Blood of the Maple (25 page)

Selena shrugged wearily. “Who knows? But to be certain she doesn’t, I’d scatter those ashes as far and wide as possible. Either that or dump them in the deepest ocean in a sealed container that won’t rot.”

“A very tiny container.” Parker held his finger and thumb barely a millimeter apart. “Lots of tiny, sealed, nonrotting containers.”

“So we have a shopping trip in our future? Great.” Greer plopped down next to Mollie. Mollie blinked at him, her eyes drooping. “Will Mina truly be all right?”

Selena stroked Greer’s arm, much to Ash’s annoyance. “Yes. Dragos will take care of her.”

“Where the fuck is Iva? Mina could have taken that bitch if only Iva were here!” Greer tugged on his hair and blew out an aggravated breath.

“Who’s Iva?”

Amara answered, “Iva Yamauchi. She’s Yew.”

“Ah. And she’s missing?”

“She’s been missing for almost six weeks now.”

“It’s why it took us so long to realize what Terri was up to. Without Iva, our powers are diminished.” Greer ran a hand through his pale hair. “I only wish I knew where the hell she is.” Greer jumped as Mollie crashed against his side. She’d passed out, her lips pale, her skin an alarming shade of gray. “Selena!”

“No. You’re too tired.” Ash tried to prevent Selena from helping Mollie, without much luck.

Greer looked up at Ash. “Please.”

Ash grimaced but loosened his hold on Selena. “I’m taking her straight home after this.”

Whose?
Amara didn’t have the courage to ask.

Selena examined Mollie. “She’s exhausted, her flames low. Find a nice warm place for her to rest, like in front of a roaring fire, and she’ll be fine in no time.”

Greer lifted Mollie into his arms with ease. It was like she weighed nothing. “Thank you.” He nodded his thanks to Ash as well. “And thank you.”

“Like he has any say in who I help,” Selena grumbled. “I’m going home, people. It’s been swell, yet not.” Selena marched off toward the woods. “Where the hell did I park my broom?”

Ash shook his head, his lips curling in a smile. “Do me a favor, Amara? Get that dust contained. I have a witch to corral.” Ash took off after Selena at a jog. “Over here,” she heard him call out.

Parker looked at Amara. “It looks like it’s just the two of us, sweet.”

Amara glared back. “Yup. Just you, me and the charred remains of your ex-girlfriend.
Sweet.
”

Parker coughed. “I was trying to keep her from killing anyone.”

Amara shook her finger. “If you
ever
call anyone else
sweet
but me, you’ll have splinters in places people should never,
ever
get them except in freak lumberjack accidents. Got it?”

Parker’s eyes widened with alarm. “Got it.”

“Good.” She poked her toe into the pile of ash. “How the hell are we going to clean up this mess?”

“Those lovely little sandwich bags that zipper shut?”

Amara loved the fact that her mate didn’t fear her. It was so refreshing to joke with someone who didn’t think she was strange, even while covered in bark and standing three feet taller. She closed her eyes and shook her head. “And you happen to have some on you? Maybe in the pocket of your jeans?” Because they certainly weren’t in the pocket of
hers.
She’d have to be wearing some first.

He studied the ash and draped his arm across her shoulders. He leered at her. “Fancy a trip to Sav-A-Lot?”

Amara groaned and hid her eyes. He might wind up with those splinters after all.

They pulled up to the house, dirty, tired and exhausted. Amara looked ready to collapse, her eyes closed, her head resting on the back of the seat. Thankfully there hadn’t been much traffic on the way home; Amara had ripped through her clothes and was dressed once more in nothing but Parker’s shirt.

Parker found he couldn’t complain about that.

“We’re home, sweet.”

Amara’s eyes drifted open. Her lips curled. “And our passenger?”

Parker glanced in the backseat at the multiple jars of ash resting within a cardboard box. He’d done exactly what he’d said he would, flying to the Sav-A-Lot and cleaning out their jam and jelly jars. In the end Amara had been worried Terri would break free of simple sandwich bags, and he’d been forced to agree.

They’d have to come up with a more permanent solution, but for now he was certain this would do. He’d carry Terri into the house and ask Greg to keep an eye on her.

“So far so good. Let’s get inside, all three of us.”

Her smile turned wicked. “And then I think it’s time we took care of something, don’t you?”

His brows rose.

Amara slid out of the jeep, his shirt riding up until he could see the edge of her ass. Suddenly Parker was feeling hungry, and not for blood. “Sweet?”

“Hmm?”

He gulped at the sultry look she shot him. “Bloody hell.”

“Grab our unwanted guest and put her somewhere safe, then meet me in the backyard.”

The back… Oh.
Oh.
Parker whirled past Amara, Terri’s remains in his arms. He barely blinked at the half-naked Renfield lying on Amara’s couch. He put the box of jars on the coffee table.

“Wha?” Brian, heavy-lidded, an erection tenting his jeans, struggled to sit up.

“Watch her. I have a mate to claim.”

Parker dashed out before Brian or Greg could protest, but he made a mental note to let Amara know that now both their couches would require cleaning.

A vision of bending Amara over the arm of her couch drifted through his mind.
Better yet, have Greg and Brian live in my house while I live in Amara’s.
Then they could make love on their couch instead of his.
Oh yeah. That could… Holy. Shit.

Parker stopped so abruptly he almost stumbled. Amara knelt naked at the base of her tree, her hands pressed against the trunk, her face lifted to the sky. Her knees were spread, her breasts and pussy marvelously displayed, dappled with moonlight through leaves. She looked so stunning, so ethereal, he was almost afraid to approach her.

A mysterious smile graced her lips as her eyes opened, the green glittering in the night. Parker took a step forward, drawn by her unearthly sensuality, once more stunned by the fact that he’d been so lucky to win Amara as his
sotiei.

He took his clothes off, his gaze never leaving hers, until he stood naked before her.

“Come here.”

Her voice had that low, gravelly tone he’d come to associate with her hamadryad form. Her gaze drifted down to his cock, and she licked her lips. His cock twitched, eager to feel her wrapped around him in whatever way she wished.

He obeyed her command, stepping closer and closer until his cock nudged her lips open. She took him inside and looked up at him, her body still, her tongue teasing his slit.

It was only then that Parker realized her hands weren’t
on
the tree’s trunk; they were
in
it. She’d partially joined with her tree, binding herself with her will, allowing him to take the lead. It wasn’t submission that had her, kneeling for him that way. He understood that this was the dryad’s way of claiming him, making him hers the way he had made her his in that parking lot. He’d bet that when she was ready, she’d be able to move, sliding her hands through the trunk of her tree like he would glide through water.

He began a careful, steady rhythm, unwilling to harm his blood wife in any way. Without her hands, she couldn’t control his thrusts, so it was up to him to ensure he didn’t go too deep. This wasn’t about pain or submission or even the need to mate.

This was about love.

Amara moaned, the vibrations rocketing through his cock and dancing in his belly. “Take me, Amara. Make me yours.”

She went wild beneath him, bobbing her head up and down his length. The suction of her mouth had him rock hard in seconds. If he’d been human, he would have been sweating bullets and coming down her throat.

But he wasn’t human, and he had no intention of coming that easily. He would come only when he was buried balls-deep in her hot pussy, and only after he’d tasted her pleasure at least once.

He pulled her off his cock with no small amount of regret. Amara’s mouth was a work of art, and his cock was mighty unhappy with him for making it leave. “Stand up. Back against the trunk.”

She smirked and stood slowly, brushing her body against his wherever possible.

Parker didn’t waste any time. He took one of her nipples in his mouth and sucked, desperate to hear her moans and sighs. He wasn’t disappointed. It wasn’t long before she was writhing against the rough bark. He was tempted once again to see if he could make her come just by sucking on her nipples, but he was too eager for the taste of sweetness between her legs. He released her nipple with a pop and dropped to his knees. “My turn.”

He took hold of her thighs and spread them wide. When she was open and ready for him, he dived in, licking as much of her pussy as he could reach. He wanted to taste every part of her, stroke her with his tongue until she was begging him never to stop. Amara’s head landed against the tree with an audible thump as she ground her hips against his face. Above him, the leaves of Amara’s tree rustled. He wondered what, if anything, the tree was experiencing.

She was moaning, her back arched, her hair tangled in the bark. The sight of his dryad like this would be burned in his memory forever. When she quivered and came, he knew he’d be repeating this as often as she’d let him.

He lifted his mouth from her and smiled. “More?”

That gorgeous face was relaxed, but her body told a different story. Her nipples were pointed, begging for his mouth. Her hips rocked; she was eager to feel him inside her. “Mmm.”

“How many hands need to be in that tree?”

She lifted one out and curled it around his head. She drew him up for a long, lingering kiss. “Well?”

He smiled. “Wait here.”

Her jaw dropped. “Um. Parker?”

He walked away from her, his erection throbbing, to grab a bench he’d seen on his first trip through the garden. It was the perfect height for what he wanted. He’d lay his dryad down on it, one hand in that tree, one hand on him, and take her any way they wanted.

She took one look at the bench and grinned. “What happened to me spread-eagle, hands pressed against bark, while you took me from behind and fed from me?”

He put the bench near enough for her to reach the tree easily with either hand. It would be close. Odds were good one of them would have splinters by the time they were finished. But it would be worth it. “Next time.”

She didn’t deny there would be a next time. She eyed the bench. “Lie down.”

Well. He hadn’t anticipated that request. “I thought I’d have
you
lie down.” He ran his hands through her wet curls. His fingers dipped inside her pussy. “I’m not done tasting this yet.”

She shuddered.

“Lie down on the bench, Amara.”

Amara obeyed, her legs on either side of the bench, her hair falling around her. She looked like a goddess, all spread out for him, bathed in moonlight and shadow. He knelt, ready to worship her, pay homage to the beauty he’d treasure for the rest of his life.

The man’s tongue should have been registered as a lethal weapon, because he was going to kill her with it. He dipped it inside her, swirled around her clit, loved her pussy with long, strong strokes until she thought she’d scream. Or kill him. Scream and kill him unless he made her come. He was taking his time, doing his
savoring
thing that made her want to howl and take what she wanted.

He did that swirly thing with his tongue again, and Amara gasped, her body throbbing with need. She thrust her hips at him, hoping he’d take the hint, but he moved his tongue, darting inside her, fucking her endlessly while his thumb barely stroked over her aching clit.

She would stop him any second now. Drop
his
ass on the bench and see how
he
liked being teased and tormented. Then she might… Oh.
Oh.
“Right there, Parker.” She grabbed his head with her free hand and held him in place. Goddess, she was so close she was whirling. “Don’t stop. Please Goddess, don’t stop.”

“Never. I’ll never stop loving you.”

This time Parker took the hint, giving her what she needed, driving her over the edge until she had to bite her lip to keep from screaming his name.

Above her, her tree shivered, hard.

She smiled as she came down from the orgasm he’d tormented her into.
Maybe torture isn’t so bad after all.
“Do that again.”

His brows rose. “Are you sure? I’d rather not find myself dead, you know.” He ran his fingers along her pussy. “However, if you’re of a mind to throw me down on the bench and have your wicked way with me, far be it from me to object.”

While she really wanted him inside her, the thought of being licked to death by her vampire had its own merits.

“Oh shit.” He’d darted down for another taste. He lingered over her clit, bringing her body back to shuddering life. She grabbed on to his hair once more. “Parker.
Please.
”

His eyes bled slowly to red as her vampire began feasting on her once more. It was like he couldn’t get enough of her, and she loved every fucking minute of it.

It took even longer this time to come, but when she did, the bench moved with the force of her orgasm. She shook, shimmied and damn near ripped her lover’s hair out. If she hadn’t been connected to her tree, she would have been on the verge of passing out, it was so fucking good.

When she’d caught her breath, she realized Parker was still playing with her pussy. He kept the need alive, touching and stroking, making her eager for one final round.

No. It’s time.

Amara sat up, ignoring Parker’s pout. She smiled. “Move the bench.” She showed him how she wanted it, nodding when he had it right. “Now lie down, head toward the tree. It’s my turn.”

Parker did as he was told, lying on his back; his dark curls brushed the bark, mixing with it perfectly. Amara slid over him, both hands resting on the tree, sinking inside, making that connection that would bind them all together for eternity. “Come inside, Parker.”