Opal let her fingers play over the working muscle of his shoulders. He felt broader than Joaquin, a little more heavily built…
Opal forced the thought away quickly. The last thing she wanted to do was trigger another bout of tears.
To her surprise, she realized her mind really didn’t want to go in that direction anyway. Opal felt too intrigued by Adam, so tall and hard against her, a delicious male weight pressing her into the mattress. His lips grazed her throat, found the hot pulse, and for a moment she half expected him to bite before she remembered he wasn’t yet a vampire.
Instead, his tongue licked out to taste her skin and he pressed nibbling kisses down Opal’s throat to the swoop of her collarbones, pausing to taste her there, dancing wet patterns over her skin.
She wrapped her arms around his broad back, spread her fingers, savored the strength rolling against her palms. And that wasn’t all she felt. The thick weight of his cock pressed against her belly.
A memory flashed through her mind -- taking Adam deep, letting him fill her so thoroughly. The deep, relentless thrusts that dragged sweet pearls of pleasure out of her dazzled nervous system. The swirl of his tongue across her clit, spinning such incredible sensations…
Opal felt herself clenching in wet anticipation. God, she wanted him. And it wasn’t because of Alys or duty or guilt. Her body simply craved his. And why not? demanded a cool little voice. Adam and Alys were right. Joaquin would not have wanted her to live this half-life she’d embraced.
Hunger rose up in Opal, a dark wave of it. Something began to gather in the air, like static electricity collecting before a thunderstorm. The hair rose along her body as she watched Adam work his way down her body. He stopped to scrape his teeth along the curve of her rib cage, a delicately ticklish sensation. The stark lust Opal felt made her shiver.
Suddenly she remembered something a court seducer had told her years ago. “The Gift wants to be given.”
At least she wouldn’t have to worry about Adam trying to rip out her throat. Opal could relax and enjoy the desire building under her skin. She didn’t even have to feel guilty about it, because if the Maja was right, Merlin’s magic drove her need. She wasn’t cheating on Joaquin.
That sounds like a rationalization, a cynical voice whispered. She ignored it.
Adam had tugged down the strap of her gown, to contemplate her nipple with absorbed hunger. He blew a puff of hot breath across the tight pink point, and it puckered even more for him.
“Pretty,” Adam purred, those incredible eyes flashing up at her, bright as gemstones in his tanned face. He smiled, teeth blazing white in the frame of his honey blond beard. His hair slid like feathers over Opal’s bare skin as his head moved. She arched, inhaling sharply at the deliciously erotic sensation. “And you taste every bit as good as you look,” he rumbled, the sound so deep and rough it only added to her need. His mouth covered her nipple, wet and shocking. As Adam began a hot, lazy suckling, Opal threaded her fingers into his hair, tightening them into fists.
Adam wrapped a hand in the other strap of her gown, dragging it down so he could lavish attention on that nipple, too. Lust jolted through her. Ferocious. Not quite natural. A burning magical sizzle in her blood. He closed his teeth and pulled his head back until the nipple raked free of his mouth with a little pop.
Adam looked up at her, his eyes burning hot -- so hot she realized she wasn’t the only one Merlin’s Gift was getting to. “I want you naked.” The words made her quiver with that carnal, growled demand.
“Yes,” Opal gasped. “God, yes.” She sat up and lifted her arms as he gathered handfuls of her skirt and pulled it off over her head. With a purr of satisfaction, he took the spill of silk and tossed it aside, leaving her clad only in a pair of tiny blue panties.
Adam’s gaze fell to the triangle of fabric. Began to blaze. Following his stare, Opal saw the lace lay over her pussy like a thin veil. He reached down, gliding a forefinger over the thin material. “You’ve soaked this,” he said, his voice low.
She shuddered at the wave of heat. “Yeah.” Her voice sounded almost as low and rough as his.
“How wet are you?” Adam hooked his fingers under the panty’s waistband until he could reach her pussy. His gaze slid away from her face to study her sex. He swallowed. “God, I love these pretty red curls.” One finger worked between the seam of her pussy lips. Opal swallowed at how slick she was.
“You do want me, don’t you…” Dark triumph curled through his predatory male smile.
A shiver ran through her. “Yeah,” Opal said, sounding strangled. “God, yeah.”
Adam sat up, grabbing the panties in both hands, and began to roll them down her legs. Slowly.
Way, way too slowly. She envisioned him ripping them, then driving that thick club of a cock into her slick depths where he belonged.
A smile curled Adam’s mouth as he watched his fingers through the panty’s lace. “Where’s my iPhone? I need to take a picture.”
Opal laughed, sounding breathless. “And do what, post it on a porn site?”
“No,” he murmured, running his fingers back and forth. Teasing the aching flesh. “This would be art. That ice blue lace so bright against all that pale Celtic skin and luscious copper curls.” Adam dipped his hand down to cup her, sending another violent spasm of lust through her.
Opal squirmed, reached down for the panty’s waistband, wanting to take them off. Adam tugged them down a little farther to the middle of her thighs. Leaning down, he slid his tongue over her cunt in a connoisseur’s considering lick. Pleasure jolted through her body with such intensity, she moaned.
“Niiiiicce. That taste…” Adam paused, staring down at her pussy in calculation, and swallowed. His head lowered and his tongue lapped a hot stroke between her lips. She jerked, and he began to eat her, suckling, nibbling, his tongue lapping up and down, back and forth.
He’d done this before, but it felt different this time, her reaction so much more intense. And growing more so with every flick of his tongue. He lapped at her as if she were an ice cream cone and he was starving. Opal braced up on one elbow to watch as he savored her, twisting his fist in her panties, trapping her legs together even as he forced his tongue between her clamped thighs until her breath came rough and she longed to break free and grab for his cock. But every flickering lap of that tongue was so incredible that she didn’t want to give it up.
Another hot pulse of magic tore through her, so intense it balanced on the edge of pain. Goaded, Opal writhed, rolling her hips against his face. Another searing jolt dragged a yelp from her lips. His shoulders jerked in reaction, and she realized the magic must have zapped him too. “Adam!”
“Yeah. Oh, yeah.” He jerked upright, dragging the panties the rest of the way off and hurling them aside. Impatient hands grabbed her legs, bending them until her knees almost touched her chest. He rose to his feet beside the bed and stepped in.
Opal reached down and grabbed his cock, aimed it for her aching pussy. Thick. It felt so thick and hot and smooth in her hand, and, God, she wanted it. Adam thrust, growling, his blue-green gaze wild as he slammed in deep, soooo deep, thick shaft pushing between slick, tight walls. She yowled in excitement, twisted as another hot jolt of magic surged through her.
“God, you feel good!” Adam hissed through his teeth and began to fuck her, hard, jolting thrusts as he put his back into it. Each entry and retreat ground against her clit and sent another fierce magic pulse jolting through her.
Adam braced his fists on the bed on either side of her shoulders, his eyes wild, his mouth tight. Opal curled her legs around his ass and grabbed his thick wrists. “Fuck me!”
His lips twisting in a snarl, Adam obeyed, grinding against her, driving so hard their bodies slapped in carnal rhythm. She hunched to meet him, teeth clenched, feeling the hot pressure of magic intensifying, snapping up and down her spine.
“It’s like labor,” a court seducer had once told her. “Your body takes over and
you can’t control it.” But Opal had no interest in controlling it. Adam felt too thick and long and perfect as he filled her, retreated, filled her again -- each stroke a perfect, digging pressure against the walls of her pussy, his groin rolling against her clit. Orgasm building to blinding, she writhed against him.
Adam’s head snapped back, his hair whipping around his head, mouth opening wide in a yell. “Opal!” he roared, coming.
Magic blasted through her, exploding out in a crackling strike that slammed right into his head. His shout of ecstasy spiraled into shock, took on a note of pain as he convulsed against her. Her own orgasm slashed her like a whip as more magic boiled up from the depths of her belly.
Opal convulsed, screaming at the hot pleasure rendered even more violent by the magic crackling around them, pouring from her body to his, drowning them in snapping sparks. Every muscle in her body suddenly spasmed, cramping until she saw stars. She couldn’t even draw breath to scream.
Adam, braced above her, shuddered in the grip of the magic, muscle twitching and rolling under his skin. They writhed together, trapped, jittering. Until at last the magic drained away.
He sagged against her and let his head fall, his hair curtaining her face. “Shit!” Adam groaned. “What the fuck was that?”
“The preliminary pulse of the Gift.” Opal wrapped her arms around his broad, sweating torso as he shook.
“It hurt! It felt good at first, but then it hurt!” There was a note of betrayal in his voice. His eyes met hers, more than a little spooked. “Am I a vampire now?”
Opal laughed. “’Fraid not. That was just the preliminaries. It’ll take at least one more session, maybe two. Believe me, once the Gift does hit, you’ll know it.” Opal grimaced, remembering the agonizing convulsions of her own transformation.
“Well, that’s comforting.” But the panic left Adam’s gaze, and he relaxed against her. Studying her face, he frowned. “Are you okay? I didn’t hurt you?”
She smiled at him, pushing a lock of blond hair off his face to reveal those crystalline eyes. “No, no, it was wonderful. But we’re not finished yet.”
His gaze flicked, and he looked more than a little unnerved. “I think I’d like a little break.” Glancing down at his softened cock, he grimaced. “For one thing, I don’t think I’m up to it right away.”
Remembering some of Belle’s stories, Opal laughed. “Don’t worry, you’ll rise to the occasion. But I think we can take a few moments to eat something. You need the fuel.”
* * *
Adam watched Opal beat six eggs while he busied himself chopping up vegetables for the omelet she had in mind. It felt good, working alongside her on a common task.
They were dressed again. She wore a loose tank over braless breasts and blue pants made of soft cotton that draped over her backside. He was dressed in a pair of pants in the same style in turquoise blue. “Brings out your eyes,” Opal told him, smiling slightly. And that was no accident -- she’d conjured the pants twice, changing the color until she got it right.
Now Opal glanced up at him. “Chop more. Stare less.”
But Adam found he couldn’t look away from her face, or the gleaming copper curls that coiled around her lean shoulders. Or the way her stiff little nipples tented the cotton of her top.
He ached to cup those exquisitely soft breasts in his hands again. The bolt of arousal took him by surprise, and Adam felt his cock growing heavy, though it only been about half an hour since he’d come.
He leaned in and brushed her hair back from her face, took her mouth in a slow, tender kiss. Opal’s eyes slid closed and she hummed against his lips. God, it felt good. “Mmmm,” she said. Her eyes opened, and she smiled at him lazily, brushing a thumb over his lower lip. “You taste so good.”
Adam smiled back, then felt the line of his lips flatten as he remembered the first painful preliminary jolt of the Gift. “So what’s going to happen now? I mean, during the transformation? Do I sleep for three days or what?” His mind flashed to a movie he’d seen of a vampire digging his way out of a grave.
“No, it’s pretty quick.” Opal grimaced as if at an unpleasant memory. “When I went through my change, it felt like being zapped with a lightning bolt. Hurt like hell.” Her face closed off. “But I understand the vampire version is a good bit more violent.”
A chill rolled down Adam’s spine. “More violent than getting hit with a lightning bolt?”
“The Gift does a lot more to you physically than it does to Majae.” Opal reached over and took the knife away from him, then began to chop up the bell peppers herself. “It primarily changes our brains so we can draw on the magic of the Mageverse and channel it through our bodies. But it changes even more in a vampire’s body. The digestive system, bones, muscles -- the whole bit. It uses your DNA as a template and transforms you into your peak physical version.”
As Opal talked, Adam found his gaze dwelling on her mouth -- the soft lips, so mobile and full… Hunger rolled through him in a dark, rich swell. He had to taste that mouth.
“Then you…” she went on, breaking off in surprise as he sank a fist into her hair, pulled her head around, and took her mouth, stepping full against her.
Adam half expected her to push him away. You didn’t just grab a woman like that -- especially not a woman who could turn you into a frog.
Opal just made a little hungry sound against his mouth and wrapped her arms around him again. Heat roared through him, his cock hardening until it felt like a steel bar trapped between their bodies. He had to fuck her. The abrupt storm of lust stripped every other thought out of his head. He had to fuck her now.
Adam grabbed her shirt in both hands and jerked. He’d never actually torn a woman’s clothes off before; he’d always thought the whole idea way too rapey.
But he did it now.
Adam dropped the shredded top and bent to kiss his way along the line of her jaw. One hand cupped her breast, squeezing softly. Her nipple felt hard against his palm, and Opal groaned, her throat working against his mouth. Her hands closed into fists in his hair. He could feel her pulse banging against his mouth as the smell of her rolled over him, indescribable.
She didn’t smell like she had before. Yes, there was that clean, fresh woman scent, with the edge of a sweet tang that was somehow different from that of any other lover he’d ever had. But now the smell was infinitely stronger. Even more intoxicating.
Another spasm of lust roared through him. He closed his mouth over her breast, suckling the tight point. The taste seemed to explode in his mouth. He shuddered as the need to fuck her rolled over him like a burning tidal wave.
Got to be inside her now!
No, she hasn’t had enough foreplay…
But one arm lashed out, catching the cutting board, the vegetables, the bowl of egg yolks, sending it all flying across the room in a violent heave. Something stung his arm, but he didn’t even notice even as the copper smell of blood filled his mouth and nose. He picked her up and slung her across the counter on her back.
It took all his self-control not to dive headfirst into that intoxicating pussy. I’ve got to slow down! But Adam’s body wasn’t listening. Need seemed to rake his brain with razor claws. He felt so thoroughly out of control, it reminded him of the moment she’d forced him to leave the newsroom during that fight.
Was she doing this? A snap of irrational fear tried to pierce his lust, only to pop like a soap bubble in the blaze of lust. Somehow Adam managed to meet Opal’s gaze. Her gray eyes looked huge and round and wild, the pupils so dilated, she looked almost stoned. “Do you want… my cock?”
“God, yes!” Opal panted and reared up, going for a kiss with such frenzied hunger, the edge of one tooth raked Adam’s lower lip and he tasted blood.
He didn’t give a shit. He just kissed her back, desperate and ravenous. She had to bend to meet his mouth because the prep counter was so high. At least get her to the bed, protested his inner Don Juan.
Adam dragged his
mouth away from hers and found her nipples at his eye level. He sucked one into his mouth, and the taste was so delicious, so exotic that his entire body seemed to howl with the need to be inside her.
Distantly, he could hear Opal chanting, “Oh God, oh God, oh God!”
It’s the Gift. But if it was, she was every bit as much under the spell as Adam was. And she smelled so damned good, his cock throbbed and jerked in his pants. He released her breast and she fell back against the counter to land on her elbows.
Adam grabbed the waistband of her cotton pants and dragged them down her long, long legs. He looked up at her as he dropped them on the floor and went for his own waistband, shucking the pants impatiently.
He stared at those creamy curves, so lean and strong and perfect. He started to grab for her thighs, meaning to taste that juicy little pussy again. But when Adam stepped between Opal’s legs, she snapped them around his waist and sat up, grabbing his shoulders and lunging for his mouth.
As she practically inhaled him, he dragged her off the counter and into his arms, turned with her. She was climbing him now, all strong legs and grasping hands and silken, creamy skin. He reached down between them, trying to angle his cock upward, but in his frenzy for her wet heat, his cock missed her opening.
She breathed a surprisingly vile curse in his ear. A hand grabbed his and directed him, though both of hers were still on his shoulders. He might have freaked if he hadn’t been so out of his mind with the need to bury himself in her.
Adam gasped as Opal slid down onto him, wet and tight and impossibly slick. He cupped her ass in his hands, barely feeling her weight. Strong thighs gripped his waist as she pulled herself up and ground down. Furious, frantic, he thrust, clawing for the climax he craved. But she was rising as he ground upward, and they couldn’t find the rhythm.
Adam cursed in frustration as her nails dug furrows in his shoulders, fighting to get in sync. She felt so impossibly good clenched around his cock. But as they hunched together, he had to fight to brace her writhing weight. Felt his balance begin to go. “Shit!” They toppled. He shot out a hand, trying to catch them, his free arm curling around her head to protect it.
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