by JL Madore
I waved away his apology and pointed to the cardboard in his hands. “I still have much to learn about myself and there is only one male I want involved for the red cards.”
His smirk melted away my anxiety. “Anyone I know?”
I wrapped my arms around his waist and laid my cheek against his chest. His heart beat a steady rhythm in my ear. Was I a strong enough female to take what I wanted?
In truth, what I wanted went against the very nature of my raising and Highborne beliefs. Yet, Highborne beliefs were the crux of my life’s turmoil. I was more than the laws of my race. I was an individual with the right to choose.
I inhaled passed the lump in my throat and spoke my heart. “The cards were simply for fun. What I truly want is to erase the vile images playing in my mind. I want you to aid me in replacing them with something passionate and welcome. I want to be devoured as a female should be by her first encounter. And what you said . . . I wish for you to take me every way a male can take a female.”
Samuel inhaled and when he spoke, his voice was rough and deep. “I’m afraid to ask, but are ye sure? What about being Bound and all that? Highbornes are only allowed—”
I leaned back to look him in the eye. “I reject what was done to me. In a few days, I may well be living a different life. If so, I want memories of my own choosing to hold onto.” I traced the pulse racing down his neck and my own pulse quickened to match the pace. “Only we two need know. If asked, I shall say you are my consort but I want you to be more than that. Would you deny me a second time?”
After a long moment, Samuel groaned. “I want that too and so much more—”
Before he could say “but”, I placed my fingers over his lips and blinked back the sting in my eyes. There was so little time. Soon I would be swept away by fate’s cruel reality.
“Please, Samuel. I need you.”
He tucked my hand in the crux of his elbow as he had dozens of times. His stride, strong and sure, led us to the bed we had shared so many nights and yet never truly shared. Backing me against the mattress, he eased me back onto the bronze coverlet and claimed my mouth.
His kiss continued deep and slow.
Before Kobi, I had never truly been kissed. Boys. Family. Friends. I was thankful Kobi and I shared some affection because I knew better what to expect. The mechanics were the same, yet kissing Samuel ignited things inside me. Powerful things. The wanton scent of him was addictive, his manly spice no longer guarded.
“Sharing yerself with a person ye feel for is incredible, a physical and spiritual bonding of two bodies and two souls. I want that for you . . . to erase what came before.”
“And you feel that for me—could share yourself despite what came before, what you witnessed—you still want me?”
Looking down on me, he smiled. “Ye’ll tell me if ye need to stop or slow things down, aye? No fault. No foul. If something doesna sit right, say the word and we’ll deal with it.” He waited until I nodded before he reclaimed my mouth.
Stretching out beside me, his lips moved in hypnotic rhythm. He kissed his way across my jaw and tugged the hem of my skirt up my thigh. “I want rid of this thing, mo chridhe. I dinnae want anything between us.”
“Then let us be skin to skin.”
There was nothing gentle in the way he tore my clothes from me, only raw desire. When I lay bare upon the blankets, he ran the tips of his fingers over the purple gemstones decorating my breast and chest. He inhaled and grinned.
“You stare as if my body is new to you.”
He bit his bottom lip. “Before now, I was in no position to take in the sights, ye see?”
I brushed a fingertip across his tight pink nipple.
“I cast a few lingering glances yer way from time to time but now I can enjoy it. Ye take my breath away. Ye know that, aye?”
“And I thought my feminine wiles had been lost on you.”
A soft blush warmed his cheeks. “Why do you think it took me so long to get out of bed each morning? I could hardly saunter around with a cock-stand as thick as an oak.”
Samuel’s slacks hid what he pointed to and that set me to task. “You need to be naked. I hunger to see your body.”
He winked and laid back. “If yer resolve is to take control and not have men pave yer way, I say work for it. If ye want my clothes off, have at it. Isn’t one of yer wee cards to touch a naked male? I think ye’d get extra points for strippin’ him down yerself.”
I licked my lips and shifted up on my knees. Samuel was a fit and tightly muscled male and unlike him, I had not resisted the urge to gaze in passing. I knew well what awaited me.
I pulled off his shoes and socks and tossed them over my shoulder. Gathering the leather of his belt, I loosened it and freed it from its buckle. After the button and zipper were taken care of, I slid his slacks down his legs.
My fingers caressed the fine dusting of dark hair which followed the contours of his muscular chest and down further. “Mika calls this the treasure trail.”
He chuckled, watching me trace the line until I reached the juncture between his thighs. His erection stood thick, the tip glistening with moisture. The sight of him sent a shimmering bolt of energy through my body and stole my breath.
Samuel became eerily still.
“Is this all right?” I asked, pulling back my touch. “Have I overstepped?”
He shook his head, his diamond eyes glittering. “More than all right. Go ahead. I’m good.”
My hands glided from his knees, splayed over the tops of his thighs until they met at the juncture of his pelvis. His skin was soft and warm, not smooth like a Highborne. “Your body hair tickles my fingers. It is incredibly stimulating.”
“Good. Stimulating is good.”
Working my courage up, I drew a deep breath and closed my fingers around Samuel’s arousal. His hips surged forward as the length of him bucked in my grip. His head dropped back. Despite my inexperience he seemed rapt. My body tingled, heated with an urgency which claimed my insides.
“What do I do to increase your pleasure, Samuel?”
He moaned. His hips rolled, as his hand closed over mine. “Here, like this.” His hand guided mine from base to tip, slowly, oh so slowly. He made the most wonderful noises when my thumb lingered at the small opening at the crown.
“Ye’ll have to stop that, darlin’.”
“Why? I enjoy touching you.”
Samuel’s stomach flexed under my ministrations, the dim light of the lanterns catching the ridges of his physique. His hand came down on mine and he choked out a rough laugh. “I’m glad about that, but yer going to make me come and it’s far too early yet to get there.”
“Do you mean release?” My confidence bolstered. My touch aroused him. I controlled his pleasure. “Are you nearing your release?”
“It’s more than near, Luv. I’m biting it back with every ounce of strength I’ve got.”
“Why ever for?”
He cupped my jaw and ran his thumb over my bottom lip. “Because, this moment is about you, my sweet lass. Let me show you how wonderful it can feel to be a worshiped female. You can play more after. I promise.”
One thing I learned weeks and months ago—Samuel kept his promises. “Very well, but we shall return to this soon.”
“Soon,” he said.
I laid down beside him and tugged on him to cover my body. Ignoring my invitation, he remained on his side. Facing me, he pulled my leg to drape over his hip and shifted closer. Closing the gap between our two bodies, the heat of his flesh pooled against my belly.
“Again, if ye need to stop or slow down, ye swear ye’ll tell me, aye?”
I cupped his jaw, the stubble of his day’s growth a seductive prickle against my palm. Close like this, the rich scent of him drove me to wanton madness. “I welcome your touch. I welcome everything you and I share.”
His lips against mine were gentle, exploring, sweeping me away into dreamy contentment.
I sank my fingers
into his hair. Soft. So incredibly soft. He growled into my mouth as I raked my nails against the back of his skull. He nipped at my bottom lip, teasing, coersing. The wet heat of his tongue swept against the seam of my lips.
I allowed him entrance into my mouth.
The swordplay of our tongues hit me right between my thighs. I fisted my hand in his hair. Kissing Samuel was a pleasure in itself. He was playful and affectionate. His hunger enveloped me yet he refused to be rushed.
Tight in his embrace, his hands roamed a seductive circuit down the valley of my lower back and over the curves of my backside. With each returning caress, his fingers came achingly close to brushing my core.
The pulsing of my wanton made me feel bold and aggressive. Desperate. “You are driving me to madness. Please, Samuel, I ache for you.”
He smiled, his lips returning to mine. “And where do ye ache my beautiful lass?” He drew his finger down the side of my neck and across my collarbone. “Here?”
I bit his lip, my agitation growing. “Lower.”
His ebony brow arched and he eased back a bit to watch me. “Lower, the lady says.” His hand swept down my shoulder to the gem design on my breast. The warmth of his palm cupped the mound as his thumb brushed and fondled the tip. “Here? Do yer breasts ache for me? Shall I focus here?”
He was enjoying himself far too much. Did he not know how I yearned for him? “That would be glorious, but I need you lower still.”
His manly growl had another flood of warmth moistening my core. My back arched and I stiffened. Samuel’s smile faltered. “Are ye all right?”
I pushed my breast harder into his palm and moaned at the zing of sensation it sent through my body. “I am having a problem in my most private parts. My body weeps for you, yet you take no notice.”
“Oh, I noticed.” His palm slid down my belly and cupped my mons. “It’s exactly where I want ye to be. Wet and aching for me—Oh Christ,” he gasped and his hips rocked against me. “I forgot ye’d be bare.”
“And is that good?”
He bent forward to capture my lips again as he curled a finger through the silk of my sex. “Yer burning alive . . . and yes, everything about ye is good.”
His fingers circled and stroked. Lightning tingled beneath my skin, building, consuming. My hips arched upward. He slid a finger inside me and I groaned into his mouth. How could a simple touch make me feel this much?
I squirmed, pushing against his fingers, a pressure growing inside me. “What is happening to me, Samuel?”
“It’s your release. Remember the pleasure yer touch gave me? This is how it feels.”
I meant to respond but had no idea how to speak. My mind was a blur of erotic sensations and scents. It was naïve to think I knew what sex with Samuel would be like. He had experience and I knew nothing. He had been with females who knew their bodies and minds.
What if he needed more from a female than I could be?
“Lia? Stay with me. Are ye all right?” His hand stilled, his fingers retreating. “Do ye need to stop?”
I wanted to cry at the injustice of losing the sensation, of doubting this perfect moment. “Stop asking me that. Do you ask that of all your lovers? Am I so broken you cannot simply be lost in the moment?”
The sting of his hand on my bare backside stole my thought. His spank was not hard, yet shocked me to silence.
“I told ye, not to speak about yerself so. Yer not broken. Not unworthy. How in the two realms did we get from me pleasuring ye back to that?”
Strangely, the sting of hand on flesh brought a new pulse to my wanton. “We are there because I want you inside me. Not preparing me. Not gauging me. You said you desire me, yet you make no move to join with me. If I were a female seducing you from the Hearthstone or one of your warrior lovers, would you be so cautious? I think not.”
Samuel’s grip pulled me over his chest. In a blur, his feet came between my ankles and spread my legs. The crown of his erection, pulsed and prodded at my damp core. Gripping me by my hips, he undulated his body, easing inside me until I doubted I could take any more of him.
“Christ yer an infuriating female. I told ye, yer perfect. Courageous. And passionate. I cannae help but want to protect ye. It’s my instinct. It’s what I was born to do.”
My head kicked back as he filled me to my limits. His hips rose, burying inside me to the root. He pushed my shoulders until I sat straddled over his hips. He lifted me a few inches and brought me down firmly as he thrust upward.
I cried out.
“Never mistake my concern for thinking ye weak or lacking. Yer the feckin’ air I breathe. And if ye need me to bed ye rough a hundred times to prove it, be ready to stay in bed tomorrow, cause ye’ll be too sore to get out of it.”
I was lost.
“Lia, stop thinking so damned much and let yerself sink into me.” Slipping his hand beneath my hair, he pulled my lips to his. Kissing me in earnest, his tongue penetrated my mouth in the same aggressive rhythm as his hips rose and bucked beneath me. His hands returned to my thighs, his gripping fingers guiding me up and down as sensations built inside me.
I soon learned the way of things, the rhythms, where he liked to be caressed and when he preferred the scrape of my nails to the soft pads of my fingers. Sex was heady. Surprising. It brought me to a place both powerful and vulnerable.
Sweat covered us, mixed our scents together between our bodies as I rode him. Samuel’s thumb stroked the sensitive nerves at the base of our joining and I gasped.
I dug my nails into Samuel’s shoulders as I ground down. My chest tightened as the muscles in my legs began to quiver.
“Yes, that’s it. Let the sensations explode within you. Set them free. Ride me. Take from me.”
The demand rolled off Samuel’s tongue like warm honey. I trembled as everything around me blanked out. I cried out, writhing over him. It was bliss. And oblivion. It was throbbing triumph. And a loss that it was over. My body clenched and pulsed around him as I uttered Elvish nonsense.
Samuel hips bucked harder, his grip on my thighs verging on painful. I did not care. The small fissure of discomfort was worth the way his body came alive beneath me. His breath escaped in a rough hitch as he stiffened. His muscles clenched taut, his chest rising and falling under the strain of his own release. I had always thought Samuel a handsome male, but him in the throes of orgasm was a beautiful sight.
How could anyone survive a sensation like this? How was it even possible?
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Samuel was out. Completely. Blissfully. Out. His soft breathing created a gentle rise and fall of his arm where it lay on his chest. I gave thanks that Elves needed half the sleep of humans, for the extra hours of quiet gave me time to sit in the reading chair across the room and memorize him as he slept. His lean strength, his ridges and curves, and the way his expression relaxed in slumber.
Despite Zophia hoping to hold the Fates off for a week or more, they might well call me to appear at any time. And her lay Samuel—the mate my heart had chosen. And though he had threatened to bed me rough a hundred times until I learned my worth, he had tended to me most thoroughly and then insisted I get some rest.
Samuel rolled onto his side. The sheet dragged across his hip, working hard to cover his essentials. His arm reached up and flopped to the pillow above his head, elongating his position. Another shift and the sheet would be irrelevant.
Simply breathtaking.
A feminine gasp had me turning.
Gemma’s tongue dragged across her upper lip as she skipped to my side. This is new, she whispered, though being a spirit, there was no need for the precaution. Have you ever had a boy-girl-sleepover before?
I giggled, trying not to wake him. “No, this is a first.”
Gemma tiptoed to the bedside and peered over Samuel’s prone body. The bed frame was a bit too high for her to get a good view, so she floated off the ground a foot. Is it totally inappropriate to say your boyfriend makes me want to�
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“Yes,” I said, shooting her a look. “Please keep your thoughts to yourself.”
Just sayin’, that body could give a girl a serious case of the swoons. Gemma shrugged and took the seat opposite me. Speaking of male hotness, is your blond Highborne friend single? Think I might have a chance there?
I rolled my eyes. “Well, he was unmated when he was killed and I doubt death has presented him with a vast dating pool. I assume his status remains the same.”
And he’s a good guy?
“One of the best males you could ever meet. He is fun, loving and a true gem.”
Gemma’s mouth curled in an uneven grin. Fun, a gem, and super sexy. Sounds like a destiny trifecta to me.
The shuffle of sheets silenced our conversation. Strong hands searched beneath the sheets. When Samuel found nothing, his eyes opened and found me in the small sitting area. “Good morning. Did ye sleep all right?”
“Very well and you?”
He curled his finger in the air and tossed the sheet back. His erection thick and ready. “Slept like the dead but woke with a wee issue I need yer help with.”
“Wee ye say?” I said, imitating his speech. I rose from the chair and hoped Gemma would take the hint and leave. “I beg to differ with ye on that one, Celt.”
Gemma clamped her hand over her mouth and burst into hysterics. Wow. Big day in the life of you, eh girlfriend? Okay, I’m outtie, but I want details later. Lots of details.
Thankfully, Gemma jogged through the wall as I strode back to the bed. “I slept soundly and am deliciously sore. Oh, that we could stay in this bed for days.”
He chuckled and kissed my collarbone. “If that’s what ye want, I’m game.”
I shook my head. “No, we have plans. No time to be lazing about having sex.”
“An that’s a pity—”
The knock on the door was loud and offensive.
“Lia? You awake?” Bruin asked from the hall. “Breakfast has come and gone. Did you still want to work on self-defense with me and Cowboy?”
I giggled as Samuel flicked my nipple with the tip of his tongue. “Apologies, Bruin. It slipped my mind. Do you mind if we meet up later?”