Sin Incarnate (6 page)

He came down on top of her and covered her mouth with his. His body enveloped hers. Her mind whirled. He thrust his tongue past her lips, tasting, sucking…savoring. She’d never had this happen before. No man had pulled his rod from her mouth when she had him on the brink of release. Jace broke the kiss and trailed moist kisses along her cheek and down her neck. Her heart rate increased. Had she done something wrong?

“Did I not please you?” she managed.

He lifted his head and met her gaze. “Not please me? You’re driving me out of my mind.”

“But you stopped before I gave you pleasure.”

He traced her cheek with a finger. “It’s not all about me, darlin’.” A wicked grin curved his mouth upward. “Did it occur to you I might get plenty of pleasure out of making you moan?” His gaze shifted to where heat crept up her cheeks, then came back to her eyes. “That made you blush? Just wait.”

She frowned in surprise.
Just wait?
He shifted and took a nipple into his mouth. Pleasure splintered through her. Lorna grasped his shoulders, suddenly aware of his shaft lying heavy on her belly. He seemed to realize her awareness and undulated his hips against her. She sucked in a breath as the rigid tool dug into her flesh. He sucked her breast harder. She arched into his mouth. His tongue flicked the swollen areola causing her pussy to tighten. Lorna shifted a leg so that he settled closer to her mound and wrapped the leg around his hip.

Jace shifted to the other breast and suckled. He flattened a palm on her stomach. His hand, calloused and strong, made her breath catch when he slid it downward into her curls. His finger dipped into her moist folds. The warm digit played at her sensitive nub. She whimpered with need. He flicked with his finger. Pleasure surged.

He pressed harder. “You like that, sweetheart?”

She couldn’t answer. Fog blanketed her brain. She could feel only his weight pressing her into the carpet, his finger on her sex, teasing, pushing her beyond thought. She clamped her leg hard against his thigh.

“You’re getting close,” he whispered.

Lorna cried out as a convulsion wracked her body. She arched into his hand, pressing him between their bodies. She stiffened as the orgasm rippled through her. Jace abruptly released her. She tightened her grip on his shoulders. He pulled another of the small packets from his pants’ pocket and tore it open. He kissed her hard, then straightened and rolled the sheath over his cock. She blinked up at him, and he was over her, urging her legs apart with his knees. He reached between them and inserted a finger into her channel.

Jace groaned. “So wet.”

He fitted his shaft to her opening and shoved inside. She sucked in a breath at the exquisite intrusion. He pulled out, then plunged deeper. He kissed her. Lorna wrapped her arms around his neck. Pleasure mounted in her core on a rising tide that threatened to spiral her out of control. He pounded into her and another, stronger wave crashed over her. She screamed his name. Jace pumped harder. Her walls contracted. Pleasure shot through her. He came in a burst that tightened his arms around her in a breath-stealing hug.

When he collapsed on her, his breathing had become labored. He lay unmoving for a long moment, then slid off, pulling her close. Lorna pressed her ear against his chest, lost in the rampant beat of his heart. He still quivered.

At last, he released a slow breath. “Why are you here?”

She tensed. He couldn’t possibly know.

“You’re too damned beautiful to need a dating service.  And sweet as honey. Don’t tell me you got wrangled into this like I did.”

“
Wrangled?
”
she repeated.

“My mother—stepmother, though she’s the only mother I’ve never known—set this night up for me and Ryan. Never in a million years would I have thought I’d accept a blind date, much less a one night stand paid for by my mother.”

Lorna rose onto an elbow. Jace lay facing the ceiling. His expression was as much innocence and honesty as his face was handsome and masculine. She might stare at that face forever, eager for every look, longing to see every expression he was capable of. Why did she feel this way?

Another wonderful expression played over his features. “I hope we can spend more time together.” She frowned, and he added, “Tonight, that is.”   

Chapter Eleven

Lorna blinked into focus the pink morning sky outside the living room window. Snow-covered fir trees stretched out as far as the eye could see. She lay, her back nestled against Jace’s groin in front of the hearth. She looked down at his arm wrapped around her waist. Embers bathed his muscled flesh in soft light.

Sometime during the night she’d awakened to his caresses, strokes that lifted her into another frenzy of pleasure. Her sex tightened with the memory of his strong hands on her.  She had never experienced a man as she had him. Yes, she had taken pleasure from all of them, but no fond memories had lingered the following morning. Why did Jace have this affect on her?

“I hope we can spend more time together. Tonight, that is,”
he had said.

She choked back tears. Like the others, Jace Buchanen wanted only to enjoy her body for the moment. Despite the millennia that had passed, her beauty hadn’t brought her love. If she had accepted her fate as one of the cunning folk, her life and agony would have ended long ago. Instead, she would spend eternity knowing even great beauty hadn’t made her worthy of love.

The click of the door opening from down the hallway intruded upon her thoughts. Lorna tensed.
Ryan.
She had forgotten him. Aeden could claim them both. Tears rushed to the surface. They hadn’t saved her, hadn’t loved her, but it wasn’t their fault that she was unworthy of love. They didn’t deserve to live out eternity in
Shade
. A figure stepped into view and Lorna gasped. Aeden. What was he doing here? He always appeared inside the vortex that connected Shade to the mortal realm. His mouth was set in a thin line of anger. His gaze slid down her body, then rested on Jace’s arm wrapped around her waist.

“What the hell.” Jace’s voice boomed in her ear. She started to rise, but he shoved her back down and jumped to his feet. “Who the hell are you?” he demanded.

Aeden looked at Lorna. “We must go, now.”

Panic bubbled to the surface. “He is not like the others,” she said as she pushed to her feet. “He doesn’t belong in
Shade
.”

From the corner of her eye, Lorna saw Jace shift. Too late, she realized his intent. He threw a right punch to Aeden’s jaw. Aeden’s head snapped back with a crack and he stumbled backwards.

“Aeden,” Lorna began in a rush.

Aeden seized Jace’s neck. Jace punched his belly. Aeden gave a low laugh. Lorna launched herself onto him as he threw Jace backward. Jace hit the wall beside the hearth and crumpled to the carpet. Lorna shoved Aeden with all her might. He propelled through the air and slammed into the desk near the window. She whirled. Jace was on his knees and pushing to his feet. Aeden rushed toward him. She shot forward, intercepting Aeden. They crashed into the small table, her arms wrapped tight around him as they slammed into the couch. He broke free. She leaped to her feet as he did.

“You cannot kill him!” she shouted.

“No mortal attacks me,” he snarled.

Her mind whirled. Jace had attacked Aeden. No other man had done that. When Aeden came for her after her other lovers had been tested, the men hadn’t fought for her.

“What the fuck is going on?” Jace demanded. “You know this man, Lorna?”

She jerked toward him. He stood, shoulders squared, weight balanced, ready to battle Aeden.

Jace’s eyes shifted to Aeden. “Who the hell are you?”

A corner of Aeden’s mouth lifted in a predatory smile. “I am your new master…and her mate.”

“Mate—what—”

“Bring him,” Aeden ordered.

Lorna’s mind raced. Jace had fought for her. Was it possible he cared? Was she free? Aeden hadn’t appeared from the vortex. Why? Something was different about this time.

“No,” she said.

“I will kill him.”

“He has proven he cares for me by risking is life to fight you,” she said. “You have no power over him.” Her heart pounded. “Or me.”

Aeden sneered. “No man can love a woman in a single night.”

Lorna stared. “If no man can love a woman within a single night, what hope had I of being freed?” Her mind raced. Something was wrong. Aeden had to know he couldn’t deny the truth once the curse was broken.

She faced Jace and said something she hadn’t believed she would ever say. “I am
Mubbirum
. You have been tested and been found to be a man of courage. You have freed me.”

His brows snapped down. “A what?”

“
Mubbirum;
Accuser.”

Aeden gave a derisive laugh. “She is a woman who chose beauty over honor. Her redemption lies in finding a man who can love her despite her vanity.”

Lorna felt as if the air had been sucked from her lungs. He was right. For the first time in her life, she saw clearly. She had chosen physical beauty over character, then spent centuries trying to find a man who would love an image, a shallow vessel. In the process, she had condemned men to insanity because she lacked the courage to face life with her flaws.

But Aeden would not have Jace.

She looked at Aeden. “He is beyond your reach—just as I am.”

A glitter appeared in Aeden’s eyes. “But the other one isn’t.”

The door opened down the hallway. Lorna gasped.

“What is it?” Jace demanded.

“No,” she whispered.

Chapter Twelve

A draft tickled hairs on the back of Lorna’s neck. A pinpoint of light appeared near the window. The vortex that linked the mortal realm to the bridge to
Shade
was opening.

“Holy shit,” Jace muttered.

“What in hell is that?” Ryan said.

Everyone turned toward him. He stood near the hallway, staring at the swirling opening that was now large enough to step through.

“That is the gateway that will take you to my domain,” Aeden sneered.

“He’s innocent!” Lorna said.

Aeden gave a nasty laugh. “He doesn’t care for you.”

“He isn’t part of this.”

Aeden looked down at her. “Then you shouldn’t have let him shove his cock inside you.”

“Lorna,” Jace said.

She met his gaze. “I-I’m sorry.”

“What’s going on?” Jace demanded.

“I am
Mubbirum
. You passed the test. Ryan did not. He wanted only my body.”

“That’s what this night was supposed to be about,” Jace said. “A one night stand.”

“Not for you.” A sob tightened her throat. “Not for Ryan.”

“Jace, what is that thing?” Ryan pointed at the vortex. Fog swirled within the opening.

“That bridges our world and yours,” Lorna said.

“Your world—” He swung his gaze onto Jace. “Did I drink some bad whiskey?”

“If you did, we drank from the same bottle.” Jace addressed Aeden. “You’ve got two seconds to get out before I kick your ass.”

Aeden gave an amused laugh. “Foolish mortals.”

He started toward Ryan. Jace moved to intercept.

Lorna grasped Aeden’s arm. “I will return to
Shade
with you.” His gaze riveted onto her and she nodded at the question in his eyes. “Yes,” she said, “I am ready for the
Sa Belet
. You know the price.”
Everything came with a price.

Triumph shone in his eyes. “You are worth a hundred of him.”

He traced a finger along her cheek, then down her neck. She choked back tears when he touched the curve of her breast…then—

“Get your hands off her.” Jace lunged.

Lorna leaped in front of Aeden and shoved Jace. He stumbled backwards, hit the wall, and landed on the floor with a heavy thud. Fear lanced through her. She had withheld her strength but he—she caught movement in the corner of her eye and whirled on Ryan.

”Stay back,” she ordered. He halted, and she faced Aeden. “I wish to go.
Now
.”

“Lorna.”

The harsh demand in Jace’s voice tore at her heart. She turned. He stood, gaze steady on her.

“Surely you didn’t think this meant anything?” she said. “You fucked me, and I took pleasure.”

She expected anger, hurt…betrayal. Instead, understanding shined in his eyes.

“What’s the price, Lorna?” he asked.

“Do not meddle in things you don’t understand.”

“I may not understand that,” he pointed at the vortex, “but I can see that you don’t want to go with this guy.”

She lifted her chin. “You are wrong.”

“I think it’s you or Ryan,” Jace said.

“Your friend is safe.  Let it go,” she insisted.