She opened, letting him explore her mouth as he desired. Each flick of his tongue, every stroke inside her made her squirm, her curved hips pressing against his hard thighs.
Damn, he wanted to do things to her that he’d never wanted before. Everything about this woman made Nathan want to break his own rules.
But then again, his rules were for her protection, not his own.
Still, he could give Lillian as much mind-blowing pleasure as she could handle within those rules.
He left her mouth, kissing her roughly along her ear, down her neck, toward her collar. Each touch seemed to set her more on fire, make her greedier as she begged softly for more.
More? He could definitely do that.
He moved off his spot above her and kneeled at the foot of the chaise, spreading her legs as he did. Lillian’s eyes went wider, and he savored the intense look there, half deer caught in the headlights, half pleading at the same time.
She moved a little as if to get up or say something, but he put a hand up.
“What did I say about moving?”
“Well, technically, you didn’t say—”
“Lillian Goss, I will tie you up.” Nathan raised a finger, and Lillian lay back against the soft velvet couch once again, hands at her sides. He looked her over once more, practically tasting the feel of her skin with his eyes, and she visibly shuddered with arousal.
Normally, humans trying to vie for power were, at best, vaguely amusing. But somehow this reporter from out of the blue was so cute he couldn’t help being a little turned on by her futile attempts to gain even the slightest pretense of control, even though she was at his utter mercy.
Even if he was the one at her mercy right now.
Without another word, he resumed his place between her legs, slowly pulling off her panties and leaving Lillian entirely bare to him. So beautiful, the image of her seared into his mind in the steel walls of his memory.
Nathan Lancaster never did this. He’d never wanted someone so badly as he did Lillian, both body and soul. This was so much more than simple physical attraction. And as such, he wanted to know her, wanted to touch her more intimately than he ever had before. Wanted to make her scream his name over and over until she knew no other words. Until she became his forever.
For a moment, he let his breath tease her center between her thighs, watching as she quivered slightly from the arousal. Then, slowly, taking his time, he licked over her clit, taking in the taste of her, the smell of her, everything about her as she moaned deliciously from the stimulation.
Lillian’s arousal was like a drug, a kind of high he’d never experienced, one he wanted to keep chasing until the sun died and stars fell from their place in the sky.
And suddenly, he couldn’t hold back. His mouth covered her center, kissing her, flicking over her in fast motions, needing her release. Lillian gasped, saying his name between harsh oaths as she struggled to hold on.
Nate was so turned on the fitted suit pants he wore were threatening to rip as he devoured her sex, and he made a mental note to either ditch or change the slacks next time they did something like this.
“Nate, I…” Lillian tried to say something. But her words were caught in an abyss of stimulation so great even the journalist in her was at a loss for proper speech.
He couldn’t stifle his smile at that as he held her legs apart, licking and stroking with his tongue until he felt her entire body clenching, tightened like a coil ready to spring off the ground and ricochet around the room. He then held back for a moment, drawing out the seconds as she looked down at him, pleading with her eyes for release.
And then, only when he was ready, did he give it.
The final stroke up her center made Lillian come apart instantly, and she cried out to the universe over and over as she came, every muscle in her body vibrating.
Halfway through, she raised one hand and bit down on her fist, eyes closed against the onslaught of pleasure. Feeling oddly protective of that hand and wanting to make a point about her staying put, he gently grabbed her wrists in his hands and pinned them to her sides as she rode out the final waves of her orgasm.
“God, you’re incorrigible. Can’t even follow a single order,” he chastised playfully, trying to be stern but almost too caught up in watching Lillian come to care.
“And you’re relentless,” she fired back, somehow finding breath to speak even though it had entirely abandoned her moments before.
“Oh, you haven’t the slightest idea, Lillian.”
The hunger for more of her pleasure was so deep it was like a cavernous pit within him, superseding the need for food, for air, for anything else.
He’d show her what relentless was.
Now holding her hands pinned at her sides and keeping her legs spread open, he positioned himself once more, feeling a spine-tingling shock of something go up his back as he picked up where he’d left off. Over and over, he brought her to the very edge of release, then held her there, letting Lillian’s body relax just enough to stave off her orgasm before he resumed again. She begged, cried for more, cried for him to take her past the precipice he kept her dangling on the edge of, but he still held back.
“You… you sadist,” she said, her voice husky. Another flick of his tongue made her arch against the shallow incline of the chair, her breasts quavering as she strained from the pent-up arousal. So erotic.
“Tell me to stop, and I will,” he replied, not bothering to move from his spot between her legs.
There was a long silence, and when he looked up, Lillian was glancing to the side and then back at him, her cheeks flushed, mouth curled defiantly.
“No, don’t stop.”
Good.
One last time, he pushed her to her limits, inviting every bit of pleasure he could from her before finally freeing her into the inimitable void of orgasm in a fevered frenzy.
She came so hard the frame of the chaise creaked a little as she pressed against the back of it, her body thrumming with energy and release. Just the sight of her like this made his member jerk, so sensual, so perfect.
Just as she reached the end, Nathan let go of her hands, letting her hold him tightly even though the touch was still unsettling.
“How can you do that? It’s like you know me better than I know my own body.” Her whispers were like snowflakes, cool and light in his ear.
“I pay attention.” He stroked her cheek. “You’re so beautiful.”
“Don’t you dare think we’re finished here, Nathan Lancaster. I need everything tonight.”
He moved back a little, letting her gaze fall on his, her greenish eyes sparkling with desire.
He glanced at the clock on the wall. They had time, if only barely.
If he was honest, Nathan wanted everything with her, too. Wanted so much more than even just sex. But that was a start, for sure.
Nathan got up and went to a drawer, pulling out a foil packet. “Just remember I’ll have to—”
“Yes, I know. Midnight. Pumpkin. Et cetera.” Her eyes devoured him while he undressed. “I’m going to figure it out one of these days, you know.” She crossed her arms.
“Heaven help you if you do,” he murmured quietly to himself.
He removed his last piece of clothing, watching Lillian with amusement as her jaw fell open slightly. And then he was above her, the scent of sweat and sex charging the air around them as he positioned himself between her legs.
Nathan had never been so close to losing control, at least not like this. He wanted to ravish her far past midnight, wanted to take Lillian again and again until the sun rose and fell once more in the sky.
But such fantasies had no place in this reality that saw fit to keep him chained to the darkness.
He waited for one final nod from Lillian before slowly thrusting into her, bringing them together with fiery heat and slick friction. Even going carefully, their fit was a tight one, and for a moment, he let Lillian adjust to his size.
She cl
osed her eyes, holding her breath. Then, with a gasp, she opened them, hesitance melting into pure bliss as her hands grasped at his sides, holding on and digging her nails in.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to…” She trailed off, slowly releasing her grip.
“It’s okay. You can hold me however you like for this,” Nathan said, whispering into her ear. “You’ll need to.”
The distant, closed-off part of him that wanted to shut all humanity off from his presence cringed at his own words. But somehow, the warmth of her palms, the pressure of her fingers as they dug into his skin was a calming contrast to the sheer arousal of the moment as he withdrew and slowly thrust into her again.
The sound of her moans shot through him like stars as he moved into a steady rhythm, feeling closer to her with each contiguous motion. They were such a perfect fit it defied logic. Lillian’s every response felt like a gift made just for him, and he wanted to give her everything in return.
Then suddenly, a gnawing sensation clung to his insides. A crawling blackness that was all too familiar. He tried to ignore it, and thankfully, the scrape of Lillian’s nails over his back as he pushed into her brought him back to the moment.
Midnight was nearing.
Giving himself up to the raging desire he felt for Lillian, Nathan went faster, the angle of the chaise only intensifying their rapid motions together and apart. Lillian writhed in sensual agony, thrusting herself to meet him as he pushed and pushed, wringing every drop of pleasure out of both of them while the moment still lasted.
His entire body was on fire. Shocking light consumed him both within and without as his senses screamed against his willpower. And when he knew Lillian could take no more, he thrust in and kept himself there, feeling with excitement the shift in his lover from tension to release.
Just as she came, he reached a finger between them and lightly pressed her clit, making her come even harder as his own core melted into erotic heat. For a moment, all perception melded into a single, all-encompassing throbbing of energy that somehow existed outside of time yet left him acutely aware of Lillian’s release beneath him.
In tandem they came, and in tandem they remained joined together, even as hot release drifted away into heady satisfaction. From the corner of his eye, Nathan could see the seconds tic by on the clock, wasting away the last few minutes before the night had to end.
Lillian, exhausted, looked up at him gratefully, wasting no words on a moment that needed no description.
He had to leave soon. But for now, this was enough. Even as the shadows of an answerless emptiness heralded dark things to come just around the corner, this was enough.
The moon’s glow outside cast them in shades of blue, and Nathan kissed Lillian one last time, pulling her in and holding her close, fighting back the black necessity to feed that was about to overtake him.
She put a hand up to his cheek, caressing slowly, warmly, and then pulled back and looked up at him.
“It’s almost midnight.”
“Yes,” he said, nodding regretfully. He stared at the clock, hating it more than ever. And he’d always really hated it. He brushed her face, running his fingertips over the soft skin of her jaw, noting the human fragility running down to her veins. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Her eyes shuttered, but she nodded, sitting up and gathering her clothing around her.
He hated this. Watching her pick up her things and cover her gorgeous body, padding across the study and giving him a little wave before disappearing through the door.
He should be calling her back, holding her all through the night, promising her forever.
Everything in him that wasn’t evil wanted to.
But then again…
He threw on a robe, ran to the door of his study and followed her into the hall, padding softly across the floor as she paused so he could reach her.
When he did, his hand wrapped around her neck, cupping her head as he dipped her into one more long, intense kiss just as the clock began to chime.
He swiped his tongue in, enjoying one last, languid moment, and then slowly set her back on her feet.
He felt her gaping after him as he turned and hurried back to his study, letting the clock chime ominously behind him.
He reached the study just in time and shut the door behind him. As the transformation took over, he was knocked off balance, then able to get back up on his feet.
He strode to the window, custom built to be large enough for him to exit through if he wanted to leave, and looked out at the night.
He placed a hand on the cool glass and cursed himself for not being able to be with Lillian.
He’d wondered if he should go pick up Phillip, see if he needed to be dealt with, but just then, another vision took over, clouding his sight.
He shook with rage as he saw Phillip’s future and opened the window, careful to not scrape the glass with his claws.
As he stepped into the moonlight, he felt the last of his transformation take hold as his vision blurred and then came back into much sharper focus. He could scent and hear a million things on the night air.
The monster was awake and ready to fulfill the dark purpose for which he was born.
He let out a roar at the moon, hollow and lonely and desperate, and then took off into the dark sky.
Chapter 16
A few hours later, Nathan was sitting on the beach, in control of himself once again, watching the moon reflect silver light on the cold ocean waters in front of him.
It was a small beach attached to the park where Phil had attacked Sasha.
Phil’s body lay abandoned a few feet away, lifeless and drained.
Nathan sighed and took a drag from one of Phil’s cigarettes. As he released a long breath, he wondered what humans saw in these little fire sticks. He flicked it away and watched it slowly burn out on the sand, flickering orange before going dark.
The way fire and light had seemed to finally linger in him when he’d been joined with Lillian.
But he’d just gone and proved once again why he couldn’t be with someone like her. With anyone as precious and fragile as a human.
They were supposed to be his food.
In over a hundred years, he’d worked hard to see humans as more than his biological programming suggested. As complex creatures with their own needs and desires. The intense caring they could show for one another and the intense cruelty as well.
That moment making love with her had been an example of how humans could be so open, so vulnerable. So willing to give themselves up to others, to love and care and touch and connect.
He also knew it was what made humans so unsafe at times, because the darkness was out there, and humans were as susceptible to it as anyone else.
Half the people he’d killed had simply been monsters of opportunity, given plenty of chances to hurt others because of the naivety and overall goodness of the humans who’d trusted them.
He couldn’t understand that. The urge to extinguish goodness and innocence. The pure sadism it took to kill, not help, others but purely out of selfish pleasure and control.
Then again, maybe he was just deluding himself in thinking he was any better than the humans he had to destroy.
Maybe.
But then again, he did save a lot of humans. Far more than he’d killed. He’d like to think his creator would have agreed had she showed up to keep her promise.
He had his hospitals, his philanthropy, and the countless people who didn’t end up victims because he’d had the foresight to kill the monsters who would have ended them.
Still, he knew that was a flimsy justification for being something that should never have been created.
At times like this, he wondered how his brothers were doing.
But they had to stay apart. They would be safer, less detectable that way.
He watched the moon a little longer and then decided it would probably be safe to go home now. He’d armed the alarm before he’d left, and he pulled
out his phone now to check that everything was still fine.
When he noted with relief that everything looked normal, he slid the phone back in his pocket, ignoring the ache inside him that said he should have been alongside Lillian all along.
But what would have happened if the monster in him broke out while she was around? Even if he didn’t care about her finding out, she’d be in danger.
He’d never seen his monster fully emerge, but he doubted it would be safe in a house with anyone.
However, as long as he kept it happy with occasional sacrifices, he shouldn’t have to worry.
For the first time in his life, he was having moments of enjoyment. Moments when he understood how humans could be happy and enjoy their short time on Earth with a zeal that his kind could never understand.
If only he could be human. If only there was a deal that could be made that would allow him to stay with Lillian, with no secrets, with no hiding.
If only there was a way to be with her after midnight.
* * *
The next morning, Lillian crept out of bed, early as usual, and snuck over to Sasha’s room.
She was still confused and taken aback by everything that had happened the night before.
Nathan had taken care of Phil, rescued Sasha, brought them both home… and then somehow seduced her in the study.
Looking back on it, she wanted to go back in time and shake some sense into herself.
She was being really unprofessional. Would he mock her today when he saw her again? What kind of journalist slept with the man she was investigating?
Then again, they had just been on a date.
But what woman agreed to quick, rushed sex in the study with a man who had to leave right after for mysterious reasons?
All she could say was she hadn’t been able to resist.
The night had been almost… magical, and from the moment he’d touched her, she’d felt pulled into another world.
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