Castle of Dark Dreams 01 Color Me Wicked

by Nina Bangs

  "Maybe you should feel around to see what else you remember." His voice sounded strained.

  As she gazed into his hazel eyes gleaming with carnal knowledge and erotic promises, Mandy swore she saw the shadow of his Druid ancestor. Because Con was definitely magic.

  Reaching between his legs, she walked her fingertips over his balls, and finished off by gliding her fingers over the rigid length of him. Amazing how emotion could feed off the senses. His erection was strength sheathed in warm satin, and just touching it made her want to cry. No, that was wrong. A body part couldn't make her cry, but the total wonderful package that was Conleth Maguire certainly could do the job.

  He clasped her wrist. "Stop. I can't take anymore."

  Good. Three minutes up. Her body clenched around the anticipation of an enormous orgasm, a Texas-sized orgasm. Wow, it felt good to be home. Something about that thought bothered her, but she couldn't think coherently enough to figure it out.

  She needed him deep inside her. Now. Moving her body over his hips, she lowered herself until the head of his erection nudged between her spread legs. Oh, yesss.

  "Wait." The voice of the devil. "I need something."

  Like her undying curse? While she searched for one evil enough for the occasion, he reached up and felt around on the bed until he found the foil package. He seemed to rip it open in slow motion. Arrgh. It took him a good hour to put it on.

  Finally finished, he lifted her back into position. "Ride me hard, sweet-heat. We have a lot of pleasure to catch up on."

  Closing her eyes, she savored her tactile impressions. The weight of his hands on her thighs, the pressure of his cock pushing into her, spreading her, tempting her to let go. No way could she lower herself slowly onto that spectacular male display. She wanted all of him at once.

  With a cry of triumph, she drove down on him, feeling him slide smoothly into her, filling her. She stilled, holding onto the sensation of complete connection, and then she began to move. Raising herself and then pushing down, she renewed over and over her sense of fullness. He picked up the rhythm, driving into her deeper and harder with each thrust.

  Suddenly, all of her senses kicked back in. She moaned as he rolled her nipples between his fingers and the frenzy of their thrusts gained momentum. His breathing was a harsh rasp, and his scent of clean male and sexual excitement fueled her drive to orgasm. Frantic for more contact, she leaned forward and clamped her teeth in his shoulder to keep from screaming as he drove into her so hard she knew she'd shatter into a million shards if she didn't somehow anchor herself.

  Her orgasm caught her, flung her high, and then rolled over her in wave after wave of unspeakable pleasure. She felt Con stiffen, straining toward that last moment before climax, and then he shouted as it took him.

  As her spasms slowly faded, Mandy released Con's shoulder. What an incredible trip. "That was unbelievable."

  "Unbelievable." Con was still breathing hard. He turned his head to look at his shoulder. "There're teeth marks."

  She offered him a satiated smile. "Did I ever tell you about my vampire ancestors? Hot sex brings out my need to feed."

  He returned her smile, but there was an emotion she didn't recognize in his eyes. "It was worth the bite. It couldn't have been this great ten years ago. Ten years ago I was a lot weaker. This kind of sex would've killed me."

  When they'd gathered enough energy, they moved from the floor back to the bed. Con glanced at his clock. "That took us all of ten minutes."

  Mandy smiled. "That long? I'm glad we've matured."

  CHAPTER FOUR

  "I'm driving into Houston tomorrow to buy wall sconces. Maybe I'll cruise on over to the Galleria and scope out red dresses." Mandy turned on her side to face him. "You've put me in a red-dress mood."

  He tried not to look too hopeful. "How about red walls? Are you up for Ming Red? The owner of an old Victorian house in town had me paint—"

  She scowled. "Don't push it, Maguire."

  He tried to whip himself into a berserker frenzy over wall colors. It didn't work. He'd expended all his energy on the sexual frenzy of a few minutes ago. "So what turned you into a cream kind of woman? In high school—"

  She reached over to lay her finger across his lips. "Don't say it. My color schemes were loud and proud of it. Those were my wicked woman days."

  "I liked her. A lot." Con never missed an opportunity when it was pressed against his lips. He clasped her wrist and then closed his lips around her finger while he held her gaze. Slowly, thoroughly, he twirled his tongue around her finger, implying that his mouth was capable of so much more than what she'd already experienced.

  Her eyes darkened, heated. Message received. He released her finger.

  Mandy looked away before speaking. "I didn't inherit my preference for cream. Mom and Dad are earth tone advocates." She glanced back at him and grinned. "By the way, they're loving retirement in Arizona. Anyway, you know I'm an only child, and they had me late in life. Something about that combination must've turned me into the overachiever from hell. They never put pressure on me, but I sure put it on myself. I had to be the best in everything, and if I had to change into something totally not me in order to be the best, I did it."

  Con propped himself up on one elbow to study her. "Was it worth it?"

  Her gaze turned distant, and he knew she was seeing the teen she'd been. "I sure thought so at the time."

  "How do you feel about it now?" He held his breath, afraid she'd change the subject. They'd shared lust and a few laughs during her senior year, but they hadn't shared anything real of themselves.

  Mandy rolled over onto her back and stared at the blue ceiling. "I don't know. All those things: the straight A's, the cheerleading, the student council—while I made sure I was just bad enough so no one would think I was geeky—made me feel accepted. Acceptance was my holy grail." She reached between them and clasped his hand. He squeezed it. "Who knows why certain things obsess us. It's the now thing to blame every kink in our psyches on our parents, but Mom and Dad were innocent."

  He laughed. "I must've driven you crazy. I was so laid back I was unconscious. My grades were okay, but I didn't burn a lot of brain cells during high school. Just enough to get by. Football was a natural for me, so I did it. If I'd had to work hard to be good, I would've blown it off."

  She didn't laugh. "I was jealous. You didn't let anything get to you. Life just flowed around you."

  Now she'd really shocked him. "And here I thought my attitude frustrated the hell out of you."

  She remained quiet so long he thought she wouldn't answer. "Did you ever go to art school?"

  Con nodded. "I worked for Dad during the day and went to U of H at night. Since graduating, I've gotten good enough to sell some of my paintings. I'll probably always keep my day job, though, because I like the physical labor. It balances the other half of my life." Here goes the big question. "Why're you telling me everything now?"

  Mandy turned her head to look at him. "Because we didn't talk ten years ago. Maybe if we had, things would've been different."

  Left unsaid, but understood, was that maybe she wished things had worked out between them. His instant rush of emotion left him wary.

  He sensed she'd done enough soul baring for one night. Con wouldn't press her for more. "We were kids, and kids are dumb."

  "Oh, I almost forgot, you asked about the `cream' me. It's my decorating persona, and I've done well with it. When I got to New York, I researched my target customer base, decided on an image that would get a positive response from them, and became that image. It worked in high school, and it's worked in my business. And yes, sometimes I even paint walls bright colors, but not these walls. I still think they should be cream." She frowned.

  For a moment, he thought she was aiming her frown at him, until he realized she was looking over his shoulder. "What?"

  "Umm, Sweetie Pie looks energized. Please tell me I'm wrong. I want her to be limp and droopy, because I really don't wan
t to believe she got off on our lovemaking." Mandy sat up to get a better view of the plants.

  Con didn't give a damn about Sweetie Pie. Mandy took his breath away. He'd accepted she was beautiful in a cool elegant way, but this . . . She was gorgeous in a way he hadn't seen before. Her cheeks were still flushed from sex, her lips swollen from his kisses, and her eyes soft with lazy sensual fulfillment. And her hair was tousled. He wanted to lean forward, touch that soft mouth with his lips, and bury his fingers in the silky strands of blond hair.

  "Con, look at Sweetie Pie." She wasn't going to give it up.

  Silently wishing an attack of aphids on the hapless Sweetie Pie, he turned over to look. Geez, he needed out of this place. Everything that happened here was creepy, and he didn't have a high tolerance for creepiness. Sweetie Pie looked like the Plant Fairy had given her an adrenaline shot. And Jessica looked like she'd put out a batch of new leaves. No way would he make love again in front of these leafy voyeurs. Listen to yourself. You're nuts.

  "Simple explanation." He tried for casual, but it didn't quite come off. "All our heavy breathing put a lot more carbon dioxide into the air. Sweetie Pie and Jessica are loving it."

  Mandy's expression said that was a bunch of crap. He thought so, too.

  "Maybe I should go back to my—"

  "No." Now that he had Mandy in his bed, he was revved for a hot night of love. Not in front of the plants, though. The total stupidity of that thought made him wince. Sparkle had said the plants fed off their energy. They couldn't see. Still . . . The solution seemed simple. He'd turn off the lights. For just a moment, though, he wondered about their night vision. This place is turning you into a wacko, Maguire. "Stay here tonight."

  She nodded. "We can talk some more about cream walls. And I haven't even gotten started on blue butterflies. But first I need a shower." She swung her legs to the floor, stood, and then wiggled her fantastic little behind all the way to the bathroom. She'd kill him, but he'd die a happy man.

  As soon as he heard the water running, he got up and went to the door. Con figured someone would be waiting for him on the other side. Flinging open the door, he looked down. Yep, mini-snoop was waiting.

  "Geez, man. You're naked. Do something about it. You don't come to the door like that. Nuns could be collecting for charity. Girl Scouts could be selling cookies." Deimos kept his gaze focused somewhere over Con's left shoulder.

  "Give me a break, Deimos." But he went back into the room, picked up his discarded towel, and wrapped it around his waist. Then he returned to the door. "How old are you anyway?"

  "Four. Sparkle's thousands of years old, that's why none of this shit bothers her " He sat down, prepared for full disclosure. "Tell me every little detail."

  "Can your young and innocent ears stand it?" Con propped his shoulder against the doorjamb. Deimos would be funny if he wasn't such a pain in the butt.

  "I heard that." Deimos widened his yellow eyes in alarm. Probably just remembered Con's threat about what would happen if he listened in to thoughts that weren't his own. "But I won't listen again. I'm permanently outta your mind. Promise." His sly gaze said his promise meant squat. "To answer your question, I can listen to it, but I can't watch it. Maybe when I get around to doing it myself I'll . . ." His voice faded away as he realized what he'd revealed.

  Con bit back laughter. "You're a virgin? Let me get this straight. You're supposed to be this hotshot manipulator of humans' sex lives, and you've never done it yourself? Oh brother." He bit his lip to keep from grinning.

  Deimos narrowed his eyes to tiny slits of fury. "Laugh, jerk, and I turn you into a weed. We're wasting time here. Details. Now."

  "No." Con pushed away from the doorjamb just in case Deimos tried to follow through on his threat. "What Mandy and I do together is our own business."

  "But what will I tell Sparkle?" He looked horrified.

  Sparkle must be one scary lady if she could terrify the little guy like that. Con stomped down on his flicker of sympathy. He shrugged. "Tell her anything you want. Gotta go now." He closed the door on Deimos's whining, and then chuckled. A virgin. Who would've believed it.

  All thoughts of Deimos fled, however, as he turned to find Mandy coming out of his bathroom. As he turned out the light and then rolled over to take her in his arms, he realized he hadn't felt this great in a long time. Ten years to be exact.

  Mandy's singing had been known to scare small children, but that didn't stop her now. Life was good. She'd had an incredible night of love followed by a productive day of shopping. When she got home from Houston, she'd checked to make sure Con had followed through on his promise to get rid of the blue butterflies. Yep, gone.

  They'd negotiated the blue butterfly deal after their third round of wild sex. He'd agreed to paint out the butterflies, and she'd agreed to let the snakes stay. In her new and giddier mood, she'd decided the snakes were kind of cute.

  Then she'd gone up to her room and changed into the white shorts and purple clingy top she'd bought. The new outfit symbolized a woman in transition. The white was the old and elegant. The purple was the new and bold.

  Mandy ratcheted up the volume on her song at the thought of her greatest triumph. After their fifth round of, by then, more leisurely lovemaking, Con had agreed to the cream walls. At first she thought he'd given in because he was too exhausted to argue, but he hadn't tried to back out this morning.

  Mandy was no dummy, though. She remembered what happened when he agreed to paint the trim white. She'd be on the lookout for a sneak attack.

  Still singing . . . okay, it wasn't technically singing. More like shouting off-key. But it made her feel good. Still singing, she hung up the red dress she'd bought today. A sexy little piece of silk guaranteed to bring Con to his knees. And who knew what erotic acts he could perform while in a kneeling position. She was dying to find out.

  Her song wavered for a moment as she considered the path she was committing to. She was having too much fun. She was already too wrapped up in Con. What would happen when it was time to walk away from Con and Galveston? From the first moment she'd seen him again, she'd recognized the danger. But like the lemmings that came before her, she was swimming out to meet her fate. The strange thing? She didn't care. Mandy Harcourt had turned into a fatalist. What would happen, would happen.

  The tiny voice of reason hiding somewhere in her empty brain made a last pitch for common sense. You can still back off. Sleep in your own room. Stick strictly to business. Nope, wasn't going to happen. She sang louder to drown out any other common sense her reason might throw at her.

  Mandy was making so much noise she almost didn't hear the knock on her door. Con? She hurried to the door and flung it open.

  Sparkle Stardust swayed into the room trailing a sexual aura bright enough to blind Mandy. Short black skirt. Low cut black top. Gold sandals. Sparkle didn't bend to seasonal fashion rules. She narrowed her spectacular amber gaze on Mandy.

  "I was bringing a few plants up to Con's room when I heard the noise. It sounded like someone was murdering a cat slowly and painfully. I had to peek in to make sure Deimos hadn't made a nuisance of himself."

  Mandy wanted to be angry about Sparkle's insult to her singing, but she knew it was true. "Plants? Why?" She peered around Sparkle into the hall where a cart loaded with greenery stood. "A few? Sheesh, there must be thirty plants on that cart. Does Con know you're putting them in his room?"

  "Twenty-five. And Con doesn't know. Do I look dumb? I'm going to put them in his room and run like hell." She strolled over to the bed and sat down. "But it's his own fault. I told Holgarth, who told the owner, about last night's spectacular sexual extravaganza. And the owner immediately demanded that all the castle's plants be transferred to Con's room so they could share in the overflow of sensual energy." She cast Mandy a curious glance. "That is where all the action is going down, isn't it?"

  Mandy didn't bother closing her gaping mouth, because it would only fall open again. "Spectacular sexual extr
avaganza? Who told you this story?"

  Sparkle shrugged. "An anonymous tip." Her eyes gleamed with barely suppressed excitement. "Tell me all about it."

  "No. You tell me, then we'll both know." Who? Okay, she could eliminate Con. He didn't have loose lips. And no one else had been in the castle. Even with binoculars, no one could see much through the narrow arrow slits. Hidden cameras? Paranoid Central, Harcourt.

  Sparkle waved Mandy's comment away. "This is no time for false modesty. I heard the foreplay lasted two hours." "Two hours? I don't—"

  "I heard you hung by your heels from the door frame while Con brought you to a screaming climax with his tongue." "Door frame? I never—"

  "I heard he's twelve inches long, and once you slid your magic lips over him, it was all over. Woo woo, you go girl!" "Twelve inches? He—"

  "Well, as much as I'd like to hear more of the luscious details,

  especially the ones about your intense multiple orgasms that left you absolutely begging for mercy, I have to get those plants into Con's room before he shows up." She rose and hurried from the room.

  Mandy knew her eyes must be glazed as she watched Sparkle unlock Con's door and take the plants inside. A few minutes later, she came out and locked the door behind her. Before leaving, she stuck her head into Mandy's room.

  "The owner will be ecstatic. Sweetie Pie grew three inches. Let's hear it for great sex. Oh, and keep the purple. It's you."

  Mandy heard Sparkle drag the cart into the elevator, but she didn't move from where she stood in the middle of the room. She was still standing there when Con walked in a few minutes later.

  "Mmm. A purple top. I'm a corrupting influence, but corruption definitely looks great on you." He wrapped his arms around her and kissed the nape of her neck. "I met Sparkle as she was leaving. She looked seriously smug."

  Mandy bent her neck to give him easier access. "And well she should. Obviously, we had a lot more fun last night than we realized." She hit the high points and watched his eyes widen. "Oh, and we're doing such a great job with Sweetie Pie and Jessica, the owner wants us to work our magic on twenty-five more leafy friends."