“There is a connection between us.” That tic started in his jaw. “It is special amongst my people. An honor. When two people are able to share themselves through such a connection.”
Holy alien cooties! He’d infected me with their unique brand of crazy. “Unplug us or whatever. I didn’t agree to any kind of ‘connection’ with you. I told you I’m not a damn piece of property! You are invading my privacy.”
He gripped my thighs, pushing them apart to make room for himself. I couldn’t stop him even if I wanted to, with my stupid body still not working right. I tipped my head back, pissed off that he had outmaneuvered me. His fingers trailed along my cheek, leaving my skin tingling in their wake. Damn sexy bastard!
The temptation to lean into that touch was almost overwhelming. His fingers tangled in the hair at the base of my neck, and he gently pulled my head back. His other hand traveled up my thigh and around my waist to rest on my lower back. Then he brought my hips up against his. I balanced precariously on the muscular arm against my back as I flailed about searching to find purchase. The smug bastard left me with no choice but to cling to him. Gripping his shoulders, I wrapped my legs around his waist.
A menacing smile crossed his face as he bared his teeth and said, “There is no unplugging. And I will invade you in any way I see fit. Possession is nine-tenths of the law, so they say. Should I wish it, you would be locked away in this tower for eternity.”
“Like hell!” I thrashed against him. “I am not your possession.”
He tightened his grip on me, pulling me more firmly into him. Then leaned over me until he was inches from my face and growled, “I have watched you die this day. Do not think to fight me on something we both know to be true.”
Bennett’s mouth slammed down on mine. His lips stole any further protests and replaced my fury with a different kind of heat. It sank beneath my skin at every point we touched and settled low in my belly. My fingers tangled in his damp hair, giving the locks a tug. He grunted against my lips.
Suddenly, wind whistled all around us and had my mouth not been occupied in other ways I probably would have screamed. Then my back hit a wall. Bennett released my mouth momentarily to gaze down at me. The air around him pulsed with an intense need that made my skin buzz. “Stay with me this night.”
Could I? Yes.
Should I? Most definitely not.
This man wrecked my composure and brought things out of me I never knew I could feel. So why did I find my lips forming the word “yes”?
He lowered me until my feet touched the floor, and then turned me to face the wall. His hands traveled down the tight leather encasing my hips and around to my rear to give it a squeeze. His nimble fingers made quick work of my corset ties, and it fell with a damp clatter to the floor. The rest of my clothes were peeled from me slowly as he kissed every inch of exposed skin.
My forehead rested against the wall, my hands balling into fists as I shifted my stance, trying to ease the ache that had settled at my core. Bennett pressed against me, his hard, naked body covering mine from head to toe. His fingers twined with mine as he pulled our hands up above my head and pressed them to the wall, silently telling me what he wanted.
He nudged my feet apart and curled his hands around to my front to tug at both of my nipples, eliciting a moan from me. His hands dropped down to my hips where he traced along my groin before plunging two fingers into me without warning. Yes! A gasp of pleasure escaped my parted lips as lightning shot through my body. His fingers slipped from me, and I whimpered in protest. His cock pushed between my thighs to rub me. My wetness coated him and a rumbling sound like a purring lion came from behind me.
“Brace yourself, asteràki. I need to be inside you now,” Bennett said gruffly as he placed a kiss between my shoulder blades.
My fists clenched against the wall as I felt him nudge against my opening. He felt impossibly large as the head of his cock pushed into me. I squirmed against his relentless invasion, and a loud crack split the air as his hand landed on my ass cheek. The stinging sensation only added to my excitement. “Take me, Lia. Let me feel the tight warmth of your embrace.”
Need clawed inside me so intensely I was sure I would combust. An eternity seemed to pass as he slowly worked himself inside me. My fist pounded at the wall as I bit my lip. The urge to push back and take him all the way had me fighting against the pressure of his hold on my hips. His hand landed once more. Smack! Oh god, yes! That was almost enough to push me over. “Do you feel me, Lia?” He pressed a kiss between my shoulder blades when I felt him bottom out. “Do you feel how your body takes me perfectly? This is who we are. Pieces of a puzzle that fit together perfectly.”
He pulled out slowly, hitting every pleasure point as if he had a roadmap. Then he moved back into me just as slowly. His torturous pace had me keening with need. My nipples felt impossibly tight. My core was on fire. If he would just move! His hands traveled around to cup my breasts, and I hissed as his fingers grasped my hard peaks.
“Tell me,” he said. “What do you feel when I do this?” When I didn’t answer right away, he slammed into me. “What about this?”
The breath exploded from my lungs, and I dropped my head against the wall, panting. Need pulsed through every nerve ending. My palm slammed against the wall as he held motionless inside me. My hips twitched, trying to move on him. So close. Just a little more. He pressed me flat against the wall. “Ahhh. Move. You bastard.” A wail of frustration left me. “I’m going to kill you if you don’t move!”
He only chuckled and nipped my earlobe, spiking my need even higher. I tightened around him where we were joined. Bennett’s quickly drawn breath brought a smile of smug satisfaction. He withdrew and rubbed against my butt. “Should I leave you like this, Lia? Wet and wanting while I spill my seed on your beautiful bottom?”
“No, damn you!” I cried out. “I-I feel heat and fullness. I feel like lightning bolts are zinging through my veins straight to my core every time you move. Like my heart could explode at any moment, and I wouldn’t care as long as you keep touching me. Is that what you wanted, you bastard? Is that enough?”
“For now.” He pressed the head of his penis against my back opening. My cheeks clenched involuntarily at his double meaning. He eased us away from the wall and pulled me flush against his chest. He tugged my hair until I rested my head against his shoulder and turned my face up to him. Dark eyes rimmed in light blue stared back at me, seeming to pulse in time with the heavy thud of his heart against my back.
Another pair of eyes that were an explosion of supernovas flashed through my mind. Then Bennett kissed my lips tenderly, and the image was lost. My moan whispered against his lips as he slammed back into me once more. The frantic pace rocketed me into an orgasm as I pried my lips from his to cry out his name. Slumping against him, my shaky legs could no longer hold my weight. He slipped from me and hoisted me up into his arms. I got a brief glimpse of his bedroom as he carried me across the room.
No wonder he was always popping up unexpectedly. He could teleport. These Paldimori and their powers were scarily amazing. I would definitely have to put a bell on him.
Bennett lay me gently down on his bed and settled between my thighs. He took my hand and wrapped it around his shaft. He let me explore him for a moment before he grunted and wrapped his hand around mine to still my movements. “Do you accept me, Jillian Nova Davies?” He searched my eyes as he used our joined hands to place himself at my opening. I tried to pull him into me, but he held still. “You must say the words as you take me, Lia. Say ‘I accept you, Bennett Theo Young.’”
I growled at him. Literally growled. My grip tightened as we worked together to slide him into me one inch at a time. “Yes! I accept you. You demanding . . . oh . . . orgasm-withholding-ass, Bennett Theo Young.”
He laughed triumphantly as he finally slid all the way inside me. The blue around his eyes pulsed brighter as he slowly leaned down to take my lips. Finally, he started to move. The pleasu
re built slowly, but soon we were both covered in sweat. The tingling started in my toes and moved up my body as I neared the precipice. My hips rocked up impatiently to meet him, making him groan.
Bennett rolled us until I straddled him. Wasting no time, I set a faster pace, racing headlong to my pleasure. Damn this man, I couldn’t get enough of him. Our eyes locked and I stared in fascination as the blue rings started to bleed inward toward his pupils. The air around us felt charged with electricity. Every time I impaled myself upon him a spark seemed to ignite within me that had me hovering on the razor’s edge of release. He brought one hand up between my breasts and pressed the other between my shoulder blades. A kaleidoscope burst behind my eyes as I tripped over the edge into bliss. Bennett’s warmth spilled inside me as he grunted his own release.
My eyes drifted slowly open to find in his a full explosion of the cosmos as he whispered, “Body of my body. Soul of my soul. We are one.”
27
The afternoon sun shone brightly through the plane window as I looked out at the fluffy white clouds below. I sipped from my water bottle, ignoring the meal on the tray in front of me. My thumb rubbed absently at the ring on my finger as my thoughts drifted back once again to the morning.
Waking to the heat of Bennett’s body pressed along my spine had been a glorious feeling. My left leg draped over his thigh, his calloused fingers caressing my skin. Shifting back against him had been all the encouragement he’d needed to sink inside me. We had made slow, silent love, letting our hands and lips map each other’s bodies. We’d found our release together as we watched the first rays of sunlight pour across the sky from the wall of windows in his bedroom. He had silently held me in his arms until our breathing slowed and the sweat on our bodies started to cool.
I was sinking toward sleep when his gruff voice stated, “You are leaving.”
“What?” Wide-awake now, and with a sinking sensation settling in my stomach, I pulled myself into a sitting position against the headboard. “What are you talking about?”
“You cannot stay on the island.” He got out of the bed to pull on his pants. His carefully blank expression when he turned back to me cut me to the core. “You must leave now before everyone wakes. The fewer people that know you are still alive, the better.”
That was the condescending voice of Chaos, the arrogant leader of the Paldimori that I had met that first night. My heart squeezed painfully. Why was he doing this? If he wanted to get rid of me, why ask me to stay the night? His expression said clearly that our time together had been a cheap thrill that had now grown tiresome. Grabbing the sheet, I wrapped it around my naked body as I shot out of the bed we had made love in only minutes before.
My throat burned with unshed tears, feeling too tight to form words. My shoulders were rigid as I walked over to the wall of windows. Don’t you dare cry! He isn’t worth it.
He had been so attentive and understanding the night I told him about my parents. Each time we made love he had claimed me as his own and wrenched that same confession from me. He had believed in me and brought me back to the world of the living. He had made me lo—No, it wasn’t that! I didn’t love him—this was just sex. Amazing sex.
“I thought you said I was a warrior that needed to use my sword?”
Rustling sounded behind me as he pulled on the rest of his clothes. “I was wrong. You are an artist. What would you know of wielding swords?” His tone dripped with contempt. “I will make the arrangements for your departure. Grayson and the others must be seen mourning your loss, to avoid suspicion.”
I pulled the sheet tighter around myself like armor to deflect his callous dismissal. My shovel was poised to bury this and start a new section of my lonely highway. No, not anymore. Mentally I pitched the shovel aside. I wasn’t going to locking myself away again because of a man. Besides I was here to win the prize and there were five more chances. I turned to face him. “No.”
His gaze swept over me and for a moment I thought I saw relief written there. Then his expression hardened as he stalked toward me, his hair a wild mess. My fingers twitched as I remembered running them through that soft hair. That was over. Lust wasn’t going to control me.
“You have no choice, Potential Davies.” Bennett growled. “I am the law here.”
“I came here for a reason,” I said as I crossed my arms and planted my feet. “And I’m not leaving until I complete the Games.”
He stepped right up against me, making my traitorous body tremble in reaction to his nearness. I checked my instinct to step back and stood my ground. His dark eyes blazed down at me in fury that I would dare defy him. “You will be on that plane if I have to carry you there myself.”
“You’re done with me, fine. Message received. I didn’t come here for you. I came here for me.” I pushed past him. “Now get out of my way. I need to get to training.”
He grabbed my arm and before I knew what was happening, we had been swept away. The times before when he had teleported me, I had been too distracted to pay attention. This time I experienced it all. It was like riding a rocket into outer space without a suit. The wind whipped by at a dizzying speed. The breath was sucked from my lungs. My body felt like it was ready to break apart into a million pieces.
We came to a halt seconds later, and I stumbled into him. My stomach churned as I struggled to regain my balance. He held me to him as he whispered against my hair in that lilting language of his. Forcing down the bile trying to choke me, I pushed away from him. Gripping my spinning head, it took me a moment to realize we were in my bedroom on my floor of the tower. Eros watched us with a smug smile as he leaned against one of the nymph statues near the bed.
His gaze filled with appreciation as he took in my disheveled state. Then his brows pulled down in puzzlement, his eyes darting back and forth between us. He squinted at me. Then abruptly straightened from his position. “Holy shit-bagel sandwich. What were you thinking, brother? Or maybe I should ask what you were thinking with.”
I would have laughed at Eros using a Molly-ism if all my energy hadn’t been focused on not throwing up. Ignoring them both, I went to the bathroom. Taking small sips of cold water from the sink to settle my stomach, I silently hoped Bennett would leave. After a quick shower, I pulled on my workout gear. He thought I wasn’t a warrior. Well, time to prove him wrong.
Bennett was alone when I walked out. We stared at each other across the room, each of us determined to get our way. None of his emotions or thoughts were filtering through to me. Mine were locked down tight as well. He wouldn’t get any free ammo from me. Bennett approached me and took my hand in his. I wanted to pull away, but I was done letting him see how strongly he affected me. He gazed into my eyes, his own doing the pulsing thing again as he slipped something onto my finger. That lilting language poured from his lips again as his hands cupped mine. Then he walked away.
That had been too easy. Something was wrong. I glanced down at the weight on my finger. And rubbed over the smooth surface of the black ring. Beneath the clear top layer, a blue-black mountainous terrain glimmered. I don’t know how long I had been standing there before Eros came to get me. Eros refused to tell me about the ring but warned me not to take it off. Assuming it was another piece of protective jewelry, I let it go. This time I would make damn sure to keep it on.
We headed off to training. Or so I thought.
That assumption was rectified as soon as we stepped off the elevator into the hallway I had first walked down after we landed. That sneaky ass jerkwad had let me believe I had won, only to have Eros do his dirty work. My fist pounded the Up button, but nothing happened. Shit! It required a key to open the doors at this level.
Eros leaned against the wall and crossed his arms looking amused as I cussed and kicked the elevator door until I ran out of steam. Using my nonexistent flirting skills didn’t help either. Apparently whatever pheromones I had been giving off when I first arrived had worn off. Eros laughed his ass off. After which he had the nerve to
ask how I had ever managed to get a date. The kick to his shin provided some short-lived satisfaction.
With no other alternative, I reluctantly walked to the airplane. Turning to Eros, I held my hand out to him. “You’re just as bad as he is,” Eros snorted. “Stubborn and determined to get your way. Luckily, you both have me. No, no, don’t thank me. The entertainment of seeing you two trying to figure it out has been reward enough. Thank you for keeping me from dying of boredom.”
“Glad I could entertain you.” I grimaced. “You do know if I don’t win the money from the Games that I’m going to lose my business? Likely my home too, since I won’t be able to pay my bills. I need to go back, Eros.”
“Bad call on his part. Always check your sources,” Eros said not at all surprised about my situation. “Anyway, I think you might find that things are not quite as you left them in Port Lawson.” Then he pulled me in for a hug and whispered near my ear. “This is not the end, Lia. Take care of yourself. Until we meet again, may the gods guide you and look favorably upon you.”
What did that mean? I shrugged it off. “Thank you. I really am going to miss you even if you are a perv.” We laughed. “Please take care of Molly. She needs someone now, and I can’t be there for her. If you ever get the chance, can you tell her that I’m still alive? You know her; she’s going to want to hunt someone down for all of this. I don’t want her to put herself in danger. And if either of you are ever in the neighborhood, I hope you’ll stop by.”
He nodded. I turned to head toward the plane when I felt a smack on my butt. “Ouch! What the hell?”
Eros winked at me. Perv! I jabbed my elbow back, catching him in the stomach.
“Omph! Sorry, sorry. Couldn’t resist. You know how I feel about your ass. You’re wearing yoga pants again, that’s practically an invitation.” Then he suddenly stumbled forward, rubbing his hand along the back of his head. “Ow, damn it! As I said, just alike.”
Paldimori Gods Rising Box Set Page 23