Skyla should have corrected him; her name was Skyla, not Elizabeth, but butterflies fluttered in her stomach, as if Elizabeth were awakening to his call, to his burning, demanding touch. All of a sudden, the incredible sensations stopped. Rei pulled away from her.
“Rei…?” Confused, she looked up at him.
His finger gently touched her flushed cheek. “Skyla.” He switched back to her name, and his eyes bored into hers. “Tell me you want this too.” Tremor and uncertainty shook his voice.
His restraint and gentleness touched her deeply. He loved Elizabeth long ago, and now he loved her just the same. Without any hesitation, her arms wrapped around his neck. “Yes.” Finally Elizabeth and Skyla were in accord with each other. “Yes, I want this. I need you.” Pressing her swollen, well-kissed lips to his, she whispered into his warm, welcoming mouth, “Make me yours.”
He smiled. It was the most gorgeous smile she had ever seen. He kissed her again. He was more demanding and more ferocious. His kisses left her breathless. Then Rei carefully picked her up as if she were his most precious treasure and walked out of the bathroom. His tender reverence toward her touched her heart and soul. It felt so right. It felt like home. When he gently put her on top of the feather-soft bed, he followed her down and kissed her face, nipped at the sensitive shells of her ears. Her pulse quickened, and her hands restlessly sought contact with his skin. “More,” she demanded huskily.
“Elizabeth, I’ve waited centuries for you,” he muttered softly against her sensitive nipples, his teeth and tongue biting them, lapping them at the same time. The pain and pleasure were absolutely mindboggling; it was addictive. She didn’t want him to stop…ever. Her hands fisted his shirt tightly, pulling it, pulling him closer to her. And he gave her more; his hands and his mouth were everywhere now, touching her, arousing her body to a rapid boiling point.
Skyla knew there would be no going back, and she didn’t want to go back. She arched her back, wanting more of his mouth, his touch. Everything seemed to be winding tighter and tighter. “Rei…” and then she ruptured into a million pieces.
It was so intense, so mesmerizing that Skyla didn’t want to breathe lest she miss a second of the amazing, kaleidoscopic fireworks. When the mirage of lights slowly receded behind her eyelids, she opened them slowly. She felt uncharacteristically vulnerable, and she wanted to turn away from him.
“No. Look at me.” Rei pushed up on his forearms, looking down at her, smiling a very male, very satisfied smile. “We’re not done yet.” His usually cold gray eyes were sparking with tender passion. His handsome face looked so young and unguarded, no longer calculating. Her heat melted for him over all again.
He reached down and took a swipe at her now beyond-sensitive nipples. Mewing sounds escaped her lips. She could feel him smiling against her breasts. Her pulse picked up speed as his warm breaths feathered down past her navel. He stopped right above where she ached most. She squirmed closer to his sexy mouth but he pulled away, and his broad hands were holding her hips firmly. She couldn’t think straight. She needed more. “Don’t stop!”
“No, love. I won’t. And I will never leave you again.” And with a growl, he speared his tongue all the way inside of her aching, velvety channel. The sensation was so new, so strong, so devastating. She wasn’t prepared for it. Nothing could have prepared her for it. She tried to hold on, wanting to savor the indescribable sensation, but it was impossible.
“Rei, I can’t. Please…” She begged him, but she didn’t know what she was begging for. Her body was twisting under his iron grip. “Please…” She let out a deep groan. She was almost at the precipice again. Her fingers dug into the soft sheet underneath her, trying to hold on to anything she could find while Rei’s mouth and tongue continued assaulting her weeping channel ruthlessly. As she was reaching the peak again, his tongue pulled out. She was about to protest but immediately felt his hands on her ass. His strong fingers gently pulled her butt cheeks apart. Before she could make sense of it, slick fingers were rubbing her back entrance.
She gasped. She knew what he was doing. “Rei…” Uncertainty sounded in her already hoarse voice.
Instead of answering her, soothing her, he continued his single-minded ministering of her core with his mouth while eagerly pressing his calloused thumb into her anus. “Too much…” She wiggled her bottom, but he didn’t leave her much room to move nor did he answer her plea. The slight movements from her wiggling actually pushed her pussy and her ass against Rei’s mouth and thumb more. Then shortly after, she stepped off the cliff. Her body arched up, and the fireworks came again, this time more brilliantly than the last.
Skyla couldn’t tell how much time had passed.
Whoa.
She literally had a blackout from the orgasm. When her senses finally came back, Rei was leaning on his forearm again, raining soft kisses on her face while his hands continued the same single-minded ministration all over her sensitive skin. “Hmm…” She opened her eyes and kissed him shyly. “That was quite something.”
Rei chuckled a little, and his lips and hands were progressively getting more heated. Before long, both of them were panting from need again.
“Rei, please…” Her lower back arched up to him, seeking more from him. When the thick crown of his cock breached her opening, she tensed. And Rei felt it. He kissed her more seductively. His fingers feathered over her swollen breasts. “I’m here. I’ll make it good for you. Trust me.” Before he finished the sentence, his hips plunged into her, tearing through her maidenhead.
It was a pinch, lasting no more than a few seconds, but Skyla let out a painful gasp, even though this was exactly what she had wanted. She had asked for it, begged for it.
“I’m sorry, love.” Rei held still. The only thing her sore channel felt were the pulsations from his hard-as-steel cock. Sweat was beading all over his forehead. His lips were pressed in a formidable line, looking as if letting out even a breath would break his control.
Skyla didn’t know what came over her. The pinch from the tear of her maidenhead was still throbbing, but her body had a mind of its own and pushed up, making Rei go deeper to the hilt.
This time it was Rei who moaned through gritted teeth. “Stay still…my control is paper thin, and you are not ready for more, love.” He snaked his arm around her waist and flushed her body against his.
“Try me.” She didn’t mean to say it like a dare. Instantly, a pair of very male, very predatory eyes gleamed at her. If she had any good sense, she would be afraid of the vulnerable position she was in, trapped underneath his deliciously taut, solid body and afraid of how easily he could arouse all these unfamiliar yet exciting sensations. But she was not afraid at all. She needed more, and his damned control was in the way. Wickedly, she clamped down her mouth on his neck, nipping at his pulse, and all hell broke loose.
“Ahh…Elizabeth.” With a defeated growl, he let go of her and sat up in a more dominant position. He pulled out slowly, leaving only the swollen crown of his cock lodged inside her before he rammed it back inside her tight, lava-hot body. The intense sensations knocked both of their breaths out. His face was flushing with lust, mirroring the hunger she felt. And she was not frightened by it…unlike she had been by Fernando’s unwanted advances.
Rei increased his pistoning pace, yet his hands were holding her gently. His eyes were shining with love.
With each of his forward plunges, Skyla swore she could feel him right outside of her womb. Both his mouth and his cock were taking her with so much need, and such demanding force, the bed shook. It was a miracle the bedposts had not come crashing down.
He kept up the pace for a while, alternating with slower, more seductive strokes, keeping her body guessing. It was a claiming, claiming her, claiming back Elizabeth. She knew it, and surprisingly, she wanted it as much as he did.
Then came the mind-blowing moment; her pussy vibrated and convulsed around his pounding cock. Her climax took off in multiple directions. She was coming apart in his embrace, and it was the most beautiful, peaceful thing she had ever experienced. Unlike the terror she had felt the one and only time she had been physically close to another man—Knox before their graduation—this time her body and mind felt absolutely right.
Rei continued his steady motions, working her down from the earth-shattering peak. When her channel finally stopped quaking, he lifted both of her legs onto his shoulders and started pumping into her again. The speed was leisurely at first. He kissed her all over, and his hands were everywhere, touching her, arousing her. She didn’t think her body could react to anything after the multiple orgasms, yet her body shamelessly tightened up again. His onslaught and the change of tempo aroused all kinds of rioting sensations inside her. They were like invisible fingers tugging at her womb, demanding her to receive him, all of him.
Finally his thumb reached below and rubbed her clit while his cock continued plunging. She could barely get enough oxygen into her lungs from the frantic race. Her vision was getting blurry again. Just as she thought she was about to pass out from the erotic intensity, Rei howled his pleasure. His cock stiffened inside her as his pelvis ground against her tightly. A warm gush of his seed flooded her overly sensitive channel walls. It triggered another orgasm just as powerful as the ones she had before.
“Skyla.” His jaw tightened, and his eyes squeezed shut. He called out her name softly while his hips continued pushing into her languidly, as if he was trying to make sure she took every last drop of his seed.
Once the tremors finally subsided and the world stopped spinning, she opened her unfocused eyes. Rei was still on top of her, putting his weight on his forearms. He looked content and happy, just like in her memory of them together. She pulled his face down and kissed him with the love that she had never thought she would find. “Rei,” she answered him back.
Knox was bone tired. It had been a long day. He had spent most of it making sure Rei’s men had secured every inch of the townhouse and checking and rechecking all the security details with Sloan. Although Rei’s security details were damned good for the 1930s, he had insisted they improvise additional measures, not only as safeguards but also as traps. He wanted answers the next time Antonio showed up. Seeing Skyla’s limp body on the floor last night made him want to rip her cousin apart limb by limb. He knew Skyla was not his, nor was she ever meant to be. But it didn’t lessen his unrequited feelings for her. He would give up his life before letting anyone harm her again. He had loved her when they were just bright-eyed college students. He still loved her and had hoped to win her back until Rei showed up. After seeing firsthand what had happened to her and Rei in the sixteenth century, he knew it was the right thing to do, giving up his claim on her.
He dragged his leaden legs up the staircase into his room. He discarded his gear, his thin, thermal top, his utility belt and socks, and his cargo pants carelessly on the floor as he walked into the bathroom, his garments forming a trail behind him. The hot, pressurized water from the showerhead slowly relaxed his taut muscles, even though his mind kept going over the events since Rei had showed up at the Agency. The situation had become bigger than any of them had anticipated. There were obviously more players in the game than Rei had let on. Skyla’s cousin from her escaped past showing up in the townhouse was another sign that someone was playing with them all, even with the Agency. But who? And for what gain?
When he first saw the woman in Rei’s room, he thought he had imagined her. Then seeing Rei recovered from the severe gunshot wound in less than a couple of hours had confirmed his suspicion before Rei had reluctantly admitted that she was a maiden serving his gods. Knox had his guess which gods the maiden served. He had considered forcing the issue on Rei, but like Rei, he too had skeletons hidden in his closet.
This unexpected discovery brought up a past he would rather not think about. Unlike his twin sister, Knox preferred keeping that door shut with a dead bolt. He finished his showering and shaving routine leisurely. Still drying his hair, he stepped out of the bathroom but halted abruptly at the vision before him.
“You.”
The maiden in Rei’s room was standing in the middle of his room. Needing to confirm his guesses, he quietly took stock of her. Her hair was long, wavy, and pale blonde. Her face was a delicate oval shape. Her silky hair tumbled down her graceful neck to her tantalizingly full, feminine hips. She was medium height but with perfect curves; though he did not expect any less from her kind. When his eyes traveled back up to her face, it was icy and almost as pale as her blonde hair. Her green eyes looked at him with glacial cool, yet they were soothing at the same time. His heartbeat was slowing to calm beats. That was a surprise, given he was facing an unknown entity, a potential threat. Then it hit him. She was not a garden-variety handmaiden. She was calming and soothing, like a siren call. Immediately, he blocked off his mind and pushed back at her subtle power, rejecting her call. The handmaiden’s eyes widened. They looked baffled at first and then alarmed. Her icy brows furrowed, as if not understanding why her power was not working on a mere mortal. That was when Knox charged at her.
Facing his aggressive advancement, the handmaiden stumbled back a few steps while holding out her left palm, as if she could stop him with a mere hand gesture. Her genuine fear stopped him mid-stride. Knox might be ruthless in his job, but he was raised to treat women with respect and care. His auto-pilot, combat-ready body shut off immediately, and he asked instead, “Who are you and what do you want?”
The deadly intent in his eyes had probably lessened because the calm, icy expression was back on the maiden’s lovely face. “Danger is fast approaching. Beware of love and betrayal.” As soon as the last word was said, she vanished into thin air.
“Shit.” Bad timing, really bad timing. Knox quickly got dressed and headed to look for Skyla. She needed to understand what they were up against without giving his own secrets away.