Deadly Attraction (27 page)

She awoke after noon and shuffled into the living room to
put some wood on the fire, but there was already a nice blaze burning. Darien
sat at her table, sifting through correspondence and other items while
consulting a map. She’d had too many things on her mind to remember to latch
the door. Or perhaps, she’d subconsciously left it unsecured, hoping he’d
return.

“How long have you been here?” she asked as she took the
chair next to him.

“A couple hours. Catching up on business.” He slid a sheet
of paper her way. “This is your copy.”

She stared at the approved document that officially made her
a demon slayer. Her gaze lifted and locked with his. “You signed this.”

“I realized you’d continue down this path regardless. And I
don’t want you creating more trouble for yourself.” He reached for her hand and
raised it to his lips. “There’s something I want to ask of you though.”

“I promise to be careful,” she quickly assured him.

He nodded. “That’s one thing that deeply concerns me. The
other is that you’ve proven to be an effective liaison between myself and the
village. I’d like that connection to be more solid. You could help me.”

Her head inclined to one side as she regarded him
thoughtfully. “How?”

“Will you consider a diplomatic post? Such as…an ambassador
of peace?”

The suggestion stunned her. But myriad thoughts instantly
snapped to attention in her mind. “Meaning I would advocate for a less volatile
coexistence and you would help us find better, safer ways for humans to live?”

“You can confer with the villagers and present ideas to me
for consideration. In turn, I’ll make an effort to improve human-demon
relations. But I’m not just talking about Ryleigh. We would take our movement
to other villages, different regions.”

Her spirits soared. “You really want to promote goodwill?
Together?”

“Yes I do.”

He let out a low laugh that held a hint of irony in it.

Then he continued. “That night Michael almost kissed you…
Later, I contemplated whether my unrequited feelings for you had become the
price I had to pay for letting the demon wars go too far. I thought of
restitution and redemption. I hadn’t stopped the battles when I should have and
I regret that. In the back of my mind, I’ve always wondered how I could make
amends. Now, months following that night outside the tavern, I still consider
you to be the key to my salvation.”

She stared at him, her thoughts too jumbled to process. Her
heart, however, did not stutter. Rather, it picked up several beats.

“Maybe,” he added, “we were destined to meet. Team up to
forge our own Reconstruction Era, as we’d previously discussed.”

“You might be right. I told you, I spent fifteen years just
going through the motions every day. But since that first time you came to the
village… Yes, there have been some painful moments, yet I’ve started to see
things differently. Become more involved. It feels as if that’s precisely what
I’m supposed to do.”

He grinned at her. “We could help each other if we worked
together.”

“Not just each other. We could improve a lot of lives. Make
the villages and traveling safer, while still allowing the demons to roam at
will outside the community borders. Your alliance hasn’t faltered,” she said.
“It’s those who haven’t banded with you that present the most trouble.”

“I agree. And I’ll have to place a greater penalty on them.
I want this insurgency stopped. Attacks on the slayers and villagers can’t be
tolerated.”

She leaned toward him and kissed him. “Thank you for seeing
beyond me and accepting a bigger picture.”

“I want you protected. And comfortable. My idea of making
that happen was to whisk you away to the castle. But now I know how fiercely
dedicated you are to the village. As your father had been. I respect that,
Jade. I’ll try to be less controlling. However,” he said, with a hefty dose of
warning in his voice, “when I know there’s danger close by, I don’t want you
doing anything hasty. You need to maintain your partnership with Tanner and
watch each other’s backs. Do you understand?”

“You have my word.” Triumph rippled through her. “I don’t
want to divert your attention by causing you to worry about me because I’ve
gone off half-cocked. I’ll be more level-headed and cognizant of hazardous
situations. I swear.”

Relief crossed his handsome face. “I’m holding you to that.
I’ve enough to deal with at the moment. In fact, I need to rally this next
charge to find the shifter that attacked Walker. Something tells me tracking it
will lead us directly to the rogue army. When they materialize, that is.”

“You don’t have to leave just yet, do you?”

His gaze slid over her. “No. Not just yet.”

She stood and held her hand out to him. He took it and she
tugged until he was on his feet and following her into the bedroom.

“I’ve read in my romance novels that make-up sex can be
particularly exciting,” she told him.

He pulled her into his arms and kissed her hungrily. Her own
cravings were ravenous. She slipped her hands under his sweater and reveled in
the feel of his warm skin against hers. His muscles bunched beneath her
fingertips.

His hand cupped the back of her head and he deepened the
kiss, conveying emotion and need but also clearly establishing the fact she
belonged to him. As though she might have forgotten that while he’d been away
and she’d been off with Tanner, honing her slaying skills.

He broke the kiss and turned her so her back was to him. His
arms slid around her at the waist, then he palmed her breasts and massaged them
with a titillating amount of pressure. She sighed dreamily as his lips grazed
her neck.

“I’m still angry with you, by the way,” he murmured in her
ear.

“I have no delusions about that.”

Releasing her breasts, he gripped the long hem of her
sweater and pulled the material upward, stripping it off her. He promptly
heaped the rest of her clothing on the floor. Then he yanked the satin sash
from the robe she’d draped along the foot of the bed.

Standing behind her, he said, “I’m going to punish you for
disobeying me. I told you to stay safe, and you became a slayer.”

Her stomach flipped at his sexy tone and implication. “I’ve
been very bad.”

“Indeed.” Deftly, he wrapped the satin around her wrists,
securing them behind her back.

A thrill chased down her spine. The last time he’d
restrained her had been nothing short of explosive. Taking out a little
frustration on her now would likely prove to be equally erotic.

His arms snaked around her again, his hands returning to her
breasts. He caressed them almost roughly, which made her squirm and her butt
wriggled against his crotch. He was instantly erect. As he kissed her neck, his
teeth lightly scraped over her skin. He rolled and pinched her nipples. She
moaned. Heat flashed between her legs, and her pussy throbbed with the need to
be filled.

“You’ll behave a little better in the future?” he asked in
an intimate, highly arousing tone.

“If this is my punishment for defying you? Not a chance.”

He chuckled. “What if my plan is to get you excited and in
desperate need of me, and then leave you tied up on the bed while I make a
sandwich and read a book?”

She groaned. “That would be cruel.”

“But it would get my point across, wouldn’t it?”

“I thought you said you loved me.”

“I do. That’s why I’m so pissed off at you.”

He continued his ministrations as they bantered and Jade
found it increasingly difficult to form coherent thoughts as his hands squeezed
her breasts and then his thumbs swept over her pebbled nipples.

“If you love me so much,” she said on a heavy breath, “then
you’ll fuck me.”

“Oh I intend to. But not yet.”

His palm grazed her rib cage, down to her belly. “Your body
is different. Stronger, but still feminine. I like it.”

His fingers brushed over her labia, rubbing back and forth
as fire roared through her veins. She’d missed his hands and mouth on her.

“Let’s see how wet you are for me, hmm?”

His finger slid inside her and she let out a sharp breath.

“Nice,” he said in a strained voice. “But I want you
wetter.”

He withdrew from her and stroked her pussy lips again and
then rubbed her clit. First in a slow, circular motion. But he picked up the
pace, using the pads of two fingers, and it drove her wild. She writhed against
him and little whimpers fell from her lips.

Being restrained heightened her arousal. So too did the fact
she could cup his balls through his leather pants.

He groaned. “You like to play dirty?”

“When it comes to you, yes.”

Darien pushed two fingers into her cunt and stroked her
inner walls while the heel of his hand continued to massage her clit. His other
hand remained on her breast, toying with her nipple.

Jade’s legs trembled and her breathing escalated. “Oh God,”
she whispered as her eyelids fluttered closed and the back of her head rested
against his hard chest. “I’m going to come.”

“I shouldn’t let you.”

She sucked in a breath. “Don’t you dare stop.”

“But you didn’t do as I asked.”

“How boring would I be if I did everything you asked me to
do?”

“Not funny.”

Her heart pounded and her body ached for release. She didn’t
give in to the sensations mounting within her. Not yet anyway.

She asked, “Wet enough for you?”

He groaned. “I’m damn close to ripping off my clothes and
thrusting into you.”

“What’s holding you back?”

“I’m going to make you come a few times before I do.”

A smile tickled the corners of her mouth. “You can’t resist,
can you?”

“Not when it comes to you.”

He worked her a little harder, pushing his fingers deep as
he teased her nipple.

“Darien,” she whispered. “Yes. Oh God yes.” Tension seized
her and she gasped. Then the erotic sensations he evoked erupted and she cried
out his name as she came.

His fingers were still inside her as she crested the tall
wave of her orgasm and rode it out. Then he disentangled himself from her.

Jade’s erratic breathing echoed in the room, mingling with
the howl of the wind outside that caused wispy tree limbs to scrape her window.
Her skin was flushed and tingly and her pussy still pulsed, wanting so much
more.

“How are your arms?” Darien asked.

“Fine.” She wasn’t ready to give up the light bondage just
yet. It added a scintillating edge to their foreplay.

He directed her onto the bed, helping her, though she’d
mastered her balance with all the footwork and weight placement she and Tanner
had practiced. Darien guided her forward until her shoulders and chin were
resting against a mound of pillows he dragged over to her. She was on her
knees, toward the edge of the mattress. His hands cupped her ass cheeks and
spread them wide. He knelt on the floor behind her and his tongue swept over
her pussy lips.

She cried out as her body jerked from the excitement that
shot through her.

“Hold still,” he commanded.

His fingers spread her labia and the tip of his tongue
flicked over her clit, teasing the sensitive bud.

Her nipples brushed against the satin of her sheets as her
body rocked, despite his words. He suckled her clit and fiery sensations
consumed her.

A throaty moan slipped out. He sucked the knot of nerves
between her legs again, then flicked his tongue over it. She panted loudly as
her desire burned.

“I want you inside me,” she told him.

“You still haven’t apologized for not telling me you were
training with Tanner.”

“I’m allowed,” she said, her breath scarce. “I don’t demand
you tell me everything you do.”

He made a soft
tsking
sound. “Still haven’t learned
your lesson.”

Standing behind her, he thrust two fingers into her wet
pussy and stroked her quickly, making her gasp and moan. His other hand slid
around to the front of her and he vigorously massaged her clit while his
fingers pumped in and out of her.

Jade bit into the pillow her cheek had pressed against. A
dark, carnal lust seized her very soul and she loved how powerful it was. How
all-consuming it felt. She’d never experienced such sizzling sensations until
she’d met the Demon King. And everything he did to her left her blazing from
head to toe…and wanting more.

She halfheartedly struggled against her constraints, wanting
to be free of them yet finding the sensual torture exhilarating. When Darien
worked a third finger into her tight cunt, she lost her breath. His touch was
determined and skilled, and seconds later, she screamed in sheer ecstasy as her
orgasm exploded deep within her.

Her body vibrated and her pulse raged. He withdrew from her
and she heard him divest himself of his clothes as her eyes remained shut and
she concentrated on finding a normal breathing pattern. Yet her ragged gulps of
air didn’t slow as she anticipated him entering her from behind and driving
deep.

Moments later, he did just that, thrusting hard and filling
her completely.

“Oh yes,” she whispered as pleasure flowed through her. “I
really have missed you.”

He clasped her waist and his hips bucked as he hammered into
her. Having her hands tied at the small of her back added to the eroticism in a
way she had not expected. A secret part of her thrilled over being at his
mercy…being a vessel for his own pleasure, though she reaped the benefit as
well.

Clearly in need of releasing his pent-up sexual
frustration—as well as the agitation she’d sparked—he thrust forcefully into
her, pushing her right to the edge again. His body tensed when hers did, and
then he called out her name as he came, igniting her orgasm. The sensations
slammed into her, hot and vibrant. The eruption deep in her pussy made her cry
out once more.