How to Worship a Goddess (7 page)

Her tone sounded flippant but her expression showed a fierce yearning. She missed those days. Couldn't say he blamed her.

“I could be a ruthless bitch to those who crossed me.” Her smile turned impish, making his body burn with a sudden, fierce heat. “But I was good to those who worshipped me. I had quite a following at one time.”

Yeah, he didn't have to stretch his imagination to believe that. Hell, he'd follow her anywhere. And maybe do a little worshiping himself. Which was just so totally fucking weird.

“Brandon?”

He loved the way she always called him by his given name. Hell if he knew why. “Yeah?”

Damn but her smile tied his guts in knots. “Do you have other questions?”

Oh, hell, yeah. He wanted to know everything. He had so many questions, he couldn't begin to formulate just one. They all jumbled together in his head until the noise was too great.

She must have sensed his confusion because she went quiet, still. As if she was afraid to make any sudden movements around him.

Christ, he didn't want to scare her. He'd never hurt her. He didn't want her to worry. He wanted her to— Well, he just wanted her.

Need for her clawed at his guts, made his cock hard and his mouth dry.

“Brandon.”

“I don't even know where to start.” He shook his head, then couldn't stop. “Jesus, this is fucked up.”

Her smile slipped away. “I know it must seem that way to you. I'm sorry. I never meant for this to happen. You were never to know. I screwed up and I'm sorry.”

Shit. He heard the implication in her tone. The only reason he'd remember her was because she'd done something wrong with her spell last night, the one that had wiped out his memories. She'd already said she wouldn't make that mistake again.

“You're planning to take away my memories again, aren't you?”

Her chin tilted and she looked him straight in the eyes without answering. He took that for a yes.

Finally she dropped her gaze. “This time you won't remem—”

Cupping her face in his hands, he pressed his mouth on hers and kissed her. The impulse was impossible to control, more like an imperative. One that wiped out every other thought in his brain.

Pushing his tongue into her mouth, he inhaled her.

He remembered her taste from last night, the dark, sweet flavor that flooded his senses and threatened to take him under, make him lose all control.

He tried to rein it in, to repress the base instinct to dominate, but he couldn't. Not when her arms came around his shoulders as she kissed him back, sighing into his mouth. Heat pulsed through his body, his muscles tightening with lust.

He couldn't slow down, could barely think through the firestorm eating him from the inside out.

The fire must have infected Lucy as well, because she came at him just as hard. Her fingers dug into his back, nails pinching into his skin. She pressed as close as she could until her breasts were crushed against his chest.

He cupped one hand around a firm mound and squeezed, a fierce joy lighting through him when she moaned into his mouth.

Goddamn, she tasted so fucking good.

He wanted—

With a groan, he twisted, taking her down onto the chaise. She lay back, staring up at him as he knelt between her legs.

He reached for the hem of her dress. The material felt like mist under his fingers, gauzy soft.

Moonlight.

He wanted to rip it from her body. Barely controlled the urge to just do it.

Instead, he let it slip through his fingers before he pushed his hands under her dress and skimmed up her thighs. Softest fucking skin he'd ever felt. Jesus, he needed to get her naked.

So, you're just gonna fuck the crazy woman?

Shit.
Shit
.

He pulled back, his hands clenched into fists as he stopped, his breath ragged and shallow.

Lucy lay back on the chaise, arms above her head, watching him. She looked almost placid but her eyes… Damn, her eyes. She wanted him but she refused to beg. He admired the hell out of that.

For
Christ's sake, the woman thinks she's an ancient goddess.

“Brandon. I think you should let me up.”

On the surface, her tone sounded deceptively calm. But underneath, he heard pain. She knew what he was thinking. Damn it. He didn't want to let her up.

“No.”

She stared up at him. “You think I'm crazy.”

He shook his head. “I don't know what to think. I only know I want you more than I've ever wanted another woman. Did you put me under a spell?”

Her mouth flattened into a thin line. “I don't have to bespell men to make them want me. Besides, you don't believe in magic, do you?”

He rolled his shoulder, feeling no pain at all. “Then how else do I explain why my shoulder doesn't hurt anymore?”

“
I
don't need to be convinced, Brandon.”

No, she had absolute faith in who she was. Her expression showed total confidence.

He leaned forward, setting his hands on the chaise above her shoulders and trapping her between his arms. He lowered his head until his lips were only inches from hers and his eyes gazed directly into hers.

She wanted him. He swore he felt the heat of her desire rubbing against his skin.

And he wanted her. What else mattered right now?

“You need to take the dress off.” Christ, was that his voice? He sounded like a fucking animal. “Lucy…”

She stared up at him, not moving. “You have to be very sure, Brandon. I am not crazy.”

Right now, he believed every word out of her mouth.

He closed a few more inches between them. “I want you.”

It took a few seconds, but when her lips curved into a smile that promised so much pleasure, he couldn't stand the distance between them.

He shut everything but her taste out of his mind and let himself fall. Not physically. She might be a goddess but he weighed more than two hundred pounds. He didn't want to crush her.

But he did want her naked.

As he coaxed open her lips with his tongue, he let one hand begin a slow exploration of the skin of her neck. Soft, warm. He wanted to lick her but he didn't want to give up her mouth just yet.

Her taste seeped into him like a drug, making his dick hard and his heart pound against his ribs. Fuck it. Slow wasn't gonna happen. Not this time, at least. He slid his hand into the neckline of her dress, wanting to touch her skin. The material gave way— And a second later, it wasn't there at all.

He opened his eyes and lifted his head just enough to see her now-naked breasts. Her dress had vanished, leaving her completely naked beneath him.

His mouth hung open for a few brief seconds before he lifted his gaze to hers and shook his head. “Now there's a skill you don't see every day.”

“It comes in handy.” She watched him with deceptively half-lidded eyes. She didn't miss a damn thing. “Would you like me to help you with your clothes?”

She was asking him much more than that. She was asking for his trust. For his belief. She wanted to watch his reaction to her magic. At the moment, he didn't give a flying fuck about her magic. If it got his clothes off faster, he was all for it.

“Please do.” The faster he got naked, the better. Naked meant sex. Naked meant no more thinking.

Something brushed against his skin. It felt like electricity but different. He didn't know how to explain it. And he just didn't care.

One second he was dressed. The next his clothes were gone, and he knelt between her legs naked with a hard-on that stood at full mast. As her gaze dipped, his cock throbbed. He swore the damn thing strained toward her.

It took him a few seconds to get past the holy-shit-that-really-happened feeling. But he was a champion compartmentalizer. Lucy lay naked in front of him and he had a massive erection. Everything else could wait.

He thought about simply falling over her and fucking her until they both lost consciousness. Then he figured that might seem a little desperate.

But he couldn't shake the feeling that his time with her was borrowed.

Well, fuck that.
Leaning back until he sat on his heels, he inched his knees forward, spreading her legs farther apart. If he let his gaze fall, he'd see her sex spread open, beckoning him. But he kept his eyes on hers, watching her reactions.

She didn't disappoint him. Her lips parted as she drew in a deep breath. Good. She wasn't as composed as she pretended.

“Damn, you have a fucking beautiful body.”

He wanted to take the words back as soon as they'd escaped. Not that he didn't mean them. But, Christ, he could've phrased it better. He wasn't a twenty-year-old horndog anymore. She deserved better from him.

He expected to see another one of her cool smiles and was surprised when her lips curved in a sweet grin that lit his blood on fire.

“I'm glad you think so.”

Okay, maybe his beautiful goddess enjoyed things a little dirty. Dirty he could do.

He let his gaze fall to her breasts, the dusky nipples quivering slightly with each increasingly unsteady breath. He lifted a hand and tweaked one. Hard. And watched her skin flush. “Do you want me to suck on your nipples or bite them?”

She didn't answer as he kept up the rough caress, rolling the pebbled tip between his fingers until it had hardened into a firm peak. Then he switched sides. His cock continued to thicken, the blood beating in his veins like an insistent drum.

When he had both nipples as hard as stone, he took a breast in each hand and kneaded them with a firm grasp, loving the feel of her soft flesh. “So fucking soft. I could suck on these all night.”

“Then put your mouth on me, Brandon.”

“I'm not sure you're ready for that yet. You're not begging for it.”

“Goddesses don't beg. For anything.”

Did he hear a note of regret under that haughty tone? He leaned forward, almost until their noses touched. He thought about kissing those gorgeous lips but forced himself to hold back. He really wanted her to beg.

Her breath whispered against his cheek, hot and sweet. When she drew in a deep breath, he thought,
Now. Now she'll ask for it.

But she only leaned forward and nipped at his bottom lip. With her teeth. Hard enough to make a tiny, sharp pain knife through him. It faded immediately but now he could barely breathe. Not with the surging lust in his body.

He wanted her to use those teeth all over him. On his neck, on his nipples, on his thighs. Hell, he'd beg to feel them scraping along his dick.

Not hard. Just enough to catch the skin and make him want more.

“Come on, baby. You can do better than that. I'm not going to break.”

He heard her breath stop for a few seconds. Easing back just a little, he caught that hint of yearning in her expression again.

Where the hell was that coming from? What did she want?

“Lucy, baby, I'm gonna fuck you so hard, you're gonna scream. Do you think you can handle it?”

Brand swore a wave of heat rose from her body and covered him. Heat and lust and… Holy hell, he had to get inside her.

His cock so hard it hurt now, he lowered his hips until it brushed against the curls on her mound. Christ Almighty, that felt so fucking good against his cock and balls.

“Brandon.”

“What do you want, babe? You gotta tell me.”

“You like to torture, don't you?”

Did he? “Actually, no. You're the only one who's brought this out in me.”

Her hands cupped his head, her fingers sliding into his hair before she gripped the short strands and yanked. The burst of pain made him growl, fucking
growl
, low in his throat. He didn't think he'd ever heard himself make that sound before.

“Good.” She smiled, another one of those sweet grins. “Because I like it.”

Jesus
. The grip on his control slipped away from him as he dropped his head and covered her mouth with his. He crushed her lips so hard, he felt her teeth grind against them.

Her mouth opened to his marauding tongue and he swallowed her deep moan. He licked and tasted and couldn't get enough so he released her mouth and bit a path to her neck. Her scent invaded him, tormented him.

He realized he was dry-humping her, his cock pressing against her mound, pushing him closer to the edge of orgasm.

Way
too
soon.

With a groan, he forced himself to ease down her body, his stomach now pressing on the wet heat of her pussy. With his mouth at her breasts, he sucked one nipple between his lips. He sucked hard, as if he could draw her flavor out of her skin and into his mouth. He alternated sucking and biting, harder than he normally would because Lucy seemed to love it.

Her moans sank deep into his gut, clawing at his control. He ground his cock into the bed, trying not to explode. Damn, she pushed him right to the edge.

No other woman had ever done this to him. And, oh
fuck
, he liked it.

When he had both nipples rock hard and rosy red from his teeth, he began to move again, inching down her body. He licked at the undersides of her breasts, scraping his unshaven skin along her soft flesh. He wanted to bite her, to consume her, to—

Christ, what the hell was he, a caveman? Next he'd want to drag her by the hair back to his apartment. He already had one hand wrapped in the midnight-black strands, tugging on them. She moaned each time he did it.

And not in pain. He knew the difference. The first time she gave him even a hint she was in pain or didn't like what he was doing, he'd stop. On a dime.

Right now, she writhed under him, rubbing her mound against him. Enticing him. Teasing him. Destroying him.
No.

He moved lower, his tongue painting wet streaks along ribs to her belly button. He dipped into the little hollow and felt her shudder.
Good
to
know.