Tara (22 page)

It was the kind of torture he’d sign up for any day, where his only enemy was holding out so he could enjoy it even longer, which he was pretty sure he could do for now, as long as he didn’t glance down too often to catch her blue eyes looking at him through her lashes. Of course, she had different plans. She cupped his balls in her hand, applying just the right pressure before she slid all the way down and eased his cock into her throat. “Tara!” he shouted her name, his hand tangling in her hair despite all his best efforts to control himself.

Her hummed response practically sent him over the edge, and he growled as he tightened his fist in her hair.

“Tara, I want to fuck you.” He bit down on the urge to tell her to stop, swallowing the command as she continued for a moment, drawing him almost all the way out of her mouth. She traced her tongue across the head of his cock, before delving forward again until he was caught in the tight confines of her throat. “Dolcezza, please.”

This time when she drew up, torturously slowly, she sat back. Her lips were swollen from her efforts, her cheeks pink, and when he looked down to see her hand wrapped around the base of his shaft he felt the growl in his chest, and she smiled up at him like she knew exactly what he was thinking – and wanted it. “Delicious,” she whispered and that snapped the last of his self-control.

He pulled her up by her hair as gently as he could in the moment, and as soon as she was standing he bent down and threw her over his shoulder, marching towards the bedroom. The soft squeak she’d released as she’d settled on his shoulder dissolved into a sultry laugh, and he brought his hand down on her ass when she wiggled.

Her clit was pounding as she bounced on Alaric’s shoulder, and all she wanted was to feel him inside her again. Having the opportunity to taste him, to feel him as he struggled to hold back, had only amped up her own urgency. If her hands hadn’t been busy with him, she would have slid her fingers between her thighs to join him, but it was clear he had his own plans for how this was going to end – and she couldn’t wait to see what they were.

The world flipped as he pulled her off his shoulder and she landed with a bounce on the bed. He reached for her shirt, but she beat him to it, ripping it over her head. Alaric caught on and pulled his own shirt off, breaking several of the buttons in his haste to join her. The bra came next, and he was already stroking his cock. Soft skin over hard steel. Grabbing her hips he hauled her to the edge of the bed, and then bent her knees towards her chest.

“Fuck!” She practically screamed the curse as he thrust inside her in one, deep stroke. With her knees bent towards her chest and spread wide she had a clear view of his hard abs working, and the sight of his cock pistoning in and out of her. It was too perfect, and she couldn’t imagine not being completely present for something this amazing. Heat coiled up her spine like sparks rising into the sky from a bonfire. Her head was spinning, and the low moans and growls coming out of him were only adding fuel to the fire.

Alaric wasn’t holding back, and each drive was pleasure combined with the ache as he bottomed out, and she just wanted more. Wanted it harder, faster. Wanted him to let go completely. As if he’d heard her plea, he grabbed onto her thighs and dug his fingers in, spreading her wider so he could lean forward. The new angle had her dangling over the edge in a matter of moments, soaking wet and murmuring his name, and then she arched her back – and came. It was like falling and flying at the same time, a sudden wave of sensation that made her scream out something unintelligible.

“That’s it,” he growled, and he started to fuck her on his own terms. Hard and fast, and soon a second orgasm was rocking her, her nails digging into the flesh of his arms. Just when she thought he was ready, he slid a hand between them, and his thumb landed on her clit.

“Wait! Alaric, I can’t – oh,
fuck
–” She whimpered as the crippling pleasure ran through her, a bonfire out of control, taking out all barriers in its path.

“Yes, you can. You can come for me again, dolcezza, I know you can.” There was a gleeful, devious tone to his voice, and she growled at him as he pushed her, thrusting hard, and rubbing her clit in the perfect rhythm to have her shaking, drawn too taut. “Come on, beautiful, just once more…”

The tension snapped and she cried out, arching up against him as he leaned over her and thrust deep. As his cock pulsed inside her, she was floating in a sea of sparkling light, and the weight of him as he settled over her, the meter of his breaths in her ears, all of it merged together into the shivering aftershocks as she wrapped herself around him. “Wow…” she whispered, and she felt him laugh softly.

“I agree,
wow
.” Alaric leaned forward and kissed her, still buried between her thighs, and she tightened her legs around his back to hold him there. “You are everything I’ve been missing in my life,” he whispered and she tensed.

Did he -?

“Alaric?” She pushed gently at his shoulders so she could see his face, and he smiled down at her, his eyes out of focus in their post-orgasmic delirium. When he kissed her again, she let it go, sinking into the simple pleasure of his body against hers, his tongue dancing with hers.

“Come here,” he mumbled against her lips and then he slid from her and pulled them both up the bed. The blanket they were on was shoved out of the way so that he could wrap it around them, and then she found herself in his arms. “Rest, dolcezza.”

Tara turned to look at him, his soft brown hair angled over his forehead, his eyes already closed. Soon, his breathing was even and she knew he needed the sleep. She got the energy boost from Eltera at dawn every morning, but from what she could tell he’d barely slept the last few days, and mortals needed their sleep.

Even foolish knights.

Chapter Twenty-Three

He wasn’t sure how long he’d been asleep, but the unmistakable vibration of his phone drew him out of sleep. At first he was confused by whatever was tickling his nose and he jerked his head back, until the cloud of golden hair in front of him reminded him of where he was, and who was in his arms.

Sitting up as gently as he could he reached over Tara to grab the phone that had slipped between folds in the blankets. The readout wasn’t a number he recognized, but knowing it could be Claude he slid out of bed with one more glance back at her profile. Peaceful and asleep.

Alaric answered the phone so he wouldn’t miss the call, but he didn’t speak until he was safely back in the living room with the door shut. “Hello?”

“Well, hi there, Alaric. I heard you’re having a little trouble with your latest job.”

Henrik
.
Fuck
.

The haze of sleep lifted in an instant and Alaric walked over to grab the gun off the dining table, checking it and clicking off the safety while he kept the phone between his cheek and shoulder. “No trouble, why do you say that?”

“Oh,
I
didn’t say it. Luca did. Seems like you’ve fucked up big time, pretty boy.” Henrik laughed. “Over some pussy, too. You
are
a dumb ass.”

“Fuck off.” Alaric growled and looked out the peephole to the apartment. Nothing. He flinched as Henrik’s low laugh came over the line, and he started checking the windows.

“Listen, I’ll be there tonight. I know how sensitive and special you are, so Luca told me you were just going to drug the girl and give me an address to pick her up. Don’t worry, I’ll take extra good care of her.”

“Not happening, Henrik.” With all the windows and doors locked, and nothing visible outside of them, Alaric stood in the middle of the living room, not even caring that he was naked.

“Trust me, this is a deal you want to take.”

“No, I’m good.”

Henrik laughed again and it put Alaric’s teeth on edge. “Let me be a little more explicit. We’re going to get the girl, and we’re going to deliver her. Whatever happens between point A and point B is all free form at the moment. I can be really nice… or not, and from what I understand that girl can handle a lot of my not-so-nice and still arrive in perfect condition. Personally, I’d like to test that out, but it’s still your choice for now.”

“Let
me
be explicit. If you try to come and get her I’ll gut you and happily watch you bleed out.” Alaric’s hand was too tight on the gun, and he flipped the safety back on before he accidentally shot a hole in the floor.

“Oh, lookie here. Our boy finally grew a set of balls!” Henrik chuckled. “If that’s how you want to play, I’m all for a game of hitman versus hitman, but I’ve been doing this longer than you, boy.”

“You
wish
you were as good as I am.”

“Last chance.” Henrik was still chuckling, but Alaric made himself stay cold. An emotional outburst would only fuel the asshole.

“No.”

“Alright then… see you soon.” The line cut off and Alaric stood there for a moment, his rage making him shake. He wanted to destroy the phone, but he needed the documents from Claude, and he didn’t have time to go out and get a new burner. Instead, he walked over and set it down beside Tara’s violin case, along with the gun. Then he grabbed the vodka from the freezer. Some kindly tourist who had rented the place last had left it behind, and he sent up a silent thank you as he upended the bottle and took a few hard swallows. The cheap liquor burned like fire on the way down, but he took a few more swigs anyway before he made himself put it back.

If they were coming he needed to be sober, and he needed to prepare.

The bed shifted and she woke up slowly. Her dream had been strange, and for once not a nightmare, even though Leonidas had been in it. She had dreamt he was standing in the middle of a black space, but it wasn’t frightening, or cold. When he had seen her, his arms had opened and his old smile lit his face, and she had wanted to run to him, but for some reason she couldn’t. Then Eltera had appeared, halfway between them, and the golden light coming from her skin had reflected on the water beneath her. A huge expanse of it between her and Leonidas. Tara had tried to open her mouth to scream for him, but she couldn’t make a sound. Instead, she simply looked across, hoping to tell him with her eyes how much she missed him, how sorry she was – and the strange thing was, he seemed to understand.

“Tara?” Alaric’s voice drew her the rest of the way out of sleep and she turned to find him sitting on the edge of the bed. He gave her a little smile. “I’m sorry I had to wake you, beautiful.”

“It’s okay, I’m more worried about how little sleep you’ve been getting. What’s wrong?”

He seemed to have the weight of the world on his shoulders and she leaned forward to grab his hand and pull him back into bed with her. They wrapped around each other like it was the most natural thing in the world, but this time his head ended up on her chest as she stroked his hair.

“Talk to me?”

“We’re safe for now, no one knows where we are, but as soon as we get the documents we’ll need to run.” He sighed against her skin and hugged her a little tighter. “I swear… I won’t let anyone hurt you.”

“You do know that I can defend myself, right? You’re actually the only person on the planet I
can’t
kill at the moment.” She smiled and tilted her head so she could see his face. “I was pretty badass in my day.”

A small smile twitched at his lips. “Oh, really?”

“Yes, actually.”

“I saw a bit of that yesterday. But what did you use in your day, Signorina Badass?”

“Daggers. Two of them.” She laughed when his eyebrows went up. “I told you I was good at close combat.”

“Now
that
is something I need to see.”

“Get me a pair of them and I’ll show you.” Tara took a breath and ran her fingers through his hair, relaxing as his smile finally spread. “You know, a lot of the other Faeoihn chose longer weapons. Swords, bladed staves, one girl even used an axe, but there were a few of us that liked the daggers.”

“Why?” Alaric seemed calmer listening to her, so she settled back against the pillows and remembered what it had been like on the battlefield. Surrounded by her sisters. The leather of the hilts soaked through with blood, her arms wet with it, a wild grin on her face as she moved forward.

“Men like to underestimate women. Yes, they’re bigger, and they’re stronger, but we’re faster. Quicker. More light on our feet. Not that the Faeoihn weren’t pretty well matched to most men, but I liked having to get close. Stepping inside their range. When those men would swing an axe, or a sword, they
were
deadly. You had to watch it, but if you got in close?” She grinned. “They couldn’t even use them. I liked seeing the shock on their face when I came forward instead of moving back when they would attack.”

He laughed softly. “Alright, I get it. You can defend yourself. I promise I’ll get you a set of knives. Do you know how to shoot a gun too?”

“I know you pull the trigger?” She laughed in return and he leaned up to kiss her.

“I’ll teach you, if you’ll show me how you used to fight.”

“That sounds fun.” A kiss distracted her from the idea of him wrapping his arms around her, teaching her how to fire with the kind of confidence he’d displayed inside Gianni’s house, and then he rolled away from her and stood up.

“Come on, we should shower.” Alaric held his hand out and she took it, letting him help her up, and when he had said
we
, he had really meant both of them. At the same time – and it was wonderful.