Freeing the Beast: Taming the Beast, Book 1 (11 page)

At length, Eric broke their kiss, then let loose, thrusting for all he was worth. The table’s legs tapped the hard surface beneath them. Becca’s shoulder blades rapped the top. He lifted her left leg, propping her calf on his shoulder so he’d have greater access to her cunt.

Her cheeks burned at her wanton position. Sweat dotted his forehead. Looking like he might die, he lasted a few more minutes, then climaxed with a shudder, a grunt and a restrained hiss pushed through his gritted teeth.

Afraid he might pass out, Becca pulled her leg down and gathered him to her, her pussy still pulsing around his cock.

He seemed to want to say something. Instead, he slanted his mouth over hers.

Wasn’t enough.

Although Eric was dead on his feet and trembling like a whipped mutt, he wanted more. He wasn’t about to stop tonight, tomorrow, the next day or at all.

Becca would just have to understand.

He certainly couldn’t tell her how he felt, not with his mouth on hers, his tongue spearing deep. Hmm—
hmmmmmm
. She tasted of the steak, wine and something unique to her. Smoky. Titillating.

Unable to get close enough, he kept repositioning his mouth as he kissed her.

She followed each of his moves as though her life depended upon it.

His did. Eric didn’t have a clue what was driving him and wasn’t about to stop and figure it out. All that mattered was having more.

With his weary cock still inside her cunt, he straightened, pulling her up with him.

“You taste good,” he breathed. He settled his hands on either side of her head and kissed her again. Even deeper than before, his bottom teeth digging into his lip, probably causing damage. So what? He could take it.

He went at Becca until both of them were breathless.

She sagged to one elbow, her breasts bouncing with each gasp.

“Let’s make you comfortable,” he said.

Faster, and with more grace than he believed possible, Eric pulled out of her and pushed his clothes to his ankles. After helping her off the table, he dropped into a chair and settled Becca on his lap, her back to him.

“Better?” he asked, his hands cupping her breasts, his thumbs rubbing her nipples.

She released her weight into him and turned her head to the side. Her lips moved in answer, but she made no sound.

A good thing. Footfalls rang out on the concrete. Couldn’t be Desi, he lumbered rather than walked. This sounded like a younger guy. Maybe one of the servers, checking to see what animal was moaning back here.

If Becca heard the server’s approach, she didn’t bother covering herself. She turned her face into Eric’s and thrust her tongue in his mouth.

The footfalls stopped. Still kissing Becca, Eric opened one eye but didn’t see anyone. Metal suddenly struck metal with a loud clanging noise. One of the trash containers being closed?

Whatever it was, the footfalls receded, keeping him from having to floor the guy then take off in a run with Becca.

She snuggled closer. He pulled his mouth from hers. “Stand up.”

“No. I’m comfortable. Why?”

“To get more comfortable.” Why else?

She got his drift. Straddling his legs, she lifted her dress, slinging the skirt over one shoulder. With nearly as much skill as he might have used, she cradled his cock, bringing it fully back to life.

Amazing. The last time he’d been this hard this fast was when he’d been a teen.

Something or someone was doing wicked things to him.

“Ready?” she whispered.

“Always,” he breathed.

“Careful, you don’t want to get a big head.”

“Too late. I already have one.”

She snickered. “That you do.”

Her praise made his cock grow even more. He was so damn hard, his crown demanded entrance, slipping into her easily. She took him in on a prolonged sigh, her body sinking down his rod until their thighs touched.

“Wow.” She dropped her head.

Eric battled for restraint. The fight of his life given how her sheath hugged his cock, while her intense inner heat surrounded him, demanding he come.
No, fuck no. Not yet. Make this last.
It couldn’t end too quickly. He had to go the distance and beyond. With all the discipline he owned, Eric saw to her needs, not his. He kissed the back of her neck and shoulder. He squeezed her breasts then stroked her clit. Unable to decide which part of her he had to touch next, where he wanted to linger, he lifted his hands then dropped them, indecisive as hell, distracted by her warmth, scent and curves.

Becca took up the slack, pushing up to partially release his rod, then burying it again in her hot slit. She was so unbelievably narrow, so wonderfully wet, Eric shoved his fingers through his hair, tugging it, not caring if he pulled out every strand. She had a potion to fix that.

She was doing miraculous things to him now, playing with his balls even as she rode his shaft long and hard.

He had to help. He should. That’s what a nice guy would do.

Is that what she wanted? He still didn’t know.

Worried, he rubbed her clit.

Becca stopped abruptly. Air whistled through her teeth. Okay, she liked that. Naturally. Eric kept it up.

They worked each other’s bodies into a frenzy of delight. The chair’s legs scraped over the concrete with their movements. She mumbled something that sounded like a prayer of thanks. He answered with a groan that said this was un-fucking-believable.

They came together, both of them grasping the chair’s arms, rocking back and forth, making noises only lovers should hear.

With one final, shattering gasp, Becca collapsed against him. Eric wound his arms around her waist, tried to calm down and failed, blurting what he’d wanted to since she’d arrived.

“Let’s get out of here. My place is a couple of miles away.”

Of course, her business was even closer, hopefully closed and empty at this hour.

Chapter Nine

Was it ever easy to face the truth?

Becca tried to imagine herself flushed from a staggering climax, hair messy, makeup ruined, limbs sprawled yet she’d still feel great about what had happened.

In the past, she’d understood and accepted that her few hookups were measured in minutes, not days, and certainly not years. They were about temporary relief, not relationships. With their passion sated, the immortals she’d slept with had grown quiet, no doubt planning their escape to avoid real intimacy or her wanting another date.

Back then, Becca had thought the promise of more would have allowed her to relax, be herself. A tender kiss and gentle caress would have had her soaring for weeks, months even.

Eric cradled her, his arm around her waist, hand on her breast, rocking them in an X-rated version of comfort and care. He hadn’t fled. Hell, his cock was still inside her, and he wanted to take her to his place.

She should have been doing backflips. The truth, reality precluded it. Fighting sadness, Becca traced the outline of his fingers then smiled softly at his chin on her shoulder, his sloppy yawn.

Finished, he murmured, “I’m not tired.”

Of course not. He was a newly minted beast, with more endurance than the Energizer Bunny that kept going and going and wasn’t any more real than this night. She suppressed a sigh. “Let me up.”

“In a sec.”

He rubbed his nose against her neck then gave it a wet kiss. She wiggled at his tongue tickling her. Eric tightened his hold to keep her still and close.

Becca surrendered, turning her face into his, seeking his mouth and tongue, becoming lost in the moment so easily. Too easily. She had no excuse, except that part of her was only human and painfully weak when it came to him. Becca yearned for Eric…the real Eric…the same way her parents still longed for each other.

Unfortunately, this wasn’t anywhere close to what they had.

After their fateful first meeting, Becca’s parents had grown close the mortal way. Rowena hadn’t used any spells or potions on Wade. They weren’t necessary. He’d craved her from the beginning, as she had him, their bond magical. More powerful than any sorcery.

Eric ended their kiss and pressed his cheek to hers. His skin was smooth, hot, scented with his aftershave and her fragrance. Becca wanted to throw her arms around him in an honest, impassioned caress, but didn’t. Couldn’t.

He played with her nipple. “You falling asleep?”

She wished. Doing so, being sheltered within his embrace, would have been so wonderful. Then she wouldn’t have to consider the inevitable. With it pressing down on her, Becca shook her head.

“Sure?” He slid his fingers from her breast to her ribs. “You’re awfully quiet.”

“No, I’m not—what are you doing?”

“What do you think?”

She pressed her face to her shoulder, muting her giggles. “Don’t! I’m ticklish!”

“You think?”

A husky laugh erupted from her. Becca tugged his fingers. She tried to slap them away and finally clawed him.

Didn’t faze Eric at all. He tickled her until Becca convulsed with laughter, her face lifted to the sky, throat exposed.

After leaving a trail of kisses there, which had her panting like a contented dog, he murmured, “Can you walk to my car, or do you need me to carry you?”

She tightened her cunt around his cock. A risky move Becca couldn’t resist, though she warned herself not to go farther. “Give me a sec.”

“Take all the time you want. What you’re doing feels great.”

His strained breathing sounded as turned on as hers, his shaft stiffening again. Knowing where this would lead…and where it wouldn’t…Becca stopped squeezing him and tried to stand. “We can’t stay here all night.”

He said something beneath his breath, then whispered in her ear. “Okay, I’ll carry you to my car.”

“No.”

He tensed slightly, as though he hadn’t expected that answer. “I don’t mind. Don’t you think I’m capable?”

“I know you are, but it’s not necessary.”

“If we want to get from here to there it might be.”

Becca wanted to be straight with him, but couldn’t bring herself to do so. Unsettled, she came up with the best excuse she could think of. “With a flick of my hand, I can send you wherever you want to go.”

Eric leaned around her so he could see her face. “You mean magic?”

His obvious misgiving didn’t surprise Becca since she was a shitty witch. “Guess I’ll walk,” she mumbled.

Eric ran his fingers down her arm. Becca trembled. He whispered, “Sure?” He kissed her biceps. “I don’t want you to get tired. At least not until we’re somewhere private. Your office is nearby. It’s closed for the night, isn’t it?”

The heat from his words and breath travelled to the core of her being, landing deep within Becca’s soul. “Ah no. Not until dawn. Our vamps have appointments all evening for the obvious reasons.”

“Right. I forgot about that. Them.” He hugged her. “My apartment it is.”

Stop this. Now.
“My place is in the French Quarter, a block up from my business.”

“Sounds good.”

“I could walk from here,” she said. “It’s not that far away.”

Eric gave her an odd look. “You want to walk?”

No. Becca had never been as weary. However, getting in his car was out of the question. She’d make more excuses that would only prolong the pain.

“What’s wrong?” He smiled as though he wasn’t certain if she was yanking his chain or not. “You can’t be worried that I’ve had too much to drink to get behind the wheel. I had less wine than you.”

Becca knew what she had to say, but still couldn’t get it out.

“Oh hey.” His smile faded. “You think I’m too tired to drive because of this?” He gestured to their partially naked state, the fact that his cock was still inside her cunt.

“Maybe,” she lied.

“But walking through a crowd of drunken tourists, dodging their elbows and feet will perk me up?” His expression said she’d lost her mind. “I’ll drive.”

Say something. Put an end to this.

The words wouldn’t come.

“Up you go.” With his hands on her waist, Eric helped Becca to her feet. Immediately, she missed the feel of him within her. Something she’d have to get used to.

He gave her his handkerchief. She tidied up as best she could while he got dressed. With his jacket slung over one shoulder, he offered her his free hand.

Don’t take it.

She did, sighing as he kissed her fingertips.

On the way to his car, his step was more than light. He seemed wired again, ready for round two. Given the potion he’d taken, Becca wasn’t surprised. As he drove into the French Quarter, she stared at his hand planted firmly on her knee, assured and possessive.

“Where do you live?” he asked.

“Not far.” She pointed at a car leaving a parking space. “Pull over there.”

“Why?” He leaned over to look out her window, no doubt to see why she wanted him to stop here. “Isn’t there parking at your place?”

“Not always. Go—before someone else grabs it.”

He slipped his Mercedes into the tight spot, ignoring the screeching horns of others who wanted it.

A group of thirtysomething men and women passed, laughing hysterically, holding beer bottles between their thumbs and forefingers. Across the street, a sax and trumpet wailed, the sounds mournful. The clip-clop of horse hooves joined the other sounds as a mare passed, pulling a white carriage. The couple in the backseat kissed as though they were the only people left in the world.

Becca eased her purse’s chain over her shoulder. “You can leave me here.”

“What? Wait.” Eric captured her wrist. “Leave you? Why?” He glanced out the front windshield. From where they were, Becca could see the roof of her office. Apparently, so could he. “You’re going back to work?”

She was going to find the closest bar, knock back a couple of whiskeys to dull her heartache, then drag herself home.

When seconds passed in silence, Eric frowned. “Becca, I asked you a question. Answer me.”

She said what she had to, not what she wanted. “The evening’s over, Eric. I’m going home. Alone.”

He couldn’t have looked more surprised than if Becca had told him she was a man.

“Are you saying you didn’t have a good time tonight?” He appeared flabbergasted, pensive, then pissed. “Uh-uh. I don’t believe that. No matter what you say, I’ll never—”

She interrupted gently. “Of course I had a good time. Tonight was probably the best night of my life.”

He stared. “That sounds good.”

“It isn’t.” She pulled her wrist from him. “Don’t you understand? It’s not real.”

“What isn’t?”

This, tonight, them.
Her soul ached for more of him, an endless supply.

“What’s going on with you?” Eric asked. “You were eager as hell back at Desi’s. Now you’re—”

“Quit pretending this is more than it is,” she snapped. “This was a dry run for the real thing. Nothing else. It wasn’t a date.”

Shock then offense crossed his face. “You’ve got to be kidding.”

Becca crossed her arms and leaned against her door. “Okay, let’s talk about what really happened tonight.”

“I don’t have to. I was there.” He pushed his shoulder into his door. “I thought you were too. Apparently, I was wrong. You were only pretending to enjoy yourself.”

“That’s not true. I didn’t fake one orgasm.”

“Neither did I.”

Becca tightened her arms and fists. “That’s not the point. Have you ever behaved with other women as you did with me tonight?”

He pressed against his door as a trapped animal would. “Why?”

“Eric.”

He muttered, “No, I haven’t behaved with any woman as I have with you. Dammit, Becca, you really turn me on. If you think I’m going to apologize for that, then you’re out of your mind. I like you. Everything about you. Except for this weird conversation.”

“The potion’s making you aroused. Not me.”

“That’s nuts. I don’t believe it.”

He was worse than she was, refusing to face the truth. “How do you feel now?”

“Shitty. You?”

“Eric, how do you feel? Exactly?”

“Hurt. Confused. Frustrated. Horny. All right? But that doesn’t mean squat,” he said, before she could comment. “The potion was supposed to bring out my inner beast, turn me into a bad boy, not make me want you.”

“I know, and it did the bad boy part.”

“You don’t like that?”

“Of course I do. The way you behaved tonight was beyond wonderful. You were freaking great.”

He smiled. “Yeah?”

Before he got too thrilled, Becca pressed on. “But that wasn’t the only thing the potion did.”

Eric’s attention fell to his groin. “It made me too big? I hurt you?”

Good grief.
“No. Again, you’re perfect.”

Pure pleasure flickered in his eyes.

“The potions weren’t mine,” Becca said. “They’re my mom’s. She chose the ingredients. She wasn’t all that certain how you’d react to the second one after what happened with the first. She’d never worked on a god before. Clearly, they did stuff you never asked for.”

Understanding dawned on his face. He pushed it away quickly. “That’s crap. Just because you don’t think any guy is going to want you doesn’t mean your mother cast a fucking spell on me so I would.”

Becca’s cheeks burned from his comment, her dignity a distant memory. Her only hope now was that this wouldn’t take too much longer. “Your attraction to me could very well be collateral damage.”

“You’re saying what you and I did tonight was collateral damage?”

“I’m saying it’s a result of magic. How the potions acted separately and combined. It could have been innocent or deliberate.”

“Now it’s a conspiracy?”

“No. My mom worries about me, okay? Could be she got tired of seeing me so lonely and saw her chance to fix that with you. I’m not blaming her,” Becca added hurriedly. “I’m simply calling this what it is…a sham.”

He looked stunned. “You’re not going to see me again, are you?”

Tears welled in her eyes. “You deserve better. So do I.”

Eric gestured frantically. “What in the fuck is that supposed to mean?”

“I need a guy who wants me, only me,” she cried. “So I can be myself, not always worried about every woman stealing him. The only way that’s going to happen is if he falls in love with who I am, how I look, my good points and my flaws.”

“Dammit, you don’t have any.”

“Yeah, that’s realistic. Listen to yourself. The potion’s talking, not you.”

He turned away, giving her the proverbial cold shoulder, his attention on the street scene, everyone drunk and happy.

Becca envied them.

“This isn’t about what your mother did or didn’t do,” he muttered. “You tried me out and for reasons unknown to me, I didn’t pass your test.”

“There was no test,” she said. “Look at me.”

“No.”

“Please.”

Jaw clenched, he faced her, hurt and bewilderment playing across his face.

Oh, Eric.
“Nothing you did tonight impressed me more than the first moment we met. I liked you then. I still do.”

He pressed his fingers to his forehead as though it ached from him trying to figure this out. “So you’re saying you don’t like the new me, after all? A few minutes ago, you said you did. Which is it?”

“I enjoyed it, but it’s not real.”

“The fuck it isn’t.” He lowered his hand. “I didn’t sprout wings or a thirty-inch cock. This
is
me,” he insisted. “And you’d know that if we kept going out. We could see where this takes us.”

“No, we can’t.”

“Why? Afraid to find out that our chemistry has nothing to do with the stupid potion?”

What else could it be? No man—certainly none as sinfully handsome as him, with an awesome sense of humor and a good heart—had ever fallen for her. In two days, no less.

“Trust me, it is.” Becca put up her hand to stop him from saying anything. “I know you don’t believe me, so test it out yourself. Ask someone out. See what happens. I’m not wrong.”

“You want me to go on a date.” He frowned. “If I’m obsessed with you because of your mother’s magic, won’t being with another woman prove to be kind of pointless? Won’t that be unfair to the other woman?”