Blonde & Blue (Alexa O'Brien, Huntress #4)(46)

Kale’s hands were on my waist, sliding up under my shirt to caress my bare flesh. I ached for more. It wasn’t enough. When his mouth came warm against my neck, I sighed. The scrape of his fangs on my skin held the promise of danger and bliss. I needed it.

When he peeled my wet t-shirt off, I didn’t stop him. He paused just long enough to gaze into my eyes. I saw myself reflected in the drowning black of his pupils. And more than that, I saw his agonizing need.

Pulling me close, Kale pressed his lips to the swell of my cle**age, and I melted against him. I grasped his wet hair in my fingers, amazed at how soft it was. His tongue was warm and moist on my chilled flesh. We’d come this far before. That’s where it had ended. Not this time. Lord, not this time.

Perhaps the back alley behind The Wicked Kiss wasn’t the most ideal setting for such an encounter. The lightning flashed overhead, followed by thunder, and I found it perfect. Impatience drove me to know more of him, all of him. I sensed magic in Kale’s touch. I guided him back up to my lips so I could taste him again.

He touched my br**sts through the restrictive, damp bra, but I didn’t want that. It wasn’t enough. The insistence in my kiss drove him, and he ran his hands low down my body to relieve me of the clingy, wet jeans. Anticipation had me growling. I was eager and ravenous for Kale.

I barely noticed when he stripped me of my skimpy underwear. Cloaking my body with his, Kale sheltered my nakedness with his long duster, providing me with warmth and cover. I reached blindly for him, seeking his skin on mine. He was already moving to free himself from the restraints of his pants. I gasped when he lifted me in his arms so that my weight was divided between the wall at my back and his embrace.

The warmth of his hard shaft against my entrance was sudden and startling. I peered into his eyes, finding him watching me intently. He gave me one last split second to stop him. I never did.

Kale slipped inside me with a slow, steady motion that knocked the breath from me. Our gazes were locked, and I felt vulnerable as every wall I’d built between us crumbled into dust. Buried deep within me, Kale gave a sigh that echoed what I felt. I watched as some semblance of sanity crept back into his mismatched eyes, but we weren’t turning back now.

“Alexa.” My name was a whisper as he kissed and bit at my neck.

With firm but unhurried strokes, he filled me again and again. A swell of emotion rose up to shatter what remained of my denial about my feelings for Kale. I wasn’t going to attempt to define them, but I could no longer refute their existence. He shared with me weaknesses and vulnerabilities that nobody else did, like the constant battle with the bloodlust and the reasons not to give in. I felt safe with him. Kindred.

The crackle of energy sounded loud despite the storm. A silver and gold sphere of power encircled us. The colors of ours auras rolled together like the colors in a candy cane, never joining but twisting and turning together just the same. It was mesmerizing.

We moved together, hidden in the shadows, two souls united in passion and longing. Kale’s every touch was intimate. His every movement burned with the flames of sensuality. I’d never dreamed he could make me feel this way. He forced throaty cries from me with each thrust. I was lost in the spellbinding sensations of having him inside me. It felt like a dream.

Kale sucked at the vein in my throat, and I bared my neck to him in invitation. I wanted it as badly as he did. His fangs were sharp against my sensitive flesh. He bit deep, and I gasped. My heartbeat pounded loudly in my ears. Rather than withdraw his fangs right away, he left them buried. It burned until I wanted to scream, but the pain was bliss. I didn’t want it to stop. Kale was making me his in every way, and I wanted it.

When at last he released his hold on me, my blood rushed over his tongue. I felt myself hurtling toward climax as he sucked at the wound. Kale’s pace increased, and he groaned when I tensed. His body responded to mine, and I felt him fighting the release. Our release was stronger than we were, though, and it smashed into us with a head-spinning impact.

He held me for what felt like a long time after. I clung to him, unwilling to let go yet. He pulled back just enough to meet my eyes, and a frown creased his brow. I realized then that hot tears rolled down my face. I shook my head, trying to calm his concern but unable to form words.

Unwilling to break the spell by speaking, he settled for holding me close and pressing soft kisses to my face. It did little to quell the ridiculous flow of tears. I felt betrayed by them.

We stayed there in the rain, each of us unwilling to break apart. Nothing would ever be the same between us again. I had felt the love that burned inside Kale for me, and I’d been forever changed because of it.

I reached out to stroke a hand down his jaw. I had always adored Kale. Now, I knew just how deep it went. Maybe I’d always known.

At long last, Kale pulled away, and I was left standing nearly naked in the rain. I felt no chill though. I was numb to everything except what I now felt inside. Kale slipped out of his jacket and wrapped it around my shoulders.

“I’m sorry.” He kissed me, gentle but deep. “Don’t hate me for this. I have to go. I can’t stay. Not right now.”

He disappeared into the night before I could reply. I struggled into my soaking wet clothes, and then I stood there, clutching his jacket to me while the rain slapped my face. The remnants of our power hummed around me.

I waited for the numbness to creep in, to wipe away the raw, agonized emotion that racked me now. It never came.