“Wait, Willie.” Nick’s strained voice stopped her halfway down the hall in midstomp. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. The need was so evident in his words that she didn’t even need to turn and see it blazing in his eyes. Since coming back home they had done well to ignore the waves of lust coming off both of them. She had tried to ignore the almost constant ruckus going on inside her head, ignore the yowling and pissed off cougar trying to get to their mate. She had tried to sidestep the compulsion to wrap herself around Nick and breathe in his scent, to wash away the fears she had creeping through her mind. She couldn’t take seeing him with that look in his eyes now. Her defenses were already crumbling. If he crooked a finger at her, she would launch herself into his arms and do the unthinkable. Then she would have a mate who was the antithesis to her life.
With a slow, controlled turn, she faced him. She braced her mind, knowing she would see desire shimmering in his eyes, but it still sucked her breath from her in a whoosh. His eyes gleamed with need and other emotions she wasn’t prepared to deal with. Her body flared to life, warming for him. She barely swallowed the moan that threatened to escape her lips. Her heart leapt, increasing the cadence thumping in her chest and pounding in her ears. Heat poured through her veins.
“I can’t do this now, Nick. I just can’t. I need to rest and do some thinking before I deal with you. Please, just stay downstairs. You have full reign of the house. I’ll see you when I come back down.” Without listening to the answer, she ran up the stairs. Trembling fingers closed the door quietly, and she leaned back against it with a groan. Her head rested against the cool wood as she tried to collect her thoughts. Lust and need boiled her blood. Nick’s scent was thick in her house, driving her body crazy.
After a few minutes and a few deep breathing exercises, she stripped off the T-shirt and jeans she had thrown on after her shower. She pulled back her blankets and crawled into bed. She was mentally exhausted. Hope of a peaceful rest escaped after a few moments of thrashing between the sheets. The pillows felt lumpy. The sheets felt rumpled. The blankets were too heavy on her sensitive skin, pressing against her like a lover’s touch. A thought crept into her mind, and she tried to banish it. She knew that Nick was downstairs, had superhuman hearing, and was possibly able to listen to her. Lust spiked as an image of him during the fight flashed through her mind. Maybe she could rest if she masturbated. She had been on the verge of orgasm so many times in the last few days without fulfilling that need that perhaps a little self-indulgence would be a good idea. It wouldn’t take much. She wouldn’t even need her vibrator. Just the thought of touching her clit sent hot pulses through her body.
With a quick move, she flipped onto her back, spread her legs, and stroked a hand down her stomach. Before she could talk herself out of it, she ran a hand through her folds, amazed at how wet her pussy still was, and collected some cream on her fingers. With the moisture on her finger, she glided in a slow circle around her clit. She was still swollen, peeking from under the hood, throbbing in time to her heartbeat. A gasp escaped her lips, and her eyelids drifted closed. An image of Nick erupted in her mind. She pictured him on his belly, licking her clit, swirling a finger into her entrance. His hair brushing her thigh, breath softly skating across her flesh. She groaned with the imagery. Her other hand moved down her belly. She slid two fingers into her opening, curling them slightly so they stroked her G-spot. A moan echoed in her room as her climax spiraled quickly. Between the feel of her fingers caressing her heated flesh and the fantasy of Nick lapping at her pussy, she was so close already to exploding.
She barely heard the answering groan from downstairs and the quick footsteps rushing up to her room. With a quick yank, she pulled her hands away from her pussy. She sat up just as her door opened. A blush flashed across her cheeks. She pulled the blankets up to her chin and opened her mouth to tell him to get the fuck out.
“Don’t, Willie.” Nick stalked into the room like the predator he was, growling deep in his chest. He looked bigger to her, wider, scarier. Need glittered in his eyes, eerily glowing a deep green. He lifted his head, scenting the air, and growled again. Willie would have laughed if it wasn’t so damn torturous to see him like this. The predatory male stalking his prey. “I can smell your arousal. Is it slicking your folds for me? Dripping down your crack and pooling on your sheets? Were you thinking of me when you had your fingers deep in your pussy?”
She gulped, unsure how to respond to that. One side of her wanted her to say “yep” and offer her fingers to be licked clean. The other side figured she needed to get him out of her room as fast as possible before something permanent happened and she was saddled with a vampy mate. Neither side got to decide what happened. He moved quickly, almost too fast for Willie to track. The slight fear of watching him in full vampire mode should have warned her away, should have made her leery. Instead, it ramped up her desire. He was primal, dangerous, and sexy as hell.
He stood for a moment at the edge of the bed before grabbing a handful of blankets and throwing back the covers. Another blur of movement had him kneeling between her legs. Denim roughly rubbed against her calves. He wrapped a hand around an ankle and slowly drew her body down the bed toward his knees. His eyes never left the junction of her thighs. His nostrils flared, and he growled deep in his chest. “Lay down, love. You’re so wet for me.”
She didn’t know if she should fight him off or just surrender. This change in behavior was so much more intense. He had been verbal and guttural at his home, but that was due to the berserker rage. This Nick was something new. He was strong and sure, demanding and dominating. The pause between his words and her action pulled another growl from his chest. Well, shit. If he was going to go all caveman on her, then so be it. With a sigh, she slid her body down onto the bed.
“That’s a good girl,” he whispered as he sunk onto his belly between her thighs. He groaned low in his throat and then slowly leaned forward until she could feel his breath hot and moist on her slit. Words blew across her heated flesh, creating goose bumps along her legs. “I promise you I will not allow you to mark me until you are ready. I promise to do nothing right now but give you pleasure.”
With those words, Nick erased the space between his lips and her folds. A moan escaped his lips as he slowly licked a path along her outer lips. His flattened tongue was slightly rough on the swollen flesh. Shaved skin was sensitive and heated with his attention. He used both thumbs to open her folds. Cool air blew across her, shivers raced down her spine, and goose bumps erupted down her legs. A hot tongue stroked around her opening. She squirmed, pressing her pelvis up against his face. She was so close already that having Nick between her legs, using his talented tongue on her, was almost painful. One flick across her engorged clit would send her over.
“Easy, love. I want to taste your release. Let me enjoy the meal before you get your dessert,” he whispered.
Willie whined and threw her head back against the pillows but allowed her body to relax as much as it could. Her legs trembled against his shoulders before she released them to flop against the bed. She concentrated on the feel of his lips against her pussy. Hot breath blew across her heated flesh, sparking a rise in her need. The flick of the tip of his tongue against the top of her clit rushed blood to her skin. She flushed from head to toe. The scrape of sharp canines against her folds pushed her closer to the brink. The slight pain and fear of being bitten turned her on further. God, he was going to kill her. When he shifted his shoulders, she tensed, expecting him to pull away from her or, gasp, bite her. She moaned as a finger thrust into her vagina, moving in and out of her wetness slicking her lips.
“Nick, please.” A breathy sigh slipped through her lips as he flicked his tongue against her clit again. Oh, so close. She tried to keep her body from tensing, but her muscles took over. His finger moved inside her channel, rubbing unerringly against her G-spot, pushing up against her pubic bone. Her legs started to quiver. Closer. With a deep chuckle he sucked her clit
between his lips and stroked her quickly with his tongue. She exploded against his mouth. A keening scream echoed around the room as her body came apart. More spasms took her as he fucked her quickly with his tongue, drinking her release. Lights danced behind her eyes, and she knew without a doubt that she was experiencing the best orgasm of her life. A breathless laugh escaped her lips as her body continued shivering. She closed her eyes and reveled in the languid feeling slowly pooling in her bones. A deep purr sounded in her chest. Surprised but not fully capable of caring she slowly opened an eye to find Nick watching her with a canary-chomping kitty grin on his face.
“Like?” He preened under her stare, causing a giggle to bubble up in her throat. She swallowed down the feminine response to his self-satisfying look.
“Mmmm, that was fantastic and you know it, but it’s my turn.” She grabbed his shoulders with her knees and flipped the two of them over. She scrambled down his body as soon as his back hit the mattress. She perched on his thighs, clamping onto his body with her knees. A laugh escaped as he sputtered under her. “I did tell you that I’m strong, didn’t I? Now, lay back and let me reciprocate.”
Willie traced deliberate fingers down Nick’s chest, smoothing over his shirt, taking her time to enjoy the feel of his hard body beneath the cloth. She ran a finger around each nipple, plucking at the nubs as they responded to her fingers and moved down toward the button of his jeans. A grin spread across her face as his eyelids slid closed. She could barely feel the vibration from a low growl in his chest. With light strokes she worked her hands up under his shirt, enjoying the feel of his skin under her fingers. He was warm under her hands. Light shivers chased her movements as she smoothed up his chest, tickling the light smattering of hair. This time she would let him keep his clothing on as protection and a reminder to her to keep her teeth to herself. Next time, though, she would feast on his bare skin. The urge to lick and taste him rode her hard as her kitty pressed tightly against her mind.
With practiced fingers, she swept down his chest and quickly opened the button to his jeans. She was pleasantly surprised to find him commando with his thick, throbbing cock peeking through the denim window of his unbuttoned pants. She resisted the urge to finish unzipping his jeans and leaned forward to lick the exposed head. The accompanying hiss that escaped his lips was music to her ears. She grinned before wrapping her lips lightly around just the head of his cock, swirling her tongue along the rim and swiping along his slit with a slow slide. She hummed in appreciation for the small taste she was afforded when a drop of pre-cum slid onto her tongue. Salty and bitter on her tongue was inspiration enough to want a full taste of his cock. Without releasing him from her lips, she unzipped his jeans and pried open the closure. He lifted his hips enough for her to pull the jeans down his thighs.
“Gods. You’re trying to kill me.” Nick’s voice was harsh with need. Willie lowered her mouth down his shaft, licking along the underside of his cock as she descended. She breathed in the musk that was all his, absorbing his scent before sliding back up his shaft. She hummed in the back of her throat and almost laughed at the groan he let slip from his open mouth.
She looked up his belly and was astonished by the pure beauty of Nick in the throes of passion. His head was thrown back against the bed, mouth slightly parted, muscles straining and clenched. She wanted to watch him unravel, to come apart as he came in her mouth. The need to swallow his seed, to have a piece of him inside her was overwhelming. With a moan of her own, she started moving up and down his shaft with quick suckling movements. She hollowed her cheeks on each upstroke, trying to pull the very essence from his body. Each slick slide back down his cock brought a gasp from him. She fought and won the battle to keep her teeth from elongating. She wouldn’t mark him this way. When she was ready, it would be a true mating instead of a quick release. Her cougar was present but curiously quiet. She figured the cat would try and force a marking, but maybe the kitty wanted a traditional method as well.
Within her mouth she felt him harden further, velvet over steel. His hips pumped in time with her movements, pushing him closer to his release. She took him to the back of her throat and held him cocooned in her heat before swallowing. Hands wound through her loose hair and held her against his groin as an almost painful groan erupted into the room. Hot spurts of cum coated the back of her tongue. She swallowed it all, tasting the salty essence with each pump of his cock against the back of her throat. A throaty purr erupted within her mind as her kitty licked her lips. She held him in her mouth, suckling lightly, until he softened. With a soft kiss to the head of his spent member, she leaned back and smiled.
“Like?” She laughed at the half grin on his face. He really was a spectacular male specimen. She wanted to keep him. She shook her head at her own idiocy but still found herself crawling up the bed and pulling the covers back up. “Come on, you can rest with me for a while. I could use the sleep and wouldn’t mind the company.”
“Mmm, sounds like a good idea to me.” He stood and stripped quickly then slowly sauntered to the head of the bed as she devoured him with her eyes. She stared at his body and licked her lips. Yum. His body was build like an athlete, not overly muscled, but his chest was wide and defined. A light spattering of hair graced the smooth skin and darkened as it arrowed down his belly. His cock, still soft, was nestled in a nest of black hair. With a grin he slid into bed and pulled her into his arms. He buried his face into her hair, breathing warmly against her neck. A low husky laugh shivered across her skin. “This is nice. Let me know when you’re ready for the next round.”
She ignored the comments that bubbled to her lips, ignored the rising cock against her ass, and ignored the need howling through her to take him up on the invitation. She resolutely closed her eyes and willed her body to relax. After a few moments, his body heat did what nothing else ever could. She relaxed into a peaceful sleep with a sigh.
Chapter 10
The smell of freshly brewing coffee filtered through Willie’s sleep, pulling her from the depths of her dreamless abyss. She had registered the dip in the bed when Nick rose hours before to do whatever it was vampires did all day, but she just couldn’t make herself get up then. For once she had rolled over and fallen back to sleep. For a being that didn’t require hours of actual sleep each night, it was completely out of character for her to snooze an entire day away. The nerves and emotional turmoil from the last few days had zapped her of her strength, and if she was honest with herself, she was using sleep as a coping mechanism. No one, especially a hunky bloodsucker, could talk to her about feelings and stuff if she was hanging out in la-la land.
With a stretch and a groan, she finally rolled over and pried one eye open enough to see the time. Midafternoon. Not bad for an avoidance tactic if she did say so herself. She slowly rolled out of bed and scuffed toward the bathroom, determined to shower before anything else. She wanted to start the day off right, showered and dressed in comfortable kick-ass wear. If nothing else, she would look confident when she faced the two vampy men hanging out in her house.
The shower accomplished exactly what she thought it would. She felt awake and ready enough to take on the world that she could wander downstairs to get a cup of coffee. Her defensive garb, a worn concert T-shirt and ripped jeans, gave her that last few ounces of courage she needed. Nervous energy skated over her skin. Would they have to talk about what happened? Could she face him without jumping in his arms and wrapping her legs around his hips? Was she ready to commit to a relationship so unorthodox it might very well get her killed in the next few hours? Enough, you can’t very well solve these problems standing in the stairwell.
With a deep breath, she walked silently into the kitchen. A sense of both relief and slight disappointment crowded through her mind when she realized that Nick wasn’t in the kitchen waiting for her. She strolled to the coffee pot and giggled when she noticed he had pulled down her favorite Minnie Mouse cup. So he understood her more than she realized. Minnie and she went
way back, and any bad morning was made exceedingly better by drinking from the pink and white cup. Coffee-scented steam wrapped around her senses. She even reached for the sugar and creamer to add a little something special to her otherwise black coffee.
Both hands wrapped around the cup, cradling it to her body like a lost friend. The heat infused her with a sense of calm. The coffee with its bitterness balanced today by the sugar was exactly what she needed before facing him. She fully admitted it was Nick she was wary of at the moment. Yes, the fear of the Council was hanging at the back of her mind, but they had crossed an important barrier with their little play earlier. She wasn’t sure she could take it if he acted like it didn’t happen, but she also wasn’t sure how to deal with it if he didn’t.
“You’re deep in thought over there.” The soft words still made her jump. Hot coffee cascaded over her hand and soaked into her jeans.
“Fuck.” She turned and grabbed the dishtowel off the stove and wiped at the sloshed caffeine. I won’t look at him. I won’t. “Stop sneaking up on me.”
* * * *
Nick cleared his throat and waited. He watched a beautiful shade of pink creep across her cheeks. He silently sighed. They were back to being strangers again, even after sharing amazing releases not six hours before. He couldn’t go back to pretending they weren’t meant for each other. He refused to ignore the need he felt coursing through his body at the moment. Even watching her wipe coffee from her hands was making him hot. He wanted her naked under him, thrusting into her body until she refused to ignore her need for him. The taste of her had done nothing but whet his appetite for more. He needed to feel her coming around his cock, squeezing him while gasping his name. He wanted to feel her teeth bite into him as he came. He wanted her to mark him, claim him, own him.
Half in Love [Willie Krenshaw] (Siren Publishing Classic) Page 11