Authors: Jodi Redford
“Perfect timing. The maid just finished up.”
She tore her gaze from the cages and gaped at Braeden. He’d donned a pair of white harem pants that hung low on his hips. The sexy look suited him and fit in perfectly with the whole Arabian Nights vibe the room exuded. She wrinkled her nose. “How is it that I keep missing these supposed staff members?”
Braeden chuckled. “Guess you’re too slow, darlin’.”
She grunted. “Or more likely, they don’t exist.” Fingertips brushed the nape of her neck and she jumped before shooting a look up at Rand.
His eyebrow took on a cocky slant but he didn’t comment on her edginess. “I took the liberty of stashing your suitcase in the bedroom. Perhaps you’d like to change into something more comfortable?”
“My suit—” She plunked her hands on her hips. “Wait a minute. You went rifling through my car?”
“I figured you wouldn’t want to wear the same thing for the next two days.”
“Damn presumptuous of you, particularly considering you didn’t know for certain I’d agree to stay.”
His smile falling way short of innocent, he dropped his hand and squeezed her left butt cheek. Before she could do anything more than jerk in response, he removed his hand and strode toward another arched doorway in the distance. She stood there fuming and he sent her an amused glance over his shoulder. “Coming?”
She glared at his back before shifting her focus to Braeden. “Is he always this bossy?”
“Darlin’, you haven’t even seen him at his best.” His laugh smoky, Braeden sprawled onto one of the plump cushions and stacked his arms beneath his head.
Grumbling, she stalked after Rand. She caught up with him inside the bedroom, her heart rate spiking as she surveyed the wicked, decadent surroundings.
Holy sweet mother of God
.
It wasn’t so much the enormous platform bed and the collection of wrist and ankle restraints resting atop its black silk sheets that caused her pulse to skitter out of control. Okay, they were a little responsible. But the shelves loaded with various vibrators, oils and assorted kinky paraphernalia definitely made her question her sanity in agreeing to ride out the next forty-eight hours in this room.
“Your luggage is over here.”
Tearing her shocked stare from the huge pink vibrator shaped like a rabbit, she crossed to the tufted ottoman Rand gestured toward. Sure enough, her tweed suitcase waited on top. She unzipped her jacket and shrugged free of it before reaching down the front of her turtleneck. Meeting Rand’s interested stare, she held up the small key dangling from the silver chain around her neck. “Pickpockets never think to look there.”
His full, sensuous lips curved upward. “Then they’re missing a golden opportunity.”
Ignoring the sinful promise in his eyes and the responding surge of moisture between her thighs, she slipped the chain off and inserted the key inside the tiny luggage lock. It clicked into place and she flipped up the hinge tabs, springing the suitcase open. She peered down at the articles of clothing neatly folded inside, her temper threatening to detonate. “Where the hell are my clothes?”
“I threw them away.”
“
What
?” A haze of fury obscuring her vision, she pawed through the skimpy garments. She pulled out a red lacy corset that had circles cut out of the nipple area. “Where are my pajamas, you son of a bitch?”
“Are you referring to those atrocious flannel things?” He shuddered. “Sweetest, something that ugly doesn’t deserve to touch your skin.”
“And
this
does?” She waved the corset in his face. “Half of it is missing.”
He dug inside the suitcase and extracted a red G-string that matched the corset. “Here you go.”
“That isn’t what I—” She broke off with a growl and tossed the garment onto the ottoman. “Why am I even wasting my breath?” Running impatient fingers through her hair, she glanced about. “Where is the bathroom?”
Rand pointed toward the farthest wall, where a shimmering curtain of aqua silk rippled in invitation. “Just beyond there.” He coughed pointedly when she began to walk away. “Aren’t you forgetting something?”
She pivoted and found him holding the corset and G-string. “Yeah. In your dreams, buddy.” Jaw clenched tight enough it ached, she stormed toward the curtain. It fluttered aside as she approached, revealing an opulent sanctuary on the other side. Her grumpiness evaporated the instant she entered the bathroom.
Oh wow
. Mouth hanging wide open, she gaped at the huge glass mosaic bathing pool occupying most of the room. A small waterfall cascaded down one side, constantly feeding a brilliant stream of champagne-hued water into the pool. Fragrant pink blossoms floated on the water’s surface, perfuming the air with pure ambrosia. “Damn, maybe I
did
die and go to heaven.”
Tempted as she was to strip down and dive right into that steamy oasis of bliss, she reluctantly settled for availing herself of the toilet. She stepped back into the bedroom just as Rand was shrugging from his shirt. Her breath lodged in her throat. All annoyances aside, he was simply beautiful to behold. His sculpted shoulders were powerful, delineated with sleek muscle tone. A series of intricate symbols inked the right side of his breastbone, drawing attention to his firm pectorals. Like Braeden, his torso was hairless except for the sprinkling of dark hair that traversed his chiseled abs and disappeared beneath the waistband of his charcoal trousers.
He turned toward her, his well-defined stomach muscles flexing. “Is the bath to your liking?”
Despite her best intentions, she couldn’t stop ogling his chest. She imagined licking over those delicious curves and hollows. Imagined sucking the hard nubs of his masculine nipples against the roof of her mouth. An intense throb leapt in her clit. She swallowed, corking her whimper. “Y-yes. It’s fine.”
Disappointment shadowed his expression. For some weird reason, guilt over her less than gushing response settled in the pit of her belly. “No, that’s not true.”
Rand’s face fell another fraction. “You don’t like it?”
“Actually, it’s amazing.” She sighed. “I could easily spend the next forty-eight hours just soaking in that pool.”
His eyes darkened. “A delightful way to pass the time. Braeden and I could join you. Soap you from head to foot, paying thorough attention to every inch of you in between.”
She visualized their hands stroking her everywhere, wet, soapy palms gliding over her breasts and pussy. Her nipples beaded. Rand licked his lips and she realized he could easily see her body’s reaction through the thin knit of her turtleneck. He stepped toward her and she backed up, the backs of her knees hitting the ottoman. “I—I think maybe we’d better go join Braeden before he wonders what happened to us.”
Rand continued walking toward her, his gait confident and predatory. “He’s not wondering. He knows exactly what’s going on in here.”
“Nothing is going on in here.” She prayed her declaration didn’t sound as weak as it felt.
“You’re wrong, sweetest. I’m seducing you.”
She gulped. “Well, it’s not working.”
He stopped directly in front of her, so close it was a miracle she didn’t suffer a third-degree burn from the intense heat radiating from his bare chest. The earthy scent of forest and the underlying, potent musk of aroused male drifted from his skin, playing havoc with her hormones. She wanted to bury her nose in all that warm flesh until she was lightheaded and giddy. And then she’d lick and nibble him everywhere.
Rand’s fingers curled around her chin, his thumb brushing the dip beneath her bottom lip. “I don’t believe you.”
“I don’t care what you—” The remainder of her denial fell victim to the lush pressure of Rand’s mouth against hers. Every energy storehouse in her body began lighting up like a bank of slot machines that just hit payload. His lips coaxed hers open with more ease than she cared to analyze and his tongue met hers in a slick glide. Her hands braced against his chest—purely to keep from crumpling in an undignified heap, of course—and Rand’s rumbling groan vibrated beneath her fingertips and inside her mouth. He tugged her closer, one palm moving to the nape of her neck and the other low on her tailbone. Her breasts pillowed against him, and the insistent bulge of his erection nudged just above her pubic bone. The knowledge that all that separated her from his cock were a pair of zippers and some flimsy fabric nearly had her panting.
Rand’s tongue stole another slick caress before he sucked her bottom lip between his teeth. His animalistic growl brought a new gush of wetness between her thighs. “You can’t lie to yourself, Nessie. You belong with us.”
His arrogant assertion acted like a cold dash of water on her desire. She shoved away from Rand and glared up at his passion-flushed features. “I belong to no one. And I told you not to call me by that ridiculous name.”
“You’re the most stubborn twit I’ve ever known.” Tunneling his hands through his dark hair, he granted her a scowl. “You need a good, long fucking, you know that? Maybe it’d manage to dilute some of that vinegar in your attitude.”
She bared her teeth. “My attitude is fine. You’re just pissed because I’m not falling at your feet and begging you to rut away at me. Sucks to realize you’re not so irresistible, doesn’t it?”
And with that big fat lie hanging between them, she stalked from the room.
He was going to make her eat her words. Amongst other things.
Smothering his snarl, Rand dropped onto the cushion beside Braeden.
“Went that good, huh?”
Slashing his gaze sideways, he met Braeden’s sympathetic look. “Humans are exasperating creatures, but that woman takes it to a whole new level.”
“Yet you want her with every breath inside you.” Braeden chuckled in response to Rand’s glower. “I know because I’m suffering the same affliction. She’s like a decadent treat I’ve waited my entire life to unwrap, and the continued wait is damn near killing me.”
Braeden’s choice of words stirred a gloomy brew of worry within Rand. He’d known all along the risk they took pursuing Vanessa. Hell, the delicate nature of their predicament was the only thing that’d kept him from staking a claim on her the first time he’d spotted her five months ago, on that fortuitous and fated day he’d noticed her outside the Veil Alliance’s detainment center. But he didn’t have only himself to consider. Would his heart be able to take the loss of Braeden if Vanessa rejected their bond?
For that matter, would his heart be able to take the loss of Vanessa?
Apparently reading his morose thoughts, Braeden cupped Rand’s cheek. “We promised each other no regrets over doing this.”
“I know. I just—”
Braeden’s mouth stopped any further protest. He licked the seam of Rand’s lips, his groan husky. “I can taste her on you.”
A fierce throbbing coursed through Rand’s cock. Braeden’s innocent pronouncement prodded more wicked fantasies of delving deep inside Vanessa’s dripping slit. He’d pull out slowly and offer his cock to Braeden for a lingering taste before plunging to the hilt in her pussy again and again. Until she was shaking and coming, his name a constant scream upon her lips.
A nip along the underside of his stubbled jaw brought him crashing back to the present. Braeden’s hand trailed low on Rand’s abdomen. “Your skin is on fire. You need sex. Bad.”
Braeden was right. The ferocious demand boiling inside him wouldn’t be appeased by anything less. He clamped a hand on the back of Braeden’s neck, dragging him up for a lush, openmouthed kiss. Their tongues tangled and sparred, amping his insistent desire to full blast. “Take off your pants.”
“Not yet.”
“Yes. Now.” Rand hissed the command through clenched teeth.
Braeden’s mouth curved in mischief before descending over Rand’s stomach. “Patience is a virtue.”
“Fuck that.”
“No, fuck me.”
“My thoughts exactly, you idiot.”
“All in good time.”
Rand growled low in his throat. “Tease.”
Braeden gripped Rand’s zipper, tugging it down. His cock sprang free and Braeden’s laugh caressed over the taut, swollen head before his mouth followed suit. The suction was perfect and sublime. He rocked his hips, his hand riding the back of Braeden’s head. A faint rustling noise slipped past the edges of his awareness. Lifting his focus from his lover’s bobbing motions, he locked stares with Vanessa. Her pupils were huge and dark, her nipples straining against her top. His cock pulsed, swelling inside Braeden’s mouth, earning an appreciative moan from his lover.
“I—I’m sorry. Didn’t realize…” Her hard swallow echoing in the room, Vanessa started to turn tail and run.
“Stay.”
Her foot hovering in mid-spin, she gaped at Rand. “What?”
“Watch. You know you want to.”
Her cheeks grew redder than the anthurium blooms behind her. “That’s ridiculous. I have no interest in—” She broke off when Braeden reached inside Rand’s pants and played with his balls.
She was going nowhere. His smile grim, Rand gripped Braeden’s head, guiding the direction of his mouth. “Fuck, yes. Like that.” Just because he hadn’t climaxed in three hundred years didn’t mean he didn’t enjoy the hell out of an expert blowjob. And when it came to sucking cock, Braeden was a fucking pro. “You like that hard dick between your lips, don’t you? Only thing you enjoy more is feeling it slide deep in your ass.”
Both Braeden and Vanessa groaned. That was all the encouragement Rand needed. He pulled free of Braeden’s mouth. “Lay on your back.”
His eyes glazed with lust, Braeden rolled over and reached for the waistband of his harem pants. Shoving Braeden’s hands out of the way, Rand tugged the silky material over Braeden’s hips. Fisting his lover’s engorged, rosy shaft, Rand leaned over and engulfed him in one downstroke of his mouth. He heard Vanessa’s sharp intake of air and his balls tightened. The one benefit of the curse preventing his and Braeden’s climaxes was they could go at it all night like a pair of horny rabbits—something they’d indulged in on more than one occasion. Right now, he intended to use that to his advantage.
Kicking off his trousers, he slid his hand beneath the cushion and fumbled around for the tube of lubricant. His impatient fingers captured their quarry and uncapped the lube before squirting a healthy portion into his palm. Braeden studied the amount of lubricant and cocked an eyebrow.