Darkness Burning Read online

  When the salt of tears mixed with the taste of their blood, Alex relented, bringing his hands to her cheeks to force her to gentle the kiss.

  As her lips softened and trembled, he wiped away her tears with his thumbs. “Easy there,” he murmured as she slid her mouth along his cheek and jaw.

  “Fuck me like I matter, Alex,” she whispered in his ear.

  His eyes squeezed closed, his stomach clenching at the raw need in her feminine plea.

  She raised her head and gave him one of her direct stares, the effect spoiled somewhat by her glassy, glistening eyes. “Don’t go thinking I love you,” she rasped, her gaze sliding away. “It’s just been a long damn time since I’ve wanted to be taken…mastered.”

  Alex studied her glittering eyes. Did she love him? Is that why she’d tried to kill him all those years ago? Deciding he didn’t really want to know, he accepted her words at face value.

  His hands glided up her back, massaging her strong shoulders, then came around her rib cage to gently cup her large, round breasts. “Roll over, baby. I’ll give you what you need.”

  CHAPTER 10

  Gabriella climbed off his hips and lay on her back on the plush red carpet, her gaze hungry, her face taut with need.

  Alex came over her, knowing she wanted him to be the one in charge, but also suspecting that this time her need was for the human connection he’d always brought—the tenderness he rewarded her with after the battle had been won.

  He shaped her cheeks between his palms, cautioning himself to take his time. The seconds ticking by didn’t really count in this realm. Their separate quests, waiting back at Ardeal for them to fulfill, wouldn’t be delayed or changed unless they consciously decided to carry the strands of passion that bound them here back into that world.

  Resting on his side, his body snuggled close to hers, he bent to kiss her mouth, inhaling her soft, ragged sigh. Her lips molded to his, following his languid lapping motions as his hands caressed her face and his fingers slid into her thick, warm hair.

  The kiss was staid for them, innocently binding them for the moment—a promise that however their passions might move them, this moment was precious, a mutual gift of solace.

  Alex felt his heart slow, his body and his mind renewing. He kept his eyes open, waiting for her body or a fleeting change of expression to tell him when she was ready for more.

  Her eyelids drifted open, and her lips curved beneath his. When he lifted his mouth, she whispered, “Do you remember the first time we met?”

  Alex’s glance slid away.

  Germany. A dark, moonless night. An inn at the side of a lonely, rutted dirt trail, leading from Heidelberg to Worms. After the rain-freshened wind of the open trail, the air in the inn was nearly unbreathable due to the smoke wafting from a poorly vented hearth.

  He rested his head on his hand and pretended to search hard for the memory. “You wore a dark cape,” he said slowly, “and swept into the inn like you were royalty, two retainers following in your wake. You captured the gazes of every patron while you eyed them back…until you came to me.” He narrowed his gaze and lifted one brow. “You said, ‘He’ll do.’”

  Her smile widened, a dimple appearing in one cheek, giving her a youthful, mischievous air. “I’ve always had an unerring instinct when it comes to choosing lovers. However, that time, I seriously underestimated your ‘suitability.’”

  His answering grin stretched his lips. “You won’t convince me you were anything but thrilled with that miscalculation.”

  Her nose wrinkled. “I must admit, when I found myself tied to the bedposts, spread-eagled for your pleasure, I didn’t mind at all that you’d tricked me. The things you did to me…” She shivered deliciously.

  He cupped her chin and rubbed her lower lip with his thumb. “Tell me. Was it your first time?”

  One finely arched brow rose high. “The first time that I wasn’t the alpha in bed? Yes. You punished me for my arrogance.” Her eyes widened. “I couldn’t believe I allowed it. Still can’t. Did you use your allure? I never felt it.”

  “I didn’t have to,” he drawled.

  “Think it was your manly charms alone?”

  Alex chuckled softly. “That and my firm hand on your backside.”

  “Must have been that,” she said breathlessly. “Alex?”

  “Ready for another go?”

  “Please.”

  Only too willing to oblige—since a compliant Gabriella was so much easier to deal with than the snarling wolf—he slid his leg over hers and nudged his hard cock against her hip while he trailed his hand down her throat, pausing to gauge her rising excitement by the quickening thud of her pulse.

  Her eyes grew unfocused, the pupils dilating. She stirred restlessly, her breasts lifting, an unspoken invitation to ease what ached.

  He glided lower, capturing a breast, lifting it, massaging it, tormenting the rigid point at the center of her dusky nipple. He leaned over her, latching onto it, sliding the flat of his tongue over the sensitive tip until she mewled.

  “A very kittenish sound, coming from a wolf,” he teased when he let it go.

  She played with the unclaimed breast, squeezing it, tugging on the nipple. “I can become a tiger, if you don’t kiss the other one quick.”

  An urgent but pleasurable heaviness settled in his balls and cock. Rising over her, he straddled her thighs and scooted down her body, bending his head directly over the opposite breast.

  She dragged away her hand, smoothing it over her ribs, and lower, creeping toward the juncture of her thighs.

  Alex allowed her foraging and stuck out his tongue to flick her nipple, over and over. Then he lapped harder, dragging it upward with each lap.

  “I love to have my breasts fondled and sucked,” she murmured, fingers spearing through his hair to bring him closer. “Did you like me licking your balls?”

  “I loved it, my sweet bitch.” Then he opened his jaws wide and worked his lips around her breast, drawing as much of the ample globe into his mouth as he could hold.

  Her body rolled restlessly beneath him; she began to pant. “I wondered how far you’d let me go…never dreamed you’d allow that much. I could have licked you until you came, you tasted that good to me.”

  Alex growled and suckled harder, using his swirling tongue and lips to excite her while starting to rut his cock against her hip.

  Gabriella untucked her fingers from her pussy and pressed against the top of his head to encourage him to move downward.

  And because he was ready, he allowed her to guide him past her soft, quivering belly to the base of her mound until her richly scented musk drew his tongue to her pussy.

  With her legs still closed, he delved between her tight lips, turning sideways and slowly shaking his head back and forth to work up and down her slit, until he felt her jerk as he grazed her swollen clit.

  When Gabriella’s fingers pulled up her folds to bare her clitoris, Alex curved his tongue around it, and laved, flicked, and sucked it until her breaths rasped harshly.

  Kneeling on one knee, he nudged apart her legs, smiling at her eagerness as she slammed them open and planted her feet on the carpet to tilt her cunt toward his mouth.

  Needing no further hints, he leaned over her, parting her with his thumbs. He laved her inner lips, drinking the fragrant, salty-sweet essence that slid like warmed honey from her body to greet his tongue.

  Gabriella’s soft, rounded belly trembled wildly. Her thighs hugged his shoulders.

  He speared into her, swirling his tongue to capture more of the silky fluid from her inner walls, groaning as her flavors exploded on his tongue.

  Gabriella grew more restless, her hips softly undulating against him.

  He left her channel and licked upward, pressed against the top of her hood to expose her clitoris, and flicked it with rapid, butterfly lashes. A ragged moan broke from her, and he took the cue, inserting two fingers into her vagina as he continued to torment her clit. He slid them i
n and out, slowly at first, then pumped them faster as her pussy clasped him in rhythmic, sucking kisses.

  A third finger thrusting inside had her back arching off the ground. “Alex!”

  He withdrew abruptly, not wanting to finish her this way; besides, his own arousal throbbed hard, impossible to ignore. As he came up her body, her arms slid around his torso, dragging him strongly up her length, her hips curving to align her cunt with the cock scraping up her thigh.

  When she’d captured him, letting him rest the blunt head at her entrance, she swallowed, then drew a long, jagged breath. “I don’t want this over too quickly. I know I always seem to be hurrying you along—”

  “I understand, love. You want me to show restraint.” Alex gave her a lopsided smile. “You must think I’m Superman.”

  “Have I exceeded your capabilities?” she asked, giving the tip of his cock a sexy “kiss” with her pussy.

  Alex ran his hand down her side and back up, then cupped her full breast. “How is it you can make a man feel like a god and a boy at the same time?”

  Her nipples beaded against his palm. “Don’t all women know how?”

  “Not many wield that power as well as you.”

  “Aren’t you lucky, then?” Her cunt tightened, trying to draw him inside. “Alex, come inside me, quickly now.”

  Alex braced apart his knees and began to push inward, then he halted, groaning. “Wait. Forgot…fuck!” He pulled out and reached blindly for his trousers, shoving his fingers into a pocket to extricate his wallet.

  “You and your bloody damn sheaths,” Gabriella moaned. “Do you really think you can impregnate me? We aren’t even the same species.”

  “I’m a Born male. Don’t ever underestimate that fact.” Finding another foil packet in a side pocket of his wallet, he tossed the wallet away and tore the foil with his teeth.

  Before he could remove the latex circle, Gabriella took it from his hand. “Let me.”

  Alex once again rolled onto his side, half sitting as Gabriella came to her knees beside him. She placed the circle in her mouth, gave him a sexy wink, and bent over his lap. Her mouth opened around the tip of his cock, her tongue doing extraordinary things as she maneuvered the condom over the head, then rolled it down his shaft with her lips.

  “Nice trick,” Alex said, cupping the back of her head as she drew off him.

  She gazed up from his lap, one brow arching. “I like to impress my human lovers.”

  “You make them wear a condom, even though the chances of your getting pregnant by a human are slim to none?”

  She smoothed her cheek along his cock. “You never know, and I never leave a thing to chance.”

  Holding his dick, he tapped her lips with it. “So you know where I’m coming from.”

  “I wouldn’t really mind…with you, that is.” She pursed her lips and gave his crown a soft, lingering kiss.

  “Gabi…”

  “I know.” She rolled her eyes, but her lips straightened into a pained line. “You have bigger plans than siring a litter with a wolf.”

  Since his thoughts hadn’t been so far from that train of thought earlier, he remained silent rather than lie for the sake of expedience. He had to think, to strategize, before he ever broached the topic, because once he committed to her, there’d be no going back. She’d kill him before she allowed him to jilt her; her clan would hunt him like a dog.

  Gabriella lay on her side, facing him. She slowly lifted one firmly muscled thigh over his hip. “I hope this hasn’t put you off. I know how baby talk can wilt the proudest man.”

  “I’ll try not to wither away,” he said dryly.

  “Where were we?”

  “You were just about to be fucked.”

  “Love that word. The verb form, in particular.”

  His hand rubbed over her thigh, then clutched her ass. “I prefer my women incoherent,” he growled.

  “I’m mumbling already.”

  Holding her ass still, he plunged into her cunt, forcing a groan from them both.

  Gabriella adjusted her thigh higher along his hip.

  Alex lay down, stretching out his arm for her to lay her head upon. Side by side on the carpet, they shared a slow smile.

  “We’re doing this like old lovers,” Gabriella said. “Like a couple of centuries never passed.”

  “Don’t you remember? It was always like this for us. Fiery at first, then lazy, lingering. We knew each other’s bodies and preferences so well.”

  “You make us sound boring.”

  “Never. Just comfortable…”

  “…in our own skins?”

  Another smile and Alex leaned close to press a quick kiss to her lips. “We still have to talk.”

  “I know. We will. And I think…I’ll listen this time.”

  “Do me a favor, then. Stop thinking. My balls are ready to burst.”

  Her breath huffed. “Thought you were going to do me slowly.”

  “Think my cock’s reached its limit for restraint. You keep squeezing it.”

  “Like that?” she said slyly, giving him another inner caress.

  He dragged in a deep, slow breath. “Goddamn, you have the strongest cunt muscles.”

  “Oooh, you really know how to make a woman feel special.”

  He thrust his free hand into her hair and gently cupped her head. “I’m no player. I’m choosy too. And I never told you I wasn’t sleeping with someone else.”

  “I know. It’s a vampire thing. You’re all whores. You just a little less so. Why’s that? Afraid to populate the world with your super-sperm?”

  Alex shrugged. “That, and I can’t make promises.”

  “Few women these days hope for anything beyond a great lay.”

  “I want more.”

  “So you deprive yourself of this?” Her eyes darkened. “I’m sad for you.”

  “Don’t be. I’m too busy to be preoccupied with my cock.”

  Her nose wrinkled. “Now you sound like a eunuch. You know…anytime you want some uncomplicated, no-strings sex—”

  “Promise not to send any more assassins my way?” he growled.

  “Sorry about that,” she said softly. “I regretted it for a long time afterward. I rarely lose my temper like that these days.”

  “Helpful to know. Can we do a little less talking?”

  “I think I’m having my afterglow before.”

  “You were always a contrary woman.” Alex lifted her thigh from his hip and pressed it toward her breast. Leaning slightly toward her, he stroked deeper.

  Gabriella touched his lips with a finger, and he opened his mouth for her. She poked it in and he sucked, wetting it. Then, reaching around her raised thigh, Gabriella circled her engorged clit as he thrust steadily, until her face flushed and her lips rounded.

  “Ride me, Gabi.” Alex fell to his back, taking Gabriella over him, but he halted her from moving. “Backwards, love.”

  Without demur, she rose on her knees and faced away, then waited while he held his cock straight up for her slide down. Alex raised his knees and flexed upward to impale her as she fell. She leaned over, stretching his cock away, clamping her hands on his knees as she began to glide forward and back.

  Alex grasped her buttocks, massaging them in circular, opposing motions. Her movements gained momentum and her pussy tightened, her inner walls rippling all along his shaft as she dragged at him. Gabriella drew slowly off his cock, rocking forward, then scooting back to envelop him.

  The slow downward drag enflamed him, but it frustrated him as well. Alex continued to massage her lush ass, gripping her tighter, trying to encourage her to make shorter strokes, but she wriggled, jerking shallowly, shaking off his guiding hands.

  Alex traced the crevice between her cheeks, pausing to finger her tiny hole.

  Gabriella tossed her hair back and growled, lunging forward, then bouncing back harder. She forced his legs wider, repositioning her knees for better balance, then she thrust one hand down t
o grab his balls.

  When she squeezed him hard, his body shuddered, and he flexed his buttocks, spearing harder into her.

  She rolled his balls in her palm, encircled them with her fingers, then began to tug them, gently at first, slowly increasing the pressure, until the angle of her strokes and the tightening around his balls arrested his spiraling orgasm.

  “Fuck. Gabi. Bitch.”

  Her laughter, low and sultry, washed over him, leaving him sweating, shaking, grinding helplessly.

  Her long straight back arched, her hair brushed her waist in soughing waves, her bottom shivered as she bounced harder.

  Then her hand released his balls, slid higher, ringing the base of his cock, forcing it to swell harder as blood was restricted.

  Alex roared, bucking under her, lifting her with his upward lunges as he bounced her on his cock, taking control of the rhythm of their mating.

  Her hips rolled, riding his cock and groin like a saddle, accepting his wild bucking as she brought her knees more securely beneath her and simply poised above him to take his thrusts.

  Alex pounded into her pussy, stroking endlessly, enduring the heat of another lapping wave of moisture spilling from inside her.

  Past restraint, past the point he could let her take her own pleasure from his body, he sat up, forced her forward, and brought his knees beneath him.

  She let go of his cock, braced her weight on her hands, and arched her back to press her ass snug against his groin.

  Alex breathed deeply, placed a restraining hand on her shoulder and another on her hip, then slammed his cock into her rippling passage, cramming deep, slamming his hips and belly against her body, the jolts shoving air from her lungs as he powered into her.

  When the pressure in his balls exploded, he thrust like a jackhammer—shallow, fast, harsh.

  Gabriella let loose a long, aching howl, and then her arms quivered and folded.

  Alex wouldn’t let her fall away; he thrust and thrust, not slowing until his balls were emptied and his cock throbbing—drenched, spent, caressed by the slackening convulsions of her inner walls.

  He pulled her upward, into his arms, brushing her hair backward, tilting her mouth to his.