by Sylvia Day
“What about Justin?” she reminded, feeling her blood heat regardless. Connor’s idea of a quickie put any other man’s sexual marathon in the pale. They’d once been heading out the door to take him to the airport when he decided he needed to say good-bye intimately…again. He’d dropped his carry-on, his pants, and her scrub bottoms in half a minute. Within five more he’d had her muffling orgasmic cries into the cushions of her sofa as he rode her fast and furious from behind.
“He’s waiting for me.” His smile made her tummy flip. “We’re going to finish that side of the driveway before the sun sets.”
Connor tossed her purse and keys onto the bed, then reached for the hem of her shirt and tugged it over her head. Immediately, he dove for the valley between her breasts and nuzzled there.
“Yum…You smell good,” came his muffled praise.
“You’re crazy.”
“Seriously.” He lifted his head and arched a brow. “You and your apple pie are the best smelling things in this stinky world.”
Laughing, she ran her fingers through his thick hair. “The world isn’t stinky.”
“Who are you kidding?” He reached for her waistband and pulled her pants down, pausing a moment to admire his handiwork as she kicked out of her sneakers. “Now that’s sexy.”
“Better than cartoon dogs?” She batted her eyelashes at him.
Her body was in pretty good shape these days, considering the work out he gave her when he was home and the extra care she gave to her appearance when he was gone. She trusted him implicitly, knew he loved her with every centimeter of his big heart, saw the proof of his pent up longing and lust in his gaze the moment he caught sight of her in the airport. But she also never forgot that the man was otherworldly fine. He looked gorgeous for her, the least she could do was try to return the favor.
“Maybe,” he said, with a roguish shrug.
Her mouth fell open in mock affront, and he reached around her and undid the clasp of her bra.
“Okay.” His brogue deepened at the sight of her bare breasts. “That’s definitely better than cartoon dogs.”
“Well, that’s something, I guess.”
“But not the something,” he teased, dropping to a crouch and taking her panties with him. Connor pressed a kiss to her pelvic bone and stood. “Come on.”
With his hand at the small of her back, he directed her to the bathroom. There she found their new self-heating spa tub filled with steaming water and surrounded by unlit candles. A metal caddy tray traversed the distance from one side of the tub to the other and held a small crystal vase of stargazer lilies—her favorite flower—and a jauntily opened box of gourmet chocolates.
“Nice!” She whistled, mentally calculating days and dates in an effort to recall if she should be marking an anniversary or special occasion of some sort. She winced as pain lanced through her head and she instantly gave up. Now was not the time to have a nose bleed.
Who knew the human brain could only hold so much information before it exploded? Thank god, someone in the Twilight was keeping an eye on her. Lieutenant Wager had coerced her subconsciously into sleep-writing a note to herself one night when Connor was away.
I’m working on it. Hang in there. P.S. Wow! Have you got lots of great stuff in here.
Whatever. Stacey just felt better knowing that someone was actively working to help her. Who knew what she’d do if she didn’t have Wager? Connor would drive himself insane trying to fix it and she knew there was nothing he could do. Having eons of information in her cranium told her that much. They had to get the data out of her head somehow and only the Elite in the Twilight had the technology to do it.
“You like?” Connor asked, beaming.
“I like,” she confirmed, turning to face him and rising to her tiptoes to kiss him. “What’s the occasion?”
“That’s the something.”
“The bath isn’t the something?”
“Nope.” He held out his hand to her and helped her into the tub.
After she sank beneath the water with a hiss of pleasure, Connor picked up a conveniently located lighter and lit all the candles. Then he kissed her forehead and said, “I’ll be back in a bit.”
He left the room and Stacey lay there a moment, trying to figure out what he was up to. Her gaze drifted around the tub, her heart both full and light. She reached for a chocolate and paused, noting the folded slip of paper beneath the gold foil box. Curious, she pulled it out and opened it.
Application for Marriage License.
Stacey froze.
The groom’s side of the information had been filled out in crisp, clear print.
She exhaled slowly and carefully, then broke out in a wide grin. Maybe some women dreamed of romantic declarations, tuxedos, and/or grand gestures. Connor’s gesture worked for her, because it came from his heart. She knew he had trouble putting his feelings into words, but he had no trouble showing her how he felt. After a lifetime of smooth-talking men who lacked substance, she loved having a man who was capable of so much more than just pretty, meaningless phrases.
From outside, she could hear the low rumble of Connor’s voice on the porch, probably explaining something to Justin. Stacey was endlessly amazed by Connor’s desire to teach and his aptitude for it. It was a natural extension of his thoughtfulness. He liked to say that he was all brawn, but really, she thought he was all heart.
Sighing with contentment, she set the precious paper down carefully and began to wash; preparing her body for the long night of lovemaking she knew was ahead.
“Does that dreamy smile mean what I think it does?”
Turning her head, she found Connor lounging against the jamb with wet hair and a towel around his hips. The image reminded her of their first night together and set her pulse rate racing. She loved it when he got so hot for her he couldn’t wait a minute longer to get inside her. From the tent his cock was making against the terrycloth, it looked like he was close to feeling that way now.
“Does this paper mean what I think it does?” she retorted with a cheeky wink.
“If you think it means that I love you and want to make you mine in every way, then yes. You’ve got it right.”
“I want you.” The husky note in her voice left no doubt about what she wanted. She couldn’t help it. Whenever he said the word “love,” her instinctual response was the desire to wrap around him. To hold him and be held by him. To feel his beautiful body straining as he fucked her hard and long. “Is it nine o’clock yet?”
His slow, sensual smile started a quiver low in her belly. “No. But Lyssa and Aidan just left with Justin. He’s going to stay with them tonight.” With a quick tug, Connor dropped the towel, revealing his magnificent cock. “By nine o’clock you’ll be begging me to let you catch your breath.”
“Oh yeah?” She licked her lips as he approached, twisting to come up onto her knees.
“Oh yeah,” he confirmed, leaning over to hit the switch and turn on the jets.
They’d had to replace the old shower/bath when he’d moved in to accommodate his size. Connor had sold several artifacts to McDougal, which afforded them a sizeable nest egg. They could move to a bigger, more modern house, but none of them wanted to. Instead, they preferred to fix up their existing home.
Connor stepped into the tub and she stopped him. “Wait.”
He tensed and when his cock swelled further, she knew he understood what she wanted.
“Baby…” There was an aching note in his voice that made her nipples hard. He loved it when she gave him head. Loved it in a way that made her love doing it to him. With Connor, the act made her so hot, she felt like she was melting.
She gripped his erection with dripping wet hands and pulled his upthrust cock down to her waiting mouth. Her tongue darted out and licked across the tiny hole at the tip and he shuddered violently.
“Stace,” he breathed, his hands sliding through her water-slicked hair. “You’ll kill me.”
The smile she
gave him was pure mischief. “Lucky you’re immortal, eh?”
Opening her mouth, she sucked the thick crest just barely inside, her tongue flickering teasingly across the sensitive spot just underneath. Connor’s powerful thighs quivered and she reached around with one hand and cupped his ass.
“Yes,” he hissed, his hips rocking gently. “Your mouth is so hot…the way you lick my cock…”
If she could have smiled, she would have. She loved the way he praised her, the way his hands moved so gently over her scalp even in his passion. She redoubled her efforts to please him, sucking stronger, her fingers kneading into the firm cheek of his ass. Her head bobbed as she rode the pulsing length with her mouth, using his groans and guttural cries to guide her. She took him as deep as she could until he butted up against the narrowing of her throat.
“Fuck. Ah, fuck, that feels so damn good, Stace.”
She pulled back, licking him, swirling around the cumslicked head before caressing the length of him. Tracing each throbbing vein with the tip of her tongue. She cupped his balls and rolled them tenderly, then reached her finger back and massaged his perineum.
He gasped and cursed, swelling thicker. She moaned in pleasure, her pussy slick and hot just imagining that big cock plunging inside her.
“I’m going to come,” he warned, fucking her mouth with mindless thrusts that he kept shallow by fisting the base.
She could pull back and let him ride her to the finish. He loved that, too, and wouldn’t complain, but she wanted this. Wanted to feel him come apart in a way he only could when he wasn’t half focused on her climax. She hummed a sound of encouragement and Connor growled.
“That’s it,” he crooned in his deep brogue. “Suck my cock, sweetheart. Make me come. I’m so close…fuck…just like that…Stace!”
Connor spurted hard and thick, his hoarse cries of release filling the bathroom in a sensual music she would never get tired of hearing. He yanked free and pulled her up, hitting her chest with a burst of semen before he pushed her bottom onto the edge of the tub and thrust inside her hungrily clenching pussy.
She cried out in startled pleasure, the feel of him pulsing inside her so delicious. He wrapped his big body around her and pressed his sweat misted forehead into the crook of her neck. “I love you.”
“Connor.” Stacey wrapped her arms around him and held him. “I love you, too, baby.”
His chest twitched against hers, then vibrated deeply when he let the laughter out. “I’m centuries older than you, sweetheart.”
“Semantics,” she muttered, licking the taste of him off her lips.
“I learned a lot in my many years,” he purred, straightening and rolling his hips. She gasped as ripples of pure heat spread from where he stroked inside her. “Like this.”
He withdrew, then thrust shallowly. Then withdrew again and thrust deeply. Stacey writhed and slipped on the watery ledge of the tub. Connor grinned and pinned her hips down with his hands. “Feel good?”
Rocking in and out, he fucked her pussy with breathtaking strokes, knowing just where to concentrate in order to make her beg. He was branding her from the inside out with his heated length of rock hard cock. He hadn’t diminished at all from his first orgasm. The man had unbelievable stamina. Thankfully, he’d hooked up with the right gal, because she took all that he had and then wanted…
“…more,” she urged, her nails digging into his skin.
“But you’re so tight. I don’t think you can take any more of me.” His grin was pure male satisfaction.
Stacey tightened up everything inside her just to watch his eyes darken and his cheeks flush. “I can take you, big guy.”
He pushed her backwards and set both hands on either side of her. “I don’t have much leverage with my feet in a hot tub of bubbles.”
“Excuses, excuses.” She set her hands behind her and wrapped her legs around his hips. “Lucky for us, I’ve been working out.”
Tightening her thigh muscles, she lifted her buttocks up, sliding herself onto his cock.
“Fuck,” he breathed, his abs clenching tight. “That feels damn good.”
She pouted. “I wanna come.”
“Your wish is my command.” Reaching between them, Connor placed his thumb over her clit and thrust his cock in slow, shallow digs. Circling. Rubbing.
“Yes,” she whispered, enamored with the feel of being stretched to fit him. “Oh god, yes!”
Her climax shuddered through her and he whispered to her, as he always did, naughty words of encouragement that made her orgasm last.
“So beautiful. That sweet little cunt sucking on my cock.” Connor kept stroking through her grasping ripples. “I’m going to get you in bed and ride you the way I want to. Hard and deep.”
“Do it,” she sobbed, clinging to him as her body dissolved into bliss.
How they made it to the bed, she’d never know. She just remembered being cradled against a hard chest, a strong heart beating beneath her ear, and then cool softness beneath her damp back as he laid her on a bed of rose petals.
“Marry me,” he said, slipping an antique emerald ring onto her finger. “Let me love you forever.”
“Yes.” She cried softly, arching beneath him as he slid inside her, joining with her.
Making them stronger. Together.
Glossary
CHŌZUYA: A fountain at the entrance to the Jinja (Shinto shrine) where ladles provide the means for guests to cleanse themselves before entering the main temple complex.
HAIDEN: The only part of a Shinto shrine that is open to the general public.
HONDEN: In Shinto shrines, the honden is the most sacred area. This is usually closed to the general public.
SCLERA: The sclera is commonly known as “the white of the eye.”
SHOJI: In traditional Japanese architecture, a shôji is a room divider or door consisting of washi (rice) paper over a wooden frame. Shoji doors are often designed to slide open, or fold in half, to conserve space that would be required by a swinging door. (Wikipedia.com)
TAZA: A cup
TORII GATE: The gate to a Shinto shrine (Jinja), the Torii designates holy ground. The Gate marks the gateway between the physical and spiritual worlds.
Acknowledgments
Thanks go out to my critique partner, Annette McCleave (www.AnnetteMcCleave.com), who helped me find the focus of the beginning of this book.
Hugs go out to fabulous authors and dear friends Renee Luke, Sasha White, and Jordan Summers who were there on the other side of the IM window when I needed someone to listen, commiserate, and give me a swift kick in the @ss.
To my sister, Samara Day, who puts up with me and my aversion to talking on the phone.
You are one of the precious lights in my life, Sam. I have loved you with all my heart from the day you were born. As you’ve grown into a woman I admire and respect, I only love you more. You are a blessing I am grateful for every day.
About the Author
SYLVIA DAY is the best-selling, award-winning author of over a dozen novels. A wife and mother of two, she is a former Russian linguist for the U.S. Army Military Intelligence. Her books have been called "wonderful and passionate" by WNBC.com, "wickedly entertaining" by Booklist, and frequently garner Readers’ Choice and Reviewers’ Choice accolades. She is an EPPIE winner and a prestigious RITA® Award of Excellence finalist. Visit with her at www.SylviaDay.com
To learn more about the Dream Guardians™, visit www.DreamGuardians.com.
Visit www.AuthorTracker.com for exclusive information on your favorite HarperCollins author.
By Sylvia Day
HEAT OF THE NIGHT
PLEASURES OF THE NIGHT
ALLURING TALES (ANTHOLOGY)
Coming Soon
ALLURING TALES 2 (ANTHOLOGY)
Credits
Cover photograph © Rob Goldman/Getty Images
Copyright
This book is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogue are drawn
from the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
HEAT OF THE NIGHT. Copyright © 2008 by Sylvia Day. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
ePub edition December 2007 ISBN 9780061746635
Version 02082013
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
About the Publisher
Australia
HarperCollins Publishers (Australia) Pty. Ltd.
Level 13, 201 Elizabeth Street
Sydney, NSW 2000, Australia
http://www.harpercollins.com.au
Canada
HarperCollins Canada
2 Bloor Street East - 20th Floor
Toronto, ON, M4W, 1A8, Canada
http://www.harpercollins.ca
New Zealand
HarperCollins Publishers (New Zealand) Limited
P.O. Box 1
Auckland, New Zealand
http://www.harpercollins.co.nz
United Kingdom
HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.
77-85 Fulham Palace Road
London, W6 8JB, UK
http://www.harpercollins.co.uk
United States
HarperCollins Publishers Inc.
10 East 53rd Street
New York, NY 10022
http://www.harpercollins.com