CONCEPTION (The Others) (29 page)

He reached out, placing his finger at the top of her labia,
dead middle of the hoop, centering it over her clitoris. She shuddered and her
whole body went stiff as a board. “Do not come.”

“I have to.” It was almost a wail.

“No.”

Her glare was pure frustration. He ignored it. He palmed the
pad of her vulva, massaging the heel of his hand into the slick prod of her
clitoris. Edie whimpered and shook, but didn’t fall.

“Deuce…”

“Not yet.”

Her vagina fluttered helplessly as he traced the opening
with his index finger. Once, twice, he circled, drawing her need, focusing her
attention before he nudged the opening. Her hips dropped. Her moan projected
outward, flowing through his mind with addictive pleasure. “Yes. Show me your
delight.”

The ring of muscle kissed his finger in a tiny clench and
release. He rimmed her vagina again, tempting more cream from her body, more
moans from her throat and another kiss from her hot channel. He eased his
finger inside, biting back his own moan as her heat surrounded him. He pushed
in farther. She cried out and her muscles clamped down with everything they
had.

The Maker! She was tight. Incredibly tight, and her muscles
strong. If he took her now he’d be lucky if he did not come on the first
stroke.

“Do that again, little one. Let me feel your power.” She
did, another broken whimper gouging at his control. “Can you take more without
coming?”

She shook her head no. “I think so.”

The contradiction made him smile. “What part are you not
sure about? Taking more or coming?”

“Coming.” She arched her hips a fraction higher, her thighs
trembling with the effort. “I can’t tell that part.”

He blinked and looked at her. “You cannot tell if you are
going to come?” She shook her head, her pussy clenching and releasing on his
finger in pre-orgasmic entreaty.

“How could I? I’ve only done it with you.”

It was inconceivable. His Edie was a woman of passion and
heat. Accepting pleasure should be as natural as breathing for her. He kept his
finger in her and brushed his thumb over her clit. “You had never come before I
loved you, not even by your own hand?”

She
could not blush any brighter without exploding into flames. “You saw my
grandfather’s house. There were video cameras everywhere. Even in the
bathrooms.”

He
had not realized the surveillance went to private areas.

“He
was obsessed that I keep myself pure.”

“For me.” He had not meant to say that last aloud. More
evidence of how she affected his control.

Her hips stilled. “Yes. Apparently, you Chosen are picky.”

“When it comes to our mates, yes.”

He could feel the resentment surge in front of her desire.
“Quite the double standard you have there.”

“It matters not who comes before—but after—you are mine.”

The desire that had been raging in her body now hummed at a
low level. He eased his finger out of her pussy, giving it a reluctant little
pat. “Relax.”

Her hips went down but her head popped up. “I’m sorry.”

“For what?” He circled her belly button with his index
finger, waiting for her answer. Her stomach fluttered as her breath sucked in.
He glanced up. She stared back at him from the bed, her torso propped up on her
elbows, her small pink nipples still peaked, her breathing still labored and
her eyes full of regret. “I go crazy thinking about all the women you’ve
known.”

He cupped her breast in his hand as he knelt on the bed over
her. “I cannot change the past. I can only promise for the future.”

Her lower lip slipped between her teeth. Her gaze ducked his
as her fingers drew into a fist. “I don’t know enough to compete.”

He pinched her nipples between his fingers, compelling her
gaze to his. Her breath squeaked off to a gasp. She jumped, her flush slowly
dying away, the residual heat tempting him to taste the rich blood that
lingered on the surface. “This is a mating, not a competition.”

Despite his reassurance, she did not look at him. “What if
I’m a dud?”

Other women would have whispered the fear. Edie threw it out
like a challenge. Deuce opened his fingers on her breasts, cupping the softness
in his palms, unsure how to address her insecurity. No other woman had the power
over him that she did. No other woman could match her importance, yet she saw
herself with human eyes. As one of a crowd when in reality, she was the center
of his universe.

“You are the other half to my soul. My match in all things.
There is no failure between us.”

Her nipples were small in his grip, but sensitive. Very,
very sensitive. He rubbed them lightly while she struggled for her voice. “If
I’m not doing something right, do you promise to tell me?

“Yes.” The promise was easily made as it was natural for him
to give orders, in and out of bed. “Now may we proceed?”

This time she did meet his gaze, bravado almost but not
quite, masking her fear. “Yes.”

He slid his hands up the sides of her soft breasts until his
fingers snuggled under her arms. He lifted her up. She grasped his shoulders as
he lay her down on the pillows. She lay there all pink and white, innocence and
heat, tempting his beast to roar. He beat it back. This was her night of
fantasy. He would not disappoint her. He came down over her, sheltering her
body under his. “Put your arms around my neck.”

Her arms were soft, her body softer, calling softness from
him that he hadn’t known he possessed. He kissed her lips, running his tongue
along the parted seam. Every bulge, every crevice was a miracle, luring him to
explore further. His hair fell around her face, obscuring the light. He could
see easily, but she squinted, trying to make out his face. Her tongue came out
to touch his, coaxing, teasing. He granted her request, slipping into her mouth,
exploring leisurely, slowing the pace, calming her passion. She was too
impatient, seeming not to know there was pleasure in the journey. He wanted her
to experience the journey.

He cradled her head in his hand, kissing her cheek, the end of
her nose, her lips. “You please me, my heart.”

“I haven’t done anything.”

“You gave me happiness, gave me my life, a child, and now
you give me yourself.” He shook his head, so amazed that she could not see the
truth. “The statement would be better phrased as ‘What have you not given me?’”

Her fingers wrapped around his wrist. Her eyes met
his—determination where there had been shyness. “I’d rather give you the best
night of your life.”

“You already have.”

“Not the way I want.” She bit her lip and her voice filled
with the determination he could see in her face. “Tell me how to make it good
for you.”

He turned his head and kissed her palm. “You will not worry
about this tonight.”

“What if I want to?”

“Then your pleasure will wait on mine.”

She didn’t give him the argument he expected. Instead, she
pushed his hair behind his shoulders. Her blue eyes searched his face as if
memorizing his features one by one. “But later you will show me?”

“Yes. But now I will show you how a Chosen man makes love to
his mate the first time.”

“Dare I hope that’s fast?”

The element of hope in her voice made him smile. He
discouraged it with the shake of his head. “Slowly. Very slowly.”

She let go of his hair and fell back on the pillows. “You’re
just determined to torture me, aren’t you?”

He nibbled on the side of her neck, lingering on her faster
than normal pulse, tasting the banked promise of her passion. “Yes.”

She threw her arms wide. “Then do your worst.”

He shook his head and chuckled through his passion. She was
such an intriguing combination of play and seriousness. He captured her wrists
in his hands, pinning them to the bed. Her eyes popped wide open, inspiring
another chuckle. “I like you like this.”

“You would.” She tugged at his hold, her efforts
insubstantial against his greater strength.

“It is good you are beginning to understand me.”

“I don’t think I’ll ever understand you.”

He traced the “u” where her collarbones met with his tongue.
“You have but to open your mind.”

“So not happening, Deuce.”

“It will be my pleasure to teach you.” He stretched her arms
wider, arching her torso up. The point of her nipple brushed his chin. He
ducked his head, capturing the small point. Her cry was the sweetest music.
Almost as sweet as the way her nipple melted on his tongue and her breathless
moan caressed his ears.

Eden tugged at her wrists again. Deuce didn’t let go, just
held her hostage to his pleasure, taking as much of her breast as he could,
sucking gently, then harder as she thrashed beneath him. He slipped his thigh
between hers, drawing his knee up until it grazed her pussy. She shuddered and
wiggled down. He gave her what she wanted. More suction, more pressure, his
cock jerking in an agony of its own, wanting the warm nest he could sense
opening for him.

She bucked under him. “Oh God, Deuce. I need you.”

He released her breast. “What do you need?”

She arched her back, her nipple prodding his lips. “I need
you in me.”

“What part of me?” he asked, letting the words shape the
caress of his mouth.

“You know.”

Her shyness was sweet, but he wanted a woman in his bed.
“No, I do not.”

“Do you need me to beg?”

“Yes.” He nudged her with his knee. “Let me hear how much
you need me.”

She sobbed and ground down with her hips. “I need your cock,
all right? I need it in me now.”

He had not thought she would say it, but he should have
known better. His Edie was a woman determined to go after what she wanted.
Inside he smiled. It was good she wanted him.

“Then you shall have it.” He nipped her nipple sharply,
absorbing her start with his torso, enjoying the hard clench of her pussy
against his thigh. “When I come inside you, I want you to do that again.”

She hesitated before nodding. He slid his other knee between
hers. “That is all I want you to do.”

He levered his cock to the top of her cleft, teasing himself
with the brush of the joining ring, the solid proof that she was his. “Do not
move, do not help, just concentrate on how it feels when you accept your mate
for the first time.” Her eyes darkened as his cock slid down the slick crease,
nestling with precision into the well of her opening. Her pupils dilated as he
pressed in, panic mixing with desire. “Be easy, mate.”

Her whimper broke off in a gasp as the broad head eased her
open. Her respirations shortened to pants. Her muscles tightened. Deuce drew a
hard breath and halted his forward movement. He caught her face in his hands,
brushing his thumbs against the corners of her closed eyes. “Look at me.”

She blinked and lifted her lids halfway, more of her
attention focused inward than outward.

“I will not let you hurt, Edie.”

Her teeth sank into her lower lip as she nodded, every
muscle pulling tight. He sighed and ran his tongue along the smooth surface,
tracing the edges, her small squeak as he stroked under her upper lip bringing
a smile to his face. “If you believe this, why do you tense?”

“You’re so big.” Her lower lip went back between her teeth.

“Which will only bring you pleasure.” He kissed his way to
the corner of her mouth—easy, gentle kisses designed to lower her defenses. He
feathered his tongue in the tiny crease between her lip and cheek. She gasped
again. Her lower lip popped free. He caught it between his, sucking it into his
mouth, seducing her past her anxiety with a gentle suction. “I will not turn
into a beast because you give yourself to me.”

He levered himself over her, kissing her lips gently while
everything inside urged him to plunge into that hot, willing channel with all
the hunger clawing at his control.

Her “What if I turn into one?” pulled him up short. He
leaned back to better see her expression. “This is your fear?”

“Among others.” Her fingers on his chin were shy, delicate
and very welcome. “I really don’t think you have any idea how crazy you make
me.”

He snuggled his cock a little deeper into her, stopping the
minute she tensed, taking the edge off her awareness. “You could show me.”

Red color flooded her face. The heat in her chest and cheeks
drew his lips. “No way in hell.”

“Your swearing is not acceptable,” he whispered against the
curve of her cheek. He switched her hands to one of his, smiling when she
blinked at the speed of the maneuver. Her back arched naturally with the
pressure, presenting her breasts for his delectation. He opened his fingers,
stretching them out to encompass her fullness into the cradle of his palm,
following her back as she sank into the mattress, sliding his fingers up until
they encompassed her nipple. He pinched it lightly. Her cry whipped past his
ear as he ordered, “You will cease to do so.”

Her breath sucked in on a retort. He caught her earlobe in
his teeth, biting down slowly, gently. Her breath hissed out on a sigh of
bliss.

“Can you feel yourself opening for me?” he whispered in her
ear, encouraging her muscles to spread farther with a steady pressure. She nodded.
“Does it feel good?”

“Scary,” she gasped. “You’re too big.”

He shook his head at her foolishness. “You will come to
appreciate it.”

He nudged forward. Her body tightened on him as if to
resist, but her strength was nothing compared to his, and on his next bite, the
tight ring of her vagina closed behind the head of his cock.

“Oh God.” She tried to move. He held her down with the
weight of his body, easing her stress with a thought, taking the pain of the
stretching into himself, needing a break as he assimilated the feminine
distress into his own raging need.

“Be easy, mate.” He pulled her arms a little farther up,
feeling the spike of her desire with the increased restraint. “Let yourself
feel me.”