“Then do them,” I challenge in a husky voice that doesn’t even sound like my own. “For God’s sake, stop talking and kiss me.”
He jerks his head up, his eyes ablaze with need. “Your wish is my command, princess.” He smirks. Then he crashes his mouth down on mine, and I see stars. He devours me with his lips and his tongue, exploring my mouth without apology, pressing his solid body against mine. I dig my hands in his shoulders, writhing against him as I kiss him back with the same unrelenting need. He pistons his hips against mine, and the heat and firmness of his erection causes me to cry out against his mouth. I grab his ass, pulling him against me, needing to get closer. Lifting my legs up, one at a time, I wrap them around his waist, and his arms go under my butt, helping to keep me in position. We grind against one another, continuing to kiss the shit out of each other, but it’s not enough.
My skin is on fire, the flames burning from within. I grip the hem of his shirt, tugging it up, and he gets the message. Ripping his lips off mine, he pulls his shirt up and tosses it aside. My eyes feast on his spectacular chest and abs, and I lick a path across his warm flesh. His skin is so hot, scorching under my touch. I swirl my tongue around his nipple, and he groans, thrusting into me with uncontrolled need. Taking one of my hands, he places my palm on his crotch, moving it up and down along his impressive length. We both groan, and I uncurl my legs, planting them on the ground and pushing him back a little. I yank his sweatpants and his boxers down in one quick tug, and he springs free. I stare at him in awe. Oh, um, wow. Maddox is definitely all man. I’m nearly afraid to touch it.
“Alinthia. You don’t—”
I place one finger against his lips as my other hand curls around his velvety soft length. “Sh. I want to do this.” I start to stroke him lightly and slowly, and his eyes roll back in his head.
“Oh fuck, that feels good.”
My panties are soaked as I drop to my knees and take him in my mouth. He leans forward, bracing a hand on the tree as I go to work on him, sucking, licking, kissing, and nipping at his quivering flesh until he’s reached the edge of his control.
“Tori!” He grabs my head, determined to pull me back, but I swat his hand away, suctioning on and sucking him deep into my mouth. He roars out his release and hot, salty liquid fills the back of my throat. When he’s stopped shuddering, I climb to my feet, wetting my lips, enjoying the taste of him on my tongue.
He pulls his pants up and swipes his top off the ground. Brushing bits of debris off the material, he puts it back on, and I silently drool at the way his biceps flex and roll with the movement. Then he dips his head, looking at me with a combination of shock and amazement. He’s speechless, just standing there staring at me for a couple of minutes. I quirk a brow at him, and he snaps out of it. “Holy fuck, princess.”
I capture his mouth with mine, and he doesn’t let me down, kissing me back with passion even though he must taste himself on my tongue. It’s hot as hell, and I’m loving it, my insides throbbing with need. “Feel like returning the favor?” I ask when we come up for air.
He twists my ponytail around his hand, tugging my head back as he fixes heated eyes on me. “You never have to ask me that. There is no way I’ll ever leave you wanting. Ever. You hear me?”
I nod as he moves me back against the tree. A gust of cool air whips across my chest as he pushes my top up to my shoulders, tugging my bra down and freeing my breasts. I arch my back and cry out when he sucks one nipple greedily into his mouth. His meaty hand roughly kneads my other breast, and then he alternates, lavishing the same devotion on both. I’m whimpering and squirming, and I think I could probably come just from this.
But Maddox is going all out.
In one swift, unforeseen movement, he yanks my shorts and panties down my legs, crouching low and immediately thrusting one digit inside me. My top falls down of its own accord, covering my bare chest, and I plant my hands on his shoulders to steady myself. Maddox adds another finger, looking up at me as he pumps in and out. He’s not gentle, and I’m enthralled by him and the way he’s making me feel. I’m sure I look like a hot, sweaty mess, but I don’t care.
“You’re so fucking sexy like this,” he says before whipping his fingers out, replacing them with his hot mouth. I scream as his tongue moves in and out of me, bucking my hips and riding the intense high. He is unapologetically relentless as he holds me firmly at the hips, lapping at me fiercely and possessively. I’m mewling like a cat, lost to the incredible sensations he’s evoking in me. Waves of pleasure start building inside me, and when he flicks his tongue at that little bundle of sensitive nerves, I explode, riding his face with unashamed abandon as he sucks my clit until I’m spent.
I grip the sides of the tree, using it to keep myself upright as Maddox pulls my panties and shorts up my legs and gently fixes my bra and top into place. Then I collapse against him, fully sated, circling my arms around his neck and clinging to his body. His uniquely masculine scent surrounds me, and I press myself tighter to him, running my hands up and down his back, relishing his solidity under my touch. There’s something potently grounding about holding him like this, and I’m not ready to let go of him yet. His sturdy arms encircle me, and he hugs me close, resting his chin on my head.
We don’t speak.
We don’t kiss.
We just stay there, at the edge of the woods, holding one another until daylight fades and an eerie gray blanket descends over the land.
“We should head back,” he says, easing me out of his arms. Peering intently into my eyes, he smooths a few stray hairs back off my face. “You okay?”
My answering grin is self-satisfied. “More than okay.” I stretch up, planting the softest kiss on his lips. “That was hot, and I’ve no regrets.” What I loved most about it was how spontaneous and natural it felt. How right it felt.
“I can still taste you on my—”
“What are you doing out here?” Cooper asks, popping into existence beside us and surprising the crap out of me. I emit a startled gasp. He looks perplexed as his gaze dances between us. A light blush stains my cheeks, and I worry my lip between my teeth. I’m sure our flushed faces and the scent of arousal is a dead giveaway. When awareness sweeps over Cooper’s face, he pulls his lips into a thin line. A muscle pops in and out of his jaw, and his hands ball into fists at his sides. “Sorry for interrupting”—he snaps, sounding completely unapologetic as he glares at Maddox—“but Dane’s back, and he has an urgent update.”
I extract myself from Maddox’s embrace, walking toward Cooper. “Coop, I—”
“I don’t want to hear it,” he says, refusing to look at me. Then he’s gone again, as quickly as he materialized.
“Ah, crap.” I hang my head and sigh. I hate that I hurt him, and I wonder if we do need to add labels or set some ground rules or something. I don’t know—do they have a rule book for this type of thing?
“You haven’t done anything wrong. We haven’t done anything wrong,” Maddox confirms quietly, lacing his fingers in mine.
I pierce him with sad eyes. “Then why does it feel like we have?”
He cups my face. “This is new for all of us and completely unexpected. The prophecy said nothing about the Chosen One falling for her protectors and vice versa. None of us were prepared for this.”
I step into him, resting my head on his chest. “I wasn’t aware of that,” I admit, having never thought to ask Beck about it before. “And it’s reassuring to know this attraction isn’t preordained, but how do we do this without causing hurt feelings?”
“I think we need to speak to Dane.”
I jerk my head up at that. “In case you hadn’t noticed, Dane doesn’t want to go there with me, and he’s the last person I want to discuss it with.”
Maddox smirks. “Sweetheart, don’t downplay your intelligence. You know he has feelings for you, that he shares the same attraction to you that we all do. He’s just being a stubborn ass, but he won’t hold out forever.” He tweaks
my nose. “You’re way too hard to resist.”
I swat his hand away. “Well, whatever. I’m still not sure he’s the best person to talk to about this.” Then a thought crosses my mind. “Hang on here a second.” I rub my chin as I think it through. “If there’s nothing in the prophecy about our attraction, why is Zorc so adamant about me pursuing a full relationship with all of you? And how can he know it will supercharge my powers if it’s not predestined?”
“He doesn’t know,” Dane replies, materializing beside us, and I scream.
“What the fuck is wrong with you people!” I shriek. “You are going to give me a damn coronary if you keep sneaking up on me like that!”
“It’s not my fault your spidey senses are out of whack,” Dane sneers.
“Spidey senses?” Maddox snorts.
Dane shrugs. “If she was embracing her true nature, she’d be able to sense our imminent arrival.”
Dane never ceases to make me feel like one big fat failure.
“Don’t be an asshole, Dane.” Maddox jumps to my defense, slinging his arm around my shoulder and hauling me in to his side. Dane eyes both of us circumspectly, but his expression gives nothing away.
Remind me to never play poker with the dude.
“To answer your question,” he says in a calm manner, looking me directly in the eye, “No one knows if fortifying our connection will help you gain control over your powers or not, so it’s only an educated guess on Zorc’s part. He figures it can’t hurt, considering something seems to be holding you back.”
“I’m not doing it on purpose,” I protest.
“So that makes it okay?”
A familiar wave of red hot anger churns in my gut. “Of course not,” I hiss.
“Our enemies are closing in, and the general has found a way to breach your mind,” he snaps back, someone clearly having filled him in on what happened last night, “so we’re running out of time here, Alinthia. We can’t defeat everyone without you. You need to unlock your abilities or we’re all doomed.”
“Do you have to keep going on and on at her?” Maddox argues. “Because it’s not very fucking motivational. Give her a break. She’s trying.”
Dane and Maddox enter into some silent argument, both of them tense as they glare at one another. I know Maddox most likely felt that moving the discussion to one of a telepathic nature was the best way of protecting me from Dane’s obvious frustration, but all it does is serve to highlight the depth of my failings.
Dane snarls at Maddox, and the silent argument comes to an end. “Don’t spout that bullshit at me. I’m in charge and I’ll call the shots. Don’t forget your place, Mad Dog.”
I poke Dane in the chest, my frustration and fury needing an outlet. “Don’t call him that. He deserves more respect, and don’t you forget your place. Last time I checked, I was the prophesied savior, not you, and powers or no powers, that hasn’t changed, so keep a civil tongue in your head or keep your mouth shut.”
Maddox’s mouth twitches, and steam is practically billowing out of Dane’s ears. I know it’s not very smart to poke the beast, but he really knows how to push my buttons, and some.
“Careful, Tori,” Dane cautions. “Don’t start something you can’t finish.”
“I’m not starting anything, Dane. I’m finishing it.” I’m determined to adopt the moral high ground; otherwise, we’ll spend all night bickering. “What’s so urgent that you had to come get us anyway?”
“I put your request to Zorc, and he’s very keen to meet with you, so he’s rearranged his schedule to slot you in at short notice.” He scrubs a hand over his five o’clock shadow. “You need to pack a bag. We’re leaving for the APGP in an hour.”
CHAPTER 10
“Wait!” I grab hold of Dane’s arm before he can teleport away. “We’re going to meet him on another planet? How?”
Dane’s answering grin is amused. Reaching out, he tweaks my nose in a condescending manner. “Yes, Tori. There’s a whole other world out there, in case that fact eluded you.”
Asshole. I think it, but I don’t say it. I’m starting to realize that when Dane wants to bug me he uses my human name, not my birth name, trying to put me in my place. “How are we traveling to meet him?”
He tweaks my nose again, and I slap his hand firmly, glowering at him. He has the audacity to laugh. “You’ll see.” He wiggles his brows and then disappears.
“I’m going to explode and accidentally kill him one of these days,” I mutter, kicking at the dirt underfoot.
“Accidentally?” Maddox’s tone is teasing. “I’d say you should zap him a few times with your supertouch and put him in his place.”
I massage my temples. “I would if I could.” My sigh is clearly exasperated.
“Hey.” He tips my chin up. “I know how frustrating it is when things don’t happen naturally, but don’t give up. Just try and stay calm and it’ll happen. You’ve already proven what you can do under pressure, so you know the ability resides inside you. I wouldn’t be surprised if stress is keeping it all at bay. You’ve had an awful lot to deal with these past few weeks.”
“Try telling that to the people relying on me. People are expecting me to be one thing, and I’m completely the other. I don’t want to let anyone down.”
“You won’t. I have complete faith in you.”
Well, at least that’s one of us.
Back at the house, I shower, get changed into jeans and a sweater, clean my teeth, and pack an overnight bag. Dane didn’t say how long we’re staying, so I add an extra set of clothes just in case we’re gone all weekend. Then I hunt down Cooper. He’s in the living room by himself, strumming his guitar. A black duffel bag rests at his feet.
I dump my bag alongside his and tentatively sit down. He doesn’t look up, stop playing, or acknowledge me in any way. I give him a few minutes before clearing my throat. “Can we talk, please?”
He strums a few strings on his guitar, and a muscle pops in his jaw. “There’s nothing I want to say,” he admits through gritted teeth.
“We both know that’s not true.” I fold my hands in my lap, staring at the side of his face, upset that he’s upset.
He stops playing and looks over at me, his eyes sorrowful and distressed. “I’ve been deliberately holding back with you because I thought that’s what you needed; however, I still thought we’d be the first to sleep together, because you don’t share the same closeness with any of them.” His chest lifts and hurt radiates at the back of his eyes. “Then you go and have sex with Maddox just like that.” He clicks his fingers. “Did you even think of how that’d make me feel?”
Fact is, I thought of no one in that moment. Not Coop or any of the Roth brothers. Not Jensen.
“Cooper, I didn’t have sex with Maddox.”
“What?” He sits more upright in his chair. “But I—”
I place my finger to his lips. I don’t want him to say it. It doesn’t feel right sharing details of what happened in the woods between Maddox and me, and if rules are going to be set down, privacy will have to be one of them. “We were intimate, but we didn’t have penetrative sex.” I let that settle in for a minute before continuing. From the flashing emotions etched across Cooper’s face, I can see he’s still struggling with this. “I care about all of you, Coop. I’m attracted to all of you, and I want to be close to you and your brothers, but it’s not going to follow some strict path. My relationship is already different with all of you, and that’s the way it should be. I don’t want this to be on a schedule or because Zorc says I should do it. I want it to be spontaneous and natural and to do what feels right in the moment. I didn’t set out to do what we did today, it just happened, and I’m not going to regret it because that would be akin to admitting it was wrong, and it was anything but.”
Gingerly, I reach out and caress his cheek. “I’m crazy about you, Coop, and I want to be intimate with you too, when the time is right. I don’t want to feel pressured into it or feel guilty if thing
s progress at a faster pace with one of the others. It doesn’t mean I care any less for you or that I don’t want that with you, because I do.” I peer deep into his eyes. “I really want that with you.” I cup his face in my hands. “I’m sorry you’re hurt, but you’re going to have to find some way of dealing with this, because I’m not yours alone, and I don’t know how this is going to work if you can’t share.”
He leans his forehead on mine, breathing heavily. I circle my arms around him, running my fingers across the velvety-smooth cropped hair at the nape of his neck. “I’m sorry,” he croaks. “You’re right, and there’s no place for jealousy.”
I ease back a little, staring into his gorgeous blue eyes. “You don’t have to apologize, and I know you can’t help how you feel, but I’m asking if you can try to process those emotions in a healthier way. Do you think that’s something you can learn to handle?”
“For you, yes. I’ll try, because I want this, and I don’t want to be envious of my brothers. If anything, I don’t understand why it isn’t easier for me to share, to accept this, when we’ve always done everything together.”
“It’s new for all of us, and I guess there’s bound to be teething problems.”
He brushes his nose against mine, and I tighten my grip on his neck, sweeping my lips against his. He kisses me back, winding his fingers into my hair and pulling my mouth closer. He’s only just deepened the kiss when a throat clearing interrupts us.
“Time to go,” Dane confirms, standing beside Maddox and Beck, all three of them looking at us. Maddox winks at me, without a trace of jealousy, and I smile, feeling a layer of stress lift off my shoulders.
We’ll find a rhythm that works for all of us.
Coop stands, taking my hand in his. Dane swoops down, grabbing both our bags as he nods at Coop. The three guys disappear, and I wrap my arms around Cooper’s waist, rest my head against his chest, and close my eyes before he’s even issued the instruction. The gentle swirling of air is the only indication we’re on the move.
The Secret Heir (Alinthia Series Book 2) Page 7