Forbidden Bond

by Jessica Lee

  In one quick movement, Eion grasped the front of his shirt with both hands and ripped it open. Buttons scattered across the hardwood, hitting the floor like a violent hailstorm. He shrugged the garment off his shoulders, revealing a broad, tanned chest lightly covered in raven hair. Twin tribal tattoos snaked around his biceps, and what appeared to be a Celtic circle tattoo with an intricate design sat over his heart. Fascinating. She followed the fine dusting of hair lower with her gaze. It cascaded over rippled abs to disappear behind the waistband of his jeans. Olivia curled her fingers into a fist, dying to trace the path with her fingertips.

  “Turn around,” he commanded.

  Olivia pivoted, reached up, and pulled her hair to the side. The warm and calloused tips of his fingers brushed her neck. Her eyelids drifted closed, and she savored his touch. He lowered the zipper to where it ended at the crest of her bottom. Her dress tumbled from her shoulders and continued downward to puddle at her feet in a crimson pool, leaving Olivia in nothing but her matching red lace bra, panties, and heels.

  Her heart raced.

  Air left her lungs in short pants.

  But this time, her symptoms weren’t anxiety driven.

  “Show me,” he whispered, the backs of his fingers burning a tantalizing trail down the side of her arm. Eion clasped her hand and held on as she turned. His gaze raked her, and a growl that began low in his throat rumbled outward with his perusal. “I’ve dreamed of you for so long…but nothing came close to how beautiful you are at this moment.” His nostrils flared.

  “You take my breath away.”

  “Eion…” She swallowed, pushing down the lump in her throat.

  He tugged her closer, bringing them chest-to-chest and sank his fingers into her hair. Eion groaned. “God, help me. If I don’t touch you, I’m going to lose my mind.”

  “Please,” she breathed. “I’ll go crazy if you don’t.”

  Together they devoured each other’s mouths. Olivia teased his tongue with her own, an erotic game of cat and mouse that she was more than willing to lose. He seized her, scraping the delicate surface with his teeth, followed by a soothing suck that shot straight to her clitoris. She moaned and rubbed against his torso. Damn, he felt good. So warm and rock hard, she wanted to stamp herself all over him. The man was like catnip to her inner feline, which was a bit ironic, seeing that he was half canine.

  Before she realized they’d moved, Olivia’s calves bumped the bed frame. She broke free from his lips and skimmed her fingertips down over the heated flesh of his chest, pausing long enough to trace the outline of his tattoo.

  “So lovely,” she whispered. “Is that a wolf inside the circle?” He stiffened beneath her hands at the question, but the tension was gone so fast she chose to ignore it. She looked up.

  “Yes,” he rasped. “But I’d much rather focus on us right now.” His lip curled.

  A flush rushed to her cheeks as she traveled lower in her exploration over his abs, before catching the button to his jeans. She dropped her gaze. A long and thick bulge nearly cresting the waistband drew her eye. Her heart stuttered at the impressive length. God, how was she supposed to…

  Eion cupped the sides of her face. “You were meant for me,” he said, his voice low, hoarse. A tremble set up low in her belly before traveling to her legs. “You’ll be fine.” He traced her lips with his thumb. “I swear it, Liv. I’ll do everything in my power to make this a night you’ll never forget.”

  “I know.” She gave a slight nod. “You’ve already accomplished that.” Olivia turned her attention back to the task in front of her. With shaky hands, she worked the button free. Her thumb and forefinger on the zipper, she glanced up from under her lashes, a silent plea for permission. Eion lifted his chin in acknowledgment, and she lowered her gaze. As if she were opening a gift on Christmas morning she’d waited years to receive, Olivia held her breath and slowly tugged on the metal tab.

  The crown appeared followed quickly by the remaining hard length. The shaft sprang toward her from its confines, and she gasped. He was magnificent.

  Unable to stop herself, Olivia reached for him. She had to know what he would feel like in her palm.

  Gingerly she coiled her fingers as far as they would go around his girth, leaving about an inch of distance between her tips. His pulse throbbed beneath the pads of her fingers, and heat seared the inside of her hand. She gave him a slight squeeze, mesmerized by his texture—so buttery soft and hard all at the same time. An oxymoron of pure pleasure.

  “You’re so hot,” Olivia breathed. And he was in every way.

  She slid her fist up the shaft and watched in fascination as a glistening drop of fluid formed at the slit. A hard shudder racked Eion’s body, capturing her attention. Olivia lifted her head. Eion held both arms tight against his thighs, hands fisted, biceps bulging. As if he fought a great battle, the veins in his neck stood out in sharp relief, jaw locked, eyes closed.

  “Are you okay?” she whispered.

  His eyelids parted. “Never better.” His voice shook. “This is for you, baby. Touch me any way you want.”

  “Oh, no,” she groaned. “I want to please you too.” She stood, the warmth of his cock bumping her abdomen. Olivia stroked his chest, but Eion snaked her hands into his palms.

  “You’re touching me. So don’t think for a minute that I’m not in heaven.” One corner of his mouth lifted in a dead-sexy grin. He released her fingers, lowered his hands to the front clasp of her bra, and worked it free. The lace fell away and her breasts swayed.

  “Christ, what you do to me, woman.”

  Eion reached up and slid the loose straps down her arms, tossing the article to the floor. Olivia stepped out of her heels and climbed onto the mattress. Kneeling on top of the old-fashioned quilt that covered the bed, she watched in rabid fascination as her dark cowboy ripped his boots from his feet in two quick thumps, then shoved his jeans to the floor.

  Moonlight cascaded over his shoulders casting shadows in the dips and hollows of his pecs and abs. Obsidian hair brushed his shoulders along with the braids that hung from his temples. Hard and straining, his erection jutted from a dark thatch of hair, the tip glistening with his lust. He reminded her of a warrior incubus who’d come to claim her body and soul.

  And damned if she didn’t want to lick every square inch of him.

  Olivia lifted her hand, palm up, in invitation. She’d never been so bold, but with Eion, it felt so right. He threaded their fingers and joined her on the bed. She lay back, bringing him with her. He loomed over her, larger than life, his sides expanding and contracting with each labored breath. She clutched his biceps, enjoying the hard feel of his muscle beneath her fingertips as he lowered his head toward her cheek. The scratch of his five o’clock shadow skated along her nerve endings and arrowed straight to her core, making her squirm.

  “You smell so damn good.” Eion licked the outer shell of her ear before dropping lower to her neck, trailing kisses. At her breast, he laved the dark circle of flesh around her nipple with the flat side of his tongue. Olivia slid her hands into his hair, the strands so soft and silky. Exactly how they felt in her dreams.

  He flicked his tongue over the hard tip and her back arched. “Oh, God,” she moaned.

  “Beautiful,” he breathed against her flesh.

  Again and again, he lavished the tight bud, alternating between hard strokes, licks, and gentle sucks. Just when she thought she couldn’t take any more, he switched to the other breast, giving it the same treatment.

  “Oh, my God, Eion,” she cried out, breathless. Swollen and so wet, her sex pulsed with need. The heated weight of his erection brushed her lower abs, a constant reminder of the emptiness of her core. “Please…” Olivia tugged at his hair.

  He glanced up. “Shh, I’ve got you,” he crooned before moving lower. At her navel, he circled the small indentation with his tongue, stealing her air. Her stomach quivered. So close. God, he was so close to where she ached.

  Eion c
urled his fingers under the narrow band of her panties, and, rising away from her, swept them down her legs and off her feet. After casting them aside with a wave of his hand, he quickly repositioned himself between her thighs. “I have to taste every inch of you before you blow my mind.”

  She’d imagined how wonderful making love with Eion would be in her dreams, but nothing could have prepared her for the reality. Her thighs trembled with anticipation as his head bent over her dark curls. Gently he parted her folds, and she forgot how to breathe. The frantic rush of blood through her veins thrummed inside her head.

  The warm tip of his tongue dipped just inside her channel, the sensation lifting her bottom from the bed. With his hands splayed over her hips, Eion held her in place and sampled her quivering sex before shifting to the sensitive bundle of nerves at her apex. Pleasure spiked, shooting up her spine. Olivia fisted the bed linens and cried out, “Don’t stop. Don’t stop.”

  She gulped for air.

  “Never,” he growled, and the vibration next to her clitoris had her penning her thighs to him, drawing him closer, yearning for more.

  From top to bottom, Eion nipped at her folds, then quickly soothed them with his lips and tiny sucking kisses. “Do you have any idea how good you taste?”

  She blinked and stared down at the primal male between her legs. He looked up at her from beneath the thick layer of lashes that did little to conceal his lust-filled gaze. Gold and blue flecks blazed from his irises, reflecting how closely his wolf hovered at the surface.

  All she could do was shake her head in response.

  “Sweet and tart like honey and lemons.” He licked his lips. “Tasting you, watching your reaction while I eat you up,” he groaned, “baby, I could do this all night.” He tucked his chin and went back to work, nuzzling her with his nose and lips. Eion teased the opening to her sex with the tip of tongue, coaxing more of her arousal to flow. Her body shook, womb clenched.

  “More.” She whimpered, closed her eyes, knowing he’d reduced her to begging, but at that moment, she didn’t care. “God, Eion. I need more.”

  Without warning, he speared his tongue deep inside, releasing her hip to brush his thumb over her clitoris. Her back arched and stars burst behind her eyelids. The orgasm washed over her in one large tidal wave of pleasure, wringing a hoarse cry from her lungs. Her body quaked under the intensity.

  As if on some distant planet, the sound of a wrapper tearing reached her ears, and then he was there. His broad shaft, hot and hard, parting her and nudging at her entrance.

  “Open for me, baby. Let me inside.” His lips touched hers, bringing her back to earth. She opened her eyes and reached for him, cupping his nape and claiming his mouth. The taste of her arousal clung to the surface of his tongue and transferred to her own, but it only added kindling to the fire burning her alive.

  The one only Eion could ignite.

  “Need you,” he groaned at her lips. “Wrap your legs around me.”

  Olivia did as instructed, and he pressed forward, stretching her. “Eion…” She tossed her head back and squeezed her eyelids shut as a cool trickle of sweat traveled down her throat. Pleasure and pain mingled into a blinding ring of fire between her legs. And she wanted more.

  “So damn tight.” He panted. “So good… Fuck, Liv. Baby…” A tremor rocked his body. “I’m sorry. I’m trying to be gentle.”

  Her inner muscles burned from the invasion. Every hidden nerve sparked from the friction, a pleasure-pain that stole her air.

  Gradually, he retreated, then rocked his hips forward. Every pass taking her higher than before. Her fingertips dug into his steel biceps.

  Eion’s hips bumped hers, his entire length buried deep inside. His head fell forward until his forehead rested on hers.

  So full.

  Complete.

  He brushed her lips with his own. “Are you okay? Did I hurt you?” Eion’s sides heaved with his obvious restraint, his skin damp under her palms. “It was so damn hard to go slow. You feel so good.”

  “God, no,” she said, her words breathless. “You were perfect. Feel perfect. Exactly how I dreamed making love to you would be.” She lifted her hips, needing him to move. A deep vibration rolled off his chest, and he dipped his head. His tongue traced a warm, wet path down the length of her neck. Sharp teeth grazed her flesh, and she jerked on a gasp.

  “Shit!” Eion reared his head back, and in one swift move, he rolled, reversing their position, his shaft still buried inside her. Olivia pressed her palms to his chest and rose until she straddled his hips. Eion flung his arms over his head and seized the wooden bedposts, his eyes glowing—wild. “Take me, Liv,” he ordered, his voice gruff, half-human/half-feral. “I need you to take me.”

  Slowly, she lifted, using her knees and his chest for leverage. The pull along her nerve endings as his shafted exited…electrifying. Air shuddered from her chest. She let go, allowing his cock to plunge back inside. Eion surged upward to meet her, the sudden bump, taking his rod further, deeper, stroking a spot near her cervix that had her toes curling. Again and again, she thrust herself up and down his shaft. On instinct, Olivia leaned in, grinding her sensitive nub into his pelvis. So good. Her sex clenched, in a spasm.

  “Oh, God…Eion…I-I think…” She closed her eyes.

  “That’s it.” He hissed. “That’s it, baby. Take what you need.”

  Once more, she seated him as far as his length would go, striking the newfound pleasure zone. And as if she’d shattered the fragile shield that held her in check, her orgasm detonated. Ecstasy exploded out from her core and radiated up her spine in a brain short-circuiting arc.

  “Eion!”

  The world winked out of existence and when awareness returned, Eion roared. She lifted her lids as his back arched, hips surging up, pumping into her at a feverish pitch. A loud crack suddenly rent the air, and the bedposts in his fist popped free from the frame. Oh, shit.

  Olivia collapsed onto his chest, her limbs weak. Under her, Eion’s sides heaved from exertion. A soft thud resounded off the floor a moment before Eion wrapped his arms around her and ran a soothing palm down her spine.

  “You still okay, baby?” he whispered.

  She nodded, then glanced up, bringing them face-to-face. “Well, damn, Eion Mandrake,” she drawled, breathless. “That was worth waiting for.”

  A scandalous grin curled his lips. And in a move so fast, Olivia’s squeal of delight never made it to the surface; Eion tossed her onto her back and crushed her mouth with another brain-scrambling kiss.

  Chapter Seventeen

  An incessant buzzing noise crawled inside Eion’s brain, prodding his neurons until they relented and kick started him into consciousness.

  Okay, okay. I’m awake.

  He parted his eyelids and blinked rapidly against the bright rays of sunshine slicing through the gap in the curtains covering his bedroom window. Another round of annoying buzzes filled the room. This time, he recognized the sound—his cell. Liv stirred from where she’d curled up beside him, her arm across his chest. She rolled over to her opposite side.

  Lifting the sheet away from his hips, Eion swung his legs over the side of the bed, making sure he replaced the covers over Liv before rising. Eion snatched his pants from the hardwood floor and pulled his iPhone free. The display read Kris as he tapped Answer.

  “Hey, what’s up?” Eion scrubbed a palm over his face. He was tired, yet had never felt better in his life. Glancing back over his shoulder, he couldn’t help the silly grin he knew sat on his face. Pulling his jeans back on with one hand, he shuffled through the doorway, not wanting to wake Liv.

  “I’ve been trying to call you for the last hour,” Kris barked. “Are you all right?”

  “Yeah…yeah, I’m okay.” Eion ran his fingers through his hair. “Um, just had a late night. Sorry, I didn’t hear my phone.” Awkward, much? He leaned his shoulders against the wall. “Is something wrong?”

  “You could say that,” Kris snappe
d.

  “What happened?” A cloud of dread formed over his head. Thick and heavy. Eion fisted one hand at his side and braced himself for the pile of shit that was about to rain down on his head.

  “We had another predator attack last night.”

  Fuck me! Eion flung his head back against the drywall with a solid thud. “How many this time?” The question came out more gnarled and bitter than he’d intended.

  “Four more, but this time they took out two cows along with their calves.”

  “Dammit!”

  “Eion?” Liv peered around the doorjamb. “What’s wr—”

  He quickly pressed a finger to his lips, quieting her.

  “We’re going to have to do something. Now,” Kris ordered, his tone leaving no room for negotiation. “This ranch can’t survive another slaughter.”

  “I’ll be right there.” Eion hit End.

  “Do I want to know what that call was about?” Liv crossed her arms under her breasts. She’d slipped her dress on, but the loose material sagged on her upper arms. Her long dark hair cascaded over her shoulders, still mussed from their wild night of lovemaking. Eion dropped his arm and strode over to the woman who owned his heart. Running his palm over her tangles, he released a deep sigh.

  “There was another attack on your herd last night.”

  “Oh, God.” She groaned. “That was Kris then?”

  “Yeah.” Eion nodded.

  “I have to get over there.” Liv whirled around and swiped her shoes from the floor.

  “Here let me get your zipper.” Eion reached over as Liv straightened. He pulled the edges of the dress together then drew the zipper up the length of her spine, concealing her soft flesh. Flashes from hours ago when he’d helped her do just the opposite raced across his mind. His cock surged back to life. Making love to Liv had been like a cool drink given to a man who’d been burning in hell for twelve years. Exquisite. And like Hades, the burn he possessed for his Liv would never be quenched. It had taken every ounce of his control last night to stop long enough to grab a condom and to not sink his teeth into her while they’d been joined, marking Liv as his for the rest of their lives. But a lot of things had to be taken care of before that happened. Like pack law and his father’s crazy attempts to manipulate his life.