Pleasure of a Dark Prince iad-9

by Kresley Cole

  She sucked in a shocked breath. Lightning lit the room.

  He spread her flesh, licking her up and down. “I’ve waited my whole life for this,” he rasped against her, his accent so thick. “Will never get enough of you.” Shuddering with pleasure, he began flicking, teasing, nipping….

  She moaned—loudly. Rain and wind pounded the balcony doors open. A fine mist dewed her skin.

  Seeming drugged with bliss, he asked, “You’ve never had this?”

  “No!”

  “You’ll be wantin’ it again?”

  Another thorough lick had her back arching. “Ah, yes!”

  “Good lass.” He wrapped those brawny arms around her thighs. “Your taste maddens me, dreamed of it, fantasized about doing this tae you.” He circled his tongue over her clitoris. “Have you imagined me kissing you here?”

  “Yes,” she moaned. She had, but had never dreamed it would be this wicked….

  His pace was slow, savoring, but his body was taut, tension in every line of his corded muscles. He seemed as if he were only just keeping himself from setting upon her in a frenzy. His knee was drawn up, and his narrow hips were grinding against the bed. She wanted her hands on his rock-hard ass, wanted to feel him moving so sensuously.

  As she grew closer to her climax, he gave a harsh groan against her. His eyes had flickered blue, and she’d seen a glimpse of his beast. Yet for some reason, the thought that he couldn’t quite control his reaction didn’t frighten her—it aroused her even more.

  The tremors began, pleasure as she’d never imagined….

  Just before he took her clitoris between his lips, he growled, “Come hard for your male,” then he suckled her.

  “Ah, gods!” Her thighs fell wide open as she wantonly bucked to his mouth. Lightning flashed like bomb bursts outside. “Oh, yes!” She drew a breath, needing to scream. But he put his palm over her mouth for her to cry out against.

  She did. Over and over…

  He didn’t stop licking her orgasm the first or even the second time she pressed his head away. Just continued feasting, grinding his aching cock into the bed.

  Finally, he tore himself away from her with a yell, rising up on his knees. Already he was on the verge of coming—even before he saw her spread out before him like an offering.

  Her thighs were still parted, revealing her drenched sex. Her soft folds glistened. Her breasts were rising and falling with her hectic breaths.

  Her eyes… silvery and filled with lust as she stared at his swollen cock.

  “Touch it.”

  She rose up, reaching for him, giving him a slow stroke along his shaft.

  “Cup me.” When she put her cool palm against his aching bollocks, hefting them, he choked out, “Now do both.” As she fondled his sac and stroked, he went nigh dizzy with pleasure. Somehow, he managed to utter the words, “Put your lips on it.”

  She leaned in, looking like she was considering it but then hesitated.

  “Have you ever done this?”

  She whispered, “No, never.”

  “Do you want tae?” When she gave a tentative nod, he said, “I’ll show you.” She’s going to suckle it? A dream? Another fantasy to join the thousands over the last year?

  Holding the back of her head with one shaking hand and his cock with the other, he guided her closer. “Taste me, lass.” He was quaking with anticipation, fearing he’d spontaneously lose his seed.

  He inhaled a ragged breath as her tongue darted out. She licked the slit; his eyes rolled back in his head, and he bucked uncontrollably to her tongue. When she drew back, he said, “Nay, Lousha, I’ll hold still. Just take me in.” Feeding his shaft to her once more, he rasped, “Suck it between your lips.”

  With his gaze holding hers, he pressed his cockhead into her hot, wet mouth, groaning as her tongue greeted him. “Gods, woman!”

  Still gazing up at him, she sucked it deeper, with her little cheeks hollowing—

  No, no… canna hold my seed! With a desperate groan, he tucked his hips under, somehow pulling out of that hungry heat. “‘Bout tae come.” He pressed her back on the bed, then took his cock in his fist. “Do you want me tae come atop you?” If I canna mark you in one way, I will in another.

  She gasped at his words, then nodded eagerly, arching her back.

  After a single pump of his fist, he gave a brutal yell, releasing his semen over her. As he ejaculated, her body quivered with each drop of his hot seed. Again and again, he lashed her torso and breasts, her nipples….

  Once he’d finally finished spending, he wiped her off with his T-shirt, then drew her tight into his arms. They lay with their hearts thundering.

  Between kisses on her neck, her ears, her face, he said, “I’ll do this to you till there’s something to take the place of your vows—until you see the two of us together as your religion. Mark my words, Lousha, in time, you’ll be praying for me inside you.”

  Chapter 27

  Lightning struck directly outside, a boom that shook the entire boat. But Garreth was already awake.

  It was just after four in the morning—the time he was usually on the trail of Lucia, hoping to get a jump on her. If he’d even bothered to sleep.

  Earlier, he’d petted her hair until she’d passed out, then he’d dozed fitfully himself—until he’d awakened with his shaft hard as wood.

  After debating whether to wake her with his tongue back between her thighs, he decided not to push her too quickly. So he sat in the cabin’s chair, ignoring the ache in his shaft, and gazed at her, his favorite sight.

  He’d never seen her like this before—still. In sleep, she panted her breaths, her brows drawn.

  Another bolt. In the beginning, he’d thought all the lightning coming from her would take some getting used to. He’d thought wrong. He craved seeing it, knew it meant she was near, and it alerted him to her moods.

  Lightning had struck every time just before she’d attacked him. He liked to think it was from regret….

  Now things were looking up for them. The unbelievable pleasure they’d just shared was only the beginning. He’d seduce her to surrender more.

  Wait, had she moaned? Maybe she had the same subject on her mind as he did.

  He frowned when she did it again, and louder. No, it was a moan not of pleasure but of fear. A nightmare, getting worse. More lightning blasted down, then came a whimper.

  “Lousha, rest easy.” He climbed back in bed with her, pulling her across his chest to run his fingers through her hair again. Though she never woke, she calmed.

  Yet not before he felt tears on his chest. “Ach, love, what’s this?” he murmured, but she slumbered on.

  He needed to uncover what had befallen his mysterious little mate. Lykae reveled in mysteries. He’d peel away the layers, find out everything he could about her. But with care. For Lucia, he would be patient, would temper his selfishness, his aggression.

  Ah, lass, your secrets’ days are numbered.

  “Still as ruggedly handsome,” MacRieve rumbled without opening his eyes, “as you found me last night, Valkyrie.”

  Lucia jerked back, dragging the sheet with her. Luckily he hadn’t seen her hand poised just above his cheek. She’d been an inch away from stroking the backs of her fingers against his stubble.

  He finally cracked open his eyes. “But look all you like. Happy to show you the whole package again.”

  “Funny, Scot.” When she’d awakened to a cloudless dawn, her first thought had been that she needed to run—MacRieve would be closing in on her! Then she’d remembered the night before.

  She’d already been caught. Yet her worst fears hadn’t been realized—because he’d vowed not to take her. Relaxing a shade, she’d quietly turned to watch him at rest, inwardly sighing at the magnificent male she shared a bed with.

  “How did you sleep?” He gazed at her, studying her face.

  She would give anything to know what he was thinking. “Surprisingly well.” Like the dead, actually
. Odd for her.

  “That so?” Why was he staring at her like that?

  She tucked her hair behind her ear. This was so awkward. Was he thinking about last night? Recalling how she’d looked naked? Or what they’d done?

  The only time she’d been intimate with a male, besides MacRieve, she’d experienced a wedding, dawning horror, and torture. Now she didn’t know how to behave.

  MacRieve was looking at her like she was a puzzle he intended to solve.

  But when the smell of bacon wafted into the cabin, his lids grew heavy. “Smell that, will you? Wish you ate. I’d feed you like a queen. Or at least like a princess.”

  She could eat, but refraining was an inherent form of birth control for Valkyrie.

  Ah, gods, was she planning on having sex with him?

  “I guess I’ll have to eat your meals to hold up my end of the bargain,” he said. At her raised brows, he added, “Our deal was that I’d keep your cover if you sated me. For a night like the last, I’ll keep your cover a lot. Speaking of which, I thought I should inquire—are you ready for me to claim you yet?”

  When she glared, he said, “I’ll give you a few minutes to think about it.”

  “MacRieve!”

  He stood, not caring a whit about his nudity—or his semihard erection. In fact, he stretched in front of her, his muscles tensing and relaxing, playing all over his body. He cast her a grin over his shoulder. “Oh, and how about now?”

  Her lips quirked, but she hid it. “No, werewolf!”

  “It’s just a matter of time, Valkyrie—”

  “Goddamnit, Chuck, what’d I tell you?” rang out from above decks. It was Travis, somehow sounding even more drunk. “Ship’s fine just the way she is!”

  MacRieve raised a brow. “An intrigue. The Lykae in me needs to investigate that, and the bacon. You get a reprieve.”

  As soon as he donned his worn jeans and a T-shirt and padded barefoot out of the cabin, she hurried from the bed, intending a quick shower.

  The door reopened; she froze, naked. MacRieve’s lips curled into that lupine grin. “Forgot this.” Absently patting around for the bowcase, he ogled her up and down. When he’d snagged the case, he said, “Doona move till I get back.”

  Once the door closed again, she heard him mumble outside, “Woman’ll be the death o’ me.”

  She released a pent-up breath, hurrying for the bathroom. MacRieve continued to surprise her. Last night, he hadn’t done more, hadn’t tried to seduce her. He’d kept his part of the vow, and since she would certainly never agree to more—especially out of bed—she thought she could handle this arrangement with him.

  Yes, a short journey with the Lykae, and if she could stay in control of herself, she’d have some extra muscle who knew the area to help her.

  After a hasty shower, Lucia dressed, some imp making her choose a babydoll T-shirt and some of the shorter shorts she’d packed. Feeling more optimistic than she had in memory, she lightly lined her eyes with kohl and brushed on lip gloss.

  She was just about to set out when her gaze fell on his bulging duffel bag. He wasn’t the only one with a marked curiosity. She knelt beside it, rooting through his belongings. Aside from clothes, she found a large leather bundle with knotted ties—and two condoms.

  For other women? They must have been. Valkyrie couldn’t get pregnant unless they took steps to, and they had no need for safe sex. Though Lucia had no right to be jealous—she’d sent MacRieve away again and again—the idea left her unaccountably envious.

  No, not unaccountably. She’d never denied that the Scot’s kisses were like a drug to her. Just listening to his raspy brogue made her want to sigh. From the earliest moments with MacRieve, she’d felt possessiveness toward him….

  She thought she heard someone coming and stuffed everything back in his bag.

  A second later, he burst through the door. “You showered without me again? You’re underutilizing me.” Before she could reply, he asked, “You ever see a caiman before?” When she shook her head, he said, “You want to?”

  “Uh, sure?”

  At that, MacRieve ushered her out of the cabin, with his gaze pinned on her and filled with curiosity. He gave her a grin, looking like a crafty wolf.

  And she couldn’t help but feel like a henhouse he planned to raid….

  Chapter 28

  When Garreth had returned to the cabin, Lucia was wearing a small top that molded to her pert breasts and the shortest shorts he’d ever seen her in.

  As if she needed anything else to attract his attention.

  Add to that his earlier glimpse of her naked body, and he was going to be randy all day, pacing the decks till tonight, when he could bring her down below again.

  Unless a storm blew up. Never had he prayed for rain as he would be today.

  Now, on their way to the third-floor observation deck, Garreth was right on her heels as they climbed the rusted iron stairs. “Since I was on my best behavior last night,” he murmured at her ear, “I bet part of you is wondering if you ought no’ have approached me with this deal earlier.”

  She glanced over her shoulder with a raised brow. “As if you would’ve settled for this in the beginning. You had to experience a year of nothing for this to be appetizing.”

  She was likely right about that.

  When they reached the deck, Damiãno was just heading down. “Bom dia,” he said pleasantly.

  “And good morning to you,” Lucia replied with a smile that made Garreth want to eviscerate Damiãno.

  Garreth jerked his chin up, the gesture in no way a greeting. In turn, the man narrowed his eyes before descending the steps.

  “Am I going to have to separate you two?” she asked when they were alone on the deck.

  “No’ if he watches his step,” Garreth said in all seriousness.

  Once he’d ushered her to the railing, he closed in behind her, making her tense against him. He knew she would consider this crowding, but he couldn’t help himself. “See it there?” Over her shoulder, he pointed out a four-foot-long caiman lying atop a water lily. “It’s a juvenile.” Sporting a bony ridge over ruddy eyes and a black body, the creature lay with its mouth wide open, jagged teeth exposed. “They’re like a sharper alligator. Physically. Don’t know about mentally. Though they do seem to be wilier.”

  Deftly slipping to Garreth’s side, she asked, “How big do they get?”

  “The largest one on record was twenty-five feet. But Schecter’s right—there are bigger ones way upriver. Much bigger.”

  “You brought me out to see the caiman, and I’m almost more amazed by the water lily underneath it. It’s huge, like a table.”

  “Victoria amazonica. They get larger and grow thicker farther upriver as well.”

  She gazed around. “How far did we travel over the night?”

  “I believe we’re on a patch of the river where the map was missing, so who can tell?” They hadn’t passed a boat all morning. “But far enough out that we’re going to start seeing more and more river creatures. Pink dolphins and giant otters.”

  “It sounds like make-believe,” Lucia said, leaning back against the rail. She’d plaited her caramel-colored hair over her ears, but glossy curls tumbled free across her shoulders and around her elven face. He imagined those curls spread over his pillow as he mounted her lush, wee body, imagined them wrapped around his fist as he took her from behind—

  “So what was Travis up in arms about?”

  “Huh?” Inward shake. “Uh, apparently the captain has a standing order that no improvements are to be made to the ship, which—by the look of this wreck—is rarely countermanded. Charlie can fix things, but he’ll get his knuckles rapped if he does more.”

  “That’s strange.”

  “Oh, aye.” There was a lot of strangeness about Travis. But the human responded to cash.

  Garreth had already bribed him to head in the direction of Rio Labyrinto.

  Yet though Travis was an odd bird, there de
finitely was something up with Charlie. While his sister Izabel seemed confident and open, he had a quiet, awkward demeanor. Today, he’d looked pale, sickly even. Garreth couldn’t put his finger on what was off, just knew something was.

  “Where are the others?” Lucia asked.

  “Rossiter is pacing in his cabin. Izabel just finished up with a gourmet breakfast. Schecter was slinking around the stern scouting for a place to ‘deploy’ his ‘sonic lure.’ I asked him if that’s what the kids were calling it these days, but he dinna get it,” Garreth said, and her lips quirked. Rubbing the back of his neck, he added, “But we’re being watched.”

  “I know. Can you scent anything?”

  He shook his head. “Sensory overload.” The last time he was here, the same had happened to him; it took him weeks to familiarize himself with all the new scents. “Guess we’ll just need to be ready for anything.” He gazed out over the churning water. “I bluidy hate this place.”

  “Tell me what you know about the river,” she said. “Tell me some more dangers.”

  “Dangers, then? In the jungles all around us, there are indigenous tribes. They stay hidden—you’ll never see a hint of them on this trip. And they’re peaceable unless provoked—such as when some git like Damiãno goes hunting for them with a Polaroid. Then they’ll rise up with a fury. No’ to mention the fact that the poisons they concoct make the feys’ look mild,” he said. “Did Nïx give you any indication what the dieumort would be? Maybe it’s a poison.”

  “No indication. But I suspect it’s an arrow. Otherwise, why would she dispatch me, an archer, down into the jungle to retrieve a weapon I don’t know how to wield?”

  “True.”

  “Are there natives on the Rio Labyrinto?” she asked, her demeanor so guileless, as if she hadn’t just slyly segued to what she really wanted to know about—the location of the labyrinth.

  “No. But there were long ago. I stumbled upon the ruins of a necropolis.”

  “A city of the dead?”