by JL Madore
Hark’s bare chest bounced against her back. The amusement in his eyes was a huge improvement over fear. Imagine, a legendary warrior like him, terrified of her not loving him back.
He kissed the side of her cheek, and she grounded herself in that thought. This was real. Lady Divinity chose her to love this male. In her heart, she knew why.
Hark needed her as much as she needed him.
“A true partnership?”
He nodded again. “I swear it. If anything, you’ll have the upper hand. The beasts that we are inside demand that our mates be completely, joyously content. It is now my life’s mission, to ensure your every need is met. The only time my brothers stand their ground against their mates is on matters of personal safety. We can get quite protective of the ones we love.”
That didn’t sound so bad.
Ren turned in Hark’s broad arms and pressed her palms against the hard planes of his chest. Pushing up on her toes, she placed a gentle kiss on his lips. For the first time, he let her take the lead and held himself in check.
She liked that even more than the kiss. “You’re sweaty, warrior. Why don’t you go clean up and I’ll check on Ringo?”
“Sounds good. Meet me back here in five.” He nuzzled the shell of her ear and paused. “Or, join me in the shower.”
Her body swayed at the thought of lathering up with him, while, at the same time, the thought of him seeing her naked struck her cold. “Didn’t you just say you’re moving too fast.”
He made a face and shrugged. “Forgive me. Sorry. I can’t seem to help myself. Whatever feels right. No pressure.”
She looked at them in the mirror again and every insecurity she’d ever had surfaced in a rush. When he breathed deep into his lungs, she cursed herself. Nephilim could smell emotions. He knew too much. She couldn’t hide anything from him.
Hark pulled her into his arms and pressed his lips to the side of her cheek a second time. “You know where I stand. This is forever for me, and I’ll wait forever, if that’s what it takes. You are safe with me, Ren. When you’re ready, allow me the honor of proving that to you.”
He eased back, and she steadied herself to counteract the loss of his strength. As he headed to the adjoining room, he hooked the waistband of his workout shorts with his thumbs and dropped them to the floor.
“Sweet mercy,” she breathed, staring at the most magnificent backside she’d ever seen.
He glanced over his broad, black shoulder to wink, but didn’t turn, didn’t show her what she wanted to see more than anything she’d ever wanted in her life. “Whatever you decide, whenever you decide it, is perfectly all right,” he said, his voice huskier than it had been. “You’re worth the wait.”
CHAPTER TEN
Tanek wasn’t fit company, so he heated up a mountained-heap of leftovers and headed down the corridor to the war room. The Archangels would come, no doubt about it, and when they did, it would be Zander’s balls on the line. Stupid thing was, he was jealous of the poor bastard. He thrived on being the man in charge, having the weight of the garrison resting on his broad shoulders. Now, with that heavy load gone, he sometimes felt like he might float away.
Man, his perspective was twisted these days.
The first thing he noticed as he stepped inside the man cave they considered their private domain, was the soft scent of lavender in the air. The second was the gift-wrapped box on his desk. Dropping his ass into the wheely chair, he picked up the card. Tanek was written in a calligraphic flourish across the envelope.
What was this?
Setting his plate to the side, he wiped his fingers on his jeans and opened the card. The printed message on the outside was a simple, “I’m sorry” embossed next to a pretty pink flower. When he split the pages, the message was entirely penned in the same talented hand as the envelope.
Tanek,
In a moment of turmoil and heated emotion, I added to the pressures of your unimaginable task. For that, and my deplorable behavior, I offer you a heartfelt southern apology.
I hope, in some small fashion, you can forgive me.
To better nights,
Scarlett
He appreciated her words, no matter how unexpected. Working with hot-tempered meatheads who had tantrums and threw things—usually punches or pointy weapons—he hadn’t given much thought to the stapler-wielding ghost who thought him a cad.
He had far more critical issues to occupy his mind.
Still, she’d gone to the trouble.
With his curiosity piqued, he unwrapped the box, noticing the precision in the folds, the exact match of the silver and black stripes. She’d taken great care, that’s for sure. With the paper removed, he opened the box and smiled at the contents:
A small olive branch, flush with leaves.
A single pink flower—the same as on the card.
And a shiny new stapler.
“I would’ve put this in the box too,” she said, stepping into the room carrying a serving tray. “But I wasn’t sure how to wrap it.”
He moved a stack of files and she set the tray on his desk. A pie, brownies, cobbler, a bowl of fresh cream, a plate, and some cutlery. “That’s a lot of baking for one apology.”
She shrugged. “We aren’t well enough acquainted for me to know your preferences. Neither Ronnie nor Austin knew either, so I thought it better to err on the side of overwhelming rather than underwhelming.”
He rubbed a rough hand over his face and exhaled. “This was kind of you, Scarlett, honestly, but unnecessary. I’m used to taking hits and being the target of hostility. No one ever apologizes, and I don’t expect them to.”
“Well then, you should raise your expectations.”
He shrugged. “Nephilim don’t matter much to any of the realms. Choir castoffs. Soulless assassins. Despised bastards. It’s all one and the same.”
“All the more reason for me to extend a kindness, then.”
He studied the beautiful script, the precise wrapping, and the baking, unsure what to make of the flutter in his chest. A kindness. “This is a first for me. I’ve never received a wrapped gift before.”
“Never?” A perfectly sculpted brow disappeared under the blonde swoop of her bangs.
He shook his head. “Nephilim live with humans until we turn fifteen. After that, we transition and are locked into a life of servitude. Thoughtfulness doesn’t come with the package.”
Glancing down to the offerings, she reached for the delicate plate. “Where would you like to start?”
“Brownies with whipped cream would be wonderful.”
She set to work, serving him a large portion and dropping a massive dollop of whipped cream on top. He accepted it with thanks and gestured to the seat opposite his. “Please, join me. There’s plenty.”
She waved away the offer. “Thank you, no. Sunshine will be waking from her afternoon nap, and I promised her a tea party. Please, go ahead and enjoy.”
With the succulence of chocolate melting in his mouth, he watched her take her leave. Despite her petite frame, or perhaps because of it, she was a fierce female. He respected that. With poise and grace unmatched by the women of today, Scarlett Hennington was a dying breed—well, dead was more accurate.
After all, the woman was a ghost.
Ren shivered as she unbuttoned her dress and let it fall to the floor. What was she doing? She didn’t consider herself impulsive. Quite the opposite. She was controlled and decisive. She weighed and measured her decisions with logic over emotion. That made what she was doing even crazier. Exciting but crazy. She’d seen the aching truth in Hark’s eyes. For whatever inexplicable reason, despite barely knowing her, Lady Divinity’s intervention had indeed altered her course and set her on an unexpected path.
Straight to Taharqa, the ancient Moor.
She didn’t glance at herself in the mirror as she peeled off her underwear. Her heart was already racing. If she looked, she would lose her courage.
Courage . . . how could she
have so little of it when the man she was supposed to be made for had so much?
You are safe with me, Ren. When you’re ready, allow me the honor of proving that to you. His words filled her mind and bolstered her actions. If she wanted this, whatever this was, she had to risk it. How many times as she watched Ayana go off on a date or flirt with an angel and imagine she had the brass and sass to do that?
Moment of truth.
Before she lost her courage, she reached for the door to the anteroom where Hark had gone to shower. She stopped short in the open entrance. Eyes locked across the ten-foot space, she stared. He stood with his back toward her, his hands pressed on the granite wall before him.
With his head down and the spray of the water running freely down the muscled ridges of his back, the rounds of his backside, and the thick thighs that powered him in the field, she realized what she wanted wasn’t rushed or reckless.
It was him.
It was all she could do not to groan.
Or faint.
In truth, merely being in the presence of someone that exceptional increased her need for oxygen. When she added the knowledge that he would welcome her into his arms, she had to fight not to swoon. Or run screaming for the door.
Without turning, he lifted his head to the spray. “Don’t be afraid,” he whispered. “I’m as terrified as you.”
She giggled, her nerves getting the better of her. “No. That’s not possible.”
Slowly, as if he were afraid to spook her, he turned. He studied her, naked before him, and though she expected to see him drop his gaze or reevaluate in some way, he didn’t.
Heat exploded across his face and he reached up, holding his palms to her, inviting her to come to him. Good grief, here she was, a solidly set cherub, and the moment he set eyes upon her, his passions rose to the fore.
His erection stole her breath. It thickened and brushed his abdomen as his gaze raked her with a heat that warmed her insides.
Ren had never been more unsure of herself. Worrying her bottom lip between her teeth, she crossed the distance and stopped just inches before him.
“You are so beautiful,” he said. “May I hold you?”
She swallowed, her throat unbelievably dry while all her sensitive parts were wet. “Yes, please.”
Carefully, he ran his hands around her broad hips and splayed his fingers across her back. Their bare chests met, slick and warm, and she moaned in bliss. “How can this be happening to me?”
“I’m wondering the same thing.” The tension in his voice, the tremble in his body, and the tentativeness with which he touched her dissolved the last of her fears that he or fate or some higher power was making her the butt of a joke.
Lady Divinity asked her to trust her.
She took a deep breath and braced herself. “Would you like to make love to me?”
His body swayed, the sharp muscled ridges of a lifetime of violence cushioned in the softness of her own. “With everything in me, truly, but first, let this be a moment of two people getting to know one another. I want a strong foundation. I want us to be ready, to give ourselves fully and without reservation. We should wait before we push for more.”
“How long?” The smile that broke his lips had her laughing at herself and a wave of heat rushing to her cheeks. “Okay, that made me sound more than a little desperate.”
He chuckled, the vibration of his chest against her own a sexy friction. “No more desperate than I, my beautiful mate. Though, I figure, I’ve waited this long, a few days or hours won’t kill me.”
She might last hours. She doubted days.
“Then, if this is a get to know you session, may I?” She held her hands between them and waited for him to dip his chin before she pressed her palms against his pecs and began exploring his body. His sharp intake of breath accompanied the hardness of him spearing her belly.
He bent his head and nibbled his way across her jaw toward her lips. With one hand at the small of her back and the other tightening in the length of her hair, he ravaged her mouth.
Sweet divinity, she could kiss him all day.
She caressed the muscled planes of his body, noting how his muscles flexed and tightened beneath her touch.
A few inches lower, and his nipples hardened.
He moaned as her hands moved ever lower.
They existed in the perfect storm of lust: the heat of the steam gathered around them, his breathing grew shallow, and while amazed she drove him to wanton, she didn’t doubt his sincerity. He was truly aroused.
Wildly engaged, she found giving him such pleasure was a gift. Empowering. So incredibly sexy.
There would be no waiting for her.
She eased back enough to grip his length with both hands. The throaty cry of his pleasure filled the shower, and echoed around them. She stroked the silky sheath over solid steel as his head fell back and he threw his hands to the wall.
Ren’s pulse thundered hard as she repeated the motion, drawing her grip from the swollen tip of his crown, down to the root of his pelvis. Shifting her bottom hand, she caressed the heavy weights hanging lower.
“Oh, Ren,” he gasped. “It’s so good. Too good.”
His head tipped back, and the muscles of his neck stood in profile. With a throaty grunt, he tensed. A moment later, his stomach convulsed, and pulses of warm cream released.
She watched the carved ridges of his abdominals clench and flex as his orgasm slicked her hands. “And you say I’m beautiful,” she whispered. “Nothing could be as breathtaking as that.”
Hark’s determination to take their mating process slowly blew up in his face. With Ren stroking him beyond all restraint, his beast tore free from its tether, and he knew he didn’t have the strength to play the part of the gentleman. He needed inside her.
It was carnal. It was barbaric. It was undeniable.
As his Mark exploded into a violet glow, a tremor vibrated through his entire body. “Can we forget everything I said about taking our time?”
“Yes, please.” Ren’s eyes widened, sparkling with amusement. Too trusting. Too good for him. “Forgotten. I don’t think I could’ve waited anyway.”
Good enough.
Wrapping his arms around her, he lifted her off her feet and pressed her back to the shower wall. Shifting his grip lower, he tilted her hips and she clasped her legs around him. The moment his cock probed the damp heat of her core, he almost went off again. Damn, he had to get control of that.
Great lovers lasted longer than two minutes.
He couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t think. His cock throbbed, pulsing painfully. He pushed inside her, and when he hit no barrier, he thrust fully and buried himself in the grip of her core.
“I’m sorry,” he said, hating himself for rushing this. “I don’t want to hurt you.”
“You’re not,” she gasped, the lush curves of her breasts heaving, her fingers digging into his shoulders. She groaned as he withdrew and filled her again. “Invasive, yes”—her eyes rolled back—“but wonderfully invasive.”
The fit was incredible.
Gripping the back of his neck, she pulled his lips to hers and invaded him too. Her tongue danced against his, and he growled and gave his beast more rein.
Ren said last night that she wasn’t shy. And now that they got their intentions straightened out, she seemed to trust him enough to be bold and commanding. Wild.
And she was his.
Fuck. He couldn’t get enough. Even as he pumped his hips and her inner muscles gripped him tight, he wanted more. He wanted his mouth on her core. He wanted her on her back, on her knees, straddled over his hips.
“Oh, warrior,” she ground out, her body growing still.
He didn’t know her body’s language yet but smelled her release barreling forward. Dropping his mouth to her neck, he nipped the tender flesh as he pounded into her.
When she shuddered and arced against his hold, he lost control completely. His release spilled into her, and the barb
arian in him relished the marking.
He’d seen his brothers obsess over their mates, but he never imagined. The water grew hot on his ass, and he realized they’d hit the controls. He wouldn’t allow anything to hurt his beautiful female. With one hand, he struck out and stopped the flow. Breath heaving, thighs trembling, he carried them, still joined, to the other room.
“I must be heavy,” she said, her eyes crinkling at the sides with her smile. “Put me down if you need to.”
He shook his head. “You’re not heavy. In fact, carrying you in my arms drains away the weight of my existence. I need you in my arms to keep me from drifting up into the sky.”
She giggled, and the musical sound was a balm to a lifetime of pain.
He set her on the vanity counter and held up a finger. Reaching out with his senses, he ensured none of his brothers were in the gym next door and slipped through the adjoining door. Naked and dripping wet, from both the shower and the sex, he grabbed one of the blue mats off the pile and jogged back into the change room.
He dropped it to the tile floor, then covered the surface with thick, fluffy towels. When he looked back at Ren, her smile widened. “More? Don’t men have to pace themselves?”
He shrugged. “I’ll let you know when I’ve had enough. As of right now, I have centuries to make up for.”
He scooped her off the cold marble and laid her out on the cushion of terry. Kneeling between her open knees, he studied her body, needing to memorize every rise and fall.
Now it was his turn to chuckle. “When you’ve had enough of me, you’ll have to let me know. I’m obsessed—no, more like addicted. Honestly, I may never let you out of my sight. I’m certainly never letting you get dressed.”
“That will make it awkward at mealtimes.” Her laughter jiggled the softness of her body and sent off another possessive wave of his beast.
“You are the only thing I hunger for.” He bent and took the tightened pink bud of her nipple into his mouth. Yep. He might give up the rest of his life and devote himself solely to pleasuring his mate.