naked as a jay bird under the desert starlight. By the time I was done, frustrated huffs were coming from Marcella, but I wouldn't be rushed.
"So eager to get this over with, are you?" I asked, my tone light, but a hint of truth rang through my words. I didn't want this to be just a formality to her. I didn't only want to be something she had to take care of. I wanted a relationship. Connection. That was what I had craved most in my life, but never truly had.
"You should know that's not true," she chided me.
"How would I when that's how you're acting?" I was killing the mood, I knew it, but in reality there hadn’t been much of a mood to start with.
"I don't mean to," she grumbled, as she shifted like she was uncomfortable. Her pursang was agitated, and the battle for control where those two were concerned was still raging.
"Come," I commanded, holding my hand out to her, while grabbing my shirt from the ground with the other. She took it and I walked us further away from the house, away from the bright windows that felt like they were watching us, and out into the land.
"Don't we have to worry about snakes and stuff?"
"I'm a druid. All creatures will respect my boundary, and you are most definitely within my boundary." When we were far enough away where all I could sense was nature, my heart heaved a beat of relief, and a sigh escaped me. I dropped my shirt on the ground and pulled Marcella close to me, hooking a knuckle under her chin so I could tilt her head up to face me. "If you want to help me recharge, this won't be a quickie. You sure you want to do this?"
She nodded and licked her lips. Just like that, it felt like all the blood in my body went stampeding toward my cock. Her body naked in the moonlight was like a goddess coming to earth for the first time. At once it seemed to illuminate her, but also seep into her very pores, making her skin look dewy and delectable.
My lips lowered to hers, ghosting over the supple flesh that was quivering with its need for attention. When she let out another frustrated huff, I ran one of my hands into her hair and fisted it, pulling her head to the side and baring the long, elegant line of her neck to me. When she went to lean forward to connect with me, I held her in place with her hair so our kiss was only the lightest of touches.
Finally, when I knew she couldn't take any more, I kissed her. It was rough and passionate, and everything she'd been asking for. My lips ravished hers, my tongue licked the seam of her lips and when her mouth opened to me, and she tasted like heather, honey, and whiskey. I wanted to drink her down until there was nothing left, but there was one thing I wanted to taste more, and that was that sweet little pussy of hers. Knowing my brothers were the only ones she'd ever slept with, made me curiously possessive of her, not in a controlling way, but in a way that told me she truly was my mate.
My Vampire, though it was weak by pursang standards, roared to life at the thought. Marcella hissed at me as she felt my energy shift. I took a deep breath and shoved it down to where it usually was.
"Tonight is just you and me. No druid, no Sixth, no pursang bullshit. Just you and me. I see you, Marcella, I understand you more than you might think, and I plan to treat you exactly how you deserve to be treated, like the queen you are."
"I'm no queen," she whispered as she shook her head.
"Agree to disagree," I said before claiming her mouth once more.
I felt her energy shift as the pursang in her relaxed at my show of strength. We would have time for our Vampires to get to know one another, and a time for us to talk about my druid side, but tonight was just two lovers coming together, sealing the bond, and exploring the primal energy between us.
My free hand came up to her breast, teasing the delicate skin that resided there, until I earned a muffled huff from her once more. When my fingers found her nipple, the pert little bud, she moaned into my kiss, and if that wasn't one of the sweetest sounds I had ever heard then I didn't know what was. I released her hair and slid my arm around her, until my other hand firmly connected with her ass. The flesh was round and firm, and I bet it would look fucking spectacular when I had her on her hands and knees in front of me.
I pulled her even closer to me, her soft skin torture for my hard cock. As I pinned her to my body, I picked her up and lay her down on the ground on top of my shirt to protect her somewhat. She giggled as she sprawled out under me. My need for control began to rear its ugly head however, and even though I didn't want to show her this side of me just yet, I had to include it a little, otherwise this wasn't going to be a very productive session.
Looping my hand around first one of her wrists and then the other, I pulled them above her head and placed them on a nearby rock. "Hold that and don't let go, no matter what," I said, my voice sounding strained, even to my own ears.
Her pupils dilated at my words, and damn if that didn't turn me on even more. Marcella might be the head bitch in charge, and I meant that in the best way possible, but that didn't mean that every once in a while she wouldn't want a break. She would need to have someone else take over, to take care of her, to take the anxiety of making decision after decision away. I couldn't wait for that day to come, but I wouldn't, couldn't, rush her to it.
My lips traveled from her jawbone to her neck, where I nipped at her, not enough to draw blood, but enough for her to feel my teeth. She gasped and her hips bucked against my own, which made me grin as I continued to rain kisses down on her. When I got to her breasts, I paused, and lavished attention on each one, until she was moaning freely. As I continued my journey south, I felt her hands in my hair.
"Aren't those hands supposed to be somewhere else?" I asked, my gaze flicking up and catching hers. Gently, I moved her hands back to the rock. "Now I have to start all over again," I said with a wicked smile.
"Sounds like such a hardship for you." She giggled. The sound surprised us both, but only made me smile even wider.
"I'll battle through somehow." I restarted my line of kisses along her jaw, back down her neck, to her luscious breasts that were more than a handful, even for me, then her nipples and finally back down to her belly. I inched my way down her creamy soft skin, waiting to see if she'd follow the rules this time or if I would have to start again.
My hands slid between her legs, spreading her thighs open and revealing her sex to me. The scent of her arousal was a heady thing, one I wasn't sure I would ever be able to resist. My mind flipped back to earlier in the day when she'd fucked Keir and Cade in the van. I'd almost broken the damn steering wheel, and was honestly surprised I was able to stay on the road.
I nipped at her hips and thighs before working my way inward to the delicate flesh that was calling to me like a siren to a sailor. My fingers parted her folds, finding her clit, an
d circling it until her hips were practically hovering above the ground because she was twitching so much. Only after I had teased her relentlessly with my fingers did I lower my mouth to her sweet pussy. She tasted as good as her blood smelled. I wanted to fuck her so badly that my cock literally ached, but I wasn't going to until I'd wrung at least one orgasm from her body.
While my tongue worked her clit, one hand supported her lower back so she didn't have to flex the whole time, and the other slid two fingers into her tight core. It was warm and wet, and my cock throbbed at the sensation. Maker, I couldn't wait to be inside her.
Soon her hips were bucking off my hand, thrusting her clit into my mouth and my fingers deeper into her pussy, while her gaze seemed to dance with the stars above. It was only a few moments after that when her whole body tensed, a cry of pleasure erupted from deep within her, while her core clenched around my fingers. Each time it did, my cock throbbed in response and I had to put her down.
"Don't stop touching that rock," I growled as my cock slid against her entrance. Her hands had just come away for a moment before they clamped back down. "Do you want it hard and fast or—"
"Yes," she breathed before I could even give her the other option. Her eyes blazed with hunger as her gaze met mine, and that was all I needed. The orgasm had only been the first of the night, and all it had done was stoke the fire inside her higher.
I teased her with the head of my cock, rubbing it over her slick folds and against her clit, which made her body twitch in response, before I eased it inside her. At first it was just the tip, just for a minute, then her hips bucked again and my cock slipped further in. I was lost at that point. The hot, wet core of her was tighter than I expected, the snug fit of her around my cock was almost enough to make me finish right then and there. I reined myself in though, and began to move.
My rhythm was its own beast, built from my lust and the need for my power to recharge. I lost myself to it and thrust into Marcella without mercy, but her moans of pleasure assured me that this was exactly the kind of hard and fast she was looking for. When I could feel my own orgasm start to build, I pulled out.