by Tasha Black
“It’s an easy decision, honey,” Jeremy said with the confident smile she hadn’t realized was creepy when they first met. “You wanted to sleep with me anyway, so this is just the excuse you need.”
“There is no decision,” she replied. “I’m not having sex with you.”
He cocked his head inquisitively and took a few steps closer. “Aren’t you?”
When they’d started walking he had led her along the line of trees behind the cottages. She hadn’t noticed that he was walking her further into the woods as she spoke.
Now they were just far enough from the other cabins that she wasn’t sure if anyone would hear her if she screamed.
“No, I’m not,” she said, holding her ground. “And if you didn’t like what Adrian said to you in the casting studio you’re going to hate what I have to say to you now.” If she was going down, she wasn’t doing it without a fight.
Jeremy’s eyes flashed, as if he was enjoying her rebellion. He stepped forward and wrapped a meaty hand around her arm.
An explosion of sound shook the bushes behind them.
“Holy shit,” Jeremy yelped, letting go of her and stepping back.
Lucy turned to see huge yellow eyes glowing in the darkness.
Jeremy took off like a kid who just opened his closet to find the monster he thought he’d imagined was very real.
Lucy took two careful steps backward.
The eyes blinked once and she froze.
They closed again and did not reappear.
Lucy remained, frozen in place for several long minutes, listening to the pounding of her own heart, wishing she could hear whether the creature was retreating.
At last, she began to back slowly away again.
No more sound came from the trees.
Could it have left so stealthily that she hadn’t heard it?
If so, then it was already long gone.
The thought emboldened her. She turned and dashed back to the cottage, her heart in her mouth.
It wasn’t until she was inside with the door locked behind her that she finally let out her breath.
“Are you okay?” Adrian’s deep voice cut through her panic.
She turned to see him striding toward her, wearing nothing but a pair of jeans and a furious expression.
Unable to speak, Lucy fell into his arms.
13
Adrian
Adrian caught her without thinking.
The instant her cheek touched his bare chest, electricity danced between them.
There had always been sparks when they touched, but this was different. A sort of magic seemed to shimmer across her skin where she touched him.
“Adrian…” She looked up at him with soft eyes.
He felt something tearing in his chest, as if his heart were trying to rip itself out of his body to join hers.
The million reasons why he shouldn’t be with her skittered uselessly across his mind, like raindrops flying off the windshield of a speeding car. His reservations were so easily brushed away by the tickle of her hair against his shoulder, the sound of her breath, the feeling of her, warm and safe in his arms at last.
She reached out a tentative hand to stroke his cheek.
They both gasped as a rainbow of sparks arced between them.
The sensation was painless, a tingle of warmth, nothing more.
It was his heart that was breaking.
Because Adrian Harkness would be unable to restrain himself tonight.
And if he’d thought that alienating a client was a bad beginning, he was going to end his evening by making love to a woman who was one hundred percent off-limits. A woman he cared about deeply.
“Adrian,” she breathed. “What’s happening?”
“I don’t know,” he said.
That was mostly true. He thought about his three hundredth moon. Was that the cause? He wasn’t sure what was happening - it all felt like some sort of spell. For all he knew, it was a dream.
Her hazel eyes flashed almost green and he was instantly lost in their depths.
He leaned in closer, hypnotized by her beauty.
She tilted her chin upward, as if to beg for his kiss.
He surrendered with a groan, brushing his lips against hers, maddening himself with the gentle contact.
She sighed and he thumbed her jaw open further, kissing her in earnest now, his tongue stroking hers as he felt her go weak in his arms.
When she whimpered, he carried her over to the bed and placed her down gently.
Moonlight streamed through the windows, bathing her in a soft haze. Her lips were swollen from his kisses, and she gazed up at him with a hauntingly hungry expression.
Don’t sleep with her, Adrian. Don’t ruin everything.
But he couldn’t stop.
He crawled into bed next to her, lying on his side, stroking her cheek.
How many times had he longed to cup her sweet face in his hands?
A thousand tiny pinpoints of light danced between them.
She closed her eyes and turned to brush her lips across his hand.
His body responded instantly to her innocent touch, his cock suddenly straining against his jeans.
He slid his hand away from her mouth in a trail of rosy flames, following her ribcage, the curve of her generous hip, then sliding over to rest on her belly.
She held her breath and he wondered if she was anticipating his next move, or holding her stomach in. He hoped it was the former. It would pain him to think that there was some part of herself that she didn’t want him to touch.
He wanted to know all of her - every secret, every detail, each hair on her head.
When she reached up to kiss him, he couldn’t resist her. He kissed her back like his life depended on it.
The sweet sounds she made excited him terribly. It was almost impossible not to press himself against her hip to assuage the pounding ache a little.
But he was determined not to make love to her until after she had gotten her pleasure. Though some powerful magic was bringing them together, he wouldn’t take her until he knew she wanted him, not just relief from the waves of desire that buffeted them both.
Lucy arched her back, pressing her breasts against his chest. He could feel her nipples even through her clothing.
Again, he was nearly overwhelmed with the need to claim her.
He took a breath instead and kissed his way down to the base of her throat.
She sighed and moved her hair aside to give him better access.
He slid one hand down to slowly pop open the buttons on her shirt. When it was completely open, he nuzzled her cleavage then slipped a finger underneath the satiny cup of her bra to release a nipple.
Lucy whimpered softly.
He released the other and drew back slightly to look at her.
Her dark lashes kissed her pink cheeks as she looked down shyly.
“Beautiful,” he murmured, reaching down to unbutton her pants.
She lifted her hips so that he could slide them down to her ankles, then he peeled her clothing off until she lay before him in nothing but her bra and panties, nipples peeking out saucily at him.
“Lucy,” he said.
She looked up at him and her eyes almost seemed to glow.
But he was speechless in the face of her beauty, and he could say no more.
“Adrian.” She reached for him, her tone pleading.
“I’ll help you,” he promised her, crawling on top of her to kiss her cheeks, her eyelids.
Lucy wrapped her hands around his biceps, sinking her nails into his skin, and making him wild with need.
He kissed a trail down her neck and the sweet smooth skin of her chest until he reached her breasts.
She was holding her breath again.
He smiled, loving that she was eager for his touch. He would teach her to never long for anything else.
Gently, so gently, he brushed her nipple with his lips.
She gasped in response.
He took it in his mouth, licking and sucking, extending his hand to toy with the other one.
After a few minutes he felt her hips tilting up to him as if to beg for more.
She was ready.
He kissed his way down her belly, rubbed his face against the smooth satin of her panties.
“Adrian,” she whispered.
“Good girl,” he whispered back into the warmth he could feel through the thin fabric. “Oh, so good.”
She smelled like heaven, the panther inside him roared in satisfaction.
She moaned and he was afraid he would lose his resolve and take her right then.
But he managed to close his eyes and count to ten.
When he opened them he saw the damp spot on her panties where he had been nuzzling and felt a corresponding jolt in his own groin.
He traced his finger down the wet satin, glorying in the needy sounds she made.
When he slid his fingers under the waistband of her panties, she lifted her hips obediently for him to whisk them off.
He wanted to take his time, tease her and himself, to go so slowly they both went mad.
But the moment she was bare to him, he was plunging his tongue against her opening, drinking in her exquisite scent and the spicy sweet taste of her.
Lucy made sounds that told him she was beside herself with lust.
He slid a finger against her and pressed inside, delirious with her warmth and the way she tightened around his finger, crying out plaintively.
Adrian couldn’t resist sliding his other hand up to part her folds, find the throbbing little nub that needed his help, and worry it with his tongue.
Lucy stilled and then began to shiver with need.
God, was there ever anything so sexy as sweet Lucy Wren going to pieces on his tongue and fingers?
He redoubled his efforts, licking her clit hard and fast, sliding his finger further inside to massage the most responsive areas.
“Oh,” she cried out once. And then she was climaxing, her quivering thighs tightening around his jaws.
When it was over she let her head fall back down on the pillow and laughed.
The happy sound was more beautiful to his ears than any symphony.
He crawled up beside her again, ignoring the frantic demands of his own body to run a hand through her hair, see her smiling eyes, and know that what he had done was the right thing because it had made her happy.
14
Lucy
Lucy was still in the throes of pleasure when Adrian crawled up to smile at her in a way that gave her more pleasure than sex ever could, no matter how good.
Happy.
She swore he’d said the word, though his mouth hadn’t moved. Funny.
She reached out to touch his cheek. The sparkles that followed made her think of a special effect from a movie. The way he looked at her made her believe the magic was more than just in her head and heart. Something special had happened between them. Something more than she could explain.
“That was… amazing,” she whispered to him, trying not to feel too embarrassed.
Beautiful girl.
“You are amazing,” he said.
She closed her eyes, wondering if she was going crazy. He hadn’t said both phrases out loud. Had he?
Frankly she didn’t care. She was so happy to be in his arms at last. The only sadness was that he wasn’t in the heady after-glow she was experiencing.
“Please,” she said shyly, “can I help you too?”
Jesus. Oh god, I need her so much.
“I’m fine,” he assured her.
But she could see the tension in his jaw. And she was beginning to believe that the other words she heard were the ones in his head.
But of course that wasn’t possible. Was it?
She twined her arms around his neck and kissed him. He tasted musky and she realized belatedly that it was the taste of her own juices still on his lips.
The idea was both shocking and sexy. She welcomed both feelings into her heart. She didn’t want to forget any part of this time with Adrian.
When she pulled out of the kiss to nuzzle his neck he didn’t protest.
Emboldened, she kissed her way down the wide planes of his chest, nuzzling the rock hard abs she’d never known were beneath his clothes.
When she reached his jeans, he didn’t stop her from opening the button and sliding down his fly.
She discovered happily that he was only wearing the jeans and wondered fleetingly why he would have been jogging at night without underwear.
All thought left her mind when he lifted his hips to help her peel off the jeans.
His cock was enormous, stiff and swollen. The bright pink of the velvety head was irresistible and she rested on her side, running a finger along him.
“Oh,” he groaned.
She smiled at the novel idea that he was responding to her touch. He was at her mercy.
She leaned forward and swirled her tongue around him.
His fingers fisted the sheets.
She sucked him deeper into her mouth, loving the clean, salty taste of him.
The sounds he made were intoxicating. She found herself sucking him deeper and deeper into her throat, lavishing him with strokes of her tongue, swallowing him to see how much she could take.
Then his hands were in her hair and he was trying to lift her off.
She made a sound of protest around his engorged penis, and spread her hand across his abs to hold herself in place.
He cried out hoarsely, and then she felt him swell impossibly larger and convulse in her mouth. She tasted the salty spice of him as he exploded in wave after wave of pleasure.
When he calmed, she crawled back up to him and he pulled her onto his chest.
She wanted to talk to him, to tell him how she felt, how she had always felt.
Lucy was so happy and yet so afraid.
What if this was just another night of fun for him? What if he didn’t care at all, when this was everything to her?
His fingers began to move in slow circles on the sensitive skin of her shoulder blades and she relaxed into the sweet warmth of him.
Mine, he said.
But she was drifting off to sleep and wasn’t sure if he had really said it, or if it was just in her head.
15
Adrian
Adrian smiled to himself as he felt Lucy relax into sleep on his chest. He wasn’t sure if he would ever stop smiling again.
Her soft curls tickled his bare skin and she clung to him even in sleep, an arm around his neck, a leg across his waist. He was enveloped by the scent and feel of her, and the sounds of her light breathing.
Whatever happened as a result of this night, no one could take this moment from him.
When she was fully asleep, the wind outside picked up and the clouds dissipated.
Harsh moonlight fell across the bed, prickling his skin and sending his panther into a fit of excitement.
He slid gingerly out from under Lucy’s sweet form, tucking a warm blanket around her.
She made a soft sound of protest then went back to sleep.
He looked down at her. The need to fold her in his arms again was almost irresistible, but he feared what would happen if he denied his panther again.
A few minutes later, moving through the trees in the sinuous form of the big cat, everything seemed so simple.
He sailed on clever paws, tasting the moonlight on the pines and savoring the invigorating coolness of the night air.
He was free.
Adrian had never felt truly free before. There were the constraints of his human body, of course, but there were also the crushing responsibilities of being a good man. He was shackled by the need to protect the company, to protect his career, to protect Lucy from his insatiable lust…
But tonight he was his own Adrian.
And what the man couldn’t see, the beast saw easily.
Adrian had known instinctively that Jeremy Hall was tro
uble. He had acted rightly by calling him out.
And if he’d had any idea that Hall would threaten Lucy, he would have done more than call him out.
Adrian had also instinctively loved Lucy from the day she turned up at the office.
There was nothing complicated about his feelings for her, they were simple and good.
If he had to give up his career, he would. He’d reinvented his dreams before.
What he would not give up was the angel waiting in his bed.
Exhilarated by his discovery, Adrian leapt through the pines until the needles snowed down in his wake.
16
Lucy
Lucy awoke to the early morning sun streaming through the window.
Her whole body sang with satisfaction. Last night had been a dream-come-true.
She reached for Adrian.
But he was gone.
She opened her eyes. There was no sign of him. The bathroom door stood open and empty.
She closed her eyes again and rolled herself into a tiny ball.
Classic. What an idiot she had been to sleep with her boss. She had probably ruined her career.
And worse, she had lost him. It would have been better to be half in love with him forever without acting on it than to have had those few hours of bliss and lose him entirely.
We don’t feel sorry for ourselves.
She heard her Nana’s words in her head, clear as day.
We pick ourselves up and make things right.
Well, Nana was always right. There was no point moping around.
Lucy took a quick shower.
When she got out the phone was ringing.
“Hello,” she said, picking up.
“Oh hey, it’s the front desk,” a female voice on the other end said. “Another cottage just opened up. Do you want it?”
“Yes,” Lucy said gratefully, “thank you.”
“You can pick up the key whenever you want,” the girl replied in a bored way.
Lucy dressed swiftly, pulled a piece of hotel stationary out of the bedside table and wrote a note to Adrian.