Chosen Thief (22 page)

A soft hum vibrated all the way from his chest through to my bones. “Better. Much better.”

My breath held as he slowly tilted his head. Soft, plush lips rubbed against my mouth. His eyes never left mine until they slowly closed, stealing the silver, but that was all right because his mouth was stroking mine. Inhaling heavily through my nose, my lids fell at the unhurried caress, my
lips beginning to move with his, the kiss itself beautiful but puzzling by its seamless fit. The bloom of exploration that comes with kissing someone new was there as we slowly learned the contours of each other’s lips, but there were no bumped noses, no teeth scraping, no hesitations — the way our lips fit together, the way our mouths moved, was…flawless. He might just be an extraordinary kisser,
which was a possibility considering his age, or perhaps we were just in perfect sync at that moment. Either way, my body began trembling in need under him, for him, warmed inside and out by his own radiating heat. I moaned softly, lifting my hands to tentatively thread them through his locks of thick, silky, soft hair veiling us to hold him close. His hand tightened on my nape, his head tilting
the other way, and his lips started to stroke harder as he growled quietly, the sound rubbing across my senses, a whole other sensual caress. His slick tongue dipped out, tasting, licking across my bottom lip, and I shuddered, my fists tightening in his hair. I whispered, “I want more.”

Shadowed eyes slitted open as his lips curled, teeth biting my bottom lip and nipping it gently before he rumbled,
“And you shall have more.” But his darkened silver eyes stared down at me hard. “Sprite, I was serious. You’ll have to tell me if it’s too much.” His free hand moved to rest on my shoulder, gently stroking up and down my arm in a cautious caress. “You’re so tiny under me.”

Inhaling heavily, I spoke as steadily as I could. “I think I can handle an old man.” My lips curved as his eyebrows rose
slowly, but I stated seriously, “Quit holding back.”

His jaw clenched as he gazed down at me. A moment passed. Another moment. Then he nodded once, his voice profound and reverberating in its depth. “All right, no more holding back.” And I gasped, eyes flying wide as he jerked my hands from his hair, slamming them above my head, his fists wrapped around my wrists in a bruising hold. His mouth
crashed onto mine, not asking but taking. His tongue slid inside my mouth demandingly and slid across mine, possessing me. His muscles flexed against me, utterly and completely capturing me in the basest way under him.

Surprise wore off within a matter of moments and my hands flexed, opening, wanting to touch him as his warm tongue plundered my mouth, seeking every part and demanding attention
as it curled around mine. I groaned, lifting my head as much as I could from the mattress, and pressed hard against his lips, sliding my own tongue inside his mouth and exploring his as he did mine. He tasted of chocolate and mints, and possibly a bit of vodka, maybe having a drink before I had arrived. The combination of flavors and fleshly pleasure made the flames kindling inside my stomach flare
just that much brighter. Instinctively, I pulled my legs out from under him, letting his heavy weight sink between my thighs.

He groaned deep in his throat, and the strokes from his mouth and tongue became even more urgent. As he pressed my head into the mattress, I knew my lips were going to be bruised at his demanding caresses even if I had used my power. He was just strong — he had said he
was a fierce lover, not gentle — and I groaned with him, meeting each stroke of his tongue or nip from his teeth on my tender lips…because this was what I wanted.

Arching against him, I surged under him. I wildly needed him, almost savage in my desire. “Leric.”

“You’ll have me,” he growled, tilting his head, taking his lips from mine and roughly nipping down my jaw bone. “As I’ll have you. But
first, I’m going to see and feel and taste you.”

I whimpered, tugging at my captured wrists, but he wasn’t releasing them yet. His tongue landed on the side of my neck…then his teeth as he opened his mouth wide and bit down hard, just shy of drawing blood, making me grunt at the combination of pleasure and pain. He sucked hard, his tongue rolling over my flesh, and groaned deep, holding me immobile.
My eyes closed in lush carnal bliss.

Suddenly, I could breathe easier, his warmth and hold gone, and I sucked in a harsh breath as he leaned up. Threading a hand behind my back, he instantly unclipped my bra, yanking it off as he moved down my body. His fingers skimmed under the sides of my panties, his rings sliding across my flesh — they were warm, not cold as I had imagined — as he pulled
them down past my thighs smoothly, divesting me of my remaining clothing. He slipped off the bed, standing to stare down at me. I was utterly bare to his penetrating, hot regard.

“Fuck,” he murmured, his voice breathless and deep. His attention roamed over my medium-sized breasts, my pink nipples already pebbled in arousal. His gaze flared in desire as he stared between my thighs, which were
parted slightly, my trimmed white hair there unable to hide my obvious need for him.

Long past any shyness, panting in yearning, I bent my legs, spreading them further for his perusal. “Leric, get back down here.”

He growled almost absently, his teeth flashing at the order, but he was staring between my thighs. His tongue peeked out, licking over his bottom lip slowly, and his hands instantly
went to the waistline of his pajamas, yanking them down without a bit of modesty. He kicked them off, standing before me blessedly naked.

I stared, my mouth going dry at all that golden-brown flesh on display. Large muscled pecs, broad hard shoulders that sloped to the curves of his clenched biceps, his hands fisting and unfisting as he looked his fill. His chest was smooth, nipple diamond rings
glistening in the light, his rippling abs tensing as he placed a knee back on the bed. His navel was tiny and perfect, and a slim white trail of hair lead south, spreading at the base of his cock.

His muscled thighs flexed, and he grabbed my ankles with hard hands, jerking my legs wider. Without fanfare he dropped his mouth to my intimate flesh, his hair tickling the inside of my thighs as he
took a long, hard lick between my folds. Both of our groans echoed inside the room, and his large hands were instantly on the backs of my thighs, pushing my legs up to my chest and then out, spreading me completely, baring me. I shouted, my head flying back as his mouth instantly latched onto my clit, nibbling.

He growled loudly as he sucked, groaning, “You fucking taste as perfect as you smell.”
His tongue flicked in circles around my plump nub, his grip brutal on my thighs as he held me open to him. My body jerked in pleasure, my hands instantly going between my thighs and gripping fistfuls of his hair, holding his face tightly against me. I whimpered as his slick tongue slid down, rubbing repeatedly against my core’s opening. My body quivered, heat pulsing in my core as my lower stomach
tightened. Wanting to see this, I opened my eyes and lifted my head, staring down…and groaned long and hard, seeing his tanned face between my fairer complexion thighs and his red lips between my parted, plump folds. My eyes hooded as my breathing became labored, watching him stroke with his tongue and teeth, alternating between purring and growling severely as he pleasured me.

“Leric,” I moaned
softly, my body tightening almost painfully as he suckled again on my clit, rubbing his tongue hard and faster against it. Silver, fiery eyes peeked open, instantly lifting to my hooded gaze. His cheeks were flushed in desire, and his gaze was what undid me. Lips partially opened as I panted, I shook my head. “Fuck…I’m…I’m going to come, Leric.” My voice was a mere breathless cry. “I’m gonna…gonna…”
He sucked harder, pressing more firmly. “Shit…pookie…” I stilled, blinking for a few seconds, realizing what I had just called him, but he brought me back to my bliss by biting just hard enough. “
Ah, fuck
.”

The raining fire that had been coating me inside and out exploded, and I screamed his name, my head falling back as I arched, my grip ruthless on his hair. I managed to undulate my hips as
he thrust his tongue inside my pulsing channel, curling and pressing inside me as leaping flames of pleasure stole my breath and set me aflame in frenzied ecstasy. My mind blanked in pleasure, time seeming to collapse, pause, in my daze.

Body quaking, my mind hazy, I sucked in a harsh breath when I felt his head lift and his mouth leaving my intimate flesh. My hands went slack in his hair as
I went limp on his mattress…and I jerked, yelping as he bit the side of my stomach.

He rumbled, “Pookie?” He growled quietly in the back of his throat. I blinked at him dazedly as he lifted over me, staring down, caging my body with his. His face was etched in aggressive desire. “Stud, lover, god, or even, babe,” a quick shake of his head, “but not,” his nose crinkled — kind of adorably — in
distaste, “
pookie
.”

I blinked, very much breathless. “It just slipped out.”

His knees knocked my thighs apart. “Do I look like a fucking pookie to you?”

“No, you definitely don’t…pookie.” I sucked in a breath as he grabbed my knees, hooking his arms under them and lifting them, spreading me wide again. I quivered under him, filled with desire. I closed my eyes against the dizziness I was falling
into, seeing a golden flash as I let this man have his wicked,
wicked
way with me.

My eyes flittered open in the early morning light, and I went completely still for a heartbeat. One eye was partially blinded by a white pillow, while the other saw clearly I was not in my own room. The wall with the door to the bathroom was completely white except for the tiny trimming of silver bordering the
top. But the bigger clue was that I was naked under a sheet and there was an enormous, heated male body at my back that most definitely wasn’t Sin.

I blinked and the memories came back to me swiftly, and my lips curled in remembrance of the pleasure we had shared. But I just as easily frowned, realizing I had been comfortable enough with one of the scariest men alive to fall asleep next to him.
I had utterly let my guard down.

Peacefully.

I blinked again and realized that it wasn’t much different than opening myself up to him during sex. Still, my hormones had been ruling my thoughts there. Exhaustion was what had taken me under, and I must have been completely out not to have felt him move me to lie the correct way on the bed. I rolled my eyes at myself and my lack of caution, and
I decided it was time to use some before anyone caught me in here, like Roselle or Reese…or worse, the housekeeping staff. Smoothly and silently, I scooted off the bed, my tiny frame — utterly sore and aching in many different places — not heavy enough to make the feather-soft mattress move.

Ducking below mattress level, I searched the floor for my clothing. I sat and put on everything I could
find, which was everything but my shirt, remembering I had discarded that in the retiring room. Standing, I crept across the white carpeting in my bra, leather pants, and boots. I was almost at the bedroom’s door when from behind me a sleepy, deep rumble surprised me by asking, “Sneaking out, Sprite?”

I ran a hand through my tangled hair, not glancing back, and stated quietly as if I would wake
someone, “That would be an affirmative.”

He chuckled quietly, the sound gravelly from sleep, and I heard him rolling on the bed, resituating himself. “I’ll see you at breakfast, then.” A pause. “As long as fish isn’t being served.”

I waggled a pointed finger in the air. “Funny.” I dropped my arm and continued walking my aching body to the door, noticing the irony when I stated, “Later, Old Man.”

He chuckled again. “Later, Sprite.”

Rushing down to breakfast, I knew I was late. Sin had been almost ready to leave the bedroom when I had entered, and he had taken one look at me and asked if it had been Leric or Brann. I told him Leric. He asked if I was all right. I told him I was. He had nodded and not asked any other question, so I had hurried into the bathroom for a quick shower. Realizing while under the
spray I was covered with bruises, I’d dug through my closet to find a white long-sleeved thermal and a hot pink short-sleeved t-shirt to layer over it, then I found a pair of jeans that didn’t have holes in them — since I had purple bruises all up and down my legs. I had to really get down on my hands and knees to find a white fuzzy scarf to wrap around my neck to hide the ginormous hickey, and multiple
smaller ones, on my throat. When I added the pink flip-flops it looked a tad off, so I had kicked those back into the closet and found a pair of socks and tennis shoes to put on. So in other words, I looked like I was dressed for autumn instead of the middle of fucking summer, but it would have to do.

As I rushed through the hallways I glanced at my hands, seeing a few finger bruises there, too,
but if I had put on gloves it really would have looked odd, so I pulled the thermal shirt down lower over my hands and hoped no one noticed my lips were still swollen. Rounding the corner to the breakfast room, I stopped dead, seeing that everyone — and I mean everyone — was already at the table with plates in front of them. Fisting my hands on the edges of my sleeves so they didn’t drop back,
I waved absently as I set off toward the buffet of food, utterly starving. “Sorry I’m late.”

King Collins wiped his mouth, brown eyes on me. “That’s all right. There’s plenty of food left.” He paused as I picked up a plate, his head cocking as he slowly surveyed my person, blue eyebrows puckering. “Are you cold, Caro?” He blinked. “I thought you were feeling better after dinner last night.”

Oh, I feel a whole hell of a lot better after dinner last night.

I waved a hand, keeping my attention on the food I was surveying. “Nope. Not cold. I’m fine.”

“Huh,” Aria murmured quietly. “I think I might try wearing a scarf. It looks very chic.”

I gave her a genuine smile. “Thank you.”

King Collins persisted. “Are you sure you’re not cold, Caro?” He waved a hand. “You’re all bundled up and
it’s ninety degrees outside.” He stared. “You even have a thermal shirt on.” Which I know didn’t make a whole lot of sense for a Mystical.