Rock Hard And Wet (BBW Paranormal Romance) (Nymphs Of New York) (11 page)

A
shiver chased over her skin and goose bumps rose in the trail of his finger as
he traced around the curving lines of the bracelet. Callie wasn’t nearly as set
on denying him as she let on. “Female, I didn’t say anything about sex. It can
wait until you’ve rested. But you will come home with me.”

“No.”
She shook her head and scowled.

“Yes.”

“You
hurt me, Theo,” she whispered. “I’m confused and scared. I can feel the bond, I
felt it when you sent me away…but I don’t know if it’s enough.”

He
leaned down until their foreheads touched, closed his eyes for a moment, and
opened them again. Her scent danced in the breeze, and he took a deep breath so
he could suck as much of her into himself as possible. The incredible copper of
her irises filled his vision. “I know. I thought you’d be safer away from me.
Please, give me another chance. I know I am unworthy. I truly sought to protect
you. And perhaps myself.”

“Hmmm.
Love is scary, huh?” The light brush of fingers on his pectoral blazed a path
of fire into his blood. “And I don’t think sending me away is a good protection
tactic.”

“Never
again will we be separated.” Theo bent his knees and scooped her up into his
arms. “I’ll spend as long as it takes to regain your trust. A millennia may
pass, but I will spend every day living a life that makes you proud to be my
mate.”

“What’s
this? The big bad grotesque brought low by a mere female?”

“Shut
up, Logan.”
Theo
hid his smile and gave his brother the most intimidating glare he could muster.
The fool snorted and gave the equivalent of a feline laugh. “
I’m taking my
mate to bed. You need to go retrieve yours. I can sense the thread. Don’t be
stupid. You know what will happen to you if you continue to deny the bond.”

His
brother snarled and launched himself from the building, both wings unfurled to
their full span. At the moment, Logan’s love life wasn’t something he had the
time or energy to meddle in. Callie’s needs came first.

He
directed his next thought to the members of the aerie. Most had left the
building already, but they could hear him over the common link. “
Thank you
for awakening me, but harm my mate by word or deed, and I will kill you.”

“Theo,
it’s not very nice to threaten people like that.” She glanced at the sky,
watching his brother soar away. “Logan really messed up Petra. She’s
heartbroken.” Warm air flowed over his neck when Callie spoke.

“He’ll
go back for her. I promise. He can’t deny the bond much longer.” Strands of her
hair tickled his bare chest and shoulders. “A grotesque without their mate bond
cemented will wither and die. Logan is smart, resourceful, and a survivor.
He’ll do the right thing.”

“I hope
you’re right.” She licked him, and then kissed the spot. “You know, I don’t
think I’ll ever get to sleep, even though I’m exhausted. I’ve got all this pent
up energy.”

Blood
pooled in his cock and stiffened it into a throbbing ache. “Giving me blue
balls is not going to win you brownie points. You need to sleep.”

“I will
sleep.” She nuzzled his neck, traced the curve of his ear, and burrowed her
hand into his hair. “After you screw me senseless and give me an amazing
orgasm.”

Theo
shook his head and squeezed the curvy, soft female in his arms. “Sleep.”

“Orgasm.
Or-gasm. O-oh-oh-oh-rrr-gasm!” She caught him by the nape of the neck and
kissed him hard.

“Fine.”
He strode for the access door to the stairwell. If sex would calm her enough to
rest, he must give it to her. “After the ceremony.”

“I
can’t believe you’re pouting about having sex.” She cocked her head and
frowned. “What ceremony?”

“I’m
not pouting.” He kissed the top of her head. “The mating ceremony. It’s
important.”

“Oh.
Okay. What’s it do?”

“You’ll
see.” A deep purr rolled up and out of the base of his throat in response to
her acceptance. This was right. Callie. His mate in his arms where she
belonged. She needed training, but in time, she’d learn to listen in matters
concerning her safety and well-being.

“I
heard that.” Her palm hit his chest with a sharp smack. “And no, I won’t. I’m
not a pet that needs training.”

He
fondled her butt cheek. “Just an orgasm.”

“Right.”

Theo
smirked and slipped his thumb between her cheeks in the right direction to find
her moist center. “Okay, pet.”

“If I
wasn’t so hard up and horny right now, I’d leave your ass up here alone.”

He
removed his hand to open the door and began to descend the stairs. “Sure you
would.”

“I’m
not your pet. I’m your mate.”

Their
eyes met.

“Exactly.”

Twilight
descended and changed the edges of the horizon to gold, rose, purple, and
deepest blue. The strongest stars struggled to break through the haze of the
lights created by New York City. Wind rippled through her hair and sent it
flying behind her in streamers. Callie spread her arms wide and leaned back
with her eyes closed, enjoying the sensation of moving blind through the night.

Theo
curled his front paws around her and cradled her. She’d wanted to ride on his
back but he’d refused to let her. He thought she’d fall off without a saddle. For
tonight she’d let the argument slide. Despite his injured wing, he soared with
powerful downbeats high above the ground.

The
button down shirt she’d stolen from his closet hung off her frame, the arms
rolled up all the way to her elbows. She hadn’t even tried to wear a pair of
his jeans. With her hips, the damn things weren’t going to button even if she
got them up over her ass.

He’d wrapped
her in the comforter from the bed to keep her warm while they flew. It was the
only piece of bedding that’d survived their lovemaking. Nestled in the soft,
down-filled material, she relaxed as the landscape changed below. Soon the
lights of the city faded into the background, and a thin strip of highway cut
its way through the trees.

They
landed in a cloud of sand at the edge of the ocean. The quiet rush of the water
breaking on the beach crowded out any other noise. He snuffled at her hair
until she laughed, and then released her. His enormous bulk blotted out the
night sky, and she stroked his muzzle.

Scents
of salt and seaweed crept up her nose. White caps danced on the waves, and the
moon’s reflection lit a silver-white path across the moving landscape.

She sat
up and let the comforter fall to her waist.“Isn’t it beautiful, Theo?”

He sneezed
and folded his wings. The wind gusting from the ocean tore her hair back, much
as the flight to the beach had. Her mate regarded her, his head canted to one
side, and an immense wave of love flooded her senses through their bond.

The
intensity of the emotions shocked her, knocked her breath from her, and she
gasped. High pitched purring notes floated into the night air and joined with
that of the ocean’s rhythmic roar. Compelled to join her own voice with his
song, she sang notes to harmonize with him. The threads of their bond coiled
over on each other, grew brighter as new threads joined the first. Different
colors and thicknesses wove through each other to create a dazzling rope of
magic.

Theo
lifted his right paw off the sand and held it aloft. He slashed the tip of his
ear, removing a small chunk, and held it out toward her. Waiting.

“Callianira,
this is my token to you. When the Grotesques mate, they exchange a piece of
their physical form. We incorporate these pieces of our mates into ourselves as
an outward symbol of our bond. I will spend the rest of my existence proving
that I am worthy of you and ensuring that every day you know, in my eyes, there
is no brighter star in all the heavens. My love for you is without measurement.”

A
strangled sob escaped her lips, and she launched herself into his chest. The
stone of his mane caressed her face, hard, yet silken on her cheeks. When she
stepped back, she took the chunk of rock from his paw, clenched her fist around
it so tight it cut into her palm.

“Twelve
hundred years ago, when I chose to join Poseidon’s harem, I took a stone from
the bed of the stream I lived near.” The soft cord of her ankle bracelet cut
into her fingers as she stretched it out tight. “I have kept it with me all
this time, always somewhere on my body, even though I never knew why I wanted
to. Can you cut this string?”

He
crouched down until his belly touched the sand and used one claw to slice
through the cord. The smooth oval of rock had been encased in a web of hemp
cord. It popped through the space in the weave, out into her palm.

The
quarter-sized piece of blue and gold stone gleamed in the moonlight. “Theo, can
you change back to your other form?”

The
winged lion disappeared and he stood naked before her. “Anything for you,
love.”

“How do
you incorporate your mate’s offering into your body? Your ear will heal, right?”
The piece of his ear he’d given her turned hot and throbbing in her hand as she
turned the small water smoothed rock over and over in the other.

“Grotesque
magic allows us to absorb it into ourselves. Yes, my ear will heal.” He closed
in on her; heat emanated from his flesh and warmed her. A gentle nudge on her
lower back brought her closer to him.

“Can
you crush it?” She opened her hand and caressed the triangular hunk with her
thumb. A tug on the water striking the beach called a flow to her, and she
formed it into a floating globe. White crystals drifted from the liquid to the
sand as she forced the salt to separate from the water molecules. “I want to be
able to follow your people’s customs.”

“Take
this shirt off.”

The
fabric of her shirt tightened across her shoulders and chest. Buttons popped
off and pinged into the hard slabs of his pectorals. He cupped her face in both
hands and kissed her until she thought she’d pass out.

The shirt
slipped down her arms and puddled on the sand.

He
closed his fingers around the stone he’d given her and when he opened them,
only a powder fine residue remained. The granules flowed into her palm in a
sparkling stream.

“Here.”
She passed him the stone she’d kept for so long, a deep well of love
overshadowing her doubt and fear. “Crush this one too.”

Dark
strands of hair fell over his forehead and his eyes gleamed. “Are you sure?”

“Yes.”
When he’d crumbled the rock, she formed a cup with her hands and waited for him
to do the same. The globe of water cruised to them, and she directed it into
two separate streams into their waiting palms to mix with the stone. “Now
what?”

“Just
wait a moment.”

The
water and stone mixture sank into her skin, absorbed right through her pores. A
cold, heavy weight traveled from her palms, up her arms, into her shoulders and
torso. Red and gold lines twined around and through her flesh, glowing bright
from within. Theo’s magic sparkled up from under her skin like seeing sunlight
from underwater. When it wrapped around her heart, the muscle stuttered before
beginning to beat again at a slower pace than before. The light brush of Theo’s
mind on her own she’d grown accustomed to amplified.

She
knew
him.

The
weight of his long years trapped by the aerie’s magic, the love and regard he
had for his long dead parents, the bond he shared with his brother, how much he
adored the look on her face when he’d observed her drawing. With little effort
she could speak to him, mind to mind, share all the things she’d tried to
express, the loneliness and empty places in her heart that he’d filled with his
presence.

When
the last drop of the mixture passed into her, a deep resonant gong sounded in
her head, and the bond she shared with him exploded in a blinding shower of
sparks. She stared at him, amazed to see aqua blue energy flowing and
shimmering on his form.

“Oh
Theo…how blessed I am to have you.” The stubble on his cheeks scratched at her
palm, and she ran the pad of her thumb over his lower lip.

“You
honor me.” He kissed her hand, and in a burst of motion, grabbed her under each
arm and lifted her from the ground. Her legs twined around his waist
automatically. The hard head of his cock nudged her pussy and she gyrated her
hips over his length.

“What
now, mate?” The silken strands of his too-long hair twined around her fingers
and she gripped him tight.

“I’m
going to fuck you senseless. Then I’m going to make love to you until you beg
for mercy.” Arousal turned his eyes into twin dark flames, gray swirls and
twinkling lights washing through the brown.

“I like
the sound of that. But first, you’re gonna have to catch me.” Energy, hot and
electric thrummed in her veins. She was more alive than she’d ever been, high
on love, exhilaration, and a new magic she sensed cascading through her veins.

“I’ve
already caught you.” His long fingers burrowed into her ass and he buried his
face in the valley of her breasts. Blunt teeth bit into the mounds and sharp
spikes of pleasure zinged to her pussy. “I can smell your arousal. You’re wet.”

“And
you’re about to be.”

“What?”
He glanced up at her, and a moment later she released the water she’d gathered
to her from the ocean on his head. His mouth popped open and he dropped her on
her ass.

The
sand cushioned her fall, and she gained her feet and ran down the beach as fast
as she could. Her laughter rang out across the waves, and the pure joy of the
sound called to the sea creatures nearby. Dolphins and whales broke the surface
of the waves and crashed back into the watery depths to share in her happiness.

Faster
and faster she ran, with a speed she’d never known she was capable of. The
night sky stretched above her, sprinkled with stars, and she wished she could
rise high enough to see them the way she’d been able to thousands of years
before modern civilization overtook the globe.

A
rippling sensation flowed over her, a tingling sheet of magic and light. Instinct
took over, and with a great heave, she launched herself from the ground and
into the air.

“Don’t
stop flapping your wings, love. You’ll crash.”
The low tones of Theo’s voice
filtered to her through their link.

Flapping
her wings? Callie started and plummeted twenty feet before being caught by her
mate. The lion chuffed with laughter, and she examined her body.

Paws,
not hands or feet. A long swishing tail. Blue skin?

By
Hades’ balls!

“Theo.
Am I…a lion?”
He
moved her around in his paws. Her perspective changed, and instead of seeing
his mane and chin above her, she faced forward with the ocean below her and the
night sky above, his paws wrapped around her tummy. They climbed to a higher
altitude.

His
surprise and amazed delight at her new ability enfolded her. “
Yes love. A
very pretty blue one, at that. My magic has given you wings. This is how we
teach baby grotesques to fly. I’ll let you go and catch you if you falter. Are
you ready to try again?”

Fear
almost crippled her, but his assurance and confidence bolstered her. The bitter
sadness she’d experienced in Poseidon’s castle over the Fates giving a water
creature a mate who could fly now seemed a dim episode that belonged to someone
else. Theo showed her what to do with her new wings through their bond, and she
stretched the huge membranes out below him.

With a
blast of love and confidence enveloping her, he let go. A fierce updraft caught
her wings to carry her higher. She raced away from him, as high as she could
go, daring him to try and catch her.

Suppressed
laughter and delight traveled along their mental link. He captured her far
sooner than she’d thought he would. One moment she raced high above the water, and
the next he wheeled into her from below, trapped her wings down tight, and sent
them plummeting into the sea.

When
they broke the surface of the water, Theo swam around her in a circle, dog
paddling.

Her
grotesque could swim.

They
headed for the shore, and when her feet touched the sandy bottom, she focused
on being in the form natural to her, walking toward land until the water was
only ankle deep. The change happened with little effort, the red and gold
striations of Theo’s magic—now her magic as well—faded from her skin as she
watched.

“Hey,
Callie.” Theo stood a few feet away, a huge grin on his face. A glimmer of
mischief flared in their bond, but he closed his side off before she caught
what he planned.

It
didn’t matter, because she knew seconds later when salt water splashed over her
head and sent her heavy sheet of hair into her face. She sputtered and coughed.

“Oh, so
now you think you’re up to a water fight with a nymph, is that it?” It took
both hands to shove the locks out of her eyes and from around her neck. She
called on her affinity with water and smirked as a huge wave gathered behind
Theo.

Her
mate, however, had more practice with mental communication, and foiled her
plans. He bounded to her, caught her up in his arms, and sent them both
careening into the sea.

She
broke the surface first, and he yanked her under again, kissing her with all
the love and need and pure bliss overtaking him. Neither needed to come up for
air, but he tugged her up, showing her through the bond he was unnerved by his
new ability to survive below the surface without falling into Dormancy. Eventually
it wouldn’t bother him; especially after she showed him all the fun they could
have in the ocean together.

The
water lapped at their necks. His white teeth gleamed, exposed by a huge grin. “Our
mate bond has brought wonders to me I never thought I’d experience. Thank you,
Callianira.” He traced her eyebrow with one finger and slid his lips over hers,
speaking with their mouths touching. “I knew we would incorporate parts of each
other, even expected the telepathy, but this…”