Body Box: Adult Paranormal Romance (Supernatural Thriller) (Dark Suspense) (The Smoke & Fire Series Book 2)

by Michele Wesley

  There was only one small problem I faced when I put my subjects back together. I discovered nearly all of them lived for short periods of time before they died. They would only survive for two or three days, at best, despite how long I’d kept them apart and despite my strong attempts at nursing them back to health. I never understood what was so special about Lori that she'd survived so long after I'd repeatedly taken her apart. I managed to find one other subject that survived for months, but he escaped after I failed to sedate him properly. He never reported me, which left me wondering if he’d survived after his escape.

  My need to perfect my craft is so great; I have accepted that I’m obsessed. I need answers, need someone as gifted as me to help find out why my subjects continue to die after they’ve been put back together. So, I created the boxes and started sending my subjects to the medical examiner’s office.

  I know Dr. Hughes. I studied his background, extensively. I appreciate how smart he is. I’d done volunteer work for him as a student and witnessed him solve problems and fix people when others had written them off.

  The way I see it, even if Dr. Hughes couldn’t figure out how the bodies were taken apart, he might find a way to keep them from dying after being put back together.

  I hated to enlist the help of another. It is a risky move; but with a backup plan in place, I’m certain it will keep me out of the path of the law. I will not allow years of work and research to go to waste. If Dr. Hughes could help me work through my problem, then—and only then—would I know that I have achieved true perfection in my ability.

  I will be free to present my gifts to this world.

  Chapter 21

  Lose Control

  After a wonderful time of trekking through the woods and enjoying nature, Yala dreaded nightfall. Night was the time when her mental capacity to resist Kevin was tested.

  As he massaged her neck and shoulders, she relaxed and enjoyed his smooth caress.

  Something occurred to her. She squinted her eyes.

  “Hey, I don’t even know your last name.”

  He nudged her.

  “You’re a bad girl, Yala. Spending time with a man you don’t even know. My name is Arlano Kevin Nazari.”

  She turned and reached out a hand in greeting.

  “So nice to finally meet you, Mr. Nazari.”

  She turned his first name over in her head.

  “I like your name: Arlano. And Nazari, is it Italian?”

  “No, it’s actually Egyptian. My mother was Egyptian. I had my last name changed to my mother’s maiden name when I was eighteen. I never liked my first name. It was the one thing I shared with my father; but after hearing you say it, I think I’m starting to like it again.”

  Yala managed to speak through the entrancing massage Kevin delivered. He sat so close behind her, she couldn't help surrendering to her desires for him.

  “Let’s switch,” she suggested.

  Kevin turned down her request, but Yala was already moving.

  She climbed onto the arm of the couch and sat, Indian–style, perched at his shoulders.

  He leaned his head back onto her legs. His gaze found hers and stilled her.

  Yala broke the tension by cracking her knuckles, preparing to give him a massage.

  The moment she pressed her fingers into his muscular shoulders, his head fell forward and his body sank deeper onto the couch.

  “I didn’t know how much I needed this, until now.”

  Yala was proud of her small accomplishment. She was the only one that knew, or understood, how difficult it was to be alone with a man in this capacity.

  Kevin was the proof she needed. Proof that they weren’t all monsters.

  She wanted to tell him about her concerns, but she wasn’t sure how.

  How do you tell someone that, at twenty-three, the only real experience you’ve had with the opposite sex really wasn’t with the opposite sex?

  She’d been with more women than she cared to count, and the biggest shocker was that she’d never been attracted to women. Given her situation, however, she’d learned to deliver a convincing performance and being able to shift helped tremendously.

  What she had with Kevin was the closest thing she’d had to a relationship. He knew how to make her smoldering hot and never made her feel threatened.

  “How’s that?” she asked, inquiring about the massage, while breaking out of her own head.

  He turned his head in each direction and kissed both her hands, before he proceeded to pull her arms across his shoulders. Her legs slid down the outside of his shoulders, as she was lured against his back.

  He tugged, until she kneeled behind him with her arms wrapped around his neck. Her tight nipples were snug against his back. Her lips brushed his neck before she even realized what she was doing.

  Kevin had never been this close to any woman, had never wanted to be. He usually got his loving on the run. His longest relationship had lasted a month, and it stretched his patience and tolerance to its limits. With Yala, it was all natural, seamless, and not forced.

  He glanced at her. His intention was not to kiss her; but when his lips met hers, the last thing he wanted to do was pull away.

  When he deepened their kiss, Yala maneuvered around his body. The tables turned, and she became the one advancing on him.

  With Kevin, Yala never knew what she was capable of until it happened. She didn’t stop her movement until they kneeled, face-to-face on her couch. She leaned in and initiated another kiss. The slide of his tongue into her mouth drew instant intoxication.

  On one hand, she was terrified of what this type of play led to; but on the other, her feelings for Kevin trumped her fears. She grew more aggressive with every passing moment. She wanted him in a way she’d blocked from her life. The fact that she couldn’t stop kissing him was positive proof he’d somehow carried her past a great threshold of fear and walked her into a place of comfort.

  Kevin fought to back off, before they went too far. He put his hands on Yala’s shoulders, with the intent to stop her, but their closeness intensified the pull she had on his senses.

  When she swept his leg and wrapped hers around his thigh, he’d forgotten she was an agent and could be as forceful as she wanted. The move both shocked and excited him—not that he wasn’t already excited.

  Kevin's firm member pressed against the inside of Yala’s thigh. The first time she’d felt him like this, she’d been frightened; not only because he was a man, but because he seemed large. Yala found it intimidating because she didn’t possess anything as physically imposing.

  Now, his hard heat excited her, warmed her body, and seemed to magically pull moisture from deep within her. She traced the outline of his hard jewel with her fingertips. Her action caused him to grit his teeth and shut his eyes tight. It astonished her that she was responsible for making him want her in that way. The realization made her want him equally as bad.

  She closed their circle by wrapping her other leg around him. The move sent his bulge against her moist hot center and stomach. Her body found a slow rhythm, on its own, as she grinded into him. She climbed his body, as her tongue slid between his lips.

  She'd lost her will to be modest and a heat-laced moan escaped her.

  Kevin needed to stop this, or he would forget about her past completely.

  But it’s so good.

  He enjoyed the way she responded to him. She was passionate, even if she didn’t know it. He was determined to take things as slowly as she wanted because he wanted her for longer than one night, and rushing things never helped.

  Her name spilled breathlessly over his lips.

  “Yala.”

  He stood, with her still attached to him. He assisted her in sliding down his body, like a fireman on a pole. Her lust-heavy eyes bore into his, as her face revealed repressed need.

  He gripped the sides of her shoulders in an attempt to settle her; but he feared he fought to calm his own nerves more.

  Seein
g him lick his lips, like she was the best tasting thing on the menu, kept Yala turned on. Her words came out huskily.

  “I’m glad our paths crossed, Kevin.”

  His fingers slipped down her shoulders.

  “Me too.”

  His tongue slid cross his lips relishing the flavor she'd left there.

  “It’s time I let you go to sleep.”

  She flashed an ‘are you kidding me’ look.

  “The only way I’m going to bed is if you’re in it with me.”

  She’d expressed a similar statement to him the first night they'd met. However, this time, it wasn’t the best idea. He had a hard enough time keeping his hands away from the insane amount of temptation she possessed. He stood, at a bent angle, as he struggled to maintain a small semblance of decency.

  Yala didn’t give him time to think on it further, as she took his hand and tugged him towards her bedroom.

  He followed, but reluctance pulled at his feet.

  They stood at the foot of her bed, staring at each other.

  Yala inched forward, closing the small gap between them.

  “Maybe I was wrong about men having one track minds. You look terrified. You have nothing to fear. I only use the strap-on with women.”

  Her statement broke the tension and his lips curved into a smile. He laughed out loud, but her statements didn't do anything to take away his uncertainty.

  Since she so often pretended to be a man, could her statement have held some truth? With the ability to shift, did she even need a strap-on?

  Why am I thinking about that when I have her in front of me?

  There was so much more to learn about this woman, who appeared naïve but hid secrets that were powerful enough to shatter his mind.

  He folded her into a tender embrace.

  “I don’t want to do anything to drive you away, but being this close to you in this way is very—”

  She finished for him.

  “Distracting, enticing, tempting.”

  She stood on her toes and kissed him with tender pecks.

  “I don’t have a lot of experience being the female in this type of thing, but I’m sure the inevitable is going to happen between us. I believe I’m ready for it to happen now.”

  Kevin lost count of the number of times he'd stuck his hands in and out of the pockets of his sweats.

  “Are you sure?” he asked.

  After revealing the horror of her past, Yala understood Kevin's reluctance. She dotted his lips with tender kisses.

  “Yes. Can’t you tell?”

  She tugged him along, attempting to lure him into her bed before her reluctance reared its ugly head.

  Kevin’s uncertainty was reflected in the cautious manner in which he expressed his words.

  “I want to be with you, more than anything, but you have to tell me if I do anything you don’t like or want. Promise me.”

  She promised, and no further words where needed.

  He assisted her down to the foot of her bed. The tips of his fingers slid below the rim of her top and he lifted and removed it with quick ease. He instructed her to lie back as he joined her. He explored with his mouth and hands the curves and bends of her slender body.

  Her fingers glided through his hair, as he mapped a path south with carefully placed kisses. Yala was certain he wouldn’t hurt her, but it didn’t quill the sudden tremble in her belly.

  Am I really about to do this?

  She took a deep breath and forgot what she’d been thinking when his warm lips skimmed the hard tips of her nipples. She found it difficult to concentrate while he intoxicated her senses so easily. Her shortness of breath got worse when he chartered a warm path deeper south.

  Gone were her top and bra, and it was only a matter of time before she lost her shorts and panties. She hadn’t seen Kevin take off his shirt, but it was gone. She was so filled with desire, she couldn’t keep her eyes from fluttering close. A well-placed stroke of his warm tongue made her squeeze her eyes tighter and shudder from the tingling that sparked at the surface of her hot skin.

  His tongue slid across her stomach and shimmied into her belly button. She heaved a deep breath. The view of the action was too much for her mind to handle. When she closed her eyes, the images of his actions seemed to heighten the physical contact.

  Opening her eyes, revealed Kevin’s strong, chiseled, and very naked body. Her gape traveled south, over his chest, paused at his abs, and kept moving down. Her eyes grew wide. Well-endowed. There was no other word for it. The sound of her harsh breathing accompanied her shameless staring. The sight of him made her wonder if she was ready; but at the same time, the sight of him heightened her arousal.

  He sat still and let her look, until her gaze rose to meet his. She didn’t know what her face expressed, but she wanted him.

  He voiced, “We don’t have to do this, if you don’t want to.”

  Her smile made her warm cheeks rise.

  “Yes, we do. I want to. Now, more than before.”

  Her words prompted him to continue the journey he’d started over her body.

  It took effort for Kevin to hide his smile. Yala’s reaction to seeing him naked for the first time was priceless. His smiling lips skimmed her thighs, journeyed over her belly button, and left hot pecks on her stomach.

  When his warm lips closed around her nipple, she took a deep breath, and let her head fall back onto the pillow.

  “Oh my, that feels good.” she whispered, as hot wetness flowed between her fidgety legs.

  She’d always equated sex with pain, but she found that she couldn’t have been more wrong.

  If he knew how to use his well-endowed prize the way he used his mouth, she might be in for a more pleasing surprise.

  Kevin relished Yala’s exhausted cries and sensual whispers. She expressed a genuine appreciation of his attention and affections. After her story, he certainly had no intention of pushing, if she didn’t want it. Her first sexual encounter involved the worst kind of violence imaginable, and he wanted more than anything for her to get a different perspective on sex.

  He sucked tender pockets of her hot quivering flesh until he reached her inner thighs. Judging by the frequency of her gasps and quiet moans, he likely had her on the threshold between passion and control-shattering madness.

  He used his teeth to drag her panties down. Her participation in the process as she lifted her hips and used her fingers to shove the thin material down made the task exquisitely hot. Her swaying body movements tempted him. Once her purple panties fell from his teeth, he made his tongue snake up her leg, skim over her knee, and tickle her thigh.

  Yala caught the mischievous glare Kevin flashed right before his hands slid down the inside of her thighs and pushed her legs farther apart. It didn’t take but a moment for him to put action to his unspoken words, as his tongue sank into her hot wet folds. The magical flicks of his tongue across the jewel that stood guard at her entrance sent her over the edge.

  Kevin had never seen anything more beautiful in his life than Yala in the throes of an orgasm he’d help create. He kept his tongue dancing softly against her jewel, ensuring the sensations were lasting.

  He laid next to her and stroked the warm trembling flesh of her legs and stomach until she regained her composure.

  Amazed, Yala voiced, “So that’s what the big fuss is about?”

  Not believing how clueless she’d been, she sought to hide her embarrassment with a grin; but Kevin showed no hint of judgment.

  He nibbled her bottom lip.

  “Let’s see if we can get you another one of those.”

  His words brought an instant smile before her forehead creased, questioningly. The idea of him making her lose control again had her nearly drooling. She licked her lips, in anticipation, as her mind reeled.

  His hands coursed over her hip and brushed all the areas in between, until he cupped her ass and hip and pull her further beneath him.

  Yala noticed a hint of wor
ry Kevin failed to keep from his eyes.

  She gifted him with a heated kiss, hoping her assertion eased his worry. It was too late to turn back now. She felt his hard gem pressing against her wet and anxious sex. He want this as badly as she did.

  Kevin knew better than most that certain sights triggered nightmares. The last thing he wanted was to remind Yala of the worst night of her life. Therefore, he believed it best they make love under the covers. He yanked the sheet over his back and hovered above her.

  “Keep your eyes on mine, okay.”

  She easily figured out what he intended. The sweetness of his gesture warmed her heart. Cupping his neck, she pulled him closer, and proceeded to kiss his concerns away. She hardly recognized her own lust-filled tone.

  “It’s okay. You’ve made me so wet and ready.”

  It didn’t take much coaxing on her part to set his blood to a boil. His first attempt to enter her, however was about as difficult as punching through a brick wall, but Yala refused let him stop.

  He warned her, “There may be some pain, but I promise you I’ll stop, if it doesn’t turn into pleasure.”

  The warmth of her breath bounced off his neck.

  “It’s okay. I trust you, no matter what.”

  He pushed until he entered her, determined not to force it.

  Her voice eased some of his tension as her tongue sliced across his earlobe.

  “My pain tolerance is high, so all you have to do is turn it into pleasure.”

  Pleasure had Kevin's mind half present. He turned his lips to graze her jaw and neck.

  “Okay, baby.”

  What was likely pain for her was intense lip-biting pleasure for him. He felt everything—every clench and pull of her muscles, the warm flow of wetness that coated him, and her quivering resistance—as he moved as carefully as he could, while fighting to maintain control of his body. His teeth were clenched so tight, he was afraid he would crack a few.

  Did he just call me baby?

  Her thought disappeared quickly, as his promise to bring pleasure dragged her further into his world. Each time he sank too deep, pain sparked, and he'd kissed her to make up for it, unaware that she didn’t mind the sweet sting.