Masters of Seduction Volume 2: Books 5-8: Paranormal Romance Box Set

by Lara Adrian et el

  “If it’s not pleasing…” Cas began tightly.

  “No,” she said at once. Her eyes moved over every inch of the converted greenhouse that was expertly concealed by blooms and trees and lit by torches and firelight. “It’s incredible.” She turned to him, her eyes brilliant with pleasure. “It’s perfect.”

  The grin that broke on Master Casworon Trevanion’s face was contented and dynamic, and stunningly rare.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Cas knew that his about-face, his abrupt change of plans, would no doubt strip him of the title of Incubus Master. To abandon ten ready females for one? Unheard of. Almost human-like.

  His lip curled at the thought as he led Elia inside the small greenhouse he’d frequented as a young male, then had converted to living quarters just a few years ago. Up until this moment, it had been his refuge. Where he’d gone to think and relax and mourn. Never had he brought a female here. It was near-sacred space. And yet he had texted Pennice as the carriage was being ordered, canceled the night at the cottage and ordered his greenhouse readied.

  The Watchman should’ve been confused by the command, but Pennice hadn’t sounded the least bit surprised. In fact, he’d been downright pleased.

  What the hell was that about? Cas wondered.

  “This place is so beautiful,” Elia remarked as he led her through the sumptuous living area with its comfortable furnishings, lush plants, roaring fireplace, and walls and ceilings of glass. “I had no idea it was even here.”

  “That’s exactly how I wanted it,” he said. “Absolute privacy. This is the kitchen.” He pointed out the small, functional space with a brick oven and stainless appliances. “Not all that grand, but it does the job.”

  She turned to stare at him. “Do you cook?”

  He laughed. “Is that such a strange concept?”

  “Yes,” she returned, picking up on his laughter. “Because I was always under the impression that Incubi don’t eat.”

  Heat rumbled through him. “Oh. We eat, my lady.”

  Her cheeks instantly flushed pink and Cas laughed again, then gestured for her to follow him down the hall. “This is my bedroom. The only one. And beyond that is the bathroom. It was something I added to the existing structure. All glass, and the panels in the roof open to let in light and air.”

  She gasped. “Really?”

  Cas’s heart—or what he assumed that working muscle was called—squeezed. What was it about this female? She drew him like a moth to light. Her smile, her enthusiasm. It was as though everything was new, to be savored. Combined with her fiery, dauntless tongue, and the raw need she had for him, he was well and truly captivated.

  Was this what the other Masters felt? Was this what drove them to mating? Not the forced kind of mating with no care or thought for the other being. But the kind that inspired a male to cancel an orgy just for the chance to not only taste the female at his side, but talk with her…laugh with her…

  Show her the one thing about him that was truly private.

  He turned to her and noticed she was glancing around, slightly agitated. “What’s wrong?”

  “Are we alone?” she asked.

  “Yes. Were you expecting a crowd?”

  Her eyes lifted to meet his. “Kind of. You do have a reputation, my lord.”

  “I am Incubus,” he said, his arm slipping around her waist. “But the idea of sharing you doesn’t appeal to me.”

  She wrapped her own arm around his waist. It was very strange. This intimacy. Strange, yet…good.

  “I thought it would be more likely that I’d be sharing you,” she joked.

  His jaw tightened imperceptibly. “Do you wish for that?”

  “Hmmm,” she said thoughtfully. “I think I’d like that about as much as I’d like to roll around with a hornets’ nest.”

  Cas laughed and pulled her even closer. This madness he was feeling, that was running through him… Never had he wanted to be alone with a female. Never had he been furious at the thought of not only another male touching her—but a female’s hands on her as well.

  “Are you hungry?” he asked her.

  “No,” she said. “Maybe later?”

  “Anything you want, I can make.”

  She smiled softly, sweetly, dangerously. “Master Casworon…what I want, all that I want right now, is you.”

  The words were like little explosions inside his chest. Each one made him want to do something—scale something, slay something, all in her name, then come back and kneel at her feet.

  It was a feeling, a sensation, he didn’t like.

  It made him feel vulnerable.

  He eased his arm from her.

  “There is something I must see to,” he said, his tone still lingering with warmth. “But I had a bath prepared for you. If you would like.”

  Disappointment flickered in those stark green eyes. She was wondering what had just happened—what would keep him from taking what she’d been so gracious to offer to him.

  And Cas wasn’t about to explain it to her. This reaction to a sudden loss of control. Vulnerability where it had never existed before. These feelings.

  He needed a moment. To pull himself back together. Return to the power of the demon.

  “That would be lovely,” she finally answered, her tone a little tight. She pointed to the door. “Just in there?”

  He nodded, his body warring with his mind, the former wishing to go with her—show her the bathtub, undress her. “You’ll find a robe, soaps, salts, anything you could want.”

  She gave him a half smile as if to say, I told you what I want, then turned and headed for the bathroom.

  When the door closed, Cas stalked into the kitchen and poured himself a drink. Anger raged through him. She was in there, stripping down to that skin he could scent even now, and he was out here thinking and drinking, and trying to regain his control. Why?

  Why?

  Who cared for control when there was so much pleasure to be had? And yet, the pleasure came from such a female. Never had he thought about the females he bedded before. Truly, he shouldn’t start now. No matter what virginal feelings were arising from her presence.

  Feelings…

  Christ, those feelings.

  That was the bloody problem, wasn’t it? Not control. He couldn’t process the— “Casworon?” Elia call out. “Could you help me?”

  Her voice was like ice water to his brain and he forgot all about his drink and his feelings and headed straight for the bathroom door, sending it flying back as he entered.

  “What’s wrong?” he demanded, surprised at the level of his concern. “What is it?” His eyes shifted about the candlelit room.

  Her ball gown was laid out on the brown leather chaise in one corner, while the female herself was standing near the tub in only her corset.

  Cas nearly lost his mind in that moment, his hands forming fists as he struggled with reaching for her. Mine. Mine to take. To consume. The demon wanted skin, wanted to be fed.

  “I’m sorry,” she said, gesturing over her shoulder. “I can’t reach the laces in the back.”

  It took everything inside of Cas to tamp down the demon’s desires. The beast didn’t like it. It was used to getting what it wanted—whenever it wanted it.

  Without a word, Cas moved to stand behind her. Trying not to take her scent into his nostrils, he worked the laces, one by one, until she was free. His eyes pinned to the creamy skin of her back, he let the corset drop to the ground. Then, without thought, reached out and ran his fingers over the marks the tight material had placed on her skin.

  Her perfect skin.

  Her warm skin.

  Take. Take her.

  She stepped away then, and beneath his dark, hungry gaze she removed her stockings and panties. Cas hissed out a breath. If her sharp mind and dauntless tongue weren’t temptation enough… She had an exquisite body. Long legs, full hips, small waist, heavy breasts with tight nipples and a nearly shaved pussy.

  H
is mouth watered.

  As he stared like the rabid demon he was, his body humming with a need like no other, his cock so hard it pained him, she stepped into the steaming water.

  Envy enveloped him.

  For a bloody bathtub.

  “Thank you for the help,” she said, looking up at him. “I’m not used to wearing a corset.”

  His nostrils flared and he nodded. She looked irresistible beneath the water, her head resting on the edge, blond curls falling over the side.

  “You can go now,” she said, then smiled. “Or not. This is a very large bathtub.” Her brow lifted in question.

  “Are you asking me to join you, Elia?” His tone was as hard and unyielding as his body.

  “Yes.” Her smile widened. “Unless you have something else you need to attend to.”

  Fuck him. Fuck his demon. Fuck his feelings. Nothing was keeping him from this female.

  His eyes locked to hers, he removed his jacket, then his tie. Lia watched him every step of the way. Her eyes skimming over his naked chest, his shoulders…then dropping and widening as she took in his cock.

  All your doing, female.

  A soft growl exited his lips as he stepped into the bath and settled in across from her. Perhaps later she would oblige him and stand under the rain shower with him.

  “First time in a tub?” she teased, her eyes alight with mischief.

  He growled again. Louder and more aggressive this time. “How can you tell?”

  “You’re normally not an awkward male.”

  A small, strange twinge went through Cas, and he locked eyes with her. “How would you know that? We have never met before. Have we?”

  It was only a second, but Cas saw her brow furrow and heard her breath quicken. Then she smiled and shrugged. “No. I…just assumed.”

  “The truth is I’ve always preferred showers.”

  “Oh,” she replied, mildly thwarted.

  He settled deeper into the water. “Until now, anyway.”

  She face broke with a lovely smile. “Well, my lord, I’m glad my naked presence has changed your opinion.”

  “It has,” he confirmed, stretching out his legs. “I am committed to doing it again.”

  “With your mate?” she asked, then instantly looked as though she wanted to take it back.

  A thread of irritation moved through him. “Why do you speak of her? Especially now. Like this.” With me.

  She shook her head. “I don’t know. I’m sorry.”

  “You should not feel threatened by her, Elia.”

  “I don’t,” she insisted. “I—”

  “She will be a food source only,” he continued, feeling the urgent need to explain so they could return to the ease and sensual play of a moment ago. “And of course mother to the young that may come.” He smiled knowingly at her. “But everything else my life affords now will stay the same.”

  But instead of looking reassured, understanding that he meant he would wish to see her after this night, her face went ashen. “That sounds…” She shook her head.

  “What? Realistic?”

  “No. Heartless.”

  He breathed. Perhaps she was not informed of his duty, his future as Master of Trevanion, or how his kind existed in this world. “It is how things are, Elia. For me. My family. And for Incubi. Our kind must have sex to survive.”

  “I know.”

  “We don’t have it within us to forge deep, long-lasting connections. Incubi do not love.”

  She cocked her head and asked, “Is that really all Incubi? Or just you?”

  Cas paused. He didn’t like this line of questioning. It delved into a subject that both irritated and confused him. Especially lately…

  “Yes, there have been some Incubi who have taken mates out of what they believe is love.”

  “But you don’t believe it,” she prodded.

  “I cannot fathom it,” he admitted. “Have not seen it. Not in my family. We are forced to mate for the good of our line, our name, our tradition. Perhaps that is a sort of love. I don’t know.”

  Her eyes were probing his, trying to dig deeper into his soul. “What would happen if you broke with tradition?”

  He smiled darkly. He wouldn’t have guessed she was a romantic. He felt her foot against his thigh and claimed it. “My life is not the one that matters, Elia. It is everyone I’m responsible for. From those who live on my land to the ones who work in the castle. I care about their welfare.”

  Her eyes softened measurably.

  “What I said pleases you.” He started to massage her foot.

  “Getting to know you pleases me,” she said on a smile.

  “I can’t believe I’ve said as much as I have. It is not my usual way.”

  “Does it make you uncomfortable?”

  “I’m not sure.” It was an honest answer. All he had. “What of you? Tell me about you.”

  A sudden shadow moved across her features, and her gaze dropped to the water. “You didn’t bring me here to talk, did you?”

  Her abrupt change confused him. No, he hadn’t brought her here to sit in a bathtub, naked, and talk. Most assuredly because before this moment he’d wouldn’t have conceived of it. But he would be lying if he said he hadn’t found the whole thing strangely enjoyable. Even though some subjects were difficult to discuss.

  “I have told you much about me,” he said, pushing her a little. “I want to know you, Elia. Where are you from? Do you have family? Is there—”

  She didn’t let him finish. She eased her foot from his grip and scrambled to her feet. Bathwater spilled over the sides of the tub. “I think I’m done with the bath, my lord.”

  Cas sat up, and for one brief moment, he wondered why she had become so agitated. Why she didn’t want to share anything about herself. But the thoughts quickly died. She stood before him, dripping bathwater, her pussy just inches from his face.

  His nostrils flared. “Don’t move,” he said on a growl.

  “But I’m done. I’m soaking wet.”

  “Not nearly wet enough. Now, spread your legs for me, Elia.”

  ~

  Her back to the soft down comforter and Casworon Trevanion looming over her, moving in and out of her body.

  That was what she’d imagined would happen this night.

  And it had been a good fantasy. One that had gotten her through many a lonely, tired night as she found a moment of privacy curled up next to the kitchen’s fireplace in the castle.

  “Legs apart, Elia,” he commanded, more fiercely this time.

  But this… She shuffled her feet out until they touched the sides of the tub. This she couldn’t have fathomed. This was the stuff of novels or things the Temple Blades would speak of in hushed tones at night as they shared their latest conquests and secret assignations.

  She glanced down. In the warm, soothing light of the many candles situated about the room, Casworon looked terrifyingly handsome. Naked and aroused, he sat there, eyes pinned to her sex, the demon that rumbled inside him near to his thickly muscled skin.

  Her insides clenched with longing. To have this male even once…it would be a dream come true. One only her heart had made.

  “You are very beautiful, Elia,” he said, his breath fanning her heated skin. “Pink, wet…but not wet enough to please me.” He glanced up, his amethyst eyes a blaze of predatory hunger. “Do you want to please me?”

  She nodded, breathless. Was she really to stand here? Let him look at her? Let him…

  A grin split his features and he said in a hard voice, “I want you to touch yourself, my lady.”

  Shock barreled through her. She couldn’t possibly have heard him right. She’d been deep in thought, struggling with questions. But then he said it again.

  “You wish to please me, yes?” he asked. “Do it. Touch yourself.”

  “But I thought—”

  “That I would be touching you?” he asked, brow arched. “Oh, I will be. But first I want to see…I want to know
what you like…how your body responds…”

  Was it possible for a person to feel both embarrassment and shattering lust? Lia forced out a bleak, “But…I…I can’t—”

  “You can and you will,” he growled, then dropped back to recline against the tub. His arms went behind his head, which made his already wide and heavily muscled chest expand. “If you want my hands on you tonight, yours must come first.”

  Her cheeks flamed, and her breath was coming in shallow pants. Could she? The old Lia would, her mind whispered. The old Lia would take this challenge and run. Moan. Cry out. Jump.

  So be the Blade you once were. She’s still in there, still inside you.

  Brave.

  Raw.

  Pushing away her nerves and embarrassment, she placed her hands on her breasts. Eyes locked to Casworon’s, she slowly began to massage herself. First gentle and easy, then slightly more rough, aggressive. It felt good; it had always felt good. But it was this male’s ravenous gaze, and his cock, which was standing up proud in the water, that truly made her heart beat wildly in her chest and her insides go liquid.

  With a hiss, she squeezed each nipple, then moaned as she rolled them between her thumb and forefinger. The muscles of her sex clenched. She knew how wet she was becoming. Not with the bathwater anymore, but with her body’s cream. Cas’s eyes were growing heavy-lidded as he watched, and she wondered if he wanted to touch himself too. She would like to see that. But he didn’t. He only stared, his nostrils flaring as he growled softly.

  Slowly, languidly, Lia let her hands drift down. Over her ribcage and belly. Her sex ached for her touch, his touch. Cas inhaled sharply just as she reached the top of her nearly shaved pussy.

  “That’s right,” he snarled through gritted teeth. “That’s what I want. Show me.”

  Her breath coming hard and fast now, she opened herself with the middle and index finger of her left hand, then gave her clit a soft, quick pinch. A moan escaped her throat, and her knees softened. How would she keep herself vertical for any true length of time?

  “Bloody hell, female,” Cas ground out. “I’m going to come right here in this bathtub.”

  Eyes drifting closed, Lia started to circle her clit. Two fingers pressing against her tight, hot bud. Arousal coated her fingers with every rotation, while a few drops trailed down her inner thigh.