InsistentHunger (38 page)

“I’m saying this all wrong,” he finally said.

“Brady, you don’t have to say anything at all.” Actually,
it’d be better if he didn’t.

“Yes, yes I do. God, I’ve missed you. Every single night I
missed you,” he said. “Gavril understands what it is to be a
blajini
.
But he doesn’t understand how much I’ve wanted you.” Brady’s fingers dug into
her arm and now he carefully turned her loose and pulled his hand back.

Paige reached up to rub her sore arm. “Brady?” She thought
she’d figured out what they were doing, but now Brady was confusing her again.

“I know why Dorothy turned against him, why she ran away to
Oxbow,” Brady whispered, his eyes focused on the ground between them. “He was
born hundreds of years ago, and frankly, he’s such a chauvinist there are times
I want to shove a stake in him.” His voice dropped to a mere whisper. “True, I
don’t exactly appreciate her coming to town and killing me…or killing human
Brady. That part still gives me a headache when I try to figure it out, but she
wanted someone. She wanted someone who could be with her, and Gavril…he can’t.
He doesn’t see people as equals. He doesn’t understand how much I’ve missed
having you at my side.”

Paige swallowed, she still didn’t know how to respond. Just
because he missed her didn’t mean that she had a place in his life.

“You’re freaking me out a little here, Silver,” he said with
a huff of what might pass as laughter if she ignored the undercurrent of fear
in it. “I was hoping you would jump in and save me from my flailing at this
point.”

“What you want me to say?” Paige asked. Brady visibly
cringed and Paige reached for him without thinking about it. Resting her hand
on his arm, she struggled to find the right words. “I suck at this shit. I
really don’t know what I’m supposed to say here.”

“I don’t know. Something. Something hopelessly sappy maybe?”
Brady looked up at her.

“Do I strike you as the sappy sort?”

That made the corner of his lips twitch. “No, not really. I
just don’t want you to leave.” Brady gave a shuddering sigh. “I don’t want you
to leave, but I don’t want to be the person who asks you to change. I don’t
want you giving up your career for me and then turning around and hating me. I
would rather think of you happy in Oxbow than I would ruin your life. I don’t
want to wake up next to you and know that you hated me.” He scrubbed a hand
over his face.

“I’m not going to hate you, you idiot.”

“I ruined your life.”

Paige rolled her eyes. “Screw that. Dorothy put a dent in my
life, but she didn’t even ruin it. My drunk father didn’t ruin my life. The
long string of losers that I have chosen to date did not ruin my life. Do not
assume that you have the power to ruin my life, Brady.” Paige willed him to
believe her. “I was a damn good cop because I believed in what I was doing. And
I stopped being a cop because suddenly I didn’t believe anymore. I didn’t
believe that the rules and the regulations would work. How the hell am I
supposed to train people to follow rules that I don’t believe in?” Paige hadn’t
ever realized why she’d suddenly felt uncomfortable in her job, but as she said
the words, she realized just how true they were. She couldn’t pretend to teach
people how to protect themselves and clear scenes when she knew that all the
precautions were worthless against demons. But if she tried to teach recruits
to protect themselves from vamps, she was going to end up in a rubber room.
Maybe she was getting through to Brady, because he looked less miserable.

“I retired because I couldn’t be a cop without teaching
other cops about demons,” she explained, “and that would not go well. Now I did
apply for jobs in the immediate area because of you, but that was my choice.”
Paige pointed her finger at Brady. “So do not go assuming that I’m some
Southern belle chasing her man.” Paige had a bit of Southern twang to her voice
anyway, but she played it up for that line.

“So you’re not chasing me?” Brady’s expression slowly
rearranged itself into a slow smile. “Damn. I was kind of hoping you were
chasing me. Kinda good for the ego, you know.” That boyish smile of his slipped
back into its rightful place.

Paige rolled her eyes. “You’re insane.”

Brady nodded. “Probably. I just know that I want this to
work. I want you to like me enough to chase me.”

Words had never been Paige’s strong suit, and the way Brady
verbally flailed, the same was true of him. So instead she stepped closer,
raising her hand and resting it against his chest before she leaned in close.
He understood a heartbeat later, and then he lowered his head and their lips
brushed past each other. Paige went up on her toes and moaned a little as she
deepened the kiss. When Brady sucked in a breath, she pulled away slowly and
studied him.

“This isn’t about need or being out of control or hunger,”
Brady promised, his voice serious.

“I know,” Paige said.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Paige leaned against him and she could feel her nipples
pebbling under her shirt, aching for touch. Reaching up, she curled her hand
around the back of his neck so she could pull him close enough for another
kiss. This time, his hands found her waist before slipping around to her back.
While they still kissed, Brady moved backward, slowing inching toward the bed.
Paige moaned her approval while still focusing on the way his lips moved
against hers, the warmth of his lips against hers.

When she pulled back to gulp at the air with hungry gasps,
he looked at her. “What do you want?” he asked, and that was possibly the
sexiest thing a man had ever asked her. Paige moved closer and reached up to
cup his cheek. He hadn’t shaved today and she could feel the prickles of his
tiny stubble against her palm. He sat on the edge of the bed and pulled her
close. “Anything. Anything you want,” he promised.

“I just want you,” Paige told him. She wanted him more than
anything else in her life—more than her new job or even her old one. He was the
man who had trusted her, who had come to her and put his faith her in her
ability to stand at his side. When she moved closer, she ended up straddling
his legs before she sat in his lap.

His cock pressed up and Paige rocked forward against that
hardness. The angle was better now, so Paige threaded her fingers through the
hair on either side of his head, feeling the silky, cool hair sliding against
her skin as she held his head and leaned in for another kiss. His tongue
slipped into her mouth and Paige rocked forward against his body. Her pussy was
getting wet already and Paige could feel the heat gather in her skin.

His fingers played with the bottom of her shirt, hesitating
as though waiting for permission. Paige leaned back. “Yes,” she said.
Immediately, Brady pulled her shirt up, and Paige raised her hands so that he
could take it off. Her aroused nipples were obvious through her white bra and
Brady looked at them, his tongue slipping out to lick at his lower lip as he
brought his hands up to cup her breasts, his thumbs rubbing Paige’s nipples
until the friction made her squirm in his lap. The look of almost reverence on
his face made her smile. However, he pulled at the nipple through the fabric
and Paige sucked in air and her whole body sent off flares of desire. Brady
repeated the motion on the other side and Paige tightened her thighs around his
legs and threw her head back.

“More…. More would be good,” Paige panted as she twisted her
arms behind her back to scrabble at the bra’s catch.

Brady looked up at her face and gave her a brilliant smile.
“I can do more,” he promised.

When he pulled her close for a hungry kiss, she could feel
his strong fingers pressing into her ass as he pulled her closer. More than
willing to oblige, Paige ground herself against his hard cock to encourage him
to go farther. He did. He kissed her with a fierceness that bordered on
aggression. While he was busy on the world’s best kiss, Paige caught the bottom
of his t-shirt, yanking it up.

Brady broke the kiss, and when he pulled back, Paige could
see the whites of his eyes now red with a roadmap of veins. He watched her, his
lips slightly parted, and she pulled his shirt off, tossing it to the floor.
While she took a moment to admire the view of a strong, well-muscled chest and
shoulders, he let his warm hands map her bare stomach. Fingertips found the
scar where she’d gotten cut trying to break up a bar fight, and he followed the
thin white line up to just under her ribs. The touch tickled and Paige gave an
involuntary giggle before capturing his hand.

From the devilish expression on his face, he intended to
take advantage of that later, but now, Paige wanted something else. She didn’t
want tickling and giggles. She was as hungry for him as he was for her and she
wanted a hard, satisfying fuck that would fill the need in her. Her panties
were already wet and she couldn’t wait.

Maybe Brady could read that in her expression because he
reached up and pulled at a hard nipple.

“Fuck!” Paige arched her back and ground herself down onto
his trapped cock.

“Not yet, I haven’t. I’m getting there.”

Paige gave a throaty moan at the promise. Then he reached
inside her pants and she realized he’d worked the zipper and button open when
she’d been distracted. He slipped his fingers down between her legs, and when
he touched her clit, Paige cried out and pulled him close. Leaning down, she
bit at his neck.

“Fuck, Silver.” Now he sounded desperate. Pesante. The word
slipped into Paige’s mind—an old word from long-forgotten piano lessons, but
that’s what his breathing sounded like, each breath sounded with an emphasis
that revealed strong emotion. His cock pressed against her thigh and she could
feel it move as he worked his finger farther up her pussy. A second finger
slipped into her, past the wet lips, and the fullness was good, but not enough.
Paige threw her head back and rocked forward.

“More. Shit… Please.” Her breath caught in her chest and
words scampered around in her brain so that Paige couldn’t form full sentences.

“You’re wet,” Brady said, sounding almost amazed. Paige felt
her pussy almost involuntarily tighten around his fingers. She was close. So
close. Her whole body ached with a need to come.

“Fuck me. Fuck me now or I’ll fucking kill you,” Paige
finally managed to gasp out, her body trembling.

“Ma’am, yes ma’am,” Brady said with enthusiasm. His hands
were on her waist and he easily lifted her, lowering her on the middle of the
bed. Immediately, Paige pushed at her waistband, squirming to shed her pants.
Brady helped by simply pulling them off, but then they got caught on her shoes
and Paige had to laugh as she toed off her shoes.

“God, you’re gorgeous,” Brady said in a reverent voice as he
slowly unzipped his own pants. His cock pressed out, making his tighty-whitey
underwear tent up. Reaching over to where he knelt beside her on the bed, Paige
traced the shape of his cock under the cloth.

Brady froze, his body perfectly still and his limbs oddly
angled as he watched her, the tip of his tongue barely visible between his
parted lips. There was a tiny spot of precum just at the tip of the trapped
cock and Paige pushed herself up onto one elbow. Moving slowly and watching as
Brady’s eyes followed her movements, Paige leaned forward and ran her tongue
over the fabric. It dried her tongue so that the skin stuck uncomfortably, but
listening to Brady’s small cries made it worth it. She took a second to suck at
the tip through the fabric. “Oh God. Fuck. I…fuck,” Brady managed to gasp out
before Paige sat up and gave him a calculating look. Brady’s hands fisted the
sheets, his knuckles white from the force of his grip.

“Do you still want to tease?” she asked, knowing full well
what his answer would be.

He scrambled out of his pants, flinging them at the wall
where they hit and slid to the floor. She smiled at him, spreading her legs so
that the cool air teased her hot valley as she squirmed. Silently and with his
gaze focused on her face with this intense expression, Brady settled between
her legs. He took his cock in hand and ran the tip of it up and down her pussy,
gathering the wetness. “Teasing can be good,” he said, although his voice shook
with desire.

Paige wrapped her legs around his thighs and pulled, trying
to bring their bodies together. For a moment, Brady resisted, but then he
yielded. Paige tightened her legs and his full length thrust deep into her.

She cried out, her back arching as her body finally got what
it needed. Her mouth was hanging open, and a little part of her brain pointed
out that wasn’t the most attractive look, but she was too caught, too busy
squirming in pleasure as he pulled out and started a slow, steady, maddening
thrusting. Despite the slow pace, Paige could feel her orgasm growing, the need
to come pushing against her awareness.

She grabbed Brady’s arms, and with each thrust, she arched
her back and tightened her legs to pull him closer. When he gave her nipple a
hard pull, Paige could feel herself fall away from the world. She gave a hoarse
cry and thrashed as her pussy tightened. Brady’s thrusts came faster now and
the orgasms rolled through Paige hard and fast.

When Brady worked a finger between them, talented fingers
teasing at her throbbing clit, Paige’s cries turned to a scream as skin slapped
against skin. His thrusting slowed and his breath grew staccato and shallow.
She heard him cry out, his hips jerking in an uncoordinated series of short
thrusts. He was painfully beautiful when he came. He lost all control and she
could see the raw power and raw love as he looked down at her with amber eyes.
Paige’s pussy tightened even more, his orgasm sending more waves of pleasure
through her. Then he let out a low, deep moan and finally stopped.

Slumping, he rested his head on the pillow next to her where
she could hear him struggle to get enough air in. The funny thing was that she
was almost certain he didn’t need to breathe. On the other hand, her lungs
burned as if she’d held her breath too long. That wasn’t possible though. She’d
been rather vocal throughout the whole session.