Spellbinding His Ranger

by Shannon Pemrick

  Mercedes reached up and rested her hand on his head. “Why are you sorry?”

  “Because you had to go through that. Because I brought it up.”

  “I don’t want you to be sorry.” Takashi looked at her, but her eyes focused on the fire. “Sorrow and pity don’t change the past. In real life, time can’t be rewound, so we can only push on and make the most of what we have.” She smiled. “I’m grateful for the life I have. It’s not an easy one, and not one I would have picked for myself had I been given a choice, but it’s a quality one. And I can’t say it’s been dull or lonely.”

  She frowned. “Testing this new arm is hard. On an emotional level, not just a physical one.”

  He waited for more, curious what she planned to say alongside those words.

  “It reminds me what I lost. This game does, too, because it’s a perfect replica, but I know it’s not real. It’s like a treat for getting through the day without killing anyone at work.”

  Takashi chuckled. He’d listened to a number of her frustration-induced rants.

  “This new arm… it’s not perfect, but it’s also real. It’s a frustrating reminder that when I leave this game, I won’t have the same perfection.” Takashi frowned when a tear streaked down her cheek. “I got used to not feeling there. I got used to the occasional phantom limb issues. I got used to having this game give me the perfect alternative. Having to test this arm, it takes a lot out of me.”

  She wiped the tear away with her knuckle. “Sorry, that probably doesn’t make much sense.”

  “No, it does,” he said. “It tells me you’re human. It tells me you’re trying as hard as you can to run with anything thrown at you, but sometimes it’s difficult, even for someone as strong as you. But even though it’s difficult, where some may even find it impossible, you still keep going. I love that about you.”

  She glanced back at him. “Is that the only thing you love about me?”

  Takashi held her gaze, unsure if that was her teasing him or an actual inquiry. But the longer their eyes connected, the greater the heat smoldered between them, and he realized it didn’t matter.

  He reached out and cupped her cheek. “Of course not.”

  Before he could process what he was doing, Takashi pulled her close and captured her lips with his. Searing heat flooded over him, and Mercedes’ hand flew up to his.

  Takashi was the first to pull away and stare into her beautiful eyes. “I love everything about you.” His hand migrated to her right shoulder. “And I mean everything.”

  The corner of her eyes crinkled as she smiled, her cheeks tinted red. “There’s an endless list of qualities I love about you.”

  He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close and stared at the fire. “Nah, there’s only two lines on that list. We both know it.”

  Mercedes laughed. “No, there’s more. Maybe five or even six lines, but definitely more than two.”

  The two laughed and stared at the fire. At this very moment, Takashi didn’t care if the game went back to normal. He didn’t want this to end.

  The hand he had on her shoulder migrated to her back, his fingers caressing her through the thin fabric. The longer he did, the more he wished to pull this robe off her shoulders. When he caught a hitch in Mercedes’ breathing, he became more aware of her state.

  She stared at the fire, acting as if only it interested her, but her breathing had most definitely changed. He could see it in the way her chest rose and fell, and the way she set her jaw. Her attempt to hide it brought a grin to his lips.

  Takashi leaned in and kissed her on the neck. She gasped. He pressed both his thumbs into her back and dragged them down, kissing her again. She sucked in a labored breath and he grinned. “Tell me to stop if you don’t want this.”

  “N–no…”

  His brow rose. “No, what?”

  “N–no… d–don’t…” she gasped again when he reached around and grazed her exposed collarbone with his finger. “…s–stop.”

  He did stop, though his fingers hovered over her skin, knowing that wasn’t what she was asking. “Stop?”

  “No.”

  Takashi grinned, grazing her collarbone again, this time allowing his fingers to dip lower toward her breasts. She gasped. He was having too much fun with this. “So… stop or don’t stop?”

  She looked at him through the corner of her narrowed eyes. “Don’t be an asshole.”

  Takashi kissed her on the neck again, this time his teeth grazing her skin. “That’s the Mercedes I know.”

  He reached out with both hands and tucked his fingers into the opening of her robe, tugging enough for it to fall loose to her side. Mercedes gasped as the cool air hit her breasts and taut nipples. Takashi’s hands slid across her soft skin, cupping a breast in each one. Another gasp escaped her lips as she leaned back into him, giving a better view of her.

  He grinned in her ear. “Perfect, like the rest of you.”

  Takashi nipped the side of her neck as he squeeze and played with her. He rolled her rosy buds between his thumbs and index fingers, enticing a quiet moan. Need flared up in him, but he couldn’t sate the desire just yet.

  He pinched and lightly tugged on her sensitive peaks. Mercedes leaned back into him more, her hand finding his, but she had no intention of stopping him. Hooded eyes and mouth slightly agape, allowing tiny moans to slip out, the bliss on her face pleased him. Takashi captured her lips with his, drinking in her intoxicating taste. She deepened the kiss, her tongue meeting his, eager for more.

  One of Takashi’s hands released her and slowly slid down her smooth stomach, down the side of one hip, and found her inner thigh. Mercedes sucked in a deep breath of anticipation, but he wasn’t ready to give it to her just yet. He teased her, lightly caressing her skin. She moaned, and then broke their kiss as she groaned in frustration.

  “Must you tease me?” her words came out at a near whisper as desire wrapped around her plea.

  Takashi grinned. “I have to get something out of this, don’t I?”

  Her hand grazed his inner thigh, her eyes now dark with lust snaring him, sending a jolt of desire to his brain. “Who said you wouldn’t? It’s just not your turn yet.”

  Takashi’s blood simmered at the promise, and he couldn’t find it in him to tease her any longer. His hand slid between her thighs and found her wet heat. Mercedes gasped and then moaned as he found rhythm in his strokes.

  He chuckled. “I really did tease you.”

  “Yes…” she barely managed. Her head rolled back and her breath changed as her body moved with the rhythm he set.

  The chosen pace continued, Takashi listening to her sounds of pleasure. She moaned out his name, fanning his flames of desire. He wanted nothing more than to push her further—hear her cry out with pleasure. He wanted her to know what he’d be willing to give her, as long as she allowed him to call her his.

  Takashi slipped a finger inside her, then another, pushing in deep, increasing her pleasure. Mercedes moaned, deep and heavy. She reached behind her and grabbed a fistful of his hair, pulling him closer. He trailed kisses down her neck to her shoulder, nipping her skin.

  Her grip tightened and her breath labored a bit more. Her hips bucked and he held her close, increasing his rhythm. Mercedes whispered out his name and then screamed with pleasure as ecstasy flooded over her.

  Takashi eased up when she came down from her high, taking great pleasure in every gasp she’d let out each time he’d tease her sensitivity.

  “Asshole…” she mumbled.

  He chuckled, ceasing his teasing, and kissed her temple. “Good?”

  She nodded, a relaxed smile on her lips, a flushed tint to her cheeks. Need throbbed between his legs but he waited, enjoying the feeling of her relaxing in his arms after what he’d done for her.

&n
bsp; “Hey, Takashi?” she said, her voice quiet.

  “Yes?”

  She was silent for a moment. “Actually, never mind.”

  His brow furrowed. “No, tell me what you wanted to say.”

  Mercedes shook her head. “It was stupid to think about. Don’t worry about it.”

  His lips spread into a thin line. He didn’t like this. What did she want to say? She didn’t need to hide things from him. “Mercedes…”

  She pulled away from him, sending concern flooding over him, but when she faced him on her knees, that disappeared. The full frontal view she presented him kicked his desire and want back into high gear. Mercedes came closer, slipping herself onto his lap, her exposed femininity pressing against his prominent erection, his robes the only wall between them. She hung her arm over his shoulder, holding his gaze with those captivating blue eyes. “I said it’s nothing. The stupid thought shouldn’t even have surfaced.”

  Was she feeling insecure? His brow knitted. Did she think he was going to leave after this? With their history, did her poor past experiences really convince her that even he’d just up and leave her hanging?

  Mercedes’ hand slid down his chest. “Don’t make that face.”

  His face relaxed, except his one raised brow. “And if I don’t stop making it?”

  She looked down at his chest as she pressed a finger into his skin a little harder and then looked up at him through her lashes. “Then I won’t be nice and give you what you want.”

  Takashi rested his hands on her hips as he grinned. “I have what I want.”

  Those pouty lips of her smiled as her eyes squinted, her devious intent clear. Her hips ground into him, rubbing against his throbbing member hidden barely behind his robe, and he stifled a hiss. “Are you sure you have all that you want?”

  He tried to keep himself composed as she kept up her teasing. “And if I do behave?”

  She bit her bottom lip and hooked her finger into his robe, pulling one side open and off his shoulder, the fabric falling to his side. “I’ll only torture you a little bit.”

  Great. He wasn’t sure how much of her kind of “torture” he could handle. But he did deserve it for teasing and “torturing” her so much.

  Mercedes flicked the other side of his robe off him and slowly dragged two fingers down his chest. Her hips stopped rocking, giving him some relief, though what she was doing with her fingers kept the pressure up.

  Her fingers dragged down his stomach and she bit her lip again, her eyes hooding. He could only imagine the tantalizing, dirty things running through her mind. The thought made his lower need harder. He needed to bite those tempting lips of hers—now.

  Takashi leaned in, but Mercedes pulled back, his teeth forced to snap at thin air. She forced two fingers onto his chest and scolded him. “No, no. Not yet.”

  He tried to use his grip on her hips to his advantage and pulled her closer. “Yes, now.”

  Mercedes flattened her hand against his chest, forcing him back. “Be good.”

  A frustrated his escaped his throat. “I don’t want to be.”

  Mercedes’ eyes squinted as a grin spread across her lips and she ground hard into him. He sucked in a tight breath, not wanting to give her the satisfaction of winning—yet. But it back fired on him. She found great amusement in his resistance and soon and found himself leaning back as she placed more pressure on his chest. She was going to win, and he honestly liked it.

  Takashi leaned on his elbows, keeping himself propped up to take in the view. Mercedes, pleased with his compliance, went back to dragging a finger down his chest in a side-winding pattern, past his navel, toward his pelvic region. The anticipation simmered his blood.

  Mercedes used the motion of her grinding to pull back, allowing her fingers to find the bit of his robe still covering him, and the one place he desperately wanted to free. The devious, lust-filled smile on her lips, mixed with her special kind of torture, was almost enough to send him over the edge.

  Her finger twitched and his body responded, enticing a chuckle from her. He huffed. This new side of her was exciting, interesting, and a bit frustrating. Mercedes slowly licked her bottom lip, toying with him, before flicking his robe open, releasing him from the material confines. Cold air hit his skin, his full erection on display for her.

  Mercedes looked down at him, and then into his eyes through her lashes, a wide grin on her lips. Her fingers circled the base of his shaft, occasionally reaching out to graze the hardened appendage. He gritted his teeth. This teasing was agonizingly pleasant.

  She ran her fingers up the length of his shaft, pulling herself up on her knees to hover her femininity in front of him, as if to size him up for a moment. She then wrapped her hand around him and stroked. Takashi threw his head back, relishing the feeling of pleasure. “Mercedes…”

  Mercedes continued, stoking the flame of his desire until he moaned. And then she continued, increasing her speed and then slowing.

  He wasn’t sure how much more he could handle but he needed more. He reached for her with one hand but she let him go and pushed him away, a scolding look on her face. “Mercedes, please…”

  She half smiled. “Please what?”

  He took a deep breath and tried to request again, but stopped when she slipped a finger between her thighs, her eyes hooding as a rush of pleasure surged through her.

  His blood boiled—watching her pleasure herself was more of a turn-on than he could have hoped. He wanted more. “Please.”

  Mercedes pulled her fingers away, touching the tip of his shaft, and rubbing it against the mouth of her arousal. He hissed and she grinned. “Please what? Do that?” She slipped her fingers between her legs again, her breath hitching. “Or that?”

  He swallowed. “Both.”

  She grinned, glancing at her missing arm. “Sorry, right now you can only choose one.”

  He cursed mentally. Her and her dark humor were so well-placed in this moment. But he wanted what he wanted. “Both.”

  She tilted her head, trying to understand what he wanted, still stroking his erection. She grinned suddenly and pulled herself higher on her knees. She settled over him and then rubbed the tip of his shaft against her burning desire. The two sucked in tight, pleased gasps. This wasn’t what he’d asked for, but he wasn’t complaining.

  The sensation of this action, her and him nearly whole together, set his wants ablaze. He couldn’t keep up with this teasing. He needed her—now. Sitting up quick, he grabbed her ass with one hand, and her face with the other. He pulled her against him, crashing her lips into his. She didn’t fight him this time, her want clear. The teasing had the reverse effect, too, and now he was going to get what he wanted. Her.

  Takashi nipped and sucked her bottom lip, his hand cupping her rear, reaching underneath her and sliding across her wet heat. She moaned, her lower body quivering with need, and a hungry growl came from him. He kissed her chin, then her neck, then trailed nips down her collar bone to her swollen breasts.

  He flicked his tongue across her erect nipples and then captured them, taking his time with each; sucking, licking, and nipping. His fingers continued to massage her pool of velvet moisture, assaulting her with pleasure on two fronts.

  “Takashi…” she begged, her words airy. “More…”

  With her taut peaks still being sucked between his lips, he grinned. He sucked a little longer before releasing her, settling her over his shaft. She swallowed, her lust-filled eyes eager with anticipation.

  Takashi eased her over his swollen member and penetrated deep. His breath hitched, the new sensation rocking him to the core. Mercedes’ back arched, her eyes going wide. Her breathing ceased for a moment and her mouth fell agape, as she accepted him inside.

  Regaining her breath, Mercedes rocked her hips, quiet moans coming from her li
ps. Takashi’s pulse hammered in his ears. He met her movements, thrusting hard, and she moaned louder. Their breaths came heavier as they continued, syncing.

  Mercedes’ hand wrapped around the back of his neck, her fingers lacing into his hair and pulling him in for a rough, demanding kiss. A hungry growl reverberated in his core and he captured her face with his hand.

  Takashi’s body tensed, teetering on the line. “Mercedes…”

  She grinned, kissing him a few more times. “Good.”

  Her permission tore down the rest of his walls. Takashi leaned back, pulling her with him, thrusting harder, and pushing him over the edge. He groaned, abandoning himself into release.

  His movements slowed until he stilled, taking deep breaths. Mercedes grinned and then leaned in, kissing him lightly on the lips. Takashi smiled and wrapped his arms around her. She rested her head against his chest, and the two lay there, listening to the beat of each other’s heart. No words were needed. All of it had been perfect.

  Well, almost perfect. Takashi just wished she were really here with him, not miles away in another hotel.

  The tangled-up pair lifted their heads when a voice projected into the area. “Players. We are pleased to announce the character playability and logout issues have been resolved. Avatars will be restored upon logging out and back in. We apologize for the disruption and inconveniences.”

  Takashi couldn’t stop the disappointed sigh from coming out. Mercedes giggled and pulled away, his hands gliding over her soft form. “I guess this means our treasure timer has resumed.”

  Takashi stared at her, taking in the view. He couldn’t care less about the hunt anymore. With the special nature of the game, “down time” wasn’t an issue like in real life.

  Mercedes grinned, understanding his silent words, and rested her hands on his. She guided his hands along her hips and thighs as she got to her feet in one fluid motion.

  Tease. He swiped a hand for her even though he knew she was out of reach. “Come back.”

  Her eyes narrowed as she grinned and then sashayed away for her leather armor. Her hips swayed, enticing him to stop her from going anywhere. “After we finish the hunt, we’ll review the reward.”