Marked (7 page)

From the silver carafe, he poured two cups of coffee and handed her one, then picked up several slices of apple and chewed them thoughtfully.  “I do hope you realize,” he said, startling her, “that you are in significant trouble, witch.”  The look on his face would have been frightening if it weren’t for the erection bobbing against his belly.

“Oh really,” she retorted, surprised she had the gumption to do it, “and I suppose you intend to punish me?”  The smirk left his face and his eyes darkened.  Bingo.
Oh, boy.

“Should I desire to turn you over my lap and paddle that beautiful ass of yours, I will do it.”  And she knew he would.  Another wicked thrill tripped through her blood.  She had never been one for kinky sex games, but the mere thought of his big hand connecting with her ass made her want to squirm where she sat.  The thought of deliberately disobeying him just to test his limits crossed her mind, but Tabitha’s sense of self-preservation won out over that crazy notion.

She tore off another chunk of the bagel and shoved it into her mouth.  She would much rather put it to the side and chew on Russell, but she was not about to tell him that.  Tabitha would stand her ground and eat breakfast, just to prove that she still had a shred of control.

Yeah, right.

He could bend her to his will if he so chose, with or without her magic turning on her.  That knowledge cured her of her hunger, at least temporarily.  She drained the cup of coffee to wash down the bread sticking in her throat, then set both the half-eaten food and the empty cup on the tray.

“You might want to move that,” she said.  Russell pinned her with his gaze.

“I thought you were hungry.”  He picked up the tray and with one hand, guided it to the nightstand.

“I was.”

“You certainly did not eat much.”

“I want something different.”

“There were plenty of choices on the tray, Tabitha.  You could have chosen anything.”  He was such a bastard…he knew what she wanted—she could see it in his eyes.  Frustrating, irritating man…

“I will eat what I want, when I want,” she said, her voice a little more than a growl as she pushed him back by the shoulders.  A sly smile curled her lips as she reached out, drawing her thumbnail down the length of his erection.  The action drew a strangled hiss from him.  Despite that one small outburst, he still smiled at her, even going so far as to cross his arms behind his head.

“Be my guest,” he said, snickering.

Bastard,
she thought.  She would show him.  Her fingers closed around the base of his cock and squeezed, turning his chuckle into a groan.  His cock jerked against her palm, as if fighting the restraint.  Drawing her magic in, Tabitha focused on her fingers, and when she pulled them away, his eyes widened in surprise as phantom fingers still held the pressure.

How easily he had turned over control… How willing he was to let her have her way… Dizzy with the power she held over him, Tabitha climbed up his body and traced her tongue along his bottom lip before sliding her body back down along his and taking the full length of him into her mouth, tasting the salty musk of his semen coupled with the fleeting, bitter flavor of her own juices still lingering on his skin.  She treated him like her own personal lollipop, nibbling, licking, and sucking along his skin until he could no longer contain the primal sounds rumbling in his chest.  As she worked him, she used her magic to slide over him and constrain his balls as well.  He grunted, and one hand fisted in her hair, drawing her down over him over and over.

Not to be deterred from her desires, Tabitha pushed his hand away and let go of his cock with an audible pop.  Glancing up his body from where she lay between his legs, she watched his eyes go wide then darken with some unnamable emotion.  She could never remember seeing something so handsome in her life, even as she slithered back up his body and whispered her lips across his.

***

Russell knew to expect something wild from the little witch, but he had no idea she would use his distraction to her advantage the way she had.  He captured her mouth in a kiss, and as she pulled away he found himself unable to move, his hands held in place by her magic as she slipped and slid all over him.

“Witch,” he hissed, and she only smiled in response.  “You will pay for this.”

“Later,” she breathed, nipping at the ridges of his chest, then drawing her tongue up the side of his throat.  If this was how she wanted to play, he would gladly give her control and let her go for as long as she wanted.  Of all the women in his life, never had he found one this open, this wanton.

Russell closed his eyes and allowed himself to just feel, to take in the sensations of her body writhing against his.  For a moment he lost track of her when their contact was broken, but then she had him in hand and was sliding her tight little body down onto him, taking him all the way to the root. 

The phantom fingers at the base of his dick vanished, replaced by her wet heat, and the rhythmic, controlled rolling of the muscles in the walls of her sex.  God, this woman knew how to fuck.  If he opened his eyes, he knew he would see her holding her bottom lip between her teeth as she dragged her body up and forced it back down around him again.

Her hands landed against his chest, balancing her body as she began a slow, rolling rhythm over him, retracting, then squeezing him on the descent.  Faster and faster she moved, until her body was little more than a quivering, undulating breath over him.  Deep in his belly, his own pleasure grew until he felt like the top of his head would blow off.

With a snarl, he called on his Alpha instincts and broke the magical bonds around his wrists and took hold of her, opening his eyes to find her staring back through two dusky, emerald orbs.  Catching her by the back of the neck with one hand, Russell towed her down and fastened his mouth over hers while using his other hand to continue the movements, putting her exactly where he wanted her.

When his fingers slipped between her folds and scraped over her swollen clit, she cried out, sucking in a ragged breath just in time for her entire body to tense, seizing around him again and again.  He wanted to hold on, to feel every scrap of her pleasure before giving in when she slammed her body back down against him, taking him completely inside.

Without warning, his whole world unwound.  Clutching her by the hips, Russell bucked beneath her once, his head thrown back against the pillows, and howled as he came.  Colored lights burst behind his eyes as his orgasm threatened to take him under.

Tabitha collapsed on top of him, gasping for breath and trembling with tiny aftershocks, her body occasionally locking down on his and drawing another series of shudders from him as well. 

The world around them seemed to fall away for several long minutes while he lay there, the little witch sprawled on top of him, his cock still buried inside her.  He would never tire of this woman, not if they both lived another thousand years.  Already he wanted her again, and the small, panting breath against his chest told him she had noticed.

She did such strange things to him—she turned him inside out, tore him apart and put him back together again, all without ever knowing it.  She was his anchor and his escape, and as he wrapped his arms around her and hugged her to his chest, he silently thanked whatever deity was listening for bringing her into his path.

***

“Russell…I can’t breathe,” Tabitha gasped into his bicep as he continued to crush her.  She reached out and smacked his arm as the circulation in her throat stopped.  “I…need…air…”

After another moment of torture he released her.  She fell to the side, too distracted by the sweetness of the air filling her lungs to mourn the loss of him between her legs.  Russell gathered her into his arms, stroking her hair away from her face.

“You are an amazing creature,” he said, his voice soft, almost wistful.

“What I am is exhausted.  And really hungry this time.”

He raised an eyebrow and stared down his nose at her.  “Are you sure about that?”

To accent her declaration, her stomach rumbled loudly against his side.  They paused long enough to stare at each other, then broke down into a fit of laughter.  Tabitha couldn’t remember letting go like this in a long time.  Magical Moments had nearly consumed her for the past three years, and to be lying in bed the morning—was it still morning?—after the biggest job of her career, naked, with her boss no less, and laughing like a fool felt good.

Better than good.

“Are you going to feed me or not?” she asked, poking Russell in the side.  He grunted, but reached over toward the foot of the bed.  When his arm returned, dangling from his fingertips was a plump, ripe strawberry.  He held it above her head, just out of reach of her lips.  “You are evil,” she snorted, watching the fruit swing back and forth from its fragile stalk.

“I’m hurt,” he said, feigning exasperation.  “Here I am, offering you food from my very fingertips, and you want to call me names.”

“If you were offering it to me, you wouldn’t be holding it out of my reach!” she retorted.

“All you have to do is lean up and take a bite.”

“Monster!”

“Witch.”

She glanced up at him through narrow eyes.  He was grinning again, the wretch. “Touché.”   Giving in, Tabitha leaned up, opening her mouth to capture the fruit, only to have Russell pull it just out of her reach again.  Growling, she flopped back to the bed.  “I hate you.”

“If what you just did to me is considered hate, then I’m curious to know what you intend to do to me once you fall in love with me.”

She refused to answer that.  Common sense told her to get up, get dressed, and get the hell away from him before she slugged him.  Tabitha knew she was way out of her league with him… she had known that from the moment she answered the telephone to take his order.  With a budget of over two hundred thousand dollars for a single event, she knew, even as he held her so tenderly by his side and teased her with fruit, that she would never make in five years the amount on the check he would sign for her later that day.

But Russell Tennyson, the eastern seaboard’s most eligible—and most wealthy—bachelor, did not appear at all willing to let her go yet.  She was right when she told Cera she had no idea if it would last, but she was determined to stay on this wild ride as long as she possibly could.  He was worth more money than she could even begin to imagine.  He was the single most gorgeous creature she had ever laid eyes on.  He was a werewolf, which she, as a witch, was more than willing to handle.  And he was finally allowing her to take a bite of the strawberry he’d dangled over her for the last five minutes.  The skin of the sweet, tangy fruit broke and sent juice dribbling down her chin.

Oh, yes…
Tabitha thought as Russell bent and licked it away,
a girl could get used to this.

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