“Wait! I want to know what you were going to say.”
“I wasn’t going to say anything,” he muttered, moving aside and giving her a little smack on her backside. “Now get in. We’ve talked enough.”
“Ashe, that’s so rude,” she complained, sliding him a narrow look. “I’m not some puppet you can just—mmphh.”
His sudden kiss cut off the rest of her words as he curled one big hand around the back of her neck and yanked her against his mouth—which was fine, since she could no longer remember what she was going to say anyway. She was lost in his rich taste, undone by the provocative way his tongue tangled with hers, his free hand covering her breast, his thumb rubbing across her tender nipple. Her head spun, senses buzzing as he maneuvered her into the shower, under the hot spray of the water, his mouth never leaving hers. He tasted hot and deep and addictive, and she couldn’t get enough.
“I know you’re not a puppet,” he growled, when they both had to come up for air. “If you were, you’d do what the hell I tell you to do.”
“You know, that arrogant mouth of yours really pisses me off sometimes,” she said breathlessly, reaching between them and wrapping her fingers around his long, beautiful cock. Her hand wasn’t anywhere big enough to close around all of him, his size sending a dark thrill through her body.
“Yeah, I can tell just how much you hate me,” he groaned, his chest shaking with a gritty laugh as he shaped her breasts with his hands, his mouth already moving lower. Before the moan could even work its way from her throat, he’d lifted her higher, closing his lips around a sensitive nipple, his tongue swirling with lazy strokes over the hard tip, as if he were licking at something delicious. It was the same way he licked her between her legs, the dual assault of reality and memory making Juliana cry out. She pumped her hand along his thick shaft, wanting to make him feel this same blinding need, and knew she’d succeeded when he tore his mouth away with a serrated growl.
The next thing Juliana knew, he had her braced against the back wall of the shower, one hand under her bottom, the other tangled in the back of her wet hair, holding her in place as he took her mouth with what seemed to be an urgent, desperate craving, and claimed her body in the same way. His cock found her soft notch, his first thick thrust so hard and deep it shoved the air up out of her lungs, her thoughts fracturing beneath the violent surge of sensation. Steam billowed around them, her arms wrapped tight around his shoulders, while the slapping sounds of their bodies coming together filled the air.
He was relentless in his possession, hammering at her, the pumping rhythm of his body inside hers the most incredible thing she’d ever felt. He kept his eyes locked tight on hers, his expression a mesmerizing blend of hunger and lust and need, as if she was the only woman in the world he wanted to be like this with.
It scared the ever-loving hell out of her, how badly she wanted that to be true.
“I wish I could read your mind.” She watched glistening drops of water bead on his long eyelashes, his face so rugged and beautiful. “I wish I could know what you’re thinking.”
“I’m thinking I can’t get enough of you,” he said, his fingers tightening in her hair.
“I can’t…I can’t get enough of you, either.”
He made a rough sound deep in his chest, suddenly kissing her again as if he wanted to crawl inside her. Trembling, Juliana rubbed her tongue against his…only seconds away from crashing over that blinding edge, when he ripped his mouth from hers and pulled out, the tight clench of her body resisting him to the very end.
“What are you doing?” she gasped, feeling empty and aching without him inside her, her legs quivering from the loss as he set her back on her feet.
“I thought it might ease up,” he growled, his deep voice thick with frustration as he turned her around, placing her hands against the wall, “but I just keep wanting you even more.”
He didn’t sound happy about that particular admission, but then she wouldn’t expect him to. She knew exactly what it felt like to have the needs of your body overthrow the logic of your mind. Neither of them was comfortable with this…whatever this thing was burning between them, their lack of trust too great to ignore. But they were both caught up in it, unable to stop. She was just thankful that she wasn’t the only one who felt that way. That she wasn’t in this alone.
“You ever done it this way?” His lips were against her ear, his hands molding over her hips as he pulled her back tighter against him, his cock burning against the curve of her bottom.
Juliana shook her head from side to side, her muscles straining as she stretched up on the tips of her toes, trying to make it easier for him. She needed him so badly she was ready to scream.
“Then this’ll be two firsts for you,” he said, suddenly burying himself back inside her with a solid, bone-jarring thrust.
Her eyes closed, teeth sinking into her lower lip almost hard enough to draw blood. The feeling of penetration was deeper this way, each thick lunge pushing raw sounds up from her chest, her hands curling into tight fists against the damp surface of the wall.
It didn’t take long before her body gave way around him, taking every inch of him, his rough groans and the biting grip of his hands as he pounded into her only driving her closer to that breathtaking edge. Then he reached around to her front, using two fingers to rub at her clit, his other arm banding across her torso, his thumb and forefinger rolling her nipple. Within moments she was coming, the thrashing, shattering wave of ecstasy so intense she screamed, his mouth latching on to the side of her arched throat as the thick cries kept spilling…and spilling. She was going to have what her favorite aunt called a “love bite” there on her neck. Either that, or two deep puncture wounds from his fangs, if he gave in to his hunger and bit her.
Ohmygod…
Juliana could feel his need to do just that roiling through him, his tongue rubbing against the rushing beat of her pulse. She was strangely disappointed when he ripped his mouth away with a low, guttural snarl just as his own release slammed through him, his thrusts so powerful they nearly drove her toes off the bottom of the tub.
Struggling to catch her breath, she rested her forehead against the wall, wanting to laugh at herself for being upset he hadn’t made the bite. After all, she was the one who’d stipulated the no-feeding policy between them during sex, knowing it was an intimacy that would only make her feelings for the sexy vampire more complicated than they already were. But…that didn’t mean she wasn’t tempted to know what it would be like to have him buried deep inside her, those long fangs piercing her flesh, while he took her blood into his body. Just like she wanted to take his. Her own fangs were heavy in her mouth, tingling with sensation, so sensitive she probably could have come again just from having them stroked.
Ashe was pressing a warm kiss to her shoulder, his body still joined intimately with hers, when she heard someone knock on the outer door to their room. “Who do you think that is?” she asked, still sounding a little breathless.
“Don’t worry,” he rasped, carefully disengaging their bodies. “I called Gideon while I was buying the tickets at the train station today. It’s gonna be him.”
She turned and leaned her back against the wall, her legs too wobbly to risk standing. “How did he get here so fast?”
“He just wrapped up a case in Marseilles.” He squirted some of the liquid soap that was sitting on the edge of the tub into his hand, then quickly lathered up. Juliana was pretty sure her mouth was hanging open, the sight of him soaping up that tough, muscular body the most erotic thing she’d ever seen.
Another round of knocking came from the other room, and with one more possessive look that swept over her from head to toe, Ashe rinsed off and climbed out of the tub, wrapping a white towel around his hips.
Peeking around the edge of the shower curtain, Juliana said, “Okay. I’ll just, um, finish my shower while you guys are talking.” She knew her face was burning with embarrassment, since it was going to be o
bvious to Gideon Granger just what she and his brother had been doing together. The fun-loving vamp was probably going to have a blast teasing her about it.
As if reading her mind, Ashe shot her a quick smile. “Don’t worry,” he said. “I’ll make him behave.” Then he shut the bathroom door behind him.
Pulling the curtain closed, Juliana dunked her head under the spray, praying the hot water would last a little longer…and that the brothers’ conversation would be a fast one.
* * *
PULLING ON A NEW PAIR of jeans and a T-shirt, Ashe called out, “On my way.” He was still buttoning up his jeans when he walked into the sitting room, making sure to close the bedroom door behind him. He didn’t want his brother catching a glimpse of Juliana while she was getting dressed, her bag now waiting for her on the foot of the bed, so that she wouldn’t have to come out in a towel. He’d never been the possessive or even the jealous type before, but here it was. Just the thought of another man seeing too much of her pale skin made him want to inflict bodily harm.
In fact, any foolish hopes Ashe might have possessed that taking her would ease some of his pain had now been officially laid to rest. If anything, the two mind-blowing bouts of sex had simply cranked his hunger even higher.
Of course, it was a mistake he planned on making again. As in, as soon as he got Gideon’s sorry ass back on the road.
The second he opened the door, Gideon took one look at him and shook his head. “What the hell happened to you?” he demanded, his accent more Scandinavian than Ashe’s, since that’s where he’d spent the majority of his time when he was younger. “You look like shit.”
“Thanks,” he remarked drily, noting that Gideon’s dark hair was even longer than the last time he’d seen him, the tips nearly touching his shoulders. Ashe didn’t know how his brother could stand to wear his hair so long, his own dark locks cropped close to his scalp, where it couldn’t get in his way. “Now get your ass inside.”
Gideon made his way into the room, and Ashe shut the door behind him, making sure to flick the lock. Then he crossed his arms over his chest, leaned his back against the door and locked his gaze with Gid’s. “I didn’t want to go into too many details over the phone, but I called you here for a reason.”
Slipping the small pack on his shoulder onto the table at the end of the sofa, Gideon said, “I brought the blood you asked for.” Then he pushed his hands into the pockets of his jeans, his silver eyes burning with curiosity as he waited to hear what was going on.
Knowing the easiest thing to do was just get it out there, Ashe said, “I’m here with Juliana. She’ll be out soon. She’s just taking a shower.”
Gideon’s gaze shot to Ashe’s damp hair, and his brows started rising. “Let me get this straight. We’re talking about Juliana Sabin, right?”
Aware of every muscle in his body going rigid with tension, Ashe nodded. “She escaped from the Wasteland.”
Gideon’s brows went even higher, the look of shock on his face one that Ashe would have thought was funny as hell, if the situation weren’t so serious.
“I’m helping her—”
“You’re helping her?” Gideon croaked, cutting him off. “I thought you hated her! Isn’t that what you’ve been trying to convince me of for nearly a year now?”
Wincing, Ashe lifted one hand and rubbed at the knots of tension in the back of his neck. “I don’t hate her,” he grunted, flicking a quick glance toward the door to the bedroom, hoping she’d stay in the shower long enough that he could get all this said in privacy. “She’s in trouble. The whole family is.”
He quickly relayed the story to Gideon, telling him everything that had happened up to their arrival in Nice—minus the sex, of course. He knew Gideon could read him too well not to have guessed it had happened, but that didn’t mean he had any intention of discussing it with him.
“So what do you need me to do?” his brother asked, a sly smile already kicking up the corner of his mouth. “Am I meant to hold your hand for support? Keep you two from talking trash to each other?”
Ashe took a hard swallow, biting back the sharp retort burning in his throat. It was no secret that he and the little vampire didn’t get along. But that didn’t mean he was going to take any of Gideon’s bullshit about it. “If you could act like a mature adult for a minute, I’ll explain what it is that I need from you.”
Gideon snickered, but listened as Ashe detailed what he wanted. When he was done, Ashe asked, “How long do you think it’ll take you?”
“Hopefully only a day or two, at the most, to make all the initial contacts. I’ll head over to the airport and grab a flight out as soon as I leave here,” Gideon murmured, something in his tone telling Ashe that he wasn’t going to like what came next. Gideon had been watching him too closely the entire time he’d been talking, studying his expression, and God only knew what he was thinking now. Bracing himself, Ashe ground his jaw as he listened to his brother say, “You know what you need to do, man.”
“God, this should be good,” he drawled with a heavy dose of sarcasm. “My little brother is going to give me advice. Come on, Gid. Slam me with your words of wisdom. Make my brain hurt from the force of your brilliance.”
Instead of rising to the bait, Gid just shook his head and said, “You’re an insufferable ass at times, you know that?”
Ashe opened his mouth, ready to tell him to go to hell, when Gideon quietly said, “She’s the one, isn’t she?”
Despite the heat raging through his veins, he felt a cold sweat slip down his spine. “She who?”
Gideon narrowed his eyes. “Don’t play dumb, Ashe. It just makes you look like an asshole.”
“I’m not doing this with you.” His voice vibrated with raw frustration. “So leave it alone.”
Unfortunately, his younger brother had never been good at following orders. “Damn wimp,” Gideon muttered, his words thick with disgust.
Pushing off from the door, Ashe fisted his hands at his sides. “What is it with you?”
“What the hell do you think?” Gideon snarled, throwing his hands up in the air. “I’m pissed. You’ve got what we all want and you’re throwing it away like a pathetic jackass. Why wouldn’t I be pissed?”
Shock slammed through him with the stunning force of a bullet. “You know?” He rubbed a shaky hand over his mouth, seeing the truth glinting in his brother’s eyes. “About the Burning?”
Gideon ran his tongue over his teeth. “Yeah, I know. I might not be as slick as you, but I’m not a moron. It took me a while, but I finally figured it out. Your current situation just confirms it.” His voice dropped to a guttural rasp. “And if you walk away from her, then you don’t deserve her.”
A bitter sound tore from Ashe’s chest. “So what’s the answer, Gid? You think I ought to shack up with the criminal?”
“She’s not a criminal,” Gideon shot back. “Anyone who’s met her knows that.”
The shower turned off, which meant they only had moments before Juliana appeared, and Ashe pinned Gideon with a dark look. “Juliana doesn’t know about the Burning,” he said, keeping his voice low. “And I plan to keep it that way.”
“I won’t say anything to her,” Gideon murmured, taking a step closer. “But I’ve got more to say to you. Not that you deserve it, mind you, but I love you and I don’t want to see you screw this up.”
Ashe choked back a curse, knowing damn well he wasn’t going to like what was coming.
“Don’t get me wrong,” Gideon said, shaking his head again. “I’m still pissed at you. I mean, I can’t believe you didn’t tell me. Talk about a low blow. Why don’t you just cut my heart out? I’ll probably be emotionally scarred after this.”
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