To Woo A Warrior (Southern Sanctuary) (20 page)

 
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Back at Maat Tower she headed
straight for her apartment.  Trying not to think about Vaughn’s second
date rules recommending how their date should have ended as she passed through
her front door.  If she’d just kept her mouth shut she could have been
plastered up against that door right at this moment.  No it was better
this way.  Better to end things before they got out of hand.  Before
she became too attached.   Before he grew disappointed with her and
ran a mile or worse lashed out, placing the blame squarely on her
short comings
.  Because honestly as she stormed into
her bedroom to stare at the pristine bed she didn’t think she could bear to
hear Vaughn list her flaws out loud, it would … Goddess it would break her in
two. 

Not pausing to think she swivelled
on her sparkly sandals heading towards the closet door, slapping her palm down
she envisioned her room back home at the Sanctuary. 
Her
cosy, far as she could get from Vaughn, room.
  Where she could
climb into her own bed, pull the covers over her head and sleep until this
whole mess went away.  Avoidance thy name is Hadleigh Valhalla. 

Opening the closet door she slammed
in and then slammed out, wincing at the early afternoon sun streaming in
through the large bedroom windows.  Damn she’d forgotten about the time
difference.  Oh well, yanking off her sandals she walked over the sun
warmed floorboards to close the curtains on both windows.  Her jeans were
next then the gold top that didn’t even belong to her, bra and knickers were
kicked to the corner, she’d tidy up later.  For now she climbed under the
sunshine yellow sheets and pulled a pillow over her head. 

*                  
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*

It was a brusque and humourless
briefing.  Vaughn rattled off orders.  He wanted Xander found, Serena
tracked down and he wanted it done yesterday.
Enough with
someone taking magical pot shots at the team.
  
Enough with not knowing what was going on.
  He wanted
answers and by Maat he was going to get some. 

In the back of his mind Vaughn was
aware of the wary looks his team were sending him.  But he ignored them
and kept his focus.  Because if he lost his focus right now he was going
to explode, he was that fucking angry.  If he hadn’t locked his knees and
spine he was sure he’d be vibrating with the amount of adrenalin currently
surging through his limbs, beating at his skin, screaming for release. 

With the men dismissed only Drum
remained, his midnight black eyes boring into him, seeing so much.  “You
okay V?”

“Not even a little bit.” 

“Anything I can do to help?”

“Not unless you have a time machine
and some castration tools.”

“So it’s not Hadleigh you’re angry
with?”

“Maat no.”  Never.

“Don’t take this the wrong way V but
your head’s up your ass.”

Vaughn’s eyes narrowed.  “How
can I not take that the wrong way?”

“Look I don’t know what’s going on,
other than the Xander/Serena stuff but when you climbed in the van tonight you
were radiating anger. I think you singed the leather seats.  But did you
take a moment to look at Hadleigh?  She looked like her best friend had
just taken a lead pipe and smacked her down and she was thinking about not
getting up again.”

Another wave of anger coursed
through Vaughn, not aimed at all those fuckers out there who had hurt Hadleigh
over the years but this time at himself.  “
Ahh
shit.”  He winced, Maat he could be a tool.  He’d been so caught up
in trying to control the killing rage that had threatened to swamp him at the
thought of Hadleigh being so badly mistreated that he hadn’t even thought about
how she might misconstrue his abruptness.  “I’m going to have to go fix
something, it might take a while.”

Drum waved him off.  “Just be
nice to the girl.”

“If only she’ll let me.  Beep
me if anything life or death comes up.”

Chapter Twenty

Hadleigh couldn’t sleep; too many
thoughts and emotions tormented her.  Even with the pillow firmly over her
face she couldn’t seem to block out the world.  She kicked futilely at the
sheets, tossing and turning, willing herself to relax.  She was
contemplating giving up, thinking instead she could find someone or something
she could take her anger out on when she heard the sound of boots making their
way across the floorboards to the bed.  It had to be Declan. 

“Go away.”  She mumbled, not
bothering to lift the pillow.  She wasn’t in the mood to talk, if anything
she was in the mood to kill and Declan was better off far, far away.  She
felt the bottom of the bed dip and then the sheet slowly began to be pulled
down.  “Hey!”  She clutched at the sheet with one hand, lifting the
pillow with the other to glare down the bed at ...Vaughn.  “What are you
doing here?”

“You left.” 

Vaughn was kneeling at the bottom of
her bed, his arms braced on the mattress, his gorgeous face only a few inches
from her sheet covered feet, his eyes a soft gold in the filtered sunlit
room.  All traces of the volcanic heated anger seeping off of him since
their conversation at the fountain was gone. 

“I came home for the night.” 
She kicked out with her foot.   “Go away.”

Vaughn lightning fast whipped his
head out of range, bringing one solid arm down to lock her sheet covered feet
in place.

“Were you coming back?”

Hadleigh rolled her eyes. 
“Sleeping.”  She insisted
,
placing the pillow
back over her face determined to ignore him.  Which proved impossible as
the sheet was abruptly yanked down, it took both of her hands to grab it before
it was whisked away entirely exposing the fact she was completely naked. 
In her struggle the pillow over her face dislodged, landing on the floorboards
with a soft muffled thump.  Staring down the bed at Vaughn, the sheet
clutched to her chin she glared at him. “What do you want?”

“To talk.”  He still had a
tight grip on the sheet.

“Look … Goddess.”  She hissed
as he gave another strong tug on the sheet.  “Okay talk.” 

As soon as she said the words he
ceased pulling on the sheet.  Of all the things her capitulation would
result in she hadn’t dreamt that Vaughn would suddenly look uneasy, high colour
in his cheeks, hesitation in his eyes.

“I’m sorry.”

“For what?” An apology?

“Well for the whole male of the
species for a start.  More specifically I was so caught up in my anger
towards all those dumb fucks
who
’ve hurt you over the
years I could barely form a coherent sentence.  You must have thought I
was nuts.”

“Oh.”  She breathed out
softly.  “Okay.”  It was the first easy breath she’d taken in two
hours.

“Okay?”  Vaughn looked puzzled.

She nodded fast.  Actually it
was kind of sweet of Vaughn to be so angry on her behalf.  She managed a
tentative smile.  “So I’ll see you tomorrow then?”

Vaughn frowned.  “Where would I
be going?”

Now Hadleigh frowned, why was he
still pulling on the sheet?  “Back to your apartment, where you belong. 
We can just forget the last week ever happened … the stuff between you and
me.”  Why were his eyes beginning to bank with heat?  Determinedly
she kept stumbling on.  “I’ll report to work tomorrow and we’ll just go on
like nothing has happened.”

“So we’ll just forget the kiss in
the canteen, date number one and two?”

“Well yes, as you said there’s no
point in having a third.”

“That’s because I changed my
mind.”  Vaughn took his hand away from her feet, reaching down he yanked
off one boot, holding it up for her to see before dropping it to the
floor. 

Hadleigh was eyeing his actions with
both fascination and confusion.  “About having a third date?” She asked.

With deliberation Vaughn held up his
other boot to show her before dropping it as well.  “No about the sex.”

“What?”  Was that her
high pitched
voice?

“Remember it was your idea that we
should skip the dating and go right to the sex.  I agree.”  In less
time than it took to blink he’d yanked off his sweater.

“No you disagreed.  You didn’t
like the idea at all when I proposed it.”

Vaughn grinned, and it was like
someone had flung back the curtains and let the sun blast in.  “Let’s get
one thing straight, I loved the idea, I just didn’t think it was a very good
idea at the time.”

“You said you wanted to date.”

“I did but I wasn’t operating at the
time with all the facts.”

Hadleigh inched up the bed, slowly,
although she could only go so far as Vaughn still had a firm grip on the top
sheet. 

“Well now you have all the … facts,
you must know it’s a bad idea, a really, really bad idea.  I don’t know
what I was thinking?”

“That you liked me?”

Hadleigh didn’t answer she was too
busy trying to shuffle her way up the bed, her concentration redirected when Vaughn
gave a sharp tug on the sheet almost making her lose her grip and reveal
everything. 

“What?”

“I said you like me.” 

It was hard to tell whether he was
stating a fact or asking a question.  Flustered she nodded.  “Yes, of
course.”  She scowled at him.  “I don’t sleep with men I don’t like.”

“I think you do …
And
that’s why you’ve had sucky sex in the past.”

“Excuse me?”

“Okay perhaps sucky wasn’t the most
appropriate adjective to use, let’s just go with plain bad then shall we? 
You found convenient men, they were okay but you didn’t have any particularly
deep feelings for them and because of that there was no trust, no trust … no
way you’d let your guard down, you’re a warrior, so plain bad sex.”

“Now you’re channelling Freud? 
Even after I listed all my faults, knowing what to expect … you want to have
sex with me?”

“Aren’t you listening … yes and yes.
” 
He waggled his eyebrows at her.

“But all those bad encounters?”

“Were not your fault.”

“Not according to the men.”

“We men are surprisingly sensitive
creatures, we don’t like to fail at things and when we do we invariably like to
shift the blame so our pride won’t take a hit.  Trust me.”  He gave
the sheet a hard tug. “This is.”  Another tug.  “Going to be.” 
Tug.  “Fun.”

Hadleigh scrambled to keep the sheet
up around her neck, any moment expecting to hear it tear in two considering the
pressure their tug of war was applying.  Then without warning Vaughn
released his hold, she was flung backwards, the sheet now over her face and
there was a distinct breeze wafting around her suddenly naked feet.

“What?” 

She pulled the sheet off her face,
staring down in horror at her exposed feet, Vaughn’s face, a wolfish smile on
his features only inches away from her bare
tootsies
. 

“More than one way to skin a cat.”

The devil had yanked the sheet out
from the bottom of the bed.  Scrabbling she tried to back away but he was
already reaching out to grab her ankles pulling her back down the bed. 
She shrieked.  She never shrieked.  Struggling, she managed to sit up
slightly, her weight on her elbows, staring down at Vaughn, his warm hands
encircling her bare ankles. 

“Vaughn, I think this is a
mistake.  You heard what I said at the fountain … the list … I don’t want
… this can’t end well.”

“Ah yes the list.  Perhaps we
should address everything on the list.”  He leaned forward placing a soft
hot kiss on the top of her right foot.  Hadleigh felt a shiver of
awareness spike down her spine, igniting a small persistent throb between her
legs. “One.”  He placed a kiss on the top of her other foot.  The
throb grew.  “By one.”  Another
kiss
this
time just above her ankle. The throb was louder than her heartbeat now. 
He pulled gently and she slid down the bed a few more inches. 

Vaughn placed a series of quick hot
kisses up her left leg before reaching her knee.   Then despite her
token resistance he managed to lift that leg and place it on his
shoulder.  Honestly, Hadleigh squirmed, what in the name of the Goddess
was the man thinking?  The kissing was nice, absolutely, it made her pulse
race but it hardly ... oh my Goddess, her eyes practically crossed as he
nuzzled the back of her knee. 

“So where were we?”  Vaughn bit
down gently on soft skin behind her knee. Hadleigh bit back a moan.  “Ah first
on the list I believe…
”  
Kiss, bite,
nuzzle, Goddess suck.  “Freak!”  More kisses, as he slid the sheet
ever so slowly, excruciatingly slowly up her thighs, running those hot hands
over her flesh like he owned it, like he worshipped it.   “Darling I’ve
seen statues of warrior
princesses,
met Goddesses and
celebrated beauties of every era.”  He dropped her left leg picking up her
right. Goddess, Hadleigh tensed, not the knee, not
the … oh
. 
“You take the best aspect of each one and encapsulate it with your strength,
power, beauty and fierceness.”

Hadleigh tried to protest, what he
was saying it wasn’t right, it was too much but then he lavished attention with
his mouth along the tender skin from the back of her knee to her inner thigh
and it was all she could do to breathe.

“Just knowing you’re in the world …
it ... makes … me … happy.”

Still he continued to push the sheet
up inch by slow inch, moving his full weight onto the end of the mattress so he
could bite and tease his way upwards along her inner thigh with his
mouth.  Hadleigh writhed and reached for him, unsure if she wanted to push
him away or hurry along his progress.  Her hands came to rest in his hair,
that overlong mop was silken under her touch, like the finest sand running through
her fingers. 

“Too tall?”  He nuzzled ever so
slowly higher.  “Not for me.”  Still higher, Hadleigh’s breathing was
coming in swift fast pants.  “Too forceful?”  Hadleigh mouthed his
name, she was rocketing towards … oh Goddess, yes.  Then he did the
strangest thing, he stopped, just like that, he stopped and looked up at her,
smiling.  “I can’t wait to spar with you.” 

He was moving back down the
bed.  Where was he going?  Oh Goddess he was changing legs, starting
once more at the tender skin inside her inner thigh just above the knee,
Goddess darn the man … oh Goddess praise the man. 

“The reason we haven’t sparred … yet
… was because I knew once I had you underneath me on the mats … there’d be no
way … I’d be letting you up.”

“Who…
” 
Hadleigh
panted.  “Says you’d be the one on top?”

Vaughn chuckled, his hot breath
against her skin sending heated tremors through her body.  “Promise?”

He refocused on his task, the slow
incremental progress up her inner thigh, exploring every inch of smooth creamy
flesh.  He’d been dreaming about these legs since the moment he’d first
seen her, imaging those thighs gripping him, threatening to crack his
spine.  “I look forward to the bruises.”   He raised his head,
staring up between her legs.  His hands buried in the crumpled sheet,
gripping, searing the flesh of her upper thighs through the fabric.  “You
could never break me Darling, though I wish by the scales of justice you’d
try.”

“Vaughn.”  She felt so
vulnerable, so exposed as he slid his hands further up her body, pushing the
sheet away, exposing her very apex.   

Vaughn took in the sight of those
red curls between her legs and felt his cock jerk in response.  Thankfully
he still had his jeans on, the temptation so great to just claim her, but no
this was about Hadleigh, proving to her that she was not just a warrior but a
woman as well.  “Darling you’re all fire, I can practically see the heat
shimmer.”  He dipped his head and took a brief taste of honey. 
Hadleigh jerked but his hands on her hips kept her steady.  “You taste
like ambrosia and cotton candy.” 

His mouth was back on her, his
tongue dipping and swirling, exploring her soft pink flesh.  Hadleigh
moaned parting her legs wider allowing him greater access.  Once more she
could feel the build of approaching release.  It burned and barrelled over
her nerve endings.  It was like a forest fire eating through her flesh and
she wanted, needed it to devour her. 

She wanted Vaughn to touch her, take
her but she couldn’t find the words, only move her hands to grip his bare
shoulders and hold on as he changed positions slightly to lave attention on her
clit with his tongue.  She arched her back, she’d never felt like this
before, been so close yet even now a small niggly voice in the back of her mind
wondered if she’d be capable of flying over the edge.  Maybe she was
taking an excessively long time.   What if Vaughn gave up, grew tired
… was disappointed?  Then that small doubting voice was blasted out of her
head as he took her clit between his lips and suckled hard, once … twice and
then oh Goddess yes!  She bucked, moaned and thrashed beneath his touch
and still he didn’t let go and it was … roller coaster ride heavenly.