From Jennifer Ashley, With Love

  Amber arched as he tasted her. Her fingers played in his hair, smoothing its tangles, brushing it from his forehead. She tasted like spice and honey. The only reason Adrian considered taking his mouth from her breast was to taste other parts of her too.

  As he suckled her, he slid open the button of her jeans, his fingers clumsy on the zipper. When he’d lain against her on her bed in Seattle, she’d worn a nightshirt with nothing underneath. He remembered her bare skin silky under his hands, his growing need for her. There they’d been interrupted by the demon’s magic trying to strike them down. This time, in Adrian’s house protected by his Immortal magic, they’d have no interruption. Even Ferrin lay sleeping across the room, recovering from his injuries.

  “Do you want these off too?” Amber asked, fingers on her waistband, her voice dusky.

  Adrian reluctantly released her but he couldn’t find fault with watching her slide from his lap, her breasts bare, to unzip her pants. She hesitated, holding on to the loosened jeans.

  “Don’t be afraid,” Adrian said. “I would never hurt you.”

  “I’m not afraid. I’m shy.”

  The incongruity made him laugh. Grinning hurt his face, but he couldn’t stop. “You stripped for me on the beach. I’ve seen you.” Taut, strong body, luscious, firm legs. He wanted to kiss her from thigh to ankle.

  “I know but . . .”

  That was playing. This is real. No stopping, no going back.

  “How about if I strip for you at the same time?” Adrian levered himself to his feet, his muscles protesting painfully.

  He unbuttoned, unzipped, and opened his jeans before his sore body could stop him. Amber’s gaze riveted flatteringly on his cock, barely hidden behind his underwear. Adrian had been rock hard since he’d seen her come off the stairs into his secret room, and the small piece of fabric wasn’t anywhere near large enough to contain him.

  Adrian pried Amber’s fingers from her jeans and peeled the fabric from her himself, going down on one knee so she could step out of the jeans. Instead of getting to his feet, Adrian remained kneeling and grasped the lace panties that matched her bra. “These too.”

  “Take them off me,” she said, her voice strained.

  “Happy to.” Adrian slid them down, brushing the backs of her knees with his fingers, flattening his palms against her calves, enjoying every inch of her legs. He laid his hand against her abdomen and dipped his head to lick the twist of curls between her legs.

  Honey, nectar, food of the gods. Nothing came close to what Amber tasted like. She was already moist with excitement; he’d known that when he touched her. Need vibrated through Amber’s body, and he was grateful for it. She wasn’t coming to him out of pity or a misguided need to help, but because she wanted him as much as he wanted her.

  Plenty of women in the past had been fascinated by Adrian. Amber was fascinated as well, but she’d proved she looked beyond the demigod who thoughtlessly bestowed overly expensive gifts on her. She saw Adrian the man.

  When Adrian had told her about the car and his wish to give her his house when he moved on, she’d only stared at him as though he’d lost his mind. No gasps of delight, no fawning—she’d given him her puzzled frown and shook her head, as though unable to believe his naiveté.

  Adrian wanted to give her everything. She should have everything. Amber was beautiful, and she tasted good, and she’d touched his face and told him not to worry. They’d find Tain, she’d said, and everything would be all right.

  Amber believed it. For that alone Adrian could fall in love with her.

  Amber made a noise of wanting as he swirled his tongue across her opening, pleasuring her at the same time he took pleasure in tasting her. She was wet with desire, her feet sliding apart so Adrian could reach her better.

  He could drink her forever. Adrian’s thumbs found the sensitive flesh of her inner thighs, and he stroked softly to arouse her further.

  Adrian wanted to be in her, to feel her pull him inside, to lose himself with her. The warmth of her filled places that had been empty too long.

  Adrian drank her, moving his tongue faster, giving her excitement at the same time he readied her. He wanted this to be pure pleasure, no pain for her—he was strong and large, and could so easily hurt her.

  He drew back to take a breath, loving just to look at her. She still wore her sandals, but was naked from head to ankles—beautiful and sexy. Amber looked down at him, her eyes half-closed, gold-brown gleaming from behind long lashes. “Take yours off,” she said. “I want to see you too.”

  Adrian gave her a feral smile. He rocked to his feet and slid out of his briefs. He was already barefoot, and now he was completely nude, tense and hard.

  Amber’s gaze did not drop instantly to his cock, and for some reason that pleased him. She took her time examining his shoulders and chest, his abdomen, his hands as they flexed and curled. She looked all the way down at his feet, then skimmed her gaze slowly up his legs and thighs. Finally she finished at Adrian’s cock, which was dark and erect. His balls were tight, pushing forward between his legs, more than ready for him to get on with it.

  Not yet. Adrian wanted her to relax first, for her body to be open and eager for him. He sank to his knees again, bracing his hands on the backs of her thighs and coaxing her legs to part. Then he got down to business.

  He licked and nipped, dipping his tongue inside her tight opening and flicking it rapidly over her, varying techniques so Amber wouldn’t know which one was coming when. He spread her wider and suckled her, licking, tasting, then gently using his teeth.

  Amber abandoned herself to it, no longer trying to stifle her cries. He felt her body tighten as she wound toward her climax, and she nearly sobbed, “Goddess, help me.”

  Her honey flowed into his mouth, sweet and hot. Adrian couldn’t get enough of it. He felt gooseflesh rise on her hips and back, her body tingling with what she was feeling.

  Before she could wind down, Adrian scooped his arm behind her and gently lowered her to the tapestry on the floor. She went willingly, her body fluid and warm, supple with climax.

  He positioned himself on her, hands on either side of her head, smiling when she lifted herself to him. They lay hips across hips, his rock-hard cock resting between them, outside her.

  “Amber, do you want me to give you a child?” he asked in a low voice.

  Amber’s eyes widened, golden specks in the brown of her irises. “What?”

  “I can give you a child, or not, as you please. I give you the choice. Do you want a child to come from this coupling?”

  Amber responded with her characteristic astonishment. “Good Goddess, Adrian. Do you always start making love with this question?”

  Adrian was already shaking his head. “I can choose whether or not to create a child. I always thought it best not to.”

  “Then why are you asking me?”

  “You are the first I’ve thought I’d want it with.”

  Her mouth remained open, but the glitter in her eyes softened. “The first you thought . . .” She blew out her breath. “Great Mother, I never know what you’re going to say next.”

  “What is your decision?”

  Adrian’s heart beat faster while he waited. He’d never thought it wise to leave a child behind he couldn’t be there to take care of, as tempted as he was to create something of his own—a family. But Adrian had no way of knowing whether the child would be immortal or human, or would even survive. He’d seen what had happened to his brother Hunter, who had sired two children long ago—children who’d been killed before they could reach adulthood. Hunter had gone out of his mind with grief, and Adrian didn’t think he’d ever truly recovered.

  Never had Adrian been with a woman he’d want to raise his child. He’d learned to confine his sexual needs to women who viewed intercourse as physical enjoyment, who wanted pleasure without emotion. Amber was the only person he could think of he’d want to see hold his child in her arms.

  Amber d
rew her tongue across lips that shook a little. “I think, not this time. But maybe later. I mean, if I’m ever going to have a child, I’d want it to be yours.”

  That stunned him almost as much as his question had stunned her. “You would?”

  “Yes. Why not?”

  Adrian could think of a hundred reasons why not, but he decided not to pursue it. Not now. Later, when they were calmer and could examine the question, he might ask her what she meant.

  Adrian slipped his tip to her opening. “Are you ready?”

  Amber drew a sharp breath. “Yes. Please.”

  “Be certain.”

  Amber grasped his shoulders. “Don’t tease me, Adrian. Do it.”

  Adrian touched her face, wanting to savor every nuance of her, and he slid himself firmly inside her.

  * * *

  Amber drew a breath as Adrian penetrated her, spreading her. She clutched his shoulders and felt again the mist in her mind that soothed and relaxed.

  “No,” she said. “Don’t do that. Let me feel it.”

  Adrian gave her a startled look, as though surprised she’d noticed his spell. His mind’s touch drifted away, like a drug wearing off, and then Amber felt every inch of him inside her.

  Her cry rang out, but Adrian only made a small sound in his throat, as though trying to hold his pleasure tight inside himself. Amber rubbed his shoulders, willing him to let it out. The dark of his eyes were impenetrable, his irises ringed with a rich chocolate brown.

  Adrian kissed her with possession, recalling his words to her in the club: You belong to me. He hadn’t asked her politely, he’d simply declared it.

  Amber drew him closer as he began a rhythm of hips that sent him deep into her, he bracing himself on tanned arms lashed with thin white scars. He’d faced so much hurt, and yet he loved her with such tenderness.

  Adrian bent his head, eyes closed as he rocked into her, arms and shoulders taut. His hair was warm under her hands, raw silk.

  Amber wanted to be part of this man who was strong, so powerfully magical, and yet so vulnerable. With his power he might have broken himself free of the ice tonight and gone after the demon, but he’d turned back to save Amber and his friends. His obsession to find his brother ate him up, but even so he’d first made sure Amber was safe.

  No man—no person—had ever done that for her.

  Adrian raised her leg to hook over his arm, opening her more to him. Wild excitement took her, and Amber cried out. Adrian was sweating now, his face damp, his eyes remaining shut.

  Amber pressed her hand to his cheek. “Adrian, look at me. Please.”

  Adrian’s jaw clenched. “You don’t—need—that . . .”

  “I do. Please. I want to see your eyes.”

  His eyes jerked open, as though he couldn’t stop himself, and he looked at her fully. One glance into the black depths showed Amber why he hadn’t wanted her to see him.

  Amber found herself swept up beneath swirling stars, a void dropping away under her back. She screamed until she realized Adrian held her, his strong arms keeping her from falling.

  He was the only thing between her and the darkness and the whirling lights. He thrust into her and took what he pleased, as they floated together in nothing. Adrian held her with his gaze, sparks of his incredible power dancing on the surface of his deep black eyes.

  “Be with me, Amber” he said.

  “I am,” Amber answered. “There’s only you.”

  Adrian didn’t answer. He held her gaze, and she floated through nothing with him, surrounded by spinning stars. There was nothing but herself and him, joined together, his body the only solid thing in the darkness.

  He pleasured her well, and she wanted to pleasure him back. She stroked his back, kneading, pulling him closer. Amber reached between them to find the hard tightness of his balls and gently squeezed, rewarded with his gaze growing even more intense.

  “Witch.” Adrian growled, and then he groaned. “No.”

  His seed shot into her, hard, harder, and Amber came apart as he did. They met each other thrust for thrust, bodies locked around each other. Incredibly, Amber felt his pleasure in her mind as well as her own, dark maddening tendrils wrapping her brain and plunging her into the wildest climax she’d ever experienced.

  And then they were back on the prickly tapestry carpet, she gasping for breath, Adrian smoothing the hair from her face with shaking, sweating hands.

  He leaned his forehead against hers. “Amber,” he whispered. In his eyes, she saw the spin of stars that had surrounded them. “Thank you.”

  * * *

  A little later, Amber felt herself being lifted and carried, up, up, and up, then settled again on a vast expanse of sheets. She reached for Adrian, afraid he’d lay her down and leave her, but he slid onto the bed beside her.

  He touched and kissed her, hands strong and firm. Amber skimmed her fingers up his back and found that his wounds had closed, already fading to ridged scars.

  “I guess you do heal quickly,” she said.

  Adrian smiled, warm and dark. “You healed me.”

  He made love to her again, with a slow, sensual pace that left Amber breathless. This time they remained firmly on the bed, no floating in black space.

  Amber didn’t think she’d come again so soon, but before long she was shouting her joy, wrapping her arms around Adrian and holding him hard.

  After that they wound down together and lay in the sunshine, Amber drowsing, Adrian watching her with eyes dark as sin.

  The plain white sheets looked much better tangled around his limbs, his firm buttocks a pleasing mound, the pentacle tattoo on his left hip sharp. Adrian watched Amber, a small smile on his lips, a man contemplating his lover stretched out and tired from what they’d done.

  “You look pleased with yourself,” Amber said.

  “Why not? A beautiful witch is in my house, in my bed.”

  Amber ran her hand along the tightness of his bicep. “I remember watching you in my kitchen drinking coffee at my table, thinking you were the best thing I’d seen in there in a long while. Did Sabina warn you off that night?”

  Adrian’s smile widened. “She threatened to rip out my throat if I touched you.”

  “I notice you didn’t listen.” Amber thought about how, not fifteen minutes later, he’d stripped himself bare in the guest bathroom and kissed her while steam rolled from the shower.

  “I decided to risk it.” Adrian got that teasing light in his eye.

  “You told me then I wasn’t ready for you,” Amber said. “Because of the floating in the middle of the sky or whatever that was?”

  Adrian shook his head, his cheek on his forearm. “That never happened before.”

  Amber remembered how he’d kept his eyes firmly closed at first. “Because it never happened to you, or because you didn’t want it to happen?”

  “I don’t know.” His smiled faded. “Amber, come with me . . .” He turned his head. “No, never mind.”

  “Come with you where? To find your brother?”

  Silence stretched so long that Amber thought he would refuse to answer. “I started to ask you to come with me when I moved on. When I take another house in another place and keep on pretending to be mortal.”

  Amber laughed lightly. “You know, Adrian, I don’t think anyone believes you’re a normal human being. You radiate supernatural power. They’re just not sure what kind.” She tapped the tip of his nose. “You’re not fooling anyone.”

  He didn’t smile. “A millennium means nothing to me. But it means a different thing to you. I don’t go after what I want, because I know I can never have it.”

  Amber touched his nose again, turning it to a caress. “Meaning if I stay with you, I’ll age and die, and you won’t?”

  “Meaning if I keep you with me, I’ll have to leave you. The longer I stay, the harder it will be for me to go.”

  Amber sat up, crossing her legs and drawing a piece of sheet over them. “Do you make this spee
ch to every woman you go to bed with?”

  He shook his head. “I’ve never asked a woman to stay with me before.”

  “You haven’t actually asked me. You stopped yourself.”

  “I know.”

  Amber studied him. He was a beautiful man, brown limbs against white sheets. A perfect sculpture, or maybe an art photo that could hang on a gallery wall. Even the scars on Adrian’s back didn’t mar him. The Goddess had done a good job on him.

  “After we find your brother, come with me back to Seattle,” Amber said. “You can help me do psychic readings, or help teach my students how to deal with death-magic creatures. You can decide then whether you want to stay.”

  “After we find your brother,” he repeated her words, his gaze becoming remote again. “You speak as though it’s a certainty.”

  “Well, we’re close. The demon resisted my truth spell by being cryptic, but he couldn’t resist it altogether—Isis came and helped with the spell, did you know that? So he might be a powerful Old One, but he had to tell us something, so he conjured the ice. Plus, we have Susan’s notes. She definitely saw Tain while she was traveling between. The demon wanted Tain to stay hidden, and so he followed Susan and killed her.” Amber’s throat tightened. “That means she got too close, which means it’s possible for us to get closer. I’m a decent witch, I know how my sister thought, and you have incredible power. I don’t see how we can fail.”

  “Amber.” Adrian’s deep voice cut through her words. “This isn’t your fight, or your quest.”

  “My sister died for it. I think that makes the fight mine.”

  “Finding Tain, which I’ve come to realize is an impossible task, won’t bring Susan back. It won’t solve anything for you.”

  Amber let out a breath of exasperation. “I know that. But it will help you. If I can help you not lose a brother, then Susan wouldn’t have died for nothing.”

  “It’s a different thing.” Adrian’s muscles tightened under his smooth skin. “Tain walked away from us seven hundred years ago. If he wanted to be found, I would have found him by now. My dreams are just that—dreams—me driving myself crazy. He doesn’t want me to find him. That’s what I’ve realized in the past few days.”