Feral Craving (23 page)

Her fingers moved and intertwined into his hair. His breath
hitched against her cheek as she turned her face toward his and closed her
eyes. Her lips moved around, seeking his out.

Still, he sat silently, waiting on her to show him what she
agreed to. Her lips found his and nibbled gently, soothing away the small nips
with a rasp of her tongue. She shifted her body, and his erection settled in
between their bodies, the length a silent demand pulsing in a steady beat
against her stomach.

She broke off from her teasing play of kisses on his lips
and ran her mouth down his face to the hard line of his jaw, suckling and
nibbling her way down to the arch of his long neck. The feeling so divine, he
groaned. Her skin rubbed against his as if she couldn’t get enough. Her lips
rolled along his neck, and she gasped against his skin, then paused.

At this point his hands must have been bruising grips on
her hips. His length brushed against her core as he rocked his hips up, his
grip at her hips pulling her more tightly to him. Heat poured from her center,
connecting with his length and eliciting a groan of bliss from him. He needed
to taste her, needed to sample the sweetness of her skin and pulled her up to
her knees, her body still straddling his. Her petite form rose from the water,
drops of water racing down along her torso as the water sluiced off her.
Leaning forward, he stopped a drop with his tongue, just below her chest, and
traced the path the water had taken. Her shiver as his tongue neared her
breasts was noticeable, and he cast his eyes up to hers, meeting her watchful
stare. Keeping his ice blue eyes locked on her green ones, his tongue flicked
over the tip of her breast, the flesh hardening into a taut peak. His hands
kneaded the globes of her rear and the rake of her nails through his hair,
against his scalp, bordered on a heady pleasure-pain combination.

As he drew the pebbled flesh into his mouth, he watched
Mackenzie’s head thrust back as her body arched to afford him more access. He
laved her nipple with his tongue before grazing a fang over the tip as he
brought one hand around to tease her center. Her stiffened posture at the touch
of his fingers quickly softened as he spoke soft words against the hollow of
the throat, teasing her verbally as his fingers grazed over her center again
before he parted her folds with his finger, slipping down toward her entrance,
teasing at the opening before he pushed into her. He caught her gasp as his
mouth covered hers, his tongue slipping past her lips to tangle with its mate.

As he pushed a finger inside
of her, she stiffened slightly.

“I won’t hurt you, Mac.” His
hand started to pull away, but she reached down between them and placed her own
hand over his, her glazed eyes full of desire pulling back to meet his. “No.
More, Bari…”

It was as if a dam broke and
all the pent up hunger the two had been holding in unleashed. He pulled his
hand back from her core and pressed two fingers inside of her, going
exquisitely slow in the probing of her body. She tilted her head toward his and
met his lips halfway, letting him conquer and seduce her mouth. He moved his
other hand up, grazing her hip, and past the swell of her breast. He explored
and tempted her with touches, whispered her name in a groan and sigh in
pleasure as she welcomed his touch.

His fingers set on a steady
pressing rhythm inside her. With movements growing frenzied, finally her body
arched and she called out in release. Her cries echoed along the walls of the
cave, and he drank them all greedily in. She rode his hand on her own, tossed
her head back and cried out his name.

As the last cry ran out of
her mouth, she pulled back and met his hungry blue gaze. His fingers slipped
free from her body and as he lifted his hand from the water, distantly he heard
each droplet being returned to the pool from his dripping hand. It was as if
his world narrowed, everything centering on this woman in his arms.

His knuckles grazed her face
almost like he was lost in a wonderful treasure, something simply amazing.
“Mackenzie...” Her name flowed from his lips, and she shuddered, her eyes glazing
over and darkening with a renewed desire. His other hand wrapped around her hip
and drew her closer, and he lifted his own hips, asking a silent question with
his length probing her core. Love demanded gentleness and giving this untouched
portion of him would be a simple joy.

His fingers dug into the soft
flesh at her hips as she lowered down, his erection pressing into her. Her
sharp intake of breath had his eyes snapping up, searching hers.

“It’s okay, Bari. It’s just
been so long.” He kept his eyes on her face, watching for any pain he might be
causing as he slowly urged her to take him more fully. Mackenzie’s frame tensed
once more, and he knew he needed to keep her focused on the moment. He lapped
at one nipple before paying equal attention to the other, teasing them both
until the peaks hardened into angry red nubs from his play. He looked up from
beneath his lashes as he sucked in deeply, Mackenzie’s body shifting over his
as pleasure washed over him. He took that moment, with her caught in the flood
of sensations ruling her body and popped his hips up as he pulled down with his
hands on her hips, settling himself to the hilt. He stilled his movements to
allow her body to adjust to his invasion.

“Angel, are you okay?” He
held his breath, and his entire body sat rigid, a true test of control as he
wanted to pound into her under the onslaught of demand his body made. A myriad
of emotions crossed her face before she moved above him, her body sliding up
over his and back down, taking him in once again.

“I think so, Bari.”

“Christ.”

She took control, used his
body to create pleasure for them both. His head fell back as he moaned out a
low response.

“That’s it, Angel. Just like
that. Oh fuck.” Her body rocked over his, continued to take him in, only to
release him to his tip before diving back down, sheathing him inside her, her
walls clenching at him and causing anticipation to shoot up his spine. With
each stroke her center enveloped him in, his impending release built until he
felt her body clench on to his, his name called out from her again as her walls
fluttered around his length causing his climax to join hers, bathing her walls
with his hot seed.

“Mac…” His breaths came out
in short pants of air as he rested his forehead to hers. He wrapped his arms
around her, holding her to him as he reveled in the afterglow of their joining.
He had loved Mackenzie in one fashion or another since their first meeting, his
adoration for her changing as they grew and his feelings matured. All paled to
the way he felt in that moment, so fully connected to her physically, mentally,
and emotionally as if this joining changed things forever.

Chapter Twenty-Five

Several hours later she lay
draped over Bari’s body, his light snores echoing around the cave walls. Her
body sated, filled with what had been hours of discovery into pleasure. She
chewed on her bottom lip in thought as her eyes watched the entrance to the
cave. While she held no regrets about where they had taken things and with
where they were, her mind and heart couldn’t help but wonder if they would ever
have the happy ever after she hoped for. Her life, filled with so much pain and
anguish for so long, built her into being a reasonable woman, and she always
pushed away the thoughts of ever finding a prince charming or even a happy
ending. If she died tomorrow, she knew—as she listened to the strong thump,
thump, thump of his heart—that she would die happy. Bari had become a part of
her life at such a young age and even then, it wasn’t until recently that she
realized just how much a part of her heart he was. He had set up house, stored
himself away and only now did she realize that she had been delivering mail to
him on a constant basis, telling him to stay put within the deepest part of her
soul.

He shifted and his arms
tightened around her before she heard his breathing become steady again. As
much as she loved the idea of settling in for another cozy day wrapped up in
the possession of Bari, she knew they were being hunted and her mind was in
constant worry over her son … their son.

Closing her eyes, she let the
rhythm of Bari’s breaths and his heartbeat lull her into sleep.

Sometime later she popped
open her eyes and found Bari smiling above her.

“What are you smiling at,
Bari?”

His smile
broadened. “I am smiling because I felt like it.” He rolled to a sitting
position and tugged on his leathers and boots before donning his shirt.
Standing, although bent over due to the low ceiling of the cave, he gathered
the remaining items and secured them to him before moving to the mouth of the
cave. Mackenzie dressed and joined him, her slender fingers twining with his as
she came to stand at his side.

They both moved from the cave
as she pointed out a thinning of the woods that blanketed the area. The first
two hours into their travels went smoothly and without any sign of anyone. A
companionable silence wrapped around them, neither feeling the need to chat
just for the sake of talking. Instead they focused on getting back to Nantucket
or an area of civilization. They rounded a bend along the river they followed
closely when he thrust out an arm, catching her by the chest and quickly
quieting her with a finger over his lips before he pointed ahead of them.

****

It was their worst nightmare,
a few demons, still in human form but identifiable by the red irises of their
eyes. He glanced at the gathered crowd, their own presence only hidden by the
element of surprise and a few thick trees. His mind scrambled for control,
searched for a plan in which they could get through this. Panic flared in his
veins at the thought of Mackenzie falling victim to this bunch, and he pictured
all the horrible ways they would torture him, trying to gather intelligence
before they killed him off and used his body as an example. Working frantically
for a plan, his heart dropped as the breaking of a twig sounded behind them.

He tensed and tried to turn
as the cock of a gun chambered against his temple.

“Don’t move.” There was one
way to get through this and as the only option formed in Bari’s mind, his heart
dropped, his soul screamed and his body broke into a thousand pieces. He forced
his emotions down and locked them in tight as he’d learned to do for so long
before.

“I’ll come with you. Just let
the woman go.”

A meaty palm wrapped around
the back of his neck and a rotten smell, one of an egg sitting in the sun for
too long, almost something akin to a garbage dump, filled the air.

“Don’t you think that is
against the rules? Letting humans know of our existence?”

Bari clamped his jaw tight
and kept his gaze on Mackenzie’s wide-eyed one.

“I don’t think there will be
a problem. You only have that choice here because there is one thing I’m
certain of, I won’t allow you to bring her in. Let her go, and I’ll come
willingly.”

A hiss spread hot acid saliva
against his neck, and he flinched as it burned through his skin.

“Do you think you actually
have a choice here?”

Bari rolled his shoulders and
prepared for battle. He’d die before he allowed her to be taken in. Mackenzie
wouldn’t become an additional victim in his world—he refused to allow her to
die by the hand of another turned Justice Demon.

“I do. The question is, do
you?”

With his eyes still locked on
Mackenzie’s, he spoke to her as if they were alone. “Keep following the river.
Don’t stop for anything until you find help.”

Tears filled her green eyes,
and he clamped down on his own emotions. “Get out of here, Mac. Remember what’s
important.”

“I won’t leave—”

He cut her off. “Leave. I
don’t want you here.”

He ignored her when she
started shaking her head. Instead, he stopped and moved slowly, ignoring the
tightening grip on his neck, and reached up, taking her face between his palms
and forcing her to lock gazes with him. He couldn’t risk speaking to her and
instead urged her, pleading with her eyes to agree to the plan. He would have
to go into the camp and distract the demons so she could escape. There would be
no promises he’d meet her in town, no promises he would survive, nor any made
that he would even see Mackenzie again.

Her eyes pooled as she tugged
his face to hers and set her lips to his in a soft kiss. It lingered, caressed
and told a thousand stories all with one simple touch. He drew back and as
Mackenzie reached out for him, he sidestepped her and turned his back on his
soul, leaving her behind as he stepped through the trees with the demon at his
back, revealing himself to the rest of the clan.