by Addison Fox
Shifting, he rolled her onto her back, his fingers roving under her shirt. She’d long since changed out of the beautiful dress she’d worn at the museum. But something—call it women’s intuition or just flat-out vanity—had made her leave the sexy bra and barely there panties on when she’d changed back into her Cinderella clothes of jeans and a long-sleeved T-shirt.
“I was hoping to get a look at these.” Brody flashed a wicked, wanton smile as his sky blue eyes darkened. He pressed a reverent line of kisses across her stomach as he pushed the cotton material of her shirt higher and higher. She lifted herself up slightly so he could pull the shirt over her head. The jeans quickly followed and then his clothes after that until they were both naked.
Skin to skin. Heart to heart.
Ava lay back as Brody held himself above her, supporting his weight on his arms. “You are so beautiful. I want you, Ava. Body and soul, I want you. I have from the very first moment.”
“First moment?”
“I followed you and you wore that horrible gray sweater and I wanted you.” He leaned in and nuzzled her neck. “Desperately, I wanted you.”
Sheer, feminine power coursed through her veins. He saw her. He saw through her defenses. He even saw through the drab materials she tried to hide herself in. As to sunshine after a rainstorm, she felt herself turn toward the power of the sun.
With a whisper against his ear, she pressed everything in her heart into her words. “Then what are you waiting for?”
And then there was no more waiting as the moment overtook both of them.
Where there was languid pleasure, now there was pulsing need.
Where there was lazy discovery, now there was raging desperation.
Where there was idle enjoyment, now there was a driving, swirling mass of the need to touch, to take, to pleasure.
Brody’s mouth moved down her body, his tongue laving over her sensitive skin. He took a nipple into his mouth, his teeth scraping against the sensitive band of her areola, as he pulled on the tip with the hot, wet suction of his mouth. She moaned as the pleasure arced through her body, coalescing into the raging storm of wetness at the apex of her thighs.
Her toes curled against the back of his thighs as his lips and tongue journeyed on, those clever fingers never leaving her breasts as his mouth continued its exploration.
Down over her rib cage. Across the small valley of her belly button. Over the flat surface of her stomach.
Then he dragged his strong, chiseled jaw over the sensitive area of her mons and she nearly came off the bed at the pressure, a long, deep moan dragging from her lips.
“Shhh. Sweet, sweet Ava. You are so hot. So ready for me.” She looked down at him, that wicked grin that flipped her heart over in her chest spread clear across his face. “But are you ready for this?”
And then there were no words, only sensations as he grabbed her hips in those large, capable hands and pressed his lips into the wet warmth of her vagina, focused with unerring precision on her clitoris.
She screamed as waves of pleasure coursed through her system, so hard, so sharp, they burned like the sun. Everything that had come before—the joy of every touch, of every single sensation—faltered in comparison to the pleasure he now lavished on her as he made love to her with his mouth.
With long, lapping curls of his tongue he played her body, shooting wave after glorious wave through her nerve endings, driving her up, up, up.
With his lips, he nuzzled the throbbing center of her, controlling the pleasure so that he dragged her to the edge, pulled back, dragged her again and then held her there.
And then with hot suction he tortured the most sensitive part of her body, nearly tearing her apart with the pleasure-pain of it as she bucked underneath his mouth, moaning for release.
Finally, as if he knew she could hold it back no longer, he removed his mouth, then pressed his thumb and forefinger against her cleft.
And let her go.
She screamed as the world burst around her. Mindless from the pleasure, she exploded against his hand, great heaving spasms that wrapped her muscles around his fingers in tight pulses of need.
With his other hand, he reached for hers, their fingers intertwined as she rode the wave.
“You are perfect.”
“Actually, after that performance,” Ava whispered against his ear, “I think I’m the one who should be giving the compliments.”
With a wanton smile, she wiggled out from underneath him, shifting so that she had him on his back, straddling his hips, in one smooth movement.
“And you say I’ve got some nifty tricks. That was very smooth, Dr. Harrison.”
“You ain’t seen nothing yet, Dr. Talbot.” And then she rained hot kisses on his lips, over his cheeks, down over the rough stubble of his chin.
Farther on to his collarbone, over his chest to his nipples.
With pointed, wet laps of her tongue, she took his nipple into her mouth. Sensation after sensation echoed through his nerve endings at the erotic attention.
He pulled on her arms, trying to drag her up so he could lavish attention on her, but she squirmed out of his reach again, sliding down his body with ease.
“Ava. Come ba—”
The moment was lost as her mouth closed over the long length of him. Long, drugging pulls of suction added to the erotic pressure coursing through his body.
He was desperate for her, his hips moving in unconscious rhythm to the beat she set.
Incoherent thoughts wove through his mind in a pleasured stream of consciousness. He wanted to bury himself in her depths. He never wanted to move under the skillful ministrations of her mouth. He fought to hold on to his seed. He desperately wanted to spill it between her hot, lush lips.
“Ava.” He moaned her name as he dragged at her arms again, pulling her off his cock and toward his chest. “Oh, sweet darling, come here. I can’t take much more of this.”
His hands roamed over her sweat-slick back as she positioned herself over him. As she struggled with his size, he moved his hands, placing them on her hips to glide her down onto him.
“Oh, Brody,” she whispered. “You. Feel. Good.” She threw her head back, a broad smile spread across her face as her breasts jutted toward him, her nipples erect. Waves of hair rained down her back to brush his knees.
Never had he seen anything sexier.
Never had he wanted a woman more.
“I can’t wait for you any longer,” she whispered as she began a tentative movement over him. “I need to feel this. Need to feel . . . us.”
He wanted to prolong it, to make it last, even as his body screamed for release.
“Want to make this good for you.”
She slammed her hips over him, the friction of their bodies drawing desperate moans from both of them.
“It’s already good. I want you now.”
The long length of her legs straddled his hips as the hot clamp of her sex held him as they moved in unison.
“Fill me, Brody. Please.”
It was the “please” that did it—the soft, gentle beauty of the word, whispered between them. After all that had happened in the past week, all the danger that still followed them, this was real.
This was right.
This was completion.
He thrust up into her, slamming his body against hers as she rode him. Like magic, they moved in rhythm, the movements of their bodies driving them both higher and higher toward the summit.
He held out as long as he could, waiting for that telltale moan from her that matched the tightening of her slick channel as she rode his cock.
And the moment he felt her begin, he let go.
As pleasure spun out between them, wrapping their bodies in great lapping waves of it, he felt the world fall away.
With one final thrust, he drove himself up into her warm depths. As she collapsed on top of him, he enfolded her in his arms.
And wished they could stay like that forever.
/> Chapter Seventeen
“A va, do you really think this is a good idea?”
“Other than it’s five a.m. and we haven’t had the benefit of coffee?” Ava rubbed her eyes and looked around the darkened museum as they stepped off the elevator. Although her surroundings should have felt creepy, walking the cavernous hallways hand in hand with Brody just felt . . . good.
The sound of the doors swishing closed became more and more distant as they headed toward the wing where all the jewels were on display. “I don’t know why I didn’t think of this sooner.”
Brody stood to the side as she punched some codes to the lighting system to give them a bit more to work with beyond the minimal nighttime lights. As she turned back toward him, she was greeted with the most delicious sight.
The mind-numbing appeal of his superior ass.
Oh my.A truly superior posterior.
“Stop looking at my ass, woman, and let’s get this over with.”
Snapped to attention, her head shot up and, as he spun around, nearly collided with his chin and the lascivious grin of the eternal charmer who knew exactly what she’d been admiring.
“I’m doing no such thing.”
In answer, his smile grew broader. “Kiss me.”
A wave of heat shot straight through her body, cutting clean through whatever exhaustion she’d walked into the museum with as his mouth clamped over hers.
Hot and sweet, carnal and reverent.
Brody was everything, as his body pulled wave after wave of response from her. Dizzying heights of pleasure, pounding waves of desire, bone-weakening shots of bliss.
Oh girl, are you in danger here. Serious, serious danger.
“Why are we here again when we could be in bed, working through sequels four, five and six to what we started last night?”
“I want you to be with me in front of the stone to get a sense for what’s happening to me. I can’t see it. Come on.” She reached for his hand. “No one’s around and we have the privacy to do this.”
“Ava, I don’t have a great feeling about this. I’ve already seen you with the London stone. Why do you want to put yourself through this?”
“The London stone doesn’t cause me to go into a nightmarish world of death and destruction. I want to see if you can understand it any better than I can. As an observer.”
Much as she wanted to deny it—wanted to run and hide from the truth—these stones did hold power over her. Her best defense against them was to understand what she was up against.
What they were up against.
His large fingers threaded through hers, infusing her with warmth. “Are you sure you’re ready?”
“Yes. And you’ll be with me the entire time.”
Something flickered in his eyes as his hand tightened on hers, but quickly gave way to a reassuring smile as he moved in toward her. “I won’t let anything happen to you. You have to believe me on that.”
He moved in, the warmth of his body arcing toward her as he stepped closer. Warm, glorious heat filled her as he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close.
“I do believe you.”
“I’m not going to let anything happen to you.” His lips whispered along the length of her jaw before he shifted, pressing his mouth to hers. Warmth flooded her system, chasing away the lingering cold at the prospect of what she was about to do—to see.
The heat spread out, a languid wanting, as his tongue toyed with hers, filling her mouth and mimicking the joy they found in their bodies.
And as they stood there, mere yards away from the nightmare that had haunted her for decades, she acknowledged what she felt for Brody. Accepted and understood that in the midst of a situation she still couldn’t quite believe, she’d found someone who’d finally let her see herself.
The person she could be.
The woman she wanted to be.
Could it really be possible?
“I won’t let anything happen to you.” Ava pulled back to stare up at him, his words arrowing straight to her heart. Deep pools of blue stared back at her, willing strength into her with each passing second. “You can do this.”
“I know. Because you’re with me.” She took a deep breath.
“Let’s go.”
They moved hand in hand toward the gem room that held the Summoning Stone. She passed her beloved rubies, barely able to make out their shapes in the muted security lighting. Despite her having chosen this course of action, anxiety whipped through her stomach and a bead of sweat did a slow roll between her shoulder blades. Step by step, they moved closer, but the nightmarish images didn’t come.
Standing before the glass, Ava stared at the stone. The pulsing sense of evil was there, but the images weren’t. She closed her eyes, half relieved, half curious as to why they hadn’t come. Her stomach was devoid of food. Her eyelids drooped with the need for sleep after Brody’s oh-so-thorough lovemaking. Her nerve endings were ragged with confusion at all she’d learned in the past few days.
But still, the stone simply sat before the glass. The cool blue surface held her gaze with its malevolent force. The smooth edges still seemed to pulse. But beyond that—nothing.
“What do you see, Ava?”
Brody’s voice broke through her thoughts. With a confused sigh, she turned to look at him. “I don’t feel anything at all.”
“The feelings you’ve had before? They’re gone?”
“It’s odd. I’ve never been this close to it before. Never been able to just look at it.”
He squeezed her hand. “What do you think of it?”
“I can feel the madness in it.”
“How?”
“It pulses. That’s the only way I can describe it. It pulses like a heart, nestled there in the velvet. I can still feel that. Can see it, even though I know it’s not moving. But beyond that, nothing.”
“That’s good.”
She turned toward him, unable to keep the note of hope out of her words, and with a small smile, she nodded. “Yes, it’s very good.”
“Let’s get you out of here, then.” He dropped her hand, extending his now-free arm to wrap around her.
That simple movement was all it took.
When Brody broke contact, the images flooded her system in a flash, sharp as razors slicing her mind to ribbons. Writhing snakes snapped at her, their fangs sharp in the light of smoke and fire. Their sinuous bodies standing on edge, reaching out for her, hissing before moving in toward her, ready to attack. Bile rose up in her throat and the smell of blood was so strong, the metallic odor translated to her taste buds.
A scream worked its way up her throat, ringing with shrill tones in the depths of her eardrums.
She passed out as two snakes lunged forward, heading for her throat.
“Fuck!” Brody caught her as she fell toward the glass, arms outstretched, fingers curled as if ready to scratch at whatever imagined thing was in front of her.
Panic slid deep into his veins as she struggled in his arms, her screams growing more and more shrill, her arm movements more erratic.
“Ava. Shhh, Ava. You’re safe. You’re okay.”
He tried crooning to her, as he’d done when she’d awoken from the nightmare on the airplane, but it did nothing to calm her; nothing to bring her back.
Every tense inch of her body quivered as screams continued to spill from her throat. Panic glazed her eyes and he could actually smell the fear as it rose off her skin.
His own fear fisted in his stomach as he swept her up in his arms, moving into a run as soon as he had a firm grip on her. He kept his hold tight, willing his strength into her. Willing an end to the nightmare that held her in its thrall.
They cleared the gem room and continued on. In a blur, they moved past displays of various cultures, then farther on past a special exhibit for children. Her screams died down with each foot he put between them and the stone, but her eyes remained glazed even as her screams faded into helpless whimpers.
St
upid, fucking stupid, thing to do. And yet another miscalculation when it came to Ava and whatever miserable mess was unfolding.
The bright light of an exit sign caught the edge of his vision and he slowed as they hit a stairwell. He took a few steps, dropping to sit on the top step so he could take a quick assessment of their situation.
He glanced down at her huddled form as her fingers dug into the soft material of his T-shirt. Tremors wracked her as if she were in a fever, and he tightened his hold on her.
The fear in his stomach shifted, redirected and coiled in his heart. Tension constricted his chest and he wondered—not for the first time—what it was about this woman that called to him so deeply.
“Ava.” He kept his voice soft but firm. “Come on, baby. Look at me.”
He squeezed her again, pulling her close in the same movement someone would use to calm a crying baby.
Comfort.
Warmth.
Protection.
“Ava!”
“Brody?” Her chocolate brown eyes cleared as the nightmare receded, coming into focus as she looked up at him.
Stark terror hummed a vicious tune through his body, but he kept his voice light and airy. “You’re back with me?”
The screams had dropped her already-husky voice another octave. “Who, me? Sure. I was just practicing my horror-movie tryout. A girl’s gotta be prepared for the day she gets discovered, after all.”
The fist in his chest eased ever so slightly at her ability to make a joke. “And quite a performance it was. I wasn’t sure you were coming back.”
She pushed at him, struggling to sit upward. “I wondered the same thing.”
“Want to tell me about it?”
She shifted, slid off his lap and moved so that she was sitting upright next to him on the stairs. He kept an arm firmly around her shoulders as the tremors wracking her system faded under the comfort of his touch.
“It’s always the same. It starts out where I’m observing a horrible sacrifice, but as I get deeper into it, it’s clear that I am the sacrifice.”