by Lisa Marie
His hand skimmed up her thigh as his tongue traced the tender curve of her bottom lip, dipping inside when she gasped. Her fingers buried in his hair, and she relished its silky texture even as the ache in her belly burst into a flame. When the tips of his fingers teased the waistband of her panties, her hips surged up in invitation and a moan slipped from her mouth to his. His answering grunt as her thighs fell open to grant him access was lost in their kiss, and his hand easily slid under the elastic to tangle in the damp curls covering her sex.
Intense pleasure stabbed through her when his fingers slid into her slick folds. “Oh, God,” Brie cried, ripping her lips away from his. His attention never left her face while he flicked his thumb over the sensitive bundle of nerves hidden there.
He watched as her eyes turned a deep, brilliant purple; didn’t so much as flinch when her fingers fisted in his hair. His breath caught and held as she writhed in his arms, a fine sheen of sweat breaking out on her skin as she raced towards her climax. He held on when she cried his name, the sound of it making his cock pulse, and her release flooded his hand. Her head was thrown back while hot, sexy little pants had her breasts rising and falling invitingly. He latched his lips onto a pert nipple, using his tongue and teeth to heighten her pleasure, and she mewled aloud.
Brie felt like the whole world stopped and there was no one in it but the two of them. She was still fluttering inside as he shifted, lowering her to the couch. It seemed she was floating on a bright sea of color and sound and all of them began and started with him.
“No,” she groaned when she felt Mark move away and the memory of what happened the last time flooded her brain. She was almost afraid to open her eyes and have this perfect moment destroyed because he was feeling scared, or guilty, or whatever it was that kept him at an arms distance from her. But open them she did. And what she saw made her suck in a ragged breath.
He stood in the place she had been a few seconds before, the moonlight playing along the hard lines of his body. His pants were gone, a forgotten pool of denim on the floor, a small, foil rectangle clutched loosely between his fingers. He ripped the packet open and pulled out the condom, his gaze never leaving hers. Her eyes widened when her gaze followed his movements to the evidence of his arousal. Long and thick, she felt a moment’s panic. His cock couldn’t possibly fit inside her. She nearly yelped when it jerked under her scrutiny. But then he was on top of her, settling between her thighs and kissing her into oblivion.
There was no way that Mark was going to last long. It seemed like he’d been waiting forever to sink himself into Brianne’s hot body and the mere thought of finally doing it had him balancing precariously on the edge. He groaned deep in his chest when her legs wrapped around his waist, bringing his shaft in direct contact with the slick heat of her center. His tongue slid over hers as he reached between their bodies and lined himself up at her opening. Finesse was not even a thought, and with a hard thrust of his hips he was inside her.
“Oh, fuck, Brie,” he gasped, wondering idly if this is what heaven would feel like. Mark barely registered her cry of pain as her body resisted then yielded to his invasion, her tight, wet, hot channel forming to him like a glove.
He somehow managed to keep himself from pounding into her like some teenager getting his first piece and held himself completely still. He didn’t raise his head from where he had buried it in her neck until he was sure that he was in control—if by no more than a tenuous thread.
He looked down at her pained face, hating that he had been the cause of it. Her eyes were squeezed shut and he could see the shine of tears clinging to her lashes. They fluttered open when he placed a kiss against the corner of one eye, his tongue gathering the saltiness from his lip.
Brie blinked rapidly to keep the fresh tears at his tender action from falling. She eagerly took comfort in his kiss when he brushed his lips across hers, once, then twice, before pinning her with his black gaze.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” he asked quietly. Thankfully, the only regret she could feel from him was that he’d hurt her.
“I-I don’t think I actually thought we’d get to this point,” she answered with a watery laugh.
Her heart skipped a beat when he flashed a grin at her. Then he lowered his head and captured her lips with his, gently coaxing hers into play. His hands skimmed over her skin, re-igniting the fire that had burned before his entry. Slowly, as her muscles melted beneath his touch, she started to relax around him, accepting him. An experimental thrust of her hips had him moaning deep in his throat and sent a sharp flare of pleasure shooting through her.
Her breath caught as her eyes rolled behind her eyelids and she thrust against him once more. This time, Mark met her, and a scream caught in her throat. It wasn’t painful. In fact, it was the exact opposite. Soon, they were moving together in a frenzy of motion, sighs escaping their mouths each time their hips came together.
Mark broke the kiss and pressed his lips against her throat, sucking hard on the tender skin as his control snapped. He felt the sharp cut of her nails in his back, heard the shrill exclamation of his name as she fell over the edge a split-second before him. Her own name crossed his lips as his shaft pulsed deeply inside of her, taking them both over the final edge into bliss.
Chapter Seventeen
To Brie it seemed like she was floating somewhere between awake and asleep, where everything was like a dream, but real at the same time. She snuggled closer to the warm body behind her, sighing when the strong arm banded around her tightened, making her feel safe. Unfortunately, in the next second, a sharp knock on the bedroom door broke her out of her dream-like state and the warmth behind her shifted and moved until it disappeared completely.
“Hold on,” Mark’s gruff, tired voice answered the second knock.
Brie popped one eye open to watch him as he pulled his jeans on. She almost pouted when half of his glorious body was hidden from her view, but the memory of the night before turned it into a contented smile. After the first time, Mark had swept her up in his arms and carried her into the bedroom. The things he had done to her had her face flaming even as her body thrummed with pleasure. He had shown her how to touch him, her inexperience exciting more than she had expected. Her face flamed hotter when she remembered the first time his dark head had dipped between her thighs. Her mortification had been quickly dispelled by the exquisite feel of his mouth on the most intimate part of her.
“What the hell do you want, Seth?” Mark asked, pulling open the door. He wanted nothing more than to climb back in bed and wrap himself around Brie for a few more hours. The last thing he wanted to do was look at the vampire/werewolf when he had a beautiful woman waiting for him. He glared at Seth and angled his body so that he couldn’t see in the room. Not that Seth didn’t already know what they were doing, what with his enhanced sense of smell and all. But he wanted to save Brie some embarrassment if he could.
“Someone is coming. You might want to get dressed,” Seth said with a smirk. He must have had some clothes in the spare room, because he was dressed in a pair of casual slacks and a long sleeved T-shirt.
“Thanks,” Mark replied, smirking himself. He now wished he had left the key to the padlock out of Seth’s reach. “Give us a minute.”
He closed the door without another word and turned back towards the bed. Brie had sat up, clutching the sheet demurely to her breasts, her hair a wild mass of auburn tangles around her head. His heart clenched at how beautiful she looked and his body hardened with the memory of how they had spent the wee hours of the morning. He knew he was right when he’d thought he could easily get addicted to her. “Seems we have company,” he said, his voice full of regret.
“Do you think it’s your friend and Eve?” Brie asked him, hope flaring in her eyes.
“Probably. Seth didn’t seem too concerned. And if anybody can smell trouble, he can.” Mark settled on the side of the bed, his eyes searching her face.
A sudden shyness overcame her and she
flashed him a quick smile before dropping her gaze. She looked up when his hand cupped her cheek, and she realized again how very handsome he was. Especially when he let his guard down.
Brie was so different than his preconceived notions of her and Sirens in general. He didn’t know what the others were like, but if they were anything like her, it was a wonder they had to use their voices at all.
“I was, ah, wondering, when this is all over, maybe you’d like to…” He trailed off, feeling foolish. What the hell would a woman like her want with a man like him? Even so, he couldn’t help the hope that welled in his heart.
“Yes, I would,” she answered quickly, blushing to the roots of her hair at how eager she sounded. She gave a nervous giggle and dropped her gaze again, not wanting to see how much of a fool he thought she was. Her heart skipped a beat when his lips closed over hers, his tongue sweeping inside to possess. He pulled back the sheet and touched her, memorizing the curves and dips of her body. His touch was gentle, slowly building the heat between them before he remembered that they had company.
“Good.” Mark pulled back, another one of his rare smiles curving his lips. “God, I wish we could just stay in bed. But…” he sighed, his face full of annoyance at their being interrupted, “—reality calls.”
“Yeah,” Brie agreed as he got up.
It only took them a few minutes to get dressed, then, hand in hand, they left the room. As they made their way into the living room, the first person she saw was a tall man with rich, dark hair talking to Seth. Whatever he was saying couldn’t be good, because both of them had grim looks on their faces.
“Hey, man, was starting to wonder when you’d show up,” Mark said, his voice warm.
Ash smiled, turning and walking toward them. To Brianne, the smile didn’t come close to reaching his eyes. “We would have been here sooner, but I wound up having to wait for them at the turn off … and they left before me.” Ash cast an annoyed glance over his shoulder, as he clasped Mark’s hand.
“We’re women. Bathrooms are important.”
At the familiar voice, Brie’s face brightened with a smile so wide Mark felt his breath catch in his throat. Ash moved and Brie saw her sister, looking tired and ragged in cotton shorts, a T-shirt and a pair of gardening clogs. But she was alive, it didn’t matter how she looked.
“Evie!”
“Brianne!”
The two women came together in a wild hug filled with giggles and squeals. The men stood back and watched with a bemused awe. Even Flora got in on the act, a happy smile beaming across her face and tears tracking down her cheeks.
“Man, I just don’t get women,” Mark said after the two broke apart to look at each other, their voices bordering on shrill as they shot questions at the other.
“From what I can tell, you got quite a bit,” Ash replied with an arched brow. Mark’s gaze shot to his, annoyance flashing across his features.
“Damn vampire noses,” he grumbled, scowling when Ash chuckled. He dug a cigarette out of his pocket and lighted it, taking a deep drag before asking the one question Ash didn’t want to hear. “Where’s Cy, checking the perimeter?”
It seemed to Mark that all conversation stopped and everybody except him and Brie tensed. Awkward looks were exchanged between Eve, Flora, Ash and Seth before Flora stepped forward, arms outstretched.
“Where’s Cy?” Mark took a step back from the woman who had been his mother for the last twelve years, eyes narrowed suspiciously.
“I’m so sorry, baby.”
The cigarette in Mark’s hand snapped in half at the anguish he heard in her voice. Denial sprang up at what her eyes, her very posture was telling him. His gaze flicked to Ash, but quickly skittered away at the grief written across the sharp planes of his friend’s face. He looked over at Seth who was stoic as usual, but he did see a flare of sympathy in the eyes staring back at him. From there, he turned his gaze to the sisters, hoping to find something there that would prove to him that they were all playing some horrible joke on him.
Eve was whispering softly to Brie, her sad eyes looking between Mark and her sister. But it wasn’t that which had the floor feeling like it was spiraling out from under him. It was Brianne’s vibrant violet eyes turning to him, tears making them shine, and the stricken expression on her face. Her chin trembled as she looked at him, and she stepped away from her sister.
“Mark.” His name, slipping so softly from her kiss bruised lips, felt like a knife slicing through what was left of his heart.
“No!”
Somehow, Ash didn’t see the punch Mark plowed into his jaw coming. Maybe it was because he had blinked to clear the haze out of his eyes. Or maybe it was because he felt, on some level, that the man had a right. Whatever it was, he didn’t swing back. Even as the next fist came flying at him, this time to land hard in his stomach. He heard the exclamations of the women somewhere at the far end of the tunnel that had become his hearing. But it didn’t matter. All he felt were the rain of punches on his flesh.
The pain in Mark’s heart seemed to radiate through his knuckles into Ash’s skin and he accepted it gladly. Anything he could do to take away the ache, he would. He took every hit without thought, shrugged off the pain until the next one came. He felt his back slam into something hard, but didn’t care. He was strong, he could take it. Would take it. Until Mark couldn’t out hit the truth.
“Mark, stop!” Flora screamed, taking a step forward, fully intent on making him stop. She didn’t see a full grown man beating on his best friend. She saw a boy, losing the last of his family and not wanting to let go.
Seth reached out and stopped her, his fingers like steel on her flesh. “I have to stop him,” she said desperately, flinching with each sickening thud of Mark’s fists on Ash’s body.
“Ash will stop him, when it is time,” Seth said sagely, turning away from the ragged grief written all over the man’s body.
Brie and Eve watched in stunned silence at the violence playing out in front of them. Brie’s heart was breaking for Mark, despite the nausea that rolled through her with each punch. Ash just stood and took it, his acquiescence at being beaten making Eve’s blood simmer. The only things that kept her from jumping on Mark’s back were the hot tears tracking down his face. She surged forward, however, when Ash finally lost his footing and fell to the floor. Mark was on top of him in a second, his long fingered hands fisting in the front of his friend’s shirt. He hauled him up until Ash was within an inch from his face, black eyes boring into his.
“Where. Were. You? Why … didn’t you … protect him?” Mark’s face was twisted with raw pain, his cheeks soaked with tears. He was blind to the bruises he put on his friend’s face. Deaf to the desperate pleas of Flora to stop. Oblivious to Eve’s insistent fingers on his shoulder. A pain he hadn’t felt since the day his parents were killed, lanced through him with white hot intensity, making him want to lash out. To hurt something as much as he was hurting. To find something to blame and kill it. Unfortunately for Ash, he was the target.
“Why?!” He shook the vampire who was now limp in his hands, squeezing his shirt until it ripped from the stress. He caught a glimpse of the skin underneath and suddenly let go. The shirt fell open to reveal Ash’s chest and stomach and, more importantly, the healed over wounds marring the surface. He stood rapidly, staring down at the scars, confusion worming its way through his rage.
“See that? Do you see that?” Eve shouted, pushing Mark’s arm. “He’s been busy getting himself tortured and filleted and starved for the last couple of days. You wanna blame someone for Cyrus’ death? Blame Sebastian. That’s where it belongs.”
Mark’s chest was heaving, both from guilt and grief. There was no way he could apologize. Not with all this violence playing under his skin, needing to find a way out. He looked around the room, noted the stunned, sympathy filled faces of his friends, and wanted to scream. When his gaze landed on Brie, the first wave of real sorrow crashed over him. An inhuman sound exploded f
rom his throat and he stumbled towards the door and outside, away from them.
Brie watched him go, torn between her need to comfort and his need to work it out on his own.
“Ash, are you okay?” Eve kneeled down next to the vampire, who seemed to be staring off into space.
“Yeah. He hits like a girl. Ow!” He glared up at Eve when she punched him in the arm, but accepted her hand when she reached down.
“Then why didn’t you hit him back?” she grumbled, eyeing the bruises blooming around his eyes and the trickle of blood leaking from his nose. Yeah, sure. Hits like a girl. Maybe one that’s packing some brass knuckles, she thought, scowling.
“He needed to do that. I can take it,” he answered with a shrug, stifling a chuckle at her huff.
“Men!” Eve shook her head in disgust.
“I’m sorry, honey. This must be confusing for you. I’m Flora.” Flora took a step toward Brie and held out a hand. She had watched Mark leave, wanting desperately to follow him. She hadn’t because she knew it wouldn’t be appreciated. And then there was something about the way he’d looked at this girl before he stormed out, like he was begging her to save him. The way she was looking after him when he barged out the door made it clear that she wanted to try.
When those unusual eyes darted to her, Flora couldn’t help but gasp. The picture she had found had done no justice to them. What the girl was suddenly seemed to be as clear as day and Flora found herself wondering if maybe Mark’s silent plea was more from a spell cast by a Siren than burgeoning feelings for a woman.
“I’m Brie,” she answered, turning away from the accusation in the older woman’s eyes. She had no idea what brought it on, but she didn’t want to deal with it. She turned toward her sister and watched as Eve hovered over the vampire, the concern and caring she felt evident in the way she touched him. Somehow, he had become very important to Eve, and Brie found that she could still feel happiness for her sister, despite her near desperate want to get outside to Mark.