Beautiful Mistake: 2 (Royal Pride)

by Nancy Corrigan

  Confusion settled over her, made the needs surging within her worse. She didn’t understand what was wrong with her. She wanted to fuck him, hold him close and run away from him all at the same time. She linked her arms around his neck. “Devin, please. I need,” she groaned, her frustration mounting. “I don’t know what I need.”

  “Sssh, baby, I know. I’ll take care of you.”

  He nudged at her thighs with a knee. She opened them, allowing him to settle there, the hard ridge pressing into her proof of his desire. Those large hands that had terrified her last night cupped her face. He slowly leaned in and kissed her, gently seeking entrance, not forcing her. The soft brush of his lips over hers focused her wayward emotions and settled the crazy urges. The worry over why she hovered on the verge of combusting faded in the face of his attentions. She moaned and he slid inside, claiming her mouth as his with deep, sweeping thrusts of his tongue.

  While she enjoyed men, none of her lovers ever kissed like this one. Devin explored and licked the recesses of her mouth. Their tongues stroked and he guided her into a dance that felt as intimate as sex. She hesitantly reached up and touched the strong line of his jaw. No stubble roughened it, just the hot skin of a powerful man. Needing more, she caressed his cheek, memorizing the smooth contours.

  She slid her fingers to the column of his neck. His pulse beat steadily under her fingertips. A low growl crawled up his throat. The vibrations from that primal sound resonated against her palm, its echo seeming to skip through her veins. Her heartbeat took on an erratic rhythm. Tremors racked her limbs, an emotion settling over her she couldn’t explain. It left her wary. The desire she understood, even welcomed. It was the longing to hear that rumbly sound in her ear every day she didn’t like.

  The worry came back, stronger than before. Devin was conditioning her, making her need him. That was the only explanation for why she couldn’t resist him. She did not need a man and she especially did not need a shifter. With every passing moment, however, he seemed to slip further into her mind, pushing all the important stuff out.

  She broke the kissed and shoved at his shoulders. “This isn’t what I need.”

  He smiled, the tips of fangs glinting in the soft spill of sunshine across the bed. “Wanna bet?”

  He lowered his mouth to her shoulder. His warm breath bathed her skin and her denial got stuck in her throat. Fear should’ve surfaced considering his sharp teeth scraped her, rather than anticipation. That’s what left her trembling, though. It confused and angered her but she couldn’t work up the energy to stop this. A heartbeat passed, then two before he nudged her chin with his. She tipped her head and he clamped his mouth over the delicate spot where shoulder met neck. He pressed his fangs against the scar he’d left there and growled.

  The first inkling of fear dropped in her gut like a brick. The muscles along her limbs seized and she sucked in air through clenched teeth. Squeezing her eyes shut, she tried to prepare for the torture she’d expected Devin to deliver back in their hotel room. Instead of dishing out some wicked torment, he massaged her hip. Time stretched and the tightness in her limbs eased until she finally sighed and went lax under him.

  Damn the man. He tamed her just as he’d promised he would.

  He mumbled his approval and slid his hand across her belly and under the elastic of her panties. Slowly, he caressed her skin and inched his fingertips lower to trace the edge of her sex. She closed her eyes and focused on where he touched her. He stroked one finger over her clit. She lifted her hips to encourage him. He was repeating the seduction he’d started yesterday. This time, she wanted him to finish it, even though she hated herself for it.

  He released her shoulder but didn’t lift his mouth away. The warmth of his breath washed over the wet skin. She trembled and the bite under Devin’s lips began to thump. The sensation was unlike anything she’d ever experienced. It felt as if it was connected to her heart. Each beat in the four points matched the pounding in her chest.

  The butterfly caress of his open-mouthed kiss yanked her focus from the weird reaction to the man poised above her. “More, Lena?”

  The logical part of her wanted to deny him. In her mind, she knew this wasn’t normal. Her body disagreed. “Yes,” she whimpered, “more. Touch me.”

  He swept his flattened tongue over the section of her shoulder he’d avidly tormented. Tingles skipped across her body. He clamped his mouth to the spot and bit until his fangs dented the skin. The tip of his tongue pressed to the center. With the first lick, pleasure spread from where he teased to her fingers and toes. Heat followed, filling her limbs, swelling her chest. She arched, the feeling bordering on pain. As quickly as it came, the unwelcome sensation eased and the fullness that filled her lungs escaped in a rush of breath.

  With quick flicks of his fingertip to her clit, he rebuilt her desire until she couldn’t think of anything beyond what he was doing to her. The sensations he created spiraled need throughout her body, leaving her hotter than before, only this time for him. He circled the nub and strummed it. Her inner muscles quivered. So close. The impending orgasm barreled down on her. Her core squeezed. She squirmed, tried to invite him to slide his fingers lower. He moved with her and kept up the stimulation on the bundle of nerves, denying her relief.

  “Devin,” she begged, hoping he’d understand. She couldn’t voice her wants or her frustration over them, not while her body tensed and readied for release.

  He yanked his hand away and pressed his groin to hers, thrusting in a mimic of sex. The roughness of his sweats over her cleft pushed her higher. She opened her mouth to beg for more or tell him to stop, she wasn’t sure which. She only succeeded in offering up a moan as he locked his mouth over her shoulder and sucked. Her eyes rolled back into her head, the words lost to the waves whipping through her body.

  His teeth broke the skin of her shoulder and she fell, screaming his name. The world exploded in color. Lights flashed and swirled until spots danced across her vision. She came down from the high but Devin swirled his tongue over her shoulder and sent her right back to the edge. Tiny licks held her there on the precipice, waiting.

  “Again, Lena. Say it again.”

  She moaned his name and he rewarded her, sucking hard and hurling her into another mind-blowing release. The waves eased and darkness edged her vision. She reached for it. Sleep seemed the safer option at the moment. It beat the unsettling suspicion creeping into her head—Devin would be mistake number three and he’d destroy her once and for all.

  Chapter Seven

  Gods, Lena is beautiful when she comes. Devin brushed a lock of hair from a flushed cheek and gently kissed her closed eyelids. With his forehead pressed to hers, he panted and tried to tamp down his lust. The scent of her pleasure lingering in the air around them and the soft cushion of her hips to his hard shaft countered his efforts. He’d never wanted to join his body with a female as much as he did with Lena. The desire to ride her hard and long while her inner muscles milked his cock over and over consumed him.

  He shouldn’t have taken their kiss as far as he had but when she’d rubbed her hot mound against him, he couldn’t deny her. She ached, her body demanding relief. Besides, her needy state was his fault. It was only right he be the one to bank the fires he’d ignited by licking her wounds.

  The herbs the witch had given Lena kept her unconscious. She’d still reacted to his ministrations. Sick or not, he’d wanted to lick every inch of her. Only knowing the fever jumbled her mind stopped him for worshipping her completely. Soon he would. That was a given. She belonged to him now.

  The knock on the door tore his thoughts away from Lena and brought a growl to his lips. There was only one other person in the house at the moment. Xander was wandering the nearby towns looking for Molly, and he didn’t want Kade anywhere near Lena.

  “I don’t want your female, Devin, but we need to talk.”

  Kade’s acknowledgment of who owned Lena eased his angst. Devin reapplied his scent to her cheeks
and sat up, pulling the blanket over her body. “About what?”

  “Seriously?” Kade snorted. “Let’s see…about Molly for starters. We still have no idea where she is. There was a report filed describing a confrontation between a young woman and a robber whose description meets the lion from yesterday morning. According to witnesses, they struggled and a gun went off. The female grabbed a little girl and ran before the cops arrived.”

  Fear for Lena’s sister tightened his chest. He glanced at the locket sitting on the nightstand and cursed as her text message took on new meaning. Gwen shot the shifter Kade had beaten up yesterday.

  “Did they find the weapon?”

  “No. One witness said they saw Gwen holding it, the other claiming the robber had it, but since he also took off before the paramedics could assess his injuries, there’s no evidence. Xander’s looking for her but it’s as if Gwen disappeared. Good news is he’s confirmed it was Gwen’s scent so at least we know she’s still alive and has Molly.”

  Devin tensed as he picked up on Kade’s tension. “What’s the bad news?”

  “He didn’t smell a lion cub, just the male lion and Gwen.”

  Masking the kid’s scent would make it that much harder to find them. He pushed the worry back and focused on the facts. “Did the witnesses describe the child?”

  “Yep. White-blonde hair, adorable cherub face and pale-blue eyes. Fits Molly’s description.” Kade sighed. “You’ve got to get Lena to talk. I’m afraid for them. That other lion has Gwen’s scent and since she’s not covering it up…”

  He didn’t have to finish. Devin knew firsthand what happened when their inner animals fixated on a woman’s scent. In the case of a mortal, single-shifter, it became a deadly obsession. They weren’t blessed with the option of taking a human female as their mate. That was a gift reserved for the gods’ children, not their mistakes.

  He glanced at Lena. She appeared so delicate asleep, yet had a core of steel. “If Gwen is anything like her sister, she’ll be fine until we can find her.”

  “And if Gwen decides to sacrifice herself too? You never did find out the details of their Plan B or who this Vader is. We need to find them. The sooner, the better.”

  “Agreed. I’ll wake Lena in a few minutes and see if I can’t get her to talk.” Talk. Shit. She had wanted to talk, but I gave in to the lust. He grabbed the phone and hit redial. Rafe’s house number came up. Devin dropped it on the base. “She did say she called her sister and they were safe.”

  “Thank the gods,” Kade muttered. “I don’t suppose—”

  “No, I didn’t get Gwen’s number. I got distracted.”

  Kade snorted. “I’m surprised you got that much info from her.”

  “Let it alone, Kade. I almost lost her last night. I needed the reassurance of her touch as much as she needed mine.” He waited a moment listening to Kade’s steady breathing. No lecture but he sensed his friend’s discomfort. “What else is bugging you?”

  “Mira has called three times wondering what’s wrong with you.”

  He dropped his head on the pillow next to Lena and groaned. “Damn twin bond.”

  “She senses your anxiety. I keep blowing her off but this last time she asked me point-blank if it had to do with a woman.”

  He tensed. “What did you say?”

  “Nothing. I pretended you were calling for me and hung up.”

  Shaking his head, he fought his amusement and failed. A rumble of laughter shook the bed, stirring Lena. She reached for him and dug her nails into his arm.

  “Devin,” she moaned, the sated sound evidence of the encounter they’d shared.

  He covered her hands and brushed his lips to her jaw.

  “And that’s my cue. Remember what I said, Devin. Time is of the essence.”

  He trailed kisses across Lena’s cheek as Kade’s footsteps faded.

  “Hey, beautiful, I was wondering how long you were going to sleep on me.”

  She suddenly tensed and her eyes bulged. Anger sparked in her chocolate depths. “Why did you touch me?”

  The female shooting daggers at him didn’t match the one who’d just screamed his name in pleasure. He eased back slightly. She tracked his movements with her glinting eyes. “Because I wanted to.” She narrowed her eyes more. He rolled his shoulder. “I’m attracted to you, Lena. I couldn’t help it.”

  “Attracted to me,” she repeated. Her nose scrunched. “More like you wanted to manipulate me.”

  His cats urged him to tread carefully. He didn’t need their warning. Lena’s flaring nostrils and way she ground her jaw worked just fine as a cautionary sign. “Why would I…” He bit back the words as realization struck.

  She nodded her head. A bitter laugh escaped. “That’s right, Devin. Molly. You want to know where she’s at so you decided to seduce me to get the knowledge since I wouldn’t tell you.”

  “That’s not why I touched you.”

  She blinked those innocent eyes at him that he’d fallen for once already. “Oh, really? Then why?”

  He shrugged and gave her the truth. “Because you’re sexy and beautiful.”

  She scooted across the bed and gingerly sat up, the fall of her hair reaching mid-back. She glanced over her shoulder. “Bullshit. I know what kind of girls guys like you want and I’m not it.”

  “Guys like me?”

  She looked him up and down. “Shifters.”

  The generic term could’ve been a four-letter word the way she slapped it at him. Warning bells went off in his head. “What are talking about?”

  “Shifter males are horny and I’m convenient.” She worked her jaw back and forth. “Well, I hate to break the news to you, but a couple of pity orgasms isn’t going to work on me.”

  He stared at her more wary than ever. “Pity orgasms?”

  She huffed. “Yes, pity orgasms. You’re not actually going to tell me it was anything else, are you? A guy like you wouldn’t kiss someone like me unless he had a reason.”

  He leapt over the bed before she could move. Snagging her hand, he pressed it over his erection and used their joint grip to stroke his cock through the cotton pants. She molded the length without his prompting. Tightening the glide, he quickened the strokes until the pleasure was too much, the point of no return looming. He squeezed her wrist, holding her in place and ending the pleasured torture.

  “Does that feel like it was a pity orgasm? I don’t remember ever being as hard as I am right now.”

  Unable to resist, he slid his fingers over hers again. Together, they stroked. Desire hazed the chocolate eyes locked onto his. Soft pants escaped her parted lips. His shaft jerked with the stimulation and her gaze shifted to the bulge. The sight of her dazed expression tore a groan from him.

  “You did this to me, Lena. Just you.”

  She shook her head and her hair whipped around her. The ends brushed against his stomach. Sparks skipped across his skin.

  Gods, the woman was a siren. He leaned in to kiss her and his lips skimmed over the top of her head as she scooted under his arm.

  She stepped away from him, fisted those delicate fingers that had just stroked his dick and planted the balled hands on her hips. “Enough, Devin. You don’t have to fake it anymore.”

  Claws erupted and the tips pierced the bedding. He panted through his frustration, hoping to keep it banked so he didn’t frighten her like he had in the hotel room. It was hard though. Her assumption angered him. He hadn’t lied to her. No female had ever brought him to this level of arousal. Her scent enflamed and soothed him, a combination that left him feeling normal, sane and freaking horny.

  He bowed his head, took several more calming breaths. “I’m not faking it. When we come together, I will rock your world, little wildcat.” He glanced over his shoulder and captured her half-lidded gaze. “It will be your legs I’ll have wrapped around my waist, not some cheap substitute, but I’m willing to wait. I want you to know my passion is for you, not what I can get out of you.”

/>   She laughed and ran a trembling hand through her hair. “Damn, that’s good. Do you use that line on all your conquests or only the ones you kidnap?”

  He stalked her and she retreated until her back smacked into the wall. Standing in front of her, her warm breath stimulated his nipple. Although he’d known she was tiny, it wasn’t until this moment that he’d realized how much taller he was. Kissing her while they had sex would require a little practice. Luckily for Lena, cats were flexible. And stubborn. She wasn’t getting away.

  Hands on her hips, he lifted her, ignoring her surprised yelp, until they were face-to-face. “It’s not a line, baby, and it has nothing to do with gaining knowledge about Molly. We will have sex. That’s a guarantee. And when we do, you’ll be screaming my name.”

  Her palms pressed into his chest. The firm push and the fire sparking in her warm, brown eyes spoke of her annoyance. Her ire intrigued him. He’d never liked docile women. This little female was anything but meek. She also wasn’t boring. He liked being kept on his toes. It stopped his mind from wandering to past mistakes.

  “I already did. Look, I…I don’t want to talk about sex or why you touched me anymore.” She pressed her finger to his lips, stopping his words. “What happened between us doesn’t matter, only Molly does. Let’s talk about her like we should’ve in the first place.”

  He didn’t like her dismissal but in this case, he could understand. He also heard her unspoken warning. Push at her and she’d turn her back on him. Well, he’d do his best. Instincts, though, were a bitch. Males weren’t the only ones affected by the mating drive and since he refused to allow his beloved to leave him, she’d have to deal with them.

  “You’re right. She does but this,” he laid his palm over her heart, “this won’t go away.”

  She squeezed her eyes closed. “Please let me go, Devin.”

  The confusion in her voice was unmistakable. Hell, it hurt to hear, but there was nothing he could do about it. He’d have to figure out a way to help her cope.