Her hands skimmed fast and hot over his muscular chest in search of pure carnal sensation. They traced each rib before rounding to his back as she pressed her mouth hungrily to his. Her kiss was fierce, demanding. She ran her hands down the musculature of his flank.
Nicholai responded to her aggression as if his gentleness and good intentions were pushed aside by tumultuous desire. His large hands cupped her hips, settling her with him down onto the bed. He drew her under his body. The evidence of his arousal lay hard between them. Her legs spread to accommodate his hips, and they settled home in a tight fit.
His hand traveled upward, curling into her waist before sliding along her ribs. Only his thumbs breached the underside of her breasts before he took their weight in both hands. The heat of a thousand balls of fire rushed through her blood. Her nipples puckered hard against his palms. He lowered his head, kneading one breast while he took the other in his mouth, suckling through the soft fabric of her nightgown.
She arched into his mouth, moaning with need. Her hands fisted in his soft hair and held him against her bosom. His hair was the only soft thing about him. The rest of him? Pure marble, hard and firm, all stony sinew and muscle.
He left a trail of kisses up her body until his tongue rested over the pulse in her throat. It swirled lazily over the throbbing vein before he kissed the delicate spot and continued kissing a path.
She turned her head, needing his lips. His skillful kiss made his tongue dance with hers again and again until it set her ablaze from head to toe.
She needed this. The fire. The wildness. She needed to be lost in the physicality, to be consumed. Needed Nicholai invading every pore, flooding her system with sensations until they consumed her.
She knew this man and the desires he brought out in her were risky. He had the potential to take her heart, make her love again. She’d known it from the first time she’d put herself into his dreamy hands. Dogged hands that now slid down her body with ferocious intent.
His fingers bit into her waist as he jerked her farther up between the bed and his body. Instantly, his lips blazed a trail back down toward her breast as his hands pushed the gown up her sensitive body. The silk glided along her skin like a thousand vibrating fingers. She held her arms above her head, allowed the nightgown’s easy withdrawal. Nicholai wrapped her wrists with the material, then covered her hands with one of his, trapping her hands above her head.
For once in her life, all those real or imaginary imperfections that had previously come to mind when she’d been naked didn’t matter. The only thing that mattered in this moment was him.
His thumb stroked across one nipple while his lips continued down the valley between her breasts. A whirlwind of emotions welled up in her. She flung her head from side to side. Julie’s hips rose and bucked against his shaft in wanton invitation. An invitation made louder when the heat of her core slid against the length of him.
She didn’t know how she had lived without him, his hands on her body, his body pressing against hers. She had to have him. Now!
She pulled at the hand holding her captive, wanting freedom to do as she pleased.
Nicholai obliged, releasing her. Juliette brought both hands to the wall of his chest and pushed him off. He rolled over, allowed her the control she sought.
She stripped him of his boxer shorts in one aggressive move, so she could straddle his hips unbridled. Her wet core rested on his thick maleness. Julie studied him lying beneath her. His smooth skin, soft beneath her hand, warmed against her body. His masculine scent, his very essence surrounded her, filled her senses.
She lowered her lips to his neck. Her tongue ran along his pulse, and his heart skipped a beat.
“I’ve longed for this, Juliette.” Nicholai’s voice sounded thick and gravelly, like it was all he could do to hold himself still and allow her to take the lead.
Julie kissed down his body, mimicking the trail he had forged along hers. She traveled between his pectorals and kissed each one of his six abdominal muscles. When she found the curly hairs that nestled his shaft, her tongue flicked out and touched the tip as her fingers closed around its width. It jerked in her hand, making her smile before she took him into her warm, moist mouth. Her tongue swirled around him while she slowly pulled him in and out of her lips. As she continued her torturous assault, his hands fisted in the sheets. She reveled in the power it gave her over him.
Chapter 31
She would kill him, he knew it. The warmth of her mouth around him, taking all of him within was a sensual tease. If her mouth felt this amazing, how much better would it be when he sank into her feminine core? The thought made him want to spill his seed.
Nicholai caught her head in his hands and dragged her up to his mouth before he lost control. He needed the flavor of her on his tongue and lips. Their kiss blazed with their combined passion. It sent a burning heat throughout his blood that pooled down deep.
When she slid her fiery core along his length, Nicholai gasped at the hot wetness coating him. He grabbed her hips, torn between urging her to stop and urging her to continue her unbearable movements. Her touch, like an inferno, exploded over the entire surface of his skin.
“Don’t stop,” she demanded as if she had read his warring thoughts.
He let go of one hip and positioned himself at her entrance. With one sure stroke, he slid home, diving deep within her.
Julie arched back, pushed against his chest. A sexy moan escaped her delicate throat.
He lost himself to being inside her. Moving, throbbing, tightening around his length. She wasn’t bashful or tentative as he had expected.
She rode him hard as if she were trying to pound something back into the recesses of her mind. The realization made him push into her thoughts to glean what drove her. Fervent need clutched her, vicious and wild.
Nicholai watched his heartmate trap her lower lip between her teeth in singular concentration. He felt her orgasm build quickly. It raced through her blood. Her mind clouded with wanton lust. An appreciative growl pushed from his lips when a climax took her.
Juliette threw her head back and screamed her release. Her velvet folds milked him as she continued the hard ride. With her body still rippling, she leaned down as if to take his lips in a kiss. She licked his lower lip with a slow sensual stroke. Their eyes locked. Stark hunger flooded her eyes just before she captured his lips in a bruising kiss that lasted an eternity.
Desperate for air, Nicholai broke from their kiss. His hands brushed her hair away from her face, then he cupped her cheeks between his hands.
“You feel so damn good,” he growled and flipped their entwined bodies over. A subtle tremble vibrated through her body.
He braced his weight on one hand, and his opposite hand found its way down to her most sensitive spot. His finger rubbed small circles over the tiny nub in time to his powerful thrusts. He pistoned in and out of her slick folds with increasing speed, going as deep as possible.
“Come for me,” he commanded.
Again she arched her back and let the orgasm take her. The sight sent a rush of lust through him, tightening his balls.
Julie looked into his eyes. Still in her mind, he understood the look that crossed her face. She’d noticed his eyes had darkened with his passion for her. Saw the need on his face and reveled at how easily she riled his senses. She liked having the power to do that to him.
Julie matched his hunger with an equal appetite of her own. As aggressively as he took her, as brutal as his talent to give her pleasure was, he didn’t hurt her. She slid sinuously on the sheets with every delicious thrust into her body. She met each push with a rise of her hips, encouraging him deeper until Nicholai feared she might faint from the pleasure.
Her breaths became shallow and quick, and Nicholai instantly realized her yearning for him was the cause. She wanted him fiercely. She had need that only he was relentless enough to fill.
He drove into her, building her next peak. The more ruthless his pace,
the higher she went. And she gave as good as she got. Her touch seemed to be everywhere, nails digging deep into his flesh, setting him off until ecstasy blinded them both.
A dark, predatory noise rasped from Nicholai’s throat when she reached the precipice once more. She grabbed his shoulders, dragging him down against her exquisite breasts to capture his lips. The slickness of her sweat-drenched body on his made his surges become frenzied.
Breaking their kiss, he lowered his mouth to the soft spot where her neck met her shoulder. The rush of her blood called to him. He had to taste her. His inner beast demanded a full mating. Still buried in her mind, he ensured she experienced only a small prick when his fangs pierced her delicate skin. Her body tightened with the burst of lust that coursed through her veins.
Juliette’s blood, laced with her arousal, tasted tangy and spicy as it flowed down his throat. Her liquid essence flooded his veins, fed his cells. The lascivious combination of her fluids surrounded him inside and out, drove him over the edge.
She appeared completely senseless by the time he succumbed to the explosion of his release. As his liquid fire poured into her, she fell apart. Her body jerked with spasms of pleasure, and she soared to heaven with him. They lay joined while she clenched around him in the aftermath.
He enjoyed her soft curves under the muscular plains of his body. They blended together perfectly. It would be fine with him if they stayed locked together like this for eternity, in the afterglow of their love making.
Juliette ran her hands lightly up and down his back. Each time her fingers lighted over his last rib on the left side, the muscle twitched and he jerked to the side.
“Ticklish?” she asked, running her fingers over the spot.
“Yes.” He pushed up onto his forearms. “You better stop that, lastochka, or I’ll have to retaliate.”
Julie giggled. “Oh, yeah? Good luck with that.” Mischief gleamed in her eyes as she touched the ticklish spot once more.
Nicholai pushed off, separating their bodies. “That sounded like a challenge.”
And he never backed away from a challenge.
He ran his hands over the usual tickle spots on her body. His hand roamed between her waist, hips, thighs, and knees trying to find a place that would send her into a fit of giggles. His efforts were finally rewarded when he found the bottom of her feet.
Nicholai drew back onto his knees and grabbed one foot in a sure grip. With his other hand, he tickled her foot unmercifully. Julie screamed and twisted on the bed, thrashing back and forth in a futile effort to escape. She laughed so hard tears formed in her eyes.
“Uncle,” she gasped between giggles. “Please… stop.”
He loved her laugh. She didn’t do it nearly enough. He wanted to bring joy into her life. She certainly deserved it. He reluctantly released her and lay down beside her on the bed while she struggled to catch her breath.
He found the sheet and comforter in a discarded pile at the foot of the bed and pulled them over their bodies. Juliette stretched gingerly.
The smile faded from Julie’s face, and Nicholai instantly realized why. It had been years since her husband had touched her last. When thoughts of her dead husband once again pushed to the forefront of her mind, grief and remorse showed their ugly face. Guilt stabbed at her. Tears spilled from her eyes, running down her flushed cheeks to the pillow as she stared up at the plastered ceiling above.
Self-reproach tore at her heart. She believed she’d betrayed her husband, betrayed his memory and their love by sleeping with another man.
Julie’s mind replayed their time together. The sex had been hard and fast. Demanding.
Exactly what you needed, lastochka. And we did not have sex, Nicholai corrected, we made love.
He purposely sent the thoughts to her along their most intimate form of communication, their mindlink. He pushed a loving warmth into her mind, trying to soothe her thoughts as he scooped her into his arms and held her to his chest in a loving embrace.
“I’m sorry,” she squeaked out, her voice hard from contrition. “I don’t know why I’m such a mess tonight. I can’t seem to stop crying.”
Shhhh, he conveyed, again intentionally using their most intimate means of communication. Please do not cry, not for what we did tonight. It was a beautiful way for us to show our love to each other, to get closer, more intimate, a way for us to know each other on a deeper level.
It was what you needed. What you wanted. And you should not feel guilty or sad for that.
He knew she loved her husband and though it broke his heart to admit it, he understood where her thoughts came from. However, she had needed him, wanted him. Being a shadow in her mind, he knew she cared for him and loved him, but she couldn’t yet admit it to herself because she believed it would disrespect her marriage.
Every time I touch you, you can tell how much I love you. I am very much in love with you. You have a big heart, he continued, placing his hand atop the beating organ. There is enough room in there for both the memory of your first husband and me.
Please let me in. We can have a beautiful life together. All I ask of you is that you allow yourself permission to feel.
I love you so much. Please, he pleaded, let yourself love me back.
Nicholai’s arms drew her tightly against his chest when the sobs shook her body. She laid her cheek over his heart. The steady beat played a slow rhythm that her own heart began to follow.
“Please, I just need time,” she whispered in a breathy voice so low that had he not had preternatural hearing, he would not have heard the admission.
I can give you time. Time is the one thing we have an abundance of, lastochka. I will give you anything you need.
He gently cupped the back of her head in one large hand and rested his cheek on top of her soft locks. Nicholai took a deep breath, drawing in her lilac scent combined with the jasmine of her shampoo. Heaven. She smelled like heaven.
All he wanted was to be loved by her, for her to allow herself to love him. It wouldn’t be easy. He knew that the love between heartmates could not compare to the love she had experienced with another human, for the connection between heartmates was much deeper. But both heartmates needed to foster the connection, and he sensed she wasn’t yet ready to give herself to him fully. Although it pained him to do so, he resigned himself to wait until she was ready to accept the precious gift of his love.
Nicholai ran his fingers through her tangled hair, trying to sooth her needless worries. If you give me the chance, I promise I will love you forever. Cherish you, protect you. You are my heart and soul. Give me the chance to be those things for you, you will not regret it. You deserve all I can give you and more. Give us a chance.
Fear gripped his heart, and the beat stuttered. What if she would not allow herself to love him? What if she didn’t see their intimate act for what it was, making love, not just hot sex? What if she never acknowledged her true feelings for him? She wanted him, needed him, loved him, for a heartmate could do no other, but until she faced those emotions, he feared she would lock herself away from him. Would put everything on hold, their life, their love.
“Do you not think you deserve love? Someone who will fight for you, protect and love you. Let me love you. I have entrusted you with my heart, Juliette. Hold it safely in your keeping. Do not let it break, my love. You are the light to my darkness. Please let the light of your love shine brightly upon me, let it warm my heart and my soul.”
When she didn’t respond, he continued, “Each moment we are together, our love for each other grows. You love me, lastochka. You might not be ready to admit it to yourself yet, but I am in your mind and there is no doubt.”
The deep timbre of his voice reverberated through his chest against her ear. Julie’s eyes widened as if she suddenly realized she heard his voice aloud for the first time in many long minutes and the phrase, “I am in your mind” penetrated her self-deprecating thoughts.
She pushed away from his chest and gaped
at him with trepidation. “What in the world? You just spoke.”
“I’ve been speaking all night in one way or another,” he said, the innuendo clear as his thumbs brushed away the last of her tears.
“No. I mean…What did you mean by ‘I am in your mind’?”
Nicholai gave an insouciant shrug. “My sexual prowess is not my only gift.” A wry grin spread across his face, bringing an answering smile to Julie’s beautiful face.
“But how is that possible? I heard you as clearly as if you had been speaking aloud.”
Nicholai pulled her down beside him and gathered her into his steel embrace before answering her. “Speaking to you mind to mind is simply a skill, like any other. You can do it too. The more you practice, it the easier it will become.”
“I can’t do that.” Juliette shook her head back and forth.
“Yes, you can. You can do much more than you think yourself capable of. Try.”
He pulled from her mind, so he would know if she used their mindlink to speak.
After a few seconds of silence, she said, “See, you didn’t hear me, did you?”
“It takes practice. Try again for me.”
More silence. Julie blew out a raspberry. “I can’t do this.”
Nicholai rubbed her back with small, soothing circles. Yes, you can. Try again. Listen to my thoughts. Follow them back to my mind.
Julie closed her eyes and concentrated hard. Nicholai, this will never work.
Yes, it did, his deep voice came back to her. Juliette’s eyes shot open, wide with incredulity.
“You heard me say that?”
Of course, lastochka.
“Let me try again,” she gushed enthusiastically. I am so excited I won’t be able to sleep tonight. I want to stay up all night talking like this, she sent to him, testing their mental connection.
Nicholai chuckled. While I would love to hold you all night talking, I’m afraid I can’t let you do that. You are extremely tired. You need to rest.
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