Vengeance (The Captive #6)(60)
Tears burned her eyes; she bit on her bottom lip to keep them from flowing. “Shut that brat up!” someone shouted. She recognized instantly who it was.
Unfortunately, so did William.
He sat up beside her on the couch. His eyes burned the color of fire, his lips skimmed back to reveal his extended fangs. Tempest leaned away as violence poured off him in waves that rattled her.
He’d said he wouldn’t go after Kane, but that had been before he’d been this close to him, before he’d heard his voice. Tempest stretched her hand out and rested it against his chest. His muscles vibrated with power and with the restraint he used to keep himself sitting on the couch.
“William,” she whispered.
His head turned toward her. His eyes stared straight through her; she wondered if he realized she was there. Tempest remained immobile, unsure of how to act or what to do to calm him. Going on instinct alone, she grasped hold of his shirt and leaned into him. Her eyes remained open; they searched his as she pressed her lips to his.
In the beginning, he remained unmoving, his eyes still blazing like the fires of Hell. Then his hand encircled her head, his fingers threaded their way through her hair, and he pulled her firmly against him. His kiss became bruising in its intensity, but she didn’t pull away from him. She’d give him whatever he needed from her.
The press of his fangs against her lips caused her to jerk with excitement. His tongue swept in to taste her in deep thrusts that robbed her of all sane thought. All she could feel and taste was him. She didn’t realize she’d fallen back on the couch until he was moving over her, settling his weight on top of her.
Her hands ran over his back toward his ass. She tugged the thin material of the flaxen shirt he wore up until she could settle her palms against his heated flesh. The corded muscles of his back rippled and bunched beneath her touch as he moved over her, tasting her. His muscles were chiseled perfection, but the skin beneath her fingers was supple. A low groan escaped him when he pulled her shirt up and rested his hands against the flesh of her ribcage.
His palm began to move across her, circling her flesh and heating her in ways she’d never dreamed possible. Feeling more than a little out of control, she tugged incessantly at his shirt, trying to get it higher. She had to feel more of his flesh against hers, to see him and touch him everywhere. He broke the kiss as he leaned away from her and impatiently jerked his shirt over his head. When he looked at her again, his eyes were their striking blue color once more.
His hands were tender when he ran his fingers over her cheek and down toward her neck. She couldn’t take her eyes away from the tanned skin of his chest; her fingers trembled when she ran them over his taut flesh. Beneath her touch, his skin rippled. He stiffened when her fingers ran over the jagged scar just below his chest.
He went to grab her hand, but she shook her head no. Rising up, she pressed a kiss against the puckered flesh. This was how his humanity had ended, she realized. Her fingers dug into his back, drawing him closer as she swirled her tongue over the scar. His hand wrapped around her head, holding her closer to him as her fingers ran over his flesh.
She lifted her head to look at him. He held her close to him’ his eyes searching hers before he bent and claimed her mouth once more. Angling her back down on the couch, he slid the buttons on her shirt free, his eyes taking her in hungrily as he gazed down at her bared flesh.
Goose bumps broke out across her skin; she bit into her bottom lip as she watched him taking her body in. She wanted him back against her, touching her again, but she couldn’t get enough of him looking at her and caressing her with such reverence. Finally, after what seemed like forever, he lowered himself back over her.
A sigh of pleasure escaped her when his bare flesh pressed against hers. His heady, smoky and outdoor aroma enveloped her as he took firm possession of her mouth once more. Her fingers raked over his back; she tried to pull him closer against her, but she didn’t think she’d ever be able to get close enough to him.
The press of his fangs against her lips caused her to squirm. Before she could stop it, her own fangs extended to scrape across his full bottom lip. A rumble of pleasure escaped him, his hands slid down to the button on her pants. Her toes curled as she grabbed more fervently at his flesh. The world spun out of control at the same time it became so simple and focused.
They were the only ones who existed, the only ones who mattered. It was all happening so fast, she’d been trying to keep her distance from him, but she knew now that would be impossible. Neither of them knew how much time they had left, not when their enemies stood only a floor above. Not when the peace they’d all come to know was hanging by such a thin string.
No matter how much the reasonable side of her said she should stop this, that she’d only get her heart broken, the other side of her was screaming at her to take something for herself finally. To give into the desire he stoked in her with only a look. She refused to die without knowing what this man felt like. She may not be in love with him, or perhaps she was, she didn’t know, and she certainly couldn’t think straight when his hands were sliding her pants down her legs.
“I’ve never,” she whispered when he tugged her pants off.
The fingers running over her bare thighs froze. His gaze burned into hers before he leaned forward and clasped her cheeks within his hands. “Do you want to stop?”
She bit on her bottom lip, wincing when her fangs punctured her flesh. His eyes fastened on the bead of blood forming on her lip. The hunger in his gaze caused a small mewl to escape her. The last thing she wanted was for him to stop. “No, I just… I thought you should know.”