She enjoyed, far too much, the way heads turned to watch her, the way men wanted her. She told herself she embraced the male admiration as part of the act, all part of convincing everyone she was on the prowl when she was simply becoming the bait for a trap.
But she felt on the prowl, with excitement flowing through her limbs, spreading warmth, heat, desire.
Walking past several velvet-covered doorways, she remembered seeing several dancers lead men behind them, no doubt to offer them private encounters. Her imagination went wild with thoughts of what might happen behind those curtains, with images of the females pressing close to the men, breasts in their faces, teasing them with their nipples, tempting them to touch and taste.
And as if those thoughts willed her into their reality, suddenly Kayla found herself pulled behind one of those curtains, found herself pressed tight against a hard body, her back to the wall, a familiar sensual scent she knew all too well wrapping around her. Ethan’s smell. Ethan’s hard body.
As she felt the thick ridge of his cock press against her stomach, she drew in a breath, barely resisting the urge to arch her hips into him. Her wish had come true. Ethan was not only there, but he was also hot and hard, just the way she wanted him.
But did she dare make her fantasy a reality? Her body screamed with a loud, demanding “yes!” All the heat burning her up seemed to increase tenfold.
Kayla stared up at Ethan, the look in his eyes potent, but no more so than the desire building inside her. Her body’s demands were overcoming her. She wanted to get lost in the moment, lost in Ethan. The time felt right. The room was intimate and secluded. Candlelight flickered on the walls, the music from the club muffled by the velvet curtain.
“What are you doing here?” she whispered, her voice barely finding life.
The warmth of his hand slid over her backside before firmly pulling her tight against him, molding her hips against his. “Apparently, saving you from a room full of men.”
She sucked in a breath as she felt warmth rush through her body. In some far corner of her mind, she reached for common sense, reached for right over wrong. Push away. Leave. But Kayla couldn’t fight the cry of her body begging to stay, begging to finally feel Ethan in all ways possible. She’d wanted this, wanted him, for so very long.
“I don’t need saving. I need . . .” You. “I came for answers.” She inhaled and exhaled, clearing her head enough to focus on her real purpose, which wasn’t Ethan. “Someone close to you is working for the Brothers.”
His fingers trailed her cheek. “You think I don’t know that? I told you I have this under control. You shouldn’t have come here.”
A chill raced down her spine at his touch, but she shoved aside the burning in her body. Her hands were on his chest, fingers curled so they wouldn’t move, wouldn’t explore.
“You don’t know who it is,” she stated. It wasn’t a question and she didn’t give him time to counter with a reply. “Like it or not, Ethan, you need me. You might know what a human thinks or feels but a vampire is another story. I can sense malice in living beings. I can figure out who it is. I need to go back out there.”
He leaned close and inhaled. “You are . . . aroused. If you go back out there like this, no telling what will happen.”
The minute Ethan had touched her, the control she’d had over her desire had begun to fade. And Lord help her, it only seemed to excite her more that he knew. She fought through the thickening fog. “I . . . need to go out there, Ethan. I can find out who is doing this.”
“Your body demands pleasure.” Somehow his hand found its way under her skirt, his palm covering her ass, fingers tracing the lace between her cheeks. “All you know right now is the demand for release.” He leaned closer, even, his warm breath trickling on her neck. “Let me help you ease the pain.” The words lingered as his fingers slid beneath the silk, brushing her sensitive skin. “We’ve wanted for far too long, Kayla. It’s our time.”
Pushing him away wasn’t an option. She might need to find answers but, right now, she needed this more. She needed him. But . . . no. The Council. The rules.
“Something is happening to me,” she said. “Ethan, I . . . I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”
He stared down at her, his dark eyes inscrutable. “I can help.”
She fought for willpower. “You know I can’t do this.”
A slow, sexy smile slid onto his lips. “Because I’m a vampire.”
“Yes,” she whispered, her fingers uncurling, spreading on his muscular chest, her will to resist slipping away. “Because you’re a vampire.”
“No one will know.” His mouth lingered above hers, teasing her with a long-awaited taste. “It will be our little secret.”
She wanted to kiss him, but she didn’t dare. Somehow, she knew that would end her resistance. Yet, it would be so easy to lean forward, to feel his mouth against hers. She bit her bottom lip, fighting her urge, fighting the heat spreading through her body. Why was she so hot? Her skin felt hot. She had to get out of there but the idea of leaving this moment, of ending the contact with Ethan, felt unbearable.
In a minute.
In a minute she would move.
In a minute she would leave.
“I can’t do this,” she said in a barely there voice. “I can’t. I have to get out of this club.” Fire seemed to spread over her skin and she felt almost as if she was melting into invisible flames. “Have . . . to leave this place.”
“I won’t let you walk into a room of men in your current condition. It’s simply not an option.”
She needed out of this building. But Ethan was right. Kayla didn’t even want to think about what might happen if she left this room. Her hands slid over her arms, her skin begging for contact. God. She hated how out of control she felt.
As if he sensed her struggle, Ethan responded, offering comfort without words. His lips brushed her cheek and trailed over her jaw: not a kiss, just a caress with his mouth, a caress that left her breathless and needy yet somehow soothed her needs at the same time. Yet, at the same time, his touch made the rage inside bearable.
Her nipples tightened and tingled, and she barely contained the urge to press his hand to one of her breasts. They ached. She ached. And she was wet, so very wet. She wanted him inside her, like she never remembered wanting anything before.
“The way I see it,” he said, his voice low, near her ear. “You must find a way to take the edge off before you attempt to leave.” He let his words linger in the air a moment. “You have two choices.” He pulled back and fixed her in a hot stare. “You can pleasure yourself.”
She laughed, but not with humor. “While you watch,” Kayla said, far too aroused by that idea for her own good.
She ran her hand on the back of her neck, her head spinning a bit. This damn fire inside was killing her, so much so she could barely stand the touch of her clothes. It was all she could do to keep from ripping them from her body.
“Yes,” Ethan agreed. “Watching has definite appeal.” He arched his hips into hers, pressing his erection into the V of her body. “But I’d much rather you take option two. Allow me to do it for you.”
She was fading fast and she knew it. In a damnable situation, Kayla was faced with both her biggest nemesis and her most naughty of fantasies. If she had to hand over control, she at least wanted it to be on her terms.
Ethan’s people and her own shared opposite agendas in many things. Even with the absence of malice, those differences could feed dangers. But from day one, instinctively, Kayla had trusted Ethan. To date, his actions had proven her right. So she had to gamble on that trust now.
She grabbed his arms, holding on with a tight grip, fixing him in as steady a gaze as she could manage. “I’m not myself, Ethan. I’m trusting you to get me the hell out of here.” She swallowed hard. “And don’t let anyone else touch me. Please. Just you.”
His eyes darkened. “Rest assured, no one else will dare touch you. You are safe with
me. You have my word.”
A sigh of relief seemed to explode from her lungs. She believed him. She hadn’t missed the hint of possessiveness in his voice, and, Lord help her, for the first time in her life, Kayla wanted to be possessed.
And for the first time in her life, she was handing herself over to someone else. She was giving Ethan control.
3
Ethan felt the roar of passion and possessiveness build inside like a fire, raging wild and hot. It hadn’t taken long for Ethan to surmise how rarely Kayla handed over trust and control. Yet, she’d given both to him.
Ethan lifted her leg to his waist, opening her to his touch. She stared up at him, desire ripe in her beautiful eyes. In that moment, he wanted all of her like he never had before. He reached forward and ripped her panties from her body. A gasp slid from her parted lips: full, sensual lips meant to taste and tempt. But he didn’t kiss her. Not yet. When he made love to her, he’d do it with slow perfection. Right now, she needed the edge taken off. She needed relief.
Guilt bit at him as he recognized he might well be causing her pain. As impossible as it should be, his mating instincts were on fire. And that fire must be mixing with the lust of this place, overwhelming Kayla.
Regardless of the cause, they both knew what had to happen, what had been destined to happen from the moment they’d first met. Their physical need for one another had to be fed. He might not be able to claim her, but he could enjoy her.
Ethan slid his fingers into the silky wetness of her body, stroking her sensitive flesh. Kayla rewarded him with a soft moan, her head falling back against the wall, her hands sliding over her body, cupping her breasts through her clothes.
“Easy, little one,” he murmured, thumbing her swollen clit. He caressed her, his fingers exploring her slick heat before he slid one inside her.
Kayla moaned again, her teeth finding her bottom lip, her chest rising and falling. “God, Ethan,” she whispered, tilted her chin down to give him a heavy-lidded look. “I don’t know what’s happening to me.” Then her hands went to his face, her mouth finding his, her tongue sliding against his, hungry and hot.
She tasted like sugar and spice, as perfect as he had expected, and his body roared with desire, screamed to be inside her. But there was no time to act, no time to press the hard length of his cock inside her.
Kayla tore her mouth from his, her breathing ragged. “I . . . I think I might . . . I . . . already . . .” She leaned forward, resting on his shoulder, clinging to his arms with a vice grip.
“Let it happen,” he murmured, pressing a second finger inside her and stroking her inner wall, feeling her hips pump against him.
She clung to him, wildly moving with him, rubbing her clit against his palm, until, abruptly, she stiffened. A second later, the spasms of her orgasm began, long and hard. He held her close, steadying her as he felt her knees start to buckle.
Then slowly, her body eased. Several seconds passed before she lifted her head, her eyes locking with his, passion still burning red hot in her gaze. “It’s already starting again. I don’t know what’s happening to me.” She didn’t give him time to answer. “I’m hot. I’m so hot.”
She reached for her shirt, tugging the hem upward. Ethan eased it over her head and tossed it aside, his gaze fixed on her high breasts and rosy red nipples. He filled his hands with them, devouring them first with his eyes and then his mouth, lapping at one ripe peak with his tongue and teeth. She arched her back, soft sounds of pleasure flowing from her lips, her hands sliding into his hair.
Driven by her cries for more, Ethan repeated his actions on the other nipple, suckling harder as she moaned with pleasure, urging him onward with her actions, with her obvious pleasure.
She released a shuddering breath. “I need more,” she said. “You, Ethan. I need you inside me.” Her hand found the front of his trousers, tracing the ridge of his erection. “You need that, too.”
He moaned at the touch, pressing into her hand even as his mouth found hers. Hungrily he kissed her, his fingers working on the clasp on her skirt, pushing the fabric down her hips until it pooled at her feet. She kicked it aside and one of her calves wrapped around his, her hips pressing into his.
Kayla tugged his shirt from his pants, her soft palms pushing beneath the material, exploring and teasing, setting him on edge, pressing him to forget everything but the moment.
She yanked at his shirt again. “Take it off.” Her voice held an order, her eyes passionate, dark, and compelling. “Everything. Take everything off.”
He’d never let any woman, not even in the midst of pleasure, issue him an order. In their ancient world, females did their males’ bidding. But Kayla’s demand both aroused and pleasured him.
“As you wish,” he murmured, starting to work on his buttons.
Showing her impatience, Kayla reached forward, ripping the shirt apart. Before he could act, her palms splayed over his chest, pushing the shirt off his shoulders, her nipples brushing his skin with delicious friction. He could almost taste her hunger; he most certainly could smell the female desire in her.
Heat began to fire his skin, just as it had hers. As if she fed him her emotions, her desire, Ethan burned to get out of his clothes. Burned, almost desperately. He kicked off his shoes, discarding all barriers, ready to feel skin against skin. At the same time, Kayla focused on the button of his pants and popped it free. Next, she slid down his zipper, reaching inside the front of his pants and wrapping his cock in her warm grip. His eyes slid shut, his body growing thicker, harder.
Before he knew her intent, she was on her knees, shoving his pants to his ankles. Ethan looked down to see her tongue flicker out across the head of his cock.
“Hmmm,” she purred. “I’ve wanted to do this so many times.”
He sucked in a breath and pressed one hand against the wall. To see Kayla on her knees, taking him in her mouth, was pure heaven. “Why didn’t you?”
“Right now,” she said, her hand cupping his balls. “I don’t have a clue.”
Her hand wrapped the base of his cock and she sucked the tip of him into her mouth, the wet heat of her mouth damn near shaking him to the core. Her gaze lifted to his as she took more of him, inch by inch easing down his cock, her tongue working him in the process.
He wanted to move but didn’t dare, fearful of doing what he would have considered unheard of until now, fearful of losing control. As if she answered his silent pleas, her hand slid around his back side, pressing him into action.
At the same time, she began sucking him, sliding her mouth up and down his shaft, urging him to pump his hips. He moved his hand to the back of her head, relishing the silky strands of her hair between his fingers and the silky heat of her mouth around his cock. In and out. In and out. She licked, sucked, pumped. He was roaring inside, his cock throbbing, his body burning. Ethan felt his balls lift and tighten, felt the rise of release deep inside. He told himself to stop, to pull back. Not to come like this.
“Kayla,” he whispered, his hand trying to steady her head. But she seemed determined to take all of him, sucking him harder, deeper. He couldn’t fight much more. He couldn’t stop the ache for release, the need to feel himself slide inside her mouth. Just . . . one . . . more.
Ethan exploded, his body shuddering, shaking. And Kayla was relentless in her demand for all he had to give, her tongue and lips driving him insane.
He anchored himself with both hands on the wall, weak from release. Good Lord, the woman was wickedly hot. Slowly, Kayla slid up his body, her hands trailing along his legs, along his sides.
She slid her arms around his neck and pressed her body close. “I still need you inside me.”
Ethan wrapped his arm around her waist. Her eyes were dilated, almost drugged. Heat radiated off her skin against his palm. Her body was soft and yielding against his. He’d longed for Kayla’s submission since the day they’d met. But this wasn’t submission. She’d trusted him to take care of her. Her condition was
n’t improving.
As difficult as it was to turn away from the demands of his body, to ignore her desire to have him inside her, he had to.
Ethan made his decision. “It’s time to go, Kayla. We have to get you out of here.”
Her eyes went wide, her hands going to his forearms, gripping him with a vice hold. “No. I can’t. We both know I can’t go out there. Not until they leave.”
“Listen to me, Kayla,” he said, his voice firm. She wasn’t used to taking orders, certainly not from him. “The club won’t close for hours. Waiting isn’t an option. I could close the club but clearing the building will take too long. You need relief you won’t get as long as we stay.”
“I just need you inside me. Then . . . then I think I’ll be okay.”
“And I want to be inside you, Kayla. So much it hurts. But not like this. Not here.” He framed her face with his hands and kissed her forehead. “You said you would trust me.”
“I do,” she whispered. “I do trust you.”
Her words pleased him and they reassured him he was doing the right thing. “Good. What we are doing isn’t working. You’re burning up.” His hands ran up and down her arms, confirming his words. “Right now, we’re in tune with one another. Our desires. Our needs. Go with that. Focus on me and I’ll feed you what you need to get out of here.”
She shook her head. “I don’t understand.”
“You will,” he said a second before he kissed her. There wasn’t a chance in hell he could get her out of there without bringing her down again. But once he did, he’d force himself to go blank. He had to. Because if he didn’t smash his instincts, his desire, his need, Kayla would remain in pain. He’d keep feeding her desires with his own
Ethan’s lips clung to hers as he backed her against the wall, tasting her, calming her, taking her past the ache he knew was building again. His hands skimmed her arms again, easing down her body as he went to his knees. He parted her legs, urging her feet to a V stance.
He was ready to taste Kayla’s passion, ready to devour and please. Ready to get her the hell out of this club so he wouldn’t take more than she was willing to give.