Heart and Soul (22 page)

Her mind, that soft sane little voice, seemed even fainter than normal as it whispered,
Better stop now before it’s too late.

“Let me go, Mal,” she whispered.

“Why?” As he asked, he lowered his mouth to her neck. Her knees quivered and her breath left her lungs in a rush as he bit her lightly. His fangs didn’t break through her skin, just a soft, almost gentle nip that had her craving something more. As he paused at the pulse in her throat, Kelsey had to bite back a moan, but he didn’t do anything more than nuzzle her neck.

She needed more.

A deeper, harder penetration.

“Why, Kelsey?” he asked again. She realized she hadn’t answered his question, and for the life of her, she couldn’t think of a reason why he should let her go. There was one, she was sure of it. She’d come here for a reason.

But she had no clue what it was.

Hell. It was already too late.

Her breasts ached. And she was so damned wet and empty, she wanted to scream.

One big hand tangled in her hair, and Malachi arched her head back, staring into her eyes. He held her gaze as he covered her mouth with his, and Kelsey was helpless to move away. It was as though he held her captive with the power of his eyes and the soft caress of his lips against hers.

Malachi didn’t rush when he was kissing. He showed the lazy, feline grace in kissing as clearly as he did in pretty much damned near everything else. He traced the outline of her lips leisurely, as though he would be perfectly satisfied doing nothing but that for hours and hours. He caught the bottom curve of her lip and bit gently, laving the small hurt with his tongue.

It wasn’t until Kelsey groaned and rose up on her toes, pressing against him, that he took the kiss any deeper. Kelsey felt her knees buckle as he slowly entered her mouth, his tongue tangling with hers in a slow, erotic dance that made a fine sweat break out over her skin.

He tasted—magickal. Kelsey couldn’t think of any other way to describe the spicy, hot male tang that flooded her senses. Against her breasts, she could feel the pounding of his heart, quick and steady. Her own heart skipped a couple of beats as she realized what that fast, steady rhythm meant.

The heartbeat of a vampire was slow. A few beats a minute, or less with the older ones. The only time a vampire had a heartbeat close to that of a human was in times of great emotion. Anger, fear . . .
passion
.

He growled low in his throat, and the deep, rough sound of a hungry man made her knees weak. She squeezed her thighs together in effort to ease the ache in her sex, but it only made it worse. Kelsey slid her hands up his arms, over his shoulders. At the nape of his neck, she grabbed the thong that held his hair confined, and she jerked it free. The thick, deep red strands fell around them like a cloak, and Kelsey fisted her hands in it.

The room started to spin, and Kelsey clung to him, dizzy and lightheaded. But then she realized they were moving. Wrapping one arm around her waist, Malachi had lifted and spun her around, pressing her back against the wall. Hard hands closed around her hips as he lifted her feet from the ground. Automatically, Kelsey wrapped her legs around his waist, her thighs tightening around his hips as he pressed against her.

Kelsey gasped.
Ohhhhh
. . . she moaned, but he swallowed the sound down and all that escaped was a weak whimper. Slow and purposeful, he moved against her, the friction of it dragging the rough denim of her jeans back and forth over her wet folds. The silken material of her panties was wet, so thin, it might as well not even be there. Through the sturdy denim of her jeans she could feel him, the pillar of flesh pulsating and so hard, she already felt bruised from him.

Then he was pulling away. She reached for him, but he caught her hands and urged them down, pressing them back against the wall. He paused, staring down into her eyes for a moment before he let go and reached for the hem of her sweater.

Kelsey held her breath as he stripped it away and then lowered her gaze, watching as he cupped her breasts through the silk of her bra.

Malachi lowered his head, and she shivered a little at the chill of his mouth as he took one nipple between his lips. At the same time, he slid one hand down and cupped her. As he started to grind the heel of his palm lightly against her sex, Kelsey moaned.

It sounded unusually loud, almost echoing in the room. The reality of what she was doing suddenly hit her square between the eyes, and she had to force herself to think beyond the need that pulsed through her veins.

No, but she dreamed of it. Still . . . she reached up, closing a hand over one thick wrist and squeezing. “Malachi, this isn’t what I came for.”

“I don’ care,” he rasped, his brogue so thick she could hardly understand him. “’Tis what we both want.”

He stripped away her bra, his hands moving quicker now. He bent down, capturing one nipple in his mouth, sucking hard and deep. “You’ve no idea how long I have wanted to do this,” he muttered as he pulled back and sank down on his knees in front of her.

Kelsey gave in to the urge to tangle her hands in his hair and tried to pull him closer, but he stayed where he was. Malachi stared at her naked breasts, and the look in his eyes was one of pure, naked desire.

Mal slid a hand up her side, cupping a breast in his hand. It seemed to fascinate him, the sight of his hands on her flesh. The way he focused on her was enough to bring a hot flush to her cheeks. He flicked his thumb over her nipple.

Kelsey felt the touch deep inside.

It set off a burning in her gut, the need to feel more, the need to feel his body pressing against hers as he came inside her, the need to have him feed from her. Using her grip on his hair, she pulled again, and this time, he came closer, nuzzling the valley between her breasts, his palms closing over her waist.

She sank down against him, and Mal shifted, guiding her as he settled back on his heels and brought her down astride him. A ragged gasp escaped her as it brought her into full contact with the steely length between his thighs. He cupped a hand at the back of her head, arching it to the side and exposing her neck.

The scrape of his fangs over her neck sent fire spiraling through her. Her mouth fell open as she gasped, and she squirmed against him, trying to pull him closer. Malachi bit her lightly, but he didn’t break the skin, didn’t bury his fangs in her flesh, didn’t feed.

Instead, he rocked forward and spilled her onto her back, pushing up onto his knees to crouch between her thighs. He laid the palms of his hands low on her thighs as he lifted his gaze to hers. She shivered a little at the look in his eyes. That look went beyond hunger, beyond lust.

“Can’t get nervous now, Kelsey,” Malachi murmured as he stroked his hands up her thighs until his thumbs met in the middle, right over the covered mound of her sex. He pressed down, stroking her clit through the denim, watching with hooded eyes as she arched into his touch with a moan. “Too late for that.”

His hands left her, moving to the waistband of her jeans. Her hips jerked. Denim tore under his hands as he shredded her jeans. He tossed the scraps of denim to the side and sprawled between her thighs, lowering his face to the swatch of bronze silk that spanned her hips and ran between her thighs.

Through the damp cloth, he nuzzled her. She felt the cool kiss of his breath, then the hard, unyielding strength of his fingers as he moved her thong aside and pushed inside her. His tongue stroked against her clit, and she wailed, arching up to meet him.

Silk tore. As the scraps fell to the ground around her hips, he caught her thigh in his hand and lifted it, draping it over his shoulder. Then he spread the folds of her sex open and lowered his head. His tongue pushed inside, and Kelsey screamed.

He alternated between licking her clit and fucking his tongue in and out of her sex, drawing her closer and closer to the peak but backing off just before she came.

Sweat bloomed on her flesh. Malachi’s hard body no longer felt so cool. His breath was hot, and as he lifted his head, staring at her over the length of her body, red flags of color rode high on his cheeks. His eyes glittered, dark and intent.

Malachi shoved onto his knees, reaching for the hem of his shirt. He stripped it away, revealing the hard, muscled lines of his torso. His flesh was pale as snow and flawless. The muscles in his abdomen rippled as he tossed the shirt aside. Kelsey felt her breath lodge in her chest as he reached for the button on his jeans and released it slowly. The rasp of his zipper sounded loud and harsh, almost as loud as her ragged breathing.

He shoved his jeans out of the way and levered his body back over her. She reached down, closing her hand around his cock. The tips of her fingers didn’t quite meet. Unable to keep from watching, she looked down, enthralled by the sight of her hands on him.

Finally . . .
It was the weirdest feeling that passed through her. It was like she had been waiting far too long to touch him. Lifetimes.

She tightened her hand and stroked him from the base to the tip. He felt hard and smooth, like satin stretched over steel. The thick vein running along the underside of his sex throbbed as she caressed him. The heavy length jerked in her hand, and Kelsey lifted her eyes to his as she explored him. With one hand, she pressed against his chest. He acquiesced, pushing away from her and settling back on his heels.

As his hard length moved back, Kelsey sat up. Continuing to stroke him with one hand, she traced the tips of her fingers over his chest, down over the iron muscles in his belly. His chest was smooth, nearly hairless save for a thin little ribbon of russet red that started just below his pecs. It ran down his belly and thickened around his sex.

When she reached the heavy weight of his sac, she closed her fingers over him and squeezed lightly.

Above her, his body tensed. Kelsey lifted her gaze and stared up at him. A hot shiver ran through her, and fire danced through her veins at the look on his face.

The deep blue of his eyes glowed. His fangs were extended, bared and pushing down past his lower lip as he stared at her. He pumped into her hand, once, twice, and then he reached down, closing his hand over her wrist. Reluctantly, Kelsey released him, but Malachi didn’t let go.

Once more, he took her down to her back, this time crushing his body into hers, pinning her hands over her head.

She groaned harshly as he used his knee to spread her legs. Her lashes fluttered down at the feel of him brushing against the slick folds between her thighs. “Look at me,” Malachi muttered. His voice was hoarse, his accent so thick she barely understood him.

It felt like her lids were weighted down, but she forced them open. She’d been dreaming of this for such a long time, and Kelsey wanted to imprint every last detail on her memory.

Their gazes locked as Malachi pushed inside her. The slick, wet glove of her sex was tight around him, and he had to grit his teeth to keep from driving deep and hard. Instead, he sank inside her slowly. But he was halfway inside her when she winced, a harsh gasp escaping her. Her back arched as she tried to pull away.

“No,” he muttered, releasing his grip on her wrists. Malachi slid his arms under hers, cradling her head in his hands. “’Tis too late to stop now, pet. Just relax . . .”

Instead of trying to push inside more, though, he just took her mouth, kissing her slow and deep. As her body relaxed under his, Malachi started to pump against her, slow, shallow thrusts. The tight clench of her pussy eased a little, and he pushed deeper. Her legs came up, her knees hugging his hips. Kelsey wrapped her arms around him, her nails biting into his back.

He slid a hand down her side, over her hip, down the smooth length of her thigh until he could grasp her behind the knee. Breaking away from her mouth, he propped his weight up on his elbow so he could stare down into her face.

Her eyes, normally so sharp and clear, were fogged and unfocused. As he pulled out and sank back in, completely this time, her pupils flared. Her head arched back, exposing the long line of her throat. Hunger tore through him, and he lowered his head, scraping his fangs down the skin.

Kelsey cupped a hand over the back of his head, holding him closer when he tried to draw away. It was tempting, the need to break through that fragile shield of skin and feed from her vein. Instead, he just traced her skin with his tongue, settling for that warm, female taste.

“Do you have any idea how many times I’ve thought about doing this?” he murmured against her neck. In the cradle of her hips, he swiveled against her, smiling as she cried out, bucking under him.

Her sex tightened around him, a convulsive little caress that made his eyes cross from the pleasure of it. He pulled away until just the tip of his cock was inside her. When he drove back in, Kelsey shrieked out his name. He did it again—again—until she started to come around him.

Malachi wanted to wait, planned on riding her through the orgasm. He wanted to take his time and make her come, over and over, until she was too exhausted to take any more. Then he wanted to lay her on a soft, thick mattress and start all over again, slower, exploring her long, lovely pale body and commit it to memory.

But then the scent of her blood filled the air. Lifting his head from her neck, he saw that she had bitten her lower lip. A deep crimson drop of blood welled, and he groaned, lowering his head to lick it away.

As the taste of her flooded his system, Malachi’s control snapped. He almost heard the crack. Fisting a hand in her hair, he jerked her head to the side and struck. His fangs pierced her skin.

At his first full taste of her, two things happened.

His orgasm exploded through him, nearly blowing his cock off as he flooded her depths.