by Julie Kenner
He broke the kiss long enough to tug the long-sleeved T-shirt she’d snagged from his closet up and over her head. The garment landed somewhere on the floor behind him. She didn’t look to see where. Was too lost in the fiery heat in his eyes to care.
“This,” he whispered as he slid his knuckles down her breast and around one straining nipple, “is all I want.” He lowered to his knees in front of her. “Don’t move.”
Her stomach quivered as she looked down at him, and she remembered when he’d pinned her hands to the ground in front of the fireplace in his room and told her the very same thing. “Or what?”
He looked up at her, and mischief flashed in his mismatched eyes as he pressed his fingers against the inside of her right knee, forcing her to step open. “Or I’ll tie you up and make sure you don’t move.”
A wicked thrill rushed through her just as he exhaled a breath of hot air over her mound. Her eyes slid closed, and she rocked forward, seeking his touch. She’d never been into the whole bondage thing, but with him she knew she could be. With him she had a feeling she’d be into everything.
His tongue parted her folds, slid along her center and flicked her already sensitive clit. Daphne groaned and pushed her hips against his mouth, wanting more. He did it again, this time flicking faster, circling the sensitive nub, then drawing it into his mouth to suckle.
Heaven. His mouth was pure heaven. His hands sliding over her skin absolute paradise. When he suckled her again, she groaned and dropped her hand on the back of his head, pulling him into her. Pleasure arced through her body. Before it could consume her, though, his fingers closed around her wrist. He pulled her hand away then twisted it around her lower back and pinned it to her body.
His threat echoed in her mind, and that naughty thrill whipped through her once more. But then he flicked his tongue against her again and it faded. She rocked her hips again and again, losing herself in the ecstasy. Her orgasm barreled close. She slid her other hand into his hair and pulled him in again. Pleasure rippled along her nerve endings and shot down her spine.
He jerked away before it could consume her and quickly rose to his feet. “I warned you, little nymph.”
Daphne gasped, stumbled. Reached out for him. But Ari ducked down, and before she realized what was happening, he wrapped his arms around her legs and threw her over his shoulder. A grunt passed her lips. She pushed a hand against his back, opened her mouth to tell him this wasn’t what she wanted—that she wanted his mouth, his hands, him—but the words never made it out. A whoosh of air brushed her spine, and the grunt turned to a screech. Then her back hit the couch cushions, and she stared up at his handsome, naughty, playful face.
Desire burned in his eyes. A desire that heated her blood and supercharged her need. “You like being in control, don’t you?”
He smirked, a sexy, one-sided grin that made him look downright delectable. Straddling her hips, he pressed one knee into the cushions, leaned over her, and reached for the lamp on the end table beside the couch.
Unsure what he was doing, Daphne twisted against the cushions and looked over her head. He grasped the lamp at the base, pulled until the cord snapped free of the lamp and the light went out, then tugged the end out of the wall socket.
Daphne’s gaze shifted back to him. Firelight danced over his features, making his skin look darker and his eyes even wilder. “You just ruined that lamp.”
“I know.” Grasping her hands at the wrists, he tugged them over her head so they hit the arm of the couch, then wrapped the lamp cord around her wrists and secured the cord to the leg of the table. “Does that hurt?”
Unrestrained lust consumed her when she realized what he’d just done. And though a little voice in the back of her head screamed giving up control was so not a Siren thing to do, she ignored it. Because she wasn’t a Siren. And because she was so wet from just the thought of him having his way with her, she could barely think. “No.”
“Good.” His eyes sparked with heat. “Now, you can’t move.”
Oh yes...
Her gaze slid down his chiseled abs, directly in her line of site, then over the waistband of his sweats, sitting dangerously low, the V at his hips making her mouth absolutely water. “What do you plan to do with me?”
He leaned down toward her mouth but stopped a millimeter from kissing her. “Everything.”
She lifted, aching for his kiss, but he drew away. His hand lightly skimmed her belly and moved across her mound. She whimpered. Then his talented fingers finally slid along her heat and pressed deep inside, and she groaned.
Her eyes slid closed. Energy raced along every nerve ending. She arched her back, tightened around his fingers, twisted against the cord pinning her hands over her head. Sweat gathered along her spine. Her orgasm rushed right back to the surface. Pleasure overwhelmed her. But before it could crest and drag her under, he pulled away once more.
“Oh gods.” Fabric rustled somewhere close. Daphne pulled against her restraints. Frustrated. Hot. Aching. “Come back. I need—”
His lips captured hers. His chest grazed her sensitive nipples. His tongue dipped inside her mouth until she was breathless and right back on the edge. “You need me.”
“Yes. Gods, yes.” She tore her eyes open, stared up at him through hazy vision. His face was flushed with arousal, his muscles straining beneath his skin. Capturing her leg, he hooked it over his hip, then raked his lust-filled gaze down her naked body until he was staring at her sex.
Her body quivered at the heat she saw in his eyes. She bit her lip as his hand closed around his thick cock. He leaned forward, and unable to look away, she lifted her head and watched as he rocked his hips forward, as the blunt tip of his cock slid through her wetness and over her clit, as he groaned at the sight.
Fire rushed down Daphne’s spine. She dropped her head back and moaned. He slid his cock through her wetness again, then circled her clit until she saw stars. Until she was rocking against him, growing hotter with every stroke. Until she was so close her body trembled.
“Not yet, little nymph.” He pressed his lips against hers and then was gone. His cock slid down and pressed against her opening. “With me.”
She cried out at the delicious fit. Lifted to hold him in. Groaned when he slid out then speared inside once more. He braced one knee on the couch between her legs for leverage. Drove deep again. Every thrust was heaven. Each slap of skin divine. Leaning close, he kissed her again, taking control of her mouth the same way he controlled her body.
His hand skimmed her ribs. He pinched her nipple between his thumb and index finger. Rested his forehead against hers as he drove her closer to the edge of oblivion. “Gods, I love being inside you. Could stay like this forever.”
Daphne moaned at the thought, lifted her mouth back to his and kissed him crazy, wild for more. He skimmed his other hand up her body and grasped her wrists in his long fingers, squeezing to hold her arms still. His lips released hers. Sweat dripped from him onto her as their bodies picked up speed. And it was good—so good—but she wanted more. Wanted all of him.
“Surrender to me,” he growled.
She wanted to—gods, she wanted to—but she didn’t know how to do that. She tightened around him, lifted to meet every stroke, tried to grasp his hand with her fingers pinned beneath his hold against the arm of the couch. She was close. So close. And she knew if she could just go over she could drag him with her. But—
He pinched her nipple again. Pain ricocheted through her entire body, wiping away every other thought. She arched and cried out. But before the sound was even out of her mouth, the pain transformed into pure, mindless pleasure.
Daphne moaned and sagged into the cushions. Ari’s cock grew even harder as he pushed into her deeper, faster, hitting that perfect spot again and again. She let go of the tension in her muscles, gave herself over to his thrusts and wicked touch. And the moment she did, she had a split second of clarity. Of his need to overwhelm her. To consume her. To own her
so she was his. Which was everything she needed too. The orgasm exploded inside her without warning, a sea of white-hot, blinding light that absolutely devoured her.
Long moments passed, but slowly consciousness seeped back. Shaking, Daphne dragged air into her lungs. Her muscles felt like gelatin, her body a pile of bones under a heavy weight. Prying her eyelids apart, she looked up, but all she saw was skin.
Ari lay over her, one hand still closed over her bound wrists, his slick body resting on top of hers while he fought to catch his own breath. Tingles erupted everywhere they touched, warming her skin, bringing it back to life one millimeter at a time.
“I’ll move,” he breathed in her ear. “Just...give me a second.”
His body was as limp as hers, and the realization made Daphne’s lips curl in a self-satisfied smile. She’d done that. She’d completely and utterly wrecked him. As thoroughly as he’d wrecked her.
Slowly, he eased back and looked down at her. His mismatched eyes were still glazed from his own pleasure, but a look of pure contentment softened his features and smoothed the scars on the lower half of his face.
He glanced toward the table above her head and chuckled.
“What’s so funny?” She twisted so she could see what had captured his attention, then gasped.
The table lay in pieces on the floor, the lamp shattered against the hardwood.
She whipped back to face him. “Did I do that? Oh my gods, I don’t remember that. I’m sorry.”
His grin widened. “Why? I like a female who can relinquish control so completely and forget about everything around her.” He pressed his lips against hers and rocked his hips, proving he liked it a lot. He was already growing hard again inside her. “I like it so much, I want to make you do it again.”
Oh... She wanted that too. Right here. Right now. Every day for the rest of her life.
“I’m the last person who should ever touch you.”
His words echoed in her head. Groaning, she lifted to his kiss and lost herself in him all over again. He was wrong. He was the only person who should touch her. The only one who made her feel alive.
And somehow, she promised herself, she’d find a way to make him believe it too.
Chapter Nine
Ari lay in bed, his arm wrapped around Daphne’s back, her naked body draped over his as she trailed her fingers along his ribs. Firelight from the hearth flickered over the ceiling in his bedroom, and he watched the shadows dance and move as he played with the ends of her hair and tried to convince himself keeping her with him was not a bad idea.
Nymphs were highly sexual creatures, free with their bodies in ways other races weren’t. He wasn’t stupid. Sex with Daphne would have been mind blowing regardless of the situation, but the fact she’d shared her feelings made it all the more sweet. Nymphs weren’t known to declare their emotions. Penelopei hadn’t once told him how she felt, and they’d been together for months. Then again, Penelopei had been manipulative and selfish, and Daphne wasn’t. Even though Daphne had trained with the Sirens, she was the most selfless person Ari had ever met.
She rolled her luscious body on top of his, rested her palms on his chest, and looked up. “You’re awfully quiet, Mr. Argonaut. What are you thinking?”
She was also highly perceptive. Something that struck him as odd because Penelopei hadn’t once keyed in to his moods in all the time they’d spent together.
He brushed the hair over her shoulder so it ran down her sexy back in a sleek mass. “Sorry. I was thinking about home.”
“Argolea?”
He nodded.
“You miss it, don’t you?”
He toyed with the ends of her hair. “Yes, I do. I miss the mountains and the ocean and the white marble of Tiyrns. But mostly I miss the people.”
“Silas said you have a son.”
“Cerek.” His chest pinched with a familiar sense of guilt. “He’d be about a hundred and twenty-five years now.”
She pushed up on his chest and stared down at him with wide eyes. “Good gods, your son is a hundred and twenty-five? You must be ancient.”
Smiling, he rolled her back in the pillows and kissed her neck. “That’s right. I’m older than dirt. You just got fucked by a senior citizen.”
She giggled and slid her fingers into his hair. “Thank the gods your ass isn’t saggy. How old is dirt, anyway?”
He moved to her earlobe. “Really old.”
“Give me a number.”
He stilled against her ear. She was only in her twenties. Nymphs had long lifespans, but not as long as Argonauts. Even though they both had roughly five hundred years left to live, he didn’t want to shock her.
He also didn’t want to lie. Not after the way she’d been so honest with him. He pressed a kiss to the soft skin behind her ear. “Two hundred and twelve.”
Her hand shoved against his shoulder, knocking him back into the mattress. Sitting upright, she stared down at him with even wider eyes. “Holy Hades. It’s a wonder you didn’t break a hip with that last acrobatic stunt you pulled.”
She had an adorable way of lightening the mood. One that put him at instant ease. Tugging her down onto his chest, he wrapped one leg around hers, locking her tight against him. “I have a stockpile of acrobatic stunts saved up.” He lifted his head and kissed her. “And I heal fast. So if you break my hip, little nymph, I’ll be good to go in only a few hours. Don’t worry.”
Laughing, she relaxed into him again, then laid her head back on his chest. “No wonder you’re so attracted to me. You need someone to keep you young.”
He sifted his fingers back through her hair and realized she was right. Isolating himself the way he’d done had only aged him beyond his years. Every day he felt the weight of loneliness wearing on his body and mind. He hadn’t realized how much until Daphne had come into his life like a breath of fresh air, reminding him he was still a relatively young male.
“So when was the last time you saw Cerek?” she asked, drawing a lazy circle on his chest with the pad of her index finger.
His stomach instantly tightened, and an image filled his mind. A flash of that last day, when he’d set that fire. “Fifty years ago.”
“In Argolea?”
“No. The human realm.”
She didn’t ask, but he knew she was waiting for more. And even though talking about it only brought back painful memories, he owed her answers after everything she’d given him.
“After my soul mate was killed, I wasn’t much fun to be around. I was living in the human realm then, just trying to get from one day to the next. Cerek kept popping over to check on me when he should have been focused on his new position with the Argonauts.”
“He took your spot after you left?”
“Yes.”
“Do you have other children?”
“No. Just Cerek.”
“And you miss him.”
It wasn’t a question but a statement, one that hit him hard beneath her hand where it rested on his chest. A lump formed in his throat. One he’d spent fifty years trying to get rid of but never quite could, one that made it hard to form words. He nodded.
She was quiet for several seconds, then said, “Since you said you were only with your soul mate a few months, and Cerek’s way older than fifty, I’m guessing his mother wasn’t your soul mate?”
He breathed out a sigh of relief, thankful they’d moved on from what a shitty father he was. “No, she wasn’t.”
Daphne looked up at him with narrowed eyes. “It’s very hard to get information out of you, Mr. Super Secretive Argonaut.”
There she went again, relaxing him when no one else ever really had. He brushed his hand down her hair, smoothing it over her lower spine. “It was right after I’d joined the Argonauts. I was young. She was interested in hooking up with a Guardian. It wasn’t serious. When she discovered she was pregnant, we both knew our relationship wasn’t going to last, but we remained connected through our son. We stayed friends.”
>
“Does Cerek see her often?”
“She died when he was about ten. This was back when the borders of Argolea were more fluid. She and some friends crossed into the human realm and were attacked by a horde of daemons.”
“I’m sorry.”
He sighed and looked up at the ceiling, another whisper of guilt rushing through him because he hadn’t been able to stop Gia. Hadn’t been able to save her. “It was a long time ago. When she died, I mourned her, but it didn’t break me. It was harder for Cerek. I had the Argonauts. He didn’t. Somehow, no thanks to me, he got through it.”
Ari’s chest squeezed tight. Cerek had been dealt a crappy hand, and it was all Ari’s fault. He hadn’t done a thing to make life easier for Cerek, and when it all got to be too much, he’d walked away, leaving Cerek to pick up the pieces of a shattered family. That was Ari’s greatest regret. That his son had paid for his mistakes. Was still paying for them.
“No,” Daphne said softly. “I’m sure it’s because of you that he got through it.”
Startled by her words, Ari looked down at her. Her eyes were a soft green, her face filled with so much emotion, the pain in his chest slowly seeped away. She didn’t know Cerek, didn’t know how cocky and arrogant Ari had been back then, didn’t know anything about his old life except what she saw now. And even after all of the horrible things she knew about him today, she still believed the best of him.
“Why do have such faith in me?” he asked quietly. “I’m not worth it.”
“Do you really have to ask? I have faith because I love you.”
For a moment, he was sure time stood still. Of all the things he’d expected her to say, that wasn’t it. His heart beat hard against his ribs as he searched her face for the lie he knew had hidden somewhere inside her. But in her shimmering gemlike eyes he saw nothing but truth.
“Daphne.” His pulse turned to a whir in his ears. “I’m pretty sure I’m not capable of love.”