Illicit Hunger

by Dee Carney

  He cupped her face in his hands, studying the depths of her eyes. “Lia, we can still go back. It’s not too late.”

  She stared back into the gray eyes she’d come to love. The ones that brightened her mornings and visited her in dreams at night. She stared into them and knew with certainty it was too late for her. She was lost in them and in him.

  Reaching down, she began to unfasten the clasps on the side of her dress. With a practiced hand, she loosened one clasp after the other. Jericho’s eyes never left hers, but she could feel the quickening of his breath on her skin. At the same moment the dress slid to the ground, he lowered his mouth to hers.

  The clove scent of him overwhelmed her. She breathed it in, relishing in it as his mouth caressed hers.

  The kiss began slowly, softly. He kissed her as if she were a dream, as if he were afraid she would disappear beneath him. She pressed herself harder against him. Pressed until he wrapped his arms around her tighter, forcing her breath to catch.

  She would not allow him to treat her as if she would break. Not this night. This night she was not the prima lux. She was Lia. The woman who loved Jericho.

  He responded with the enthusiasm of a starved man and she was his bread.

  Lia slipped a hand inside his vest, tugging at the material’s ties until they loosened. He helped her by unlatching the cloak around his shoulders which fell to the ground with a soft sigh. Jericho shrugged out of the vest, then shirt, his bare chest available to her probing fingers within moments. A fine crop of hair tickled her palms as she ran her hands over the hard lines of his chest. Skimmed over pebbled nipples. Found the rhythmic beat of his heart.

  It matched her own.

  He touched his tongue to hers, ran it over her teeth. The casual flick over her sensitive canines sent a bolt of electricity straight down to her sex. She nibbled on him, smiled against his mouth. Her body was humming in anticipation and so far, they had only kissed. By the time he pulled away, they both panted.

  “How long do we have?” he gasped.

  Her smile broadened.

  “All night.”

  Chapter Eight

  Jericho seemed to realize for the first time that she stood before him in nothing but thin wisps of fabric for coverings. The silky undergarments and thigh-high stockings did little to keep the chill of the evening at bay. He swept over the material with his hands, skimming lightly, stopping nowhere.

  She kissed down his chest. Little, tender sweeps of her mouth over his trembling abdomen. With a finger, she traced a network of scars marring the cobblestone perfection. Jericho clenched as she ran over the pale lines of his flesh. She was mesmerized by them. By the pain he hid away from the world. They were old, well-healed, but they represented a reminder that she did not know him as well as she wanted to. She wanted to know all of him… down to the finest detail.

  Lia lingered a moment longer then traveled down to the clasp of his pants. He stepped out of his boots as she freed him. Then helped her lower his clothing to the ground.

  The length of him was lovely. Erect and already leaking. When she touched him, he drew in a satisfying sharp inhalation of breath.

  Bending at the waist, Lia rubbed the dusky head of his cock over her cheek. She inhaled the musky odor of him. Her pussy dampened from the heady, clove scent. She looked up to find him watching her beneath hooded lids. Thrilled, she kept looking into his eyes when she took him into her mouth.

  “Gods.” A beautiful sigh escaped him.

  Lia swirled her tongue over the soft velvety head of his cock. At his sides, Jericho’s hands clenched and unclenched like he fought with himself to remain motionless while she tended to him.

  His mouth parted before his head fell back. With a brisk shake of his head, he looked down again, watching her every moment. His stomach tensed each time his breath caught. Otherwise, Jericho stood immobile.

  When she looked up at him again, he focused on her every movement. Tenderness gazed back from his soft gray eyes.

  She suddenly recalled the night in the garden. When he told her vampires were impulsive. How he could make her lose control if he wanted to. A wicked thought took root in her mind, growing like a weed.

  Payback was a bitch.

  Lia hummed against his cock, pulling him deeper into her throat. With this new attention, at last his hips began to rock. She sucked harder, alternating her grip between teasing looseness and determined strength. With a practiced hand, she pumped him into her mouth, sipping on the leaking evidence of his heightened arousal.

  “Lia,” he warned through gritted teeth. He’d taken down the clasp in her hair to thread his fingers through it now. He seemed determined to pull her away from him, but she was determined to stay put.

  She gasped with delight when he gave up the fight. Jericho’s breath hissed out, his release inevitable. If the gooseflesh erupting over his skin didn’t give away his loss of control, the strangled moans did. He cried out her name as one final warning before he went still. Lia slammed her eyes shut when a torrent flooded her mouth. His cock jerked against her tongue, the musky release sliding down her throat in waves.

  By the time she pulled the last drop from him, Jericho was almost doubled over. She released his softening penis with a muted sound, a smile curving her lips when he shuddered. She could have watched him in that moment forever. With his pants puddled at his feet, his cock glistening with moisture and his flushed chest still heaving from exertion, Lia appreciated his vulnerability. The direct contrast with the fierceness she expected from him.

  He reached down with hand and helped her stand. Warm arms embraced her, holding her tight against his chest. “You didn’t have to do that,” he murmured against her hair.

  Lia smiled. She didn’t have to do it, but she needed to.

  *

  Jericho swayed with her in his hold, his heart pounding. Not just from the excitement of being loved so intimately by her, but by the fact they stood here together. They both risked so much… No. He wouldn’t think about it. He would concentrate on the here and now, leaving tomorrow for tomorrow.

  “I have to tell you something, Jericho.”

  She was no longer relaxed in his embrace. Whatever she wanted to tell him kept her from seeking his face. Dread started to coil in his gut.

  “Let’s get comfortable first.” Maybe she wouldn’t recognize it for the distraction he intended it to be. He moved away just long enough to reposition the cloak on the grass. He knelt, then offered his hand.

  She settled in next to him, scooting over until she could lay her head against his shoulder. He inhaled her feminine scent, his attraction pushing aside the dread. Whatever she had to say couldn’t make their situation any worse. He hoped.

  “What is it?” he prodded when she did not speak after several minutes of silence.

  Lia sighed. “I hardly know where to begin.”

  “You seem to have that trouble around me.” Jericho smiled, recalling their first conversation which she began with almost the exact same words. His mouth straightened when she continued to keep her face down.

  “I need you to know something.”

  He put his fingers beneath her chin and tilted her face to his. He searched her eyes, found sadness in them. The brush of his lips across hers was a reminder for her to remember the depth of his affection.

  “After I am married, you will hear news about me.”

  Jericho nodded. So long as he stayed in the community, news about the prima lux would travel to him. “Go on.”

  She pulled away, looking into the distance. “With any luck, I will be pregnant within the year, Jericho.”

  The blow of those words stung him as if she slapped him with her hand. She would be married tomorrow. He’d already resigned himself to losing her to another man. Why he’d never thought beyond tomorrow, what it would mean for her, he would never know. The thought she would eventually become pregnant, gods, it never occurred to him.

  He was slow to respond. When he did, t
he voice that left him sounded odd to his own ears. “It is part of your duty.” The same cursed duty that drove them apart.

  “Not just that.” She sounded so hollow. He pulled her against him again, needing to touch her, to provide her what comfort he could. “Lucas and I… we have a past. When it was announced we would be married, we tried to get an early start on the relationship and so, we were lovers once.”

  A chill blanketed his flesh. This was getting worse and worse every time she spoke. His voice locked in his throat, refusing to utter a single syllable. He could only nod, even knowing she did not see it.

  “I had to end it early. Because, well, because his sexual proclivities are unusual…”

  Did he think she’d already hit the worst she could have possibly said? This had to be it the bottom, gods please. His churning stomach couldn’t take another hit. “Lia, why are you telling me this?”

  A teardrop slipped down her cheek and he immediately regretted the biting way he spoke.

  “Because he hurts me every time I am in his bed, Jericho. He likes to do things—unspeakable things—to me. He is excited by my pain. He says he loves my screams. Spilling my blood in places no one else can see arouses his perversion. But if I can stand it often enough in the beginning, if I can become pregnant immediately, I won’t have to return.” More tears fell, but her voice remained even. “I have to bear his child right away Jericho. I am required to provide an heir for the community. I just don’t want you to think… please don’t think when I do…”

  “That you love him?”

  She nodded miserably.

  To think he’d been jealous of the vampire earlier. He’d hoped she might find something worthwhile with her husband. Instead, now, every fiber of his being clenched in response to her confession. Just thinking she would be subjected to torture in the name of duty ate at his insides. If he did it with his dying breath, Lucas Anders would learn the hard way he was to never lay a hand on Lia. Ever. He would visit the bastard before the wedding and…

  “Don’t do something foolish for me.”

  She must have seen the murder in his eyes. He wouldn’t be sorry for it. “I will not stand uselessly by knowing that he will hurt you, Lia.”

  Her hand pressed against his chest, resting where his heart pounded. “No, Jericho.”

  “But…”

  “No,” she said softly. She brought her hand to his lips where he pressed his mouth against it.

  “Ask of me anything, anything that will keep you out of this nightmare and I will gladly do it.”

  “Mark me.” She spoke with authority, the fear and anxiety gone from her voice. Tears dried on her face. “Place your mark on me so that when I enter my marriage bed, he will know with unwavering certainty that I allowed another man to recently touch me even as we were betrothed. Put doubt into his mind. Make him wonder if my screams are for him, or in the remembrance of you.”

  He liked the way she thought and could have smiled if the situation weren’t so dire. It would be dangerous though. “He would know it is not the mark of a vampire, Lia. What then?”

  “He wouldn’t dare think it belonged to a werewolf. A human. Never, ever a werewolf.”

  Still, it could backfire. Make her situation worse. Perhaps anything came with too high a price. “You like to live dangerously, woman.”

  She looked up at him with a sparkle in her eyes. A devil in her smile, she asked, “What if, as your prima lux, I ordered it of you?”

  Jericho almost chuckled. He bowed from the waist as much as his seated position would allow. “Then I would be honor bound to fulfill it.”

  Lia didn’t have to put into words her command. The angle of her head, the gleam in her eyes told him everything he needed to know.

  Jericho leaned back until he lay flat. He allowed her wanton gaze to travel over him before he tugged on the slip of material covering her sex. “Remove it.”

  Without saying a word, she stood. She shifted her hips, pushing her panties down in a sensual sway that made his blood surge. By the time she kicked them away, his sleepy cock awakened. Her eyebrows arched when she noticed. She reached behind her, the silk bra falling to the ground with a flick of her wrist.

  “Fuck,” he whispered hoarsely. This was going to be his unforgettable pleasure.

  He didn’t know where to let his gaze linger first. Pale, creamy skin glowed in the fading light. Pink nipples on her upturned breasts called to him. And the loveliness of her soft curves made him praise the gods for womankind. The down-covered juncture between her thighs held him captivated.

  He made a decision and reached out to her. “Come here.” He guided her to standing over him, not allowing her to stop until she stood over his waiting face. With a tug on her hand, he motioned her down until her knees were planted on either side of his head. He murmured, “I require a kiss as payment, prima lux.”

  Lia gasped as his mouth connected with the most intimate part of her. He slid his tongue through her moisture, drinking in her essence. Using long, broad strokes, he traveled over her swollen lips, alternating between sucking and nibbling. Although heat cascaded from her body, he almost shivered at the soft moans she emitted.

  He could lose himself in her for the rest of his life and it would be too short.

  Above him, he could feel her trembling. He had to wrap his arms around her thighs, holding her in place as he ravaged her. When his teasing licks found the hardened nub of her clit, he thought she would collapse.

  “Jericho!” She sobbed his name again and again, and he knew the moment he needed approached.

  Using his fingers, he spread her lips, focused on her pleasure center. It took only a moment to dip into her core, spreading her moisture over his fingertips. The moment her body seized, he replaced his mouth with his fingers, drawing out the orgasm. In that same instant, he shifted his attention and bit on the intimate part of her thigh. Hard.

  Lia screamed into the evening air, his name morphing into a howl of combined pleasure and pain. The twinge of guilt he felt at marking her was replaced by pride as she shuddered violently. She would curse him in the morning, but right now she rocked her hips over him, encouraging his attentions. He sucked on her flesh, soothing away the sting with the sensual spread of his tongue. After a few minutes more, she slowed her body, shifting away just enough until he ceased torturing her sensitive clit.

  Jericho realized his cock ached, his earlier release seemingly forgotten. Lia slid down the length of his body until she could rest her head upon his chest. He stroked her back, long comforting caresses, as she brought her breathing back under control. He could have pushed into her at that moment, finally found the home within her warmth he needed, but they had all night. He would not rush this.

  She giggled. “My gods, Jericho. That was… amazing.”

  With a single, deft move, he rolled them both until Lia lay beneath him. “And to think, we’ve only just begun,” he said.

  Chapter Nine

  Jericho couldn’t believe he was here. His body was poised over hers, Lia’s delicate hands slid over his torso and chest and his aching cock was as hard as granite with expectation. Her chest rose and fell beneath his, her excitement flaring in her eyes as she waited for him to finally bring them together. He didn’t want to rush this, though.

  Gritting his teeth, he eased forward and the head of his cock unerringly nestled into her entrance. Pushing open the soft petals of her pussy at last caused his body to send every spare ounce of blood rushing to his already overwhelmed erection.

  Please gods, he didn’t want to ruin this. It was all he could do to slow down, breathe through the pleasure wrapping around him as he slid further into her warmth. Her whispery moan, the way she clenched around him could have sent him over the edge if he let it. Thankfully, his blood-deprived brain had enough sense to slow down his actions, stifle the urge to come right away and relish her.

  Jericho’s heart thundered in his chest as he picked up speed after a few minutes of teasing
them both with an agonizingly slow probe. When at last he couldn’t stand any more, his hips rocked faster. He drove into her, her soft moans encouraging, almost begging him for more.

  Gods, gods, gods… he couldn’t think of anything else. Couldn’t get his mind to concentrate on anything but the way she felt wrapped around him. The heat of her pussy as it spasmed. The slick moisture coating his cock each time he pushed and withdrew from her.

  Her nails raked his back, encouraging, begging from him. He could scarcely catch his breath trying to answer her call, but gods if it killed him, he would do it again. And again. And again.

  He looked down on her to catch a glimpse of her elongated canines glistening in the night air. They were sensitive to the touch. The discovery excited him the moment it happened. When she admitted she could come with just the right attention there, he thought his heart would burst from his chest. Yet another place he would be certain to explore with detailed attention before the night was over.

  Lia’s eyelids fluttered, her nostrils flared. It wasn’t just the drugging sex they shared. The look on her face—hell, she looked hungry. And not necessarily for food. He realized then the depths of his density.

  “Bite me, Lia.”

  Her eyes snapped open, heat flaring. She fought to catch her breath. “We don’t—oh gods, Jericho!—we don’t need it.”

  He rolled his hips ensuring his pelvis ground against her clit. “Love, we shouldn’t waste it. Bite. Me.”

  If it took too long to convince her, he wouldn’t be able to last. Already he could feel the churning in his balls signaling his impending release. When she nodded, a sigh of relief escaped before he could call it back.

  Jericho lowered his neck to her lips. She trailed her tongue across his skin, right over the artery, before opening her mouth. She hesitated for a moment. Then the pain of the bite struck him as before.

  The same moment the pain dissolved into ecstasy, an orgasm ripped through his being, uncoiling and stretching over him, capturing and then releasing him, scorching through his boiling blood and pouring out of him into her. It threatened to drown Jericho. To overwhelm and consume, binding him to Lia in so fundamental a way they would never be separate again.