Seared [Pain & Love 1] (BookStrand Publishing Romance)

by Ashlei D. Hawley

  Tyler was painfully still, trying to keep composure and at the same time wondering if his mate was driving herself as insane as she was driving him. Reyna pressed against his knees, urging him to open his legs wider so that she could kneel between them. He stayed in that almost perplexed crouch, now slightly off balance, and she let her tongue run gently over his shaft from behind.

  The gesture was shocking to Tyler and he moved unintentionally—a light, surprised spasm. Reyna ran her tongue up and down his length, paying attention to the sensitive flesh as she had all the decorated skin along his spine. She lightly set her teeth into the most delicate of his parts and pulled the skin taut. Using her tongue to roll him over and around in her mouth, Reyna played with Tyler until a fine shivering was evident in his painfully still body.

  Reyna stopped her ravishment momentarily and wrapped her arms around Tyler’s waist, pulling him to his knees. She slid along his body, making sure that her every available inch of skin was pressed against his. His markings seemed to burn against her and the warmth beat inward, feeling delicious and decadent. She ran both of her hands first down his cheek, and then to his neck, his chest, and ever downward until she was able take him around his base and squeeze gently. He breathed and the shiver that had been in his limbs revealed itself in the rush of air that left his lips.

  Bringing Reyna around to the front of him, Tyler simply breathed against her neck and let his mouth glide over her jawline. The gentleness that had been an unexpected addition to the ferocity their interlude had begun with was intoxicating to both of them.

  Reyna dropped to the floor, catching herself easily, and pressed herself unabashedly against him. He was so firm, so ready. Without hesitation or fear, he knew that she was as well. He drove himself into her, relieving the urgency they both felt. Though simply touching him, being skin to skin with him had readied her body and made her wet for his entrance, there was still unavoidable pain when he pushed himself inside of her. It was heavy, thick, magnificent pain that filled her with more passion than discomfort. She groaned against him and felt electricity hopping from one nerve ending to the next, from the tips of her toes to the roots of her hair. He was big enough to where it was almost too much, to where she almost wanted to say, “Stop, no,” but those two words in that context would never apply to him again.

  Tyler drew himself out of his mate in a motion so slow it was delicious and torturous for them both. He rubbed the tip of his shaft over her hot, wet sex and then drove himself inside of her once more. He belonged with her, wedded to her flesh as he was to her mind and soul. When he fell into a deep, pounding, thrusting rhythm, the sound of flesh slamming into flesh and the feel of himself, full, ripe, perfect inside of the only woman he had ever been meant for was all that filled his mind.

  Tyler pulled Reyna up against his chest and cradled her there when she came close, so close that she was near to stumbling over the edge of that blissful oblivion. He pressed his palms against the sides of her breasts, rising and falling in a fluttering, frantic pace and massaged his way down her waist and hips. She wanted to beg him to continue, but Tyler drew himself fully out of her and let his hands take the place of his exquisite fullness. Reyna panted against him as he stroked his fingers over the hot, dripping flesh. He was nestled against the curve of her ass and she arched her back, rolling her muscles so that she undulated against that sweet hardness. His little cat, he thought. His hot little cat.

  Tyler held Reyna still with one arm and tortured her with his free hand, kneading the terribly responsive folds of aching flesh. When he rubbed his fingers against her clit, she struggled and writhed desperately against him. He was stronger than she’d known, and that strength excited her. She twisted with more force, trying to break free of his hold but Tyler once again proved his physical supremacy by bending her back over and pushing himself back inside of her.

  Tyler kept his hand where it was, playing over his mate’s sensitive, yearning core. When he began to rock against her once more, thrusting in and out in a furious rhythm, his fingers followed. The pain and pleasure line blurred for Reyna. Everything ached and at the same time felt blissfully whole and filled. She screamed and raked her nails down Tyler’s thighs, drawing blood and a curse from him. His cat had claws, and he felt a delicious satisfaction from making her use them.

  Reyna’s hands convulsed around Tyler’s thighs as he pushed his pace faster and his thrusts harder. She dug her nails into his skin and panted around several wordless exclamations of pure pleasure. She was matching his pace, meeting him thrust for thrust when the orgasm crashed through her. A preliminary wave of exhaustion hit, but he didn’t stop. There was no pause, no chance for recuperation. Though it seemed impossible, Tyler increased the speed of his plunging in and out of her and he fisted his hand, rubbing his knuckles over her most delicate parts, made many times more so because of the climax. Reyna cried out and thrashed against him, but he held her, keeping control until it was impossible to do so.

  Tyler pounded himself into his mate once more before he came and it was so hot, such a scalding, liquid heat. The wave of warmth poured through Reyna’s body, dragging itself from her lips in a scream of confused bliss. She didn’t quite know whether she was in pain or the greatest ecstasy she’d ever known.

  Tyler whispered words Reyna couldn’t hear against her hair and stroked his hands over her breasts and stomach, making her jerk against him, which in turn caused him to squeeze his eyes shut and spasm as well. It felt to Reyna that she was near to hyperventilating and she found she loved it.

  “We have to do that again,” Reyna declared breathlessly. Tyler collapsed against the couch and pulled her into his lap, breathing hard as well. Though the blanket had offered some cushion, their foray on the floor had been trying on their bodies. Reyna felt little pinpricks of pain in her knees and a delightful exhaustion in her thighs. She loved each and every feeling.

  “Give me a few minutes and we’ll take a shower,” Tyler offered as his breathing returned to normal. Reyna nuzzled his neck and just reveled in the feel of his skin on hers. She’d been fighting this? Madness.

  “No, not the shower,” she purred as she rubbed her jaw against his. Tyler smoothed her tangled hair with his fingers and smiled at her.

  “What did you have in mind?” he asked. Reyna gestured to the sliding glass door and he shook his head.

  “Oh, no, not outside,” he objected with a little laugh. “It must be forty degrees out there. We’ll catch pneumonia.” Reyna grinned and pulled him to his feet. He only stumbled a little.

  “If you get sick, I’ll make sure to work it out of you,” Reyna promised in a playful tone. “And if you die, well, you’ve lived a long time anyway, right? At least it’d be for a good cause.” She laughed at that, and he loved the sound.

  Tyler was in awe of it—of everything she was doing and allowing. This woman was no longer a stranger to him. She glowed with the passion, warmth, and light that had kept him in love with her for centuries.

  Reyna pressed the lines of their bodies close together and pulled open the door to the back patio. The rain lashed against her, drenching the right side of her body before she even stepped out into the waiting arms of the night.

  “No, we can’t do this,” Tyler protested in a more serious tone.

  “Well, if we can’t do this, I’m boycotting doing any more of that until further notice,” Reyna teased as she gestured meaningfully to the room they had just left. Tyler shook his head but couldn’t help the grin that graced his mouth as Reyna sat seductively on one of the two white plastic lawn chairs that were the only pieces of furniture on the patio. He laughed when she shivered and admitted, “It is kind of cold, though.”

  Unable to deny her anything now that she had finally stopped denying him, Tyler stood Reyna up and said, “I want to sit. You can be in my lap.” He would make it quick and try to spare her from what of the cold he could, he thought to himself. Then he would get her back inside and warm again so she wouldn�
��t suffer any ill effects. It was what he told himself, but he knew as he drank in the sight of her standing gloriously naked in the night rain that he was her slave. They would do what she wanted, when she wanted for as long as he wanted. He hoped she was unaware of her power over him as she moved toward him with a humorous smile on that amazing mouth of hers.

  Reyna’s hair was heavy against her back, soaked through with rainwater, and Tyler’s gaze was intensely focused on her face. Heat surged through her body, banishing the slight chill that the rain had carried into her skin. Tyler traced her curves with his eyes and gestured her over.

  “Just sit?” Reyna teased in a sultry voice. Tyler shrugged, feigning his indifference as Reyna slipped her legs through the arms of the chair and straddled him. He was soft due to earlier exertion and because the night was fairly cool, but it didn’t take much to get him hard again. Even though she was in control this time, Reyna wanted to take it as fast and rough as she could.

  “Put your arms here,” Reyna commanded as she placed them on the armrests for him. She put her hands over his wrists and balanced herself on them so that all of her weight was used to secure him to the chair. “Now hold still,” she murmured.

  Reyna removed her right hand momentarily from Tyler’s in order to guide him into her. The angle was sharper—almost painful—but she wanted to extract the most feeling from it that she could. After she had him inside her, Reyna replaced her hand on top of Tyler’s and began a slow, easy rhythm that would simultaneously allow both of them the time to regain some energy and stoke the furious liquid fire that was churning within them. She upped the speed and leaned into him, just breathing along his skin. Tyler shuddered against his mate, more susceptible now to every touch, every movement, everything. The rain on Reyna’s skin felt like ten million caressing fingertips and the thunder that boomed around them sent shockwaves of power through her body. They were in the eye of the storm, or they were the eye of the storm. Either way, they were flooded with a heat that allowed them to ignore the mild chill of the stormy summer night.

  When Reyna came close again, she pressed herself bodily against Tyler. Rain water was slick between her breasts and dripped down her face and into her lips as she melded her mouth to Tyler’s. Lightning crackled around them and she couldn’t tell if it was the blinding shock of electricity or the rhythm of their bodies, but she was suddenly full, of passion, of energy, of power. It spilled over, through her, into him, and brought them both on the end of a cry lost to the howling wind and booming thunder.

  Reyna slumped against Tyler, her mate, her lover from another world. She was panting against his neck and just trying to relearn how to live on her normal level of existence. Then, she laughed.

  “What are you laughing about?” Tyler asked softly, but he was chuckling as well—in that deeply pleased masculine way that seemed to say, “I know I did a good job.”

  “Madness,” Reyna whispered. “It’s all just madness.” Even with the wind battering her skin and the rain soaking her to her bones, Reyna somehow slipped into a dreamless sleep, content to know that Tyler’s warmth was ever by her side.

  Chapter Ten

  Reyna slept deeply, and she dreamed vividly. She knew as she walked along a vast, unfamiliar ocean that she was dreaming, and that was unusual for her. She couldn’t remember ever having had a lucid dream before.

  She was alone and she didn’t like the feeling. Most of the parts of her brain that she thought with on a regular basis told her that it was because she’d opened herself to Tyler. She’d given into the bond they shared and somehow, she’d granted access for pain and destruction to come to her. She tried to push the thought away, because she knew that if she allowed them to root and bloom, the fruit would be bitter and would send her back into the cold abyss of solitude. She didn’t want to be alone anymore.

  The ocean churned and the sand beneath her feet became cold. The further she walked, the more dead driftwood she stumbled over, the more shards of broken shells poked and pierced her bare feet. She stopped moving forward and turned back the way she’d come from. The beach seemed calmer back that way. The waves were less choppy and the sun was even shining. Where she was, clouds swept into the sky and banished the light.

  “Is this his world?” Reyna wondered aloud. “Or is it mine? What is this supposed to mean?”

  She’d never been lacking in determination, so Reyna pressed on. She watched her footing but it wasn’t enough. Soon she left bloody footprints that congealed with the dark sand.

  “He’s keeping secrets,” a voice murmured against her cheek. She felt the brush of air that accompanied the words, but knew there was no mouth near her skin for the breath to have issued from.

  “Secrets that would make you hate him once again,” a second voice predicted in a soft yet malevolent tone. “Secrets about…Judith.”

  Reyna frowned and turned to look once more at the stretch of beach behind her. The sunshine was far off, and thirty- and forty-foot swells began forming and dueling against each other all along the coast. Reyna hoped the fearsome waves wouldn’t come and sweep her off of the shore.

  Reyna felt drained of her bitterness and desire to keep herself isolated. It seemed those feelings of hate and pain manifested in the violence of the ocean. She tried to calm it with the newfound peace she’d allowed herself, but the waves danced and dueled as furiously as ever. It convinced Reyna this was not her world, not her dream. She felt eerily certain that someone was feeding it to her.

  “I’m letting go of that,” Reyna said as she gestured to the roiling water. “I’m done with it.”

  Laughter came from all around. The waves, the sand and the sky seemed full of the taunting sound. As the dream began to fracture and fade, Reyna heard a final voice whispering, “If you’re so convinced you can let it go, ask him yourself…”

  The next thing Reyna knew, she was awake in darkness. She felt the weight and warmth of Tyler against her and momentarily reveled in his arm around her waist and breath that ruffled her hair. He was deeply in slumber and she hated to disturb him, but Reyna shook him awake after merely a moment of consideration.

  Tyler mumbled sleepily and swatted at Reyna’s hand, which made her laugh a little bit. She shook him harder and his eyes popped open.

  “What is it?” he asked in a confused voice. “What’s wrong? Have they found us?” Instantly on alert for a possible threat, he rolled over to get out of the bed quickly and went too far. Reyna winced as she heard him hit the floor and groan.

  “Nothing’s wrong,” Reyna assured him as she peeked over the side of the bed to smile at him. “I…um, the rain stopped,” she informed him lamely. “And I was up so I thought…maybe we could go for a walk?”

  Tyler arched one brow quizzically at his mate and chanced a look at the digital clock on the bedside table. It read 4:08 a.m.

  “You want to walk…now?” he asked. Reyna smirked at him and bounced out of the bed. The healing had done more good for her than Tyler could have guessed possible.

  “What, champ, did I wear you out?” Reyna teased as she looked around, expression stumped.

  “In the closet, bag of clothes,” Tyler told her, assuming what she was looking for. He stood in time to see the bright smile Reyna sent his way. She opened the closet and found the bag that Mallory had brought for her and found a light yellow summer dress, a gauzy white overshirt, two V-necks in purple and green, and two pairs of black exercise pants, size medium. There was also a note and Reyna found herself admiring Mallory’s handwriting, which had as much of a quirky personality as she did.

  ‘Reyna,’ Mallory had written. ‘We seemed near the same size so I guessed at your clothes. Gave you a little extra in the bra department because you’ve got some on me. You don’t seem the dress-wearing type, but you didn’t get to pick, did you? See you tomorrow, girlie.’

  Reyna was vaguely irritated by the note, but the irritation was accompanied by enough amusement that she wasn’t too perturbed. She pulled out a p
air of the pants, a bra and underwear, and the green V-neck. Mallory had forgotten socks, but Reyna could deal without them for the walk and get some in the morning.

  Tyler dressed more slowly than his mate did. She was already by the door waiting for him when he finally dragged himself out of the bedroom. Looking at her invigorated him, though he wished desperately for coffee.

  Reyna opened the front door and ushered Tyler out. Tyler grabbed the single key on the way out and made sure the door was locked before they made their way to the sidewalk. There were copious amounts of puddles, and rainwater dripped steadily from the limbs of the trees that lined the walkway. The early morning felt fresh, open and new. After her dream, Reyna enjoyed the feel of the air on her skin and the sight of the calm sky.

  “So,” Reyna began after they had walked for a few moments in silence.

  “So…” Tyler echoed. He wanted to take her hand, but didn’t know what the limits of their relationship were now.

  They walked in silence once more. Reyna didn’t know how to proceed. Her dream was easily just that, a dream. But it was bothering her more with every waking second. She sighed and shrugged one shoulder awkwardly.

  “I just wanted to ask,” she began in a hesitant tone. “I mean, we haven’t really talked much. I wanted to know if there’s anything else you think I should know about…anything.” The words sounded lame even as she said them and Reyna groaned inwardly.

  They walked in silence and Tyler pondered his mate’s question. What more did she want to know of him?

  “I was never with anyone on my planet,” he offered. “You are the only woman I have ever loved, and the only one I have ever shared anything intimate with.”