Indulging himself, holding her in place, he traced her spine down her back with one finger. She shivered and shook her head, tumbling her silky hair over her shoulders.
He drew in her scent and tucked his finger in the waist of her jeans, giving an experimental tug.
She stopped moving.
He grinned and shifted to press his cock to her ass, feeling her moan to his balls. His free hand flattened across her abdomen. She pressed back against him, her back arching.
Sensation burned through him.
He unsnapped her jeans and shoved them down, leaving her delicate pink thong in place. It had probably matched the ruined bra. When the jeans reached her knees, he stopped and stood back up, his hold on her wrists tightening and raising her almost to her toes.
She shifted and then caught her breath, her legs shaking but unable to move.
“Yeah. You’re trapped,” he whispered, his breath at her ear. He curved his hand over her rounded buttock and squeezed.
Her head went back.
The skin across her hip was smoother than silk as he caressed her and moved his hand over her sex.
She moaned.
“Are you wet for me?” he whispered, sliding his fingers beneath the material. His low chuckle echoed against her neck, and his cock ached enough to really hurt. “Oh, baby. You’re wet.” And she was.
Her thigh muscles clenched, trying to still the ache. He laughed and set a knee between her legs, keeping her nice and open for him.
She was beyond soft and sweet, and when he stroked across her swollen clit, she gave a mewling sound that was for him. He hoped to God it was the last thing he heard when his time finally came. Her body gyrated against him, and when he slipped a finger inside her incredibly wet heat, they both groaned.
He licked along her ear. “Now, sweetheart. Let’s talk about obedience.”
Her shoulder rocked back into his chest. “God, Talen,” she breathed.
Not exactly what he wanted to hear. Punishing them both, he freed his hand.
She shook her head.
He palmed her ass again. “You were saying?”
* * *
Cara’s entire body hungered on the fine edge of pain. Only Talen could do this to her, and by the dangerously hard cock pressed to her hip, he was in the same state. “Sex now, talk later,” she gasped out.
He squeezed her butt. “Talk now,” he growled.
Her eyelids flipped open, and she tried to focus on the door in front of her face. “What?”
“Obey? Yes or no in battle situations?” He stroked her ass, his fingers firm.
She stopped breathing. There was a right answer, there had to be. But what the hell. “No.”
The ensuing slap from his large hand was angled up, and she instinctively went up on her tiptoes. “What the—”
Another slap. Then three more. Heat spread from his hand, right to her aching clit. Oh God. So much. She wanted more.
He caressed her smarting flesh. “Say you get me,” he rumbled.
“Oh, I own you,” she gasped.
The next slap had her crying out and struggling against his hold. Then pleasure bloomed across her butt. Another slap, and she arched her back. Four more hard slaps, each one getting her closer to orgasm. She shut her eyes to just feel.
His strong body warmed her from behind, and his hold kept her in place. Then he leaned in and scraped his tongue across the bite mark in her neck. Pleasure sparked from his mouth to her diamond-sharp nipples. His fingers brushed across the Kayrs marking on her hip, and her sex convulsed.
He nipped the bite mark. “Now’s a good time to submit, baby. Don’t push me any further.” His hand slid between her legs from behind and cupped her sex.
Her eyelids flashed open. The exquisite touch propelled her to a desire edged with pain. “No.”
His hold tightened. “Your ass isn’t the only thing I can spank. Give me the words, Cara. I’m on the edge.”
She wanted him over the edge, damn it. But instinct, an awareness of his primal nature, whispered caution. Talen Kayrs had never been a male to be pushed, and after seeing her in danger earlier, the animal must be rioting for freedom inside him. He stroked his fingers over her entire sex. Pleasure streaked from her womb to her breasts and back again.
“Now, Cara.” He rubbed her again.
“No,” she whimpered.
Smack.
He hit her clit with unerring accuracy. She jerked from the exquisite pain, and tension uncoiled inside her. Her knees weakened. Pressure built inside her, and she fought against it, against giving in.
The second slap to her engorged clit had her whimpering and holding her breath. The entire world seemed to stop. He waited, his mouth at her ear, his breathing heavy.
Smack.
She shrieked. Her orgasm imploded within her, shredding the entire world. Lights ripped behind her eyelids. He rubbed her clit, intensifying every excruciating sensation, forcing her to shake through the entire climax, the pleasure almost too much to bear. Finally, she went limp with a low murmur.
The world tilted, and she found herself on her knees, Talen following her down. Need clawed through her again, somehow sharper than before. Her hands flattened on the marble floor.
A rough hand between her shoulder blades forced her down, chest to marble. She turned her head to the side, trying to find enough air to fill her lungs. Rough hands grabbed her hips, one brushing the marking.
She arched.
The thickness of his erection pressed against her still-quivering sex. He shoved in with one hard thrust, pushing past swollen membranes and pulsing nerves, stretching her until he embedded himself deep inside her. She gasped, her body going rigid.
He flexed his fingers and then stilled. “You okay?”
Her voice was long gone, so she could only nod, and her body slowly relaxed.
Then and only then did he start to move, pounding into her with fast, deliberate thrusts. Agonizing, desperate pleasure electrified her internal tissues, and she pushed back against him, the outside world ceasing to exist.
There was only Talen and his long, demanding drives into her. Lightning arced from her clit to her womb, burning beneath her skin. A razor-sharp sizzle streaked through her, forcing her higher, increasing the pressure building too quickly inside her.
He stopped, his hold almost bruising.
“No,” she breathed, her lungs compressing, her body shaking with the need for release.
He leaned over her and scraped his fangs along his bite marks. “Now. Tell me.”
On all that was holy. She blinked several times and tried to clear her vision. Oh, she knew he was a centuries-old soldier, and he knew what to do in battle. “Fine,” she gasped. “Next time demons are after me, and the kids are with us, I’ll stay in the room.”
“Not good enough. Try again.” His fangs pierced her neck and dug in.
A shaking started deep inside her, and she clenched around his cock.
He groaned against her skin, and his fangs went deeper.
Pain flared and snapped to where they were joined, increasing the unreal need. Her vision went completely, so she shut her eyes. She tried to push back against him, but his hold remained absolute.
The fangs cut deeper.
She sucked in air. Her entire shoulder was on fire, but the pain didn’t come close to the need still building in her core. “Fine. In battle, I’ll obey.” It was the only damn word that would satisfy him.
His fangs touched, and he started to pound. Hard, fast, out of control, he thrust into her, forcing her thighs farther apart, holding her exactly where he wanted her.
The chill of the tile beneath her was yet another sensation added to the heated vampire behind her. She pushed back into his demanding thrusts, her body clenching around his. So much. It was too much. There were depths to Talen she hadn’t had a chance to reach yet, but now that she was whole, she’d explore every one of them.
His bite tightened just as he reached a
round and plucked her clit.
She exploded, shouting his name, her entire body convulsing. As she came, she could swear her entire soul joined in, lighting the room as her mate claimed her once again. He shoved inside her, held tight, and jerked with his own release.
His fangs retracted, and he licked the wound closed.
She went soft with a murmur. “Love you.”
He withdrew and turned her, rolling to stand with her in his arms. “My soul is yours, baby.”
Hmmm. Sounded like the same wavelength. She cuddled into his neck.
He chuckled. “Oh no. No sleeping. The claiming has just begun.”
Chapter 11
The call came in right about dawn. Talen jogged down to a room in the basement of the hotel, his mind clear, his senses on alert. He passed kitchen supplies, a series of storage rooms, and finally reached a small concrete room in the back.
Max stood outside, arms crossed. “They’re inside.”
Talen frowned, and the smell of pickles wafted around. “Pickles?”
Max shrugged. “Storage for food upstairs. Somebody must’ve spilled. The Sandovskys . . .”
“What?” Talen asked.
“Not what I expected.” Max pushed open the door.
Talen strode inside to see a man and a woman standing across a cement room. The guy was well over six feet tall with long blond hair and enough lines at his face to show at least a thousand years of life. The woman, petite and round, had stark white curly hair and soft black eyes. Both obviously full-bred demons. The guy shoved the woman behind him and settled his stance.
Talen kept all expression off his face. “You’re Sandovsky?”
“Yes.” The guy had a slightly Russian accent.
The woman poked her head around the man. “Me too. Sandovsky.” Her voice was low and her tone . . . ironic?
Talen shifted his feet. He’d planned to kill them quickly but hadn’t expected the woman. “You declared war on us.”
The woman slapped the man’s arm and tried—unsuccessfully—to move around him. “I told him it was a bad idea and that we should just have called you. But no. The world is tumultuous and dangerous and we have to be so careful.”
Talen actually agreed with that sentiment.
A rustle sounded behind him, and awareness crashed through him. “Cara.” The guards had obviously not even tried to stop her from following him.
She moved to his side, her eyes tired, her body on alert. “Hello.”
Sandovsky gave a half bow. “Lars Sandovsky and my mate, Fern.”
“Cara and Talen. That’s Max.” Cara settled next to Talen, her gaze thoughtful.
Lars sobered, taking her in. “I apologize for any inconvenience we caused.”
She lifted a shoulder. “We had an adventure.” Then she frowned, and her eyes softened. “Talen. He’s sick.”
Talen glanced from his mate to Lars. “Huh?”
She patted his arm. “Lars is sick.” She angled her head to see Fern. “Did you have the virus and he tried to yank it out of you?”
Fern elbowed her husband and moved slightly forward. “Yes. Exactly. Now he’s ill, and we don’t know what to do.”
Ah, hell. Of course Cara would catch on to what was happening. Her intellect was only trumped by her empathic abilities. Virus-27 had infected many mates, and when it had gone airborne, it was freed to be yanked out. Unfortunately, the vampire or demon mate who yanked it out then got sick. “Why the hell didn’t you just call us?” Talen snapped.
Lars shook his head. “We’ve lived on our own for so long, and we don’t know the new demon rules or you. It seemed like a better idea to just get the cure and move on from there. We did give orders that nobody was to be hurt.”
Cara turned and looked up at Talen. “Nobody got hurt. Well, none of our people, anyway. We have to help them.”
Talen settled at the plea in her eyes. No way could he turn away from that. Besides, it wasn’t like he could hurt Fern, anyway. “All right.” He turned a smile on the demons. “Why don’t we go up to our suite and have breakfast. There’s an easy cure for you, Lars. I’ll have the medicine we’ve created flown here within an hour.”
Fern clapped her hands. “I knew things had changed for the better. Cara? I love your blouse. Where did you get it?” She shoved by her husband and moved for the door.
Cara turned and escorted her into the hallway. “There’s this great store online. I’ll get the link for you.” The women moved for the stairwell.
Lars frowned as his mate disappeared around the bend. “Huh.”
Talen fought a grin. “Guess we’re allies now.”
“Vampires and demons as allies.” Lars strode toward the door, a hitch in his stride. “Great.”
Several hours after Talen had said goodbye to their new, and recently cured friends, he finally kicked back in a leather chair, bound for Hawaii.
The private plane had three passenger sections: a bedroom, a rec room, and a quiet room with a couple of loungers and soft music. Talen sent the boys to the rec room to watch a movie and dropped into a lounger with his mate on his lap.
Her blue eyes were hazy, and dim circles marred the smooth skin beneath her eyes. He’d used her hard . . . the entire night, and then she’d entertained all morning.
Yet happiness all but bubbled from her tired form. Yeah, he should’ve made sure she had gotten some sleep, but they had an entire week on an island to rest.
He tucked her close and extended the footrest. “You need sleep.” Truth be told, he could use a couple hours of shut-eye, as well.
The plane rose into the air, and he grabbed a blanket from a basket next to him to tuck around her.
She nuzzled his neck.
Desire flared through him, and he shoved it down. The woman needed rest, damn it.
She chuckled, no doubt noticing the erection under her ass. “I can barely walk already,” she murmured, sounding at peace for the first time in too long. Leaning back, her gaze met his. “I’ve been struggling to find my place.”
He frowned. “Your place is with me.”
Her cheek creased. “Yes, I know. But I need to find my own place, too.”
He leaned back, keeping her gaze. “I don’t understand.”
She flattened her hand over his heart. “I have immortality now, right?” At his nod, she continued. “I feel like I should do something good with it.”
He ran his hand down her back, noting the delicate bones. “Okay, but you’re not fighting.” Yeah, he wanted to be a lot smoother than that, but in the end, Cara Kayrs wasn’t a soldier. No matter how fierce the fire in her breast. “Although, you are a hell of a fighter, and I’d have you at my back anytime.”
Pleasure rolled from her. “That’s sweet.”
“So how about we make a deal?”
One of her eyebrows arched. “A deal?”
“Yes. In battle situations, you act like any other soldier and obey commands. In every other situation ever, you can just be in charge.”
She chuckled. “So I’m telling you what to do.”
“Any time, sweetheart.” He grinned. “Just no heading off into battles, if you don’t mind.”
“You are one confident male, Talen Kayrs.” She rolled her eyes. “I don’t want to go fight people, for goodness’ sake. I’m a botanist.”
He rubbed a smudge from her cheek. “Okay?”
She swallowed and glanced down at his neck. “There’s some new research into crossbred plants that may have healing properties for humans. I need to teach the next generation of humans how to expand on that.”
Ah, hell. The woman had handled herself well in battle, and he could continue training her. The soft heart of hers was what he loved most about her. Plus, she’d shown her skill and great abilities by just meeting the Sandovskys. She was talented and strong. How could he not let her follow it in helping people? It’s who she was.
“I understand, and if that’s really what you want, then we can create a safe wa
y for you to do that. But you have to figure out the timing that works for you.” His heart warmed. The woman was so sweet she wanted to help a species she was no longer even a part of.
“Timing?”
“Yeah. You’re immortal. So you teach a few years like a normal career, and then you have to disappear from human life for years until trying again.” He had to allow her to have a life, the one she wanted, for her to be happy. He got that, finally.
She didn’t look back up. “I’ll have to look at the timing, then. Do it just right.”
“Okay.” Heck. Maybe he could teach something at the same time. Military strategy or something. The idea of them posing as a normal couple, both college professors, tickled his mouth into a grin.
She straightened. “I know you have money, but I’ve been investing, and I can float us for years. Honest.”
He smiled. “My only advice would be to talk to Logan’s mum before you choose a bank to invest in, if you plan to continue investing. Make sure it’s not one she’s planning to rob.”
Cara’s entire face lit up.
Talen shook his head and pressed a kiss to her nose. “You are not robbing banks with that crazy demoness.” A guy had to draw the line somewhere.
“We’ll see.” She kissed his neck and snuggled down with a soft sigh.
Talen closed his eyes and held tight, like he always would. For some reason, sleep eluded him.
He held Cara for the entire trip, and she slept quietly. With every passing mile, his arousal grew until it was all he could do not to strip her bare and feast for the rest of the time. But she needed sleep, and he’d cut off his own arm before harming her.
The plane finally touched down, and private transport met them at the airport. Soldiers had already lined the way, so he was nearly relaxed when they reached the private villa set on a cliff overlooking the Pacific.
“Oh, Talen.” Cara danced around the master bedroom, which was open to the outside. Glass doors could be closed at night, but for now, only wispy curtains billowed in the soft breeze. “It so beautiful. I love Hawaii.” She eyed the large bed and bamboo furniture before giving a happy hop at seeing the pool right outside.
She was beautiful, and he couldn’t take his eyes off of her.