The Wicked Kiss (Alexa O'Brien, Huntress #2)(60)

I couldn’t be still beneath him. My hips moved as my body instinctually sought to pull him further into me. We grew slippery with sweat as Raoul increased his speed until he pounded into me harder than I ever would have guessed possible. My body received him willingly, opening up to accommodate both his power and size. The sensation of an approaching climax started, deep inside me.

Each wave built until it was bigger than the last. I gasped for breath, my hands on his ass to hold him immersed in my body, fearing he would stop.

Raoul pulled back to nip at my br**sts and throat. A low snarl deep in his throat caused my heart to surge with adrenaline. He wouldn’t hurt me, would he?

Just when I thought surely I couldn’t take anymore, my muscles clenched and tightened around his cock. I cried out when the earth shattering orgasm rolled over me.

Every wave drew a cry from me, but it was edged with the hint of a growl and sounded like somebody else.

He tensed and then spilled his hot seed inside me, throwing his head back. He moaned, and the sound was chilling in its husky maleness. I stared up at him with a mixture of wonder and awe in my eyes. I could feel the adoration spill out of me as I looked at him. He was my Alpha wolf, and I had given myself to him, no regrets.

With the curtain of his hair shadowing his face, Raoul spoke softly. “Are you ok? I didn’t hurt you, did I?”

The sincerity in his eyes had been heart stopping. If only it had been real.

As I reclined on the very same couch, lost in the past, those words echoed in my head. Yes, you did hurt me, Raoul, I thought. If only it had been physically instead of emotionally. But, I have to forgive you, or I will never be able to move on.

The overwhelming urge to cry struck me, and it was more than I could take. The tears spilled down my cheeks like a waterfall. A sob broke the silence around me, and I felt ashamed because a part of me would have given anything to relive that night. The pain that Raoul had caused me back then ran too deep, I couldn’t completely let it go.

Yet, I knew that I had to.

I practically leaped off the couch, feeling like it had burned me. The strangest sensation struck me, the feeling that I wasn’t alone. A chill stole down my spine, and I shivered. I didn’t like the idea that something could be there with me, something like …

Raoul? I wasn’t keen on ghosts; I really wanted nothing to do with them. Despite everything that had transpired with Raoul, I hoped that he would have gone on to something better than that.

Feeling uncomfortable, I left the den and descended the stairs near the kitchen, to the living room below. I turned the TV on and let it play quietly while I curled up in an old easy chair in the corner. I didn’t want to leave the house, and that was both comforting and frightening.

* * * *

I didn’t know that I was dreaming. All I knew was that Harley had me pinned beneath him, and I was struggling to fight him off. He wanted to bite me, to draw my blood deep into him while I fought him. I knew that, and I knew that I had to stop it from happening. This wasn’t about him trying to kill me. His intentions were darker than that.

Whatever it was that he intended, it was worse than death. It hit me all at once. I knew what he wanted from me. He wanted to claim me so that Arys never could: the blood bond, the wicked kiss. I couldn’t let it happen.

The dream broke into fragments and as I fought him, it all began to fade away, as fast as it had come. I woke with a scream on my lips, staring into the worried blue eyes of my dark vampire.

Arys took a step back, waiting for me to come to my senses. I gasped and blinked at him, uncertain if I was really awake or still dreaming. When I focused in on the rest of Raoul’s living room surrounding me, I knew I was awake.

“Arys?”

He scowled in response to the inflection in my voice. “What happened to not leaving the door unlocked? We’ve been over this. Do you have a death wish, Alexa?”

“How did you know I was here? What time is it?” I shook my head in an attempt to clear the cobwebs from my brain. I felt disoriented and confused.

It was still dark beyond the windows, but there was a shimmer to the air, invisible to human eyes, which indicated dawn’s approach.

Arys watched me closely, and I felt scrutinized under his heavy gaze. Lifting an eyebrow in question, I shot him an irritated glare. He crossed his arms and cocked his hip in a way that was both sexy and told me that I was being analyzed.

“I’m surprised that you have to ask.” He glanced around before answering me. I had the strangest feeling that he was nervous. “I could feel you. Your pain … it drew me. I had to get to you. I don’t think I could have denied that need if I tried.”

Staring into his eyes, I saw the truth there and with it, love? No. I had to be imagining the emotion swimming in the abyss of his gaze. I was reminded then of two things: One, Harley stating that Arys must truly love me, and the other, another time in this house when Arys had tuned into my pain. Raoul and I had an emotional confrontation, and I had cried. Arys knew it without laying eyes on me. What was this all about?

“What?” My throat was dry, and I coughed. My dream came rushing back to me, and I was suddenly much more alert. “Arys, I dreamt about Harley. He was trying to blood bond me, and I was fighting him. So hard.” My eyes closed as I saw the image again, Harley’s fangs flashing in the light as he used his weight and power to hold me.

Arys’ expression grew dark, and his energy was alive with rage. “He wouldn’t dare.”