Soulceress (The Mythean Arcana Series Book 2) (18 page)

For tonight, he was hers. Despite all the things he’d said to her in the past, she still wanted him. And it terrified her.

She couldn’t lose her heart to him. That would lead to the same place it had with Brian. With all the other Mytheans with whom she’d ever tried to start something. Warren wanted her now because he’d never had her, but once the novelty wore off, he’d remember what she was. There was no way she could bear it if he turned from her once this was over.

But she’d made the bet. And she wanted this. She’d just keep her heart separate. Esha straightened to meet him, wincing slightly at the pull in her back. But she didn’t cower, especially from the man she wanted so badly.
 

She looked up at him when he stopped in front of her and met the heat of his gaze. His strong hands gently gripped her upper arms. Heat flared within her from that simple touch and her breath caught when he bent his head to hers.

She rose up on her toes and pressed her lips to his. The heat of his mouth and body threatened to go to her head, so before she lost her senses, she dragged her mouth away. “There. A kiss.”

He looked down at her with a grin, then stepped closer until she was pressed against the wall by the steel strength of his muscles. “I doona think so, lassie. I want a proper kiss.”

“A proper kiss?”

“Aye. I know you’re capable of it. I want a kiss like the one the other night. You wanted me then, and I’d bet a fortune you want me now.”

“I don’t.” She looked away.

“Aye, lassie. Is that why you’re trembling?”

I’m not.
But she was. He wanted to kiss her. Knowing what she was, he still wanted her. But for how long?

She repeated her vow not to fall for him again, then rose up on her tiptoes with a sense that this was something different, something new and very possibly stupid, and pressed her lips to his.

Warren held himself stock still when he felt her breath feather across his lips. Then connection. A groan tore from his chest when her lips met his. Such a light touch, but it was the most delicious thing he’d ever felt.
 

She might be a damn soulceress, but she was his.
 

He moaned and drew her against him, fitting her sleek curves against the harder planes of muscle that ached for her. “That’s it, lassie,” he muttered as her tongue traced his lips. He ran his hands up the curve of her waist, wanting to tear the clothes from her and lick every inch of her flesh.
 

Be easy with her.
Though she’d shown no sign of pain this evening, she was injured and he’d be damned before he’d hurt her any more.

Gently, he cupped the back of her head and thrust his tongue between her lips, the honey of her kiss making his head swim.
 

Must stop.
 

He broke away and leaned his forehead against hers. Tension thrummed along all his muscles, his cock so hard it nearly pained him. The scent of her hair clouded his mind, and all he could hear were his breaths sawing in and out of his lungs. But then the sight of her glistening lips nearly stole his good intentions.
 

“We have to stop. Your back is injured...”

“My back is fine. I swear.” She yanked his mouth back to hers and arched her back until her breasts pressed against his chest. At the feel of her softness, his resistance broke. He plunged his tongue between her lips and moaned when she returned his kiss. Such fierceness.
 

 
Desperate to feel more of her, he stroked the skin at the small of her back where her shirt rode up. She gasped, and the delicious sound sent a shiver across his skin.
 

“You like that, do you?” he said at her ear.
 

Gently, he ran his hands up her back, cripplingly grateful that her wounds had healed and she would mend. She was so soft. Too soft, too precious, to be torn so gruesomely. He wanted to kiss every inch of her back, to make it all go away. From his mind, from hers, so that neither of them had to relive these painful and terrifying last days.

He dragged his mouth from hers and ran his lips along the side of her neck, inhaling her scent while savoring the feel of her beneath his lips and hands. Soft and curved against his hardness, but with muscle and strength that protected her. Cleverness that protected her.
 

He loved her strength, her daring and courage—the traits that made her put her life in danger every day. As she’d done for him. After every terrible thing he’d said to her. He hadn’t meant them, not truly. But she believed he had.
 

She deserved better than he, something he’d been too stupid to realize when he’d been bothered by her species. When he’d been avoiding her because of what she was. Now he couldn’t care less.
 

She was all he wanted.
This
.

Esha shivered at the feel of his big fingers skimming across the sensitive skin of her back. Goose bumps broke out on her arms as he dragged his tongue along the side of her neck.
 

“You’re so beautiful.” His gravelly voice at her ear made it so she could barely think straight. She should stop this. When they finished, he’d eventually look at her with derision again. Today or tomorrow, it didn’t matter. She couldn’t bear it. This was different from the one-night stands she used to keep the loneliness at bay.
 

This would hurt her. This was
something.

He dropped to his knees in front of her. All thought of self-preservation flew from her mind.
 

“Wh-what?” she stuttered, her hands flying immediately to his strong shoulders.

She looked down at him. When she met his eyes, she gasped at the intensity of the desire within them. His big hands ran up her sides, supporting her and raising her shirt all at once.

“What are you—” She gasped when she felt the heat of his tongue against her stomach. Her head dropped back against the wall, her eyes sliding closed at the delicious feeling of his rough hands against her sides, his hot tongue tracing its way along the waistband of her pajama pants.

He was so close to her sex that she ached with anticipation. For something she’d never had, not when sex had always been about racing to the end and leaving. But with Warren...

His mouth pressed lower, dragging her soft pants down until she felt the heat of his tongue through the lace of her underwear. When his hands ran down her sides to the edge of her pants, her eyes jerked open. Startled, she looked down at him and met his gaze.

“Let me. Please.” His fingers curled beneath the waistband of her pants, awaiting her permission. She’d never seen anything like him, this golden god kneeling at her feet as if to worship her. With his hands. His mouth.

“I want to feel you. To taste you.” There was such need in his voice, such desire.

Her mind buzzed. No one had ever said anything like this to her before. No one had ever looked at her like this.

Her mind raced. A kiss was one thing, but this... If he did this and rejected her, it would break her.
 

“I—I—” She couldn’t think straight with his big, hard body pressed against hers and his gentle hands poised to bare her to him.

“Let me do this for you. For me.” His eyes were hot on hers. “Trust me.”

Did she? Could she? She wanted this so badly. With the same fierceness that she saw in his eyes. Wordlessly, she nodded, unable to turn away from what he offered. Even if it was only for tonight—even if it broke her.

She bit her lip as she watched him bend his head to her. How had it come to this? Sex had always been on her terms. But now, Warren had her pressed up against the wall while he stole her mind and her self-control. It made her vulnerable to him in a way that terrified her.
 

But not enough to stop.

She dropped her head back against the wall once more and closed her eyes, the anticipation so unbearable that she couldn’t look.

Cool air brushed against her thighs, her calves, as he lowered her pants. With a press of his mouth to the front of her underwear, he looped his fingers through the sides and dragged them down as well.

“Beautiful.” The word, so singular, yet so evocative, made her snap open her tightly closed eyes.
 

Soon, his strong hands were supporting her hips, his mouth back on her stomach, teasing her with proximity and promises. He leaned back to look at her, and using his knee, nudged her legs apart. She felt so exposed, so vulnerable. Yet so powerful, with him on his knees looking at her as though she was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen. Her heart threatened to pound out of her chest.

 
She cried out when he blew a puff of breath against the curls at her sex and her hands shot down to sink into his hair, whether to stop him or press him against her, she wasn’t sure.
 

The first stroke of his tongue against her flesh made a cry break from her throat. The second parted her sex and dragged a groan from Warren.
 

“I’ll make you forget every man before me,” he said, his voice fierce, as he lifted one of her legs and draped it over his shoulder.

Her fingers tightened reflexively in his hair as he bent his head back to her sex. She jerked at the feeling of his tongue on her clitoris.

“This. I’ve never—” She broke off, unable to continue, yet wanting to tell him that for her, this was more than just physical.

Warren groaned against her soft flesh, his hands tightening reflexively on her hips. That she’d let him, when she’d let no other? He stroked his tongue over her sex, savoring her taste, one that only he knew. No other would.

Determined to make sure she wouldn’t regret her decision, he laved the tight little bud of nerves that was the center of her pleasure. She’d begun to pant, sharp cries escaping her throat as he sucked on her clitoris.

He never wanted this to end, but he’d lose control long before. Though he wanted to yank his trousers off and thrust himself inside her until she screamed his name at her orgasm, she was too delicate from her injury. This would have to be enough.
 

And it was. More than. With her swollen flesh beneath his mouth and her ass gripped tightly in his palms, there was nowhere else he’d rather be.
 

Wanting to taste more of her, he thrust his tongue into her tight entrance. She cried out, the sound making his cock jerk against the confines of his trousers.

“You’ll come for me, lassie,” he said against her pussy. She moaned in response, arching her hips against his mouth.

“Warren.” She gasped. “I want you—” She cried out when he sucked gently on her clitoris. “—inside me!”

He groaned. His cock ached for it, throbbing for want of her. But this wasn’t about him. And she felt so damn good against his mouth that there was no loss.

He stroked her entrance with his fingertips, the feel of her a drug against the sensitive tips. Gently, he pushed a finger inside of her.
 

“So... perfect.” He groaned as her flesh clasped him. She rocked against him, her hands tightening deliciously in his hair.

“Warren!” Her voice was breathless, caught on a tide of need. She was close, so close, and he wanted to feel her pleasure.