“Why? I thought we were getting on just fine.”
He bent his head forward until their foreheads touched. “Better than just fine. And that’s the problem.”
To Nyx, she couldn’t see that being a problem at all. To be honest, she didn’t understand Denger’s reluctance one bit. She’d thought for sure when things had started to get hot and heavy that it would have ended with them having sex. With him sitting beside her with his shirt off and a bulge in his jeans that made her pussy ache, she wanted more, so much more.
When Denger picked up his shirt and pulled it on, Nyx figured things were not going to progress to the pleasurable end she’d first thought they would. Feeling self45
Marisa Chenery
conscious sitting shirtless with the button and zipper undone on her jeans, she scooped up her bra and shirt. She avoided looking at Denger as she put them on and did up her pants.
She stood, then said, “I thought we would have subs for lunch. You just have to tell me what you’d like on yours and I’ll make it.”
Before she could step around Denger, he stood in front of her and blocked her way. He put one arm around her waist to pull her against him as he placed a hand under her chin, forcing her to look at him. “I’m not rejecting you, Nyx. Believe me, I want you, badly. I just don’t want to mess things up between us. If I rush this, I’m liable to do something that may upset you. I don’t want that to happen.” He ground his still hard cock against her stomach. “We will be together. For this to work, we’ll take it one step at a time. All right?”
“Okay.”
Now that some of the edge had worn off her arousal, she found she wanted to take things a bit slower as well. She didn’t want a quick roll in the hay with Denger. She’d never been the kind of woman who could handle a one-night stand. If she slept with a man, she wanted a relationship with him. And she definitely wanted one with Denger.
“So are we good?” he asked with a grin.
She nodded. “We’re good.”
“Then subs sound great. I just need to make a quick pit stop in the bathroom, then I can help you make them.”
After Nyx told Denger where he could find her bathroom, she went into the kitchen and pulled out the fixings for the subs. They still had the rest of the day and she intended to see just how far Denger would go before he put the brakes on things once again.
* * * * *
46
Longed-For Hunger
Denger turned on the cold water and splashed some on his face. He then put his hands on the counter and let his head fall forward. He was still battling the aftereffects of what Nyx and he had done on the couch. Listening to the sounds she made as she’d come, the smell of her arousal filling his nose with each breath, had almost been too much. The need to sink his cock inside her pussy as he sank his fangs into her neck had clawed at him. He’d had to hide his face in the end so she wouldn’t see his extended fangs. Just the thought of how it had felt to have her pussy clutching his fingers when she came had them punching down once again.
He lifted his head and looked at his reflection in the mirror above the sink. The tips of his fangs peeked past his upper lip. They were going to be a problem. He wanted to sleep with Nyx but he didn’t want her to see them just yet. And if he slept with her, she would see them. His fangs extending was something that happened when he got turned-on. It was also something he couldn’t control. Somehow he would have to work around them.
Turning off the water, Denger used a hand towel to dry his face. He finally got himself reined in enough that his fangs receded once again. With a couple hard tugs, he pulled out the piece of leather he used to tie his hair back. When Nyx had held him to her breast, she’d tried to bury her fingers in it. Smiling, he smoothed his hair back and retied it in a ponytail. Next time they came together, he’d wear it loose and she could run her fingers through it as much as she wanted.
47
Marisa Chenery
Chapter Six
Rejoining Nyx in the kitchen area of her loft, Denger came up behind her where she stood at the counter and put his arms around her waist. He pressed close and kissed the side of her neck.
“It looks as if you have everything to make a great-tasting sub,” he said while he took in all the food Nyx had spread out on the countertop.
“I hope so,” she said. “What would you like on yours?”
“Everything you have there. I can make my own.”
She shook her head and pulled his arms from around her. “No, I’ll make it. You’re my guest. Take a seat at the table and I’ll have these done in a few minutes.”
Well trained by Blythe that when a woman said to go sit down while she was fixing a meal you did it or faced the consequences, Denger backed away. “Fine, I won’t get in the way.” He then remembered their drinks out in the living room. “I’ll just go get my beer and your soda.”
After he got them, he took a seat on one of the two chairs at the small kitchen table. He sipped his beer while he watched Nyx finish making their subs. He followed the line of her back with his gaze. She really was a tiny thing but she fit perfectly in his arms. He couldn’t wait to get her in bed to see just how well they fit together. Denger quickly pulled his thoughts away from the subject of hot sex with Nyx when she turned and brought over two plates. She set one in front of him before she sat in the other chair. He picked up half of the thick sub she’d made and took a big bite. He chewed, enjoying the taste of the meat, cheese, lettuce and tomatoes. His second bite didn’t leave much of the half sub he held in his hands.
“Since you’ve just about inhaled it, I’m going to guess you like the sub,” Nyx said with a laugh.
48
Longed-For Hunger
Once his mouth was empty, he gave her a sheepish smile. “It’s very good. I do like my food. Blythe is forever complaining about us eating all the food as fast as she can get it in.”
Nyx frowned. “Blythe?”
“Blythe is my friend’s wife. The one who suggested I bring you the wine.”
“Oh. You eat over at your friend’s place a lot, I take it.”
Knowing Nyx would have to find out who he lived with, Denger decided to tell her the truth. “Actually, I live with Mehen and Blythe.”
“So they’re your roommates?”
“Yeah, I guess you could call them that. I like to think of the eight of us more as an extended family.”
Nyx’s eyes widened. “Eight of you? You have that many roommates? Isn’t it a bit crowded at your place?”
He chuckled. “Where I live, we have a ton of space. And yes, there are eight of us. There is Mehen and Blythe, Set and his wife, Desiree, Akori, Kysen, Takan and myself. Except for Blythe and Desiree, we all came to the States together.”
“I wondered at your slight accent. Where did you immigrate from?”
“Egypt.”
“I’ve always wanted to go there to see the ancient ruins. I guess you’ve seen the pyramids, the Sphinx and some of the tombs?”
“Yes, I’ve visited them.” He’d visited them when they hadn’t been ancient ruins. He’d also watched the pyramids at Giza being built.
“You must have immigrated a while ago. Your English is perfect.”
“It has been a few years.”
Ra’s Chosen had been in the States for the last thirty years. They had followed Sek and Mot to Phoenix, though why the two demons had picked a place where it had sunshine eighty-five percent of the time was beyond them. The sunlight was as much 49
Marisa Chenery
an enemy to the demons as the Chosen were. As for the warriors’ ability to speak English, Ra had gifted them with that language shortly after their arrival in the States. Nyx and Denger fell silent while they ate. Even though they didn’t speak, he was all too aware of Nyx sitting across from him. Before he lost himself in his longings to have her under him again, he forced himself to concentrate on his food. After they finished eating, he got up with Nyx and took his plate to the
sink. He came up behind her and reached around her to put it inside. At the same time, she backed up and turned. They ended up plastered together from chest to knee. He slowly lowered the plate into the sink and stiffened, clenching his jaw while he fought to tap down the surge of intense need that washed through him.
She tilted her head back to look him in the face. “Sorry. I didn’t realize you were that close behind me.”
Denger’s gaze fell to Nyx’s mouth when the tip of her tongue came out and licked her lips. He groaned. That was it. He couldn’t take any more. His good intentions of taking it slow so he could keep better control of himself flew out the window. He cradled her face in both his hands and took her mouth in a heated kiss. Nyx put her arms around his waist, kissing him with equal fervor as she rubbed up against him like a kitten. Just like that, they both went up in flames. It was as if they were continuing what they had started on the couch with no break in between. This time, Denger didn’t know if he had the strength of will to pull away. Blood hunger and arousal pounded at him, blocking everything else out. He sucked her bottom lip into his mouth and gently bit down on it, careful not to nick her with his fangs. She whimpered, dropped her hands to his ass and squeezed. His cock went instantly rock hard.
When he released her mouth and moved to nibble at the side of her neck, Nyx said on a sigh, “I thought you wanted to take things slow.”
“I changed my mind. You’re a temptation I find I can’t resist.”
“Good, because right now all I can think about is getting you out of your clothes.”
50
Longed-For Hunger
He groaned again. “Keep talking like that and I’ll end up taking you on the kitchen floor.”
“The floor is clean. I don’t mind.”
“But I do.”
Scooping her up in his arms, he kissed her feverishly, hoping to distract her as he moved faster than any mortal could up the flight of stairs that took them to Nyx’s bedroom. When he reached the queen-sized bed, he put her back down on her feet, letting their bodies slide together.
Denger released her lips and pulled her shirt off before he rid himself of his own. He undid the front clasp of Nyx’s bra and with his hands, smoothed the straps down her arms. Once she was free of it, he bent his head and laved a taut nipple with the flat of his tongue. Putting his arm around her waist, he bent her over it slightly and sucked the tight bud inside his mouth.
Nyx arched her back and tried to bury her fingers in his hair. Keeping her held against him, and without breaking the suction of his mouth, Denger yanked out the piece of leather that held his hair gathered at the back of his neck. When it fell around his shoulders, she sank her fingers into it and roughly held him to her. After paying the same attention to her other nipple, he lifted Nyx and placed her on the center of the bed. He followed her down, coming to lie on the mattress next to her, propped up on one arm. “I want to see all of you, Nyx,” he said, his voice deepened by his arousal.
Her hands went to the top of her jeans and slowly undid them. “I’ll show you mine if you show me yours,” she said with a playful smile.
He gave her a closed-mouth grin, his fangs on the verge of dropping down. “I’ll show you mine, but first I get to have my way with you.”
Making short work of pulling Nyx’s jeans and panties off, he stared down at her curvy body. His cock jerked inside his jeans, straining against his zipper. He wanted to hold on to her flared hips, holding her in place as he moved inside her. But he made no 51
Marisa Chenery
move to do that. Instead, he settled between her legs and moved lower down her body. He kissed the underside of her breasts before he licked and kissed a path across her ribs and down to her flat stomach.
Inching even lower, he placed featherlight kisses from one hipbone to the other. Nyx moaned and shifted beneath him, lifting her hips. Denger used his shoulders to spread her legs wider apart. The smell of her arousal had his fangs dropping. He could hear the sound of her rapidly beating heart, her blood surging through her veins. Though his fangs ached to sink into her skin, he ignored his clamoring blood hunger and concentrated on what he was doing—pleasuring the woman who was to be his mate.
Careful not to look up at Nyx, he said, “I want to feel you come against my mouth before I take you with my cock.”
“God, yes,” Nyx moaned.
Needing no further encouragement, he licked her pussy from bottom to top. The taste of her juices on his tongue made a bead of pre-cum leak from the tip of his cock. Denger fought the urge to rip off his jeans and sink deep inside her. Before he did that he wanted her to come, to hear her cries of pleasure filling his ears. With his mouth on Nyx’s pussy, he alternated between lapping at the opening of her body and swirling his tongue around her clit. Her whimpered moans grew louder as she lifted her hips to grind against his mouth. He doubted it would take much for him to send her into an orgasm. Aching to be inside her, he pushed a finger and then a second inside her core while he stimulated her clit with his tongue. He pumped them in and out, then sucked her clit into his mouth. Nyx cried out as her pussy rhythmically clamped around his fingers while she climaxed.
Keeping his lips pressed tightly together, he shucked off his jeans and settled his hips in the cradle of her thighs. Nyx reached between them, fisting his cock in her hand. He closed his eyes and groaned as he fought not to come when she pumped it up and down his full length.
52
Longed-For Hunger
Unable to take any more, he pulled her hand off his shaft and brought the tip to her moist entrance. Surging forward, he sheathed his cock to the hilt. The feel of her pussy closing around his length had him fighting not to lose it. Being deep inside Nyx felt even better than he’d thought it would. Even though he was on the large size, her pussy took every inch of his cock, squeezing him tight.
Arching his back, he pulled almost out and then surged back inside. He set a steady rhythm in and out. Nyx held on to his biceps and wrapped her legs around his waist, taking him even deeper. His climax built and built until he thought he would explode. Sex with Nyx wasn’t like any of his other sexual encounters. This was no quick joining just to scratch an itch, or when he needed to feed.
Pumping his hips faster, Nyx’s inner walls fluttered with another orgasm. As her pussy clutched at his cock, clamping down in a tight fist, Denger let out a bellow of pleasure as his climax took him over. He continued to ride her, filling her with his cum. He collapsed on top of her, mindful to rest most of his weight on his arms so he wouldn’t crush her. When Nyx’s arms came up and started to stroke his back, his blood hunger surged to the fore. The need to bite her, to have her blood filling his mouth had him fighting a battle inside himself. It was one he came damn close to losing. Instead of burying his fangs in her neck, he shoved his face into one of the pillows and sank them into it instead. He didn’t release it until he once again had his blood hunger well under wraps.
Rolling to his side, Denger shifted Nyx in his arms so she lay with her head pillowed on his chest. It was a special kind of torture to have her lying naked against him, his blood hunger clawing at his guts, wanting to feed from her to be absolutely certain she was indeed his mate. But it was a torture he wouldn’t give up for anything. Now that he’d slept with her, he couldn’t put off telling Nyx what he truly was for too much longer. Already, his blood hunger had increased to the point where it was more than just a minor nuisance. And eventually, the chances of him slipping up and 53
Marisa Chenery
giving her a good flash of his fangs were good. Having to hide what he was from the rest of mortal kind, Denger hated that he still had to keep it hidden from Nyx. He looked at her when he felt her body go lax against his. He smiled. Her eyes were closed and her chest rose and fell with each even breath she took in sleep. He’d give her a week to become closer to him, then he’d tell her about him being one of Ra’s Chosen warriors.
54
Longed-For Hunger
Chapter Seven
Nyx slowly came awake when the hard, warm body she snuggled against shifted out from under her. She blinked open her eyes in time to get an excellent view of Denger’s muscular chest before he bent over and picked up his jeans from the floor. Still facing her, he stepped into them and did them up. She sighed with regret. At the sound, Denger smiled when their gazes met. “You’re awake.”
She lifted her head and rested it on her hand. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to fall asleep on you.”
He bent and gave her a quick kiss on the lips before he picked up his t-shirt. “You don’t have to apologize. I didn’t mind.”
She followed his movements with her eyes as he pulled his shirt on and tucked his long hair behind his ears. His gaze then went to the floor as if he were searching for something. “You’re leaving already? You don’t have to, you know?”
Obviously spotting what he was looking for, Denger bent to pick it up. Nyx saw it was the piece of leather he’d used to tie back his hair. He pulled his hair into a ponytail and retied it, which caused her gaze to follow the flexing of his large biceps. Denger nodded. “Yeah, I have to go. I wish I could stay longer, but I can’t.”
“When will I see you again?”
“Do you work tomorrow?”
“No. Since tomorrow is Sunday and Janet doesn’t open the bookstore, I’m off again.”
“All right. Then how about I take you out for lunch tomorrow?”
Nyx pushed herself up to a sitting position and took hold of a couple of belt loops on Denger’s jeans. She used them to tug him closer to the side of the bed. “How about 55
Marisa Chenery
instead you come and take me out for supper, then we can spend the rest of the night together?”
He brushed a lock of hair out of her eyes. “I wish I could, but my nights are usually not my own.”
Nyx let go of his belt loops and trailed her hands around his sides and down to his muscled ass. “I thought you said you didn’t work.”
Longed-For Hunger Page 5