Bewitched on Bourbon Street (17 page)

He stared at it.

“We’re shadow walking. Grab my arm if that makes you more comfortable. It’s the fastest way to a shower and a hot meal.”

After a moment, Ezra finally wrapped his hand around my wrist, creating the connection we needed. With one step, the world twisted into a blur of gray fog. The sensation only lasted a second, and then my feet hit solid ground and the world came back into focus.

Ezra, however, stumbled and fell to one knee upon impact.

“You all right, man?” I asked, pulling him up with one hand.

“Yeah.” He got his feet underneath him quickly and shook me off. “Fine.”

I started up the stairs to my house but stopped mid-step and glanced back at Ezra. “You coming?”

He shook his head and started off down the street.

“Hey,” I called. “We still need to talk about your visit with that demon.”

“I’ll be in touch,” he said without looking back.

I briefly thought about stopping him, forcing him to come into the house to finish that conversation, but the fatigue plaguing me, and the desire to be alone with Jade was far too great. Chessandra and her demon bullshit could wait.

I climbed the last two steps onto the porch and swore, realizing I didn’t have a house key. All my personal items were somewhere in the Brotherhood compound. I reached for the door handle on the off chance the door had been left unlocked, but before my fingers closed over the smooth metal, the door swung open, and Jade stood in the threshold, a huge smile on her face.

“You’re home!” she cried and launched herself at me.

I caught her, barely keeping from stumbling off the porch. Her legs wrapped around my waist, and as our lips met, I carried her back into the house, kicking the door shut behind us.

Chapter 18

Jade

Kane carried me straight to the bedroom, not breaking his stride once. His mouth was on me, devouring me with rough, insistent demands. A rush of heat sizzled between us as I met his fervor with one of my own, biting, tasting, and claiming him as mine. My entire body hummed with desire while simultaneously melting into him.

He stopped in the middle of our room, turned and sat on the bed with me straddling him. The need in his expression took my breath away. It was raw and powerful and touched me deep in my soul.

“Kane,” I whispered.

He met my eyes for just a moment and then tightened his arms around me, kissing me slowly, deliberately, taking his time to savor the love consuming us both.

Burying one hand in his thick hair, I cupped his cheek with the other and pulled back, breathless. “Hey, you.”

His lips twitched into a ghost of a smile. “Hey.”

I kissed the corner of his mouth and whispered, “Where’ve you been?”

His rich chocolate-brown eyes darkened and the smile vanished. “Demon fights and a disagreement with Maximus. A lot of bullshit.” Reaching up, he ran his fingers through my hair, studying me. “I’m sorry I was gone so long.”

I shook my head. “You had a job to do.”

“Yeah.” The word was clipped, and resentment filled him. Because we were so connected, we both tensed. It was almost impossible for me to block out his emotions. He must’ve felt me stiffen, because he took a deliberate breath and let it out slowly. “Sorry,” he said again. “There are things you need to know, but right now all I want is you.”

The tenderness in his voice had me melting all over again. And the way his fingers were digging into my waist as if he never wanted to let go told me he really needed me at that moment. Not just physically but emotionally.

“It’s okay. I have things to tell you, too.”

He nodded once and then trailed his fingers down my neck, sending goose bumps rippling over my skin. “You’re so beautiful.”

I chuckled. “At five a.m. after I’ve been lying awake all night? Not likely.”

When I’d gotten home after the calling at the lake and saw Kane still hadn’t been home and that he hadn’t called, I’d lain in bed staring at the ceiling, imagining the worst. At one point, sleep had been so elusive, I’d gotten up and made a cup of hot cocoa just for something to do. The full cup was still sitting on the nightstand.

“You’re always beautiful, but right now, with your mussed hair and bright eyes, you’re the most gorgeous thing I’ve ever seen.” He ran his other hand up my bare arm to my shoulder and traced two fingers over my collarbone.

His light touch sent a delicious shiver over my skin, and I stretched my head to the side, giving him full access, ready to purr like a kitten. “That feels amazing.”

“Yeah? How about this?” He leaned in and sucked my lower lip between his teeth, nibbling gently.

“Mmm,” I moaned, heat shooting to my center. Pressing into him, I smiled when I felt him harden beneath me. We hadn’t even been apart more than twenty-four hours, but so much had happened, it felt like days.

“I need you, Jade,” Kane said, his voice a hoarse whisper. One hand moved to my upper thigh, his fingers digging into my flesh. He pulled back, staring at me with a pained expression. “I’m not going to be able to control myself.”

That delicious heat spread everywhere, lighting my entire body on fire. God, I wanted him. Wild and on the edge of sanity, lost in the magic that bound us together. But reality crashed around me. The curse. My mind warred with my body’s desire to ignore everything around us. To give him everything I knew he needed. I took a deep breath, clearing the lust haze. “Right now, that’s the last thing I want you to do—”

He stood abruptly, almost knocking me on my ass, but caught me just in time and held me at arm’s length. “Don’t say that to me right now.”

I swallowed the sexual frustration threatening to consume me, and in a soft voice said, “If you’d have let me finish, I was going to say that there are other things we can do. Things that won’t result in pregnancy.”

“You’re sure?” His gaze searched mine. We both knew the suggestion wasn’t ideal. Magic passed between us more easily and with more control when we were fully joined in the act of love, but this was hardly a sacrifice. I wanted him in any way I could have him.

“I’m sure,” I said, my voice full of desire. “I want you, your hands, your lips, your mouth everywhere.”

The tight expression on his face vanished, replaced by sultry determination shining back at me through his slightly narrowed eyes. He dropped his hold on me. “Show me, Jade. Where do you want my tongue first?”

His words touched that primal spot deep inside me, making everything tingle. My brain disconnected, and all I saw was my beautiful Kane standing before me, impatient with need.

My mouth went dry, and my nipples tightened.

He took a step forward and brushed his thumb over my cheek, and whispered, “I’m waiting.”

I smiled, my heart squeezing from the love shining back at me. And then I reached down and pulled the cotton sleep shirt off, leaving me completely bare. Taking a step back, I trailed my fingers over my hip and up until I was cupping my breast. If he wanted to know what I needed, he was getting a full demonstration.

Using my thumb and forefinger, I gently squeezed my already taut nipple. Delicious pain rippled through me straight to my core, and I let out a tiny gasp of pleasure.

Intense need shot from Kane and straight into me, lighting a fire inside me so fierce I felt as if I were burning alive. Every nerve was so sensitive that I feared one touch would set me off.

“Tell me, Jade,” Kane coaxed again. “What do you want me to do to you?”

Still pinching my nipple, I glanced down. “I want you to scrape your teeth over me right here until I gasp and shudder.”

His eyes focused on my breast as he watched me tease myself.

“And then I want you to bite me.”

“Oh, son of a…” Kane raised his heated gaze and took a half step toward me but then stopped himself. Balling his hand into a fist, he said, “And after that?”

Damn, he had control. Deserved a medal. I flattened my other hand across my belly and slowly inched my way down.

His breath quickened.

Bypassing my center, my fingers teased my inner thigh. “I want to be kissed here.”

“Just there?”

I shook my head and moved my hand up until one finger found my slick heat. My muscles quivered from my touch, and as I imagined him taking over, a moan escaped my parted lips.

“Say it, Jade,” Kane whispered.

“I want your tongue here.”

He moved in close, his hot body brushing up against mine. The hard lines of his muscles sent ripples of unending yearning through my entire body, and I fought to not arch into him. “And once I’m done making you come with my mouth? Then what, love?”

I reached down and slid my hand into his pants, palming his thick length. I wrapped my fingers around him, caressing his velvety flesh. “Then…” I kissed my way up his neck, pausing to dart my tongue over his rapidly beating pulse. “Then, Kane, it’s your turn. I’m going to take you deep into my mouth, torture you with my tongue, and make you forget your own name.”

His shaft quivered under my touch, his breathing ragged and hot against my skin.

“That is, if you can last that long,” I teased.

A low growl emanated from him as he grabbed me and flipped me onto my back on the bed. He hovered over me, his knee between my thighs, me completely naked while he was still fully clothed.

I felt wicked in the best possible way, ready for him to devour me, to possess me. To make me feel intensely, to know deep in my soul that I belonged to him and only him.

He lowered his mouth, stopping inches from mine, and whispered, “I’m going to show you exactly how thoroughly a man can love you.”

Shivers took over my body, and I trembled beneath him.

He nibbled on my lower lip and pulled away. “Cold?”

I smiled and shook my head.

“That’s what I thought.” Then he lowered his head to my neck and kissed his way down to the swell of my breast.

I sucked in a sharp breath, anticipating his next move.

He chuckled against my skin and cupped my breasts, feeling the weight of them in his hands before moving down my body, alternately flicking his tongue and nipping my sensitive flesh. “You’re burning up,” he said hungrily and before I could answer, he clasped his teeth around one nipple, while using his fingers to pinch the other. Pleasure and sweet pain intertwined, and I arched, pushing myself against his mouth, demanding he give me more.

He answered by biting harder.

And in that moment, my magic flared to life and formed a connection with Kane. Everywhere he touched me, magic sparked between us, sending tiny shocks over my skin. It was a sensation unlike anything I’d ever felt. Delicate and yet a whisper of power. A force that could consume us both if I let it.

“There it is,” Kane said huskily as he ran his hand down the center of my chest, sending those sparks over both of us. His lust-filled eyes met mine, and I swear I saw the magic dancing there in his heated gaze.

“Kiss me,” I said.

He didn’t hesitate. His lips claimed mine, and we ravaged each other, hands everywhere. And before I knew it, he was working his way down my body and had his mouth on my center. His first taste made me jerk my hips, begging for more.

He lifted his head, staring me in the eye. “While I’m torturing you, I want you to imagine me burying myself inside you, claiming you with each and every torturous thrust.”

“Oh, God,” I said, closing my eyes against the storm rolling through my center.

“Imagine me taking you hard and fast and deep.”

“Kane,” I begged, my body nearly convulsing just from his words. “Please.”

“You’re mine, Jade.” He dipped his head, licking, sucking, and tasting. Everything pulsed. I was drowning in sensation, losing myself as I came totally undone, my magic sparking out of control around us in the form of tiny bolts of light. And then he shifted, and his fingers thrust up into me, making good on his promise to take me hard and deep.

My body tensed, and I cried out, waves of ecstasy crashing through me, leaving me boneless and completely satisfied.

I lay there, soft and pliable, as he repositioned himself and rested his head on my stomach. “You’re gorgeous when you come.”

I couldn’t help my pleased smile and felt the flush claiming my cheeks. “You’re gorgeous when making me come.”

His hand tightened around my thigh, and it was then I snapped out of my postorgasm haze and felt the intoxicating sexual tension still streaming from him. He was barely holding on, nearly going crazy from lack of release.

“Kane?” I said.

“Yes, love?” he mumbled against my hip between heated kisses.

“It’s your turn.”

He stilled and glanced up at me, hunger consuming his expression.

I sat up, crooking my finger in a silent demand.

Kane’s eyes gleamed as he pushed himself up and kneeled before me on the bed. He ran one hand down my bare arm, the heat of his touch igniting something primal within me.

I grabbed at his T-shirt and roughly pulled it off, breaking our eye contact for just a moment. There was so much emotion there, showing so much more than just his physical desire. Love, trust, vulnerability. My heart swelled.

But when his hands reached for me and connected with my skin again, his desire slammed into me once more, and I gave myself over to it. I reached for his pants, sliding them over his hips.

He quickly discarded them and then rolled onto his back on the bed, taking me with him. I lay on top of him, kissing him with all the welled-up passion pulsing between us.

“Jade,” Kane said in a strangled voice. “I need you to touch me.”

A devilish smiled claimed my lips as I trailed my hand down his side and moved to wrap my fingers around his pulsing shaft. “Like this?”

“God, yes.” He closed his eyes and pressed his head back into the pillow, thrusting his hips up against my touch. The muscles in his neck strained with his will to control himself. How he’d lasted this long was a mystery to me.

“Just relax.” I pressed quick, hot kisses against his chest, moving lower and lower, until I felt the angry red scars marring his abdomen. I stopped abruptly and jerked my head up. “Kane?”