Blood Trails

by Alianne Donnelly

  “You’re being awfully quiet.”

  “Got nothing to say,” she said.

  Jeremy shook his head to corral his wayward thoughts. He cleaned the last wound and bandaged it, then washed the last of the dried blood from her back. “All done,” he said.

  “Thanks,” she replied, and moved to stand.

  Something, some idiot impulse made him stay her with his hands on her bare sides, just below the swell of her breasts. Probably the same idiot impulse that then made him lean forward and brush a kiss over the worst of her wounds.

  “What are you doing?” Hailey said. She sounded breathless.

  “Kissing it to make it better.” He followed that by slowly making his way across her back to all her wounds and giving each the same attention. The last one was in the hollow at the base of her spine. From there, he trailed his mouth all the way up her back to her nape.

  She was panting now, the sound of her breaths loud in the silent room.

  Jeremy brushed the sides of her breasts with his thumbs and with his mouth against her skin said, “Are you hurt anywhere else?”

  Hailey nodded with enough eagerness to make him smile. “I hurt my neck,” she said, leaning her head to the side.

  “Oh, that could be serious.” He pressed an openmouthed kiss to the spot where her neck met her shoulder, then trailed his mouth and tongue up to her ear. “Anywhere else?” he whispered.

  She turned her head a little, then a little more, until their mouths were a breath apart. “I, uh…” Her tongue darted out to moisten her lips. “I bit my tongue when I hit the wall. It really hurts.”

  *

  It wasn’t that he reached forward. It was that Hailey leaned back. All the same, she felt his hands brush her breasts beneath the towel and her belly tightened, yearning for him to touch her lower. Yearning. She was yearning, for crying out loud.

  Jeremy didn’t kiss her as soon as she said it, as if he wanted to give her a chance to take it back. But when he did, it took her breath away. His lips brushed across hers, gentle but sure. He caught her lower lip, licked across it, nibbled and let it slip out from between his teeth. Then he was back, teasing her mouth open but she only felt the tip of his tongue across her teeth. Her entire body tensed and she held her breath for him to delve deeper. Clutching the towel with one hand and the back of the chair with the other, she waited.

  Another teasing lick, a gentle kiss, and then he pulled away. “That better?”

  “No.” She pouted. “I think it’ll need a lot more attention than that.”

  That must have been his cue because he pulled her flush against him and kissed her hard. No more measured seduction, no more taking it slow. Hailey tasted pure, unadulterated need and she loved it. She let go of the towel and brought her knee up, intending to turn around and face him but he wouldn’t let her.

  With one arm around her waist, he hoisted her up out of the chair then sat in it himself with her in his lap. His knees spread, taking hers along with them, and her back arched in response, pressing her harder against his erection. Hailey sucked in air, eager to feel him inside her. Jeremy hooked his ankles around hers to keep her in place. She was practically immobile from the waist down but Hailey could reach back, and she did, greedy hand searching, needing to touch him. She mussed his hair, scratched his neck and shoulder and with her free hand took one of his and brought it to her breast. She felt him groan and it elicited a sympathetic shiver from her as he filled his hands with her flesh, squeezing and caressing, brushing across her nipple just barely, making it pucker and strain for more thorough attention.

  Her mind flooded with images. Hailey had always considered herself a woman of the world. She’d never been the shy type, and she’d enjoyed her life to the fullest while it had still been normal. But what she now saw in her mind’s eye was beyond even her imaginings.

  In that place she knew couldn’t possibly be real, candlelight danced all around her, casting intricate shadows that moved. The shadows reached out to her, caressed her, brushed into her hair, leaving not an inch of her untouched. It was like her dream, except this time she knew exactly who was with her. Jeremy’s face took shape among those shadows. He smiled, then dipped his mouth to her skin, kissing and licking until she was out of breath, gasping his name.

  He was everywhere, all around her, the most solid thing in this world. His touch was ecstasy; his kiss beyond words. But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t touch him in return. Hailey’s hand slipped through him as if he were no more than mist. In return, his fingers found her clit and she nearly screamed at the exquisite touch. His mouth came down on hers, tongue teasing her lips apart, slipping between them. She matched him but tasted nothing but air.

  Jeremy made her feel amazing things while letting her touch nothing. She was at his mercy, completely possessed by his will, and his alone. She felt him searching through her thoughts like a warm caress. He zeroed in on what she needed, amplified it, intensified the craving, until she wanted to claw herself out of her skin.

  And then he gave her exactly what she needed, how she needed it, and more. God help her, she loved it.

  She was on fire. She was dizzy with want so intense she trembled. Everything he did to her here only satisfied her mind, while stoking her body’s craving into a frenzy of heat. He kept her on that razor’s edge, letting her come so close to an orgasm but holding it just out of reach. The illusion was just that but the mind believed what it wanted to. It was like a wet dream, only the reality matched it this time. Hailey was really there with Jeremy and his hands were really touching her, amping up the pitch to impossible heights.

  He pinched her nipple lightly in that shadowy place inside her mind, matched the action in the physical world and she cried out, arching into his hand. The shadows formed into a hand and it slid and slipped over her clit, down to her entrance, teasing back and forth … back and forth … stealing inside her and stroking so slowly, filling her just so much, but still not enough. Not nearly. He was tormenting her on purpose, compounding the illusion with physical touch, confusing her mind so that all she could do was feel.

  In and out—she moaned.

  Back and forth—she clutched the chair for balance as the world tipped around her.

  In and out while his mouth played at her breast.

  Back and forth while she went out of her head, straining ever closer.

  The sensations merged and melded until she couldn’t tell the difference between illusion and reality anymore. She felt Jeremy everywhere, stroking her, teasing her, building up to a single blinding moment of overwhelming pleasure. Finally, he allowed her to reach it.

  Hailey came so hard her back arched away from Jeremy and her claws dug into the chair. The illusion gave way in that moment and Hailey was back in the hotel, on Jeremy’s lap, with one of his hands still cupping her breast, and the other between her legs, on the outside of her pants, barely touching her sex.

  Jeremy stood with her. As soon as her feet touched the ground, she spun around and jumped him, hooking her legs around his waist and squeezing tight, relishing his groan of pleasure. He was hard against her. Hailey licked her lips, eager for a taste of him. Any taste. For now, she settled on his mouth. His step faltered and he paused to savor the kiss, letting her set the pace, then guiding her to his own rhythm.

  This one could match me, she’d thought when they’d met. Now she knew it for certain. It made her kiss that much harder, her touch that much more, feeling as if this was a game, a contest she had to win. Yet every time she thought she’d proved herself, Jeremy did something that undid her. His hand caressed up her spine to cup her nape, his finger brushed across it, and her kiss gentled, calmed. This wasn’t a fight, and he wasn’t about to compete with her.

  In that moment she felt so utterly vulnerable tears stung her eyes. Jeremy groaned and kissed her deeper, the hand at her nape dropping down to the curve of her ass and she was back, straining for more, urging him on until he moved again toward the bed
room. His shirt was all buttoned up and with every step he took she bounced and the fabric abraded her nipples.

  They were kissing like there was no tomorrow. Like they couldn’t live without their lips touching. Hailey didn’t want to break the contact even to take a breath. Finally standing by the bed, he set her down again so he could take his shirt off. He didn’t bother with the buttons, just ripped them off and discarded the now useless rag. Then he pulled her back against him, skin against skin this time, and just held her like that for entire seconds, without moving at all. Just feeling.

  *

  Nothing Jeremy had imagined could compare to the real thing. Hailey was molten heat, wrapped in silk and velvet. He’d watched her come. In her abandon, the faintest rosettes had bloomed along her skin, leopard markings there one second and gone the next. It was the most erotic thing Jeremy had ever seen and he couldn’t wait to see it again.

  He picked her up again and laid her back on the bed. She was writhing, eyes unfocused, a thing of beauty.

  Jeremy kissed his way down her throat to her breasts. It seemed like he’d been waiting forever to suckle these. She had the most beautiful breasts. Full and round, with perky, dark pink nipples, eager for his touch. He lavished each with attention, licked and sucked and nibbled until she was moaning so loud he thought the neighbors would complain.

  She was wearing linen pants. No zippers or buttons; just one tie. Easy to put on and oh so easy to slip back off. He tossed them over his shoulder and they floated down on top of his ruined shirt, creating a neat little pile. He’d be adding to it soon.

  But first…

  Ah, now this was a stunning sight. Auburn curls crowning God’s most amazing creation. Jeremy smoothed his hands over Hailey’s thighs, felt her muscles jump beneath his touch. He gently guided her mind fully back to him, directing her focus to the physical sensation of touch. He wanted her feeling everything he was about to do to her with fullest intensity.

  Hailey felt Jeremy’s touch and purred. He kissed her and her back arched off the bed. “Oh. My. God!” He kissed her like he’d kissed her mouth, licking up her elixir and coaxing more from her, and then he sucked her clit while he thrust his fingers into her. In. Out.

  Merciful heaven…

  In. Out.

  Oh, fuck…

  In. Out.

  She writhed against his mouth and Jeremy ground his hips into the mattress, licking in bliss.

  Hailey’s nails were claws, tearing the bedsheets. She was losing it, her skin erupting in leopard patterns she no longer could hold back. Beautiful. Wild and exotic; he couldn’t look away. She wore the markings as if they had always been a part of her. He thrust two fingers inside her, raising his head to watch her face when she came. He wasn’t sharing her mind now. If he felt her come again, he’d spill instantly. Just the feel of her squeezing his fingers still deep inside her eroded his iron will.

  Jeremy released her and rested his forehead on the crease where her thigh met her body. “I think I just found my new favorite hobby,” he said.

  Hailey laughed huskily. He relished the sound. Pressed a kiss to her sensitive abdomen, making her twitch. He couldn’t stop touching her. “Sounds like fun,” she said. “I think I’ll give it a try.”

  His cock shot impossibly even harder. She was already imagining it and Jeremy could feel it; her breath on his shaft, her hands squeezing the base, the heat of her mouth on the head. And—ah, Christ—her wicked, wicked tongue. He almost lost it before he even entered her. Hailey could bring him to his knees with just a thought. And this one was eager.

  He growled. Before she could even sit up to take charge, he was on all fours over her, pinning her in place. “Oh, no, you won’t. I plan for this to last a good long while.”

  “You know what they say about the best laid plans,” she teased, reaching for the waistband of his pants. Her feet were almost at the edge of the bed. If she got enough leverage she would slide down before he could stop her.

  With a pained noise ripped from his core, Jeremy caught her wandering hands. “Don’t worry, you’ll get laid plenty well,” he promised.

  Hailey heaved a dramatic sigh and let her arms fall wide of her body like a willing sacrifice. “Oh, fine. Have it your way. Main course before dessert.”

  “Your enthusiasm is overwhelming,” he said drily.

  Hailey raised her head. “Hey, I had plenty of enthusiasm. It got shut down.” And to demonstrate she gave him a thumbs-down and blew a raspberry.

  Jeremy chuckled. “Just shut up and kiss me.”

  *

  Now that she was more than willing to do. She threw her arms around his neck and locked her legs around his waist again. He had to either fall over her or rise up to sit on his heels. He went up. She could feel him hard and heavy through his pants and couldn’t stop herself from rubbing against him. Jeremy groaned into her mouth and caught her hips to make her be still.

  Hailey stopped, but only because she had to in order to get his zipper down and his cock free. She wanted it inside her. Now. They fought over who would do it, hands and fingers clashing, but ultimately Jeremy had the best access so she rose up to let him undo his own pants, then lowered back down, taking his cock in as deep as she could.

  He filled her completely and she wriggled her hips the slightest bit to savor the feel of him inside her. He broke the kiss and made her look him in the eye as his hands guided her hips up and down his length, again and again.

  Jeremy held her so tightly she could feel his heartbeat against her chest. It was as erratic as hers. His hands caressed her hips, her back, up to her shoulders, and down the center of her spine where she was sure that downy soft fur had sprouted down the center of her back. If anything, it seemed to excite him even more and he thrust up each time she came down on him.

  There were no more illusions. No manipulation or confusion. Looking into his eyes, Hailey felt to her core that this was real. And everything she felt was so sharp and poignant, no illusion could ever hope to surpass it. Here and now, with Jeremy looking at her as if she was the most amazing thing in the world and all his, Hailey glimpsed a little piece of heaven.

  Pleasure built and built inside her again and he sent her over the edge with one deep, lingering thrust. Hailey let her head fall back on her shoulders and felt the world spin when he leaned over her, laying them both back on the bed. Amid the ringing in her ears she thought she heard him shout her name.

  Jeremy pumped his hips again and groaned into her shoulder as he came too. She felt him spurt hotly inside her and too late remembered to worry about birth control. But only for a moment. This was as close to true happiness as she’d come since this whole mess had begun. She wasn’t about to let anything spoil it.

  He didn’t lower his weight fully on top of her. Instead he hooked her knee over his hip and rolled them to the side. “You know that new hobby I mentioned?”

  “Umhmm?” she purred.

  “I think I just found a new one.”

  Hailey chuckled. “Finally, something we have in common.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  It was raining outside. The romantic kind of rain that fell softly to the ground and sent lovers scurrying for cover under a tree. Except it was nighttime so it was more the kind that usually lulled people into the best sleep of their lives. Hailey listened to the gentle hiss and the tinkle where the rain dripped onto a metal awning over the windows. Her body was sated, her beast purred, and her mind drifted. Her eyes wanted to close, and still she couldn’t sleep.

  Wouldn’t let herself was more accurate.

  Jeremy was sleeping next to her, the sound of his breathing as hypnotic as the rain. He looked so peaceful. Everything around her was so tidy, and ordered, and … normal. It just didn’t fit.

  Hailey tried to insert herself into the scene, pretend for a moment that she was just a normal person falling asleep in her lover’s bed. It would be so easy to forget everything and just let go for a few hours. She was almost certain that
if she just closed her eyes she’d sleep through the night. Peacefully.

  But it simply didn’t fit.

  It wasn’t who she was anymore. Hailey was the failed experiment. She’d damaged herself, most likely beyond repair. Looking at this as anything resembling a lasting phenomenon was pointless. She would be dying soon. If she shifted, it would be even sooner.

  She’d known this for a long time. That she’d lasted this long was astonishing. Hailey wasn’t feeling sorry for herself. She’d known the risks going into this and she’d do it again even knowing what awaited her. That wasn’t the point.

  The point was…

  The point was that she’d dragged someone else into this, something Hailey had had no right to do. Jeremy wasn’t like her. He looked at the world through knowing eyes. Whatever he didn’t know, he made a point of learning. Whatever he was unfamiliar with, he studied. He left nothing up to chance and thus wasn’t the type of person to take a chance. He dealt with certainty. Hailey wasn’t even sure she knew what that word meant anymore.

  Oh, sure, he said he believed in people until they proved him wrong, but those were people who were part of his job. People he met on a job, socialized with for its duration, and then forgot about once the job was done.

  Hailey had glanced at his open wallet. Okay, fine, she’d snooped through his things and accidentally dropped his wallet so it would fall open. She’d seen pictures of a young girl; a pretty, doe-eyed redhead who resembled him. It had to be his sister. And from the looks of it, she was a big part of his life.

  Jeremy wouldn’t take a chance because it wasn’t just himself he had to think about. Anything he allowed into his life would affect his sister too. And so he wouldn’t risk taking a chance on Hailey unless he believed in her.

  Unless he believed she was safe, in every sense of the word.

  And that was one long, roundabout way of saying that Jeremy had slept with her because he believed this thing between them would be going somewhere. She’d bet her last penny that the phrase one-night stand or a condemned man’s last meal had never even entered his mind.