“Do I frighten you?”
“The only thing that frightens me is the fact you’re into jewelry.”
He was already concerned about what she thought of his tribal tattoo on his right arm that snaked around from his elbow to shoulder, but what would she think about the sun on his back? Justus turned around and heard her gasp.
He instinctively jumped when her finger touched the tattoo, tracing along the lines. “What does it mean?”
“It’s who I am. The sun, the energy, it represents me as a Thermal Mage,” he said over his shoulder, proudly. He had personally designed the tattoo of the sun with small bolts of lightning coming out. Justus had wanted a positive symbol and not a memory of something tragic as so many men had acquired. He got it when he first became a Mage and discovered what his abilities were.
When he twisted around to face her, she grabbed his right arm and slid her fingers along the dark marks of his tribal tattoo.
“And this?”
“It’s personal to me,” was all he could say.
Her hand roamed down his forearm and she curled her fingers around his. Justus’s heart quickened because no woman had ever held his hand that way before. She used her other one to caress the back and looked up expectantly.
“Please share your life with me. I’m not asking because I’m a Relic; I’m asking because it’s who you are. That’s who I want to know all about.”
He sat to her left, holding up his arm and using his finger as a pointer. “I designed it three hundred years ago after years of travel. That was when I learned who I was and the kind of man I wanted to be.” He touched a jagged line. “This one is for courage, this one is for honor.”
She lifted her finger and traced over the thick lines, learning every groove of who Justus was.
“This one is for perseverance, this one is for loyalty, and this one is for sacrifice.”
“Where’s love?” Page circled her hands around his bicep. “It’s beautiful,” she whispered.
Justus hadn’t marked himself in over three hundred years, and suddenly he wanted to put another line in the pattern.
“I find it fascinating that many of you go through the irreversible process of liquid fire.” Page let go and placed her hands on her lap again.
“What do you sleep in?” he suddenly asked.
Justus had bought Silver many outfits she had never worn. She would have something suitable for Page.
“Don’t laugh,” she quickly said. “I have this satin gown that’s my favorite. It’s the color of your eyes. The collar has a lacy little thing going on, but it falls to my knees. I don’t dress in all that lingerie most women wear.” She rambled on as if this were an ordinary conversation. It made him smile as she continued. “Although I do have this one baby-doll gown, but it’s not practical at all because after a few hours of tossing around in the bed, it always winds up over my head. What about you?”
“I don’t wear gowns,” he said.
Page laughed melodically and straightened her legs. “Seriously.”
He shrugged. “Sweats or silk shorts with a robe. I dress appropriately so I don’t make my Learner uncomfortable in my presence.”
“I know what you mean. I dress practical because it matters how I present myself to clients. I don’t need to show off legs when that’s not what I’m being hired for.”
Nothing was sexier to Justus than a modest woman.
“There’s fruit if you’re hungry,” he offered. “Or I can prepare something more suitable in the kitchen. I’m not the best cook,” he warned, knowing she might be better off with the fruit.
Page crawled across the bed and fell on her back, fluffing a pillow. He glanced over his shoulder and she gave him a radiant smile. The kind that brightened her brown eyes, and then she tilted her head and a lock of hair swooped across her face.
“I lied, Justus. I think I could get used to someone taking care of me if this is what it’s all about,” she said jokingly. “What you have here is fine.”
Justus walked around the bed and sat beside her, taking a pear from the bowl and slicing it with a knife he kept in the drawer. He handed it to her and she nibbled on it as he cut another wedge.
“So what’s with the necklace?” Her eyes were brimming with curiosity, the kind he often saw when she was working out problems in her head.
“The Mage who kidnapped Silver several months ago purchased this metal on the black market. It can suppress many Breed gifts.”
“Really?” Page went into serious mode as she reached up to touch it. “Have you had anyone take a look at it?”
“No. We don’t want this knowledge in the wrong hands.”
“I could analyze it. You can trust me.”
His eyes dropped a little as he worked on the next slice of pear. “Why was a vial of Silver’s blood in the lab we found you in?”
“It was?” She pinched the bridge of her nose. “It went missing and I thought I had misplaced it. I do that sometimes when I’m in a hurry and have been running on two hours’ sleep. They had it? Slater was the last person I was around when it went missing, but I blew it off. I didn’t see any reason why he would want it.” The corners of her mouth anchored down. “Why? Why are you asking me, do you think I broke your trust as your Relic?”
Justus set the knife and pear on the table. “No. I thought you might know why they wanted it.”
But he didn’t reassure her enough. She was insulted, and Justus knew he had crossed a line in doubting her trust.
He tilted her chin upward and leaned in, lightly brushing his lips over hers. But it was nothing like before, because his kiss kindled into a slow burn and the next thing he knew, her hand slid across his muscular thigh.
He claimed her mouth with slow, soft strokes of his tongue, awakening every nerve in his body. She tasted like sweet pears. When her right leg crossed to the other side of him, he cursed under his breath.
Justus might have been a Thermal, but this woman was on fire.
Chapter 33
Page had never been so swept away by a man before.
Not once.
Justus had always rubbed her the wrong way, but she had gradually begun to see there was something of substance to him. Silver told her how Justus had stepped up as her Ghuardian and taken her under his wing. Page had known many a Mage, but that was not a characteristic common among their kind. Most would have juiced her, or just left her to fend for herself. Taking on a Learner was a lifelong commitment.
In the lab, all Page had thought about was dying. No one knew where she was and she didn’t have the capacity to escape. Her only hope was to be saved by some miracle, and Justus was the only man she could think of who could do it. HALO had the connections and wherewithal to launch an investigation. They had a reputation for it, and she respected that. But why would he waste his time searching for a Relic?
Page had lost all hope.
Until she opened her eyes, and there he was.
Justus chiseled at the wall she’d built up over the years. It wasn’t his physical appearance, or even the fact he’d cared for her while she was sick with the flu. Although that earned major brownie points in her book.
It was the way he looked at her. He soaked her in, drank her up, and thirsted for more. Page had walls up like most people, but behind them, she was just a woman who wanted a worthwhile man to love her for who she was. Analytical, workaholic, sensible, quirky, and sometimes she liked to eat peanut butter out of the jar with her fingers. She also wanted a man who didn’t size her up like a baby farm and toss her to the side when he found out she couldn’t reproduce.
The ambient glow of candlelight flickered against the tan walls. His bedroom was a stark contrast to the kind of man she thought him to be. It was simple and rustic. Not a single lamp or expensive painting. Just a grand bed with dark sheets, dresser, table, leather sofa, and a small writing table with a chair. What really made it romantic were all the candles and candelabras. The only time she ever lit
a candle was while taking a bubble bath.
Beneath the layers of arrogance was a passionate man. Not just in a sexual way, but the tenderness with which he brushed his nose along her cheek and kissed the tip of her chin. She could still taste the sweet pear on her lips and wondered if he could too.
When she wrapped her long leg around him, his hard muscles began to shake. She wore nothing beneath that T-shirt, and he knew it.
Page had never been to second base with a guy—whatever that was. The most experience she had was a few serious kisses just after college, but there had never been any time for dating. Work was too demanding.
Yet here she was, in a bedroom with a Mage, and she couldn’t stop touching him. His bare shoulders were strong and intimidating, and Page lightly squeezed them as if he might vanish. She trailed her hands down to his pecs and then the lines of his abs, which tightened as her fingers stroked along the grooves.
His body was something to admire. But it didn’t hold a candle to the way that man delivered a kiss.
A wet, rapturous tongue circled and the feeling of his mouth against hers was so sexual that she found herself clawing at his sides. Her body buzzed with unfamiliar sensations and Justus used his skilled hands, rubbing her thigh in methodical motions with a sweet degree of restraint.
He was going easy with her.
It wouldn’t have come as a surprise if he was the sort of man who would throw her to the mattress and rip off her panties. But instead, he held her with reverence.
If the necklace did what he said it would, why was he so careful? It was as if he’d never allowed himself to enjoy a woman.
Page rubbed her leg against his side, feeling a tiny vibration as he groaned against her mouth. He pulled away and hissed through his teeth.
“Don’t stop, Justus. Please,” she begged.
Afraid of losing the moment forever, she grabbed the ends of her shirt and pulled it over her head.
Page felt awkwardly exposed.
She knew nothing of how to behave in the bedroom and her lack of skills must have been glaring. Maybe he didn’t want a woman to behave so forward and desperate.
She was wrong.
He looked like he needed CPR. His gaze remained locked on her eyes, and only her eyes. But flickers of light sparkled in his irises like a glimmering ocean.
“You’re so beautiful I can’t even look at you,” he said.
The air chilled and her nipples hardened. He blinked several times and it didn’t look like he had taken a breath.
“Why don’t you want to touch me?”
His lips parted, but his teeth were clamped together. “This is not easy for me, Page. I was once a man worthy of a woman like you, but no more.”
She smirked and it turned into a chuckle. “That’s really ironic. I’m not good enough for the Relics, and I’m too good for the Mage.” She sighed. “I’m better suited for science than love.”
Then it happened. She didn’t even see his arm move but felt his warm hand cup her breast and his thumb roll over her nipple. Page gasped and lowered her head. His touch affected her entire body.
“Lie on your back,” he commanded in a soft voice.
Justus stretched his heavy body on top of her and delicious heat covered her from neck to thigh. He leaned on his left elbow, rolling to his side while stimulating every inch of her skin with his right hand. Justus was more attentive than she could have imagined.
His fingers admired the softness of her breast, the curve of her waist, and the dip in her navel. He took his gentle time, stroking her belly with his knuckles and memorizing the length of her legs with his fingertips. Justus eased himself between her legs and licked the curve of her breast. “I haven’t been able to touch a woman this way in a long time,” he said in a low voice.
“I thought you had women all the time? You don’t touch them?”
“I can only touch another Mage, but I prefer to not be with my own kind. I don’t want to let myself feel more than…” He dropped his head on her stomach. “It’s easier with humans. I keep my energy suppressed; it’s the only way that I can be with a woman.”
“If it’s not gratifying, then why wouldn’t you be with a Mage? You could experience this without any worry about hurting the other person, and you could feel everything.”
“I never wanted to feel for them because their feelings for me were false.”
The Charmer was afraid to love.
She curled her hands beneath his jaw, pulling his face up to meet hers. “Mine are not false. You make me angry, Justus. Sometimes I just want to scream because you infuriate me with the things you say and do. But you also make me laugh and feel like a woman. I mean, you sat on the bed slicing pears for me. Who does that? I’m with you now because I want you, and this means a lot to me. More than you could imagine. I want you to be my first. I want to be swept up in the romance for once. I’m scared as hell, but I don’t want this to end.”
“I’m not an honorable man. I’ve been with many women.”
“Good,” she said in clipped words. “I wouldn’t want an inexperienced man.” His eyes flashed up at her response and she grinned. “It’s not the man you were that attracts me; it’s the man you are.” She felt the bristles of his shaved hair beneath her sensitive fingertips. “You’re the first who’s ever seen me naked, aside from the doctors. There were opportunities, but it wasn’t right. I want this.” Her voice fell to a whisper.
It was harder than she thought to be emotionally intimate with a man. But for reasons she couldn’t explain, she wanted to open up to him.
“You may regret this.”
“I don’t want to marry you, Justus. Maybe all there is between us is physical attraction, but the biggest regret in life is when you don’t take chances. I have issues, and clearly, you have issues of your own. But you’ve been fixing my sink and changing my locks for weeks. Why?”
His chin rested on her stomach as he looked up at her. His whiskers scraped against her skin, but it felt strangely wonderful. He was hiding something, because pain glittered in his eyes. Why did he try so hard to protect her? It made her want to know more about what had happened to break such a strong man.
“Another time,” she said and then smiled. “Is this what it’s like?”
His brows pushed together and her thumb ran across the vertical crease between them.
“What I mean is, when you’re with a woman, do you lie around talking to each other this way? I kind of like it.”
“You’re the first woman I’ve brought into my bed.”
Her fingers stroked the grooves of his chiseled cheekbones and his eyes hooded. “I’m glad that it’s not just my first time,” she said in a breath. Page summoned all the courage she could to ask the next question, one that would give her the answer that all the kissing and pushing away wouldn’t. She already felt the blush rising in her body. “Will you make love to me?”
He lifted his head and rested on his forearms. “I would be honored, and I will make this as easy for you as I can,” he said, rising to meet her gaze. “It will hurt, but only this once.”
Page had gone to medical school; she was no fool. “I broke my hymen when I was fifteen while riding on a horse,” she blurted out. “It happens. There shouldn’t be much tearing or discomfort if I just relax during the process.”
His lip twitched. “That’s all very clinical, Page.”
She trembled, having second thoughts. Justus slid off the bed and turned around to face her.
“I want you to see me before you decide if this is what you want to do,” he said in his baritone voice. It wasn’t too deep, but it was just the right pitch for a man, one that commanded attention and made a woman’s legs quiver.
Page sucked in a sharp breath and held it when he suddenly pulled his track pants down, kicking them to the side. His thighs were muscular; she had only seen them through pants but could now stare at them in admiration. He must do squats or lift weights, because they were perfectly proport
ioned. He stood before her in nothing but a pair of silk boxers and an expensive watch, which he was removing and placing on the end of the dresser.
Her heart raced in anticipation.
When his thumbs tucked into the waistband of his boxers, he hesitated. His eyes lowered as he slowly pulled down his shorts.
There was Justus, in all his glory.
He stood with his fists clenched; his head tilted to one side and he looked like one of those Greek statues. Page was a healer, a doctor, had seen men. She had even seen aroused men suffering from medical conditions, but no one matched the beauty of Justus. He was a thick and powerful specimen of a man. The sight of him was magnificent, from the dark tribal tattoo wrapped around his muscular arm to his angled jaw and warrior face. Everything about him was as a man should be, and she slowly grasped why he thought it important that she accept him.
She felt a flush rise all over her skin and her left leg fell aside, giving him the visual cue he needed that she wanted him.
Justus crawled on top of her and loved her with his mouth. His tongue laved in places that made her cry out. Slowly, tugging one nipple and then the other before he journeyed down to discover every conceivable breaking point on her body to mold beneath his hands and taste with his lips.
“How much money do you make?” she asked, staring at a dresser full of designer watches.
He lifted his head and liquefied her with his gaze. “I make six figures, but the only figure I want is this one,” he said, sliding his hand down her hips. The necklace contained his power, and yet something was completely unleashed. “Do you trust me?” he asked in a rough, sexy voice against her mouth. God, his words alone could be foreplay and desire licked over her body.
“Yes.”
She felt something hot and hard press against her core and she shivered as he began stroking himself against her. Justus eased her legs together and placed his shaft between them. She was wet, and he glided in faster movements with his hips rising and falling as she clung to him.
How could something like this be painful? Maybe if she still had her hymen in place. Oh God, she thought, embarrassed by her own scientific evaluation of her first time.
Gravity (Mageri Series: Book 4) Page 30