Malachi shifted his grip on her hands, taking her arms behind her back and pinioning her wrists together at the small of her back. He held them there with one hand and brought the other around, trailing her fingers down the center line of her body. “So this is what you want?” he asked, unable to keep the bitterness out of his voice.
He cupped her in his hand, grinding the heel of his palm against the mound of her sex. All the while, he stared into her eyes. “You want this?” he asked again.
Her pupils expanded until the black nearly eclipsed the warm golden brown. When he pushed a finger inside her, her lashes fluttered low. “Tell me, Kelsey.” Lowering his head, he raked his teeth along the line of her neck. “Is this what you want?”
A soft, hungry moan escaped her lips. “Yes—I want this.”
Mal lifted his head, staring down into the delicate oval of her face. I should have stayed here and never left, he thought bitterly as he loosened his grip on her wrists.
Then Kelsey’s lashes lifted, and she stared at him with glowing eyes. Her voice was strong and steady as she added, “But it’s not all I want.” She jerked on her hands, freeing herself from his slack hold; then she stepped up to him and slid her arms around his neck. She rose on her toes and stared up into his face. As she brought her lips to his, she murmured, “This doesn’t even begin to touch what I want.”
Her tongued traced the outline of his lips, then she dipped her head and bit him lightly on the chin. “There are times when you terrify me, Malachi.”
Those words were like a punch in the gut. Her lips skimmed over the edge of his jaw, over his ear. “But what scares me the most about you? You make me feel.”
Her slim hands cupped his face, and she looked into his eyes. “You’ve made me feel from the first time I laid eyes on you.” Then her lips quirked a little. “And I have dreamed about you. Once or twice. Hot, wet dreams that make me blush to even think about them.”
Her lips covered his once more. She traced them and then pushed inside, and Malachi opened for her. His hands closed over her waist, squeezing convulsively. Their tongues tangled together, and he felt the warm, erotic brush of magick dancing over his skin. Then her voice—he could hear her whispering to him inside his mind. Make me feel, Mal . . . put your hands on me, and make me feel.
His hands skimmed up her sides, cupping her breasts. And as he touched her, he felt the barriers in her mind melting away. Don’t turn away from me, Mal, she whispered to him. Not just because I don’t know how to handle you.
Pulling his mouth from hers, he pressed his forehead to hers. “Can you handle this? I love you,” he murmured. “If you can’t handle that, then you need to let me know.”
A slow smile curved her lips, her eyes gleaming. “I think I can handle that much—once I get my mind wrapped around it.”
The rush of emotion that flooded him confused him. Mal wasn’t used to feeling a broad spectrum of emotions. Loneliness, rage, boredom, need. That seemed to be it. This one made his legs feel weak and everything around him seemed to blur. It took a minute to put a label on it.
Relief. Malachi wrapped his arms around her slender, warm body, holding her tight. “Take your time,” he muttered as he buried his face in her hair. “We can just stay here until you’re ready.”
There was a flare of warmth, and Malachi lifted his head as he heard the crackle of fire. The charred remains of wood in the fire pit were burning merrily away. Kelsey smiled at him, cuddling against his chest. “Well, since you want to stay awhile . . . it’s cold.”
Malachi sank to his knees in front of Kelsey, still holding her tight against him. “Odd,” he murmured. “I’m not cold at all.”
The warm, soft scent of her body flooded his system. It breathed life to the low-level burn of want that hovered just below the surface whenever Kelsey was near. He feathered a trail of kisses across the soft curve of her belly. As he started to move lower, he slid a look up at her. “Can’t have you cold, love.”
He took one thigh and lifted, draping it over his shoulder. As he pressed his tongue against her, her other leg wobbled, then collapsed. Mal caught her weight, supporting her as he began to circle his tongue around her clit. She braced one hand against his shoulder as a sob spilled out of her. With her other hand, she clutched at his head, rocking against his mouth.
The sweet, addictive flavor of her hunger exploded on his tongue, and he growled hungrily. He started to take her to the floor, wanting to spread her thighs wide and feast on her. But under his knees, he felt the chill of the cave floor. He wasn’t going to rut on her on a hard, dirty floor.
Pulling away, he surged to his feet, hauling her against him. A soft bed, silk sheets, plush warm fur to wrap her in—that was what he wanted. But Malachi didn’t have the patience to wait long enough to get her any place other than here. “You deserve better than a cold, damp cave,” he muttered against her lips.
Her hands slipped between them, and Malachi hissed as she freed him from the tight confines of his jeans. She closed her hand around him and drawled, “I have what I want. I don’t care about where we are.”
She held his gaze as she stroked her hand slowly up and down the length of his cock, from base to tip, then again. Each time she slid her hand to the base, she loosened her fingers just a little, then tightened them as she started the upstroke. The slow, maddening massage had him gritting his teeth, arching into her caress, and ready to shoot off like some randy kid.
Heat sizzled along his nerve endings, racing down to pool at the base of his spine. As that warning rush of heat burned hotter, Malachi reached down and closed his fingers over her wrist, dragging her hand away. Reaching out, he grasped her hips and lifted her. Her legs closed around his waist as he pulled her against him. Their gazes locked, and the teasing smile on her lips faded away as he slowly lowered her weight.
The slick silky heat enveloped him like a glove. Against his chest, he could feel her heart pounding. Already, a fine sheen of sweat glistened on her skin, and the scent of her body was hot and ripe. Her hands came up to his shoulders, her fingers digging into his skin as she braced herself. As he started to lift her up, she rose up, her knees squeezing his hips.
She felt so damned right in his arms; the scent of her body as she edged closer to climax was familiar, as familiar as his own name. Her lashes were lowered, hiding her eyes. “Look at me,” he said roughly. “I want to see you. Each time, every time—”
After so long, he needed it.
Their eyes met once more, and held. Deep, gleaming blue stared into warm, fiery hazel gold as she rode him. Kelsey’s pussy tightened around his cock, and each rhythmic, gripping pulse took him closer and closer to exploding. Her head fell back, a hoarse, hungry moan escaping her lips. Malachi lowered his lips to the exposed line of her neck and raked the delicate skin with his fangs.
Kelsey mewled. That hungry, female sound was a fire in his blood. Hunger tore into him like a ravening beast, biting and clawing. Gripping the soft, firm curve of her ass in his hands, he held her still as he thrust hard against her. The next sound she made was a broken little scream. Mal fisted a hand in her hair and slanted his mouth over hers, swallowing the second scream down.
He thrust into her again, but it was like he couldn’t get deep enough, hard enough, fast enough. Spinning on his heel, he took two steps and braced her back against the uneven, chilly wall of the cave. She arched up against him and tightened her legs around his waist. “Be still,” he rasped against her lips, reaching behind him, loosening her heels. As her legs started to slide down, he hooked his elbows under her knees, opening her wide.
Looking down, he stared at where they joined, the flushed pink lips of her sex stretched so tight around his cock. The sight was like tossing gasoline on a flaming inferno. He started to drive deep inside, shafting her with hungry, hard strokes. Kelsey started to come, her sex clenching his cock. The milking sensations of her climax had his own orgasm slamming into him, exploding. He jetted off inside her
and groaned harshly with his face buried in her hair.
The storm passed slowly, the minute contractions in her sex, teasing his cock, drawing his climax on and on. By the time it finally passed, the strength had drained from his legs, and he ended up sprawled on his back with Kelsey draped over his chest.
Still reeling from climax, he closed his eyes. “I love you.”
He felt her smile against his chest. “I think I can handle that. And I think I love you, too.”
A satisfied, happy smile curved his lips. Sleep chased him. He fought against it for a minute, but then he realized she was drifting off into sleep as well.
His last conscious thought was . . .
Finally.
Heart and Soul Page 28