He reverted to grandee mode, all quiet dignity and control. “The Fae are almost immortal, but sometimes accidents happen. We bury our dead, but if someone disturbs their grave and grinds their bones, then you’ve got Fairy dust. Otherworld species absorb it through the skin, and it nullifies their magic. It takes effect instantly and takes two or three days to work its way out of our systems. Just for the record, that means this attraction you feel for me is real, not the result of my magic.”
“Real? Not magic?” she repeated, stunned.
Before he answered, her hand crept into his. Her shy smile and downcast eyes promised mischief—and if he wasn’t mistaken, sex. She pouted at him over her shoulder like a 1960s sex kitten, and led him toward a copse of nearby trees. “Well, in that case…”
Leonidas grinned like a surprised schoolboy. He hadn’t expected this. Meena desired him even though he’d lost his magic, and by the Elves’ blood, he desired her. He hated that he’d have to fuck her to keep his curse at bay, and for once his beast demanded something more than casual sex. Warrior and king, he usually kept his emotions in check, but with Meena he could be himself—except his curse drove him as much as his heart.
He’d make their four weeks together the best month of both of their lives, but when the time came for him to move on, her loss would leave him dead inside. Afterward he’d hunt down the Witch who’d cursed his family, and then he’d do whatever it took to make her break her spell. Elves’ blood, he’d even hurt a woman if it kept his true-mate safe. True-mate? Even the word rocked him to the core. She couldn’t be, could she? No way. She can’t be the woman who completes my soul. My one and only love. My true-mate. Now he’d found her, living without her was impossible. Not that he wanted to, but his curse left him no choice. He tried to imagine her as his queen. Three hours ago, he’d have sworn the Fae court would overwhelm a sprite or druid with as little magic as her. Now he wondered if her smart mouth and quick wits might be exactly what his hidebound courtiers needed. Then his impatient woman gave his hand a small tug.
I’m definitely overthinking it here. She wants me between her legs, and no way am I going to argue. I’m sure as hell not going to argue. With a smile full of wicked intent, he swept Meena into his arms, then growled over his shoulder, “Lipstick, stay.”
He swore he heard a snicker in the dragon’s answering roar.
MEENA HATED that she hadn’t told Leonidas that her mother was a powerful Witch and renowned seer, not just some green-fingered sprite. Cowardice sucked. He hated Witches, and even though honestly, she wasn’t much of a Witch—more of a hanger-on—she owed him the truth. Another attempt to explain her origins. Another stolen kiss. Hekate, she couldn’t move, couldn’t think, let alone speak when he kissed her like that. Without trying, he’d scrambled her brain. Made her crave things like hot sex. No, not when my mum’s missing, but…
Now that she knew how much he despised Witches, maybe she should let him think she was a lesser creature after all. Proud as she was of her birthright, she couldn’t risk telling him how her magic had never materialized. Suppose he sided with the covens—the ones who’d banished her on pain of death. Maybe her lack of magic was worse than her origins. Better if she said nothing, but staying silent hurt.
Until this point, she’d fought the enchantment in his deep melted-chocolate voice. If this need that boiled through her blood was real, then it was time she put all that sexy stuff she read in magazines to the test. She wanted him inside her, and apparently not just because of his seductive magic. Only her mother…
Maybe it was his enthralling smile. Maybe it was the tenderness that shone in his emerald-hued eyes. Or maybe he made her feel like the person she was born to be. Treasured even. For now she’d concentrate on loving him and forget theirs was a temporary liaison at best. She needed him to screw her until she scratched her fingernails down his back and screamed with delight.
Earlier, she’d decided to live in the moment, and it was time she did just that. She wanted to experience every good thing she could with him. Whatever simmered between them was momentous and breathtaking. Overwhelming even. So yeah, she wouldn’t tell him she was a failed Witch—yet. Damn it, if he kept smiling at her like that, she wouldn’t tell him at all.
An insatiable hunger—urgent and overwhelming—consumed her from within. Her breasts ached for his touch. A fire started deep in her womb, then sizzled through her blood. She burned for a Fae warrior whose only promise was that he’d love her and leave her, but she’d never needed a man so completely. Hell, she’d never needed a man at all. Otherworld creatures condemned her or scorned her, but not Leonidas. No wonder she wanted to get down and dirty with him out here on the wild North Yorkshire moors.
She’d slid her hand into his and offered her body. Be brave, Meena. She needed to stay strong even though she deceived him—and she didn’t want her inexperience to show. Rejection would rip her soul to shreds.
Then Goddess be praised, Leo swept her into his arms and carried her into the privacy of a copse of trees.
Chapter Eight
Meena ached inside, and the only way to soothe her pain was for Leo to plunge his cock into her. She was finally going to have sex—the soul-stealing, heart-stirring kind—and she couldn’t have a more perfect partner. Leo was all about sensuality and desire, but his absolute honesty tore her apart. No promises, he’d said. Goddess, she wanted forever. She’d not think about how he intended to move on and discard her, but it was probably for the best. She could never join him in the otherworld—always supposing he asked—not when the Witch Council had put a price on her head.
Leonidas’s prowess in battle thrilled her, but his quick brain and corded muscles delighted her. Sweet, protective Fae. Just looking down at the way his cock bulged beneath his leather pants made her slick and wet. The new feelings he roused inside her—love, hunger, and hot, hot desire—felt different from anything she’d ever experienced before. More real. More everything. Hekate, she was so desperate and needy, she almost came in her panties.
He’d already told her they had no chance of a future—and as an otherworld reject, she accepted that. For now she’d take everything he offered and live in the moment. Fuck in the moment, more like. He made her feel everything on a primal level—filled her with savage desires that fed the passion that sparked between. Damn, just being near him was like being bathed in a fire so primeval she burned with new longings, lust, and love.
She should press on and rescue her mother. She knew that, really. Only, in a world full of kidnappers, gunmen, and power-hungry Elves, she needed this time-out in Leonidas’s arms. She couldn’t think, couldn’t function for the sensual hunger he created inside her.
Snuggling closer, she buried her head against his chest as he carried her into the trees. His every step sent little jolts of desire shuddering through her cunt, and she loved that possessive look in his eyes.
Ahead, the spring sunshine illuminated a grass-covered bank. A wall of shrubs surrounded it, but he pushed through them and laid her on a bed of soft moss dotted with white wood anemones. When he lay beside her, blatant hunger flooded his gaze. Lazy like a cat waiting to be stroked, she lifted her arms overhead and arched her back.
He grasped one purple-streaked curl and stroked his fingers down it, letting it guide him to her breasts. “I can’t decide if you’re a delicious wanton, a dragon thief, a temptress, or a warrior. All I know for sure, querida, is that for today you’re mine.”
For today? Damn. In the words of William Shakespeare, she wanted “tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow.” But when he looked at her like that, she’d take whatever he was willing to give.
He unlaced the top of her corset so slowly her desires pooled like a hot spring in her cunt, and tasted every inch of her sweet flesh as he revealed it. When he took one pearled pink nipple into his mouth, she moaned and thanked the Goddess she wasn’t wearing a bra. His breath was warm on her skin, and when he swirled his tongue around her nipples—a sweet raspy
sensation that made her smile—she hummed under her breath. Finally, when he drew one hard peak between his lips and scraped his teeth over it, she purred. He treated the other nipple to a lingering kiss and moved on down to her jeans.
He stripped them off, and then she lay beneath him bare but for her lacy black panties. Except he was still fully clothed. She should be embarrassed or self-conscious—especially since he’d already told her she was too curvy. Instead the hunger in his eyes empowered her.
She tugged at his leather jerkin. “Off, please. Let me see your chest.”
“Bossy as well as delicious.” He laughed, but he shucked off his top before she could blink.
Could his chest be any broader? He looked like a legendary warrior straight from the myths and legends the covens recited on the equinox eve. But he still wore too many clothes.
“Hair next. Reach up and loose that queue,” she ordered.
He grinned as he obeyed her, then shook his hair over his shoulders. It was longer than she’d expected—jet-black with no hint of a curl. Rather than run her fingers through it, she lay back and drank in his sun-kissed masculine beauty. “Pants next. And hurry.”
His muscles rippled as he rose to his feet with a cat’s fluid grace. Slowly—so damn slowly—he eased his black pants down his thighs.
Meena swallowed hard and rasped in a ragged breath.
No underwear. Just the biggest erection she’d ever seen. Hell, the only erection she’d ever seen. His penis stood as proud and tall as the rest of him—tempting her more than his slow striptease. Hekate and her hounds, I need to touch and taste. She ran her fingers up and down his solid length before she fisted both hands around its girth. And this monster’s supposed to fit inside me? Her tongue flicked over her lips, but her movements were tentative and nervous. His closed eyes and pleasured groans boosted her confidence—thrilled her, really—and eventually her nerves receded. “Pretty, pretty penis. And right now, it’s mine.”
Hair loose about his shoulders, muscles bulging, he looked more all-conquering barbarian than cold-blooded Fae. Another stroke of her fingers, another groan dredged from his soul. He gritted his teeth and moved her hands. “Elves’ blood, woman, stop. Another stroke, and I’ll come. I want to feel your pussy clench tight and hot around me around me before I climax.”
Letting go was hard, and she mourned the contact with his cock. Then he reversed his position and lay beside her so his hair flowed over her thighs. When he settled his mouth on her pussy, his tongue flicked out and teased her clit until she writhed with an ecstasy she hadn’t known existed. Pleasure spiked though her, warming her toes and scrambling her brain. When he sucked instead of licked, she came with a moan.
She blushed, embarrassed, excited, and slightly ashamed. “Leo, I’m so sorry. I should’ve warned you or something. I couldn’t speak for… Sweet Goddess, that was so good I can’t describe it, and I sure as hell didn’t want you to stop.”
He chuckled, his lips still pressed against her pussy. Delicious vibrations flowed through her, making her long for more. Then he lifted his head and looked up at her though his thick dark hair. “I like that I’ve finally stilled your snarky tongue by using mine. Don’t apologize. I’m proud to have shown you such delight that you couldn’t help but come.”
When he rested his head on her navel and eased one finger inside her, Meena thought she’d shatter with need. Her head thrashed, spreading her rainbow curls across the ground. She crooned with sweet satisfaction, lifted her knees, and opened her legs wider.
“So tight. So ready, and so mine.” He inserted a second finger in her pussy, stroking and stretching her until he could slip in a third. She pouted when he withdrew his hand, but as he moved to kiss her, he brushed the head of his cock against her clit. She whimpered, and hips undulating beneath him, she spread her legs still wider. Her basic instincts demanded action, not words.
Slowly, gently, he pushed his dick into her warm, wet vagina. Damn it, Leo, stop with the slow motion. She’d expected pain at her first penetration, but her world exploded as though a million fireworks went off inside her and another orgasm rocked her body.
He paused, the tip of his penis just inside her pussy, and let her adjust to his girth. When she groaned and rocked her hips, he thrust deeper, filling her feminine core completely. Another thrust, and she felt his pubic bone press against her groin. Her pussy clenched around him—a silken cocoon that welcomed him with slick honey and heat. A final thrust, and she thought he touched her womb.
A third orgasm rocked though her. Totally sated, totally satisfied, she didn’t think she could have moved if she tried. Then he pumped again. Insatiable. My Leo’s insatiable. More sexual athlete than stuck-up Fae. Not that I’m complaining. Every roll of his hips sent her senses spinning until she spiraled out of control. He showed her more pleasure than she could handle. Pressure inside her, making her womb clench hard. Then she came again—a silver starburst of delight that left her dizzy and shaken. Hot cream flowed like a sweet river over his dick and spilled onto his balls as they slapped against her cunt.
Once she was fully sated, he threw back his head and roared as he came. He didn’t withdraw, just pulled her closer and held her tight. She lay in his arms—shattered by the depths of ecstasy he’d shown her.
Then their dragon growled nearby. A warning? Maybe their prisoners were waking. Meena wanted to stay in her fantasy world—the one where no one had kidnapped her mother, and her best dreams came true—but she crashed back to earth in an instant. Then she realized she’d just fucked her sexy Fae, even after he’d already told her their lives were too different for them to have a future. And Hekate, her mother!
An otherworld creature—her first and probably only lover—had rejected her again. She rolled free and tugged on her clothes without a word. Rather than dwell on her one-sided romance, she concentrated on the practicalities.
Chin up in a show of bravado, she marched back to their prisoners and dug her toe in one of the kidnappers’ side. “What do we do with the eyes and ears of Whitby here? If anyone finds them, it’ll raise too many awkward questions.”
Deep inside, she prayed her fearsome warrior didn’t slit their throats then and there.
LEONIDAS HAD SEEN his fiercest warriors run wild when they returned from battle. They drank every drop of alcohol they could get, and chased anything in a skirt. The Fae court had reeked of sex and hormones as his warriors tried to forget the horrors they’d seen. Horrors they’d taken part in. Part primeval need, part nature’s way of upping the birth rate, the Fae warriors temporarily abandoned their cool, calm personas and went at it like rabbits.
At least his half sister stopped an all-out war with the Lykae when she married their king. The pair of them had tried to pretend it wasn’t a love match, but Leonidas had seen the way she lit up whenever King Caleb came in the room. Just the way he knew he lit up around Meena.
His woman—and thinking of her like that pleased him—had just survived these inept idiots’ kidnap attempt. They could have killed her when they crashed into her car. A sick feeling settled in his stomach. Naturally, having survived a brush with death, her first instinct was to procreate.
He fell into king mode, all regal and protective, but there was a guilty flush to his cheeks as he hurried after Meena. They’d shared sex so hot it sizzled, but a better man would have given her time to recover her equilibrium. He loved her so much, wanted her so badly he hadn’t even tried to keep his hands off her. Besides, he’d needed to push back his curse so he didn’t hurt her. As an added bonus, he got to enjoy the next four weeks at her side.
Elves’ blood, four weeks out of an immortal lifetime stank when he could spend eternity worshipping her lush curves. After a glimpse of paradise, he’d be back to faceless women all waiting, legs open, in his bed. His lifestyle seriously sucked, but until he rid himself of the beast inside him, he couldn’t change a damn thing.
He stared back toward the wreckage of the 4x4 and into the cops
e of trees, determined to remember every detail of the one time he fucked a woman he truly cared for. Loved. Needed. Burned for. Elves’ blood, there weren’t words intense enough to describe the way she made him feel. He had nothing but endless infidelity to offer his true-mate, and he wouldn’t shame her like that.
From up here the carpet of moss where they’d just screwed looked far less inviting—all brown splotches and wilted stems. He’d wanted their first time to be somewhere romantic and beautiful, and as he looked at the dying foliage, he realized how badly he’d messed up. Couldn’t he do any damn thing right around her?
Cursing himself for a fool, he checked the first prisoner’s bonds and used his belt to secure the other’s hands behind him. Lipstick caged the first gunman in his claws and bounded up the steep hillside. His wings extended in scarlet majesty as he dropped his burden alongside the tractor—from about six feet above the ground.
Leonidas helped Meena back to the road. “Now you see why we Fae so love our war dragons. Once he’s fully grown, I’ll ride Lipstick when I lead our people into battle, although our greatest enemy is the local plant life.”
“Plants?” She laughed. “Haven’t you developed weed killers? Can’t you use hoes? Why can’t you magic them away or something?”
He stood tall and proud—an absolute ruler who knew every inch of his terrain. “We are warriors, not farmers, although we have tried everything to combat the plants. My half sister bought the strongest Earth pesticides, but our plant life thrived on the toxic mix of chemicals. Nothing makes any impact on their invasive ways.”
He felt as though his inbuilt arrogance pushed Meena away. Her stark Oh-my-God-what-have-I-done expression cut though his aloof Fae nature like a knife. To him, she was beauty, sex, and sunshine, and every cell in his body cried out to possess her. Something miraculous sparked between them, and he knew she wanted him as badly as he wanted her. He’d never claim her fully. He couldn’t when he had the curse hanging over his head.
Curse of the Fae King (Scattered Siblings) Page 6