Beyond the Darkness (Guardians of Eternity #6)(30)

“Harley.”

His plea was cut short as she wiggled down his body, the tormenting kisses heading ever lower.

Gritting his teeth, Salvatore shifted his hands to clutch the blanket beneath him. It was that, or toss her back onto the mattress and take her with a furious hunger.

Unaware of how close he was to the edge, or perhaps simply enjoying her power over him, Harley continued to drive him mad, her lips sending tiny shock waves through his body. Then without warning, her seeking mouth closed over the tip of his cock, the moist heat branding him through the satin of his boxers.

“Cristo.” He reached to grasp her arms, hauling her up his body to claim her lips with a force just short of pain. “I throw in the towel, cara,” he growled, his accent thick. “I can bear no more.”

She deliberately rolled her hips, her smile smug. “Shouldn’t a king be able…” Her eyes widened with shock as Salvatore reached to jerk down his boxers, and with one smooth motion was lifting his hips to pierce her damp heat. “Oh, God.”

Smoothing his hands up her back, Salvatore sucked the tip of her breast between his lips, relishing her low moan of pleasure. She fit as tight as a glove around him, making him tremble with the effort to wait until she was accustomed to his penetration.

“So good,” he rasped. “Ride me, Harley.”

Planting her hands on his chest, she lifted her hips, drawing him out to the very tip before slowly sinking back down, burying him deep inside her. Salvatore muttered a curse, his hands gripping her hips as he waged war against his looming orgasm.

Dammit. He was famed for his stamina. He could satisfy a woman for hours before claiming his own release. But never before had sex called to both the man and beast inside him.

Sweat gathered on his brow as he concentrated on the mesmerizing beauty of her face. For once her features were unguarded, flushed with passion, and her eyes dilated as she quickened her pace.

His hips lifted to meet her downward strokes, his growl of satisfaction filling the air as her fingernails bit into his chest, drawing blood.

The air was scented with her arousal, her slender body bowing above him as she tipped back her head and lost herself in the pleasure.

“Salvatore,” she cried softly, a frantic edge in her voice as her climax neared.

“Cara,” he whispered. “Let go.”

“I…” She moaned in relief as Salvatore tightened his grip on her hips, pumping deep into her with a relentless tempo. “More.”

“As much as you desire, Harley,” he swore, his hand cupping the back of her head and tugging her down so he could kiss her with savage pleasure.

Their tongues tangled, their bodies moving together with a growing desperation. Then, just when Salvatore feared he was going to explode, he felt Harley stiffen, her cry of completion muffled against his lips.

Salvatore sank his fingers in her satin hair as her climax clutched at his cock, his hips slamming upward as he unleashed his passion in a flurry of unrestrained hunger.

His wolf howled in satisfaction as his orgasm burst through him, the shock waves of pleasure radiating through his entire body.

His.

His woman. His mate.

The other half of himself.

Salvatore jerked awake, muttering a curse as he realized just how deeply he’d slept.

Not entirely unexpected. He’d been forced to burn through his energy at a dangerous pace while he was injured. His body demanded the time necessary to recover. Even if it left him vulnerable.

Instinctively his arms reached across the bed for Harley. It was one thing to risk his own neck, and quite another to risk his mate.

His eyes snapped open as his seeking hands found nothing but rumpled sheets.

“Harley?” he muttered, his sluggish mind belatedly recalling her smell was masked by the amulet. Dio. Leaping from the bed, he tugged on jeans and a white T-shirt as he noted the khaki shorts and shirt he’d stolen for Harley were missing. “Stubborn, ill-mannered brat,” he muttered, slipping on the running shoes and shoving his hands through his tangled hair. “When I get my hands on her, I’ll…” Salvatore stiffened as the scent of cur tainted the air. “Shit.”

Gathering the gun and dagger left on the nightstand, Salvatore cautiously slid from the room, avoiding the late afternoon shadows as he inched around the hotel to study the nearly empty parking lot.

Two men stood near the trash dumpster. One was a tall, gaunt human with thinning black hair and a narrow, impressively ugly face. The other was a young cur with clipped brown hair and the muscular body of a weight lifter.

“A blonde, you said?” the human was saying, a cunning light in his pale eyes.

The cur gave an impatient nod. “Traveling with a dark-haired man.”

Obviously angling for a bribe, the man cleared his throat. “That’s not much to go on.”

The cur bunched his muscles, predictably oblivious to the hints. Curs didn’t do subtle.

“Don’t jerk me around,” he warned. “How many strangers do you get in this hillbilly hellhole?”

Stiffening, the man tossed two garbage bags into the Dumpster and headed for the motel.

“Maybe you should just be moving along.”

With a low growl, the cur had moved to block the man’s path, his hand shooting out to grab his shirt and lift him a few inches off the ground.