Smoldering Hunger (7 page)

Two weeks was too long to think about Sophie and not take advantage of the time given to them. Darius rose to his elbow and began to grab for the waist of his pants. In a heartbeat, Sophie’s hands were there.

A second later, he was helping her push them down his hips while he kicked off his boots. It took entirely too long to take off his clothes and once more be against her.

But when they were flesh to flesh, both held quiet and still in the moment.

Until the passion took over once more.

They began to frantically kiss each other. His hands were in her hair, tugging the length free from the pins. Then he was touching her arms, her hips, and her legs before he cupped her breast and found a pert nipple waiting for his attention.

When he bent and took the peak into his mouth, her back arched and her nails dug into his back. Darius watched the pleasure move over her face, which only spurred his desire higher.

He was so intent on learning the weight of her breasts in his palms as well as how sensitive her nipples were to his fingers, lips, and mouth that he didn’t know what her hands were about as they roamed over him until she wrapped her fingers around his cock.

*   *   *

Sophie sizzled through every particle of her body. She was so close to orgasm that if she rocked against Darius once more, she would shatter. It was the yearning to feel his length inside her that kept her still.

Was it because she’d gone so long without having sex before Darius? She kept herself busy enough that she didn’t think about easing her body too often.

Or was it Darius who brought out the shameless abandon? And did it really matter?

It felt good.
He
felt good.

Sophie ran her hand up and down his thick length as his tongue teased her nipple mercilessly. Each flick, each soft suck drove her closer and closer to the edge.

It was only fair that he be there with her. Sophie loved the feel of his arousal. It was like warm velvet gliding over steel. She hadn’t realized he was so large. No wonder he’d stretched her so that first time.

A bead of pre-cum formed, and she rubbed it around the head of his shaft. After, she cupped his ball sac and rolled them around in her palm before she softly scraped her nails over them.

Darius hissed, his cock jumping in response. She smiled, and in return, he lightly bit her nipple. Sophie cried out from the pleasure as it tightened low in her gut.

She could do nothing when he raised her arms above her head and held her there with one strong hand. With a slow, wicked smile, Darius kept eye contact with her as he lowered his head and nipped her breast. Then he drew her nipple deep into his mouth and suckled while his tongue lapped at the turgid peak.

While his mouth did wonderful, decadent things to her breasts, his free hand skimmed along her stomach to her hips. He shifted his body to the side so he could then slide his fingers into her small triangle of red curls at her sex.

Sophie’s legs fell open on their own. Her breathing was harsh, her body trembling as she anxiously awaited his finger to touch her and ease some of her need.

But he didn’t touch her. Instead he stroked the inside of both thighs, coming just close enough to her sex that she could feel the warmth of his hand—but never touching. All the while he had her nipples so hard they hurt.

Sophie tried to move her hips to get in contact with his hand, but Darius kept out of reach. Her sex throbbed she was so close to climaxing.

He lifted his head and cupped her sex. She stilled instantly at the contact. Then he ran a finger along her sex to her swollen clit and back to her entrance again.

“Is this what you need?” he asked.

Sophie couldn’t form words so she nodded.

One finger slid inside her. Her eyes closed from the bliss.

“So damn wet,” he murmured. “I need to taste you.”

He was nestled between her legs before she knew it. “No,” she cried as he licked her.

“Nay?” he asked, pausing long enough to say the word before he found her clit.

Sophie gripped the comforter and fought to speak past the rising passion. “I want to taste you too.”

That got him to lift his head and look at her. She waited, her chest heaving as her sex clenched for more.

“You’re dripping wet,” he said as he looked down at her. “You’re verra close to release.”

Yes, but why did that matter? She wanted to know more of him to add to her memories. Feeling his body atop hers was amazing, just as it was to learn the thickness of his arms and the width of his shoulders. Not to mention his stomach that was lined with hard muscle.

“Are you sure?” he asked with a gleam in his eyes as he circled her clit with his thumb.

*   *   *

Darius watched her eyes roll back in her head. Her legs were spread and her sex open to him. She was magnificent. The little triangle of red curls was trimmed neatly and the rest shaved to show her sex gleaming with her arousal.

He spread her woman’s lips and found her clit. Bending, he lapped at the bud with his tongue while her breathing grew more ragged as soft cries fell from her lips.

She tasted as wild and fiery as her passion. Her sex greedily clenched against his finger when he slid a digit inside her.

Just as he suspected, he only had to move his fingers two pumps before a hoarse cry filled the room as she peaked. But Darius wasn’t nearly done with her.

With the walls of her sex still clenching around his finger, he withdrew his hand and rose above her. He positioned the head of his cock at her entrance, and slowly penetrated her.

His own eyes closed when he felt her orgasm squeeze him. She was so hot and wet that he couldn’t be inside her and not move.

With his hips thrusting softly at first, he set up a rhythm that she soon joined in. He braced his hands on either side of her face and steadily drove within her tight sheath.

She urged him on with her hands and legs. Her seductive gaze held his, and the wonder and pleasure he saw in her depths surprised him.

With his own orgasm rapidly approaching, Darius thrust harder and deeper. He saw the flush on her chest and her eyes glazed over a moment before her body stiffened.

He watched in amazement, as once more she climaxed. It was such a beautiful sight that he couldn’t get enough. The slight curve of her lips, the way her breasts heaved, the carnality that shone in her eyes.

It all sent him careening over the edge.

Darius pumped inside her with hard, fast strokes before he buried himself deep and let the orgasm take him. The pleasure was intense, potent.

As he stared into Sophie’s olive eyes, all he wanted to do was kiss her again. He lowered his head and took her lips while their bodies still shuddered from the ecstasy.

When he withdrew from her, Darius didn’t get dressed and leave. He rolled to his back with his fingers entwined with Sophie’s.

For every moment that he remained, it grew harder and harder to leave. Yet, if he wanted her far from the war that the Dragon Kings were involved in, he needed to do just that.

Darius turned his head toward her, ready to spout a lie that would allow him to leave. Only he found her asleep.

He turned toward her and ran the back of his fingers along her cheek and jaw. “Farewell, doc.”

CHAPTER
EIGHT

Rhi was floating in darkness with pinpricks of light coming from thousands of miles away. She looked at them, curious. Were they stars? No. She knew what stars looked like. These were something entirely different.

She wasn’t afraid. For the first time in a very long time she felt … nothing. No happiness, no sorrow, no anger, no regret. It was as if everything had been wiped away. Like the slate was clean, allowing her to start over.

What a load of crap that was. No one started over. The baggage always remained. She learned that the hard way. It was what one did with said baggage that made the difference.

Rhi knew she was at Dreagan. And she knew because of
him
.

He was in the room with her again. It wasn’t the first time her lover had come to see her. She wished she could see his face. She wished she could speak so she could shout at him and demand to know why he was coming to her now.

Was it because she was injured? Did he care
now
? Had he ever really cared?

That was the question that haunted her. If the love he once claimed to have for her had been real, then he wouldn’t have been able to let her go so easily. Nor would he have sent Darius to tell her.

She couldn’t look at Darius without hearing those words that had torn her world to shreds in a matter of seconds. One minute she was on top of the world.

The next, she was drowning in misery and confusion, trying to find her footing with the hand fate had dealt her.

She didn’t hate Darius exactly. Though he could’ve refused to give her the news. Her lover should’ve had the balls to tell her himself. Was he afraid she’d go nuclear on him as she’d done at Balladyn’s fortress?

Rhi paused. She most likely would have, now that she thought about it. But that didn’t make his pansy-ass any easier to swallow.

She hated that he was in the room with her, standing beside the bed.

And she loved that he was there.

Her heart ached at his nearness. How she wanted to grab his hand and bring it to her face to feel him touching her once more.

She was pathetic, pitiful.

How many centuries needed to pass without him coming to her before she could let him go? She kept asking herself that same question, and each time it get easier to answer.

She’d been saying for a while now that she needed to let him go. Ulrik had told her that, as had Balladyn. Both held grudges against the Dragon Kings, and in some ways those resentments were justified.

“Wake up.”

His voice was like a punch in her gut. She felt tears gather, and hated him for it. She loathed herself for having such a reaction to him.

“You’ve made your point, Rhi. It’s time to wake up.”

She wasn’t ready. If she woke she’d have to face Balladyn. Worse, she would need to confront Usaeil, and she wasn’t ready. Then there was the issue of the darkness inside her.

It was growing. She couldn’t deny that any longer. How long before it stamped out her light? How long before she became Dark?

The prospect didn’t frighten her as it used to. Perhaps she’d been destined for this path from the very beginning. Maybe that’s why Balladyn was Dark, so he could help her when she turned.

Balladyn. If he could, would he be there with her? She knew the answer to that. It was an unequivocal yes. If she were anywhere but Dreagan, Balladyn would be beside her.

That warmed her heart. After all the rejection from her lover, Balladyn—as always—never failed her. Sure he’d tortured her to turn her Dark, but she’d gotten away. That kind of attention was preferable to being disregarded and ignored.

A great love. That was what she and her King had claimed they shared. If it was so great, where had he been? Why had he ended it? Why …

She halted the questions. Did it really matter anymore? She’d gone thousands of years without answers, and it wasn’t like she would get them. Ever.

Her body couldn’t move. It wasn’t the blast of Dark magic that kept her sleeping. She did that. She was at a crossroads, and she still wasn’t sure what to do.

If she remained on her path, loving a man who didn’t return her affection and letting the darkness continue to grow, she’d become that which she hunted—Dark Fae.

If she took the other path, she didn’t know what lay ahead. It could be with Balladyn or someone else.

“How is she?” said a voice with a British accent.

Henry. She sighed. Sweet Henry.

He was a good kisser, and she loved the way he looked at her. But he was human. She already crossed a line by kissing him and giving him hope that something would develop between them. That was something she needed to set straight soon.

“There’s no’ been a change.”

Rhys. He was back again? Somehow Rhi wasn’t surprised.

Henry let out a loud sigh. “I’m worried.”

“As we all are,” Rhys stated.

“I was looking for Con earlier. Someone said he was in here.”

Rhys grunted. “Aye. He was.”

“His power is to heal. Can’t he bloody well do something?” Henry asked angrily.

“He already has,” Rhys stated. “She’s healed.”

“Then why does she not wake?”

She hated the worry and fear she heard in both men’s voices, but she wasn’t ready to face things yet. Rhi sunk deeper into her sleep so she wouldn’t hear any more.

Right before she drifted off, she felt her watcher’s eyes again. He hadn’t left her side. She was more than curious as to who it was that could remain veiled so long.

It was one of the first things she would discover when she woke. Later. Much later …

*   *   *

Sophie knew before she ever opened her eyes that Darius was gone. She reached over and felt the spot where he had been. The bed was cold, informing her he’d left some time ago.

She opened her eyes and rolled to her back. Normally she had a hard time having an orgasm with a man, but Darius made it so easy.

The first time with Darius she attributed it to the fact that it had been a long time since she’d been with a man, but last night? Darius hadn’t just given her the climax of her life. He’d given her two in a very short space of time.

Sophie bit her lip when she moved and the sheet rubbed against her nipples that were still highly sensitized from his teasing.

She carefully lifted the covers and climbed from the bed. Shutting off her alarm a minute before it was supposed to go off, she made her way to the bathroom.

There she halted and stared at the bathtub full of water. The candles had been blown out. Darius must have done that.

Sophie quickly unstoppered the tub to let the water drain and grabbed her towel. She turned on the shower and waited for the water to heat up before she stepped in.

But under the hot stream of water, she could only stand there thinking about being in Darius’s arms. For two weeks she’d dreamed of him taking her against the building because it had been so erotic and amazing. Last night far exceeded the first. It could well last her an entire year’s worth of dreams.