CHAPTER 11
She shouldn’t do this.
She really shouldn’t.
But the thought of what Talon was about to do by allowing Archangel to capture him again, the thought that she might never see him again, seized hold of her and made her act.
Screw the consequences.
He was right, and she wanted him. She felt the same way as he did.
She had never needed anyone the way she needed him.
Sherry tilted her head up, captured his lips and swallowed his gasp in a kiss.
A kiss that stayed soft for as long as it took for him to catch up and realise what was happening.
The second he did, his grip on the back of her neck tightened and he hauled her against him, his mouth dominating hers in a wicked yet wonderful way. She melted into his kiss, placed her hands on his powerful shoulders and drew him closer still, because she couldn’t get close enough to him.
His bare chest pressed against hers, and she couldn’t contain the moan that rolled up her throat when he groaned and deepened the kiss, as if just feeling her against him had given him a hit of pure pleasure.
His tongue stroked the seam of her lips and she opened for him, wasn’t sure she could keep any part of her closed off any longer as he went to war on her defences, stripping them all down with the ferocity of his kiss and the need it conveyed, and the way his body pressed against hers and his hand held her nape.
As if he didn’t want to let her go.
Couldn’t bear it if she slipped out of his grasp.
That feeling grew in her too, a fear that he might let her go when she needed him so badly she couldn’t breathe, couldn’t keep still in his arms. She wriggled against him, rubbing her chest against his, and looped her arms around his neck.
He slid one hand down to her backside and she moaned and trembled as he palmed it, large hands kneading her flesh, making her aware of his strength.
Aware of the fact she had never slept with a non-human.
Would it feel different?
Talon broke away from her lips and pressed his forehead against hers, his breath sawing from his lips.
“You’re afraid,” he whispered, hoarse and husky, sending another ripple of pleasure rolling down her spine.
She went to shake her head, and stopped herself. “I… I’ve never done this with a…”
It seemed so stupid saying that out loud.
This wasn’t her first rodeo, and she was fairly certain shifters didn’t really differ that much from a human, other than his strength. He wasn’t going to go all tiger on her. She knew that much from overhearing conversations between Kyter and Cavanaugh about their saucy interludes with their mates.
Talon drew back and dazzled her with a grin, one that lit up his eyes and made her realise this was the first time she had seen him smile.
And she had been the one to make him do it.
With her stupid worries.
“I’ll be gentle,” he murmured and before she could slap his chest and chastise him for not taking this seriously, he bent and scooped her up into his arms.
It would have been the most romantic thing to ever happen to her.
Except Talon grunted and hissed through his teeth.
She didn’t weigh that much, did she?
“What’s wrong?”
He shook his head. “It’s nothing.”
Like hell it was nothing. “You sounded hurt.”
Her eyes widened as it hit her.
“Put me down.” She pushed at his bare chest but he tightened his grip on her, pinning her against his hard body and restraining her legs. “You’re going to open that wound again if you’re not careful, and then…”
She blushed. Hard. It didn’t help when his lips curled in a sly smile, one that said he knew what she had been about to say.
He leaned in and nuzzled her cheek, peppered it with kisses that reignited the fire in her and made her forget what they had been talking about or why she had been worried.
“One little wound isn’t going to stop this from happening, Sherry.” His lips teased her cheek and her neck as he spoke each word, stirred that fire in her blood until she was burning for him. “I’m having you.”
The way Talon said that made it sound so possessive, made her feel he was talking about more than just having her now, for this one moment.
It rang warning bells in her head but his lips worked magic on her throat and silenced them, filled her head with the hum of pleasure instead as she leaned into his mouth and savoured the shivers that tripped over her skin with each kiss.
He turned and carried her towards the bedroom, and her eyes slipped shut, her will to resist melting out of her and leaving her boneless in his arms, craving more from him. Damn, he was good. Better than good. Just his lips on her throat was enough to have her soaring towards release. She couldn’t wait to find out what that mouth would feel like on other parts of her body.
When they reached the bed, he set her down on it and continued his assault on her throat. He kissed it harder, laved it with his tongue and sent her flying higher. His lips traced her collarbone and then he swept them up to her ear and sucked on the lobe. She moaned and shuddered, throbbing low in her belly as the fire in her grew hotter.
It burst into a wildfire when his tongue stroked the back of her neck, near her hairline, and she cried out, unable to contain herself.
Talon froze.
Breathed hard against her nape.
His arms shook violently, making the mattress tremble as he supported himself on them.
Something was wrong.
“Talon?” she whispered and he pushed away from her.
“Just need a second.” He rose onto his feet and paced across the room, disappearing into the living room.
She stared at the doorway, her eyebrows pinned high on her forehead.
What?
She touched the back of her neck, shivered as she remembered how good his tongue had felt there. How right.
And how, for a heartbeat, she had wanted him to bite it.
Had he picked up on that desire?
Or had she picked up on his need to bite her there and interpreted as her own?
She decided to put the back of her neck off limits, at least until she understood what was going on.
She wasn’t going to let one little hiccup ruin this moment though.
She stripped off her top, stood and removed her jeans. Her socks followed, and then her underwear. She stared at the bedroom door, heart drumming against her chest, nerves rising again. She quashed them, set her jaw and set her sights on the guy prowling around in her living room.
Talon wasn’t getting away that easily.
She wanted him, and she was damned well going to have him.
Sherry sauntered towards the door.
He turned the second she entered the living room.
His amber eyes widened, but the shock in them lasted all of a second before desire took over, dilating his pupils until they devoured almost all of his irises. Hunting her. She trembled in response as instinct told her she was in danger, that this powerful man wanted her and nothing on this planet was going to stop him this time.
He growled, flashing short fangs, and prowled towards her, muscles shifting in a seductive symphony with each stride.
When he was close, he launched at her and caught her around the waist. She gasped as her back hit the mattress and his weight pressed down on her, pinning her there. A little thrill ran through her at the thought he was caging her, making it clear he wasn’t going to let her escape.
She struggled beneath him, pressing her hands to his chest and trying to push him off her, a wicked sort of need in command, a deep desire to push him a little and reap the rewards.
On another snarl, he caught her wrists and pinned her arms above her head.
Her chest rose as her back arched in response to her new position, and he groaned and dropped his eyes to her breasts. Hunger flared in them, a dark need that she ached for him to satisfy.
He dropped his head and she cried out in pleasure as he tugged her right nipple into his mouth, teasing it hard with his teeth before wrapping his lips around it and sucking on it. He groaned and shuddered, and she trembled as he pressed his hips down against hers, and she felt his thick length.
Fuck, she needed that inside her.
She needed to feel his strength, needed him to take control and show her just how powerful he was.
How primal and wicked.
He groaned as if he had felt her need, her desires, and released her wrists. He skimmed his hands down her arms and feathered kisses down her stomach, worshipping her body. She tangled her hands together above her head and gave him total control, drank in the way his lips traced her flesh and the dizzying emotions they stirred in her, need and a hunger she had never experienced before that combined with a sensation that only this man could ever satisfy them.
No other would ever be enough for her.
She wriggled as he stroked the fingers of his left hand down her side, and then stilled as they danced across her belly.
The first press of them between her thighs had her hips shooting off the bed.
Talon chuckled and kissed her hip.
He rose off her, straddling her left leg, pinning it to the bed, and the feel of his eyes on her had her opening hers, responding to the demand to look at him. She stared into bright golden eyes, bit her lip and trembled as he stared back at her, a silent promise in his gaze.
A vow that he was going to love her so thoroughly she wasn’t going to be able to think straight for days, let alone walk anywhere.
His fingers teased her again, stroked her plump lips and sent another bone-melting blast of pleasure through her.
She kept her eyes on his, and her hands above her head, placed herself completely at his mercy.
His eyes remained locked with hers as he ran two fingers over her sensitive nub and it tensed, eager for more. His eyes grew darker, hooded as he watched her and touched her, and hell, she wasn’t going to last long with him looking at her like that.
He brushed his fingers back and forth over her pert bead, sending wave after wave of bliss shooting through her, and she slowly raised her hips into his touch, couldn’t stop herself from seeking more, from trying to goad him into giving her what she needed. Those firm lips curled at the corners and he picked up the pace, caressing her faster, harder, sending her spinning out of her mind as she gripped the bedclothes and moaned, shook all over and lost herself.
Need mounted, seizing control.
“Talon,” she moaned, trembling beneath him, belly tensing and thighs quivering, aching for release.
He stroked her harder, flicking his fingers over her, an onslaught she couldn’t withstand for much longer.
His eyes held hers, that dark promise still filling them, but there was something else in them now, something fiercely possessive.
He slowed his assault and she was about to reprimand him when he stole her voice by tugging on the ties of his trousers with his other hand and freeing his cock. She moaned as he ran his hand down the thick length, revealing the dark blunt head. It shimmered with his need in the low light, and she trembled as he rubbed his thumb over the head, smearing the moisture into it as he stroked her, teased her with his touch and the delicious vision of him caressing himself.
Too much.
She tipped her head back, ready for release to take her.
Talon stole his touch away.
Her eyes snapped open, vicious words ready to fly from her lips, beyond her control as he ripped her release from her.
His mouth seized hers.
His long cock drove deep into her in one swift thrust.
Sherry threw her head back and cried out, stars exploding across her eyes and heat sweeping through her as every inch of her trembled and throbbed, bliss crashing over her. She grasped Talon’s shoulders, anchoring herself as she flew, afraid she might lose herself if she didn’t hold on to something.
If she didn’t hold on to him.
His mouth found her throat, his murmured words against it lost on her as her entire body buzzed and tingled.
She fought for air and scrambled to gather her scattered senses.
Talon did that for her.
He seized her hip in his left hand, eased his cock almost all the way out of her and drove back in, deeper this time, until he was in her as much as she could take. She moaned and wrapped her arms around him, clung to him as he rocked his hips, stroking her long and slow, building things up between them again.
She broke through the haze of her first orgasm and shook as she felt her belly heating again, readying for the next.
Shit.
She wasn’t sure how much she could take as he stretched her body around his thick cock, touching every part of her, rubbing her in that sweet spot with each deep thrust. She writhed and raised her hips, wanting him deeper still.
He wasn’t close enough to her yet.
She needed him to be one with her.
Ached for it.
He moaned and held her. His mouth found hers and she kissed him hard, on the verge of begging him for more. His tongue tangled with hers and he did as she wanted, angling her hips and driving deeper into her, his pace quickening.
She couldn’t keep still, lost whatever control she’d had over her body. Need hijacked it. She moved against him, meeting his hips, desperate for more. He grunted and shuddered, dominated her mouth with his tongue as he drove her head into the bed. His right hand clamped down on her shoulder, a hot thrill dancing through her in response, and the fingers of his left hand dug into her hip, holding her fast and stopping her from moving.
She groaned and tried to fight his hold. He tightened it further, pressing short claws into her hips that had her shooting higher, her mind filling with seductive and tempting thoughts about those claws.
About his fangs.
She broke free of his lips, unable to resist the urge that bolted through her, and dragged his head down to her throat. He stilled, his entire body tensing, his hips freezing with his cock buried deep inside her, and then he loosed a dark snarl that had every inch of her shaking in response.
She gasped as his mouth clamped down on her throat and he sucked hard on it before devouring it with kisses, harsh presses of his lips and the blunt edges of his teeth. He started moving again, hips pumping fast and hard, leaving her in no doubt that he felt as desperate as she did, as consumed by his desire and that burning need.
A need that hadn’t been satisfied yet.
Her hands ran over his back, the feel of his powerful muscles shifting with each deep plunge of his cock mesmerising her, thrilling her.
Damn, he was strong.
He traced his teeth over her throat, brushed his lips and licked at it, pressing his tongue in hard against her flesh.
Needed more.
She grabbed the nape of his neck.
He grunted and snarled against her throat, thrust deeper and faster, and his mouth clamped down on her flesh.
A low growl rumbled through him, and through every fibre of her being, and he sucked hard on her throat.
Pain mingled with the pleasure, and detonated.
Sherry was fairly certain she screamed at the top of her lungs as her climax suddenly broke over her, the surge of feeling short-circuiting everything and making her ears ring and her entire body quake.
Talon held her down and broke away from her throat, pressed his forehead against it as he thrust harder, faster, his breath washing over her damp skin in swift bursts interspersed with low groans that had her tightening around him, a need to give him a mind-blowing release too seizing hold of her.
He plunged deep and stopped dead, shook in her arms as he growled and grunted, his cock throbbing hard inside her, sending aftershocks of pleasure blasting through her with each one.
She sank into the mattress beneath him, muscles like water beneath her skin as contentment rolled through her, mingling with the warm haze of her climax. Her bones felt too heavy to lift even when she wanted to hold him, needed to have him pressed against her.
He sagged on a sigh, his body coming down to cover hers, and rolled onto his side, taking her with him, keeping them intimately entwined as he continued to pulse.
She slowly opened her eyes and looked into his.
Silence reigned around them, but inside her emotions were raging out of control, stirred to a frenzy by the man staring at her with soft amber eyes that whispered she wasn’t alone.
She wasn’t the only one who felt this way.
As if she had just lost a piece of herself to him, but had gained a piece of him in return.
As if they were bound together now.
Entwined soul-deep.