Mystically Bound (Frostbite, Book Three) (9 page)

Flesh to flesh.

Man possessing woman.

I craved for him to show me he owned me,
inside and out. I yearned to have him branded on my body in a way
I’d hurt and remember tomorrow. He must’ve read my desire since he
pressed me more firmly against the wall, pinning me with the weight
of his body. I’d never felt so safe, so loved.

He hooked one of my legs on his arm and
lifted his head from my neck. His erection settled against my
entrance. “This is going to be quick and hard.”

I wiggled my hips, allowing the tip of him to
pass through my needy flesh. “I don’t care. I need you, Kipp.”

With a dark, delicious smile he pushed
forward, his erection slid into my body in a way I had craved for
so long. Kipp filled me entirely full. His passion consumed me and
set me aflame. His free hand gripped my nape, caging me while he
drove himself inside me. His gaze bored into mine with more than
the need to control. This was a need to claim.

I was more than a woman. I was
his
woman.

His thrusts were harsh, slamming against me
with punishing speed and force. The hardness of his erection raised
pleasure beyond anything I thought I could manage. Each shift of
his hips brought me higher. The way his teeth nibbled his bottom
lip, which he always did while lost in pleasure, held my focus and
made me wild.

When I lifted my gaze to his face, his eyes
burned with a truth that nothing could undo his hold on my body. I
belonged only to him. He belonged only to me. Not even the most
unimaginable obstacles could break us.

Love in its most simple form.

Now Kipp marked me, devoured me body and
soul. I relished in the promise in his gaze that everything would
be all right. Here, in his arms, nothing could stop us.

This was my home.

As his thrusts continued, my center went into
convulsions, and his eyes widened. His breath deepened to a harsh
masculine urgency of need. His erection hardened, pushing me even
higher in the peak of my climax. I wanted to shut my eyes and
tumble into my orgasm, but I’d never look away from him.

My inner muscles constricted. My pants and
moans now turned into silence. And as pleasure took me to a place
of euphoria, Kipp rocked harder against me. His fingers on my nape
gripping me excruciatingly tight, the tangle of his other hand in
my hair tugging on my scalp, but I welcomed the roughness. Accepted
any forceful move from him because it meant he was there.

Touching me. Taking me. Loving me.

Screaming against his fierce thrusts, I had
no doubt I’d be sore tomorrow, but I’d only ache for more. He
grunted as he buried himself inside me, quivering with the force of
his impending release. Then he was bucking and jerking, moaning low
and deep. With his climax, my own soared along, squeezing at him
until all that remained in its wake was two trembling bodies.

I remained locked in his stare, breathless,
and emotionally bare. All of what touching him had been, the beauty
of being loved by Kipp, and the claim he made over me, caused me to
break. I inhaled breathlessly, yet it sounded more ragged and out
of control than I’d ever heard come from my mouth. I inhaled again
to control myself but on my exhale my breath cracked on a loud
sob.

“
Shh…” Kipp murmured, nuzzling his face
into my neck. “I’ve got you.”

He released my legs, wrapped his arms around
me, and pushed us more firmly into the wall. He squished me, but I
needed the closeness. I didn’t need him to talk, explain, or
anything else.

I only needed him.

Kipp must have realized because he didn’t
back away for a very long moment. Not until my sobbing became
sniffles did he move slightly back. His embrace remained tight, as
if he knew his touch saved me now and without it, I would
crumble.

He smiled a sad grin. “Intense, huh?”

“
I…” How could I possibly put into words
what this meant for me? Perhaps even how torn up I was now. As real
as this was…it actually wasn’t. I thought I needed to have him more
than I needed to breathe, but it only reminded me how far we still
had to travel. There didn’t seem a way to explain it probably, so I
settled on, “I never want you to let go.”

He hesitated. “I don’t want to.”

With that, I realized he read my mind because
he was there, too. He said, “I don’t want to”, instead of, “I never
will”. As much as he wanted to promise me forever and never let me
go, deep down he couldn’t and he wouldn’t lie to me.

This was a sweet taste of what could be in
our future, but it was just so far from being our reality. Until we
had answers and found a solution to this mess, we still lived
within boundaries that no love should be able to survive. But ours
did, and we had taken what we needed, even if the truth hung like a
heavy cloud over us.

As wonderful as it’d been, Gretchen’s advice
to me couldn’t be forgotten. I couldn’t stay here. I didn’t belong.
And that brought an ugly truth that his claim, while real here in
the Netherworld, was still a distant hope we both longed for.
Almost like we’d both been cheated out of what we desperately
sought. That claim to mean more than a promise neither of us could
fulfill…right now.

The saddest part, I was so desperate, I’d
take him any way I could. This was the very root of the pain in my
soul. No matter how much I’d fought, it didn’t bring me any closer
to getting Kipp whole. It only brought me the reminder of how far
away I was.

After another long moment while he allowed me
to gather myself, he finally backed away, allowing me to see around
me. “Huh?”

I scanned the area frantically, spotting the
dark night. The full moon in the sky created a white glow over the
sandy beach and the water in the distance looked like black glass.
“When I arrived here it looked like Memphis.” I jerked my head to
Kipp and caught sight of the rocky cliff behind him. “Now it looks
like I’m in a postcard from Hawaii.”

Kipp gave a small smile. “Interesting, right?
Your mind creates the visual. I’ve been everywhere from Vegas to
Mars.”

Glancing down, I slid my toes through the
sand below. “Seriously?”

“
Like I said, interesting.”

Actually, it was extremely interesting, and
explained why our naughty dream happened in his bedroom. Perhaps I
imagined it there, but right now, more pressing matters were at
stake. I raised my head and asked, “Aren’t you in danger staying
here? Holly, that ghost back in Memphis, told me ghosts can become
stuck if they stay too long.”

Kipp’s eyebrow arched knowingly. “Well, I’m
not really a ghost, am I? Normal rules don’t apply to me.”

The warm wind brushed across me and Kipp
tightened his arms, pulling me closer to him. One statement had
been the exact truth. While I had made assumptions, Kipp knew he
was in a coma. I hadn’t known for sure. Now I did.

Leaning to kiss him, he kissed me back
with equal force. The feel of his lips pressing against mine, even
if it wasn’t for real, blew my mind. Kipp was a really,
really,
good kisser. But I forced myself away, knowing we needed to talk
instead of continuing to ravish each other. I wrapped my hands
around a masculine face I never wanted to release, and said with
vengeance, “We’ll get you back.”

He grinned with a firm nod. “We will.”

The breeze swept over us again and ruffled
the sandy-colored hair dangling over Kipp’s brow. While I had a
thousand questions for him, some more important than others, the
thought I had pushed away to ensure his safety now needed
clarification. Maybe it was slight curiosity, but the other more
significant reason was it would answer a question about my
abilities. “Did you know we’ve had sex before?”

Both eyebrows rose. “Pardon?”

He shifted his hips slightly, reminding me he
was still buried deep in my body, and I understood why he stayed
there. I didn’t want him to withdraw either. I focused away from
that part of him and back onto the matter at hand. “That naughty
little dream I had during the Hannah Reid case. Did you know that
really happened?”

His eyes twinkled. “Maybe.”

“
Why didn’t you tell me?”

He dipped his head closer to mine, the
moonlight casting a beautiful glow over his face, and looked at me
like I should know better. “Because I didn’t understand it. What
was I going to say to you? ‘Oh, by the way, that dream you had,
well, we really did fuck’.”

I laughed, feeling the sand squish further
between my toes. “Okay, I guess not. But seriously, wouldn’t it
have been nice to know that before, so then we could have been
gettin’ busy this whole time?”

Kipp brushed his nose against mine, his
fingers trailed over my back. “I definitely would have suggested it
if I’d known what happened. I didn’t realize at the time we were in
the Netherworld, only that what took place was real. I knew I was
there and enjoying myself immensely.” He leaned away and stared at
me intently. “But I didn’t want to scare you, so I played stupid
when you woke up.”

I pondered a moment, glancing to the starry
sky above. “All right, I guess I can see your point, since at that
time, it would’ve freaked me out.” Now thinking it over, I wondered
how and why my ability to travel into the Netherworld would appear.
“It’s weird that being with you brought out that gift in me…” the
moment the words left my mouth, I realized an undeniable truth,
“maybe because I wanted to be with you so badly. And here, I can
be.”

“
Possibly,” he agreed. “But once I got
here, I met a woman who explained it all to me, and that’s when I
finally figured out what the hell happened. How we came here and
touched, and that it’s part of your abilities.”

“
What woman?”

He shrugged. “Another ghost.”

Weird, but not that weird considering since
I’d met Kipp McGowen, weird had become my normal. I brushed my
fingers over his wide shoulders and moved lower over his biceps,
loving how his body felt beneath my hands. “But then, why didn’t
you let us finish the dream?” I remembered he had called my name
and that’s what had awoken me.

“
It wasn’t my choice. Trust me.” He
snorted. “I called your name in the moment of our fun, but I think,
you just woke up and that’s what stopped the dream. Then, I played
it like I called your name to wake you up so you wouldn’t be
scared.”

I gave him a glare I suspected held little
heat. “So, that whole time after the dream you actually knew we’d
really had sex?” I thought at the time I’d been too obvious because
of my reaction to the dream, not that we’d actually done the
deed.

He chuckled. “Yes, I knew.” His amusement
fled and he sighed, sounding as tormented as his eyes looked. “And
if you remember at the time, I had the realization my life was
over.”

“
Because we had sex?”

He shook his head, sending his hair to fall
over his forehead. “Because you told me in that dream you loved
me.”

“
Hmm…” I kissed his lips softly, and he
returned my kiss with a nibble on my bottom lip. When I moved away,
I added, “I did say that, didn’t I?” Or more so said, ‘Make me
forget why it’s wrong to love you.’

He agreed with another nod. “A big game
changer that totally spun me around, as you witnessed. Made me
realize how much I lost.” He drew in a deep breath, and everything
about him firmed, but he hadn’t stepped away from me. Hadn’t
released my face in his hand, nor had he removed his semi-hard
erection inside of me. “Now, you will explain why you are
here.”

“
It’s not what you think.” I rubbed my
nose against his, loving the touch of him, even if it wasn’t
totally real. I’d take all I could get. “Well, like we’ve realized,
it’s part of my ability that allows me to come here. I needed to
find you.”

Warmth filled his eyes, and he chuckled. “I
should have known you would.” All that emotion in his expression
reminded me of what I’d gone through these last days of him being
gone. Before I was angry and then overtaken with a lust I couldn’t
control, but now my heart shattered. Kipp’s shadowed gaze told me
he saw it in my face and I managed to get out, “Why did you
leave?”

“
Tess.” He leaned in as the wind blew
around us, but he also shifted himself inside me and his erection
had completely hardened again. “It’s not what you think, either. I
didn’t want to leave. Nor did I want to stay away.”

I gasped as he moved his hips, gently now.
Even here in the Netherworld, my body ached from his rough sex. He
lifted me into his strong arms then lowered us both down to the
ground. The soft sand pillowed my back as Kipp settled between my
thighs. The waves from the water crashing up onto the shore created
perfection as did his lips on my mouth.

All traces of the hard edge to him had
vanished. Now he simply savored, as did I.

“
Why then?” I whispered against his
lips.

He circled his hips, grinded himself into me,
and his moan drifted over me in a delicious embrace. The pleasure
swiping through me was spinning me in a hot wave that had me
trembling beneath the hard planes of his body. His face remained so
close to mine, as if he couldn’t take his eyes off me. I never
wanted to stop looking at him. As his thrusts shifted to in-and-out
long strokes, his body pressed me into sand, while he tangled his
fingers in my hair and tugged to hold me closer.

After a low moan, mirroring my sigh, he
finally said, “I was told to come and stay here. It’s safer. I
can’t come back right now.”

My eyes fluttered closed before I realized
what he said. I forced them open as pleasure flooded me. Making
love to Kipp had been something I never thought possible. Hard,
rough, and dirty sex had been always what I imagined us doing,
which had been exactly what we’d done. But this…sweet and
sensual…tears filled my eyes. “Why?”