Devoured: Brides of the Kindred 11 (32 page)

“I can smell your desire,
lin’del.
Part of you wants this. What’s
holding you back?”

Tess sighed. “Just…a bad memory
I suppose. Look.” She sat up all the way and parted her thighs. “See this?” She
pointed to the small, white scar on her inner thigh, right below her panty
line. It was shaped like a double crescent—almost an oval marking her flesh.

“I noticed it the first time I
saw you. Back when I thought you were a Pairing Puppet.” Garron stroked the
scar gently with his fingertip and Tess closed her thighs again, moving away
from his touch. He didn’t comment on the way she’d inched away from him. “What
happened there?” he murmured, raising his eyes to hers.

Tess took a deep breath. God, it
was hard to tell this. No harder than what she’d told the night before but
still…it was an old pain she would have rather kept buried.

“It happened on my
honeymoon—right after Pierce and I got married,” she said, looking down at the
silvery blue bedcovering. “Someone had given us a copy of
The Joy of Sex
as a joke. It’s a book about different sexual
positions,” she explained, when Garron frowned uncertainly. “Anyway, I guess
whoever gave it to us thought they were being funny but they outlined some
stuff in it—mostly the, uh, chapter on, uh…going down.”

“The male tasting his female,
you mean?” He raised an eyebrow.

“Uh-huh.” Tess nodded, plucking
aimlessly at the bedcovering. “Pierce saw it and acted like he…well, he acted
like he
liked
it. Like he really
wanted to do it. I never…” She cleared her throat. “Never really had a guy, you
know, do that to me much. I mean, I had a boyfriend in college but we never…he
didn’t express interest in that, so…”

“But Pierce did?” He frowned.

“Yeah but it turned out he just…wanted
to teach me a lesson.” Tess squeezed her eyes shut, wishing she could forget.
“He got me all relaxed, just like the book said. He was, um, stroking my thighs
and saying things like, ‘Is this what you want? Is this how you like it?’ I…I
hadn’t been with him long. And up until we were married he was still…I guess
still trying to keep his true nature under wraps.”

“Because you never would have
committed yourself to such a male if he had shown you his true self.” Garron’s
voice was a low, dangerous growl.

“Right.” Tess swallowed hard.
“Anyway…he had me all…all open and…and
vulnerable
.
And then he just…”

“Just what?” His eyes were
glowing again, the rage bubbling just under the surface.

“He bit me,” Tess said flatly.
“Really hard. Hard enough to draw blood.”

“Hard enough to leave a scar.”
Garron’s deep voice was hoarse. “Gods, how could he?”

Tess shrugged unhappily. “Like I
said, he was teaching me a lesson—
his
kind of lesson.”

“What did he think he could
teach by hurting you so? By savaging you?” Garron’s deep voice sounded
strangled, as though he was trying to control his anger. “The
bastard,”
he growled.

“He told me only whores and
sluts wanted…
that
done to them. He
said I was disgusting to even let him get his face anywhere near my…down
there.” Tess could feel her cheeks heating with a miserable, embarrassed blush
but she couldn’t help it. “I…bled for the rest of our honeymoon but what hurt
more than the pain was the sense of…of
betrayal
.
I couldn’t believe I had married a man who could be so
cruel.”
A jagged little laugh escaped her. “Of course later, I
found out how much worse he could be. But that was the first time. My first
clue. God…” She put a hand over her face. “I should have gotten out right then.
Why didn’t I?”

“You didn’t want to believe it.
Didn’t want to believe he was a monster.” Garron pulled her hand gently from
her face and lifted her chin. “Tess, you don’t have to be ashamed to tell me
this.”

“I can’t help it.” She ran a
hand through her hair. “He just…made me feel so dirty. So…unworthy of love.
Especially…that
kind
of love.” She
looked at him pleadingly. “I’m really sorry but you understand, don’t you? Why
I can’t let you…do that.”

“I understand your ex-mate was a
sadistic bastard.” He sighed and shook his head. “We have to stop talking about
him. It makes me too angry—brings the
dr’gin
too close to the surface.”

“I’m sorry,” Tess said at once.
“I shouldn’t have told you.”

“No, I wanted to know.” He put
one large, warm hand on her arm. “Can I see it again? The scar?”

“I…guess so.” Reluctantly, Tess
unlocked her legs and opened them until the white, crescent shaped scar on her
inner thigh was visible. Garron studied it, being careful not to touch, and
Tess looked too, even though she didn’t want to. Looking at it too closely
seemed to bring back the awful night she’d gotten it.

She could still remember
everything—the sudden, bright pain she had been totally unprepared for because
she had been anticipating only pleasure. Her utter disbelief and horror when
Pierce’s teeth had locked into her flesh…the way she had screamed and writhed
and begged, trying to push him off. And somehow worst of all, his angry, bloody
grin when he finally let go and looked up at her.

“That’s
what you get, Princess! For wanting to be a little whore. For acting like a
dirty slut. That’s right—that’s what you are—just a dirty slut. I would
never
put my face between your filthy
whore legs. You’re lucky I put my cock there!”

“Tess…” Garron’s voice called
her back and she looked up at him.

“Yes?”

“Don’t,” he murmured. He cupped
her cheek and brushed away a tear that had escaped down her cheek with his
thumb. “Don’t think about it. About him.”

“I’m trying not to but it’s
hard. I’m sorry.” Tess sniffed, her eyes burning, and started to close her legs
again. Garron stopped her with a hand on her knee.

“Please don’t. Can I…” He looked
at her, his eyes glowing softly. “Can I kiss you there? On your scar? If I
promise to be very,
very
gentle?”

She shook her head. “I’m
just…I’m not sure why you’d want to.”

“I want to heal you…or at least
try to,” he murmured.

“But…isn’t the scar too old?”

“This isn’t the only scar you
bear.” He touched the white crescent lightly. Tess jumped a little but didn’t
move away this time. “I just… I want to try and erase his mark on you. If not
physically, then in other ways.”

“Oh Garron, honey…” The
sincerity in his eyes made Tess feel like she was melting inside. Against her
better judgment, she felt the fist of tension that had been building in the pit
of her stomach from the first time his lips had brushed too near her panties,
begin to loosen.

“Please?” he murmured, stroking
the top of her thigh. “You know I’ll never hurt you, Tess.”

“I…all right.” Tess’s heart was
beating hard as she leaned back against the silver-blue beanbag bed. It seemed
to adapt to her movements, cradling her in a semi-upright position so she could
see what was going on. Tess supposed that was best. She felt more in control,
less vulnerable like this. She still didn’t fully understand why it was so
important to Garron to be allowed to kiss the old hurt but if he really wanted
to, she found it easier to relax this way.

The big Kindred was also getting
into position. As the beanbag bed helped Tess stay upright, it seemed to
support him as he got to his knees in front of her.

Tess felt her heart stutter in
her chest as he placed one big hand on the inside of her knee, urging her to
let her legs fall open. She complied—halfway. Bending her right knee, she let
it fall to one side, exposing the ugly little scar.

“Oh,
lin’del,”
he murmured softly. Then gently, almost reverently, he
leaned down and pressed his lips to the white crescent stamped on her skin.

Tess felt her breath catch in
her throat as the soft heat of his mouth met her tender flesh. Though she knew
Garron was nothing like Pierce, part of her was clenched up inside—waiting for
the pain that was sure to come.

But there was no pain. Only the
warm, wet sensation of his tongue stroking over her inner thigh, tracing the
scar over and over as though he was trying to erase it.

Tess’s heart started beating
faster and this time it wasn’t fear that caused it.

“I, um, don’t think you can, you
know, get rid of it the way you did the other marks. The ones on my back,” she
said, shifting a little. “If…if that’s what you’re trying to do.”

“I’m not,” he murmured, looking
up. “I’m just enjoying your taste…the feel of your skin…” He nuzzled her gently
with his cheek. “You’re so soft here. So lovely.”

“I…” Tess’s mouth was suddenly
too dry to speak.

“Can I kiss you a little higher?
Maybe…here?” His fingers brushed lightly over her mound, sending a sudden flash
of heat through her. “You don’t have to take these off if you don’t want to,”
he added, motioning to her light blue panties.

“I…um…” Part of her was still
fearful. But Garron was so gentle…so tender. And his hand, which had come to
rest naturally on her inner thigh, was so warm. “All right,” she whispered at
last. “I guess so. As long…as long as I don’t have to take off my, um,
panties.”

“Leave them on as long as you want
to.” His voice was a soft, deep growl. He bent his head to her again and Tess
waited to feel his lips brush the thin, silky material that covered her mound.
To her surprise, he pressed his cheek to her first, rubbing against her almost
like a cat, and then inhaled deeply.

“Um, Garron?” she asked
uncertainly, her heart thumping.

“You smell so good here.” He
looked up, his eyes half-lidded and blazing with desire. “Gods, your scent…it’s
like a drug. I can’t get enough of it…enough of you.” He inhaled again and then
pressed his lips gently to the top of her mound.

Tess’s stomach quivered as she
felt his hot breath blowing through the thin, silky material to bathe her
pussy. She was uncomfortably aware that this was making her hot—more than hot.
She could feel herself getting wet and swollen under the panties and she
wondered if Garron could smell her desire. Judging from the rapt look on his
face, it was entirely possible.

It was still hard to believe that
he wanted to do this so badly—that he wanted to put his lips, his mouth,
directly between her legs. Ever since Pierce had hurt her, Tess had thought
that all men felt like her ex did. That even the ones too nice to say it
secretly thought women were unclean, unworthy of such an intimate expression of
love and affection. But this clearly wasn’t the case with Garron.

He looked up at her, his eyes
burning with pleasure and need.

“Gods, your little pussy is so
soft and hot. Can I kiss you lower?”

“Um…” Tess felt like she
couldn’t get a deep enough breath. “How…how much lower? Show me?”

“Here.” One long finger ran
gently down the center of her panties, tracing her pussy slit. Tess moaned when
it bumped over her clit. God, how could it be that this act—the one she had
feared and tried so hard not to think of—was turning her on? And yet, it was.
She could feel herself opening under the blue silk panties, could feel her
pussy lips spreading like a flower desperate for light.

“I…I guess so,” she whispered.

He ducked his head again and
nuzzled between her legs. This time Tess could swear she felt his tongue, hot
and wet, as it traced her slit through her panties. She moaned and jumped a
little, fisting her hands in the bedcovering on either side of her.

Garron looked up at once.

“Are you all right? Did I scare
you?”

“No, you…just startled me.
That’s all,” Tess assured him. “Are you…are you finished?”

“Do you
want
me to be finished?” he murmured, raising an eyebrow.

“I…I don’t know,” she confessed.
“This is…it’s still kind of scary. But…it feels good too.”

“I
want
to make you feel good. I want to taste you—so much.” He placed
a gentle kiss on the inside of her thigh. “I could do it through the panties if
you’re still nervous…” He captured her gaze with his, looking at her intently.
“But I’d rather kiss and taste your bare pussy…if you think you could let me.”

“I…” Tess’s heart was pounding
so hard she was sure he could hear it.
She
certainly could, anyway—it thundered in her ears so loudly she could barely
think.

Don’t,
whispered the cautious
little voice in her head.
Don’t, it’s a
trap! It’s dangerous…

Garron
is
not
Pierce,
answered another voice—the voice of Tess BP.
He’s gentle and kind and he seems to
really,
really
want to do this. Let
him. Take a chance.

“Tess?” the big Kindred asked
and she realized she’d waited too long to answer.

“You…” She cleared her throat.
“You really want to do this?”

“Gods, you have no idea how
much.” His eyes blazed. “From the moment I first saw you—from the moment I
first smelled your sweet scent—I’ve longed to taste it from the source.” He
stroked her knee. “But we can go slowly…so slowly,
lin’del.
I can just kiss you at first, if you like.”