Sweet Ruin (36 page)

A light snow began to fall. She raised her pale face to the flakes.

He gently pinched her chin to get her attention. “Why now?”

“Because the more you know about me, the more you like me.”

He couldn’t deny that. “Are you so determined for me to like you?”

She shrugged.
Yes, Rune
. “You should like your mate.”

He dropped his hand. “This again?” He was about to fall back on his known-each-other-for-only-four-days argument—

Wait.
No, it was worse than that. She was infatuated with him—simply because he was the first Lorean she’d ever spoken to!

She’d never known another being with powers. Fate could have substituted any immortal male for Rune the night they’d met. Josephine would’ve drunk the other’s blood, then grown attached.

Damn it! Hadn’t she responded to Deshazior with like enthusiasm? If that demon had come upon her first, she would fancy herself in love with him!

“Why’s the breeze warm?” She glanced over her shoulder. “What’s around the next corner?”

“Go see,” he bit out, following her into a narrow canyon. How to turn infatuation into something more lasting? So he could secure her for the Møriør.

When the canyon opened up, she rushed toward a small pool. “Hot springs? This is amazing, Rune.” He’d read about this place today.

Steam rose from the water. Tall boulders circled the pool, buffering the wind. Snow accumulated on the stone, but flakes melted a couple of feet above the water. Strings of paper lanterns stretched from one side to the other, making the haze appear to glow.

She wasted no time undressing: boots, jeans, shirt. In her lacy thong and bra, she descended the natural rock steps into the water.

That body would be the death of him.

She ducked under and emerged, smoothing her wet hair back, revealing her perfect ears. “Come in!”

He recalled Dalli’s words: “Win her.” He wanted an iron bond with Josephine.

Then the forge had best be hot.

FORTY-FOUR

J
o didn’t know what had gotten into Rune, but as he strode toward the edge of the springs, with his eyes so dark and threatening, her laughter died. As if in response to a threat, her body tensed, her mind becoming more alert.

He started to undress, his movements growing quicker and quicker, until parts of him blurred.

She blinked, and he was in the water with her naked. She swallowed hard as he stalked closer. Steam dampened his smooth skin and his black hair. As his torso flexed, his tattoos glided over chiseled muscle. Soon the water would erase that blood rune on his side.

Standing before her, he used a claw to slice away her bra and then her thong, tossing the scraps away. “Nothing comes between us.” He grazed his knuckles over a nipple, his silver rings clinking against her piercing. “Tell me why you’ve seized on me, Josephine.” He coiled his arms around her, drawing her close, trapping his straining dick between them. It was hotter even than the water. “Why do you want more from me?”

Breathless, she said, “Because you’re mine.”

“Why.
Me
?” He grasped her nape. “I’ll tell you—because I’m the first Lore male you’ve ever known. If you’d met another before me, your attentions would be fixated on him.”

Dickwad! As if she didn’t know her own mind?
And
he was harshing her buzz.

“You’re too bloody young and inexperienced to—”

She cupped his sac and tugged.

“Josie?”

“You’re making me sound like an idiot. Which doesn’t mesh with me being extraordinary in every way, now does it?” Yank.

Groan. He eased his legs farther apart for her and rocked his hips.

“If you underestimate me, Rune, I will always have you like this: by the balls. Get me?”

His gaze locked on hers. “Two can play at that.” He cupped her pussy with a firm grip.

She sucked in a breath.

He rubbed the heel of his palm against her clit as he murmured, “Do you want to play nice with me?”

Jo did, she really did. She let go of his balls—and grasped his shaft.

Each time he kneaded her, she stroked. “That’s it, Josie.” His free hand caught hers, and he linked their fingers.

They stared at each other, both fondling beneath the surface of the water, both breathing heavy. Their clasped hands squeezed rhythmically.

Then he leaned down to take her mouth, his tongue seeking and twining with hers. She moaned into the kiss, making him groan again.

Still cupping her, he slipped his middle finger into her pussy. She dimly realized her feet were no longer touching the bottom of the pool; he held her in the palm of his hand. She gave a cry, stroking him fast.

He took her mouth over and over, slanting his lips. He kissed her like he wanted to scald her.
Brand
her.

Her breasts slipped against his rigid chest, her nipples raking along his skin. When she thumbed the head of his cock, another of his fingers found its way inside her.

By the time he broke away from the kiss, she’d gone boneless, happily resting in his hand.

In a husky voice, he told her, “I’m going to take you.”

First thought:
Where?
“Ohhh,
take
me take me.” Maybe she was still a
little
drunk. “But today, on the mountain, I was thinking. . . .”

“About what?”

“I’ll need my hands for this.”

Curiosity lit his eyes, and one of his sexy ears twitched. He freed her and set her down.

She ran her palms up his tattooed torso, rubbing his flat—and clearly sensitive—nipples, then laced her hands behind his neck. She tugged him down so she could reach his ear. Nipping his lobe, she whispered, “I wanna suck your cock, Rune. Can’t stop thinking about it.”

He shuddered. “A
very
feasible alternative.” He traced from her to the steps, sitting on a higher one, which put most of his dick above the surface.

She rose in the waist-deep water taking her time to join him, loving the view.

Molten gaze eating her alive, he started to masturbate his big cock for her. “You want to take this between your lips,” he rasped, his tongue daubing his own. “You need to suck on it.” That smoldering sensuality . . .

She nodded, spellbound. Each stroke of his big fist made need tighten in her belly.
Up. Down. Up . . . Down . . .

Once she reached him, she leaned in to kiss his throat, but not to bite. She eased lower to lick drops from his chest.

He cupped her tits, weighing and massaging them.

When she grazed her teeth over one of his nipples, all the muscles in his mighty body tensed. “I’m not to be teased tonight.” He gave her breasts a squeeze to show her he meant business.

“Uh-huh.” Ignoring him, she moved to the other one, twirling her tongue as she gave it a sizzling suck.

A gust of breath left him.

When she nipped it, his hips bucked.

“You’re sensitive.” Continuing down, she nuzzled the damp hair at his navel. As she’d fantasized today, her lips followed his tattoo, her tongue flicking.

“Enough! Don’t you see what you’ve done to me?” He tilted his hips, jutting his cock upright. “Put me out of my misery.”

She grasped his dick, about to kiss it.

“Ah-ah. Meet my eyes. I want to see your true reaction.”

She raised her face. “Reaction?”

“Some females crave this; some don’t. Never gave a fuck before. Now . . .”

Gaze holding his, she slowly licked the tip.

He groaned and tightened his hold on her tits.

She swirled her tongue around the head, then licked the slit. When she probed that dip with the tip of her tongue, his legs quaked around her.

“Wicked little girl.”

His taste! She could do this forever. As she flicked kisses all over the plump crown, she tried to keep her eyes on his, but bliss made her lids heavy.

“You love it, don’t you?” He rocked his hips up so she could reach his balls.

When she nuzzled them, his head fell back. Then she tongued that rippled flesh. He growled when she sucked on one, then the other. But his shaft called her back. “Hard as stone.” Beneath his taut skin, veins pulsed. She hungered for his magnificent cock
and
the blood stiffening it.

He lowered his head again to watch her. “You said you’re never duplicated. I’m not so easily replaced either, am I?” His lips curved into that arrogant grin.

She wanted to wipe it off his face.
You asked for it, dark fey.

She grazed a fang along his shaft, drawing blood.

Rune inhaled a shocked breath, lusting for more of this blood play, craving her darkest kiss. Could he coax his
picky eater
to bite him there . . . ? The idea made him even harder.

Both of them watched black blood welling.

She lapped at it with delight, panting for more.

“Do it, then! Sink your fangs into my cock.” He cupped her lovely face, commanding her with his eyes. “You’ll pierce me as you were pierced.”

With a nod, she opened her mouth to take him. He felt her breaths against the bulbous head as she stretched her lips around it, enclosing it.

“Yes!” Her mouth was a sultry paradise. “Now bite.
Do it
.”

Below the crown, her fangs slowly sank into flesh, pricking it.

He bellowed to the sky, “
AH!
My gods!” He palmed her head, trapping her to him.

Her wanton moan vibrated his length. With her first draw, his back bowed uncontrollably, as if a physical force was arching him to her. He almost came instantly, hovering right at the edge.

But he needed to see her, to witness this female’s taking. He lowered his chin.
“Fuck,”
he breathed as she sucked.

The most erotic thing he’d ever seen.

In an awed tone, he said, “You’re feeding from my cock.” How could a male care about power dynamics when a female this beautiful seared him with forbidden pleasure?

This was a fantasy come to life, one he’d never known he had. He threaded his fingers through her hair, reveling in her bite. Just when he thought this sight couldn’t get hotter, one of her hands dipped below the water, between her thighs.

Disbelief. “Are you fingering your pussy?”

She didn’t have to answer; her mesmerizing eyes grew even more hooded.

Fingering herself. While she suckled his raging dick for blood. “Gods almighty.” His balls drew up, but he struggled to hold out.

With her other hand she fisted the base of his shaft, claws digging in. Were her instincts telling her to secure her prey? Vampires were possessive. Did she consider his cock hers?

“Take more!” His swelling veins felt
too
full of blood. He had more than enough for both of them. “I want you greedy for it.”

Her moans grew louder, keening. She released her fangs, still sucking from his pierced skin as she eased her head down. When her carnal lips slipped along his shaft, his hands guided her lower, his hips rocking.

She took him deep—then sucked until her cheeks hollowed.

“Uhn!”
He could
feel
her drawing from his veins. Pressure pooled at the base of his spine, his release imminent, but he needed to last till she was sated, slaked in more than one way. His voice went guttural. “That’s it. Suck it like it belongs to you.”

She swallowed more of him, and he wished he had semen to give her too. “If I could spend, I’d make you drink every drop of my cum.”

She whimpered. Beneath the water, her hand sped up.

“You’d like that? I’d fill you with blood and seed. Make you accept everything from me.” Pressure kept building. His muscles flexed in readiness. His balls ached; his rod throbbed. Unfamiliar impulses struck him.

He
needed to bite
her
. Sink his demon fangs into her pale phantom flesh.

Possess
her.
Be inside
her
body.

Own her.

When she jerked against her hand, and his length muffled her scream, he yelled,
“I can’t hold out!”

She was orgasming with his dick in her mouth. She
was
greedy—as she came, she took more and more of him, till her throat closed around the entire crown.