by Jill Myles
Then, nothing, for a long—too long—moment. My muscles contracted and shivered, waiting. Anticipating.
His hands touched my ass, and I felt his breath against my thighs—he was kneeling behind me. One thumb touched one side of my slick sex, the other touched the opposite side, spreading my hot flesh open for his perusal.
His mouth descended and my breath exploded, hot and keening with need. His tongue lapped at my aching, wet sex. First a hard lick, then a softer, darting one. Teasing me. Tormenting. Then another hard lick, swiping at my body before diving in to flick against my core once more.
A sob flew out of my throat at the intense pleasure.
Flick after flick, he tasted my sex with wild, urgent need. One hand slid forward, sliding through the wet heat and finding my clit, stroking it with the pad of one thick finger. Circling it in a soft motion that was echoed by Noah’s tongue. When he flicked at it again and my body quivered once more, my inner muscles contracting, his fingers slid away.
I cried out, unable to articulate words, prevented by his harsh commands. Pinned in place, helpless to tell him that I was so close to going over the edge, but not wanting him to stop, either. God, never stop.
His fingers slid over my folds again, and the urge to buck and force them into the hot, needing clench of my sex was overwhelming. But I couldn’t move. It was the ultimate in frustration, locked down by his commands and needing him so badly that my entire body ached with tiny muscle spasms.
His thumb rubbed against the seam of my ass, as if contemplating my situation, and soft, gasping noises escaped involuntarily from my throat.
Then his thumb went just inside the edge of my aching, needing sex. My breath exploded again and my entire body locked up in the almost-throes of an orgasm. So close.
But before I could go over the edge, Noah removed his thumb. His nails scraped down the flesh of my ass, almost viciously. The sensation was so startling that it sent another shock wave of sensation through my body, and the orgasm skittered out of reach. The sound of disappointment crashed from my throat.
Torture. Long moments passed in which Noah did not touch me, and the only sound in the room was my harsh breathing mixing with his.
When my breath began to slow again, my senses grew tense, hearing and touch growing more sensitive as I tried to anticipate what would happen next. I could hear Noah’s breathing, but I didn’t know what he was doing, only that the warmth of his body indicated he still hovered near my body. But he wasn’t touching me.
Then, something hot fanned on the vee of my sex, and my muscles clenched. The air turned from hot to cool—he was blowing on me.
That made my body ratchet up all over again, small cries beginning to erupt from my throat again. Desperately, I wanted him to touch me, to ease the ache inside of me. But all I got was the tickling tease of his breath.
When I thought I might come out of my skin from maddening frustration, Noah’s large palm caressed my ass, plumping the curve of it, his fingers splaying across my skin. “You belong to me,” he rasped in a harsh, wild voice. “You may fall prey to your urges, but you will know that you belong to me, Jackie.”
His fingers dug into my ass, hard. That was the only warning I got before he sheathed himself to the hilt, burying his hard cock inside me.
It was so good and so needed and so sudden that a choked scream erupted from me, dying down as his hips rolled against mine. My legs were still cradled tight together, my cheek still pressed to the floor, so the fit was a tight one. The size of him had burned slightly as it had entered, but oh God, it was a good pain. So good. I gave a little gasp as he grasped my hips hard against him, pulling himself deeper into me—so deep that I felt that same shiver of pain again, and welcomed it. He was forcing my body to take him in, but I was so turned on and wet with need that I was on the edge of coming just from the one stroke. I could feel my internal muscles quivering hard, clenching around the thickness of his cock. Felt my muscles building toward the orgasm again.
Noah gave a slight thrust, more of a tease than a satisfying possession, then slid out of me again.
I nearly cried with disappointment.
“I want you to see that it is me when I take you,” he ground out harshly. “On your feet.”
Helpless to disobey, I quickly got to my feet, boneless and throbbing with desire.
I desperately wanted to run my hands over his gleaming skin. He’d removed his shirt, and I could see the wide expanse of golden muscles staring back at me, calling my name. Touch meeeee. Lick meee.
God, the need was making me crazy! My gaze slid down to his cock, gleaming with the moisture from my body, jutting hard. My mouth watered at the sight of it, and the desire began to pulse in my sex once more.
“On the bed. On your back,” Noah commanded.
I sat on the edge of the bed and fell to my back, my arms still locked beside me. The position made my spine arch, jutting my breasts in the air.
Noah loomed over me. “Legs in the air,” he commanded.
I obeyed, the shorts and panties that I’d nearly forgotten about sliding back down to my thighs. He ripped them off and tossed them across the floor, and then grabbed at one of my calves, his large hand sliding up to encircle my ankle. I felt something slide under my hips—the pillow. It raised my hips at an interesting angle. Noah studied my foot for a minute, then pressed his mouth to the side of it. Not a kiss, not tasting the skin. Claiming it as if he could brand me with his touch. His mouth slid farther down to my knee, then moved down the inside of my thigh. They were still pressed close together. “Separate them,” he commanded. As if I wanted to keep him out? “And watch me. Don’t take your eyes off me. Don’t close them.”
My breath began to catch again, the excitement reaching near fever pitch once more. My legs slid wide apart and he knelt at the cradle of my hips, his breath hovering over the curls of my sex, and he braced one hand under my hips. He glanced up at me, indigo eyes hot with emotion, and stared at me as his mouth descended on my aching, hot flesh. I felt the flick of his tongue against my clit.
Immediately, my body began to shudder with the onset of orgasm, only to have his hot mouth lift away.
“Not yet, Jackie. Don’t come until I say so.”
Oh God.
Again, my traitorous body stopped, and the quakes continued to echo through my flesh, close to the edge but never quite close enough to bring me over. His mouth descended on my clit again, his eyes locked on mine. I couldn’t look away. As I watched, he licked at my sex, torturously long, and slow, and my gaze was fascinated by that length of pink tongue sliding down and disappearing into the damp folds of my sex, lapping at me like a cat lapped at cream, savoring me.
The shivers of need grew to a full body quake. Noah seemed in no rush to bring me to orgasm, and the thought was terrifying as well as thrilling—how long would he keep this up? The need for sex had driven him over the edge, and God, I wished I could orgasm. My inner muscles clenched over and over again, but the edge always eluded me. I whimpered for the hundredth time, needing release.
Noah slid up, seating himself before me, and I could feel the hot length of his sex sliding against my own. It rubbed against my aching flesh, sliding along the slick heat and driving another sobbing breath out of my throat as I stared into Noah’s possessive gaze.
When his cock slid in deep a full body gasp ripped through me. Noah grasped at my thighs, my feet braced on each shoulder, and began to slowly push forward. It embedded him deeper and deeper into my body, his face coming closer and closer to mine.
And he thrust again.
I choked on my sob. The next time, when he thrust even harder, it felt like he was so deep inside me that he was touching my core. Then again. And again. Each motion rocked us and pushed me deeper into the mattress. The muscles in my legs burned, stretched and quivering as my feet slid close to my ears. My skin felt overheated and sensitive, and my nipples brushed against my own thighs as every thrust bore Noah’s weight down heav
ily upon me.
It was torture. It was madness.
It was so, so good.
His gaze roamed over my face with each thrust, wild with desire. He couldn’t satisfy the Serim urge until he made me orgasm, so commanding me not to come meant that he was torturing himself as well. But still he thrust, pushing my body to the edge and never giving me the release I needed.
A new sob broke with every thrust. Every slap of his flesh against my own. Every needing, aching quiver that erupted in my body. It was an endless, delicious torment, all the while pinned down by a pair of wild eyes that were more violet than blue.
“You belong to me,” Noah growled. He was pushing so deep into me that his voice was practically in my ear, my ankles almost pressed to my ears, my legs stretched wide. “You are mine.”
He thrust again. My breath shuddered as he leaned in farther, my flesh stretched so hard that it had passed into a mixture of pleasure and pain.
My eyes remained locked into his gaze as he thrust once more, then something seemed to erupt within him. “Come for me,” he growled. “Come while you stare into my eyes.”
My entire body orgasmed, my legs and muscles tensing and clenching with pleasure, my breath exploding in a shudder. Blackness swam before my eyes as he thrust again and the orgasm went on and on, continuing to spiral outward as he rolled his hips against mine. His orgasm overtook his body and I felt his shuddering last thrust inside me, felt the hot stream of his release inside, even as my hips continued to clench with need.
I might have passed out for a moment; Noah’s face went fuzzy as I watched his expression contort in the pleasant agony of sex.
I panted, unable to think, to process. Unfortunately, I couldn’t close my eyes and regroup, because my gaze was still locked on Noah’s. As I watched him, the agonized expression on his face melted away, and the color in his eyes faded to a pale silver. And as the color changed, recognition dawned.
CHAPTER SEVEN
“Jackie?” He stared at me, uncomprehending. Then he swore, shoving off of me as if I were suddenly covered in cooties. “Jackie—what did I do? Sweetheart? Are you all right?”
I couldn’t respond. Couldn’t move my hands, couldn’t speak up—not that I was comprehensible at the moment anyhow.
He pulled me to a sitting position but my legs still tried to raise into the air due to his command, and I shot him an irritated look.
Noah was busy running a hand down his face and feeling sorry for himself. Guilt was stamped onto his features. “I didn’t realize … the curse must have overwhelmed me. And then I smelled them on you and …” He shook his head as if trying to clear it. “God, Jackie. I am so sorry. To think that I acted like that to you. Forcing you to the floor on your knees …”
He was making it sound like it was some sort of torture, when he’d really rocked my world. Really, really rocked my world. My body still quivered in the aftermath.
He gave me a look full of self-hate. “Aren’t you going to say something to me?”
I tilted my head, unable to speak. A frustrated sound emerged from my throat, the only thing I could communicate.
It wasn’t enough for him. “Say something to me.”
Whew. “You forgot that you commanded me to be silent?” I tried to stand, but my legs kept trying to rise into the air, and my hands were still locked beside me. “Can you command me to stand like normal, please? This is starting to hurt.”
“Oh. Sorry.” He blinked, dazed. “Be as you normally are.”
The tension in my muscles relaxed and I felt a shuddering relief roll over me. “Whew, thanks.”
His jaw clenched, and he shook his head, looking away from me. “What I did to you was totally wrong. I used my power to bend you to my will.”
“You did,” I agreed, but it hadn’t been a bad thing. Forcing me not to come until he wanted me to? Torture at the time, but freaking genius. I flopped back on the bed and gave my hips a happy roll.
Noah sat on the edge of the cot and buried his face in his hands. “I’m just as much of a monster as the others.”
Hm. Not quite the reaction a girl wanted to see after some mind-blowing sex.
I frowned. Usually Noah was a bit of a cuddler after sex. He liked to spend time touching my skin or talking with me about business items. Trivial things, just to spend time together. Turning away from me and acting like a martyr? Not his usual bedroom MO.
“Something wrong?” I offered, glancing at the door. We really should be getting out of here, but Noah didn’t seem to be in a hurry to do anything except—maybe hate himself.
He glanced over with a gaze full of hot self-loathing. “What I did to you was unconscionable. I’m no better than any of them.”
Oh. He thought that forcing me into sex with him was a step closer to vampirism? Well, no. “You’re still better than Ariel,” I offered, reaching over to pat him on the shoulder. “He tried to rape me.”
His look grew starkly horrified. “Is that why you smelled of him? And Ethan? Did he try to do the same?”
“No, Ethan’s helping me escape.”
Noah ran a hand down his face again, anguished. “The urge was on me so hot and heavy, I was having trouble distinguishing reality. When you get close to the end your control disappears, and you can think of nothing but your partner. When I saw you … I wasn’t sure if you were just a fever dream. And when I smelled them on you, I was angry. Couple that with the lust and … I couldn’t control myself.” His tone was full of self-loathing. “And you suffered for it.”
I patted him on the shoulder again, forcing a cheerful smile to my face. “Really, Noah, it wasn’t a big deal.” It was the most amazing round of sex we’d ever had, but not a huge deal. “But you know what is a big deal? Leaving here. Escaping.”
“You can’t. You have to wait for the council to decide your penalty, Jackie.”
No, that wasn’t on my agenda. “Here’s the problem, Noah. They’ve already decided I’m guilty.”
My underwear and shorts were all the way across the room. Whoops. I moved over to get them, limping a little. Definitely pulled a muscle in our sexual throw-down. “What I did wasn’t the greatest thing, but it was in self-defense. Yet the Serim council has already judged me guilty, and now they’ve given me some crazy ultimatum—I either have to slay Remy and bring the halo back to them for disposal, or I have to agree to forfeit my body and breed an Enforcer for them.”
His face grew grim. “This is why we should have married, Jackie—”
“Noah—”
“They cannot touch another man’s mate. I could have protected you—”
“Noah, you’re not listening to me,” I said, speaking over him. “I’m not going to marry because someone wants me to bear a kid. I don’t even know what an Enforcer does that is so different.”
Again, Noah ran the hand down his face. “The Heavenly Host uses them to enforce their decisions. They’re like hired muscle, free of the curses of Serim and succubus. And they are steadfastly loyal to the Serim and to the side of good. They’re good men, but they don’t realize that they do not necessarily work for good men.”
“That pretty much describes Ethan to a tee,” I said, thinking of the guard who had broken ranks to help me. He was enormous—his hands like mitts, and almost seven feet tall. Thanks but no thanks—I didn’t want one of those shooting from my loins. “I’m still going to pass on breeding one.”
He stood and crossed the room, staring at the door. “That is your sentence?” he asked me. “To either slay Remy or breed a child for them?”
“Yup. And I’m going to go with C—none of the above. Which is why we need to leave like ten minutes ago, Noah. So put on your pants, and let’s go.” I hopped around, trying to slide my foot into my underwear, but it kept getting caught. Damn pulled muscle. Why hadn’t it healed yet?
Noah was silent behind me. As I hiked my panties up, he gave a long sigh. I heard the bed creak as he sat back down. “I can’t go, Jackie. Ethan will
keep you safe.”
I turned around and frowned at him. “What do you mean, you can’t go? I have a passkey. We can escape.” I pulled my shorts on. “Ethan’s going to help us.”
“Jackie, I’ve been sentenced, just as you are. And I have dealt with the Serim before.” The look he gave me was somber. “I must stay here and receive my punishment. When you escape, they will need to mete out additional punishment. I want to be here to receive it.”
Sweet but misguided. “Noah, that’s nice and all,” I began, spotting the passkey under the bed. I went to my knees and fished it out. “But these guys aren’t going to change their minds about me. No matter how much money you fling their way, I don’t think it’s going to work.”
He shook his head, stubborn. “Escaping is not the answer, Jackie.” At my incredulous look, he added, “At least, not for me.”
Shit. Shit shit shit. I went to his side, clasped his hands in mine, and tried to drag him to the door. It was like trying to drag the Rock of Gibraltar. Noah tugged me back to him and pulled me into his arms. He buried his face in my wildly braided hair, inhaling as if trying to memorize my scent.
I eyed the door. “Noah, we need to go. I’m not kidding—”
“Neither am I.” His words were muffled against my chest, and his arms tightened around me. “I’m staying, but you still need to go. You need to help Remy if she is in danger.”
“What about you?”
“I’ll be fine. They won’t destroy me.” He looked at me and his mouth quirked in a half smile. “And I’m long past my childbirthing years.”
I smacked his arm. “Now is not the time to be funny.”
He hugged me close again. “And today shows that … I can’t be trusted around you, Jackie. My jealousy won’t allow it.” Sadness crossed his face. “I’m not good for you. You have a hard road as a succubus, and I’m making it even more difficult.”
Why did this sound like good-bye? A knot formed in my throat. “And what am I supposed to do when I get back home and you’re not there? I still need sex, remember?”