Not Quite Dead (A NightHunter Novel) (28 page)

No floor this time, honey. Not for you.
He reached the bed and lowered her on it, sinking down with her.

I don't allow men in my bed.
Her voice was a seductive whisper in his mind as she reached for his shirt, dragging it out of his jeans.

Ah, my sweetheart, it's too late for that.
He grabbed her ankles and upended her onto the tangled sheets that revealed a restless sleep for his woman.

She landed on her elbows, her eyes hooded with a sultry sensuality that made his entire body tighten. "Except you," she said, her gaze steady. "You're allowed."

Her voice was light and teasing, but he felt the enormity of her words. She was choosing him, inviting him into an inner sanctum where she'd never thought to allow a man again.

He jerked off his shirt and kicked off his boots before sinking down on the mattress, propping himself above her, his entire body suspended over hers, almost touching everywhere, but actually touching nowhere. "I won't betray you," he said. "I swear it."

Her face softened, and she nodded. "I know."

She knew. How in the world had a woman who had endured so much granted him such faith? She knew what he was, but he could see the complete acceptance in the softness of her body and the desire in her eyes. She wanted
him.

She held up her arms to him. "Come to me, Eric. I want you to be with me."

His chest contracted at her words, but he tried to shake it off with humor. "What man could ignore that invitation?" He lowered himself ever so slowly, inch by inch, until her nipples brushed his chest. He trapped her breasts against him, and then his hips sank onto hers. Hunger reverberated through him as he felt her body yield to him. All his senses were on overload at the feel of her body against his. So feminine, and yet so strong. A woman who could bring him to his knees a thousand different ways.
Jordyn.

He tunneled his fingers through her hair and swept her mouth up in a kiss so hot that fire seemed to leap between them. She wrapped her arms around his neck, holding him close, as if she would never let him go. He held onto the kiss, deepening it, pouring all his hunger into it as he slipped his hands beneath her shirt and palmed the soft skin of her belly. Her muscles clenched, and he felt a rush of desire pour over him. Her desire, not his, and yet every bit as intense as what was rushing through him.

Suddenly, he couldn't take it slow anymore. He couldn't seduce. "The clothes have to go," he said, rolling off her. He pulled her up, yanking her shirt over her head as she grinned at him, humor dancing in her eyes.

"Do you remember when we were in the jungle? You said you'd never beg for sex?"

"It was a lie." He grabbed her hips and tugged her jeans off, tumbling her back on the bed as he did so. "You have me wrapped so tightly around your little finger that I'd get down and kiss each of those sexy as hell toes of yours until you agreed." He swept his fingers under the edges of her lace underwear. "Black." He pressed a kiss to the tiny pearl stitched in the front of it. "You wear black lace."

Jordyn sucked in her breath, her hands tangling in his hair. "You didn't notice that before?"

"I didn't notice anything before, but I am now." He dropped to his belly, sliding down until he could cup her buttocks in his palms. He pressed another kiss to the pearl, his gaze raking hungrily across her body. Her breasts were held tightly by a white sports bra that was in stark contrast to her lace underwear. The sight of that spandex was like a punch to his gut, and his cock got even harder.

"You like the sports bra?" Jordyn had propped herself on her elbows again, and she was watching him intently, as if she was systematically extracting every single emotion he was feeling.

"Yeah. I do." He crawled back up her body, trailing kisses across her flesh as he went, until he reached the elastic band circling her ribs. He spanned her ribcage with his hands, and lightly bit her nipple through the spandex.

She let out a small gasp, her blue gazed fixed on him. "It's a sports bra, Eric. Not lace."

"Yeah, I noticed." He bit her other nipple, and satisfaction hummed through him as he watched the peaks tighten beneath the spandex. "It's hot as hell, because that's so you." He hooked his finger around the neckline of her bra and tugged it down, pressing a kiss to the soft flesh. "You're sexy, but you're also tough. You're a warrior all the way through, but you're also a woman." He pulled it further down, exposing more of her breast. "You run through the damn jungle to save a friend. You can't do that in a lace bra, and I love that about you." He cupped her breast in his palm, watching her eyes darken in response. "You're spandex and lace. You've got major attitude, but you can be the biggest pile of emotional goo a woman could be. You're brave. You're scared. You're everything." He took her nipple into his mouth, sweeping his tongue over the hot peak.

Jordyn gasped and arched her back, gripping the sheets. "Goo? You called me goo? I take offense to that on behalf of women everywhere. Just because I cried, it doesn't mean—"

He bit her nipple, and she yelped, twisting beneath him.

"Don't distract me, Eric," she gasped. "I'm trying to berate you."

"I'm listening. Go ahead." He pulled down the other side of her bra, and ran his teeth over that nipple.

Jordyn moved again, and her fingers dug into the sheets. "This is completely unfair, you cretin. Let me at least finish."

He rolled off her and grabbed her hand. Before she could protest, he pulled her to her feet, and then hoisted the sports bra over her head. Her breasts spilled free, and she grabbed the front of his jeans, unfastening them and shoving them down his hips. His boxers went with them, and he kicked them aside.

The look on her face drew him to a complete stop. Her gaze was raking over him, unabashed thirst for him so stark on her face that his entire soul burned in response. He reached for her, and she held up her hand, her gaze jerking to his. "Wait."

He stopped where he was, letting her look at him, watching the pathway of her gaze as it traveled across his chest, down his abdomen, to the pulsing erection between his thighs. His skin was burning with the urge to take her, but he didn't move even an inch, giving her the time she needed.

She looked back at him, wonder on her face. "It's been so long for me," she said.

"I know." He didn't want her thinking about the last man she'd been with. He wanted her with him, and only him. He lightly clasped her wrist and raised her palm to his chest. "It's me, Jordyn. No one else."

She spread her fingers across his pecs, her palm searing hot against his flesh. His muscles rippled with the compulsion to close the distance between them, but he stood stock still, allowing her to touch him.

Her face was soft with wonder as she ran her hand across his chest and down across his torso. His abs tightened involuntarily as her whisper-soft touch fluttered across his skin. "I don't think I've ever been touched that softly before," he said.

Her blue eyes flicked to his. "Is it okay?"

He nodded slowly. "More than okay, honey. Far more than okay."

The corner of her mouth lifted in a small smile, and his heart quickened. It was incredible the power he felt knowing he could make her smile. It made him feel like he was the king of the whole damn world.

Jordyn moved closer and ran her hand over his bare hip. Hunger began to build inside him, a thundering need that pounded through his veins, but still, he didn't move. Her fingers traced a path across his buttocks, and then traced his spine upwards. She was so close that her breasts were almost brushing his chest, but not quite. He stared down at her, watching the play of emotions across her face. "This is excruciating torture for me," he commented. "To have you so close, and not touch you."

She glanced up at him again, her hand pausing halfway up his spine. "Thank you," she said. "I like it this way."

"What way?" Hunger was so loud in his head he could barely hear her. It sounded as though thunder was booming through his entire soul, a black, bottomless reverberation that was more than just sound. It was like the pounding of a massive drum deep inside him. He wanted more than her body. He wanted to consume every part of her, to entwine their souls so tightly together that he would never get free.

"Slow." She leaned forward and pressed a kiss to his right nipple. Electricity leapt through him, and he palmed her hips, dragging her against him.

Jordyn slapped at his hands and twisted out of his reach, a grin sparkling in her eyes. "No, I want to be in charge." She held up her hand to him, palm out. "Stay."

Sweat trickled down his temple, the only indication of how hard he was fighting not to claim her, when every instinct he possessed was commanding him to make her his. His gaze went to her mouth, and then drifted down to her neck. He could smell her blood swirling through her veins like a hot spring of life, and his incisors began to lengthen. He opened his mind to her, and let her feel his longing for her.

Her eyes widened, and she sucked in her breath. Her nipples hardened instantly, and he focused on them. He envisioned sweeping them into his mouth, twirling his tongue across their peaks, and sucking on them.

Her hand went to her breast, and she took a step back. "How are you doing that?"

His gaze snapped to hers. "You can feel that?"

"It's like you're kissing my breast, but you're not. It was the same way with Tristan—"

"Tristan? You felt Tristan kissing your breast?" White-hot possessiveness exploded in his mind like a flash of lightning, and he closed the space between them, dragging her into his arms. "Not Tristan.
Me.
" Without waiting for a response, he bent his head and kissed her, unleashing all his hunger into her.

A small noise of satisfaction escaped from Jordyn, and her hands went around his neck as she melted into him, kissing him back just as fiercely. He cupped her buttocks, lifting her belly against his throbbing cock, never letting up on his single-minded assault on her senses. She lifted her legs, wrapping them around his hips.

His head was pounding with hunger now, so overwhelming he could feel nothing but the woman in his arms. Nothing else mattered but her. He lifted her, and his cock pressed against the lace of her underwear. She twisted restlessly in his arms, and he knew she was ready for him. He wanted her. He needed her. But not yet.

Not yet.

He let her inch down his body in a tantalizing assault to his senses. The moment her feet touched the ground, he dropped to his knees in front of her. He palmed her hips as he licked his way across her belly, lower and lower, to the waistband of her underwear. He bit that white pearl as he smoothed his palms down her thighs, and wrapped his fingers around them.

Jordyn grabbed his shoulders, leaning on him for balance. He could feel her desire thick in the air, every bit as strong as his.

He pressed a kiss to the inside of her left thigh as he lifted her leg and draped her thigh over his shoulder.

"Eric. Seriously? I'm going to fall down. My legs are shaking." Her fingernails were digging into his shoulders, and her toes were curled into the carpet, trying to keep her balance.

I've got you, honey. Just lean on me.
He wrapped his right arm around her leg, using his strength to support her while he kissed his way up her inner thigh, closer and closer to that black lace.

"You're in my mind," she said, her voice breathless.

I am. I feel your soul. You hide nothing from me.
He caught the edge of her underwear with his index finger and dragged it aside as he pressed a kiss to her damp folds. Her essence flooded him, a searing mixture of sweetness and temptation. Possessiveness roared through him, and he parted her folds, plunging deep with his tongue, taking her as his own, making her his.

Her standing leg started to tremble, and he wrapped his arm more tightly around it, infusing her with his strength. He could feel every nuance of her emotions. Her attraction to him that was so staggering she didn't even understand it. He could feel the softness of her soul, her complete openness to him. She wasn't afraid of him, and she wasn't shielding herself from him. She was pure goodness, far beyond anything he ever thought would be a part of his life.

She was his, and he would protect her with everything he had. The scent of her blood racing through her was beckoning to him, tempting him, demanding that he take what she had to offer. Not the neck. Tristan had bitten her neck. It had to be intimate, personal, where no other man had ever gone or would ever go. He needed to make her his, only his, forever his.

He rubbed his thumb over her inner thigh, over the humming blood beneath her skin.

Yes.
Jordyn's voice whispered through his mind, a sensual play across his thoughts.
I want it. You're mine, Eric. Mine.

The palpable need driving her words plunged into him, shredding the last of his control. He slipped his fingers inside her at the same time that he sank his teeth into her inner thigh. She screamed his name, her body tightening around his fingers, as the orgasm swept over her. She clung to him, her body shaking as her blood flowed through him, seeking out every last recess of his soul, bringing light and life into the darkness that beat at him so savagely.

The blood raged within him, driving his lust to a frenzied peak. He eased his teeth from her body, licking away the drops of blood to seal it, then stood, lifting her with him. In two steps, they were beside the bed.

He lowered her gently to the mattress, and this time, she didn't let go of him, pulling him with her. He met her gaze, and saw in her eyes a warmth and softness that made his heart tighten.
Make love to me, Eric. Not sex. Make love to me.

Her request felt like a sudden jab through his chest. He didn't make love. He didn't even know how. What was he doing? He couldn't—