Darkest Caress (23 page)

The lump in her throat swelled even more until she thought it might choke her. Holding back a ragged cry, she buried her face into Daegan’s hot throat and carefully wrapped her arms around him, battling to hold her fear and worry at bay. She hardly noticed when Vaughn left, closing the door quietly behind him.

When she woke in the middle of the night, Liv pried bleary eyes open to check the bedside clock. The blue digital display read just after four. Almost dawn. She’d been sleeping for a little over an hour. Soon the birds would start singing and the sky outside the tall master bedroom windows would lighten.

Fighting a yawn, she carefully turned onto her side to look at Daegan. He was sprawled on his back with his head turned toward her, his injured right arm bound up against his bruised chest. Her throat tightened as she watched him sleep. The man was so beautiful, so brave and selfless. It might have partially been instinct or his military training that made him throw himself over her when the bullets started flying, but she knew without a doubt there was more to it. He’d been acting as her mate.

And as far as her feelings for him went…

She was inextricably bound to him already, even without marking him. Because he’d already managed to steal her heart, even before he’d taken those bullets for her.

Careful not to wake him, she laid her palm ever so gently on his forehead, bit her lip when she felt how hot he was. Maybe a bit cooler than a few hours ago, but still far too warm. The unnatural heat emanating from his skin alarmed her. She tried to fight the negative emotion back, but the fear of losing him took root, sending its tendrils snaking through her mind. Knowing her thoughts might project to him, she slid out of the bed and headed to the bathroom to get him a cool cloth while she got hold of her emotions.

“Liv?”

She whirled at the sound of his groggy voice. Before she could find her own he was already trying to prop himself up on his uninjured arm, searching the room for her. Her heart swelled with hope.

“Here,” she whispered hoarsely, covering the few steps back to the bed to cradle his hair-roughened cheek in her palm. The relief flooding her made her dizzy. Her thumb stroked over his hot, whisker-stubbled skin. “Hi.” Her voice was thick with emotion. “How do you feel?”

“Cold,” he whispered, making her heart clench.

When she climbed in next to him and pulled the covers over them both, he immediately turned toward her to wrap his good arm around her back, bringing her flush up against his naked body. Careful of his bandages, she snuggled in close and cradled his head to her breast, kissed the top of it. Daegan sighed deeply, closed his eyes.

She kept her touch gentle as she caressed the back of his head, his neck. Just so damn grateful he was awake and coherent. “Are you in pain?”

“Not too bad.”

Liar.
She stroked his hair, aching to soothe him. Her heart squeezed when he moved closer into her embrace. “The bullets had amber in them. Cade took all the fragments out and checked the fracture in your upper arm, but the poison was already in your bloodstream. He and Vaughn had to take you into the water.”

“I remember.”

It didn’t surprise her. Even raging with fever it would be kind of hard to forget the sort of pain that had made him scream like that. Thank God he’d been out cold since Cade had given him that medication. Maybe her worrying had finally disturbed him. “Did I wake you up?”

“No,” he mumbled. “Thought you’d left.”

Her hand paused in his hair. “I wouldn’t leave you.” She hated that he thought she might have.

His only response was a sleepy rumble as he rubbed his rough cheek against the sensitive skin of her breast. Instant heat blossomed under his touch, spreading out to every place they made contact. Her upper gums had been tender for the past few hours, but now they throbbed and ached. When she ran her tongue over her upper teeth, both her incisors were sharper than normal along the bottom edge. At least now she understood what it meant.

His scent reached out to her, a seductive temptation she had to ignore. He was in no condition to have sex right now, even with her doing all the work. But the idea of claiming him, bringing him pleasure, sent a frisson of need between her thighs. She imagined cradling his dark head between her hands as she nuzzled and nibbled along his neck. He’d moan and grip the back of her neck with his palm, but she’d tease him with her tongue, moving lower, across the hard planes of his body until she reached the rigid length of his erection—

“Liv.” The syllable was an erotic purr.

When she met his gaze she wasn’t surprised to find his eyes beginning to glow a bright blue in the darkness. But that ring of yellow around his pupils remained. She alone had the power to heal that part of him.

He must have somehow sensed the erotic turn her thoughts had taken, because she felt the growing erection against her hip. His lips brushed her jaw. “Come up on top of me.”

The answering pulse between her thighs grew stronger, eroding her resolve. “We shouldn’t.”

He pressed closer. “Need you.”

She shivered at the stark desire in his voice, his beautiful glowing eyes. He was still so ill, but if her touch alone eased him maybe this would help him heal even faster. She started to get to her knees so she could straddle him, but when he shifted he suddenly sucked in a sharp breath and went rigid.

“What?” she whispered, leaping back.

Daegan pulled in a breath between his gritted teeth, his eyes shut tight, every line of his body drawn stiff.

She jerked her gaze to the bandages covering his arm. She didn’t see any blood, but maybe he’d opened the incisions. Damn, she’d known it was too soon—

“I’m okay,” he said in a raspy voice. “Just moved too fast.”

She searched his face for a moment. He was still in a great deal of pain; she could read it in the tension around his eyes and lips. “Just lie still and don’t move,” she ordered, then hopped off the bed and rushed to the bathroom. When she came back with a glass of water and two T3s he silently watched her from the bed. “Here.” She eased his head into the crook of her arm to prop him up, bringing the rim of the glass toward his lips. But he grasped her wrist, halting the glass a few inches from his mouth.

“I’d rather be inside of you instead.” His voice was weak, the soft Irish lilt more pronounced than usual.

God, she wanted that. “Do me a favor and just take them,” she said in exasperation. Didn’t he realize she couldn’t stand to see him hurting?

The hand on her wrist tightened slightly, bringing her gaze to his. Then his thumb brushed over her inner wrist in a tender caress. “I’m fine.”

She ruthlessly ignored the tingles his touch sent along her skin. He wasn’t fine. Not by a long shot. “Just take them. For me. We’ll get to the rest of it once you’re feeling better. I’m not going anywhere.”

He held her stare for another moment, then relented and raised his head slightly to take the tablets with a few swallows of water. Liv placed the glass on the night table and started to climb off the mattress, but he grabbed her hand.

“Where are you going?”

“I was just going to pull the chair over and sleep there so I don’t—”

He tugged on her hand, making her stumble toward the bed.

She resisted. “Daegan, you need to sleep and I don’t want to hurt you.” And she wasn’t sure she could keep her libido in check if he kept seducing her like this.

“You won’t.” He pulled again, harder this time, until she gave in and got in beside him. His strong arm curled around her waist, bringing her flush against his rock hard body. Sick and weak as he was, he still exuded raw power and authority. As well as a bone-deep sensuality that made every inch of her tingle in heightened awareness. “Pain’s better with you next to me like this,” he mumbled. Her eyes misted over when he kissed the top of her head.

“I should get Cade.”

“Later. Tired. Just need you.”

His words choked her up. Damn, she had to put a lid on her emotions. They’d already woken him once—she knew it, despite what he’d said. He needed to rest. She had to stay calm and in control, for his sake.

Clearing her mind of everything but the feel of Daegan’s overly warm body nestled against her, Liv took a deep slow breath before cradling the back of his head with one hand and running the other over the length of his spine.

Sleep
, she willed him, filling her touch with all the love and comfort she ached to give him. It might have been wishful thinking, but she thought she heard a soft groan of contentment from him as he drifted off in her arms.

The moment Liv stepped back into the master bedroom she smelled him. Spice and musk and the indefinable scent that was Daegan’s alone. The king-size bed was empty, that delectable scent coming from the ensuite. Liquid heat pooled between her legs, her nipples tightening in anticipation of finding him in there naked.

In the steam-filled bathroom, she found him at the sink rinsing the last of the shaving cream from his freshly shaven face. He caught sight of her in the mirror, raised his head. A sexy smile formed on his lips as he wiped his skin dry, turning toward her.

The sight of him standing there shirtless made her heart rate skyrocket. Her gaze ran hungrily over his sculpted torso. “You look…good,” was all she could manage, astounded at the rate of his recovery. Good wasn’t even close. Cade hadn’t been kidding when he’d said Empowered healed faster than mortals. Only three days after being shot, Daegan looked nearly well again.

He lifted his good shoulder in a negligent shrug, making the muscles bunch and ripple beneath his smooth skin. Muscles she desperately wanted to slide her hands all over. Then her mouth. “Feeling better. Where’d you go? I woke up and you were gone.”

Her heart pounded so hard she was sure he could hear it. God, he was sexy. “To see Cade. He’s coming up shortly to check you out. Are you sure you’re ready to be up and about so soon?”

One side of his mouth titled upward, his eyes heating. “I’m feeling stronger by the second.”

Before she could stop herself she glanced down at the white towel wrapped around his lean hips. The knotted edge rode low beneath his navel, framing his defined abs. The unmistakable hard ridge of his erection pressed against the cloth. With effort, she tore her eyes away and met his seductive gaze.

“C’mere and see for yourself how good I’m feeling.”

He was far too tempting standing there in nothing but a white terrycloth rectangle. “I shouldn’t.” She edged backward.

He took a predatory step toward her, that knowing smile doing wicked things to her insides. “You’re backing away but I can smell how much you want me.”

Heat crept up her cheeks. “It’s too soon, and Cade is coming up.” She deserved a freaking medal for keeping her hands off him this long when every cell in her body screamed at her to walk over there and take what was hers.

He’s mine.

“Cade won’t interrupt if that’s what you’re worried about.” His eyes held hers. Hypnotic. “You want me. And I promise, I’m more than willing to let you have me.”

She swallowed, studying the barely healed-over wounds in his left arm and shoulder, doing her best to ignore the pounding need in her body. All on its own her tongue stroked over her sharpened teeth. His eyes dropped to her mouth, tracking the movement of her tongue beneath her upper lip, without a doubt understanding what it meant. When he met her gaze the stark lust there made her suck in a breath.

“Come here,” he said softly, the erotic timbre of his voice making it both a command and a promise.

As though his words cast a spell on her, she closed the distance between them without even being aware of moving. She took his face between her hands at the same time his slid into her hair, then leaned up on tiptoe to kiss him. It wasn’t gentle. It was hungry and possessive, full of everything she felt for him. Telling him without words how much she wanted him. Needed him.

Daegan moaned into her mouth, shuddered lightly when her tongue caressed his and her aching breasts pressed into his chest. She kissed him hard and deep while she maneuvered him backwards to the upholstered bench set against the far wall. Daegan moved willingly, letting her guide him there until the backs of his knees hit the bench and he sank down on it. With a hungry growl Liv undid the sash of her robe then straddled him.

He groaned, releasing her hair to cup her naked breasts while his hips lifted between her open thighs. The hard ridge of his erection pressed insistently against the towel covering him as she settled her throbbing sex over it. Her spine arched when his skilled fingers rubbed and pinched her sensitive nipples.

She slid her hands up into his hair, dragging his mouth down to the aching points, then cried out in pleasure as he slid his warm, moist tongue over them. Liv let her head fall back, loving the feel of his mouth on her and the proof of his arousal pressed against her folds. He licked and sucked her nipples, cradling her breasts tenderly in his palms while he made a low sound against her skin, moving his hips in time to her slow rhythm. But when he slid one hand down her belly toward her damp folds, she stopped him and climbed off his lap.

“Liv—”

“Shhh.” The hunger inside her was so intense she could barely breathe, but the need to make him writhe was stronger. She wanted to make him drown in pleasure, give him enough to make up for everything he’d suffered since meeting her. Give him something he’d never forget. “You’re mine,” she breathed against his lips.

His glowing eyes turned molten. “I’m yours.”

Emboldened by the heat in his stare, she reached down and pulled the towel away. The swollen length of his erection sprang up, the sight of it making her mouth water. She licked her lips, wrapping both hands around his swollen cock.

“Oh, God, baby…”

Thick. Hard. Hot. She stroked him slowly from base to tip, loving the way his eyes closed in rapture. The marble tile was cold against her bare knees when she knelt on it.

Daegan opened his eyes to stare down at her. The yearning on his face made her smile as she leaned down and delicately licked the tip of his cock. The breath hissed between his teeth. He slid one hand into her hair, holding her there firmly. Waiting. His fingers tightened in the strands.

She parted her lips, took him in her mouth. He gasped and widened his thighs, watching her with that erotic stare. Her tongue slid around the head as she sucked him, savoring his masculine taste, the knowledge that he loved what she was doing. He was hot and salty against her tongue, the skin stretched taut over the swollen head. God, she was starving for him. Losing herself in the experience, she sucked, caressed him until he protested and tugged on her hair.

“Stop or I’ll come,” he panted.

She hesitated, but eventually released him slowly, then stood. “Condoms?”

His eye glittered with raw lust, that magnificent chest rising and falling with his ragged breaths. “Drawer under the sink.”

She found one then came back to smooth it over the length of his swollen cock. A muscle jerked in his jaw when she straddled him once again. Settling in place, Liv bent to tease his lower lip with her tongue, bringing her slick sex over him. She sank down on him. Slowly. So slowly she wanted to die from the pleasure, letting her tender flesh stretch around his thick shaft. Daegan made a rough sound and palmed her hips, holding her tight as his tongue played with hers. The kiss was hot. Dreamy. So erotic she could barely breathe, each slow stroke of his velvety tongue pushing her need higher.

Liv whimpered, trembling all over. He was so thick and hot inside her. Filling her so perfectly. Setting all her inner nerve endings on fire.

She rose up then slid down again, her slickness easing his way. The stretching fullness ignited the glow hidden inside her body. They both moaned when she pushed down fully, taking his whole length inside her.

Ripples of sensation spread across her nerve endings. “Daegan…” Pleasure streaked through her, so intense it stole her breath.

“Yes,” he breathed against her lips. “Take more.”

Suppressing a territorial growl, she took his head in her hands to give him a quick, hard nip on the lower lip. Daegan jerked in surprise and tightened his hold in her hair. With a low laugh, Liv tipped his head back, trailing a string of kisses along his jaw, down the side of his throat. His fingers bunched in her hair, pulling the strands with a delicious pressure that spoke of his unquenched hunger for her. The desperate need only she could sate.

Her tongue slid over his smooth skin, right where his pulse beat so frantically. Just to drive her point home.

“God, Liv,” he groaned, arching into her mouth, that thick cock buried deep inside her.

She wanted to mark him. Needed to with a power that eclipsed everything else, even the raging sexual hunger between them. Her tongue moved slow and tender against his skin, in time with her hips, lapping at the place she longed to bite. She scraped her teeth against him, reveled in his low moan and the taut, quivering muscles pressed against her body. In that moment she knew if he hadn’t been recovering she would have been on her back, pinned flat underneath his weight while he pumped in and out of her core. She shuddered, barely heard his raw curse as he neared the end of his control.

But then he tried to draw her away. She instinctively resisted, burying her face harder against his neck.

The hands in her hair tightened. Tugged, hard. “Stop.”

Reluctantly, she raised her head. His eyes were a beautiful, brilliant blue ringed with gold, half blind with pleasure. So why was he trying to stop her? “What’s wrong?”

He stared at her, panting. Then he shook his head. “Don’t do this. Not unless you’re sure.”

Still trying to protect her from herself. But she knew what she wanted. “Daegan, can you see yourself falling in love with me?”

His hand caressed her nape, so tender despite his obvious need that it made her heart turn over. “Yes.” The conviction in his stare filled her with desperate longing.

“Then I’m sure. I want you for my mate, and I want my mark on you so the whole world knows you’re taken.”

His blue eyes flared like the leap of a flame as he leaned up to kiss her. “Then take me,” he whispered against her mouth. An erotic invitation she couldn’t ignore.

Take him.
Yes.
Her body throbbed with unrelieved tension at the thought. This was what she wanted.
He
was what she wanted.

With a soft sigh she bent and sucked the spot she’d nibbled at on the side of his throat.

His reaction was immediate. Those strong fingers tightened around the back of her neck, pressing deep into the muscles there while his other hand bit into her hip. Drawing him to her in silent command, demanding she mark him. It made her want to purr, to draw out this moment forever.

“Oh yeah, right there,” he urged breathlessly when she rolled her hips and nuzzled him again. “Please,
mo ghrá
.
Take
me.”

Liv closed her eyes at the stark plea in his voice. She did this to him. She’d made this strong, powerful man tremble and beg her to mark him.

Moving at an unhurried pace, she raised up one last time then slowly sank down on his rigid length, taking him all the way to the hilt. Clenched her inner muscles around him. Daegan growled low in his throat and squeezed his eyes shut, his muscles bunching, twitching in an agony of suspense.
Yes
, she thought.
More
. She cradled his head, parting her lips wider to set the points of her teeth against his skin. Bit down hesitantly.

He cried out and arched in her arms, his hold almost bruising. “Harder.” The word was a ragged plea, his body tensed in anticipation. Right on the edge.

Forcing her body to relax, Liv closed her eyes and added more pressure. She wanted this so badly but she was afraid of doing it too hard, too rough. Too deep. He was hurting for release, the same as she’d been before he’d marked her, but she couldn’t take that final step and punch her teeth through his skin. He’d suffered enough. She wanted this to be nothing but pure pleasure for him. What if she did it wrong?

His hand stayed locked around her nape, urging her on along with his hoarse whisper. “Baby, you won’t hurt me. Do it harder.” He arched his neck, rubbing his throat against her open mouth. His pulse throbbed beneath her lips. She could feel her heart pounding against her ribs, ready to explode.

Her tongue stole out to caress him, tasting the salt of him.

“Ah God,
harder
.”

As tenderly as she could, she bit down, increasing the pressure until she finally felt his skin give way. She stiffened. The tang of his blood hit her tongue instantly. A jagged bolt of fear ripped through her that she’d gone too deep and punctured a vein.

But Daegan let out a roar that echoed throughout the humid bathroom, holding her tight. He arched wildly in her arms, his hips pounding repeatedly up into her slick sex, lost in his response to her bite.

God. It was so good she would have thrown back her head and yelled with him except she didn’t want to end this primal link between them. Unable to make herself release his neck, she sucked at him, letting the powerful tide of orgasm build deep in her core with each roll of her hips. The rapture in his ragged cries while he came filled her with relief and a growing sense of power. She rocked against his hard length, seeking an end to her torment. As he finally settled he leaned his head back against the wall with a satisfied groan. The hard hand clamped around her nape gentled, caressing and cradling. She shook with the need for release.

“Don’t stop,” he whispered. Shivers passed through him while she drew gently on his skin, lost in his taste, his scent, the knowledge he was now safe from the threat of turning to the darkness, that they were linked forever. His fingertips drifted over her neck, her back. “Mmm, more. Feels so good,
mo ghrá
.” To her amazement she felt him lengthen and thicken inside her once again, intensifying the building sensations.

Liv trembled and yielded in his hold, undone by the tenderness in his touch and voice, the growing pleasure that filled her body until she wanted to weep.

“I’m already falling in love with you,” he whispered as she rode him, getting closer to the peak with each gliding thrust.

He slid one hand between them to find then caress her slick nub, and she whimpered against his throat. It was exquisite, perfect. Exactly what she needed. Three more long, luxurious strokes on his hard length and she came with a soft cry. Her spine arched tight. The pulses went on endlessly until she was limp and boneless against him. She was barely aware of him joining her, his erection kicking deep inside her as he found release a second time.