Destiny

by Rachelle Mills et al.

  “Um, Henry? Are you okay?”

  She heard him groan but wasn’t sure what that meant. After a moment, he braced his weight on his arms and lifted his head up. She laughed. Oh God, she couldn’t help it, but she laughed. He coughed a little because there were tufts of down feather stuffing caught in his extended fangs. He swatted at his mouth until the pillow stuffing came free.

  “All right there, champ?” she asked.

  He slowly pulled out of her and reclined on the empty side of the bed.

  “I don’t know about you, but I’m fantastic.” He expelled a deep breath of satisfaction.

  She stretched languidly and didn’t hesitate to drape herself on him. “I’m wonderful, but what was that last part about?”

  She felt the laughter tumble from his chest.

  “Unless mentally controlled to feel pleasure, not all mortals are into that. Vampire fantasies or not, we haven’t had that conversation yet, so I went for the pillow.” He gave the torn pillow an awkward pat. “Probably needs to be replaced anyway.”

  With the laziness of maple syrup, she contented herself with running her fingers through his dark but sparse chest hair. She knew she should feel panicky but couldn’t be bothered at the moment. Things had certainly been quick, as he’d warned, but damn if she didn’t still enjoy herself thoroughly. Besides, she was very curious about what he had to offer when he did have more stamina. If this ended in a train wreck, then at least she got some good sex out of it. Had she ever felt so comfortable around another person? How wonderfully bizarre.

  After basking in the silence for a while, she finally found the courage to ask what had been nagging at her since they’d finished.

  “So biting…is that a thing vampires usually do when they’re, you know, together?”

  Henry idly tapped his fingers against her leg. “It’s pretty common, sure. Although who knows? Maybe things have changed since I’ve been off the field.”

  Emma thought about it for a moment. Her neck was one of her favorite erogenous zones…and apparently the only reason he hadn’t done it was because they hadn’t had a conversation about it. Conversations were great things, she decided.

  “Well, maybe we can try it in the future.” She played a nervous staccato with her fingers on his chest. “I’d hate to deprive you of an innate urge,” she said offhandedly.

  “You don’t have to lie, darling.” He turned to lean over her and grin with those sharp incisors. “You can just say you’re curious. In case you forgot, I already knew about your vampire fantasy,” he said in a stage whisper.

  She gave him a soft punch to the chest and smirked. “Fine, I’m curious.”

  “…You’re not going to run away screaming?” He gave her a dubious look and leaned back on his haunches. “You actually want to date me or something?”

  Emma took a moment to contemplate. There was still a small part of her practical side that wanted to grab her clothes and bolt. But a bigger part of her was undeniably sated and enjoying lying in his bed looking up at him.

  “You’ve got to admit you’ve been working with me more like a partner than a boss,” she remarked.

  Henry nodded. “True. So what does that mean?”

  Her gaze raked over him, and she bit her lip in appreciation. “If we can work and fuck like partners and maintain a modicum of professionalism, then yeah, I’d like to get to know you…all of you…better.”

  “You’ve got a mouth on you.” He smirked.

  She rolled her eyes. “My sister must be rubbing off on me. Well? What’s your take?”

  Henry appeared to consider the idea while he brought his thumb up to her face and rubbed it slowly back and forth across her lower lip. She loved it when he did that.

  “Actually, I don’t think I have much say in the matter. I’ve wanted this since you walked that pert ass of yours through my front door armed with rice.”

  Emma gasped in feigned offense and pushed his hand away. “You mean you didn’t realize you wanted to be with me forever the second you saw me in the courthouse?”

  He tsked and shook his head. “Sorry, I was more concerned with helping two clients at the same time. Took me a little while to notice your charms.”

  She nipped at his thumb for that comment. “Rude. I’ll be the first to admit that I’ll always notice you as long as you’re wearing a suit.”

  Henry drew his lips into an exaggerated moue. “You’re far too kind.”

  “The ego on you.” Emma laughed and lifted her leg to hit him playfully against his shoulder. He caught her ankle and kissed it. When he pulled away, he paused.

  “Is this new?”

  She grinned. Tattooed on the inside of her ankle was a small, simple black outline of a skull. It had hurt like hell, but Daphne had healed it to save her weeks of scabbing and aftercare. She had to admit she was pretty jazzed about it. Her sister had been right about needing a physical reminder of her strengths.

  “Daphne convinced me to get one yesterday while she was at her regular tattoo place. I thought a skull would help me remember I’m a resilient badass, even when werewolves are growling or vampires are snarling at me.”

  He kissed her ankle again, this time with the slow, hot caress of his tongue. Heat pooled between her legs.

  Breaking the kiss, he said, “It suits you.” His gaze smoldered.

  Henry lowered her leg on the bed and leaned over her to tangle his hand in her hair. He brought her mouth a hair’s breadth away from his lips. The breath died in her lungs and renewed arousal sliced through her. How could they go from fucking to work-talk and back to fucking again so seamlessly?

  “You’ll do what I say?” he asked in a husky voice.

  “Whatever you want.”

  Apparently, that was the right thing to say because she felt him harden against her.

  “Stay the night?” he asked, his gaze dark and intent.

  “I’ve got a spare change of clothes in my office,” she remembered with delight.

  Henry gave her the barest hint of a kiss. “Good. They trained you well in Big Law.”

  Proof that it paid to be prepared. Granted, the spare dress was in case she spilled coffee all over herself, not in case of impromptu sleepovers, but she dearly wanted to give herself a high five for thinking ahead. She’d text Daph later to cancel their plans; her sister would understand these…extenuating circumstances. She ran her hands across his shoulders and back appreciatively. She had tastier things to concentrate on for now.

  “Does that mean I get a cookie?” she asked playfully.

  He growled and nipped at her neck. “No,” he said, his voice low in her ear. “Something harder.” Beneath the covers, he ground his erection against her cleft for emphasis.

  Her eyes became unfocused, and a moan tumbled from her before she could even think about containing it.

  “This is dangerous,” she said and let her eyes slide shut.

  “Why?” he said roughly and rocked against her once more.

  “You’ve still got it after a pretty long stint of celibacy; this building won’t be able to contain your colossal ego tomorrow morning,” she explained, digging her nails into his back and lifting her hips to his.

  “Small price to pay for multiple orgasms, sweetheart,” he retorted.

  Before she could reply, he kissed her deep and slow.

  ***

  Henry’s head was swimming. She might think he had charm, but he was barely holding it together. She’d awoken something in him, all right. He might be a scholar, but Christ, he didn’t have to be a robot. He promised himself that he would never let himself forget how awesome sex was again.

  He wanted to see her, all of her. Wrapping his arms around her waist, he rolled over onto his back, keeping her with him so she was on top.

  “This really is a wonderful view,” he remarked before leaning up and taking one pretty nipple into his mouth and sucking.

  He delighted in her every cry and pant. Emma reached down and brought one o
f his hands up to her unoccupied breast. He took the cue and gently rolled her other nipple between his fingers. Satisfaction swelled within him when he noticed the small splotches of red marking her pale neck and chest; sex flush looked good on her.

  Releasing her nipple from his mouth, he switched to the other side and let his hand slide down her warm, lithe body. He dipped a finger inside her and gloried in the honeyed wetness he found. Henry realized dimly that Emma hadn’t been lying when she’d said this was dangerous. He was feeling things for her. Emotion things. Already he found himself incredibly intent on making sure she was satisfied and felt a surge of pride whenever she came. But he really couldn’t find the effort to care about the danger. He just wanted to keep doing it.

  He pulled away from her breast long enough to ask on a ragged breath, “Do you want me inside you?”

  An excited gleam sparked in her eyes, but then she hesitated. “Are you hard enough?”

  He grinned. “I know they say there’s no such thing as a stupid question…”

  But his pulse skittered to a halt when she pulled her breasts out of reach and moved off him.

  “Can’t hurt to be absolutely sure,” she commented.

  “What do you—” The question died in his throat when she camped out between his thighs and lowered those kissable lips to his erection.

  Emma’s hair fell in waves around her face, and hell if she didn’t look stunning while she slowly pushed him into her waiting mouth. She sucked and slowly bobbed her head up and down. Henry closed his eyes. How had he forgotten how good this all felt? Seriously, how?

  She was patient, so wonderfully patient as she licked the underside of his shaft and softly kissed his balls, brought up tight against his cock.

  It took all his willpower to say, “I think you…I think you got it hard enough.”

  Emma teased him a little more, so he cupped the back of her head with his hand and urged her up. She acquiesced and shifted to kneel above him, but she had a saucy, unapologetic grin on her face. He’d be happy to wipe off the smugness. He grabbed his cock in one hand and her ass in another.

  “Slide down onto me,” he demanded.

  He hissed as he felt her warm heat sink down onto him and surged his hips up to meet hers. Emma moaned at the sudden movement, and all traces of arrogance fell clean from her face. She leaned forward until her hair curtained both their faces.

  “You feel incredible,” he whispered hotly in her ear.

  Her half-laugh turned into another moan as they thrust against each other. Their rhythm increased, and his breath came out in short, labored bursts. Henry put his hands on her hips.

  “Slow down a little if you want this to last longer than last time.”

  Emma nodded and leaned back to shift her weight to one arm and slowed her pace. Then time lurched to a stop as he watched her snake her hand to where their bodies were joined; she started to massage her clit, and a soft sigh escaped her lips. He loved that she was navigating her own pleasure—and showing him what she liked. Henry shifted his weight onto his elbows so he wouldn’t miss a moment. But her hand hesitated and he looked up to her face to find some of her bravado slipping.

  “Something wrong? I like watching you do that.”

  Her eyebrows shot up. “You do? You’re not going to swat my hands away and try to do it ‘better’?”

  It was his turn to be startled. “That would be dumb. I’ve known your body for five minutes. You know what you like. Why in the hell would I be stupid enough to interfere?”

  Henry gripped her hips and reared up from below her. Emma’s eyes widened and then nearly closed.

  “Keep doing it, and I’m going to keep watching until you come,” he bit out.

  Thankfully, telling her once was enough, because she started rubbing herself again so he could see every nuanced movement. Her muscles squeezed around him as she rolled her hips and rubbed herself in small, slow circles. He would’ve killed for a how-to guide on this stuff growing up; he’d had to learn everything with guesswork. This was genius.

  Their hips rose and fell to meet each other. Everything in him was tight with need; he wasn’t sure he could hold on for much longer.

  “How do you feel?” he asked.

  An intoxicated moan was the only answer he received. Her hand started to move faster, but her hips slowed as she concentrated on her clit. Following her lead, he took over and set the pace of his thrusts inside her. That must have been the right thing to do, because her face started to go slack. Henry felt the intensity building between them and tried to hold on.

  “Come for me,” he ordered hoarsely…or was he begging?

  “Oh God, Henry,” she said on a pant.

  But her pants turned to cries, and he felt her clamp down and spasm around him. Thanking whoever was looking out for him, he let go and followed her with a relieved groan. Black dots fogged his vision. Every ounce of energy drained from him and left him a shell of a man. He could barely think, only breathe. As his heartbeat started to slow, he hazily noticed her wrench her hand from between their bodies and smiled when she collapsed atop him. The only thing he could process was that his body was humming.

  ***

  Emma felt flush with heat like she was lying under a rich, hot sun at the beach. It was glorious. Holy shit. It had taken her eons to tell her last boyfriend, “Damn it, can you let me just rub my clit while you do that? Because you bending your wrist awkwardly sucks for both of us.”

  But with Henry…she could just be herself and enjoy it. And he enjoyed it too. Her mind swam with endorphins. Somehow she found the will to pull herself off of him, yank the covers over them, and settle in with her head on his shoulder. She knew she would regret falling asleep while snuggling, but the orgasms that had wracked her body had rendered her brain useless, so she really didn’t care.

  “Sleep now?” she asked even as her eyes started to flutter closed.

  “Mmhmm,” he responded and killed the bedside lamp.

  A moment later, she heard Ingrid creep into the room and jump onto the edge of the bed to curl up by their feet. The domesticity of the scene should’ve sent her screaming and running from the building, but it merely calmed her as sleep took over.

  ***

  BANG went Henry’s bedroom door as Rick smacked it open.

  “Knock, knock! Boss, this is getting ridiculous. Just because I get here early doesn’t mean I can be your personal valet—what? No! My eyes!” he yelled when he realized his bosses were wrapped in each other’s arms, sound asleep. The mug of coffee and notepad he was holding fell to the floor. The mug shattered, spilling coffee in a brown pool across the floor and onto the woe-begotten notepad.

  Henry and Emma shot up in bed. They looked at each other, and then at Rick, red-faced and sheepish. Emma awkwardly pressed the sheet to her chest but then winced and tried to shake out one arm.

  “Can’t feel my arm. Oh, ow. Yep, arm’s definitely asleep. I knew sleeping while cuddling would be a mistake.” She groaned while her left arm flopped around like a dying fish.

  Henry turned away from the sight so he wouldn’t laugh at her misfortune and focused on the uncomfortable task of acknowledging Rick’s presence.

  Unsure of where to start, Henry opened with, “Um, sorry. Can you give us a couple of minutes?”

  But Rick’s horror disappeared as quickly as it had arrived. He fist-pumped the air.

  “This is fantastic. Does this mean you’ll both stop being irritable grumps?” he asked eagerly.

  “I’m not a grump—”

  “I’m not irritable—”

  Henry and Emma began at the same time then fell silent.

  “Excellent, excellent. One more reason you can’t fire me,” Rick said triumphantly.

  Emma pinned Henry with an expectant stare.

  “I can only assume you’re both going to be weird about this and won’t want anyone to know—”

  Another set of footsteps jogged down the hallway. Henry frowned in confusion as
Daphne blew into the room.

  “Have you seen Emma? She was supposed to come over last night, but I haven’t heard from her at all and…wait, what is this…oh okay, well damn,” Daphne trailed off as she bit her lip to unsuccessfully contain a howl of laughter.

  Henry sighed. He glanced at Emma, whose face was even redder. He rubbed her arm comfortingly. She at least seemed to have regained feeling in it.

  “Are we still on the same page as yesterday?” he asked in a low tone.

  As he waited for her answer, he realized there was a knot of tension in his chest. He was going to be seriously disappointed if she claimed this had been a mistake. But the knot immediately eased when she gave him a warm smile. He turned to scowl at the intruders.

  “Yes, we’re…dating now, or whatever the appropriate nomenclature is these days. So while we’d rather you didn’t advertise it, we’re not going to hide it either. And for your edification, Rick, I’ll fire you the minute you stop being useful.” He paused then added sheepishly, “But it just so happens we can’t do anything without you.”

  A smug look crossed Rick’s face. “Damn right. Sorry about the mess with the coffee, though.”

  Then, without a care in the world, he extended his hand, palm down toward the broken coffee cup on the floor and wiggled his fingers. The ceramic pieces and coffee shuddered for a moment before rushing up to effortlessly land back in Rick’s hand. The once-broken mug was whole and full of steaming coffee. The now-pristine notebook shot up from the ground to fall into his other waiting hand. Henry had suspected Friday night that Rick was hiding something, but he still blinked in astonishment. This was quite the step forward from card tricks.

  “Now, should we go over today’s—” Rick started.

  Emma leaned forward to gape at Rick. “What the hell is going on?”

  “What? A mortal, a fairy, a vampire, and a wizard can’t stand awkwardly in a room together?” He sipped the coffee.

  “You’re a wizard?” Emma cried.

  Rick stared hard at his bosses. “How did you not know? I literally do magic tricks all day.”