A rasping moan was torn from his throat. Holy shit. She was molten heat and exquisite tightness.
Perfection.
He forgot this was a feeding, even as he drank deeply of her power. Instead he concentrated on the exquisite sensations that shuddered through him as he pulled back his hips and plunged into her slick warmth.
Nuzzling a path down her cheek, Tiege nipped at the lobe of her ear, relishing the clean scent of her skin. Odd. He didn’t realize until this moment how much he detested the perfumes the concubines drenched over their bodies. Having his senses filled with the delectable woman in his arms, and not a choking cloud of incense and oils, only intensified his pleasure.
Nearly overwhelmed by the intense rapture jolting through his body with every thrust of his cock, he struggled to concentrate on the sounds of her soft moans and the rasp of her breath. There was no way in hell he was coming before this female found her own release.
Burying his face in the curve of her neck, he kept his pace slow and steady, his hands spreading her legs so he could find a deeper angle. Her nails scored up his back, her body arching as she neared her climax.
“Tiege,” she groaned. “Don’t stop.”
“Don’t worry,” he muttered in thick tones. “A fucking nuclear bomb couldn’t stop me now.”
Scattering kisses down her collarbone, he lowered his head to suck the tip of her nipple between his lips, increasing his pace and urging her legs to wrap around his hips.
Tiege heard Sloane cry out in startled joy, the pulse of her release seizing around his cock. He clenched his teeth, his hips surging until he was buried deep inside her as a shattering climax slammed through him.
The world disappeared as he rode out the storm of sensations that assaulted him. Then, with a low groan, he wrapped his arms around her quivering body and rolled to the side, pressing her against his chest.
A silence filled the room, broken only by their heavy breathing as they both struggled to recover from the explosive coupling.
It’s time to get on with the ceremony, a voice whispered in the back of his mind.
He was brimming with energy and night had fully descended on the Mojave Desert. Why would he wait?
But even as the thought of leaving passed through his mind he dismissed it.
The uncomfortable truth was that he was not fully sated.
Despite the thunderous orgasm, his dick was already growing hard and when she wiggled against him, as if she were attempting to untangle herself from his arms, he tightened his grasp and growled directly in her ear.
“This isn’t done.”
“Master…Tiege…” She tilted her head back, revealing the wariness had returned to her hazel eyes. “You’ve already fed.”
“It’s not enough,” he blatantly lied. Hell, his body felt like it could levitate off the mattress from the energy exploding through him. “I need more.” He shoved his fingers into her satin hair, crushing her lips in a greedy kiss. “I need this…” He slid his mouth down the line of her jaw and then along the curve of her neck. She whimpered, her eyes fluttering shut as he continued his downward exploration, using his teeth and tongue to rouse her passion. “And this…” His lips closed around the tip of her nipple and all coherent thought ended.
CHAPTER FOUR
Sloane ignored Tiege’s grim expression as he waited for her to climb into the Jeep the valet had pulled to the front of the hotel.
“I don’t know why you’re being so stubborn,” he muttered, sliding behind the wheel of the car and pulling into the thick traffic.
Sloane didn’t know why either.
A part of her wanted to remain at the hotel and recover from the past few hours.
Unlike Tiege, she wasn’t used to losing herself in a mindless orgy of sensual desire. God almighty, she didn’t even remember how many times they’d…what? Made love? No, that wasn’t right.
Had sex.
Yes. That’s what they’d done.
A fulfillment of hunger for an Incubus.
But it’d felt like more than that to her. A lot more.
Which meant she should be doing everything in her power to avoid the dangerous male.
She wasn’t stupid. She knew that her shattering reaction to his touch wasn’t just a female reacting to the magic of a sex demon. At least not entirely. She also knew she would be a fool to think for even second that she’d been anything more than a convenient meal for Tiege.
A clean break was obviously the wise choice.
Truth be told, she should have run six months ago. The second she caught sight of the Master of the House of Furia and sensed that he dangerously fascinated her.
Instead, she’d finished her shower that she’d refused to share with Tiege, and pulled out her phone to research the local desert, including the humans’ secret military bunkers. Okay. She was an idiot, but there was no way she was going to let him go into danger without her.
The mere thought was enough to make her blood run cold. As if instinct was warning that something bad was going to happen if she wasn’t close beside him.
With her decision made, Sloane had stolen one of his shirts to replace her ripped clothing, and tugged on her jeans and shoes. She’d just finished strapping on her weapons and was waiting beside the door when Tiege had strolled from the shower wearing a pair of black silk pants and a crisp white shirt. Naturally, he had to immediately decide that he didn’t want her to come with him.
Contrary ass.
He wanted her, then he didn’t want her…
Sloane didn’t bother to argue. Instead she grabbed her leather jacket and headed out of the hotel room that had thankfully been cleared of the drunken guests, and down to the lobby. She was going. End of story.
Perhaps sensing that it wasn’t worth the effort to argue with her, Tiege had marched behind her, muttering his opinion of pigheaded, unreasonable Blades.
His muttering continued as he steered them away from the Strip that still buzzed with activity despite the late hour, finally picking up speed as they hit the edge of the city.
It was a half hour later before they’d at last left behind any hint of civilization. A thick darkness surrounded them, the silence of the desert broken by the distant call of a coyote.
Settling back in her seat, Sloane resisted the urge to grab the dash as they bounced over the dirt road. Instead she glanced out the window, blithely ignoring Tiege’s frustrated glare.
“Tell me why you insisted on coming with me.”
She hunched a shoulder, not about to admit the truth. “If you die then I have to find a new position.”
He snorted in disbelief. “Petros hired you. He would keep you on no matter what happens.”
“Not if you end up dead. No one wants a guard who can’t protect their Master,” she pointed out in a deliberately light tone.
His annoyance continued to sizzle through the vehicle. “I have a guard.”
Her lips tightened. Why was he so bothered by her presence? Surely to him one warrior was like another? As interchangeable as the females who passed through his bed?
“I’m sure Jacob is a fine Watchman, but he wasn’t trained at the temple.” It was a fact he couldn’t deny. No one offered better instruction than the priestesses’ warriors. “And he doesn’t possess my obsidian dagger.”
A strange expression rippled over his beautiful face. “I’m beginning to think you care, Sloane.”
She didn’t bother to deny the charge. Instead her brows snapped together as he turned off the narrow path and parked behind a large rock.
“Why are we stopping?”
He nodded toward the elevated plateau just ahead of them. “That’s where I need to perform the ceremony.”
Her gaze scanned the endless desert around them. Drenched in silver moonlight it looked flat from a distance, but she knew it was an optical illusion. There were hundreds of small hills and valleys that could easily hide a dozen enemies.
“Fine.” She reached to shove
open the door, her hand slipping beneath her leather coat to pull out a handgun.
“Wait.” His fingers wrapped around her upper arm.
Turning her head, she sent him an impatient frown. The vast space around them was making her itchy. The sooner the ceremony was done, the sooner he could be back to the safety of his private suite.
“What?” she demanded.
His jaw hardened, his lean face impossibly beautiful in the moonlight.
“You do as I say, when I say.”
Anger jolted through her at his arrogant tone, but she bit back her hasty words. She was a guard. Which meant she was technically this male’s servant. He had every right to give her orders.
Even if it did make her want to poke him with her obsidian blade.
“Certainly.” She pasted a patently false smile on her lips. “Master.”
His own expression remained grim as he studied her with a smoldering frustration.
“This could be dangerous, Sloane,” he growled. “There’s a very good chance our enemies followed me from Hong Kong. There’s no telling how far they’ll go to try and stop us from getting information that might pose a threat to the Sovereign.”
She stiffened. Was he questioning her skills?
“I know what we’re facing and I can assure you that I’m capable of protecting you,” she snapped.
“I don’t doubt your abilities,” he snarled. “I just don’t want—”
She scowled. “What?”
“I don’t want you taking unnecessary risks.”
Sloane blinked. Then blinked again. Was he…worried about her?
The thought was so ludicrous she instantly dismissed it.
“Master,” she started, only to be interrupted by his rough sound of impatience.
“I told you to call me Tiege.”
Okay, that was enough. She might be his employee, but she’d be damned if she’d be the whipping boy for his crappy mood.
“Are you always so irritable after a feeding?” she snapped.
He met her glare for glare. “Never.”
So what did that mean? That she hadn’t fulfilled his needs?
The thought was obscenely painful.
“I suppose you blame me for not doing it right?” she muttered.
His sharp, humorless laugh echoed through the Jeep. “I think we both know that if you’d done it any more right I wouldn’t have been able to crawl out of bed.”
She desperately struggled against the vivid flashbacks of being spread across the bed with this gorgeous male stretched above her, his eyes glowing with copper flames as he surged deep into her body.
However there was no avoiding the blast of Incubus heat that slammed into her, searing over her nerves with sparks of sensual anticipation.
She didn’t think it was intentional. Just the side effect of being in such close proximity to a sex demon.
“Then why are you so pissy?”
He studied her in unnerving silence. “You disturb me,” he at last admitted in grudging tones.
She jerked at the accusation. “What have I done?”
“You smell like honeysuckle.”
He was disturbed because she smelled like honeysuckle? What the hell?
“Is that a bad thing?”
“It’s a distracting thing.” Frustration replaced the sexual vibes rolling off his rigid body. “I’m not supposed to want you. Not after I’ve already had you.”
“Oh.” She cleared her throat. He still wanted her? Good lord. That was…actually she didn’t know what it was. She squirmed in her seat, feeling uncomfortably flustered. Was she blushing? So much for being a big, tough Blade. “I could use a different soap.”
His nose flared, as if he was offended by her lame suggestion. “Change your scent and I won’t be responsible for my actions.”
Before she could recover from his sharp retort, Tiege was jumping out of the Jeep and heading toward the nearby plateau. Wondering if the male was playing some game to see if he could make her crazy, she swiftly followed up the narrow path toward the top of the hill.
Tiege had always been arrogant, mocking and downright annoying. But he’d never been psychotic. She could only assume he was under more stress than she first suspected.
Holding her gun in one hand, she came to an abrupt halt as they reached the pinnacle. The flat surface had clearly been used for centuries as a ceremonial spot for the House of Furia. The stone was deeply etched with a large circle that was filled with hieroglyphs that glowed silver beneath the vast sky splattered with stars.
Even from a distance she could feel the magic pulsing beneath her feet.
“Do you know how long the ceremony will last?” she demanded as Tiege headed directly toward the center of the circle.
He shrugged. “It depends on the spirit I’m trying to contact. Some come at my first call and others fight against my summons.” He sent her a taunting smile. “Since I’m trying to contact a female I’m assuming she’ll make it as difficult as possible.”
She narrowed her gaze. As impossible as it seemed, he looked even more stunningly sexy in the moonlight. The wildness of the desert surrounding them emphasized the stark beauty of his face and the smoldering copper of his eyes.
A creature made of mist and magic.
A dangerous longing sliced through her heart.
“You’re lucky you’re an Incubus,” she forced herself to mutter. “Otherwise a woman would have killed you a long time ago.”
“That’s why I have guards.” Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a silken handkerchief. Sloane assumed that the pendant discovered by the Master of House Ebarron was hidden inside it. With a last glance to ensure they were alone, Tiege sent her a questioning glance. “Ready?”
She gave a sharp nod. “Yes.”
He nodded toward the etchings on the rock. “Don’t step inside the circle no matter what happens.”
Sloane frowned. It hadn’t occurred to her that the ceremony could be a threat to Tiege.
“Will you be in danger?”
“Doubtful, but bringing a spirit into our world is always risky,” he admitted. “If the spirit tries to escape my control then things could get dodgy.” He waved a slender hand toward the darkness surrounding them. “While I’m interacting with the spirit I won’t be able to concentrate on anything else. Which means you have to make sure nothing manages to creep up on me.”
She frowned. She didn’t need his warning.
“I know how to do my job,” she muttered.
His lips twisted, his gaze making a slow, thorough survey of her stiff body. “And don’t be sticking your dagger in my back.”
She turned to head back down the pathway. “Don’t tempt me.”
~
Tiege waited for Sloane to disappear in the darkness before sucking in a deep, cleansing breath.
Not that it helped.
The air was still saturated with the tantalizing scent of honeysuckle and warm, delectable woman. Worse, his lips still tingled with the pleasure of stroking over her satin-soft skin.
Dammit, he was an Incubus. He used sex as a weapon, a tool and a source of power.
Never before had he been at the mercy of his own sensual need. But a few hours in bed with Sloane and suddenly he craved her like a drug. Even when he’d known that they’d had sex more than was safe, he’d continued to make love to her. Christ, how many times had he climaxed deep in her body?
Too many, a voice whispered in the back of his mind.
He’d come perilously close to making her his mate.
It was almost as if his body had taken control and was determined to bind this female to him in the most primitive way possible.
The knowledge made him frustrated, and short-tempered, and, as Sloane said, downright pissy.
At the same time there was a potent euphoria that bubbled through him like the finest champagne. The strange sensation urged him to concede his inevitable fate.
Sloane was going to be his.
One way or another.
Giving a sharp shake of his head, Tiege forced away the distracting tangle of emotions.
Later he would deal with the female who was destined to change his life forever. For now he had to concentrate on the ceremony he was about to perform.
Lowering himself to his knees in the center of the circle, Tiege pulled the silk handkerchief away from the sky blue semiprecious stone that hung on a silver chain. The jewel was cut into a smooth teardrop that glowed in the moonlight.
Careful to avoid the silver chain that would sear his skin, he placed the gem on top of the elaborate hieroglyphs that’d been carved into the stone. Then, leaning back on his heels, he concentrated on the necklace.
He could sense the magic that pulsed deep inside the gem. It tasted of spice and power and sweet feminine energy.
The sort of magic that hadn’t been in this world for a very, very long time.
Absorbing the energy, he released his own magic. It wasn’t the dark, creepy sensation that most assumed when they discovered he could talk with the dead. Instead it was warm and soothing and so ancient it made his bones ache.
Sinking into his powers, he tightened his bond with the gem, giving it a mental “tug.” Whoever had created the necklace was still connected to the magic, allowing him a direct link.
Seconds passed and then minutes. Distantly he was aware of the howl of a coyote, and the sound of Sloane’s steady footsteps as she patrolled the area, and yet within the circle there was nothing but thick silence as he wrestled the reluctant spirit through the dimension that separated the worlds.
His teeth clenched, his muscles rigid as he watched a dark mist form directly in front of him. He could make out the vague female shape, but the features were impossible to determine.
He had a sense of age. And power. A lot of power.
Which was why he was struggling to maintain his control.
“Give me your name,” he commanded. A name would offer him an added layer of control.
“Leila,” the mist answered, the female voice filled with an innate arrogance. “Succubus from the House of Akana.”
Succubus? Holy shit.
Masters of Seduction Volume 2: Books 5-8: Paranormal Romance Box Set Page 22