“Can’t have that,” Nathan said, and picked up both silver trays. “Get the bottle and glasses.”
Laughing, she obeyed.
He led the way out the kitchen door and onto a broad deck that wrapped around the back of the house. Balancing the two trays with his usual effortless grace, Nathan descended a set of wooden steps that led down into a garden surrounded by a stone wall.
She blinked, taking in the surrounding garden. Rosebushes covered in white blooms vied with flowerbeds planted around massive oaks and magnolias. A sprawling water feature tumbled over stones into a pool inhabited by swimming koi in brilliant hues. At the center of the garden stood a padded platform, half-bed, half-couch, covered in red silk and piled with cushions. A red silk canopy covered it, lengths of scarlet spilling around the bed from a wrought iron pole at its head.
Rachel studied it, her eyebrows flying up. “Oriana again?”
“Nope, my idea. A couple of Majae created it for me.”
“How did that silk survive the first rainstorm?”
He grinned at her. “Magic’s a wonderful thing.”
“I guess there are advantages to having a lot of witch girlfriends.”
“Ex-girlfriends,” Nathan corrected, putting the trays on a small table beside the platform. He gave her a gimme gesture, and she handed over the champagne. He popped the cork with a flick of one thumb, a trick she suspected no mere human could have duplicated. The champagne foamed, and he poured it into the two flutes she held out to him.
Setting the bottle down on the table, he took one of the glasses and raised it in toast to her. “To our newest Maja.”
Rachel forced a smile, despite the jolt of anxiety the toast sent through her. “And to the Magus who plans to make me that way.” They both sipped, and the champagne foamed cool and delicious over her tongue.
He gestured at the platform with his glass. “Have a seat. Let’s see what goodies Oriana has provided for her favorite great-great-great-great grand.”
“I wouldn’t say favorite…”
“I would.” He picked up something triangular wrapped in a perfect flaky crust and popped it into her mouth. “But then, you’re easy to love.”
The canapé seemed to melt on her tongue, tasting of cheese, chicken, and roasted vegetables. She moaned in delight. “Damn, it’s too bad you don’t eat. This is wonderful.”
Nathan gave her a wicked little smile. “I’m sure I’ll get a chance to dine on something delicious before the night’s over.”
She snorted. “I see what you did there.”
“I do love a good double entendre.” He contemplated the selection, plucked up a finger sandwich, and fed it to her.
As Rachel purred in pleasure at the taste, he leaned forward and kissed her. She melted against him, losing herself in the lush eroticism of his mouth. Against her lips he whispered, “You’re right. That is delicious.”
“Yeah,” she croaked, as her head spun at the taste of Nathan and champagne, “it certainly is.”
He pushed her gently down on the platform, and sat down to begin feeding her fruit, hors d’oeuvres, and swallows of champagne, kissing her between bites.
At first she was too distracted by the taste of him and the hot blue gleam in his eyes to think about how the night would end. Gradually, though, the thought of the Gift penetrated her sensual haze.
Don’t think about that. She’d decided to trust Nathan, and she damned well wasn’t going to back out now. Yet even as she tried to concentrate on the taste of the champagne, on the softness of his lips, the memory of him burning in the dream kept flashing through her head.
Cut that out, damn it.
He pulled back a fraction, staring into her eyes, a ghost of a frown playing around his mouth. His eyes narrowed, and she spotted a spark of anger, determination.
Ooops. He’d picked up on her mood. Damn it, Rachel, don’t ruin this! Nothing’s going to happen…
Nathan bursting into flames… Stop that. Damn it, that’s worse than “Daddy Daddy Daddy.”
He brought both hands up to tangle in her hair -- and curled them into fists. “I thought you said you trusted me.” He tightened his grip until the hold stung.
Rachel licked her lips as the sheer dominance in the gesture gave her a little kick of arousal. “I do.”
His smile was slow and deliberately nasty. “Maybe you shouldn’t.” Eyes narrowing, he curled one corner of his upper lip into a snarl. “You need to stop worrying about whatever you’re imagining and start worrying about what I’m going to do to you.” Planting a hand in the center of her chest, he pushed her down on the bed.
Slowly, he rose to his full height and started unbuttoning his shirt, opening a triangle of carved male flesh that grew wider and longer. He shrugged, and the fine black fabric slithered off his shoulders, revealing sculpted brawn.
Oh my God, the vampire is doing a striptease. The thought should’ve been funny, but the hot look in his eyes made her heart leap into a gallop.
Moonlight gleamed off the width of his shoulders, edged the rolling contours of his abdominal muscles and ribs, silvered the line of hair that led her gaze down…
A thick bulge began to harden behind the fly of his slacks. Remembering how it felt shoving its way to the balls, she licked her lips. Thick muscle worked in his biceps and corded forearms as he unbuckled his belt, the ring and click of the metal sounding very loud in the darkness.
The tenderness in his eyes had vanished so completely she almost wondered whether she’d imagined it. Instead, there was stark lust in the curve of his lips and the dark glitter of his eyes. The black goatee enhanced the seductive-bad-vamp he threw off, especially when his grin revealed the tips of lengthening fangs.
Rachel expected him to toss the belt aside, but instead he doubled it and reached for her. “Come here.” It was unmistakably a command, but he edged it in a rough, erotic purr that aroused even as the order pissed her off.
She jerked back, dodging his hand. “Oh, hell no. I outgrew spankings a long, long time ago.”
Nathan laughed, low and dark. “I have no intention of spanking you.” The tip of a fang flashed. “At least not until you beg.”
Despite the heat that zinged through her at that idea, she pretended to glare. “Then you’ll be waiting a hell of a long time.”
Now his smile was definitely taunting. “Maybe, maybe not.” Nathan slapped the strap against his hand thoughtfully, then shook his head as if in regret. “But I have something else in mind for tonight.”
And he pounced, springing onto the bed and landing astride her hips.
“Hey!” But before she could use any of the hand-to-hand techniques she knew, he captured one wrist in a loop of the belt. She tried to shove him away with her free hand, but he caught that too, wrapping the belt around it. As she sputtered in outrage, he looped the belt’s end around the post that supported the platform’s canopy.
Reluctantly intrigued, Rachel stared up at him as he knelt astride her. Moonlight edged his handsome face in silver, slid along hard male flesh until he looked like a marble Renaissance warrior come to life. The belt that circled her wrists felt warm from his body heat.
This really shouldn’t be turning her on so much.
When he reached down, grabbed the fabric of her black tank in both fists, and ripped it as if it were wrapping paper, her arousal only grew. “Cut that out!” And couldn’t she come up with a more convincing objection? Evidently not. Mostly because all the blood had left her brain, headed south for the evening.
“No.” Nathan dropped the shreds of her shirt in the bushes. Sitting back on his heels, he admired the sight of her pinned in the grip of his thighs, his gaze blatantly possessive. “Now, that’s much better,”
“I had no idea you were this kinky.”
He flared his nostrils, as if breathing in her scent. “Says the woman wet as a peach.”
Rachel looked down at the bulge behind his zipper. “Says the man who could choke a Clydesdal
e.”
He flashed his fangs. “Why, thank you.” He leaned over her, slid a finger underneath her bra between the cups, and ripped the fabric.
“Again?” she mocked, though her mouth was dry. “You are really hard on my clothes.”
“Get used to it.” He settled on the bed beside her, eyeing her tight, hard nipples. “That’s much better.” He aimed a glittering look at her face. “They were soft a minute ago. I was deeply offended.”
“Can’t have that.”
“No.” Slowly he leaned down to one erect tip, opening his mouth, revealing the tips of his fangs again. She expected him to suckle her, but instead he dragged one sharp point over her nipple. “Mmmmm,” he murmured, his lids dipping as if he savored the anticipation of a bite.
Rachel gasped, the sound soft and strangled. He gave her a grin so taunting it was all she could do not to squirm in hot arousal.
A deliciously calloused hand covered the other breast, thumb stroking back and forth, each strumming contact sending another juicy, delighted jolt through her body. He teased her, swirling his tongue over her nipple, then closing his lips for a hard suckle as she grew wetter and hotter.
At last, Nathan lifted his head with a smile so wicked, she wanted to beg. “I’m feeling a little confined.” Sliding off the bed, he reached for his zipper. It hissed, the sound erotic.
Rachel watched in hypnotized fascination as he slid the slacks down his hips. His cock sprang free, thick, flushed dark. Remembering what it felt like the last time he’d fucked her, she moaned in helpless anticipation.
The vampire grinned at the sound. “Now, that’s what I like to hear.” As she watched in shameless fascination, he slid the pants the rest of the way off, revealing the long, muscled power of his strong legs, the bunched muscle of his ass.
She swallowed, vaguely aware of the jangle of the belt buckle overhead. Her hands twisted and pulled at the leather, instinctively trying to get free. She ached to touch him. Taste him. Feel that thick cock driving to the balls into her slick cunt. It was frustrating as hell not being able to reach for him, yet the tight grip of the belt only drove her lust higher.
When he reached for the waistband of her leggings, she rolled her hips up to help him get them off. He promptly wadded them up and held them to his nose, breathing in deep. “Oh, yeah.”
“Pervert.”
“You bet your sweet, fragrant pussy.” Sliding back onto the bed between her legs, Nathan grabbed her ankles in either hand. With effortless vampire strength, he planted a big hand behind each knee, bent her legs double, and pinned them against her chest. Rachel gasped, arousal increasing. Instinctively, she tried to push against his hold, only to discover she couldn’t move at all.
“You’re not going anywhere,” he told her, settling on the mattress between her widespread thighs.
“This… isn’t exactly comfortable,” she panted.
“I don’t care.” Lowering his head, he licked. The sensation of his hot tongue scooping between her sensitive folds made her squirm with a helpless, high-pitched whine. The pleasure burned, intense as a shot of whiskey, flaming along her nerves.
Holding her legs helplessly pinned, Nathan settled down to feast, his wet tongue swirling and dancing over her clit, around the opening of her cunt, lapping back and forth between her swollen lips. Each pass of his tongue sent another fiery bolt burning its way through her consciousness, stoking her arousal into a forest-fire blaze.
She found herself fighting his hold, trying to straighten her legs, pushing not so much to get away as because she could not sit still under the lash of delight.
And every time she strained and struggled against his controlling hands, her lust increased another flaming degree.
He, meanwhile, completely ignored her muffled kicks, the writhing buck of her hips as he concentrated on licking and sucking and tasting her as if she was something delicious. Driving her out of her mind.
Rachel felt the climax winding tighter and tighter with every pass of his tongue, every delicate nibble of his teeth, each teasing press of his fangs against delicate flesh. Distantly, she was aware of her own cries, the moans and high-pitched whimpers, the gasped pleas.
The orgasm exploded over her like a tsunami crossed with a firestorm, drowning her in wave after wave of burning, helpless pleasure. When it finally subsided, Rachel lay panting and limp, thigh muscles twitching from the volcanic climax.
She was still quivering when Nathan rose from her pussy and sat up between her legs, spreading her captured thighs even wider apart.
“Nathan,” she moaned, both helpless hands twisting at the belt.
“Don’t you move,” he snarled, and released one leg long enough to grab his cock and aim it for her pussy. Settling on top of her, he caught that knee again and slammed in right to the balls.
She screamed, a strangled sound of agonized pleasure. He felt huge in this position, and he wasn’t small to begin with. It felt as if the entire massive width of him reached all the way into her lungs.
Nathan stared down at her, his lips peeled back from his fangs, eyes wide and fierce with lust. “Now,” he rumbled, his voice hoarse. Bracing himself on her captured legs, he drew out and slammed in.
“Nathan!” She yelped, half in protest, half in unbearable delight.
He began to fuck her, riding hard, grinding deep, making her feel every single inch of him. She writhed, feeling the hot pulses begin again, throbbing and clenching deep in her sex. Each digging thrust made her breasts dance. Her hands twisted and jerked at the belt.
Another orgasm gathered, building like a storm, spurring her to grind against his working hips, chasing the taunting pleasure that seemed to race ahead of her. Light flashed in the corners of her eyes, some illusion created by climax-battered senses.
Nathan threw back his head with a roar, his big hands clamping down on her knees, his handsome face contorting as he drove to the balls and froze. She felt the first pulse as he began to come, streaming hot into the depths of her cunt. The heat grew, brighter and hotter until it burned over the line into a pain so ferocious she screamed.
The lights she’d seen a moment before exploded across her vision, comets and wheeling stars that left glowing afterimages.
The Gift. Oh, shit, it’s the Gift!
Stars spilled across the sky overhead, bursting into colors she’d never seen before, didn’t even know the names of. Raining stinging sparks over her skin. The sting intensified into a fiery, whirling burn.
It hurts! Gee never told me it hurt!
The firestorm built, a tornado of energy that battered her senses until it seemed to sear the inside of her skull. It’s going to kill me!
Helplessly, she writhed, lost in the pain. As if from a great distance, she heard Nathan’s voice. “Don’t fight it, Rachel! Let it come, relax into it, and it won’t hurt you.”
Sparks in a hundred shades of red and gold and blue whirled around her, pelting her like glowing hailstones. Ozone choked her with the stink of burned metal and lightning. She fought to breathe. I’ve got to gain control or it’s going to destroy me! Got to get it out!
Her hands burned as she jerked at the belt, the pain intensifying until she felt it even through the blizzard of fire whipping her skin. Throwing her head back, Rachel stared at the belt wrapped around her wrists.
Magic bucked against the base of her skull, pushing, pushing as she stared at her hands, teeth clenched against the screams clawing her throat. Pushing…
Her hands burst into twin fireballs surrounded by a corona of sparks that rained over her arms.
The agony eased slightly, as if it had found an outlet. She threw more magic into her fingers, trying to bleed off the pressure. The rain of sparks intensified.
“That’s it!” Nathan shouted. Or at least she thought he shouted -- she could barely hear him for the thundering magic. “Use it! Burn it off, gain control.”
Burn. Nathan, burning…
The fireballs flared brighter, spar
ks spinning inside them like a cross between a snow globe and the Fourth of July. Brighter. Brighter. Panic raked her. What if she lost control altogether? “Oriana! Get Oriana! I’m losing it!”
He leaned over her, ignoring the terrifying globes of energy inches from his head. “It’s all right! Rachel, it’s all right. Listen to me. Everything’s fine. You are still in control.”
“I’m not! I can’t hold it!” Squeezing her eyes shut, she fought the power, threw back her head and screamed, trying to reach Gee with a spell, a telepathic message. Something. “Oriana! Gee!”
“Rachel, you are not losing it.” His voice cracked like a whip. “Look at the belt!”
At the hard command in his voice, her eyes opened, automatically going to the belt looped around her wrists. Except it was no longer a belt.
Thick steel manacles encircled her wrists, and chains bound her to the post that could have held a bull elephant. As she stared at them in shock, the storm of magic seemed to retreat. The fireballs died away from her hands, leaving her stinging hands whole, miraculously unburned. “Where the hell did those come from? They weren’t there a minute ago…”
“You conjured them.” He cupped the side of her face, drawing her attention. “You’re not out of control, baby. Just the reverse. Your first instinct on receiving all that power was to protect me. That belt would never have held you, but your strength of will is more than up to the job.” He bent and kissed her.
Rachel sobbed once in relief against his mouth and kissed him back. As her lips moved against his, she tasted salt from the tears sliding down her face. “I did it.”
He drew back far enough that he could smile into her eyes. “You did. I knew you would.”
She laughed, voice strained from screaming. “You did not.”
“Maybe not at first, but as soon as I got to know you.” He stroked her hair, the gesture infinitely tender. “You do realize Oriana is going to be insufferable for at least a month.” Leaning in, Nathan gave her a slow, surprisingly sweet kiss. “I’m going to have to bear up. I owe her for giving you to me.”
Master of Seduction (Merlin's Legacy 1) Page 10