Rise of the Gryphon (Belador #4)(72)

He released a long breath that came out in a groan of pain, then he reached for her.

Thrilled to feel his body next to hers, she folded into his arms, her heart bursting at being close to him again. His kiss fed the longing in her chest. Pleasure raced over her skin and down through her core.

She wrapped her fingers around his neck, hanging on tight to the one person she didn’t think she could live without.

He cupped her head and held her gently, but his mouth was hungry and demanding.

Why couldn’t they be back at his house, lounging in front of his fire?

She licked his lips and kissed him, wanting to feel all of him, skin to skin. And this was all her, no armband driving her insane to have him. He grabbed her butt and scooped her up against him. She hooked her legs around his waist, shuddering with the desire that rocked her.

He slid a hand beneath the tail of her T-shirt and crawled his fingers up until he flipped the front clasp of her bra. His thumb brushed over her nipple and she jerked up with a hiss.

His touch drove her crazy. She kissed him harder, demanding what she needed from him. He kept up the gentle assault until her skin felt alive everywhere.

She pulled her mouth from his. “We could . . . maybe here . . .”

He went still, his body tense, his chest heaving with ragged breaths. “No, we can’t.” His forehead dropped to hers. “This is not the place for you to experience making love the first time. Not when guards can walk in whenever they want. Damn, I should know better than to let this get out of hand, but I lose my mind around you.”

She smiled at his grumbled admission.

When he lifted his head back to find her smiling, he tweaked her breast lightly.

She lost her grin. “That’s torture.”

“Uh-huh. Nothing like what you’ve been putting me through for weeks.”

“I’m kicking the butt of anyone who stops me from leaving here with you.”

Moving his hand from her breast, he lifted her so she could drop her legs to the floor. She’d never discussed what happened to her as a teen, but she felt the need to be honest right now. “You should know, Storm, that when we do . . . come together it won’t be my first time. I may be inexperienced, but I’m . . . I’m no virgin.”

Storm placed his hand on her cheek, his words tender. “There’s a difference between the clinical definition of having sex and making love, but you didn’t experience either one, did you?”

She dropped her chin, unable to face him. “Let’s just say I know how the parts work.”

Pulling her to him, he held her for a while, then asked gently, “What happened?”

She didn’t want to recall that night alone in the basement, locked in with a man she’d come to think of as her only friend. Even though she was ready to be intimate with Storm, she still had her doubts about shifting involuntarily if she felt trapped and the nightmare took over her mind.

Storm deserved to know the truth.

Drawing a shaky breath from the feelings still racing through her body, she told him quickly before she changed her mind. “My aunt raised me after my dad abandoned me, or sold me. She said her brother paid her a salary and had no interest in ever seeing me again, since I was a freak that had to be kept out of the sun. A bastard embarrassment.”

His fingers paused, then continued massaging her muscles.

“My mother died in childbirth, so I don’t know her side of the story. My aunt kept me locked in the basement she’d finished out to be a small apartment. She left during the day to work at some hospital as a nurse.”

“Where’s your aunt?”

That would have been a simple question if it hadn’t come out with a load of threat beneath Storm’s words.

“Dead. When I reached my teens, I started having muscle pains and cramps, so she convinced a young doctor to make house calls. At least, I thought he was a doctor. He was curious more than anything about someone who couldn’t go out in the sun. He was nice and gave me medicine that eased my cramps, but he kept stopping by during the next month until one day he said he had to examine me. A gynecological exam.”

The warm hand stroking along her back stilled. Storm was tense but calm when he said, “Go on.”

“That was . . . difficult, but the doctor said everything was fine and left. Then he came by one night to tell me my aunt was staying at the hospital overnight to help out because they were shorthanded. I told him I was fine alone, but he got this strange look in his eyes. I knew he wasn’t listening. First he tried to convince me he wanted to examine me again. When I said no, he forced me down and started tearing my clothes off. I screamed, but nobody heard me. I fought him. He was bigger than me. Ripped my clothes off. He . . .”

She shook, seeing his crazed face and feeling his hands on her again. He’d slapped her, then balled his fist and hit her over and over, yelling at her to stop acting like a child while he shoved inside her, ripping her. Her heart had beaten so loudly she’d heard each thump in her ears. She’d screamed until she was hoarse, then her arms started changing, skin breaking with cartilage pushing through.

Her jaw had stretched . . . then he’d stopped hitting her.

His face had turned white with fear.

Storm’s voice finally cut through Evalle’s horror. “Shhh, take it easy, sweetheart. I’m here.” He held her tight. “Calm down.”