Bound by Light (27 page)

"You’re beautiful," he said, his tone jagged and barely controlled. His mouth moved across her ear, sending a rush of breath inside the curves, driving her nuts as he squeezed her breasts.

Merilee pulled at the short strands of his hair, enjoying the wet, soft sensation. "I want you," she said, surprised she could talk. "You feel like the wind, Jake. I need you like air."

Teeth nibbled her earlobe again, then her throat. Jake bit her on the other side of her neck, and she felt the sharp press of fangs. Fear mingled with her pleasure, making her even more dizzy as he tasted and sucked, bracing his hands beside her now, moving his mouth down, down, until he sucked a nipple into his mouth and bit it softly.

Merilee heard herself cry out.

Artemis and arrows, that felt so good. Too good. His teeth scraped and bumped the pebbled nub and he held the tender flesh in place, flicking his tongue against the tip over and over until Merilee cried out again.

Damn, but it ached and burned and throbbed. Too good. Too, too good. She really had to be ripping out his hair. She knew she was. Her orgasm curled inside her, mounted, threatening, waiting to howl outward like a hurricane and swirl away every rational thought.

One more bite.

That’s all it would take.

Jake seemed to sense her level of madness. He moved slower then, even more gently, sliding his mouth to her other nipple and teasing it with his stubble, then his lips. Merilee’s body shook, suspended between satisfaction and complete madness.

"Like silk," he murmured. "How is it possible for something to be so soft?"

Merilee twisted and groaned, tugging his hair as he tenderly licked her nipple only, his tongue so soft, barely there, sweet mother of all the goddesses he was going to turn her into a cyclone and let her blow away to nothing.

"Do you want more?" he asked, his voice vibrating against her tender nipple.

"Yes!" She pulled his hair harder.

"Can you hold back?"

The question was taunting and warm and she arched into him, pressing her breast into his mouth. Finally, finally, he let his teeth do the work, relieving the throb, giving her what her body demanded. Merilee shouted from the relief, then immediately cursed him when he stopped.

He took her mouth with his, and Merilee knew she belonged to him now, whatever he wanted, however he wanted to take her. As she went completely limp in his arms, Jake broke away from the mind-altering kiss and stared at her with those stormy gray-blue eyes she absolutely couldn’t look away from. They flickered to gold, then back to gray-blue, making her heart stutter. His lips pulled back and his skin shimmered from tanned to pearl as his fangs flashed in and out of existence.

"Do you really want me?" he asked, his voice so low, so ominous that delicious chills charged all over her skin. "If you say yes, I won’t stop."

Jake’s eyes flashed golden. Merilee’s breath caught painfully in her chest, but she absolutely could not deny the raging want, the
need,
that filled her.

"Yes," she whispered, wrapped in the blaze of his eyes, the glow of his skin, the hot pounding and steam of the shower. Just the feel of his arms excited her so badly she thought she might melt, or simply become the drum of the pulse pounding in her body. Wind energy escaped her in big, hot gusts, damped but barely controlled by the shower.

For a moment, Jake didn’t move. His eyes went from blue to gold all over again, and the pearly glow of his skin deepened. He seemed to be considering something, struggling with himself.

Merilee almost stopped breathing. "You bastard. If you walk away from me again and leave me like this, I’ll kill you. Slowly and painfully. Two or three times." She yanked at his hair. "I’ll burn your body and blow your ashes all over that stinking friggin’ Fresh Kills landfill."

Jake let her go.

With a swift, fluid motion, he slid off his talisman necklace and slipped it over her head.

The heavy chain settled against her chest. The ring dangled between her breasts, its heated metal vibrating into her skin. Merilee stared first at the talisman, then at Jake, unable to believe the trust he had just given her. Tears jumped to her eyes.

Did she deserve that kind of trust?

Does anyone?

Jake didn’t waver. "It’s the only way. I keep almost shifting—can’t . . . can’t completely control it. If I get out of hand, use that. Protect yourself."

"All the merciful gods and goddesses of Greece and Rome and the whole damned world, please get out of hand. Right now."

Jake’s eyes, somehow a beautiful mix of gray-blue and glowing gold, traveled from the talisman to her face. He cupped both of her cheeks with his hands, pressing into her again, his strength and weight acting like some crazy aphrodisiac, exciting each nerve ending and skin cell until Merilee thought she’d scream from the intense sensation.

"Are you sure?" he asked again in that low, sexy voice.

Her own voice low, barely able to form the words at all, Merilee said, "Oh, yeah. I’m yours."

Jake’s lips pulled back and Merilee saw his fangs become more visible just as he grabbed her hips, rocked against her, then lifted her until she was eye to eye with him, breasts rubbing his firm chest. She gripped his neck with all her strength, wanting, needing, half-dying to feel him inside her.

His muscles rippled as he positioned her over his cock, teasing her folds, stealing her breath, taking her heart, stirring a heat within her she had never felt before. His talisman bounced between her breasts, then crushed into her skin as he moved her closer, up, then down, down, sliding his cock deep, stretching her, pushing hard, forcing a moan of pure ecstasy directly from the windy depths of her soul.

He felt like hot ivory, hard and smooth, and so, so thick.

Merilee reveled in the joining, in the way he felt, in the squeezing throb of her body as her inner walls gripped him, drew him deeper.

"Better than I imagined," she said aloud. "Better than I dreamed."

She groaned and moved her hips as his powerful arms slid her up and down, up and down, rubbing her back against the wet tile as he thrust up into her, hard, then harder, pushing her higher, toward an edge like Merilee had never known. "Like that. Just like that."

Her lids closed from the absolute pleasure, but Jake whispered, "Look at me," and his voice sounded only the barest part human.

Merilee’s eyes flew open.

His face seemed impossibly handsome then, almost beautiful, as his features mixed between demon and human. "Angel," she whispered, then moaned as his cock drove toward her core. She felt like she was floating in his steady grip, drifting atop strong wind, making love in a warm rainstorm.

Her gaze locked with his as she lost herself in the rhythm of his thrusts, in the pound and slap of his cock sliding into her, seemingly straight through her, in and out, in and out until she knew she couldn’t stand another second. Her hands shook as she gripped his neck.

Was that the universe blazing at her through those unearthly eyes?

"Don’t stop," she repeated. "Don’t stop. More. Yes.
More
."

Jake’s movements got faster. More powerful. His lips pressed into hers, his fangs nipping at her as his hips rocked her again and again, his cock pushing deeper, unbelievably deeper. He seemed to be changing inside her, hotter, longer, even more powerful as his skin glowed a brilliant white.

She felt wings nudging her fingers.

She felt wings in her mind.

Merilee didn’t want to come. She didn’t ever want to come and make this end, no, please, no, no, she wanted the sensation to last forever.

"I want to fly," she shouted, leaning back hard against the tile so he could go deeper still. "You’re making me fly!"

Her mind took off then, a split second before her body, hurling her awareness upward, high, higher, straight into the sky.

Steam swirled through her being, through her elemental essence, and her wind answered with a long, roaring howl. She felt blown apart even as her thoughts swirled into the sun. Lightning shocks seemed to fill her whole body, shooting from the spot where she joined with Jake. Her inner walls closed tight around his cock, throbbing and pulsing as she came.

Merilee moaned from the incredible force of her orgasm, and she held on to Jake’s neck with every bit of her fast-ebbing strength.

His wild growl filled her ears as his seed roared into her.

Crazy, thrashing from the almost painful pleasure of an orgasm that wouldn’t stop, didn’t seem even close to stopping, she bit Jake’s shoulder, then his neck and ear, buried her face in his hair, pressed her mouth against his head, and screamed.

Wind burst from every inch of her.

If Jake had been human, that much elemental energy would have sent him slamming out of the shower, probably all the way down four flights of stairs—but Jake held her just as tight, still moving, still thrusting until she starting begging him to stop and finally screamed again.

"Stop, Jake!" Her fingers touched the talisman at her neck. "Stop!"

She felt his jaw clench, his neck muscles bunch. He slowed as if fighting her command, snarling softly as he eased her down from that high, soaring place he had sent her. Her whole body ached and throbbed as he finally held her still and slid his spent cock from the depths of her body.

He didn’t put her down, and somehow, she found the strength to wrap her legs around him.

Almost as fast, panic flickered through her.

She was wearing Jake’s talisman—and she had ordered him to stop.

Was that wrong?

Had she crossed a line?

Massive emotion, so close to the surface from her soul-jarring orgasm, flowed to the surface, and Merilee sobbed. She pulled her face back and looked at Jake, into his mostly golden eyes. "I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean—"

He stopped her with a kiss, holding her tight against him.

A few kisses later, her tears left as quickly as they came. Her mind started to soar again from the sweet, probing contact of his tongue and the way his strong hands gripped her ass.

"You
are
a demon," she muttered when he let her breathe. "I think you’re possessing me."

That made him laugh, and the sound lingered in her ears and heart.

Jake’s eyes were almost completely human again when she gazed into them this time. No sign of pearl skin or fangs or wings—not that she would have minded. Those things seemed like a part of him, a natural aspect, easy for her to accept even if he couldn’t. Not yet.

"Can I give you another command?" she asked, unable to stop herself from smiling.

Jake held her with one hand, and with the other, he shut off the shower, sending a new rush of steam all around them. "Absolutely," he said, and Merilee noted the complete lack of hesitation in his answer.

She shifted in his grip and bit his bottom lip, making him growl again, and loving the sound.

"I order you to take me to bed and kiss me everywhere. Kiss me all night. Kiss me forever, until I tell you to stop."

Instantly, Jake’s muscles corded, and she realized he was resisting, choosing how to comply, and how much, and the thought gave her shivers everywhere.

After a few moments of thinking, Jake carried her out of the shower, set her on her wobbly legs, and dried her off, kissing every place the towel moved.

Then he did exactly as she had instructed, carrying her naked, hair still dripping, straight down the hallway to the library, and on to her bed.

Far, far too soon, she drowsed and whispered her permission for him to stop, remembering his kisses even as she tumbled into a perfect, dreamless sleep.

(21)

"Uh, you can cover up now."

Jake opened his eyes at the sound of Cynda’s voice, followed by Merilee’s quiet, "Oh, shit. Hi, Cynda."

As Jake came fully awake, he saw Cynda standing in the library at the foot of Merilee’s bed. She was dressed in jeans and a short-sleeved T-shirt that looked like it belonged to his brother Nick. Her mouth was open, and she was staring straight at Jake’s exposed cock.

On reflex, he grabbed a blanket they had tossed on the floor and pulled it over his waist, but Cynda’s expression didn’t change. She shifted her attention to Merilee, who was as naked as Jake and busily tugging a sheet under her chin.

Merilee flushed a brilliant scarlet.

In a totally calm, matter-of-fact tone, Cynda said, "Okay, I surrender. I
totally
understand the attraction now."

Merilee grinned and let go of the sheet, revealing Jake’s talisman lying against the smooth olive skin of her chest. "You have
no
idea."

Jake found himself getting hot around the neck and face, and he didn’t enjoy the sensation. He was, however, pleasantly surprised that Cynda hadn’t cooked him to well done the instant she arrived in the library.

Women. Especially Sibyls.