In Deeper (11 page)

Micah stood in the foyer and watched Celeste retreat upstairs. His first inclination urged him to follow her, but damned if he would play into her hands. He wasn’t blind, nor had he missed the blatant invitation in her gaze. She wanted him to chase after her. His cock agreed. Instead, he waited. He stood there and pretended an indifference he was far from feeling until she reappeared.

“You’re still here?” Celeste called down.

“Where else would I be?” He put his hands on his hips and stared at her. “I’m not leaving here without you. You can save us both the trouble by packing your things.”

She propped a hip against the railing and twirled a strand of lovely golden hair around her finger. “You don’t give up, do you?”

Not on her. “We both know you have two options here. Either you play along like a good little girl, or I make you. Your choice.”

She snarled and narrowed her eyes. “I’m not going.”

The air in the room subtly changed. It crackled with an energy that had nothing to do with the recent lightning storm. He frowned and studied the signs of her altered eyes and rigid limbs. “There’s no need to fight me on this, but if you’re looking for a challenge, I’m game.”

He had no warning when she tossed aside her robe and slipped into her wolf form. He admired the sleek white coat and brilliant gold eyes before she leaped from the second floor and landed next to him. Her claws scraped the tile floor as she stalked forward and butted him with her head. He laughed at the clear challenge of her lupine eyes.

“This is ridiculous. I’m not fighting a girl.”

She responded with a hiss and swiped a paw at him. A claw scraped across his thigh, ripping the worn denim and leaving a tiny trickle of red. If she’d meant to hurt him, she could’ve, but the sight of blood made his beast rage out of control.

“You’d better hide,” he warned her. He removed his clothing methodically and set it aside. Once he was naked, he closed his eyes and called to his animal form. It had been weeks since he shifted. His muscles and ligaments protested the sudden change. He grunted when he landed upon all fours.

Celeste had disappeared. He sniffed the air. Female wolf and human arousal lingered. She was upstairs. He padded up the stairs and went down the hall, following the scents she’d left behind. With his altered vision, the shades of white appeared green.

He found her room and nudged open the door with his head. He paused in the doorway and swung his head left to right, seeking his prey. Instead of the wolf he thought he’d find, his heart shuddered when he caught sight of the nude human form upon the bed. She’d abandoned the wolf and lay spread across the mattress, her hair brushed over one shoulder, her smooth limbs open and waiting for him.

He backed out of the room, fighting the intense arousal, and surrendered to human form. Battling the wolf into submission, he gritted his teeth against the pain of the sudden shift. He stayed crouched on the floor until his vision corrected. The wound on his thigh had mostly healed. A small line of pink remained where she’d scratched him.

He stood and returned to the room. Celeste remained on the bed. Her gaze swept over him. “About time.”

He strode forward and surveyed the delectable body on display. “Why didn’t you just say you wanted to fuck?”

Her cheeks turned pink. “Do you have to be so crude?”

“You like it.” He put a knee onto the mattress and crooked a finger at her. “You like it when I talk dirty to you.”

She shook her head. “You come here.”

He remembered her actions of the night before. Without a word, he grasped his cock and gave it a teasing squeeze. He watched with satisfaction as her attention dropped to his erection. His palmed the stiff length and moved his hand up and down. Precum glistened on the tip, and Celeste licked her lips in expectation.

“Come here,” he beckoned. “I want you to suck me.”

Her amber eyes glittered. She hadn’t gone down on him yet, but she wanted to. It was apparent in the way she watched him like a woman starved. She crawled to him on all fours and tentatively wrapped her hand around him. But there was nothing timid in the way she swallowed him from tip to root. He was large, and no one had been able to deep throat him before.

“Fuck.” Air hissed past his lips. “Do that again.”

He gripped a handful of her hair, directing her motions as she moved up and down his cock. Her head bobbed with each movement, her bottom lip teasing the edges of his balls with every downward sweep. She teased her tongue along the edge of his slit, traced the vein of his shaft, and licked everywhere in between.

He’d come if she continued. “Enough.” He pulled her hair and broke free of her mouth.

Her lips were red and damp, swollen from being wrapped around his raging hard-on. A delicious pout made him want to kiss her senseless. What was he doing? He’d come here to protect her, not ravish her until they were unable to walk, but there was no turning back now. He couldn’t leave if his life depended on it.

“Turn around and get on your knees.”

She sank back on her heels. “Make me.”

He put his knuckles against the mattress and leaned forward. “On your knees, Celeste.”

She huffed but did as he asked. The sight of her rounded ass as she settled into position drove him mindless with lust. He caressed the slope of one cheek, warming the skin before delivering a series of short, sharp spanks. She moaned and pressed into his palm. He stilled his hand. “More?”

“Hmm,” she murmured. “Definitely.”

He hadn’t expected such a response from her. “Maybe later. Your skin is already pink. Very sexy.”

He ran his finger over the cleft of her ass and dipped lower to toy with the dampness between her legs. “Bad girl. You’re ready for me.”

She bucked against his hand. “More.”

He tried to pull his hand away, but she gripped his wrist and pressed his fingers to her wet sex. He teased her clit with his thumb and parted the folds to insert a finger. She went buck wild, rotating her hips and using his finger to fuck herself into a writhing, mewling creature. His dick jerked to attention. “That is so fucking hot.”

He moved into position behind her and used his free hand to guide his dick to her waiting pussy. So wet. Anticipation grew, tensing his muscles and shortening his breath. He withdrew his fingers and thrust inside her, groaning aloud at the tight fit of her muscles clenching around his shaft. He gripped her hips and slammed into her again and again. Celeste turned into a wildcat, bucking and twisting against him, and clutching at the bedspread with tightly curled fingers. It had never been this hot, so wild and untamed. His beast raged and howled, fighting to break free, but he held strong.

Celeste arched her back and howled. “Fuck me,” she screamed. “Harder.”

He obeyed, rocking back and forth at a faster pace. Sweat beaded on his brow and ran into his eyes. The stinging didn’t faze him. He increased the force of his thrusts, slinging Celeste forward until her cheek pressed into the mattress. She didn’t call for him to stop. Instead her cries of pleasure were music to his ears, driving him crazy with desire and pure need. His balls tightened, and the climax washed over him with the force of a tidal wave, sucking him under and taking his breath away.

He bared his fangs and sank them into the curve of her hip as his dick convulsed inside her. He coated the walls of her pussy with his seed, his dick slipping in the sudden burst of wetness, as she cried out her own orgasm. Still, he continued to move, desperate to bring her to a second release.

“I can’t,” Celeste gasped out. She struggled to push up on her elbows. “Jesus, Micah.”

He nipped her shoulder and trailed his tongue up her neck. “I want to make you come again.”

“Oh God.” Her body shook beneath his.

“So good,” he ground out. “So fucking good.”

Never would anyone make him feel what she did. Arousal rose again, and he chased after a climax like a man possessed. When he found it, he barely heard her cries of release as he shuddered and called out her name. With an exhausted sigh, he pulled out of her and moved to lie beside her. She rolled and moved into his embrace. He tightened his arms around her and pressed a kiss to her forehead.

All he’d wanted was in bed with him. So close to heaven, and here, where it mattered, they suited. “I’m sorry I forgot a condom.”

She tilted her head and stared at him with expressive golden eyes. “I’m on the pill. A waste probably, but it was habit.”

He figured she would be and was glad to see he wasn’t wrong. “You drive me out of my mind.”

Her lips curled into a smile. “I don’t try to.”

“Sure, you don’t.” He liked it. Not that he would admit it. “You have to come with me. I’m not leaving until I know you’re safe.”

“I need my independence.” She traced his nipple and blew on it. “I want to stay here.”

“Celeste.” He framed her face and gave her a lingering kiss. “Do it for me. Please.”

She grinned at him. “When did you become so sweet?”

“I’ve always been sweet.”

Her jaw dropped. “Seriously?”

“What?” He smiled at her look of astonishment. “You were just too busy on your pedestal to notice.”

“You’re delusional.” She elbowed him, laughing when he grunted with pain. “I’ll consider it. That’s all I can give.”

It would have to be enough, but come morning light, she’d be at the beach house, even if he had to carry her over his shoulder the entire way.

* * *

The next morning, Celeste awakened to the smell of bacon. She sniffed with appreciation and dragged the sheet up to cover her nude body. Micah’s scent lingered in the room, combining with the tantalizing aroma of the sizzling meat. Her supersensitive hearing detected the clang of a fork on a plate. Was he cooking breakfast for them?

She wrapped the sheet around her and slipped out of bed. The ends of the sheet trailed behind her as she traipsed downstairs and entered the showpiece kitchen, one that seldom got any use due to her hectic schedule.

Micah stood at the stove, shirtless and damp haired. She smothered a chuckle when he turned the cooking bacon and grease popped up on him. “Damn,” he muttered and swiped a hand across his chest.

She tiptoed forward and kissed his shoulder. “Don’t you know you’re never supposed to cook bacon in the nude?”

He turned his head and winked. “I’m not naked, but I’m ready if you are.”

Heat throbbed between her legs. She was sore, but another round sounded just fine to her. “After breakfast.”

Micah turned back to the stove. “You have a message on your phone, I believe. I heard it beeping when I came downstairs. I put it on the counter for you.”

“Thank you.” She picked up the phone and slid her finger across the screen. The message alert box popped up, and she tapped it. The first e-mail displayed an attachment from an unfamiliar address. Typically she deleted any unknown messages, but a strange sixth sense led her to open it. A picture opened in the browser screen, and she choked back a sound of dismay. The picture was of her the night before. She stood near the window, with lightning in the background, and a red target had been painted across her chest.

“What is it?” Micah was at her side in an instant.

Her hands shook as she passed him the phone. “Someone was here, watching me.”

Micah glanced at the picture. His jaw tightened, and a vein stood out in stark relief in his forehead. “When was this?”

“Last night.” She leaned over him to point at the lightning. “It hasn’t stormed in several weeks here.”

Micah cursed loudly and fluently. “Son of a bitch.”

“I don’t understand. Why would someone want to harm me?” Shock muddied her thoughts. She pressed her hands to her temples. “I don’t have any enemies.”

“That you know of.” Micah tightened his mouth into a firm line. “Get your things. We’re leaving now.”

This time, she didn’t argue. How had her security system missed him? Someone must’ve known to override the carefully placed motion detectors. She should’ve trusted her instincts. She’d known something wasn’t right. “I’ll go with you, but I have to be at work in the morning. I have an important meeting.”

Micah gave a short nod. “I’ll have Drake arrange it. Now hurry. I have a flight to catch.”

She went upstairs and took a quick shower. The water was hot but didn’t wash away the chill of terror that had settled in her bones. What would’ve happened had Micah not arrived? She didn’t want consider the possibilities.

After rinsing, she toweled dry and dressed in a plain linen shift and low heels. She pulled her hair into a messy bun and quickly brushed her teeth. A glance in the mirror assured her she was paler than she’d thought. She packed a bag, throwing in a couple changes of clothing and a few essentials. She’d send Drake back later to fetch more. As much as she wanted to deny it, someone really was targeting her. Her home no longer felt safe.

“All set?” Micah appeared in the doorway. He’d put on a shirt and held a ziplock bag full of crunchy bacon.

“Just about.” She fetched chargers for her phone and laptop. “You didn’t have to worry about breakfast, but thank you. It is sweet of you.”

He bumped her hip as she walked by. “How do you know the bacon isn’t for me?”

Even with her anxiety, he made her smile. Downstairs, she grabbed her laptop, but he took it out of her hands. He handed her the phone instead.

“I forwarded the message to Drake. He’ll have his IT guys check into it.”

“Thanks.” She reset the alarm and locked the door behind them. “I’ll call my neighbors later and see if they can keep an eye on the house for me.”

“Good idea.”

One of Drake’s flashy sports cars waited in the drive. “So your brother knows you’re here?”

Micah nodded and opened the passenger-side door for her. “He picked me up at the airport last night. He read me the riot act for abandoning the tour.”

“You’re going back though, right?”

Once they settled into the car, he reached for the ignition. “I’m flying to Dallas this afternoon. I should be there in time for the show.”

“Tell Drake I’ll reimburse him for the fuel. You didn’t have to come here.”