Threshold of Pleasure (Mills & Boon Nocturne Cravings) (8 page)

Eden stripped off her clothing, turned on the water in the stall and stepped into the hot spray. The relief of the scalding water pounding on her skin was almost instant. Sighing, she lifted her face to the spray and let it wash away the grime of the strange city and the anxiety she was feeling. She still wasn’t sure this man didn’t mean her harm.

When she turned from the spray and opened her eyes, he was standing in the bathroom, watching her. Her first instinct was to cover herself but she was too tired and she figured it was too late for that. He’d already seen her body, and from the size of his erection, he’d obviously liked what he’d seen.

Eden shut off the water. “Something you need?”

She was trying hard not to stare at him, at the beauty of him. He was a tempting distraction and it had been a long time since she’d had any real male contact. Just in her dreams. With him. She desired the real thing, and he was definitely the real thing. More magnificent then she’d fantasized.

He held out a towel for her. “Here.”

She took it, rubbed it over her face and hair. Then, almost as an afterthought, she wrapped it around her body, though she had the urge to wrap herself around him instead.

“Sit.” He pointed at the toilet. “I’ll look at your ankle. I have healing abilities.”

She flipped the lid closed and sat on the cool plastic. Mikhail went to a knee in front of her and took her foot in his hands. They were strong and rough on her skin as he moved her foot back and forth, trying to gauge her injury.

She winced when he flexed it to the right. “Ahh. That hurts.”

“Hold still.” He placed her foot gently on top of his bent knee, then cupped his hands around her ankle.

She wanted to ask him what he was doing, but all rational thought abandoned her as heat from his hands rushed into her flesh. It was as if a fire had been ignited inside. It wasn’t painful but a bit uncomfortable as the surge of heat swept up her calf, then to her thigh. Heat waves caressed her skin and molded her flesh until she was flushed and panting.

When next she looked down, her towel had fallen away and her legs were spread. A trickle of moisture lined the inside of her leg. In all her life, she’d never felt this heated, this wanton. The urge to trail her hand down to her sex to ease her suffering dug at her mind. She had to grit her teeth to hold it at bay.

“What did you do to me?” she asked, her voice strangled by desire.

“Healed you.”

“You did more than that.” Her muscles quivered with need. Her heart thumped hard with want. “I can’t leave this room without having you.”

“Be careful what you ask for. I will not take you kindly.”

She sat forward, placing a hand on his face. She ran a thumb over his full lips, wishing they were on her body right now.

“I don’t want kind.”

“What do you what?”

“You. Now. However.”

He stood, his hard cock level with her face. She reached out to touch it, dragging a fingernail over the tip. Mikhail groaned, then, grabbing her by the hair, he dragged her up to his eager mouth.

He kissed her. It wasn’t soft or gentle, but hard and rough, possessive. As if he was claiming her as a prize for a game he’d just won.

After thoroughly kissing her, he turned her and walked her backward to the wall. He pressed his body against hers, mashing her breasts tight to his chest. His erection dug into her belly, an iron rod jabbing her softness.

Without any effort, he picked her up and pushed her legs apart to settle between them. Eden spread her thighs as far as they would go, bracing one foot against the shower door and the other on the sink counter. There was no seduction here. None needed as she was already hot and wet and ready for him.

Using only one hand to hold her captive against the wall, he used the other to guide his cock to her opening. With one long, smooth, yet hard, thrust he was buried inside her moist channel.

“Oh, God,” she whimpered, as he began to move between her thighs. Her dream paled in comparison to the reality of his hard cock inside her.

At first he just thrusted in and out, hard and forceful. Then he started to twist his pelvis until he was grinding on her. With every movement he rubbed against her mound. She was so open that the base of his cock knocked against her clit with every stroke.

As he fucked her raw, he bent his head and feasted blissfully on her breasts, tongue and teeth torturing each nipple. It wasn’t long before the heat building in her belly became unbearable. She writhed against the wall, moving her body to end her suffering. She wanted it to last and be over at the same time

She dug her nails into his back as he drilled her hard, holding on while he rutted like an animal between her legs. His fingers dug into her ass cheeks as he thrust himself, balls deep, into her sex.

Eden cried out as an orgasm exploded deep inside and radiated outward all the way down to her toes and up to the top of her head. Her whole body flushed with heat, and every muscle convulsed with the power of it.

He pushed her against the wall and followed. His climax forced a low growl from between his lips. She felt him tense then tremble as he came.

She’d had good sex before, but had never experienced an orgasm so deep inside that when he set her down, her legs shook so badly she had to sit or collapse to the floor. Mikhail remained braced against the wall, his back to her, breathing heavily. Sweat slicked his entire body, making him glisten. Eden had to fight back the urge to run her own slick body over his.

“Um, that was...”

But she didn’t get a chance to finish her sentence before he turned around and looked at her. His face was hard, his eyes were slit like a wolf’s and he was still hard.

“I’m not done with you.”

He reached for her, picking her up as if she weighed nothing. He tossed her over his shoulder and crossed the room in two strides to lay her on the bed.

The look on his face had her scrambling back on the mattress. Fear and arousal mixed together into one potent elixir. She didn’t get away, though. He grabbed her leg, yanked her back to the edge of the bed and flipped her over onto her stomach, all within a few seconds, and with little fuss on his part.

Before she could utter a protest, he had her bent over the bed and was parting her legs. He pressed a hand to her back to hold her down and pushed his stiff cock into her slick opening once more.

Her orgasm had barely subsided when it started building up again. This time she could feel the first tremors of desire deep inside her vagina. It was like a hard ball of quivering heat vibrating inside her belly. The vibrations in her sensitive nerve endings were almost unbearable. She grabbed the blanket on the bed to scramble away but Mikhail held her firm, intending to pleasure her into submission.

Which was what he was doing now, thrusting deep into her. Gripping her tight around the hips, he pulled her back as he thrusted forward. The sounds of their moist flesh slapping together filled the room. As did the cloying scent of their mingled juices. Saliva and sweat and come.

Eden wallowed in it, unable to do anything but surrender to it and the delicious torment he was inflicting on her body.

Clenching her fists in the blanket, she closed her eyes and succumbed to the tsunami of pleasure that coursed over her, through her. It was so intense she bit down on her bottom lip as her insides exploded.

She cried out, unable to keep anything in anymore. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she climaxed again and again. Juices from inside soaked her thighs and the blanket beneath her.

“Oh, fuck,” Mikhail groaned as he rammed his cock in hard and tight and came.

He collapsed on top of her. She could feel his hot breath on the back of her sweaty neck. His heart beat so hard and fast against her skin that she thought it was her own.

For a long moment they lay like that. He on top, still inside her. Both just trying to catch their breath, trying to restart regular brain function. After another few minutes, Mikhail straightened up and pulled out of her. Eden crawled a little farther onto the bed and collapsed face-first, too exhausted to even roll over.

Her brain was a muddled mess as was her body. She thought the only decent thing to do now was sleep. She would figure things out in the morning.

She didn’t look up to see what Mikhail was doing, but she felt him next to her on the bed. A blanket was draped gently over her, and right before she fell asleep, he brushed a few curls of her hair from her cheek and muttered, “You are safe now. I will always protect you.”

Chapter Nine

Mikhail watched her sleep. For once her face was relaxed. She’d lost that usual furrow of determination and worry. He knew it would return the moment she woke. Eden was a woman with single-minded purpose. She was a pit bull with the taste of blood in her mouth.

He admired her tenacity. Even if it did interfere with his job of keeping her out of Threshold business.

Eden moaned and rolled over onto her back, the blanket sliding off one perfect, plump breast. He liked that she was curvy. More to bite into. He wondered what she dreamed of. Their recent bout of incredible sex or was Bael visiting her again in her dreams? He wouldn’t put it past the vampire to invade her thoughts especially now that she was in his territory and with Mikhail. It was just he didn’t understand his endgame. If Bael truly wanted Eden to stay away, why was he beckoning her forward? Taunting her to find him and consequently Lilith Grae, the woman Eden had watched die.

He couldn’t let her find the woman. If Eden truly knew what had happened to the woman, she’d never let it go. She’d never keep quiet. And Threshold’s secrets had to be kept. That was part of his job.

In the morning, he’d take her back to the portal and send her through. Then he’d block that entrance so no one could ever use it again. Eden would have a hell of a time trying to find another one. They were few and far between and cleverly veiled. Bif had been careless with his threats and had completely underestimated Eden’s drive and motives. Mikhail should never have sent the demon to do his job. It had been a grave error of judgment on his part, a mistake he never planned on making again.

Although he might never see Eden again, she had to go back. Back to her home and forget about this place and all its inhabitants. It would pain him to do so, more than he wanted to admit just now, but it had to be done. For her own safety if anything.

Mikhail’s stomach grumbled and he got up to go into the kitchen. He needed a constant supply of food because his metabolism was ten times faster than a human’s. Shape-shifting took a lot of energy. And their sexual romp had been quite the workout, as well. He had many voracious appetites, food and sex being his top two.

He opened the freezer and took out a packaged steak. He preferred fresh meat but he couldn’t be picky at this point. He’d defrost it and eat it. He rarely cooked his meals—raw was always best and contained the most nutrients.

He was about to open the microwave and toss the meat in when he heard a noise outside the apartment door. Someone was coming up the stairs to his floor.

Mikhail crossed the room and unlocked the door in seconds. He stepped out on top of the landing just as Bael and three of his goons were approaching.

“What do you want?” Mikhail asked, not happy at all to see the vampire at his door.

“I knew you’d bring her here. It’s so tortured hero of you.”

Bael grinned and his cronies chuckled along with the joke.

“What do you want, Bael? I told you I would take care of this.”

Bael took in Mikhail’s naked form. “Yes, it looks like it. Is she as tasty as she looks? I certainly hope so. Or this would be a wasted trip.”

“You said you wanted her gone. So I’m doing that. Tomorrow she’ll be back in her world with no way of returning.”

“Well, I’ve changed my mind.”

“What?”

“Now that I’ve met her in person, I’ve decided that Eden would be a delightful addition to my court. You can’t really tell that stuff in dreams.”

Before Mikhail could take a step forward, Bael’s henchmen were on him. One grabbed him around the neck from behind and the other two restrained his arms. He was strong but three vampires were stronger. And it looked as if they had just fed.

Bael glided toward him as if he floated on air. He patted him on the cheek. “We always knew this was going to happen, brother. You didn’t really think she was going to fall in love with you and want to make little wolf babies with you?” Bael threw is arm up in the arm dramatically. “Especially not when she could have me.”

The vampire nodded to the goon holding Mikhail around the neck. He started to squeeze and soon everything spun, then went black. The last thing Mikhail saw was Bael entering his apartment with the swagger of a conqueror.

Chapter Ten

Eden rolled over onto her side, gathering the blanket tight to her chin, but her eyes snapped open when she noticed the silk beneath her naked body. She had not fallen asleep on soft, silky sheets.

Gathering the blanket to her breasts, she sat up to survey her new surroundings. She was definitely not in Mikhail’s run-down apartment but in a large, opulently furnished suite.

The four-poster bed she lay in was huge, dressed in red silk sheets and velvet pillows. One long wall was a bank of windows and she could see the lights of the strange new city. Across the room a fire crackled in a large fireplace made from stone. In front of the hearth was a thick throw rug laid over the dark hardwood floor. There were also two golden Queen Anne chairs in front of the fire. A man sat in one, reading a book and sipping a glass of wine.

He closed the book and, setting his glass down, he turned to look at her. Bael’s smile was warm and inviting and it sent a shiver down her back.

“Did you sleep well?” he asked.

“Is this one of my dreams?”

He stood and approached her. “I assure you, it isn’t.”

“What am I doing here? How did I get here?”

“You’re a guest here in my home. I thought you’d like to see the true beauty of Threshold.”