Deadly Is the Kiss

by Rhyannon Byrd

  And, God, but she had the sexiest mouth he’d ever seen.

  “Ashe, we need to get out of here.”

  Exhaling a ragged breath, he finally turned to face her again. His muscles ached as he ran his gaze over her body, tension and misery and hunger twining together in an unbreakable knot that would eventually break him down. It was a fact he needed to face as an absolute given, like the rising of the sun and the corruption of power. Until then, he’d just have to do the best he could with what he had, and hope to hell he didn’t go too far.

  Since he knew he wouldn’t be able to keep his gaze off the creamy swell of flesh revealed by her torn sweater, the Lycan’s claws having caught her just above her left breast, he slipped off his leather jacket and held it out to her, silently amused by the way she cautiously crept closer, as if wary of what he would do. A sudden thought struck like a hammer in his brain, lust punching his gut so strongly he nearly dropped to his knees.

  Did her hesitation mean she felt the same searing pull that he did? He knew the Burning didn’t affect the females of his species in the same way that it did the males, but it was rumored that there were some women who experienced a nearly irresistible need to be close to the man fate had chosen for them.

  Something inside him started to splinter and crack, a force growing and rushing beneath his skin, gaining momentum with the raging strength of a storm. His hands shook at his sides. Sweat slipped down the hollow of his spine. He could feel each heavy pulse of his blood pumping through his veins.

  Was she aching as badly as he was? Did she feel the same grinding, relentless pull?

  Goddamn it. Knowing she might be feeling even a fraction of the need twisting through him was too much, shattering his control. Unable to stop himself, Ashe reached out and snagged a handful of her sweater, quickly pulling and pinning her between his body and the willow, his fist jammed right against the hammering beat of her heart.

  She gasped and started to tell him to go to hell, but he cut her off, taking her mouth in a blistering kiss that was anything but soft. Hard and brutal and flavored with anger, it was more punishment than pleasure—until she moaned.

  Their eyes shot open at the same time, rough breaths soughing together, and from one instant to the next, everything changed.

  With a hoarse curse on his lips, Ashe shuddered against her. The night felt warmer, the air heavier…richer, as it pressed in on them. Lust spilled through his veins in a thick, decadent slide, more potent than any narcotic as it poured through his system. His tongue flicked against the velvety softness of her lower lip, coaxing her to accept him…to kiss him back. She shivered, blinking, then relented, her lips parting with a sigh…inviting him in, and he couldn’t resist, sliding his tongue against hers in an explicit kiss that was wet and deep and hungry.

  “Damn it,” he gasped, breathing the words into her mouth as the heat in his body turned molten and thick. “It’s too good.”

  Lush. Sweet. Delicious. God, she was everything he’d known she would be, his hands shaking as he drank in the taste of her.

  Drugged by the pleasure, Ashe kissed her harder, deeper, his hands tangling in her thick, silken hair as he crowded against her feminine little body, fighting to get closer. He needed to stop, to pull away, but he couldn’t do either. It was like standing at the edge of a towering cliff, with a violent wind rushing against your face while frothing waves crashed against the jagged rocks below, knowing damn well that your next move would change your life. You could either soar over the edge of that cliff and suffer the consequences, or step back. Could take the step backward to safety…or the one so dangerous it could change you forever.

  Nothing in their situation was different. He still didn’t trust her, and despite what she said about choosing him regardless of the letter she’d claimed to find, Ashe knew she was only there with him because someone else had manipulated the situation. Someone who might be helping her…or who might well be the enemy, considering how quickly those Lycans had found her. Juliana might need his help, but she didn’t trust him any more than he trusted her. Hell, she didn’t even like him. They were a bad mistake just waiting to happen. But maybe…maybe he’d been going about the whole thing in the wrong way. Maybe he should just get his fill while he had the chance.

  Are you mad? What kind of screwed-up plan is that? What if it’s so good you can’t walk away?

  It was a risk, yeah. But what were his alternatives?

  Screw it, he decided, tearing his mouth from hers, grabbing her pack and dragging her along behind him as he quickly headed out of the park, her delicate wrist gripped in his hand once again. If he was going to be in hell, he might as well give himself a taste of what he was suffering for.

  After all, what was the point in suffering if you never took the time to enjoy the sin?

  * * *

  IT TOOK NO MORE THAN ten minutes to reach the swanky, historic hotel where Ashe had been staying for the past week. But they didn’t make it any farther than the elevator before he choked out a graveled curse, dropped the pack again, then immediately reached over and pushed the stop button, bringing the elevator to a standstill. A quick jab with his fist broke the dark lens of the camera in the upper right corner of the lift, a yank of the wires deftly severing the camera’s connection. He knew for a fact, after having studied the hotel’s security during his stay, that the on-the-clock guards always retreated to the break room at this time of the evening for their dinner and sports highlights on television, leaving the cameras unattended. By the time they realized the camera had been disabled, he and Juliana would be long gone.

  “Why did you do that?” she whispered unsteadily, backing into a far corner of the elevator as he turned toward her. Her eyes were rapidly flashing between shock and fear, but her scent was pure, mouthwatering desire, making him crazed.

  Crowding against her, Ashe pinned her into the corner, his hands braced on the mirrored walls he avoided with his eyes, not wanting to face the raging lust he knew he’d see carved into his features at that precise moment. “I need this again,” he grated, lowering his head and taking her mouth in another raw, dominating kiss as she gasped against his lips, her hands flattening against his chest. He turned his head to the side, going at her from a deeper angle, needing more.

  In the past, he’d never cared all that much about kissing, figuring there were better things he and a woman could be doing with their mouths when they were alone together—but he couldn’t get enough of Juliana’s soft lips. Could not get his fill. They were so smooth, so lush, the inside of her mouth so sweet and addictive.

  Considering the location, he might have had a chance in hell of finding control, if hers hadn’t started to slip. But suddenly she was kissing him back, making sexy little sounds in the back of her throat that drove him over the edge. Having to touch her, Ashe slipped his hands inside the jacket, onto her hips, his fingers gripping her tight. Sweat dampened the roots of his hair as he ran his hands up the sides of her body, then back down, wanting to touch her everywhere at once. Needing it so badly the hunger was like a physical thing in his body, punching against his skin…destroying his reason.

  Before he even knew what he was doing, his shaking fingers were working open the button on her jeans, then jerking down the zipper. She cried out as he quickly shoved a hand into the front of her panties, the sharp sound becoming a breathless moan when he cupped her warm sex in his palm and gave a predatory growl. Her delicate hands were on the sides of his neck, clutching him to her, her tongue sliding against his in a way that made his blood boil. Heat poured off him in blistering, sweltering waves as he shoved two thick fingers inside the slick, narrow opening of her body, stretching tender tissues, surprised by how perfect and small she felt. By how tightly she gripped him.

  “I knew,” he groaned, nipping her mouth with his teeth as he pushed his fingers deeper into that hot, melting honey. “I fucking knew you were going to feel like this.”

  He also knew that if he didn’t pull bac
k, right now, he was going to nail her sweet little ass to that elevator wall, hard and fast and rough. But he couldn’t do it. Couldn’t pull away. Hell, he didn’t even want to. She was drenching his hand, her plush, cushiony sheath clamping down on him as he pulled back his fingers, then thrust them deep into that tight, wet heat again, his thumb settling against the swollen knot of her clit in a firm, relentless rhythm. She arched against him, tearing her mouth from his as she gulped in air, her head falling back against the mirrored corner as he worked her with his fingers, going harder…deeper, his actions borne not from decades of practiced seductions, but a wrenching desperation to punish her with pleasure, needing her to feel the same biting need that he did. He wanted her to burn with it. Wanted her to feel empty and hollow every single time she looked at him, aching to have him inside her.

  Slowly, as if her body was heavy with sensation, she lifted those long lashes, locking her hazy, passion-thick gaze with his. Then she shocked the hell out of him by lowering her eyes…and putting her hands on the top button of his fly.

  Ashe made a sound unlike any he’d ever made before—half growl, half sob—his cock so hard he thought be might go off at the merest brush of her fingers.

  Gritting his teeth, he managed to choke out three rough, guttural words. “I won’t stop.”

  It was a warning—one she didn’t heed as she caught her lower lip in her teeth and continued on with the buttons, the task a difficult one given the size of the heavy erection caught beneath the denim. And then she was pushing the front of his boxers lower, his body jerking with a hard shudder as she wrapped her cool fingers around him in a firm, eager hold.

  Overwhelmed by the sensation of finally having his woman’s hands on him, Ashe forgot how to breathe, his heart pumping in his chest to a hard, hammering beat.

  With his pulse roaring in his ears, he barely heard the small, choked sound that slipped past her kiss-swollen lips as she got her first good look at his shaft. He could sense her apprehension as she took in his size and the hard proof of just how badly he wanted her—but she didn’t pull away. Instead, she gripped him tighter, the feel of her soft hand better than any sex he’d had in…damn, he couldn’t even remember. He was too experienced, too damn jaded, to be pushed to the edge by something as tame as a hand job, but apparently his body failed to recall that particular fact, because he was on the verge of exploding.

  As she continued to stroke him, Ashe had to lock his knees to keep them from buckling. He rubbed her clit with more pressure as he pumped his fingers into her, their gazes locked on the erotic movement of their hands. Needing to feel her come, unable to wait for it, Ashe shook the sweat out of his eyes and hooked his fingers forward, finding the sweet spot deep inside her that sent her crashing over the edge. She kept using her hand to pump his shaft as she came in a hard, wet rush, the feel and scent of her so sweet it nearly killed him. Lowering his head, Ashe captured her husky cries with his mouth, feeding on the sexy sounds until he knew he couldn’t hold back.

  “Shit,” he snarled, drawing back his head so he could see her face, his fingers still working inside her. “You’d better stop. Now.”

  Instead of releasing him, she blushed as she stroked him faster, silently daring him to follow through.

  Ashe had often wondered what kind of lover Juliana would be, the question occupying his mind well into the night on too many occasions to count. Tentative and shy? Or fearless and bold? But she was neither. Instead, she was a heady blend of the two, the unusual, unfamiliar combination driving him outta his mind.

  “I mean it,” he growled. “You’re pushing me.”

  “Then prove it,” she whispered, flicking another shy glance down at his cock, and that was it. Gritting his teeth, Ashe came so hard it was almost more pain than pleasure, the sensation so intense it felt like being turned inside out.

  He didn’t know how much time had passed when he finally leaned forward and pressed his damp forehead against hers, sucking air into his burning lungs while waves of pleasure continued to course through him. Reluctantly taking his hand from between her legs, loving the way her body fought to hold on to him, he stroked her hip with his damp fingers, waiting for a sense of ease to come. For his head to clear. But it didn’t happen.

  Damn it, he was still hard as a spike, shaking with another violent surge of lust. And he knew she felt the same. They were both starved for more. Desperate and aching for it.

  “We’re both Deschanel,” he suddenly grunted, curving his hands in the back of her panties and pushing them down with her jeans. Then he curved his hands over her ass again and hoisted her up, pushing between her thighs. Their species couldn’t carry sexually transmitted diseases, which meant they didn’t need protection. “We don’t need a condom,” he muttered, rubbing his lips across her temple as he notched himself against her small opening, needing to shove himself inside her like he’d never needed anything in his entire life.

  She shivered in response to the husky words, then immediately stiffened, tension snapping through her body so fast she cracked her head on the mirror as she reared back. “Oh, God. Wait! Stop!”

  “Stop?” Ashe held his breath, praying he’d heard her wrong. Despite the warning he’d given her about not stopping, he’d never forced himself on a woman, and he wasn’t about to start now.

  “Please,” she whispered, turning her face to the side, her chest lifting with the panting force of her breaths, her hands pushing against his shoulders. “I can’t…”

  Shit. Shit. Shit. It almost killed him, but he somehow managed to dredge up enough strength to set her on her feet and pull away, taking a step back.

  She trembled with nerves, eyes lowered as she yanked up her panties and jeans, fumbling them closed. “We have…we have to stop this now, before something happens.”

  Despite his discomfort, a wry, gritty laugh burst from Ashe’s throat. “You came so hard you screamed, Jules. I’d hardly say that’s nothing,” he pointed out with a taunting smile, irritated as hell that she’d chickened out on him…but even more so because she was trying to act as if nothing had even happened between them.

  She glared up at him. “You know what I mean.”

  “Yeah, I do,” he murmured, reaching out and rubbing his thumb over the front of her sweater, right over the tight tip of her breast, her nipple swollen and sensitive. He did it partly to remind her that she enjoyed his touch, but mostly because he couldn’t stop himself. He wanted that tight little nipple in his mouth, on his tongue. Wanted her stripped bare and under him, and he wanted it now. “But there isn’t any point in pretending we don’t want it.”

  “Isn’t there?” she demanded, knocking his hand away.

  Ashe lifted his gaze back to her eyes. “Not when I know it’s going to happen.” And it would. He didn’t doubt it. And maybe that was the only logical answer to the problem. Not touching her hadn’t worked. It’d only had him running around in circles and chasing his tail for months now, while suffering in a world of pain. So he’d take the opposite approach and gorge himself on her until he’d worked the Burn down to a dull, mellow glow. One he could live with when they parted ways, getting on with their lives.

  True, he’d never heard of anything like that working before. But then, he’d never heard of anyone trying, either.

  Juliana, however, was still looking at him as if he’d grown two heads. “I asked for your help, Ashe. Not… I didn’t ask for sex. You…you don’t even like me.”

  “Parts of me seem to like you just fine,” he offered drily, shoving himself back into his jeans, the task not an easy one, given that he was still painfully hard.

  “This is ridiculous. Are you going to help me or not?”

  “I’m an idiot, but yeah, I’m going to help you.” He looked right at her. “And you’re going to help me, too. Think of it as your contribution to my mental stability.”

  “I don’t think—”

  “You don’t have to think, Jules.” Ashe watched her from beneath his l
ashes as he reached out and pressed the stop button for the second time, the elevator making a low hum as it once again started its slow ascent. His voice remained hard, determined, implacable—because no way in hell did he plan on letting her change his mind. “All you have to do is lie down and enjoy it.”