Black Dalliances (A Blushing Death Novel) (8 page)

“I guess I’m just not used to it,” I answered in a raspy, fatigued voice. I was trying to control the rapid thump of my heart and failing miserably.

“Hmmm,” Dean groaned in agreement. His eyes traveled down my exposed neck to the waterline and the bubbles floating on the surface across my clavicle. Glancing down at my shoulders, the remaining bubbles barely kept me concealed beneath the soft, white foam.

“Was there something you needed?” I asked, only a slight quiver of anticipation snaking through my voice.

“You know,” he said, a contented smile cresting his very kissable mouth and lighting his eyes in mischief. “I don’t remember.”

“Don’t remember, huh?” I asked.

Hot scorching power pulsed in the tiny room. His heat, his need, and his dominance caressed my skin. My own need tingled between my thighs and puckered my nipples beneath the water, making my breasts feel incredibly heavy and very, very sensitive.

“You look tense,” he said as his eyes grazed across my bare skin.

Taking a step forward, then another, he closed the distance between us. Water rippled against me in soft waves as my chest heaved with each heavy breath of anticipation I took. The soft caress of water against my hardened nipple sent shockwaves of sensation to my core and I bit my bottom lip to keep from begging him to touch me.

Please, don’t touch me. If you touch me, I’ll be undone.

The Eithina in the back of my mind was screaming, begging,
Touch us! Touch us
! Which wasn’t helping my resolve.

He perched on the edge of the tub, leaning his back against the wall by my head. Dipping his fingers into the water, he tested the temperature. “It’s cooling off,” he growled low in his chest but his voice seemed to fill the room with the heat of his power. The chill of the water juxtaposed against the heat of my skin was almost palpable.

He reached over and turned on the hot water, flexing his biceps as he stretched across me. Biting my bottom lip between my teeth, I sank my hands underneath my butt to keep from reaching out and touching him or myself.

Touch him. Ours.

The hot water was like a jolt at my feet, and I slid my feet back from the end of the tub. My knees crested the surface of the water, and Dean turned his head a fraction of an inch over his shoulder to watch the water sluice down my bare legs. Vibrant Caribbean blue eyes lifted to meet my gaze with a hungry expression that made my toes curl.

Dear God, help me.

Trailing his fingers through the water and over the skin of my leg, I shivered all over, even in the warmer water. I fought to keep my eyes from fluttering in lust. His light touch made my focus hazy as heat pooled low in my body and my muscles tightened all over as his strong fingers trailed delicate lines of heat over my skin as if dragging hot coals over me.

“Tre,” I whispered, pleading.

“Let me work the tension out of your shoulders,” he growled, a smile curling his lips in a predatory grin.

His strong fingers dug into my flesh, rubbing deep circles into my muscles. I was jelly in his hands as his thumbs caressed the back of my neck and up into my hairline in steady, deep circles. I relaxed into his touch as his fingers trailed, light and sensual, over my clavicle. With each passing stroke, his fingers caressed further down the front of my body.

The tip of his finger brushed my nipple in a quick graze, sending heat shooting through my body and I bucked, arching my back to keep his hands on my sensitive flesh. His hands were large but gentle as they sank beneath the waterline a second time and cupped the tender flesh of my breasts. Filling his hand and swiping a thumb across the hard bud, a growl of need rumbled through him that made me quiver. A satisfied moan filled the bathroom, and as I opened my eyes and met his hungry gaze, I realized the moan had come from me. Bath water dampened the scent of my arousal but Dean had had all the invitation he needed.

Plucking me from the water, he held me against him. My wet body soaked through his clothes and my head hovered just above his as he clutched me against his hard, muscular frame. The hard length of his desire pressed through his jeans and against my naked thigh. Staring down into his Caribbean blue eyes, I saw his need, his hunger, and his raw emotions play across his chiseled face.

I wrapped my legs around his waist. Rubbing my heat against him, I searched for the friction I knew would send me over the edge. My naked sex settled against his midsection, I had no way to hide how much I wanted him. Even I could smell my desire perfuming the room.

“Baby, I’m sorry. Wanted to wait. Tried to wait,” he apologized in an agonized growl as he gripped me tighter.

I shut him up, pressing my mouth softly against his, moving my lips against the warm, full caress that had haunted my dreams for months. I didn’t want to hear apologies. I wanted to feel loved, for him to know how much I loved him.

I slid my tongue past his lips, devouring the salt of his kiss. Stroking the top of his bald head with my hand, I caressed the smooth warmth of his skin with trembling fingers. He licked the inside of my mouth with a hunger I craved, tasting me like I was candy. His hand slid down my wet back and cupped my ass, grinding his body into mine.

Turning, he set me down on the counter. The granite surface was cold against my ass but I didn’t care. He was warm enough for the both of us and I just wanted to touch him.

I tugged at his T-shirt until it was bunched around his armpits. Releasing me long enough so I could yank his shirt over his head, he growled again as I tossed it across the room. Running my fingers down the front of his body, I ate every sensation, each muscle that rippled beneath my fingers, each short, panting breath he took, and each glance of bright blue hungry eyes as he watched me touch him. His chest was tanned, a wonderful deep brown, reminding me of a
burnt sugar
. Compared to my pale slender fingers, his skin was incredibly dark. Muscles twitched and quivered beneath my pale fingertips as I stroked the length of his body.

His hands traced a mirrored path up the curves of my body until he cupped my breasts, lifting the weight in his palms with devious thumbs tracing across my hard nipples. Throwing my head back, I groaned. I couldn’t believe how good he felt and how much his hands on me felt right as I cradled his large body between my thighs.

Leaning down, he flicked his tongue across my nipple in a long lecherous taste, sucking the water from my skin. My knees tightened around his hips as he made a second and third pass, laving my nipple. He slid his hand up my back and neck, touching every inch of me as he took the clip from my hair. Damp tendrils tumbled down, falling over my shoulders. He sank his hand into the freed strands, letting them fall through his fingers in silky waves as he suckled me.

I couldn’t stop touching him. His skin, warm and soft under my hands. He was
mine
.
Ours.
The Eithina inside of me wanted to claim him as
mate
but the woman in me just wanted him to love me.

“Dahlia.” His voice was so soft that the word tickled against my skin.

His hot breath caressed and turned my gut into a fluttering of butterflies at the promise in that one tiny word. Glancing up to meet his gaze, I saw something I hadn’t expected. Panic.

With his furrowed brow, the expression of uncertainty staring back at me didn’t belong on his face. I’d never seen him uncertain of anything. He was always so confident and sure, and that furrowed brow gave me pause.

“It’s been a while,” he admitted.

I wanted to laugh from the shear ridiculousness of his statement but couldn’t. This big, strong man in front of me was scared. It was my job to protect him and his to protect me.

Trailing my fingers over his sleek bald head, past his ears and over his strong jaw line, I touched him. A tremor ran through him and vibrated up my fingers with each caress. His heart pounded in his chest as my hands stretched over his thick neck. Something about the anxiety I saw on his face made my nipples rock hard to the point of pain, my breasts heavy, and my womanhood burn with yearning. I made this beast of a man nervous.

I hopped off the counter, taking his large hand in mine and led him out of the bathroom to the very large California King bed Jade had helped me set up and make. A mountain of soft fluffy pillows crowded the headboard making the whole thing seem softer like marshmallow fluff. Turning the air-conditioning on as I strode by, I shoved aside the heavy down comforter on the bed.

I turned him, pressing the edge of the mattress against the back of his thighs. Releasing his hand, I reached for his jeans with trembling fingers and tugged at the waist band until I had a firm grip on the button. It took every snippet of control I had to not rip his clothes off and have hot dirty sex right there. But something inside of me told me I had to slow down. This was more than lust and desire. We were more than the heat between us. Repositioning my fingers on the waist of his jeans, I realized he wasn’t wearing anything beneath them.
Sweet Jesus! Thank you!

“Don’t worry,” I muttered with a mischievous grin lighting my face, “I won’t bite. Not this time anyway.”

A hungry growl rumbled deep in his chest as his hands grasped my hips, fingers digging into my flesh. Kissing a path down his hard chest, I licked and tasted the salt from his skin. The dark trail of hair across his belly, a patch of sin from his naval south, was too tempting to ignore.

His hands trailed a light path down my arms, brushing the outside swell of my breasts. A fiery yearning spread across my skin and I couldn’t stop myself. Ripping the button from his jeans with supernatural strength, I shimmied the denim down his slender hips, exposing him in all his delicious glory as he sprung free.

As I wrapped my hand around his girth in a slow windmill of fingers, he gasped with heavy-lidded eyes. His body shivered in response and his gaze darkened. Strong, thick fingers tightened around my biceps and with a groan, he threw his head back. I dropped to my knees, breathing heavily across the silken skin of his cock.

“You don’t have to do this,” he gritted as if it was a chore.

I had to squelch that idea real quick.

“I beg to differ,” I said in a sultry voice. Taking a long leisurely lick up the length of his shaft, I slipped my lips over his salty tip. He shuttered in my grasp as I licked him and rolled him around my mouth like a lollypop. Sliding my lips over him, I tasted every single salty inch of him and moaned at the sheer ecstasy of having him at my mercy.

His fingers laced through my hair, grabbing a chunk as his eyes peered down the length of his body at me on my knees at his feet. I opened my throat, taking as much of him in my mouth as I could, sliding my hand along his length as I devoured him. His cock pressed against the back of my throat and I slid back, licking a line up the vein of his shaft.

“Ah, baby,” he groaned in a tortured breath. “If you don’t stop that, I’m gonna come,” he growled, his eyes that lovely shade of blue.

I licked him one last time and backed away with my hand still wrapped around his erection.

“Well, we don’t want that. Not yet, anyway.” A grin filled with promise stretched across my face. I stood, skimming my hand up his chiseled chest as I got to my feet. His muscles twitched and flexed beneath my fingers, and my body heated as he stared at me, watching the flush make my skin pink. This wasn’t a time to be embarrassed. I shoved him down on the bed, not giving him the chance to feel anything but anticipation and pleasure.

He reached out, stroking a tantalizing caress up the back of my thighs and leaned in to place a soft kiss on my stomach. I pushed his shoulders back, crawling on the bed one knee at a time. Placing my hands on his chest, I pressed into him until I lay flat against his sprawled body. I straddled his groin, hovering over him with my heat millimeters from his thick, hard cock. The pulse of his arousal beat against my sex in time with his heart and my body tightened in response. Positioning myself above him, the tip of his cock pressed against my slick sex.

It took everything in me to hold myself there above him and not just push down, slide over him. I wanted him inside me, to be mine in a way he wasn’t yet. I wanted to be his in every way. Dean’s hands clutched at my hips, holding me steady as he ground against me.

“Dahlia?” he whispered.

Staring down at his bright blue eyes, I saw a question in his gaze.

“I love you, Tre,” I said, my voice clear and steady. I didn’t hesitate as I lowered myself over him, thrusting him deep until I thought I’d never been so full. “Oh God,” I moaned as I slid down the length of his hot, silk-covered hardness.

“Baby, you’re so tight,” he groaned, digging his fingers into my hips as his eyes rolled back in his head.

With a wicked grin curling the corner of my mouth, I rocked back and forth over him in an agonizingly slow rhythm. Pleasure rippled through me with each pass of my pelvis grinding against his. I pressed my hands down against his firm chest, balancing as I moved. Dragging him out and then thrusting him back in. Pressure built along the walls of my sex as he stroked my insides, hitting my sweet spot again and again. I threw my head back and tried to breathe through it, not to rush, but it was as if my lungs couldn’t fill up fast enough as the heat of his power and body burned my insides.

“Oh God, Tre,” I moaned as my hips rode him harder and faster.

“Come on, baby. Come for me,” he groaned. His hands pushed and pulled my hips against him, rubbing my core against his hot skin and hard length until I couldn’t catch my breath.

An explosion of sensation rippled upward, my body a collection of raw nerves and sizzling synapses as I shattered around him. Pleasure coursed through me and all the tension I’d been carrying eased as I went boneless in his grasp, quivering and melting above him. For a moment, I went completely still as a pleasurable tingle ran down my thighs all the way to my toes.

Collapsing onto his chest, I fought to catch my breath. I couldn’t have moved to save my life, even if something was chasing me.

Taking my face in his hands, Dean crushed his mouth against mine in hungry possession then smoothed his hands down my back and rolled, sliding me under the heavy weight of his body. His warmth blanketed me as he embraced me. Brushing my hair from my face, he stared down into my eyes.

“Your eyes are silver,” he said, a smile of contentedness curling his lips.

“You got a problem with that?” I laughed.

“Nope.” Pushing up from the bed, he withdrew from me as far as he could without leaving my warmth. “You’re mine, in this form or any other. My Eithina,” he growled, thrusting once more into me.