On the short walk to his rooms, the connection enveloped them. In him she found barely restrained lust wrapping around her. He didn’t conceal his needs. The lust between them was mutual, but this level of intensity should have frightened her. It didn’t because of what else passed between them. The heat she found in him lived in herself, but his drives were much more complex than that. She had to look down at the floor to shield her expression and her blush from the ever-present Yuri and Thomas.
Lore was beyond smiling. A few more steps and she would be his alone. It seemed an eternity had passed between this morning when they’d discovered each other and now. In a way it had.
The reality he’d woken to this morning was a memory. The world they lived in now was peopled by unknown entities whose existence he could not deny because he was one of them. But mostly there was Kenna.
Churning through his body was desire as he’d never known. It was stronger, more edgy than it should be. Its power went beyond physical need. He wanted to possess her with a fierce drive as strong as any survival instinct. That was disquieting but not disturbing enough to dilute the need.
What occurred now was anyone’s guess. He knew what he wanted but what she could manage was another thing. That ultimately controlled every other drive. She was what he needed. The act of possessing her was only a part of it. He hoped she read all of it in him. He wasn’t sure he could express the complicated emotions in words.
At the door to his apartment, Lore turned to Yuri and Thomas, who were conferring briefly with the guard on duty. “Good night, gentlemen.”
As dismissals went, that one was pretty complete, both men acknowledged it with a smile and nod. The implied command that no one was to enter this door short of total global meltdown was clear.
As the door shut behind him, Lore remained standing in front of it. Kenna paced to the middle of the sitting room and swung around.
“If we do what we want to do, does it seal our fate?” she demanded sharply. “They said it gets stronger as we’re together and they would rather we didn’t have to go to the feast thing.”
“I know. It has increased. The physical drive to sex has become exaggerated. Don’t think I’m not aware that we’re being pushed by our own bodies,” Lore agreed, his voice a rasping rumble.
“What is that?” Kenna started to pace in an attempt to dispel the ache between her legs. “It’s like we’ve been given some sort of freaking aphrodisiac. You don’t think someone could have slipped something into our food, do you?”
“When? This morning at breakfast before we’d met? No, baby, this was present long before that. You drew me the moment your mind brushed mine.” Lore stood perfectly still as the enticing woman paced across the room.
She was exhausted, emotionally and physically. And yet whatever it was they’d become wouldn’t let her relax. If she’d said she just wanted to sleep, he would have held her all night. It would have hurt like hell but he’d have done it. However, the relentless connection showed him her body was not allowing her the rest she needed. No, it was burning her with the hunger that clawed through him.
“I don’t know what to do,” Kenna whispered, filled with uncertainty and guilt over what she wanted. Nothing felt natural in this moment. Logically she knew she was an adult and capable of making a choice. She was also sure there was no way she could refuse him. His desires became hers in this strange place they found themselves.
“The connection between us is powerful. But think about this, baby, because we are able to communicate this way, we honestly know each other very well. Do you agree?”
Kenna stopped to face him and raised a brow. “Like knowing you hate brussel sprouts with an unholy passion? Or are you referring to that streak of violence you hold in check?”
“Are you afraid of me, Kenna?” Lore crossed his arms over his chest as he asked the question.
“All the time,” Kenna shot back at him. “But not that you’ll hurt me physically,” she amended with a frown.
“You feel what you’re calling violence when a male comes near you with the intention of touching you. It’s not necessarily violence. It’s protectiveness.”
“Protectiveness?” Kenna scoffed. “Even you have to realize that’s a rather tame word for the way you feel when it comes over you. You’re primal. Do you know you utilize all your animal instincts for that moment? You even check the male’s scent,” Kenna sighed as he stared at her. He was not disagreeing. She could tell he was surprised and analyzing.
It was true. The change in his senses had happened so stealthily, he hadn’t realized when he’d started checking scents.
Lore rubbed his chin as he thought about the reactions she’d pointed out. “It seems part of this is access to abilities that have been lost in the humans,” he mused in growing understanding. “The ability to use all our physical resources as if some sort of block has been removed, rather like throwing off human restraints.”
Kenna’s head cocked slightly. He had a point. She felt different in subtle ways that had occurred quietly in the confusion of the day. Physical things. Her sense of smell was magnified as well. His scent was overwhelmingly attractive. Pheromones! She was reacting to him with every receptor her body had, just like an animal in heat might.
“Are we becoming animals?” she voiced the question cautiously.
“No,” Lore denied firmly. “No loss of reason as we gain greater use of our bodies. It’s going the other way.” He stopped warily as that thought grew in both of them.
“Um…” Kenna continued, frowning. “We’re becoming more. Aren’t we?”
“Yes,” he agreed thoughtfully.
“I thought there was supposed to be some sort of warning if a body is changing. Every shapeshifter movie makes it look painful! Damn it. At least a flashy thing or sparkly dust should fly around. How are we supposed to keep track of this junk if we don’t know it’s happening?” Kenna demanded in disgust.
Unreasonable as it sounded out loud, she would much rather know if her body was changing because of pain or something. This silent, stealthy altering of abilities made her feel even more helpless. It was complete lack of control.
Lore covered the distance between them to fold her into his arms.
Kenna willingly leaned into him. The contact they were giving each other was comfort. It had occurred to them at the same time that those changes separated them from the human population. Even referring to the rest of the world as “the humans” sharply highlighted how different they already were.
“Damn.” Lore hissed.
“We can’t tell anyone.” Kenna shivered.
“Absolutely,” he agreed, cradling her soft body in the protection of his arms would never have been enough. Not now. Different on this scale was dangerous. Right now it made them something he didn’t want to put a name to but was fucking confident one of the names others would use was tango. Also target or package, after which would come scientific words meant to help those studying them distance themselves from the horrific acts they were performing.
“Lore?” Kenna questioned softly. “If what we think is going on is true, doesn’t that mean our physical reaction to each other is exaggerated by the same x-factor as our other senses have developed? We’ve never felt attraction like this because we couldn’t.”
Shifting from defensive considerations to the wildly clawing lust should have been at least some trouble. Fact was, he’d never lost focus on either, but now baby girl was figuring it out and he heard the hope in her tone. She wanted there to be a logical reason for the binding ties and burning needs.
“Makes sense. We aren’t losing control of our bodies, we are more fully aware of everything, including sexual responses. We feel it more acutely.” His voice was a low growl as his hands stroked up and down her back.
“Since we’ve done nothing to make these changes occur, would our physical connection alter what’s happening?” Kenna asked. “Could we control it with refusing to be together?”
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br /> “I don’t know. I doubt not touching would stop it. Our needs seem codependent. I’m not comfortable with that, baby, but more than that, I’m not willing to subject you to pain just to see if it is really so.”
“I feel like a drug addict. I need your hands on me,” Kenna confessed. “Do you understand what I mean? I’m not trying to trap you or anything.”
Lore laughed. “Damn, woman. Would you please trap me a little?”
Standing in the middle of the room with arms around each other, their bodies gently swaying, they were sharing more than the touch. It felt so good just to be wrapped around her. Lore scowled over her head as he drank whatever it was his body needed from her. Unsure if this feeling of relief he gained from holding her meant she was somehow being drained.
“Is it pathetic to be tired of fighting it and just seduce you? Neither of us is going to sleep in this condition.” Kenna smiled as he growled in response to her question.
“If it’s pathetic, sign me up,” Lore murmured. He needed to lighten up for her. Growling was his natural response to the threat assessment that was running continually in his head, but it wasn’t in hers. Right now it was just the two of them and their first night together.
“Okay, I’m not sure where to start though. I’ve never ravaged someone before.” Kenna lifted her head off the wide chest she’d been pressed to and looked up in that perfectly savage face above her. He was so beautiful, so fiercely male, and she needed him. Her body plastered to the granite planes of his muscles had helped and then some.
“Not a problem. Let me give you a few pointers,” Lore offered as his lips brushed hers. The kiss deepened slowly as both of them let go of the control they’d been holding on to all day. His tongue swept deep into her mouth, claiming it, stroking, seducing her senses.
The deep kiss ended because he needed more of her. His mouth slid off her lips to explore her jawline. Lore dragged his licking tongue down her arched neck. It felt so damn good to just touch her. Not fighting the battle to remain appropriate.
Her taste exploded in his system. The taste of her skin, like her scent, had become so much more. She was unique and unbearably delicious. His mouth moved down her breastbone to bury his face between the shuddering soft pillows of her cleavage. His fingers unlaced the back of the stiff gown.
“First rule of ravaging,” Lore growled as emotions swirled between them. “Make sure everyone is enjoying it.” He lifted his head to watch her face as he worked her dress. Reading her meant he didn’t need the visual to confirm her acceptance, but he wanted her to know this was her choice as well.
She felt his barely restrained impatience, yet he gently, slowly slid the heavy overdress off her shoulders. He pulled back long enough to allow it to slide to the floor, leaving her in the filmy underdress and shoes. She’d chosen to skip undergarments and he sucked in a sharp breath as he looked at her.
Kenna nodded. “Got it. Ravaging is to be enjoyed.”
Lore swung her up in his arms and brought his lips to hers again as he carried her into the bedroom. Her taste had become an addiction just that fast. It changed in subtle, captivating ways as he delved into her mouth. Fascinating though that was, her emotions becoming a part of his soul required more of his attention.
Breaking the kiss, he set her on the bed. He could feel her embarrassment and excitement. She was embarrassed to be so undressed while he was still fully clothed. Not a problem. He could fix that immediately.
His eyes caressed her as he ripped off his costume jacket, vest and shirt while continuing their disjointed conversation. “Ravaging is sort of tricky like that. Next thing, never leave clothes on too long. Could be a mood killer.”
Kenna relaxed marginally. Her excitement was a twisted mass of uncertainty and intense desire. She was afraid of the tightening trap she felt they were both falling into. Her physical needs were reaching for him with the same urgency he felt.
Lore acknowledged her mixed emotions. Her fears were all well founded, but he also needed her to grasp that they had moved beyond them. He would not force her, but there was little either of them could do to stop what came next. It was part of what they were, how they were.
To him, she was flawless in every way. Her sweet breasts were perfectly formed mounds of trembling temptation. Those soft globes were fashioned to fit the palm of his hand. As he looked at them through the transparent shift, he deliberately took his time, appreciating their flushed tips. Her nipples hardened for him, and just watching her response was one of the most erotic moments he’d ever experienced.
He felt the breathless jolt of excitement looking at his chest gave her and smiled darkly. Stepping up to her, he shifted her knees so he stood between them, lifted her hands to place them on the pelt of fur covering his upper chest. It was exactly what she’d been thinking of doing.
“Yes, touch whatever you want, whenever you want, please,” he purred, and went to work on yanking off boots without moving away as her hands pressed deeply into the layer of flexing flesh across his upper body.
He was right. They were way past the place where regret and fear could change what they were. His ability to move forward after a choice was made was so male. Just like every other rippling inch of him.
Kenna wallowed in the flame that raced through her. The pleasure of touching, stroking the man beneath her hands was another new experience. She couldn’t help herself. Leaning forward, she pressed her lips to a thick pectoral muscle and felt him shudder beneath her touch.
Laughing softly, he encouraged her mentally. “Oh yes, baby. I like it.” Lore finally rid himself of his tights.
Her mouth fastened over a stiff, male nipple. Kenna gave it a gentle suck to see what would happen. She was shocked at the flash of intense arousal that light touch gave him. Response to each other was exaggerated with the new senses.
“Good God, give a man a chance!” He pulled her away from his chest to stand her up so he could draw the underdress over her head. Flinging it carelessly away, he looked down at the slender curves he’d uncovered. Her breasts were classic perfection. Her torso nipped into a slender waist. The delicate tummy was flat and silky soft above rounded hips. Sable curls between her legs were trimmed in a bikini cut that did not hide the damp pink folds of the needy woman.
Kenna sank back down to the bed, her knees on either side of his legs. For frozen moments he remained looking down at her. If she couldn’t share his emotions, she might have been intimidated, even embarrassed by his single-minded focus between her legs. But she felt the strangling lust that raced up his body like a fireball.
His control was an amazing thing. Doubt invaded her, a shiver of fear she couldn’t disguise. She wanted this, him, but at the same time he was such a powerfully built man, at any moment he could physically do as he pleased.
His voice emerged as a deep rumble. “No fear. I cannot touch you while you fear. You hold that key, baby.”
His sentences were choppy as he remained rigid under the restraint her fear forced on him. He needed her trust, and being able to see the extent of that need was staggering.
Confidence in him grew as the knowledge that he would not harm her for any reason became crystal clear. She looked behind those dark eyes at the aggressive spirit that self-imposed this crippling control. The trust she needed lived in his control.
Kenna slowly reclined on the bed, carefully hooking her heels on the bedrail as she placed her hands on her knees and drew them apart for him. Pulling them open, she arched her hips and offered him all that she was.
Taking the suggestions from his mind, Kenna trailed her hands up her body to cup her breasts. Slender fingers flicked hard nipples. Moaning at the sensation, she did it again. She was choosing this surrender and it wasn’t surrender at all because of that knowledge. She took the moment and made it a gift.
Her small hands kneaded the shuddering globes of her breasts while her wide-spread legs pulled her damp body open, offering him swollen petals blushed with excitement.
Lore thought he might lose his mind. Blood had long ago abandoned most of his body as it strove to rush south. Yet he felt heat flash down his frame as he drew in a deep breath. His cock jerked in painful arousal.
Laid out before him, Kenna revealed herself boldly. He knew she was more involved with his responses than her own, but just looking at her made him dizzy. This amazing woman was his. Equating her submission in displaying her body as a sign of his ownership was primitive, as primitive as his intentions.
Sinking to his knees, he turned his face to the tender flesh of her inner thigh. Licking slowly, he nipped and worked his way to the crease between hip and pelvis. Flattening his tongue, he drew it up that sensitive area. Carefully, he didn’t touch the swelling folds of her center. Kenna moaned and arched into his face, trying to force him where she needed him.
The nipping, licking attention refocused her on how good it felt to finally be spread before the man she needed. Mixed with pleasure was relief. The heavenly swirls of his tongue sent exploding shivers right down to her bones.
Large hands gently clamped around her hipbones and slid under her to palm the twin cheeks of her ass. Holding them securely in his hands, he controlled her movements. Shifting back, he looked at her again. Cream glistened over the beautiful flushed flesh that clenched under his eyes while her eager hips rolled suggestively.
He was going to lick her there. She could feel his intention. See in his mind how much he wanted to suck her taste into his body. Even though she shared his desires, she was too new at this complete abandon not to feel trepidation. Her previous experiences had been pitiful compared to the touches he gave her. She felt inadequate to meet his needs that she saw as sophisticated and way out of her league.
Lore looked up into her eyes and the sinful smile on his face warned her that her innocent days were over. He felt her hesitation and knew it for the inexperience it was.
The flames of male thirst rushed through his body as he looked down at her. He harshly contained the impulse to fall on her like a raving animal. It froze him. Controlling his ferocious appetite required an equal strength of will. It was a close thing. Dragging his eyes up to her face, he found what he needed.
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