Not trusting his control, he didn’t give in to that desire just yet. Instead, he drew his hands up over her body, riding up her sides until she squirmed and gasped in hot, breathless little sounds that opened her mouth to his swift and thorough assault. Then the kisses became deep and drugging. His hands were suddenly cupping and curving over her breasts through the heavy cardinal red velvet she wore. She wore the color of his city, the mourning color, and the respect it showed swelled his already bursting heart.
“Damn me,” he muttered when the fabric impeded his explorations. Longing washed over him in waves that craved one thing from her body and another from her mouth. There was the sound of tearing fabric as he forced the material to give way to him.
He dragged down the tight bodice of her dress, exposing breasts and body free of a corset. Reule groaned when he felt the bare skin so warm beneath his fingers. She panted for breath in tortured little gasps that taunted the hell out of him because they sounded so damn sexy. Blotting out her world with a wildly hot kiss, Reule cuddled a breast in his palm, marveling at how well she fit him, and at her response as her nipple budded like a tight little rose between his seeking fingers.
“Please, I need to put my hands on you,” she begged with a desperate whimper as she dragged at his shirt, seeking his heated skin even as he reached to strip off the impeding garment. Her hands were on his belly seconds later, sliding up over him, leaving blankets of flames in her wake until every inch of skin burned with the feel of her small, thorough fingers. Her fingernails scraped like tiny dull blades through the hair on his chest, seeking his nipples just as he’d sought hers, enjoying his vocal response when she stroked over them. Then she was reversing direction and, all of a sudden, the path became ten times as arousing just because she was heading toward his waist rather than away from it.
Reule remembered quite well that she wasn’t shy about her likes and curiosities, but he didn’t think he could bear her boldness just then. Fangs were already pricking against his mouth, and his aroused body ached right along with them. He drew away from her, abruptly surging to his feet and watching her eyes roam him with blatant appreciation as she took in his height looming over her. Her gaze lowered to the prominent evidence of his need, and when she licked her lips with sultry hunger, it sent his pulse screaming. He reached down and grabbed her hand, jerking her up against his bare chest so he could feel her brazen breasts against him.
“Bed,” he said, his voice a low rumble of command. “I want you in a bed.”
He swept her up and headed out of the study. He held her tightly to himself so it was only her bare back exposed to others, should they encounter anyone, but Reule knew they were all busy with preparations for that evening. Before long he was striding into his bedroom and all but tossing her onto the huge platform bed. Seeing her there, half naked in his bed, his for the taking, stole his breath away. It sharpened his want so badly that it physically hurt.
He reached out and flipped her over onto her belly, giving himself a fine view of her slim back and adorable fanny. Oh, the position had beautiful possibilities, he thought as he ran blatant hands over her bottom, listening to her squeal softly in delight. His goal, however, was the laces of her dress, which he’d ignored previously. He stripped her out of them with nimble, impatient fingers and shucked her out of the confounding layers of skirts and underskirts. Mystique giggled and squeaked the entire time, twisting alternately toward and away from his roaming hands while he bared her body to his pleasure. When she was completely naked, he groaned with tortured satisfaction and turned her slowly back over. He watched every curve, every line as she rolled to his command.
It was different. It was different to see her nude this time and know he would be taking her. It made his heart kick into double beats, his skin turning so hot that it was moist with perspiration. She was breathing hard, her breasts rising and falling in temptation each and every time until he couldn’t stand to look at her a second longer. As if reading his mind, she slid to the edge of the mattress, dangling her legs over the edge until her knees bumped his and her hands came out to frame his hips.
She looked up at him with her flushed face and wanting eyes and Reule knew a brief moment of utter terror. She was his match. Perfect for him in every way imaginable. The need of his body was outstripped only by the needs of his heart. In her hands, she held the power to complete him, and she could potentially cause him pain unlike any he’d ever experienced before.
And just as quickly the fear faded away, because he knew damn well that the risk was worth it if the reward was even half of what he was expecting it to be. He looked down at the top of her red head as she leaned close to his body, her warm mouth kissing his belly just below his navel. His stomach muscles clenched and his groin was seared with heat. To add punch to her gesture, he felt her little tongue flick out to taunt his skin with warm, wet promises.
He didn’t realize he was holding his breath until it left him in a great rush when her hand came over him, cupping his erect flesh through his trousers. Then she swiftly went about untying the laces containing him. He clenched his hands into fierce fists as she slid her fingers inside his loosened waistband. Her cheek nestled against his belly and she slid hands and fabric sensuously down his thighs. He kicked his trousers away, but the relief he felt at being free from restriction was short-lived.
She purred.
It was a low, greedy sound of appreciation as she reached out and closed her hand around his jutting length. Her hand was small and he was thick, thicker by the second under her touch, and she couldn’t completely encircle him, but that didn’t discourage her in the least. She made that ravenous sound again and his knees went weak as she stroked him once, from base to tip, as though she were worshipping his every contour. He throbbed with a violent pulse against her palm, all of his will focused on keeping his hands out of her hair and encouraging her to…
Her tongue touched him and he cried out a guttural curse as it slid like warm, drenched velvet right over the head of his cock. His fingers were suddenly deep in her hair and he had no idea how they’d gotten there. He felt blind and deaf, his pulse roaring in his head as her tongue stroked him over and over again, swirling around him. Then, like a clarion call from heaven itself, she drew him into the perfect seal of her mouth. Reule could hardly bear it. He wanted to rip her away; he couldn’t possibly stop her and survive. The contradiction was proof of how intense the feelings were. His extended fangs ached. Ached for her flesh, to sink deep, his tongue thirsting for her blood. But first he needed to be inside her. Deep, deep, stretching her until she screamed with bliss.
Reule all but pounced on Mystique, disrupting her pleasurable sampling of his cock as he threw her back on the bed and surged over her with his enormous body. She gasped, suddenly feeling so small in comparison to his bulk and the virile muscle packed tightly onto him. He drove his hips up between her thighs, making a way for himself. It only made her feel smaller as he urged her thighs farther and farther apart to accommodate his approach. Her hands pressed defensively against his chest.
“Shh,” he whispered, his mouth leaving soft kisses against her temple. “I won’t hurt you. I swear it. Just let me touch you, kébé.”
Bracing himself on a single hand, he dragged his fingers over her collarbone, down over the peaked slope of her breast, onto her sensitive tummy, which he felt quiver in tense anticipation. He could tell she didn’t know whether to be excited or afraid, and he knew that meant everything was going too fast, but for his life he couldn’t slow down. It was too much to ask of him in that moment. His hand turned to cup her mound as his fingers dragged gently through russet curls. With a soft stroke, he found her already quite wet. Her exploration of his body had excited her. He groaned soulfully as his fingers slid over her with perfect ease.
Reule wanted more. He lowered his mouth, trailing it down the slope of her breast until a jutting nipple slipped between his lips. She sucked in a breath, her body rising and writhing as h
e suckled her and stroked her simultaneously. He listened carefully to her mind and body, waiting for her to tense with just the right level of frustration before finally slipping a thick finger inside her. Muscled walls clamped down at his invasion and he sighed against her, his entire psyche anticipating that feeling around his throbbing cock. He pushed into her until she was moaning, canting her hips and grasping blindly at his shoulders. He purposely let her feel the pricking of fangs against her breast and was rewarded as scorching, dripping heat flooded over his toying fingers.
When she was close to coming, he drew back, listening with perverse pleasure as she cried out and begged him in unintelligible whimpers not to stop. It was enough. It was too much. He swept a hand under her bottom, tilting her hips toward him. He shuddered as his engorged penis slid against her, bathing in heat and liquid welcome, his whole being focused solely on that sensation. Her response was wild and uninhibited. Perfection. Unable to wait any longer, he set himself against her entrance, thriving on the ache of her emotions as every fiber of her body cried out for him.
“Reule!” she groaned, panting as she trembled in his hands so hard her teeth were chattering. “I’m begging you!”
Reule surged forward into her, stopping only when her tight body resisted him. He was too big to move into her with haste, he realized, and for all her desperation, he would hurt her if he didn’t slow down. She wriggled up against him, testing his control as he thwarted her efforts and gave her a moment to adjust. She began to speak his name, over and over, gasping it, groaning it, crying it out as he slid deeper into her. She was so snug that he could barely move, but he withdrew slightly and then inched farther forward until she exploded in an unexpected orgasm that made him shout out with the unbearable pleasure of her clutching muscles around him. He felt the ecstasy of it all throughout his body, the delight wrapping around the base of his spine as his body begged for release.
He wasn’t even fully inside her.
But the instant she went lax with postorgasmic weakness, he sank into her to the very hilt. She was drenched in sweat now, so he slid over her body with all the more ease as he withdrew to the very limits of his length and then thrust back in return. He caught her head in his hands, giving her a little shake to focus her passion-dazed eyes on his. He was rousing her overstimulated body again, making her moan softly.
“Look at me, kébé,” he gasped, barely able to talk as violent thrills and urges for her blood washed through him. He buried himself deep inside her again, shocking her with the intensity of his thrust, forcing her eyes onto him even as she grasped him with her hands and knees, clearly undecided if she wanted to hold him at bay or encourage him further.
“Reule,” she begged.
“Feel me, sweet baby?” he rasped as he locked his gaze to hers and rocked her body with his. “Mercy, Lord, you feel like home. So hot, so beautiful. Paradise.”
Reule’s body forced a rhythm, the need beyond his control and ignorant of her cries of enjoyment. Her nails bit into his back as she gripped him, her hips rising to meet the downward rush of his. He knew the very instant it would become too much. It thrashed through his mind like a demanding serpent, constricting everything within him until he thought he would implode. He reached for her, his hands gripping her shoulders and jerking her neck up to his mouth as he stretched his fangs wide and, finally, sank deep.
She screamed just as her blood burst into his mouth. For Reule, it was like swallowing pure sunshine, the rays searing down through his body on a straight path to release. He was barely taking his second sweet swallow before he was climaxing in vicious bursts of pleasure. He came so hard it was almost like hurting. He’d had no doubts about her, and now as he poured himself hotly into her, he knew just how blessed he was.
He slowly surfaced from the haze of completion, the tide of rapture receding as he still sucked at the crest of her shoulder. The very essence of a being was in the blood, and Mystique’s was a potent combination of her power and her passions. So potent that he had to force himself to disengage, knowing he was being greedy now. He nuzzled her, licking the wounds he’d made with lazy strokes of his tongue until the flow of blood had ceased, not a single drop wasted.
He lifted his head and looked down into her face. His heart all but stopped when he saw the expression of joy on her sleepy features. He knew instantly that she had been given release once again, though he couldn’t remember it for himself. He’d been far too seized by his own pleasure. But it was clear that this orgasm had been far more intense an experience for her. The bite of passion, when received, was an intoxicating thing, and she’d had no hope of escaping the gratification even if she had wanted to.
Pleased, Reule rolled her over him, laying her out against himself as he relaxed back into his pillows. He was suddenly exhausted and it made him chuckle. He’d never been the type to curl up and sleep after sex, but he could feel this was different. This was contentment, trust, and the sort of feelings you didn’t want to rush away from. This was worth relaxing, taking time, even napping just for the pleasure of sharing his lover’s wonderful warmth. Now he understood. He understood what it was his parents had had.
“Reule?”
He smiled. Her voice was hoarse from her passionate outcries. He realized he was feeling very self-satisfied and his smile grew. “Yes, kébé?”
“If this is how you treat your Prima, I’d like to be wed as soon as possible. I want you to be legally responsible for doing this to me at every opportunity.”
That said, she fell into a contented sleep.
Chapter 11
He’d been a little more selfish than normal, and as he watched the deep breaths of her sleep, Reule theorized that it was because he’d never felt that level of emotion before. Nothing in his experience had prepared him for the fever that had overcome him the instant she’d promised herself to him. The urge had been fiercely territorial, and he’d been unable to focus on anything but taking her and making her his.
She’d been sleeping now for an hour, and he’d watched her every minute. She’d tried to slide away from him a few times, but he’d held her stubbornly close against him. She was no more used to another in her bed than he was, and he had no doubts that her attempts at withdrawal were self-protective. It would take time, he reminded himself, before she’d feel secure. He took heart in the fact that she’d fallen trustingly into sleep. That she was trusting him with her entire future was only slightly more important to him than that.
Reule sighed, glancing at the dark window that warned him their initial time together would have to draw to a close very soon. There were some changes that would need to be made now, and he’d see to them before the banquet began. By now the Pack was well aware of the choice he’d made. He could hide only so much. His joy had been emanated in healthy doses, he had no doubt. He needed to confront his friends before much more time passed.
Reaching down to his affianced bride, Reule ran gentle fingers over the length of her bare arm, from shoulder to fingertips, letting the roughness of his calluses stimulate her. She twitched and tried to roll away again. He held tight with a chuckle, then second-guessed himself and let her roll away onto her back, but no farther. Now her gorgeous breasts were thrust into his line of sight like an offering and he exhaled in a rush as his body instantly tightened. He rose up over her on a single elbow and slowly bent his head until his lips brushed her nipple. It was the barest of kisses, but she moaned a tiny sound of pleasure as the dark rose tip tightened into a beckoning peak. He touched his tongue to it, then added the scrape of his teeth when her warm taste filled and stirred him.
When her eyes flew open with a gasp, he was sucking her in earnest, his hand sliding up her thigh in a stimulating path toward damp, delectable places.
“Reule,” she breathed.
He released her so he could smile up at her. “I had better be,” he observed. “I hear he’s developed a bit of a jealous streak where you’re concerned.”
“Oh?” She ra
ised a single slim brow, amusement glittering in her eyes.
“Insanely so,” he assured her gravely, moving over her until her mouth was just beneath his. “You are so very beautiful,” he said, his tone becoming all seriousness to match the eyes looking deeply into hers.
That was how she knew he wasn’t speaking of her physical beauty. The entire compliment was spoken as he looked inside her, rather than outside. She had the funniest sensation in her chest, like her heart tumbling over, and she swallowed hard as the feeling spread all through her body. She recalled oh so vividly how he expressed his delight with her exterior beauties. Her entire body still hummed with the pleasure he’d served to her in large portions. She shivered when she anticipated being loved by him into the future. And if he expressed his appreciation for her inner qualities with even half as much intensity as he had her outer, she suspected she might be very happy indeed.
She reached to ruffle his hair with her fingers, loving the soft feel of the shaggy mass. Then she slowly glanced down the connection of their bodies, the contrasts of his dark skin against her pale. She smiled, enjoying the visualization of their differences. The feeling surprised her. She’d thought she might be disturbed by so visible a reminder that she wasn’t Sánge, but how could she be when he looked so sexy lying naked against her, felt so warm and, apparently, already aroused?
She met his eyes, licking her lips in sultry anticipation.