Touch of Temptation (5 page)

But that didn’t mean he could do the same with Chloe,
because her needs were far more complicated…and it was
Chloe
his inner beast wanted to get its hands on.

“What happened with Raine was different, and you know it,” he told her, his deep voice actually shaking with emotion. “All I did was give her my wrist.”

And as an awakening Merrick female, Chloe was going to need a hell of a lot more than that.

Tears coursed down her cheeks as she stared back at him, her breath shuddering from her lips as she quietly said, “Give…give me your wrist, then, and I’ll do the rest myself. You won’t even have to look at me or come inside my cell.”

Aw, hell
, he thought, her soft words echoing painfully through his head as he swiftly moved to his feet.

Without a doubt, Kellan knew this woman was going to drive him out of his ever-loving mind.

And the danger was only getting deeper by the second.

W
ITH ONE HAND SHOVED
deep in his pocket, Kellan shakily scraped his other hand through his hair and struggled to remember his mission.

Find the witch.

Protect the witch.

Save the witch.

Unfortunately, nailing the witch’s beautiful little ass to the wall wasn’t anywhere on the agenda, no matter how sweetly she begged him. Didn’t matter how tempting she was. How desperate he was to touch her. It wasn’t gonna happen, because even without his wolf screwing dangerously with his control, Kellan hadn’t been lying when he’d said he wasn’t good enough for her. Shit, he wasn’t fit for her to wipe her friggin’ shoes on, much less trust with her body. She was a stunning, white-hot goddess with a sassy mouth and endearing blushes, and he was…well, he sure as hell wasn’t a god. Christ, at the moment he was even more animal than man. And he didn’t trust the animal to control itself with her. One accidental swipe of his claws or bite from his fangs, and she could be seriously hurt…if not killed.

Which meant that he had to keep his filthy paws to himself…and
off
the delectable, intoxicating little Merrick.

But it wasn’t going to be easy. She was too pale, the
bruise-colored smudges under her tear-filled eyes growing darker, and his insides twisted with guilt. Damn it, she needed blood, badly, but it was too dangerous, his beast fighting harder to bust its way through with each second that passed by.

And it wasn’t as if blood alone was going to ease her suffering. As an awakening Merrick female, she needed fresh blood…
and
an earth-shattering orgasm.

“This is wrong,” he groaned, wincing at the raw, gritty sound of his voice. It held too much of the wolf in it, the animal seething with primitive lust, urging him to forget what was right and wrong and just follow his baser instincts. “You don’t wanna do this, Chloe. Trust me.”

“Please, Kellan.” A vivid blush burned beneath her smooth complexion, and he could tell how much it was costing her to ask him for something so intimate. “I’m
starving.
”

A tremor shuddered through his coiled muscles, a fresh sheen of sweat breaking out over the surface of his skin, despite the freezing temperatures in the cellblock. Knowing that if he gave in he could be putting her in serious danger, he tried again to make her understand why it couldn’t happen. “I didn’t come here to take advantage of your situation, damn it. I came here to keep you safe.”

“You want to do something selfless?” she threw back at him, sliding her slender legs over the side of the cot. “Be the hero? Then give me what I need!”

“It’s not that simple!”

She made a choked sound, wiping the tears from her cheeks with her fingers. “If you’re waiting for an easier solution, Kellan, there isn’t one.”

Sounding ragged and on edge and desperate, he carefully said, “A little more time, Chloe, and I’ll have you out of here.”

“Aren’t you listening?” she cried. “I don’t have any more time!”

“Damn it, don’t say that!”

Sharp, panting breaths slipped past her lips, followed by a stream of soft, unsteady words. “I meant what I said before, Kellan. If you don’t help me, I’m afraid of what I’ll do.” She flicked her tongue against the shiny swell of her lower lip, the brief glimpse he caught of her fangs—the only physical change that Merrick females experienced—just about the sexiest thing he’d ever seen. “And I don’t want some other man. Not one of your friends or the people who are helping them.
I want you
.”

Though Kellan had used every ounce of his strength to hold on to his fraying control, those last three words were what broke him, completely shattering his resistance.

Cursing and shaking with lust, he quickly grabbed the keys that hung on the far wall and flipped the switch on the counterweight for Chloe’s door. Then he let himself into her cell, dropped the keys on the floor, and crossed the distance between them. In the next instant, he wrapped one arm under her bottom, lifting her against his body as he shoved the cot out of his way, sending it slamming into the iron bars. Then he lunged forward, pinning her against the wall, unable to hear the words he could see her lips shaping over the crashing roar of his pulse. Heat crawled up over his back and shoulders, spreading into his face as his free hand closed around the back of her neck in a dominating hold, his heart hammering to a dark, predatory beat. She stared up at
him, her glistening eyes wide and bright and…
hopeful
, and with another sharp curse, Kellan covered her mouth with his, licking his way past those plush, petal-soft lips, seeking the silken warmth within. And God, she tasted delicious. Mouthwatering. Completely addictive, each succulent detail a devastating assault on his senses.

He used every last ounce of his willpower to give her the time to decide whether or not she wanted to go any further with him, but the instant she flicked her tongue against his, he was gone.

“Kellan,” she gasped, her slender fingers gripping his hair as she fought to pull him closer, her legs wrapping around his waist. The kiss turned into something savagely explicit, wet and raw and violent, the passion between them dangerously explosive. “
More. Give me more!
”

With a feral growl, Kellan lifted her higher, grinding his granite-hard cock against her mound, his jeans rasping against the soft cotton of her panties. “That what you want?” His voice was dark and rough as he pulled her head to the side so that he could drag his open mouth down the slender column of her throat, the heady taste of her skin making his cock even harder. Her small hands clutched his bare shoulders, her nails digging into the slick, bunched muscles, and he could hear his wolf urging him on as he found her mouth again, kissing her harder…deeper…raw lust searing his veins.

Touch her. Taste her. Everywhere….

A thick animal-like sound rumbled at the back of his throat as he fought the release of his claws and fangs, and he knew he’d scared her when she trembled in his arms. Though the wolf urged him to keep going, enjoying that provocative quiver of fear, Kellan somehow found the
strength to break the drugging kiss, and pressed his forehead to hers. “It’s okay,” he gasped, his chest heaving as he smoothed her hair away from her face with a shaky hand, hoping like hell that what he was saying was true. “I won’t hurt you, Chloe.”

“I know,” she whispered, touching the hot skin of his face with inquisitive fingertips, as if she was learning him by touch, the warmth of her breath pelting against his fevered cheek, layering heat on heat, making him burn. “I trust you, Kell.”

“You shouldn’t,” he muttered, reaching between them and ripping at the buttons on her shirt, unable to stop himself. “You shouldn’t trust me at all. Christ, you have no idea how close I am to losing it.”

“Then lose it,” she urged him, her breath catching as he shoved the lacy cups of her bra down and lifted her higher, hungrily scraping the rough pad of his tongue across a deliciously sweet, tight nipple. Crying out, she braced her arms against his shoulders…and he gave her what she wanted, sucking the tender bud between his lips, trapping it in the wet, scalding heat of his mouth.

As her need grew more intense, her scent became richer, sweeter…the feverish warmth of her skin burning hotter, enthralling him, calling to his wolf, his cock throbbing with each hammering beat of his heart. His breath roughened as he moved to her other breast, his mouth dragging across her chest until another dainty, candy-pink nipple touched his lips. The realities of their surroundings faded away, his entire being focused on his sense of touch…of taste. He needed to touch
all
of her. Needed to taste her pleasure cries in his mouth as he made her come, deeper and longer than she ever had before.

Wrapping his arms around her body, Kellan crushed her against him as he brought her mouth back to his. She nipped his bottom lip, then slid her tongue against his, her rising aggression fueling his own. His gums burned from the pressure of his fangs, his chest vibrating with another primal growl as she reached between their bodies, pressing her hand against the rigid length of his cock. She squeezed him through his jeans, testing his length…his broad width, her breaths coming hard and rushed. Then her hand turned, reaching between her own legs, her hips riding forward in an earthy, sensual need for completion, and he snagged her wrist, jerking her hand over her head as he tore his mouth from hers. “That’s
mine
,” he warned in a dark, gritty rumble, locking his hand over her entire forearm, trapping it against the rough surface of the wall. “Next time I’ll lay you on a bed and put your hands between your legs, Chloe.” She writhed in his hold, her beautiful eyes hazy with lust. “I’ll jerk off while I watch you finger yourself, and I’ll love every second of it. But right now, it’s
my
turn,” he growled, pushing his hand inside the front of her panties, his fingers seeking that exquisitely soft, sensitive part of her. And what he found was even better than he’d imagined. She was scalding hot to the touch, the folds of her sex drenched with moisture, the tender flesh already slippery and swollen with need.

“I’m so close,” she cried, grinding herself against his palm, her wild, uninhibited pursuit of pleasure nearly sending him over the edge, the building pressure in his shaft bordering on pain.

Have to get in her
, he thought, jerking his hand from between her legs.
Want to be all over her. Want every part of her….

“Put your feet back on the floor,” he commanded. The second she’d unhooked her legs from around his waist, Kellan took hold of her shoulders and quickly spun her around, facing her toward the wall. “Now brace your hands against the stone,” he grated, his own hands urgently roaming her body, touching every feminine curve and hollow that he could reach.

She followed the husky command, her back arching as she leaned forward, her soft hands flattened against the craggy surface.

Leaning over her, Kellan touched his mouth to the side of her throat, where her pulse thrummed with excitement. With a little catch in her breath, she tilted her head farther to give him better access, her shirt slipping off one smooth, pale shoulder, and Kellan dragged his mouth lower, her skin like silk beneath his lips and tongue and teeth. His hands skimmed over the narrow curve of her waist, gripping her hips rougher than he meant to, and he gritted his teeth, furious at himself for his loss of control.

Calm down, you son of a bitch
, he silently snarled, but the wolf was quick to respond.

You want calm?
it sneered.
Then get the fuck on with it!

Kellan wanted to argue with the bastard, but he was too far gone, his ears roaring as he ran a hand over the feminine curve of her ass, his cock so hard it pulsed within the strangling confines of his jeans. With a dark sound on his lips, he ripped the crotch of her panties to the side, and found the slick, swollen entrance to her body. His breath hissed through his teeth as he pushed one long finger inside her…nearly dying from the feel of her muscles closing in on him. So tight…and greedy,
they surrounded him with liquid heat and the heavy rhythm of her pulse; the soft, throaty cries spilling from her lips telling him how much she enjoyed his touch.

“God, you feel good,” he breathed into her ear.

“Not as good as you,” she moaned, riding his finger, her lithe body burning with heat.

As a red, hazy cloud began to fill his vision, Kellan struggled to remind himself of the danger. He knew he shouldn’t fuck her. That he should just make her come. Give her the blood that she needed. Damn it, he
knew
that. But it was impossible at that moment to recall the reasons why.

“Can you take two?” he rasped, thrusting deeper, needing to make her ready.

“Oh yeah,” she breathed, pressing her firm little ass into his groin.

Twisting his fingers in the damp cotton of her panties, Kellan had just enough sanity left to know that he couldn’t rip them off, like he wanted, since she didn’t have any others. And no way in hell was he going to have her walking around bare-assed in front of the guards that brought them their food and water. Instead, he pulled the skimpy underwear down her thighs, letting them fall to the floor, then reached back between her legs from the front and thrust two thick fingers into her, jerking a husky cry from her lips. Sliding his other hand inside her gaping shirt, he ran the callused tip of his thumb over a beautifully plump, hardened nipple at the same time he rubbed the base of his palm against the swollen knot of her clit, and she ground her forehead against one of her raised arms, gasping for breath, on the verge of coming for him.

So beautiful. So sweet…

As if he could shelter her against the nightmares that existed around them, Kellan curved his body around hers, surrounding her with his strength, desperate to make her feel safe. To give her pleasure. Give her something those bastards couldn’t take away from her, when they’d already stripped her of everything else in her life that mattered.

He was a shitty substitute for her family and friends and home, but goddamn it, he was going to make her come so hard that for those few blistering moments, she didn’t care. While that raw, screaming pleasure was pumping through her, breaking her open, she wouldn’t care about anything but how bloody good it felt. Wouldn’t care about anything but him and what he could give her.

“You want my cock, Chloe?” He whispered the ragged words into the tender shell of her ear, his nostrils flaring as he pulled in deeper breaths of her heady scent. He wanted it covering his skin. Wanted to be drenched in it.

“Yes,” she hissed. “I’ll take everything you have, Kell. All of it.”

“I’m so going to burn in hell for this,” he muttered, but he couldn’t stop himself from reaching between and ripping open his jeans, a thick sound rumbling deep in his throat as the heavy length of his cock sprang against the satiny curve of her ass. Gripping the broad shaft in his fist, Kellan’s eyes nearly rolled back in his head as he bent his knees a little, rubbing the taut crown through her drenched folds.