A Spartan's Kiss (35 page)

“I can’t explain how good that felt, not with words, but I can show you, if you’ll trust me.”

His heartbeat increased, and she felt hers speeding up to the pace he set. Could she trust him? The safety net of the pendant was gone. The time to take this chance was here, but what if he didn’t like her? Or thought once he was making love to her that she was disgusting? Images from her captivity tried to surface but Aeros chose that moment to caress her back and whisper how beautiful she was in her ear.

“I trust you.”

He paused in mid stroke and pulled her closer. Between them, his body was hard again, never having gone down. He didn’t move to do anything about his obvious arousal. Instead, he soothed her back from her nape to right above her bottom and up again. Over and over.

“I’ve wanted to hold you like this forever.”

She smiled. He’d not known her forever, but she liked the sound of his voice, and his thoughts.

“I’m going to lay you down, Tabithia. Now, if anything I do alarms you, simply tell me, or, if you can’t, hit me. Anything, but don’t let me upset you or harm you.”

He met her eyes and held them until she nodded.

“What are you going to do?”

“I’m going to start where you just ended. Right at my new altar.” His big hand dipped down in front of her, and, before she could stop him, he’d sunk two fingers between her thighs.

Heat flushed her face. He’d know she was wet now. Would he be disgusted? Turn her away? Steeling herself, she let her hair fall over her face to hide her shame.

“Gods, do you know how damn happy it makes me to find you so wet for me? I goddamn love how wet you get for me.”

What? Gods, if she was embarrassed before, now she was…

Slipping those fingers up, he touched a spot that had her moaning and arching into his hand for more.

“That’s it. Such a good girl. Give me more. Show me how to please you.” Not waiting, he rubbed a spot that had her sucking in air. It felt so good. He knew exactly where to touch to drive her wild. Trusting him a bit more, she dug her nails into his shoulders and rubbed her hips forward over his fingers, loving the feel of his erection pressing up against her bottom.

“That’s it, so good. I’m going to taste you now, baby.” Without warning, she found herself on her back, Aeros’ shoulders holding her legs open, and his mouth suddenly at her pussy. She held her breath and waited, wanting this so badly but afraid he’d be disgusted and turn away.

He didn’t. He groaned again, that sound he made when he was fighting his own desires. Then, without warning, he gripped her inner thighs, and she felt his fingers spread her lips a second before his mouth and tongue landed on her sensitive flesh.

Pleasure. Such pleasure. He didn’t make her worry about him being disgusted or him not knowing what to do. Aeros found her centre, slid a finger inside, and had her bordering on a climax within seconds. Then he kept her there, near enough but not falling while he sucked and licked and rolled her flesh between his lips.

“Aeros!”

Her cry must have turned him on even more because he groaned, licking her a bit harder, hard enough that she felt a small burst of pleasure before she was sliding into the most powerful orgasm of her life. Light blossomed behind her eyes, and all she could do was shudder under him, moaning louder and louder as the climax went on and on.

When it began to slow, he thrust two fingers deep, turning and pressing them while his mouth and tongue drove her insane.

“Oh, oh, oh gods, Aeros!”

Starting to pump harder he rose above her. He was magnificent. Sweat beaded his bronze body and highlighted the muscles of his chest and shoulders. His hair was damp, the longer bangs shifting over his forehead and making her itch to push it back. His dark gaze shifted from where he thrust deep and hard, to her face, her breasts, her eyes.

“Gods, you’re so beautiful. Come for me. Like this, come for me, then I’ll make love to you.”

His erection jerked at his words, and she reached for it, trying to stroke him, but he held her down, not painfully but with pleasure. Twisting his wrist, he managed to rub his thumb on her clit, and she exploded, tightening around his fingers and jerking her thighs around him as another climax rippled through her and sent her spiralling out of control.

She barely felt him slipping free or positioning his body between her thighs. She was exhausted from coming but exhilarated for more. Him. All of this. His body lowered over hers and the brush of skin on skin drove her wild. Inside she ached, and felt so empty. Aeros would fill her, ease the ache, she knew.

“So damn beautiful. Gods, you make me so damn happy. So damn hard, too. Tell me if I am too…”

“Big?”

“I don’t want to hurt you.”

“You won’t. I’ll tell you.” She might tell him. This was different than giving herself pain. This was being under a man while he was ready to mount and pound with something that certainly felt huge.

Groaning softly, he wedged himself at her entrance and slid forward until he felt resistance. He was big. She wiggled under him but he clamped down on her waist.

“Don’t, gods above, don’t do that.” He sounded desperate.

“I was trying to help.” She couldn’t help the grin, but when he rested his head next to hers, she kissed his sweaty neck.

“Don’t try to help, baby. Gods.”

He shoved forward a bit when he spoke, and she sucked in a breath. Rising up on his arms, he bent his head and kissed her. His lips sparked the flames that were already high into an inferno.

Sliding out, he pressed forward again, this time the thickness of his erection spreading her wider. She angled up to meet him on his next pass. With a groan, he managed more, this time the pain hardly noticeable because the mounting pleasure eclipsed everything but him, them, this joining of body to body.

“Don’t stop. More, Aeros. More.”

“Fuck.”

He slid back with a grunted thrust that had her holding her breath at how good it felt. She nearly climaxed when he ground his hips down and pressed against her hard, shoving himself even further against her.

“That’s it. That’s what you need. Fuck, yes, Tabithia, come for me.”

“Aeros, oh God.”

He set a rhythm that had her crying his name. Pleasure was building higher than before. If she’d thought she’d already experienced pleasure, now she knew what he was doing to her was going to make her lose her mind. She’d never be able to live without this. This man. This contact.

He thrust in harder, his pelvis rubbing her clit, then jammed himself at the end of his pass, pressing tight for a moment before out and in again. Each time he lunged forward had her that much closer to something huge. His powerful, muscled thighs began smacking against her, and her pleasure climbed higher.

“Not hurting?” he asked breathlessly.

“Gods, no, good. Just like that.”

“Fuck, yes, baby, anything, anything.”

He growled against her lips, then kissed her. His mouth was fevered, anxious and demanding all at once, his kiss so hot it felt like he blistered her mouth. His erection swelled, growing stiffer and thicker inside her. Each hard pass seemed to hit her in places that tingled into awareness and shivered up her spine with pleasure. With an impatient grunt, he shifted her hips, making her part her legs even wider while he held her in place with his bigger body. One hand gripped her thigh, holding it up tightly while his other hand caressed down her back.

She could not take any more. He wasn’t letting her move. His lips sent her into overload, his hands so gentle, his body so hot and slick with sweat they glided along each other.

Her climax hit hard. Her head fell back on the bed and she gasped his name over and over. Pleasure so deep it spun her out of the room and up to the stars hit and she dug her nails into his firm muscles to hold onto something. Her sheath tightened down on his thick flesh, squeezing it as ripple after ripple of pleasure raced up her body and through her until her toes curled.

With a shout, Aeros surged forward, harder and harder until he gasped. “Coming, baby, coming for you, gods, yes!”

She felt it then. The hot flood of his seed washing into her, filling her with such pleasure she nearly blacked out. It was too wonderful, too incredible to stop. Still trembling, she pulled him close, pressing kisses to his soft skin while he shuddered.

Finally spent, he collapsed on his arms, pressing a breathless kiss to her shoulder and arm. “I didn’t hurt you?”

She curled her legs around his rounded bum and kissed him. “Not a chance. When can we do that again?”

Laughing, he rolled over, still filling her up with his body, to let her lie on top of him.

“After you let me catch my breath.”

“Mmm, that sounds good.”

Chapter Twenty-Four

When her phone rang later that night, she nearly dropped it in the bath water Aeros had drawn for her. He’d also lifted her up like some princess and gently lowered her down until barely her head was above the lush, perfectly heated water.

Samantha rarely called her. When Aeros had found her phone and said it was a call from Sammie, she’d taken it. Now, she rubbed her head, trying to figure out why her best friend would think she had the king of the Lykae on speed dial.

“What? How am I supposed to have that?”

Tabithia tried to clear her head, but sitting in Aeros’ whirlpool tub while he knelt in only his jeans beside her trying to feed her strawberries while he kissed her neck was a bit of a distraction.

“Well, he’s not listed. But I thought you’d know.”

She still wasn’t following why she would have his number but she said, “Uh, sure, but, well, maybe he’s listed?”

Aeros stopped kissing her neck and rose up to frown down at her. His eyebrows drew down sexily, but she didn’t tell him that. Instead she cupped her hand over her cell and grinned.

“Sammie wants to know the number for Alrick,” she said. “Seems she’s found a guy from the wolf clan on her hunt.”

His face softened to that look she thought he saved for her. “Ah, Samantha, your friend who’s searching for her sister?”

She nodded.

“I have his number. Tell her to give me a moment.”

He did? The man knew everyone, could do anything, she thought, watching him stand and walk out to his room. He certainly knew how to make her shiver.

“Hold on, I’ll get it.” Or Aeros would. “What’s up with the guy? Where was he?”

“I can’t get into the deets right now.”

Sammie said something else, but Tabithia lost her when Aeros came back in. His jeans hung low on his waist, and she could see from the bulge he was hard. One look up his big muscled body and into his dark eyes, and she knew bath time was over. He squatted down, handing her his cell with a killer grin.

“Here you go, baby. Time for your bath to be over.”

Oh, yeah.
She rattled off the number and hung up, more than ready for fun time to begin.

“Do you like it here?”

“Here?”

She stood up, loving the way Aeros immediately focused on her breasts. He reached up and cupped both warm hands under them, pressing them together to create a little valley he kissed. The bristle on his jaw made her tingle all over. A girl could get pretty sure of herself with him doing that—or melt.

“Damn, out of the bath before I end up in it.”

They shared one more heated look before he helped her out by picking her up. She couldn’t hold in the happy laugh and didn’t want to.

“You’re getting all wet.”

He grinned and would have said something, but they both heard a door opening and closing followed by footsteps down the hall. He’d brought her to the same house where she’d first met him. It was all glam, except his room. His room was practically as empty as her house. She’d almost believed he didn’t live here, and would ask, but hadn’t got around to it. Actually, she’d not got around to much since he’d made love to her so wonderfully.

Aeros set her down and rubbed a hand over his neck, looking uncomfortable.

“What?”

When he didn’t say anything, she reached back and picked up his shirt and pulled it on, suddenly feeling uneasy with her nudity. The cotton stuck to her, but she tugged it to her knees and waited. Something was up.

He grimaced and exhaled wearily. “I need to know how to get Ares in to see Dare, Tabithia.”

She glanced away and down at the table. Dare was staying at Evie’s, and she couldn’t tell Aeros how to ‘get’ to her. The only way to reach Dare was for Ares to do what Dare demanded.

“Aeros, man? I need to talk to you.”

Their gazes met for a brief heartbeat. Aeros clenched his jaw, the muscle rippling along his cheek once before he looked away.

“It’s all right. Go talk to him. I’ll be right here.”

He turned back to her, clearly not expecting her words. She thought maybe she had surprised him, but he nodded and left the room quickly.

She really didn’t want him to find out about her conversation with Ares. When, or if, he did, she was pretty sure he’d be angry. Not completely off his lid as he’d been with the pendant, which she still possessed, but still he’d not be pleased.

Voices carried through the wooden door, but she ignored them and explored the room instead. There wasn’t much to it. A bed. A dresser. A chest or two. A fireplace, two chairs that looked brand new. It seemed Aeros shared more with her than she’d thought. This place almost reminded her of home.

Home. She needed to go home soon. It was nearly morning. They’d been up all night. She felt a twinge between her thighs, but nothing too painful. After making love to her so beautifully, he’d done it again, but refused to do so a third time, shaking his head instead and kissing her all over. He’d worried she’d be too tender. She was a bit tender, but it was a good tenderness. She already knew she’d be addicted to the firm, solid feel of him. Even thinking about sex had her nipples hardening.

The door opened behind her, and she turned to see him standing there watching her. Her breath left on a small whoosh. She hoped he didn’t notice how easily he took her breath away. Still without a shirt and dressed in low-slung jeans with no shoes, he stunned her.