by A. C. James
“Of course,” he said slowly. “But…Toren.”
“Is sleeping in his chamber.” I flicked my tongue across my teeth.
“Katarina, I cannot.”
“Are you certain?” I asked, a cunning smile curving my lips.
I’d come too far to take no for an answer, and the challenge only made me want him more. I pulled my hair loose and the curls spilled down my back, which I arched so that my breasts jutted forward. The effect made Arie groan, a husky, deep sound that vibrated his chest where I had placed my hand for balance as I perched above him. Then I took his hands in mine, placing them on my breasts, holding them in place and urged him to squeeze. I released his hands and he let go, still trying to resist, but with the way he was looking at me I could tell he was losing that particular fight.
I leaned down, pressing my mouth to his. The tip of my tongue pried his lips open; at first he wouldn’t kiss me back, but as I tugged on his bottom lip with my teeth, his arms wrapped around me. He pulled me deeper into the kiss. Arie crushed my body against his, and for a moment it was like coming home—at least, the only home that either of us had ever known. Yet I hated admitting that I shared anything in common with her, even with the churning of our thoughts into one singular stream of consciousness.
-Why are you with him? You don’t love him.-
I broke the kiss and pressed my finger to his mouth, even though his words had come through telepathically. “No.”
“Then why?”
Instead of giving him an answer that would be inadequate and spoil my plan to seduce him, I reached down and grabbed the rock-hard length between his legs. Easy enough. It would keep him quiet. “Does it matter now?”
Arie closed his eyes. “No.”
I kissed him hard and pumped him through the fabric. His hips arched off the bed, and his hands fisted against the cover. I knew then that I had him, and that he’d let me take whatever I wanted. Scrambling onto my knees, I pulled off his drawers while he kicked his legs to assist with the process. Pre-cum glistened on his tip, and I bent, my tongue darting out to lap it up. I paused just long enough to ascertain that he wasn’t about to stop me anytime soon, and smiled triumphantly. Then I bent my head and lapped at the underside of his massive cock before engulfing the bulbous head as I planted both hands on his thighs. I pressed my fingers into the muscled mass of his tree-trunk-like legs.
“Katarina…”
“Yes?”
I wanted to close my eyes to somehow block out the vision and for a second I tried to hold my breath, even though that had never worked before. I had to watch my hand glide up and down as my head began a slow bob, taking more and more of him into my eager throat. Hollowing my cheeks, I sucked, giving him a long sensuous kiss, taking every inch of him into my mouth. My knees were pressed against his outer thighs, which were elongated and tense, just like other parts of his body. Then I released him and craned my neck to throw him my wickedest grin. With excruciating slowness I lowered my head again and massaged the underside of his shaft with my tongue. Then I rose slowly, pausing to let my tongue swirl around his head before releasing him.
I leaned in with my mouth close to his ear, my voice breathy. “Tell me, is this what you wanted?”
Arie groaned. “Yes.”
“Yes, what?”
He grabbed a handful of my hair. “I want you. I’ve wanted you since the first moment I saw you. You don’t belong to me, but you can’t stop now. I can’t stop.”
Yes.
Then he pulled me in so he could run his tongue along the edge my earlobe, his teeth nibbling a line all the way down to my neck.
I shuddered and repositioned myself between his legs, sucking him in earnest now. Lapping around the throbbing crown, then up and down his shaft, gave me intense satisfaction as I peered up at him. Even though I was on the bottom, it was a position of complete control. Bobbing up and down, I took more of his cock each time. And I could tell by the way he gripped the cover that he was fighting the urge to grab my hair and unload down my throat.
Not yet.
Getting him to the edge and keeping him there would distract him enough that he might not notice Toren as he stepped into the room. As if on cue, a surge of telepathy hit me.
-Ready?-
I stopped sucking him and leaned up. Disappointment was written clearly on Arie’s face when I stopped giving my attention to his erection.
“Tell me again that you want me. I need to hear it.”
“You know I do.”
“Do I?”
“I only want you. No one else.”
From this vantage point it was hard to measure how I felt; part of me couldn’t stand to watch, but another part of me, the part that felt everything that was happening to her was happening to me, couldn’t stop or look away. Although I never imagined that he could’ve looked at anyone else the way he looked at me. What we had was rare and precious, and went beyond the bedroom. To consider that he’d had that with someone else was enough to tear me apart.
“Then we’re ready,” I said.
Arie’s smile was open. This was the tipping point, and I knew there would be no return.
“Ready for what?”
“For a night that you’ll never forget.”
And that was Toren’s signal, so I lowered my head and continued bobbing with a steady motion to keep Arie occupied, keep him focused on what I was doing. His eyes were closed again when I sensed Toren enter the room. Toren touched my hip, and I got on all fours as I continued to take Arie in my mouth. I loved the taste of him. One finger entered me from behind, and then two, before Toren began sliding them in and out. The buzzing in my head intensified and it sounded like an engine. Perhaps it was the engine of a plane, or maybe a rocket about to lift off. I couldn’t think anymore, not with my head bouncing up and down on Arie, and Toren’s hands separating the folds of my sex.
A moan rose in my throat around Arie’s shaft, and he froze. I continued my fast up-and-down rhythm, bobbing, bobbing, bobbing as I suctioned my lips around him. But when I looked up, Arie’s eyes were open and locked on a position behind me. He’d finally realized that Toren was in his chamber, and fury fired in those wintery eyes. When he looked down at me I could tell that he knew this had been my plan all along. In that moment fury dissolved into hurt, but I didn’t care because this was what I had always wanted. Since the day I’d met the both of them, this was how I’d needed it.
Fast and rough.
“Pull her hair a bit, she likes it like that,” Toren said
Arie’s breath hissed as he inhaled deeply. As I kept moving my mouth, the hurt seemed to fade into something I didn’t understand, and he grabbed my hair and fucked my face. Even the part of me buried beneath Katarina’s desires, the part that should have been protesting this, wanted the wild ride of his cock sliding in and out of my mouth, of him driving into me with abandon.
I watched the whole thing unfold with a sort of horrified wonder. My heart ached for both of them because in the end I knew how crazy she’d been. I’d had a front row seat to her demise. And now I knew she never loved either of them, not really. She’d played them both, and she’d been the final straw that had come between them. Tears welled in my eyes, but I couldn’t see past the cock filling my mouth. And I didn’t want to see past it, as a light tugging sensation tingled across my scalp.
Toren’s cock easily slid into my wet and ready channel. “Is this what you wanted?”
All I could manage was an awkward nod because Arie was in my mouth. I rocked back onto his shaft, taking him to the hilt. Yes, this is what I want. I could reach back and feel Toren’s balls and his wet cock as it slid in and out of me. I set the tempo and rocked back and forth on his shaft, matching the motion of my head bobbing up and down. Arie was holding back; I could feel it. Toren flexed inside of me and I paused as the orgasm rolled over me.
My breasts swayed underneath me as Toren continued to piston his shaft in and out of my pussy. I could see how this
wasn’t for everyday, but it could be addictive if you let it be. Was that her thought? Toren was the only family that Arie had left, and I didn’t want him. Did I? It was impossible to make sense of it while Toren drove my whole body forward so that my mouth went a little bit deeper on Arie’s shaft every time he thrust his hips. Fuck me. His hands were holding my hips in place as he rode me from behind. The motion was eddying, its circular path hitting just the right place, and another orgasm hit me in waveform. My whole body shook and I moaned around Arie’s throbbing length filling my mouth.
That was enough to take Arie over the edge, and he came hard, his saltiness jetting down the back of my throat.
“Oh, Kat…”
I caught him looking at Toren over my shoulder with an odd sort of expression that was mixed with anger. I wouldn’t be the one to tell him that the anger was entirely misdirected, because I’d been the one who initiated this. I’d pursued it like a conquest and had taken it with feminine charms rather than using the brute strength that men used on the battlefield. There were much better ways to get what you wanted, that didn’t require bloodshed.
I felt a little like throwing up, but that lock-eyed stare, filled with so much anger, was enough that Toren came and kept pounding until every last drop spilled inside of me.
Then I really did feel like tossing my cookies when I woke to find myself back on the plane, resting on Toren’s shoulder.
Chapter 13
A rocky patch of turbulence had jarred me from the erotic vision, which had definitely been a TMI moment. There were some things that were better left to the imagination, and I’d rather not have known about the awkward threesome that Katarina had manipulated Arie into. Especially not when I was stuck on a plane sitting next to Toren. And worse than that, I woke up to discover that I’d shifted while I slept so that my head was nuzzled into his side and his arm had slid around me.
My body stiffened.
“Have a good nap, darlin’?”
I jerked upward. “Uh, sorry. I didn’t mean to use you as a pillow.”
Toren removed his arm, and we were once again in our roomy first-class seats, thankfully separated by an armrest. It was still too close for me; heat spread across my cheeks so that my face resembled a stop sign. I looked out the window, into the clouds, and hoped he wouldn’t notice.
“So, what were you dreaming about?”
“Huh? I usually don’t remember my dreams,” I lied.
“Hmmm, you were making the cutest little noises.”
He kept staring at me, those green eyes seeing straight through my bullshit. I figured shocking him with the truth might be the best way to get him to drop it.
“So you shared Katarina?” I asked as I crossed my arms.
He laughed. “Oh, so that’s why you were making those breathy sighs and cute little half moans—that explains it.”
Does nothing ever shock him?
I sighed. Well, now that it was out there, I had to know one thing. “Was that an ongoing relationship with the three of you or a one-time deal?”
“You’d think you’d know that about someone you were engaged to.”
“When did you find out? You weren’t there when he proposed, but I suppose you could have been eavesdropping.”
“I didn’t have to, darlin’. Not when you fall asleep half on top of me and I can see straight down your shirt. Why not just wear it?”
I looked away. “You know why.”
“No, I really don’t know. I could care less about what either of you do or don’t do. I’m out of here as soon as we find this Daeveena and get her to give him his memories back. Then you two can move on with your happy lives.”
He sounded bitter.
“Well I certainly wasn’t trying to spare your feelings. It doesn’t feel right to wear something that he can’t remember giving me.”
“Then why did you say yes?”
“Why do you think? Why does anyone say yes?”
“Because they’re idiots,” he scoffed.
-They believe in true love… It might as well be a unicorn.-
“You’re not going to stick around because you’re afraid,” I said.
“I’m not afraid of anything.” He tossed back the rest of his beer.
“You are...you’re terrified of getting too close.”
“And what if it wasn’t a one-time thing?” he asked.
“Excuse me?”
“Me, her, and Arie. What if the three of us had a relationship? Would you still want to marry him?”
“Of course,” I said automatically. “You accept someone regardless of their past. It doesn’t matter what came before me. The only thing that matters is us.”
“Don’t you want to know what it’s like? Aren’t you the slightest bit curious to know what it feels like?”
I could hear my heart pounding. I shook my head. “No.”
“Liar. I heard the noises you were making. You made the same sounds upstairs with my brother. You know you want it, but you’re too afraid to admit what you want.”
He had a smug, self-satisfied look on his face that made me want to smack him.
“I can admit that, yes, it turned me on. Okay? But that doesn’t mean that’s what I want.”
“If you were mine I could give that to you. Give you what you need.”
“Then you don’t know what I need or want.”
-You want the same thing that every woman wants. You want someone who can help you face your dark desires and take you places you’ve never been.-
I shook my head and put my ear buds back in, cranking the music, and then looked out the window. I wanted to be loved, plain and simple, and I didn’t need anything else. Toren was completely wrong about me. My desires weren’t dark, and the only person I wanted to explore them with was Arie. It had always been Arie, and no matter what happened in New York, I wasn’t about to give up.
The captain came on and told everyone to make sure their seats were in an upright and locked position. He talked about the weather at LaGuardia Airport and gave the local time. I could feel the plane begin its final descent, and I clutched the armrests. Toren smirked at me, but I ignored him. I didn’t care. I’d struck a nerve, so now he’d be even more of a jerk than he usually was. Considering his usual disposition ranged from cheeky to outright smartass, it wouldn’t make much of a difference. There would be no comforting words from him as our plane made contact with the runway. That suited me just fine.
* * *
We landed at LaGuardia and took a cab over to the Marriott. The four of us had checked into the hotel just so that we would have a base of operations while tracking Daeveena’s whereabouts. Toren was looking out the window, and still seemed irritated that I had called him on his weakness. He hadn’t said more than two words to me since we got off the plane. Rue had picked up a map of the city from a convenience store; she’d made the cab driver stop as soon as she spotted the stand. I figured she thought it would come in handy in case we had to do another locator spell.
Arie, on the other hand, was on the phone with his friend Julian and I was pretending that it didn’t bother me that he remembered him but not me. Obviously it didn’t work, because Toren noticed, shrugged, and said, “They go way back.” Okay, so he’d spoken exactly four words since we’d left the airport, not two, but still. I paced as I listened to Arie explain the situation to his friend and jot down an address on a sheet of bland hotel stationary.
“We have to move fast,” Arie said. “Julian has to be in court in an hour.”
I genuinely liked Julian, and I remembered when he’d come to HFC to track down his cousin Ty, who’d run off with Daeveena. Except now I almost wished I’d never laid eyes on him, because Daeveena caused a whole chain of events that led us to what we were facing now. It wasn’t Julian’s fault, and paying the were-shifter a visit would be a good jumping-off point. It seemed to me that he didn’t really care for the idea of her hooking up with his cousin—something about their customs—whic
h was of no concern to me. All I really cared about was finding her.
“Let’s go,” Toren said.
“Right,” Rue said. She grabbed her oversized patchwork purse and headed for the door.
“Let’s do this,” Arie said.
The four of us piled onto an elevator and took it to the polished lobby below. A man sat reading a newspaper in a modern-looking chair. A woman talked quietly on her cell phone, and another man stood in the foyer—he seemed to be waiting for someone. We passed them, and the sights, sounds, and smells of New York greeted us through the revolving door leading out into the street. There were people hustling and bustling everywhere you turned. I’d never seen quite so many people in one place. They all walked at supersonic speeds, their movements very purposeful as they headed toward their intended destinations. It was vibrant and noisy, and I would’ve loved the chance to be here experiencing this with Arie under different circumstances. After all, other than visiting my adoptive parents these past few years, I’d never really been anywhere. I could definitely see why they called this ‘the city that never sleeps.’
Toren hailed us a cab and we all squeezed into the back, practically one on top of the other. I slid across the cracked vinyl next to Arie, but ended up sandwiched between him and Toren, who seemed equally dissatisfied to be stuck between me and Rue. Arie spit out an address and we were off, with some sort of Eastern music blaring lyrics that I didn’t understand. I marveled at how the driver managed to maneuver in and out of heavy traffic. Tall buildings loomed all around us, and bright lights advertised a dizzying array of products. I breathed a sigh of relief that this didn’t overwhelm me the way sounds had shot pain through my skull when I’d first turned.
In twenty minutes we came to a tall skyscraper, steel and glass, that climbed toward the stratosphere. Arie paid the cab driver and we stepped out onto the street, people brushing past us. I couldn’t help wondering what the hurry was for. All I knew was that we had every reason to bend time and move the earth if that’s what we had to do to save Arie.