by Angel Payne
But he stopped at my navel.
Moan. Growl. Plea. Exasperation drove all of them out of me. I pulsed and ached, throbbed and yearned, becoming a worse tangle as he leaned over to bolt his gaze directly into mine—and smiled.
Big. Baaaad. Wolf.
My breaths came harder and faster—especially as he pushed his middle finger into his mouth with languorous grace. After sucking it thoroughly, he dipped it back to my navel, pressing the moistened pad into my little button, gently rolling it there.
Oh…hell.
The new pressure jolted heat straight through the middle of my body, ending where my womb already tightened in need for him.
“You like it, Camellia?”
His voice was as soft as it was gruff. I threaded my fingers deeper into his hair and whispered, “Yes. Yes. Amazing. God, Ev…” My throat clutched as he trailed his touch toward the top of my jeans. “Yes. Please…”
“Fuck.” His jaw, now shadowed with stubble, tautened to hard angles. His erection, still growing, was hot against my thigh. “You call me amazing? Do you not see I am only reflecting you?” He dipped his head, taking my lips in a searing kiss. When he finally pulled up, he gazed with heavy eyes, as if drugged. “You are more beautiful than the conjures of my best fantasies. More passionate. More stunning. More exquisite.”
I was torn between glaring at him and bursting with a laugh. Passion? Okay, I’d buy that. Stunning? I’d grant it, though harder to swallow. But exquisite? That was a word for women like Tess and Beth and other princesses, not a girl who’d been raised in sneakers and hiking boots, wore makeup only when she was commanded, and had already beaten most of the guys on the crew at burping contests. “Look, that feels wonderful to hear, but—”
He severed me short with another kiss—though made it clear, from the first crash of his mouth, that his intent was no longer gentle worship. No tender coaxes, no sweet tongues. He was a breaching battle ax, conquering every crevice of my mouth with lunges that edged on bites. And me? Deciding breathing might be overrated. Maybe thinking, too. They sure as hell weren’t possible when Evrest Cimarron decided to consume everything—and make it all completely wonderful in the doing.
My senses burst open like a meadow beneath fireworks. My world was full of color, of light, of noise, of passion. I was beautiful. Stunning.
Exquisite.
He finally released my mouth. Didn’t stop him from continuing the assault of his own. He swept my hair back, fanning it over the pillows before licking down my neck, biting in below my ear with just enough pressure to make me—
“Ohhh, God.” I rolled my head to give him better access. How the hell did he know just how to do that? Just how I needed it?
This wasn’t the kind of shit a guy found on Google.
I finally got bold enough to tug at the zipper of his vest then the buttons of his shirt. Despite my naked breasts and his bare cock, we were still way overdressed.
“Tell me what else you like.” He growled it while helping my efforts, tearing the shirt open, sending buttons flying. I dropped my jaw, now understanding why Faye and her book club sighed over the move whenever a book boyfriend pulled it off. It was hot. No. In Evrest’s big, capable hands, it was scorching. “Perhaps this?”
I bit my bottom lip and let him see it. Wouldn’t do a damn bit of good to hide the lust from my eyes and voice, either. “Yes. Oh, yes.”
He slanted over me again, offering his bare flesh to my eager fingers. I explored him with both hands, gliding over the flat, bronze planes of his biceps, smiling at his hiss when I caressed his nipples with my thumbs. Damn. The man really was a wolf taken to human form, just as sleek and twice as exotic. And hard to the point of mesmerizing, no matter where my fingers roamed.
I ran my touch downward, over the twin ladders of his abs, stretching my thumbs to tease at the line of dark hair between them. Evrest hissed again, longer and rougher, making me curl a tentative smile.
“You like, too?” My voice was as rickety as my grin. Couldn’t help it. While being near him felt like home from the moment our hands first clasped, I’d formed that impression in different circumstances than this. That crowded ballroom was nothing like these waters. Our course into Styx was still uncharted. And while I wasn’t drowning, I had no idea which way to swim. Dammit, I was the girl who GPS’d the route to the corner store if need be. Clarity and direction had been my life vests. Without them, would I drown or float?
I didn’t know the answer.
Only knew I had to take a chance on finding out.
Even if I had to swim without a map.
Evrest, with his undaunted gaze and adoring smile, made it a little easier to embrace that risk.
Perhaps more than a little.
He tipped the scale more with his answering growl. It was low, lush, seductive…addictive. “Yes, sevette. I like very much.”
He ended it on a harsh hitch as I tracked my hands lower. His lungs pumped harder with every inch I dipped, bursting into a rumble as I wound fingers around the beautiful bulb at the top of his shaft.
I stared, transfixed, as his tip sprouted heavy drops of milk. Harry never had the patience to let me explore once he hit the pre-come stage. While my awed evaluation clearly stretched Evrest’s willpower, he didn’t make any move toward the rabid-boy hump. The only thing sucking up his full concentration…was me. Fascination joined the lust on his face as he rolled his hips, pushing his flesh farther into my grip.
“Fuck,” he gritted. “So nice, sevette. Very nice.”
“Yes.” I traced down his length, finally rolling a finger into the dent between his shaft and sacs. “It is.”
His eyes squeezed shut. His lips pressed tight. His breaths were heavy, almost violent, bursts. “Distract me, Camellia.” It was an order, plain and simple, backed by the bestial force in his eyes. “Make me think about something besides fucking your fingers and coming all over you like an adolescent, because I swear by the Creator, you make me feel like one.”
Styx just got hotter. Scalding, perhaps. It turned my senses into insane mermaids, wanting to launch into backflips of erotic exhilaration, just to see how else I could please him. All the ways I could arouse him…
“What if I take confession time?” I finally proposed. “What if I told you that I’ve…had some fantasies, too?”
“About me?”
His amazement was genuine. Uh-oh. Weak spot ahead. Though the man seemed hardwired for the act of seduction, his off-guard moments drilled the deepest holes in my emotional shields. I hoped this one lasted only a few seconds, allowing me to reclaim my bearings.
“No.” I went for humor as reinforcement. “About the other guys on the tabloid covers.”
Fail-whale on the humor. That had come out all wrong—and now I had to endure his darkened stare as penance. “You thought about me before even getting here? Because of simply seeing me on magazines?”
I winced. “I know, I know. Creepy, sicko, send me to the clink. But those rags always seemed to find the hottest pictures, and—”
He stopped me with another blood-melting kiss. And a lot more.
The second our mouths slammed again, he hauled me up from the mattress, molding my body against his, stopping our clutch long enough to growl out a single directive. “On your knees, Camellia.” As soon as I curled my legs in compliance so our upright torsos were smashed tight, he claimed my lips again, growing our passion with longing, plunging sweeps of his mouth. New position? Definite thumbs up. I now had the chance to explore the sinewy plateaus of his back before scratching down the slopes of his shoulders.
Gaaahhh. He was…breathtaking. A living work of art, captivating me anew every time he moved. I longed to beg for a whole day of just touching him—though now, with his cock fitted against my cleft, the request got shoved to the bottom of the priorities list. Impatience, almost anxiety. Hell, how I craved him inside me, hot and huge and—
Now.
Only my jeans remained between us.
Not an issue for much longer if I could help it.
I slipped my hands from his shoulders to take care of it, but had only the button twisted free when Evrest grabbed me by both wrists, wrenching them over my head.
My fingers collided with something…metal? I looked up. Sure enough, he wound my grip around a shiny steel rod, suspended on chains from the bed’s sturdy canopy support system.
Okaayyy. Interesting. My pulse tripled, easily acknowledging a fresh flood of sensations. Fear. Excitement. Fear again. What the hell now? The stare I shot to Evrest yielded what I anticipated—his alpha wolf eyes at their strongest, his rugged jaw at its stoniest—conveying his low command before he even uttered it.
“Keep them there.”
My chest pumped as his just had. What a difference a few minutes made. I thought of how he’d surrendered his erection into my hands, trusted me with the most vulnerable part of his anatomy, allowed me to pleasure him…and now, stretched into a similar position, breasts jutting and body stretched, questioned why it was so hard for me to do the same.
Because this reminds you that your body isn’t the only thing bared to him right now? Because with every passing moment, in bigger and bigger chunks, your spirit is investing in this, too? Perhaps even your heart?
I got rid of the thoughts by plunging back into humor. “Ah. So this is the part with the handcuffs.”
One side of his mouth lifted. Not in a smile. “No handcuffs.”
My chest tightened a little more. Another battle between anticipation and trepidation. “Well, where’s the fun in that?”
“No handcuffs. Not needed.” His hands skated down my arms until curving in at my waist. He brought his face closer, angling over me. “You’ll simply obey me, Camellia—because you want to. We both know it.”
“Because I’m a good little girl?” I teased.
“Because you are not.”
He was so close again. His breaths were full of pepper, paprika, and a touch of nectar, a blend of spicy and sweet making me a little dizzy—and a lot aroused. What he demanded of me, with this position alone…the openness, exposure, honesty…exposed so much of me in other ways. My skin was pure electricity. My muscles flexed with readiness. And my sex…hell yes, more than ready. Needing. Clenching.
And wet. So damn wet…
“Your blood sings in the key of naughty, Camellia. And your body…fuck, I can feel it…your sweet, beautiful body hums with the vibration of wicked. And your spirit longs to free it all but you have kept it locked away, in that cage deep inside your soul, simply praying somebody will find it and open the door.” As his hands slipped lower, finding the waistband of my jeans, he fit his head into the curve of my neck. “I am going to open your door, Camellia. And you shall step from that cage, free to show me who you really are. Free to give flight to that creature at the backs of your eyes, restlessly pacing, wanting her dark sky to soar in. I am going to light the stars in that sky for you…then watch in awe as you make them all shiver as you pass.”
I made it a point to breathe. Don’t lose it now, girlfriend. Not. Now.
But even after I got air in then out, I couldn’t move. His words excavated me. Plumbed parts of my soul I’d never shown to anyone—hell, that I rarely allowed myself to see—locking me between floored and terrified. No, that wasn’t right. There was a third choice. The one I didn’t dare acknowledge, pounding at every crevice of my composure now. Because I’d kept her locked too damn long in the cage.
Karma was really a bitch, especially when your own soul dealt it.
“Damn.” I gasped it, letting my head fall back beneath Evrest’s hot breath, nipping lips, and worshipping tongue. He moved over my chin and the underside of my jaw, stripping more of my composure with every passionate sweep.
It was so good. Too good. Just as he promised, stars began dancing in my vision. Silver. Sweet. Vistas of such beauty. They made it impossible to protest, to tell him that this part wasn’t supposed to be on the program tonight—on any night—which had been the point to begin with. All I’d wanted to do was scratch my Evrest Cimarron itch for good, properly expelling him from my system forever. Letting the man dive into the Marianas Trench of my psyche? Not smart. Not safe. And really not sane.
And now, not something I could do a damn thing about.
He was here against me, damn near around me, uncovering more of my soul even as he tugged down the zipper of my jeans, inch by excruciating inch. Air soughed in, tickling at the delicate nerves between my thighs, even through my panties. My gasp joined with his moan.
“Fuck,” he growled.
“What?”
“They are…red.”
“So I like pretty underwear.”
“So do I.” Every word was a statement on its own. “Especially like this. Especially on you, my fiery lightning bolt.” He pushed my jeans further down my thighs. “C’est parmel. You are so fucking perfect.”
“Oh, damn.” Pathetic squeak. Great. Some lightning goddess I was.
That began my official lesson about the downfalls of snap assessment. Maybe lightning was the ideal metaphor here. It was the only comparison that made sense as Evrest slid two fingers beneath the red silk, against my soaked curls. For the first time in my life, I thanked myself for indulging in lavish underthings. It was my guilty pleasure, perhaps a way of making up for an outward style that sales clerks referred to as “classic dressing”. Like they fooled anyone with the platitude. Their averted glances always conveyed the truth about my basic piece choices. I was boring. Predictable. As easy to follow as my GPS corner store routes.
I wasn’t predictable now. Couldn’t claim a single syllable of the word. I was white-hot and barely tamed, prowling through clouds of need, seeking the sweet zap that would set me free to sizzle in the stars.
I fought for it. Writhed against Evrest’s long, perfect fingers, silently begging him for the contact. But the banked passion in his body, even in his long sucklings at my shoulder, told me this orgasm wouldn’t be an instant reward. He had plans first. Intense ones, if the energy barreling out of him was any indication.
“My sweet sevette.” Though he caressed each word into my neck, his free hand got busy, raising to my breast. While palming it from below, he swiped a possessive thumb over my distended point. Yeah, he was set on taunting me. Playing with me. That intent was blatant as he drawled into my ear, “It is your turn now, you know.”
“M-my…huh?” I battled amazement just to get that out. His rough treatment of my breast, now repeated on its twin, had just added a crazy revelation for me. His ruthless touch…I liked it. A lot. In the darkest coral reefs of my psyche, new creatures stirred in compliance with that message. You want more of that. Maybe a lot more.
“Indeed,” Evrest went on. His growl was knowing and wolfish. “For now that you know about my fantasies, it is time for me to learn of yours.”
Whimper.
Fitting choice. I didn’t know whether to be excited or terrified—or if it mattered. Every cell in my body would still recognize that unfaltering cadence in his voice, the rhythm of a man expecting to be heeded—and willing to do what it took to earn that obedience.
“A-All right. What do you want to know?”
His eyes narrowed. “I believe you already know the answer to that.”
I swallowed hard. “You want to know everything.”
He nodded slowly. “I want to know everything.”
I rolled my eyes. “Of course.”
I wasn’t certain what to expect when his face intensified, almost turning predatory. That was before I felt the new growth in his erection. The majority of his arousal might have been lodged between his forearm and my belly, but its fresh rise was unmistakable.
I almost smiled about it.
Snarky Camellia turned him on.
Probably a bad idea to call him on the revelation, though. Not now when his fingers moved closer to my core, awakening every tissue there in trembling need. I held my breath, waiting for his el
egant fingers to brush me. Yes. Yes. Right…there…
Tormented groan. Consuming shudders. Then a long, aching sob as he split his caress, taunting the lips on either side of my sensitive spot.
Snarky Camellia got shoved aside.
Desperate Camellia took her place.
I lurched, breathing hard. Fought against the clenching lust in my thighs and buttocks. Forced myself to forget the tingles still spreading from my breasts—and prayed for strength as the hot bud at the apex of my body nearly dominated my existence.
Though Evrest delivered my torment, he also seemed to understand it. As if he soaked my energy right into his body, he pressed our bodies tighter together. Whoa. The new urgency coursing through his own limbs…it was intense. And magnificent.
With a tight moan, he rolled his hips, sliding his erection harder against my belly. We both shuddered.
“Evrest…please. Oh, please!”
He shook his head slowly, perhaps even reluctantly. “Confession time first.” His lips nestled in my ear, full of hot persuasion. “Tell me what you thought about when you fantasized about me. Tell me everything. Start from the beginning.”
He wasn’t going to relent. But I wasn’t sure I wanted the mercy. My mind rewound to the nights when he was only my dream lover. I’d been alone, in the dark. Private…certainly never to be discovered. Thinking of it now, butted to the reality of being with him like this…it felt like I’d shot another glass of nectar, only better.
“I—was usually in bed. At night. It was usually late.”
He rewarded me for that by scraping his thumbnail on one of my nipples. “Were you alone?”
I burst on a laugh. “What the hell do you think?”
There wasn’t an inch of mirth on his face. “I think you must have been asked many times to share your bed. And it would not surprise nor anger me if you told me some lover did not complete his privilege of fulfilling your passion.”
“So I’d turn to fantasy boy Evrest to fill the order?”