Better Than Chocolate (6 page)

"You're certain of that?"

"Why do you think I chose him? He's a stockbroker consumed by his work. When he's not at the office, he's either at the gym, or here at home. It's been over twenty-four months since he could claim an encounter with a sexual partner other than his right hand. Do you really believe he'll magically stumble upon a ménage involving a man, a woman, and the sacred ingredient required to concoct an incubus cocktail?"

Illian ran a hand through his hair. “You win, Fariel. He might get lucky and fall into bed with two mortals of his choosing. But what are the odds their sex play will involve chocolate, too?"

Fariel snorted. “More likely he'll be eating chocolate after indulging in a frozen dinner while watching the news. Alone. You have nothing to fear, Illian. Tell our brothers we'll be able to feed for a long, long time."

"You've done well.” With a quick salute of his shadowy hand, Illian disappeared. His vanishing act lessened the aura of menace in the room.

Silvana pressed her fingertips to her mouth and watched as Fariel's darkened form lifted off the floor and hovered over the bed. Blurry details scattered in a monochromatic haze, drawing her attention to a thick, erect shaft and the contour of strong hips and thighs.

Rafael slept on, completely oblivious to the threat.

The urge to bolt from the safety of her hiding place and warn him, jolted the muscles of her legs. Before she could move, the fringes of the dream began to fray.

Silvana held her breath. Through a swirl of dream fog, she watched Fariel drop slowly and enter Rafael's body.

Rafael stirred. A groan escaped his lips and his chest heaved. A moment later, he settled back into a fitful sleep.

"Hang on, Rafe,” she whispered. “I'm coming."

"Silvana? Siiiiiiiiil ... vaaaaaaa ... na!"

Consciousness returned in a dazed rush. Silvana bolted upright in bed, clinging to Paul's shoulders. “How long was I out?"

He scrunched his nose in confusion, so she shook him.

"How long?” she repeated.

"Two minutes, maybe? Three?"

She swiveled and lowered her legs over the side of the bed, cringing when a flash of pleasure-pain coursed through her pussy. Glancing down, she saw that the chocolate dildo remained embedded deep in her channel. She pulled it out slowly, shuddering when her empty pussy gave a flutter of discomfort.

"I gotta tell you, Sil, passing out doesn't exactly give a guy an ego boost, y'know?"

She tossed the dildo onto the nightstand. Grabbing for her clothes, she shot a quick smile Paul's way. “I know. I'm sorry. I'll make it up to you, I promise. Just ... just wait here, okay?"

He scratched a spot behind his ear and frowned. “You're leaving?"

"Just for a minute. I'll be right back.” She wiggled into her jeans while shoving her arms into her shirt. Then, seeing the look of wretched misery etched on Paul's features, she ran to him, stood on tiptoes, and planted a soft kiss on his lips. “Please stay."

He sighed and dropped into a sitting position on the bed. His erection bobbed and slapped his stomach. “Don't tell me. You fight crime in your spare time?"

"Nothing quite so heroic. But you're going to help me save someone's sanity.”
And my own
.

Paul quirked an eyebrow. “I am?"

"Yep.” She winked at him. “And you'll love every minute of your good deed."

Without waiting for a response, she dashed for the door, flung it open, and scrambled down the steps, taking them three at a time. Rafael had to still be downstairs. If he wasn't, she had no idea where to find him. He had to be there. He had to.

Muggy night air hit her face as she stumbled from the building onto the top step of the front landing. She came to a grinding halt on bare feet, scraping her soles against the pavement.

Her heart gave a galloping lurch. Rafael stood right where she'd left him, under the streetlamp on the opposite sidewalk, looking almost as miserable as Paul had before she'd run out of the apartment.

As though he could sense her watching him, Rafael lifted his head. Their gazes met. Joy slammed into her chest, causing her breath to catch in her throat. The sultry heat in his eyes pulled her forward like the invisible tug of a puppeteer's string.

She crossed the street without bothering to look both ways. Fog drifted in gray patches around Rafael's feet, making him appear almost as otherworldly as the incubi from her dreams.

Except he was human, and posed no threat to her. Unless they both fell asleep—but she didn't intend to let that happen. Not until they'd exorcised the incubus from his darkened psyche.

She stopped a few inches away from him. Sucking in a deep breath for courage, she held out her hand. “I'm Silvana. I'm here to rescue you."

Rafael stared at the outstretched hand. Only moments earlier, he'd been fantasizing about having her this close. Planning what he'd say. What he'd do.

Since she'd disappeared inside the building with her lover, he'd tried his best not to picture them in bed together. That task had proven much more difficult than it should have been. Every time he blinked, an image of her smooth, sexy limbs entwined with another man's flashed behind his eyelids. And each time that happened, a jolt of possessive envy ran through his bloodstream, making him wish he'd bolted to the top of the front steps, yanked the guy off his woman, and hurled him over the railing the moment their lips touched.

My woman
. Fuck. That way lay madness. He knew that. Yet no matter how many times he told himself he was acting like a sixteen-year-old with a crush, that he was only here to talk, Rafael's body refused to let him believe it.

Eventually, he'd stopped fighting. He gave up on jealous fury and instead spent his time imagining a hundred things he'd do once he had Silvana within arm's reach—and none of his delusions had been half as tame as a handshake.

Heat flared through his fingers and into his arm when he slid his palm alongside Silvana's and gripped her hand. The tactile sensation warmed his skin and carried the rush of heat straight into his already eager groin.

"Rescue me?” Rafael asked, stunned he was still capable of normal speech around this woman who had somehow managed to turn his mind, his soul, and his life into a scrambled, uneven mess. “From what?"

Her eyelids were half-lowered, long lashes hiding her light blue eyes from his scrutiny. When she looked up, the potency of her gaze stole his breath.

"From yourself."

"Oh yeah?” He couldn't resist lowering his head until their warm breaths mingled. “And who's gonna rescue me from you?"

Her beautiful eyes widened slightly. “I-I'm not going to hurt you."

He'd been only joking, indulging in a bit of playful banter that had never come easily to him, but seemed to roll off his tongue in Silvana's presence. He hadn't thought she'd take it seriously, but her anxious expression made him pull back. “Should I be afraid, Silvana?"

The tip of her tongue swept out to wet her bottom lip, and the gesture drew his gaze down to it. The dewy curve of her luscious mouth parted as she started to respond, but he couldn't wait any longer.

Thoughts of kissing her had haunted him since she'd awakened his memories on the train earlier that morning. Would she taste as sweet as she smelled? He was done imagining. He needed to find out.

Now
.

"I'm—"

He crushed her mouth with his, no longer caring what she was about to say. If she was a threat to him, he was willing to take the risk. Better the devil he knew than the one who tormented him at night and left his mind blank and his body spent in the morning.

Even if they're one and the same
?

He growled against her mouth and swept his tongue along the seam of her lips, demanding entry. She opened to him with a soft, whimpery moan that caused his cock to leap in feral anticipation.

This time, he intended to remember every blissful moment of their encounter. If he got answers in the process, wonderful. If not, just holding Silvana, kissing her, making love to her would be its own reward.

Her arms came up around his neck. She pulled him closer, deepening the kiss, giving as good as she got. Each one of his licks was met by one of hers, each soft nibble returned in tandem, each stroke gliding and mirroring the velvety motion of her tongue.

She felt like heaven in his arms. Her curvy form molded to his body perfectly. His rock-hard cock leapt against her belly. She gave a hoarse, lusty groan and pressed her breasts firmly against his chest. He could feel the tight little pebbles of her distended nipples graze his skin.

His hands swept under her shirt, and the feel of her bare flesh ignited a deep, carnal need within him. This went beyond lust, beyond desperate sexual desire. He wanted to run his fingertips across every inch of her, and when he finished memorizing every dip, mound and valley, he wanted to do it again. And again and again, until he was sure he'd be able to feel her perfect body beneath his hands even when she wasn't there.

His palms stole down to her buttocks. One hand rested there, along the soft curve of a fleshy cheek, while the other delved between her legs.

A soft nip of his lower lip encouraged his efforts. She kissed him with more delectable female fury, speeding up the strokes of her silky tongue as he massaged the arc of her slit along the seam of her jeans. He started at the back and worked his way to the front of her mons, where he pressed the tip of his thumb against the patch of fabric hiding her clit from his eager touch.

Silvana gasped, fisted her hands in his hair. He flicked the top button of her jeans open and slipped his hand inside.

It was his turn to moan when he realized she wasn't wearing anything beneath the strong fabric of the denim. Moisture slicked the folds of her pussy. He explored along the crevice of her slit, parting the fleshy lips, caressing the entrance to her channel with the tip of his index finger.

Her mewling whimpers came faster now. Louder, but still drowned by the fury of his mouth.

He continued his erotic caress by gently rubbing the hood of her clit with the heel of his palm, then plunging a finger deep inside the tight channel of her wet cunt.

With a sharp cry, she broke the kiss and glanced down to the place where his palm cupped her bare pussy and his finger invaded her tight entrance.

She grabbed his wrist, pulling his hand away from the apex of her thighs. He slid out of her body with a wet pop that made her shudder.

"Come. Upstairs. Now.” Her breathing came out in labored gasps and her voice shook with an intriguing mixture of arousal and uncertainty. “I know what's been happening to you. To us. I know how to save us both."

He'd have gone to the ends of the Earth with her if it meant touching her some more. And if it meant continuing this leisurely exploration of her body and getting answers? He was ready to walk on hot coals and lie down on a bed of nails if that's what she asked of him.

Rafael slipped a finger between his lips and sucked the musky juices of Silvana's arousal off his skin. Her cream had flowed like warm honey down to his knuckle, and he made sure to lick every drop. When he finished, he winked at her. “Lead the way."

Since she was still holding his wrist, he slipped his palm lower until he could properly hold her hand. Thus joined, he and Silvana crossed the street toward the apartment building. The temperature had dropped by a couple of degrees while he'd been out here, and without her body heat seeping into his, Rafael shivered.

"You don't have anything to fear from me,” she whispered, apparently mistaking the tremor for one of apprehension. “I-I won't come."

He stopped in the middle of the road and yanked her toward him. “What? Why not?"

She swallowed hard. “I'm not like other girls, Rafael. I ... I have secrets. There are things about me, you're better off not knowing."

Back in the early nineties, he'd seen The Crying Game with a friend and had been just as scared by the unexpected character revelation as every other guy in that theater. Somehow though, he didn't think Silvana was talking about shocking him with a masculine appendage.

He reached up and brushed his knuckles across the soft skin of her cheek. Her body gave a delicate quiver and Rafael swept an arm around her waist, pulling her close. “You and I are going to do this right. Not like in our dreams. Like two real people who both deserve all the pleasure the other can give. All right?"

"But—"

He pressed a finger to her lips. “But nothing. We met for a reason. We're together for a reason. If it means getting to the bottom of what's happening to me, so much the better. I wouldn't let you go right now for all the restful sleep in the universe."

Her full lips turned upward in a genuine smile that lifted his heart. “You have no idea what you're getting yourself into, do you, Rafael?"

He grinned back. “Not a clue. I just know I wouldn't be anywhere else."

"I'd like to hear you say that again once we get upstairs.” A car careened around the corner of the street, its bright beams glinting off the pavement. Silvana tugged his hand. “Come on."

They walked up the stone steps in silence. When they reached the ground floor and Silvana shut the entry door behind her, she began telling him about her dream. Except she didn't call it that. She referred to it as a memory, a glimpse into the past.

He listened the entire way to the third floor without interrupting, even though he understood little of what she said. The tumultuous ache in his needy cock did nothing to help him focus.

As they rounded the last flight of stairs, Rafael frowned. “Wait a second. An incubus is an evil dream spirit, isn't it?"

She nodded.

"And you're telling me I've got one inside me?” He couldn't hide the skepticism that seeped into his voice. “Seriously?"

"'Fraid so."

"And that also means you expect me to believe those ... myths are real. Right? You're saying evil spirits exist?"

"I'm saying there are creatures in the world that humans have no awareness of. Yes."

"Huh.” He scrubbed a hand over his face. Either he'd gone too long without sleep, or this was all actually making an eerie kind of sense. An evil sex demon infiltrating his brain and his body as he slept could help explain his nighttime adventures. Then again, so could a dozen other things. Like psychosis.