Hunted

  “We are?” She wanted to let go of him but her hands were fisted in the heavy, satin-like material of his pale blue uniform shirt and she couldn’t make her fingers unclench. “I…I’m sorry,” she muttered, pressing her cheek to his chest again. “Just give me a minute. That was kind of rough.”

  Sylvan, for his part, seemed contented to hold her for as long as she needed to be held. “It’s all right,” he rumbled, still stroking her hair. “I should have warned you better. I didn’t know tube travel would upset you so much.”

  “I…I’m not upset,” she protested but her voice sounded high and squeaky even in her own ears. “I was just surprised,” she added, trying to sound more normal.

  “We’re at the docking bay now.” His deep voice was gentle and soothing, like his hand in her hair. Sophie felt herself relaxing in stages but still she didn’t let go.

  “Oh yes, the docking bay.” Slowly she became aware that the tiny compartment was filled with a sharp, spicy scent. It was like nothing she had ever smelled before—wild and somehow completely masculine. Mmm, nice. Her nose twitched—it seemed to be coming from Sylvan. But when did he have time to put on cologne? “Are you wearing aftershave?” she asked dreamily.

  “Aftershave?” He sounded confused.

  “You know—cologne. Perfume. A scent you put on your skin to make you smell good. Don’t the Kindred have anything like that?”

  “No, we have a very enhanced sense of smell. We don’t like anything that covers up our natural scent.”

  “Then what smells so good?” She was rubbing her cheek against the warm, hard wall of his chest in a way that would have seemed terminally wrong and uncomfortable just a few minutes ago. Yet now it seemed perfectly natural and right. Why was that? And why didn’t she want to let him go? She could feel the hard ridge of his cock branding her belly, just as it had during the Luck Kiss but even that didn’t alarm her. Instead, she felt herself responding.

  Her nipples were suddenly tight and achy and the small pair of bikini underwear she had on under her green bridesmaid’s dress felt too tight. Their lace crotch seemed to rub against her in a way that was both irritating and pleasurable. She took another deep breath. “Mmm…smells like…I don’t know what, but incredible,” she murmured, still rubbing against him like a cat.

  Sylvan stiffened against her. “Sophia, you’re not acting like yourself. This scent…you say it smells extremely good?”

  “Yes, can’t you smell it? I—” She looked up as she spoke and saw that he was looking down at her again. There was a troubled look in his pale blue eyes, but it wasn’t his eyes that bothered her—it was his mouth.

  His fangs were out.

  Long and sharp and prominent, they gleamed in the dim light of the tube like daggers ready to pierce flesh. My flesh! she realized in a flash.

  “Oh!” She jumped away from him and would have fallen backwards out of the transport tube if he hadn’t caught her by the arm. “Let me go!” She pulled away from his hand and took another step back. Her kitten heels made clattering echoes in the vast open space of the docking bay.

  “What? What’s wrong?” Sylvan frowned at her as he unfolded himself from the small space and stepped out of the tube.

  “Y-your fangs.” Sophie pointed with a trembling finger.

  With a muffled curse he clapped a hand over his mouth. A look of painful concentration crossed his face and then he took his palm away from his lips and she saw that his fangs were back to their normal length. “Forgive me.” He spoke as though it hurt to get the words out. “I didn’t…didn’t realize…”

  “It’s okay.” She shifted uncomfortably, not sure what to do or say. It was clear she’d offended him by pointing out his fangs. Was it something like telling a human guy his fly was unzipped? Well what was I supposed to say? And anyway, it just slipped out—he looks so damn scary when they grow like that!

  Sylvan didn’t seem to know what to say either. Finally he turned on his heel. “Come on. We need to get to the shuttle.”

  Chapter Four

  “You’re so bad!” Liv slapped playfully at her new husband as he carried her into their suite and deposited her on the bed. “Making me leave the reception early—we barely got to cut the cake. Couldn’t you have waited a few more minutes?”

  “No.” Baird’s eyes glowed gold with lust. “Not after waiting a whole damn week. You really know how to torture a male. But that’s all right.” He gave her a hot grin. “Because I’m about to return the favor.”

  “What…what are you going to do?” Liv heard the breathless quality in her own voice but she couldn’t seem to help it—didn’t want to help it. All she wanted was the male in front of her.

  Baird leaned over the bed and lifted her chin to look into her eyes. “I’m going to bond you all over again,” he rumbled. “Gonna fill your sweet little cunt with my cock and fuck you all night long. So I hope you weren’t planning on going back to the party any time soon.”

  Liv’s breath caught in her throat. “I don’t want to go back,” she whispered.

  “Good.” He straightened up and crossed his arms over his broad chest. “That dress is special to you, right?”

  “Of course.” Liv ran a hand over the white lace. “It was my mother’s.”

  His eyes softened. “And you look beautiful in it, Lilenta. But you need to get out of it now.”

  It was an order, not a request and the low growling voice he used when he said it made Liv’s heart start beating a mile a minute. It reminded her of the way he’d spoken after she had gone to visit Jillian the first time—disobeying his orders and winding up in the unmated males’ territory. Baird had been forced to show his ownership of her in front of a whole group of warriors and afterwards he’d taken her back to his suite and commanded her to strip so that he could taste her. It was both an embarrassing memory and a hot one. And it made Liv all the more eager to do what he wanted now.

  But there was no reason he had to know that.

  Lifting her chin she looked him in the eye. “So you think now that we’re officially bonded you can tell me exactly what to do?”

  The look in his eyes was so hot it was molten. “What I’m telling you, Lilenta, is to take that damn dress off before I rip it off.” Leaning down, he grasped her shoulders and pulled her up for a heated kiss that left her panting and breathless.

  “Baird…” she protested, struggling weakly. She had never seen him quite so hungry before, even during the first time they’d made love.

  “I don’t think you understand exactly how much I need you, Olivia,” he growled softly, looking her in the eyes. “Up ‘til now I’ve been holding back because I didn’t want to scare you off at the last minute.”

  “What? Don’t be silly,” she protested. “You could never scare me off.”

  “Not now, I can’t.” He flashed her a hungry grin. “Because now you’re mine forever. And I need you, Lilenta. Need to be inside you for a long, long time tonight.” He kissed her again, running his big hands over her body, cupping her breasts and then moving down to press hard against her sex. “But before I do that, I want to taste you. So get naked now or I’m going to make you naked.”

  Liv’s heart was going crazy and her mouth was almost too dry to answer. She couldn’t believe that Baird had been holding back on her. But the desperate need she saw in those glowing amber eyes proved he was telling the truth. What agony she must have put him through, denying him for the past week so that the night after their bonding would be special. Well, I’ll make it up to him tonight, she promised herself. But all in good time.

  “Let me go in the bathroom and take my dress off,” she told Baird with a little smile. “And in the mean time, maybe you should start getting naked yourself.”

  “Just hurry.” He gave her another smoldering look. “I need to lick your pussy and feel you come all over my face.”

  His words made her weak in the knees but she tried not to show it as she sauntered past him to the bathroom. She
had something hidden there that she hoped would make the night even more memorable.

  With a little maneuvering she was out of her wedding dress and into something a lot more comfortable—and much less confining. Though he’d told her to get naked, she decided to disobey orders and wear the naughty little ensemble she’d been saving for their wedding night.

  It was something Kat had helped her pick out via Think-me conversation just the week before. As Liv shimmied into it, she reflected that her friend really did have good taste—too bad she didn’t have a Kindred warrior of her own. But then, maybe that would change by the time she got done with the reception. Liv hadn’t been so completely caught up in her own bliss that she’d missed the little details around her—such as the tension between Sophie and Sylvan or the hungry way the two Twin Kindred that Baird had said were his “second brothers” had been eyeing Kat.

  But the only detail she was interested in right now was getting her new hubby all hot and bothered. Eyeing herself in the viewer she was sure her outfit would do the trick.

  It consisted of a white lace quarter-cup bustier with panties and garters to match and sheer white thigh-high hose. Black spike heeled pumps so high she would never have dared to wear them out in public completed the look, making her legs look fabulously long and lean.

  Liv felt deliciously exposed as she adjusted the tiny cups of the bustier which didn’t even cover her nipples. They just pushed her breasts up and out, making them look like some exotic fruit on a tray. As a final touch, she took down her elaborate up-do and shook out her hair, letting it swing free around her bare shoulders. Then, feeling exquisitely naughty, she opened the bathroom door and made her way back to Baird.

  He was sitting on the bed waiting for her but when she came in, he stood at once. Liv’s eyes were drawn to him just as they had been the very first time he’d taken off his shirt to drape it around her. The muscular planes of his chest and abdomen led down to a truly impressive cock which had scared the daylights out of her the first time she’d seen it. Now she couldn’t wait to feel it inside her.

  “Well?” She gave him a cool little smile as she sauntered into the room. “Like what you see?” The cool air teased her exposed nipples as she moved, her breasts jiggling gently as she swayed her hips provocatively.

  “Gods, Lilenta.” His deep voice was hoarse with lust as his gaze traveled over her body. “You look amazing.”

  “Thank you.” She smiled up at him—even though she was wearing the ridiculously high heels, he was still several inches taller.

  He frowned. “But I thought I told you to get naked.”

  “You did. But I thought this would be more fun. And look…” Spreading her legs, she parted the open seam that ran down the middle of the panties to reveal her bare sex. “So you don’t have to rip them off,” she explained, smiling. Baird had ruined a number of her favorite panties with his caveman ways and though she always enjoyed it at the time, it was leaving Liv woefully short of sexy underwear.

  He gave her a stern look. “Just because I don’t have to rip them off to get to you doesn’t mean they’re not coming down.”

  Liv put a hand on her hip. “What are you talking about?”

  “I’m talking about how you disobeyed a direct order.” He raised an eyebrow. “Tell me something, Olivia, have you ever heard of the Law of Conduct?”

  She frowned. “No, of course not. What are you talking about?”

  “It’s a Kindred law which says every warrior is responsible for the good behavior of his bride.”

  “Good behavior? What does that have to do with anything?”

  “Basically it gives me the right to punish you for disobeying orders or doing anything that might endanger yourself or others,” he rumbled. “Remember how you wound up at the unmated males territory back during our claiming period after I specifically told you not to leave the suite? I would have been well within my rights under the Law of Conduct to punish you then.”

  “As a matter of fact, I was just thinking of that a minute ago.” Liv raised her chin. “But I’m not endangering anyone by wearing this.” She motioned to the white lace outfit.

  Baird grinned. “But you did disobey my orders. And I’m afraid you’ll have to pay for that, Lilenta. Pay dearly.”

  “What…what do you mean? What are you going to do?” The look on his face was making her distinctly nervous. She’d come out in the naughty little outfit meaning to seduce him, just as she had the first time they had really made love. But now it looked like Baird intended to turn the tables on her.

  “I’m going to spank you,” he said matter-of-factly. Walking back to the bed, he seated himself and patted his lap. “Come here.”

  “You have got to be kidding me.” Liv frowned. “Look, Baird, I know I swore to ‘honor and obey’ you but that was just for the ceremony. I’m not actually going to let you put me over your knee and give me a spanking.”

  “Oh, no?” Quick as a flash he was pulling her onto his lap. As always, it was surprising to Liv how fast he could move for such a large man. Probably his warrior’s reflexes helped him—but it was going to take more than fast reflexes to get him out of this if he didn’t stop now.

  “Hey, let me go!” She struggled against him but Baird held her down easily with one hand. With the other, he parted the seam in her lace panties and began a slow stroking caress of her bare buttocks. “Baird!” she protested but his large, warm hand was taking some of the wind out of her sales. “Baird, seriously, don’t.”

  “Don’t punish you or don’t tease you while I do it?” he asked in a low voice. He sounded half amused, half serious but he still didn’t let her off his lap. Then, with no warning, he gave her bare ass a sharp smack.

  Liv yelped and wiggled in protest, trying not to notice how she could feel the broad head of his cock rubbing against the top of her mound with the motion. “I don’t…I’m not into this,” she protested. “And I’m not some little girl who needs a spanking to be made to behave.”

  “You look pretty little to me,” he returned, giving her another swat. “And maybe I like spanking you.” Obviously he wasn’t hitting her nearly as hard as he could—though the blows stung, they were hardly painful. Still, it was the principle of the thing that Liv objected to.

  “You can’t do this,” she protested. “I…I don’t like it.”

  “Oh, no?” Baird shifted on the bed, repositioning her on his lap and spreading her thighs so that the head of his cock was now rubbing right between her pussy lips. Liv gasped as she felt him part her slippery folds and slide against her clit. The open-crotch panties were beginning to seem like a mistake but it was too late to do anything about it now.

  “No, I…I don’t,” she gasped but then Baird gave her ass another slap and she jumped and squeaked. The movement rubbed his cock over her pussy again, making the squeak turn into a moan.

  “Are you sure you don’t like this, Olivia?” he growled softly, spanking her again and then again, rubbing against her each time until she was moaning steadily. “Sure you want me to stop spanking you?”

  “It…it’s un…undignified,” she finally managed to gasp out. God, between the sharp little pain in her ass and the delicious tingling in her clit, she could barely think, let alone talk!

  “But delicious,” he murmured. “I can feel how hot and wet your little pussy is getting for me. And it’s not just because I’m rubbing against you, either.”

  “Why…why else would it be?” Liv demanded, trying to keep some of her dignity.

  “I think it’s because, whether you admit it or not, you like this,” he told her. “Not the pain maybe, but being held down and dominated. Punished.”

  “I…I do not.” Liv tried to sound indignant. “I’m a modern woman. I don’t need anyone to pun…puni…” But she couldn’t get the word out because every time she tried, Baird gave her another firm but loving slap on the behind. She felt like her cheeks must be on fire by now but strangely enough, her pussy was also wett
er than it had ever been. She was just wondering how long this was going to go on when Baird suddenly repositioned her on her hands and knees on the bed.

  Instinctively Liv tried to get up but he held her down, trapping her arms gently behind her back with one hand.

  The awkward position pressed her cheek to the mattress and put her ass high in the air, with her legs spread wide to show the white lace panties. Their crotch was still open, putting her pussy on display in a way she found both embarrassing and incredibly erotic. She could feel her cunt lips parting, opening to show her slippery pink folds and her clit which throbbed deliciously in the center.

  “Very nice,” Baird rumbled, tracing the outer edge of the white lace with one gentle finger. “You know, I really do like these. It’s going to be a real pleasure to fuck you in them.”

  “Baird!” Liv wiggled appealingly, trying and failing to break his grip. He had her exactly where he wanted her and it was clear he wasn’t letting go. But even worse than holding her down was the way he was teasing her. That one, slow finger traveling around and around her center, without ever actually touching her where she needed him the most, was maddening. She could feel her clit throbbing for release and her pussy felt so empty. God, she needed him in her!

  “What’s wrong, Lilenta? Discovering that you like being punished more than you thought?” Baird leaned over her from behind and she suddenly felt his cock nudging the inside of her thigh. “Admit it,” he breathed in her ear. “You like it—hell, you fucking love it. Being held down. Being forced to submit.”

  “No,” Liv protested wiggling again, “No, I…I never…”

  “Don’t lie to me.” His voice was a growl. “I can tell—I’ve never smelled you so hot before. Besides, how do you explain this?” His finger stopped tracing her panties and slipped deep into her pussy instead, drawing a strangled cry from Liv’s throat. “That’s right, Lilenta,” he told her, thrusting in deep, using two fingers this time. “Ride my fingers the way you’re going to ride my cock. Let yourself go while I fingerfuck you.”