Fighting the Inevitable (4 page)

Caleb could feel the
tenseness in her body and he slowly pulled his lips away from hers
and trapped her gaze with his. “Relax, Rhianna,” he whispered
softly. “I won’t hurt you, I promise. I take no satisfaction from
sex if the woman beneath me is not enjoying it just as much as I
am.”

She stared at him with
wide lavender eyes, her trepidation plain to see. “You’re too big,”
she whispered back. “It’ll hurt.”

He sighed and sat up,
resting on his knees, and pulling her up with him until she was
astride him, his amber gaze intent in her face. “Did someone hurt
you?” he asked softly, correctly guessing the reason
for
 
her sudden fear. He saw the answer
in the way that her eyes turned away quickly.

“
I’ve only
done this once before,” she heard herself say, flushing with
embarrassment when she realised she’d just blurted it
out.

Surprise crossed his face
and his eyes narrowed slightly. “Why?” he asked in a gentle, almost
hypnotic voice.

“
I wasn’t
very good at it,” she answered, flushing a darker shade of pink and
biting her lip nervously. Would he send her away now that he knew
she was a disappointing lover? The thought of going home, going
back to the world that she so desperately wanted to stay away from
almost made her burst into tears.

Caleb felt a stirring of
rage deep within him. He found himself feeling strangely angry that
a man had hurt this beautiful woman in such a way that she was now
afraid of her sexuality and the pleasures to be found by joining
with a man.

Only a very inept lover
would leave a woman feeling she was inadequate in bed, he knew that
from years of experience. This stunning woman had given the
precious gift of her virginity to some man and been left wanting at
the end of the experience because of his ineptitude.

“
We are all
novices at the start, sweet one,” he breathed softly, stroking his
fingers lightly over her neck. “The true art of lovemaking is the
choosing of your partner so they can teach you the joy of
expressing yourself openly and with passion. It sounds to me that
you erred in your judgement when you chose your first
lover.”

She blinked slowly at
him, feeling a slight smile tug at her lips. He sounded so
condescendingly arrogant in his statement. He was obviously trying
to make her feel better, but was doing a piss-poor job of it. It
was almost as if this sensual man knew the art of making love but
had no concept of the emotions behind it. It was as if he viewed it
as a skill he ticked off; one that he was proficient at. It made
him kind of endearing, and it didn’t stop her wanting
him.

“
Trust me,”
Caleb whispered, and then gave into the temptation to lick against
the raging pulse in her neck. She shuddered at his touch, another
sexy moan leaving her lips, and he suckled harder, fighting the
urge to bite deep.

Rhianna moaned again,
feeling her fear evaporate as her desire rose swiftly once more.
She was aching to feel him slide deep inside her, to have him move
within her and stroke her erotically. She shouldn’t be responding
to him like this, she was confused by her reactions, and the fact
that she was actually naked in his sitting room, waiting for him to
claim her.

Moreover, it would be a
claiming. It would be outright possession and she knew it. Making
love with Caleb would be like nothing she had ever experienced
before and probably never would again after this one
night.

“
So
exquisite,” he murmured softly, stroking a long finger slowly
against her cheekbone. His amber eyes were burning with desire, his
jaw clenched as if he were struggling to hold himself
back.

She shivered in pleasure,
her breath rushing out in a harsh gasp. “Can you teach me, Caleb?”
She wanted so badly to know the pleasure he’d hinted at earlier.
She was certain that he was the correct choice of lover to show her
what her body was capable of experiencing.

His eyes flared brightly,
his lips curling sensually. “Did you really think your statement
would make me change my mind about having you?” he asked with a
hint of incredulity in his voice. “Rhianna, you won’t be leaving
this house until I have pleasured you into exhaustion.”

The stark promise in his
words made her stomach flip over and her breath rush out loudly.
The heat in his eyes was an inferno, and his hand was suddenly at
the nape of her neck, pulling her towards him. He stopped when
their lips were a hairsbreadth apart.

“
I’ll show
you pleasure you’ve never dreamed existed,” he breathed against her
lips.

Then he kissed her and
she forgot who she was. His lips slanted over hers, his tongue
brushing her lower lip boldly before slipping inside her mouth to
taste her leisurely. She moaned into his mouth, her tongue reaching
to taste him as he was tasting her.

Caleb’s head spun as
their lips touched, and lust coursed through his body. He had never
tasted a woman so intoxicating before. Her lips were so soft, her
tongue hesitant against his but quickly becoming bolder as she
surrendered to his kiss. He was instantly caught in a dual lust.
His fangs threatened to elongate and he had to fight his bloodlust
hard to prevent her finding out what he was.

One kiss and he was at
the edge of his control. Her mouth was more delicious, more deadly
to his senses than the sweet taste of her body he had already
indulged in. It was astounding that this woman could bring him, an
Ancient, to the point of almost revealing his race by such a simple
touch. Nevertheless, she was and his instincts were kicking in
wildly, his hand tightening around the back of her neck.

He was an Ancient of his
people, but he was also a Council Enforcer, called upon to take on
Assignments to protect their race when humans came too close to
discovering their existence. He was proficient in the art of mind
control, slipping into fragile human minds and steering them from
the course they were on. However, sometimes that skill was
worthless. Sometimes more direct methods were required when a human
had a natural shield that prevented him from using his abilities.
When that occurred he had to use other means to protect his people.
Violent means.

Caleb Ryder could kill
with no hint of remorse. He had done so before, and would most
probably do so again. A human life was a small price to pay to keep
his people safe. He took no pleasure from the killing, but he felt
no guilt for it either. Vampires didn’t have emotions. Not for
humans or Weres. They could form deep attachments to their own kind
but the other races meant nothing to them. Weres were despised and
humans were simply food and sexual release.

If a vampire became
attached to a human then they Sired them into their race. On a very
odd occasion, they would leave them human and choose to take them
under their protection, but that practice was almost non-existent
now. Humans had such short life spans none of his kind were willing
to suffer the pain of losing them when they died after a few short
decades.

The woman in his arms was
threatening his control. He was seconds away from revealing himself
to her and endangering his race. His thoughts were clouded, too
disjointed to test her mind to see if she was one of the compliant
ones. His fingers tightened fractionally around her nape. One
little burst of strength and her neck would break, snapping like a
twig.

Caleb realised what he
was doing and slowly released his hold on her, easing back and
taking a deep breath as he fought to get his feral side under
control. He was better than this. He didn’t go around losing
control like a new-born Youngling. What was it about this woman
that affected him so much?

A few deep breaths and he
was in control again, his feral nature hidden deep within himself.
He was reluctant to destroy the innocent creature before him. She
piqued his interest, and stirred his blood as no other.

He could slip into her
mind now his control was back, and yet he didn’t. He was afraid to
in case he found she was a natural shield. If he discovered that
then his choices would be taken from him. No, he had to maintain
the cold discipline he was famed for.

He stared into Rhianna’s
face for a long moment and then he kissed her again
slowly.

This time his control
held, and he savoured her softness, running his hands slowly down
her body until he cupped her breasts gently. Relief washed through
him, followed swiftly by the deep hunger she spurred in him. Slowly
and methodically, he teased her to arousal, brushing his thumbs
over her taut peaks until she cried out softly and shivered against
him.

His lips trailed over her
heated flesh, sliding lower as he kissed every inch of her creamy
white skin, licking and nibbling as she moaned softly and clutched
at his shoulders. His natural dominance loved how she clung
helplessly to him. It was a primal thing, so intrinsically male
that it spanned all races, human, vampire and Were. Having a woman
submit to the pleasure a man gave them brought out the predator in
a man, he became the hunter, and the female became the
prey.

The beautiful redhead
under his hands was indeed his prey, and he intended to mark her
delectable body so all others would know he had claimed her. The
thought surprised him, and he stiffened for a moment, before her
sweet scent captivated him again, and he continued down her
body.

Rhianna surrendered to
his touch, her hands sliding down to his chest as his fingers
stroked her body relentlessly. His muscles contracted under her
fingers, a low animal sounding growl erupting from his throat
sending a thrill through her body.

Caleb’s head rose, and
there was something so feral in his expression that her heart
fluttered wildly and she moaned softly, liquid heat scything
through her to gather between her thighs. She was embarrassingly
wet down there, could see his nostrils flaring as his eyes darkened
to a rich, deep shade of amber. He was scenting her arousal. She
had noticed that scent played a large part in Caleb’s life by the
way he had scented her neck earlier, the way he had inhaled so
close to her body before his wicked mouth had ravished her until
she had shuddered and cried out her pleasure.

He used all of his senses
to full effect when he made love, which was probably why he was so
damned good at it and she was a quivering wreck, almost at the
point of begging him shamelessly to complete the act, to come
inside her body and drive her wild with pleasure.

She leaned forward and
pressed her lips to his chest, delighting when another throaty
growl escaped him and his hand threaded in her hair and held her to
his hot skin. His taste filled her mouth, hot, heady, primal and
masculine. Her tongue flicked lightly against his nipple and he
shuddered.

“
Harder.”

Another order, another
demand that made her shiver with pleasure as she realised that her
touch was as heady to him as his was to her. Any nerves she’d had
about not being good at this faded, and she rasped her tongue more
boldly against him.

“
Bite,” he
ordered, his voice sounding strained, his body taut with
need.

Rhianna scraped her teeth
against the hard peak and a deep groan left him, his fingers
digging almost painfully into her scalp. She repeated the caress
and then moved across his chest and treated his other nipple to the
same fierce nip.

Caleb shuddered wildly at
her soft teeth scraping over his skin. Her hot mouth was sending
fire spreading through his body, his imagination running rampant at
the thought of how her sweet lips would feel against other parts of
his body. He could feel his feral side rising again, and knew if he
lost control, he could possibly hurt her. He didn’t want to hurt
this delightful woman, this strange blend of innocence and passion
with a hint of fragility which ran deep within her.

Reluctantly he pulled her
mouth from his body, bearing her back against the rug to loom over
her. His need was at fever pitch and so was hers. The time for play
was over; it was time to possess, to claim, and to indulge the dual
lusts that drove him.

Caleb watched her face as
his fingers danced down her luscious body, sliding between her legs
to feel her wetness, to stroke against her molten heat. He pressed
a finger deep inside her, watching her arch up to his touch, a
sweet cry leaving her lips. Her pleasure was written all over her
exquisite face, her lips parted, her cheeks flushed with colour as
he moved his finger deep within her. He pressed another digit
inside, teasing her body into readiness for his. She made the most
incredibly sexy sounds as he stroked her, his cock throbbing with
each throaty moan.

Gripping her hips firmly,
he positioned himself at her opening, no longer able to deny
himself. He had to slide deep inside her, had to feel her tight
warmth embrace him. Her eyes flew open and he saw a hint of
hesitancy in their stunning lavender depths.

She still felt doubt. Her
body reacted with desire, but her mind still held back. It angered
him that she couldn’t let go completely, couldn’t allow herself to
just feel. The brief burst of anger soothed almost instantly as
another emotion came over him, one he didn’t recognise but reacted
to instinctively.