Dark and Deadly: Eight Bad Boys of Paranormal Romance (55 page)

Elissa paused when she tasted blood and caught hold of his shoulders, pushing him back so she could see his mouth. A single red line cut over his lower lip and the soft flesh around it was swelling. There was a nasty bruise on his left cheek too, and another on the right side of his jaw, that one partially concealed by dried blood.

“You’re a mess,” she said, frowning as she stepped out of his arms to run an assessing gaze over him. Elissa slipped her hand into his and tugged. “Come on.”

He didn’t question her as she led him into the dull grey tiled bathroom and released his hand. She closed the door behind him, not wanting Luca to see or hear what was about to happen. She needed to clean Payne up, but more than that, she needed to prove to him that things could be good between them, and that they could make love without worrying he would lose control.

Payne stood immobile in the middle of the cramped bathroom as she unbuttoned his dark bloodstained shirt and pushed it off his shoulders. There were more bruises on his chest and some cuts too. The fight had finished off what she had started on his shirt, completely wrecking it beyond salvation. She dropped the garment to the floor and moved her attention to his jeans. He tensed when she undid his belt and she glanced up into his eyes.

Crimson ringed them but it was the dazzling flecks of gold and cobalt in them that caught her breath. The same colours shimmered over his fae markings, together with dark pink. She had heard what Chica had told him when she had seen those colours on his markings. A mate. Did these colours mean he cared about her and considered her to be his mate already?

Elissa ran her fingers over the line of fae symbols inked along his left shoulder and followed it down over his biceps.

“Pretty colours,” she said, afraid of asking him outright whether he returned the feelings she had confessed she felt for him just minutes ago.

“Only one emotion has that shade in it, and it will always be there when I’m with you... even when my incubus nature is in control.” He captured her hand and brought it to his lips, pressing a kiss to it.

Elissa raised her eyes to meet his. Her voice shook. “Because you’re in love with me?”

“Because I’m in love with you.” He nodded and relief swept through her, chasing away the last of her fear. He gathered her into his arms again and kissed her, soft and reverent, filled with the emotion that coloured his markings. Love.

His hands caught the hem of her black halter-top and he pulled it up, severing their kiss for only as long as it took to get the garment off over her head. He dropped it to the floor and pulled her back into his embrace, his mouth capturing hers again, his kiss warming her from head to toe. She skimmed her hands over his upper arms, delighting in the feel of his tensed muscles beneath her fingers, and then ran them down the ridges of his stomach.

Mother earth, she would never get tired of exploring his delicious body.

She undid his belt and then set to work on his buttons, popping each one slowly so her fingers grazed the hard bulge they caged. Payne groaned into her mouth and eased back enough that she could push his dark blue jeans down to his thighs. She broke away and pushed them down to his feet, ending up crouched before him.

Elissa looked up the length of Payne’s taut, godly body and moaned, a flood of desire burning up her blood. She bit her lip and then leaned in and licked his cock, running her tongue from root to tip and swirling it around the sensitive crown. He sank his fangs into his lower lip and groaned, the sound strangled and desperate.

His markings remained flushed in blue, gold and pink, swirling and shifting, mesmerising to watch. Did this mean his incubus side was in control now, already at the fore? He wasn’t pushing her away though, and she took it as a green light to continue. She wrapped her lips around his cock and took him into her mouth, sucking him as she fondled his heavy sac.

He groaned again and thrust his hips forwards, gently rocking his hard shaft into her mouth, his hands coming down to clutch her shoulder and the back of her head.

“Elissa.” He sounded deliciously breathless and lost.

Elissa ran her tongue up the underside of his erection and then rose before him. Blue and gold eyes locked on her, his pupils dark chasms of desire and passion. Mother earth, she wanted him when he looked at her like that, as though he wanted to devour her.

She hastily stripped off her jeans and shoes as he shed the remains of his clothes. Payne advanced on her, forcing her backwards, towards the shower cubicle. It was as small as the one back at Verity’s house and it would be cramped, but she was damn well getting him in that shower and wet all over.

Elissa stepped into the cubicle and Payne followed her, his gaze still rooted on her, burning her with its intensity. She fumbled with the controls, nerves and desire combining to make her fingers tremble. Payne calmly reached past her and switched the shower on, his body crowding hers, pressing against it in the most erotic way.

The moment the water was running, he backed her under it and it was a struggle to do what she had come here for. Washing him. She turned around, intent on finding the soap, and he slid his arm around her waist, pulling the full length of her back against his hard front. She moaned and he groaned along with her, the sound bordering on a growl that thrilled her. He grasped her left breast in one hand, palming it and teasing her already hard nipple, and lowered his other to her groin. She gasped as he delved between her plush petals to finger her clitoris, sending hot sparks skittering over her skin. She leaned back against him and rocked her body in time with his fingers, seeking more from him.

Payne ground his cock against her backside, wedging the hot hard length between her buttocks. He dropped kisses on her wet shoulder as he brought her to a shattering climax with his fingers. She breathed hard as he teased her down, gently circling her clitoris now and rolling her nipple between his fingers. He pressed his teeth against her shoulder and she knew what he wanted from her, what he needed. He had lost blood during the fight.

He needed to replenish his strength.

She turned in his embrace, intending to offer her throat to him, and paused when she caught the flicker of fear in his eyes.

Elissa raised both of her hands and settled her palms against his cheeks, holding his face and letting him know that she was there with him and that she wasn’t afraid of what might happen because she felt certain that he would retain control this time.

“Make love to me, Payne.”

His eyes darted between hers and she did the only thing she could to reassure him that she wanted this and she wasn’t afraid. She lured him down to her and kissed him, moulding her mouth over his and capturing the moan that left his lips.

His hands grasped her hips again and he backed her into the corner of the cubicle, out of the spray of the shower. She circled her arms around his neck and pulled herself up his body, settling her legs around his waist. A feral snarl escaped his lips and he kissed her harder, stealing her breath away and reigniting her hunger for him, her need to have his body filling hers and bringing her to climax with him.

He pinned her against the cool tiles and reached between them. She gasped at the feel of the head of his cock rubbing her, teasing her and drawing another flood of arousal from her core. She rocked against him, unable to contain herself, desperate to feel him inside her once more and to make it good this time, to shatter the hold that their last encounter had on Payne.

When he ran his cock downwards this time, Elissa shifted her hips, rocking them forwards so he went further than intended and the head of his shaft slipped into her sheath. She eased down onto him, not giving him a chance to pull out. He groaned against her lips, as still as a statue and taut as a bowstring.

Elissa kissed him, distracting him by running her tongue along the length of his and teasing his fangs, trying to take his focus off the past and bring it to the present. She shifted her feet, drawing him closer to her, deeper into her.

Payne clutched her backside and slowly withdrew, teasing her by almost leaving her before he slid back in, setting a torturous pace that had her writhing in his arms, hungry for more.

He pulled back and stared into her eyes as he moved into her with slow, deliberate strokes, touching every part of her, teasing her towards what she knew would be a mind-blowing orgasm. Elissa held his gaze and ran her fingers through his hair, losing herself in the moment and the beautifully warm look in his eyes. A man had never looked at her like that before, as though she was special and beautiful, as though they were made for each other. She smiled at him, wanting him to see that whatever he was feeling as he moved against her, made love to her, she was feeling it too. From what he had told her about mates, she had been made for him, someone he couldn’t control or influence.

Someone he could believe loved him because of who he was not because his incubus side affected her.

She loved him because he was strong, brave, beautiful, and she had never met a man like him.

His fae markings shone brightly and his eyes did too, his incubus side fully in command, but he didn’t look as though he was close to losing control. He had never looked more in control. Was it because he knew now that she wouldn’t hurt him because she loved him and she had consented to being his mate?

He leaned forwards, slowly driving into her, taking her higher and higher, his hands cool against her hips. She brought her head forwards and pressed her forehead against his, and then kissed him again, sweeping her lips across his and following them with the tip of her tongue. He tilted his head and claimed her mouth, seizing control of the kiss and dominating her as he quickened his pace. He moaned against her lips and she joined him, rocking her hips against his, daring to lose control a little and obey her instincts.

Payne pushed her harder against the tiles and angled his body so he could drive deeper, harder, his pelvis striking her clitoris each time their hips met. She tangled her fingers in his hair and arched her back, tightening around him, seeking more. He grunted and then growled and kissed her desperately. His fangs caught her lower lip and she moaned as he sucked it into his mouth, causing it to tingle and a rush of heat to cascade down her body, settling in her belly. She met each thrust of his cock, using her feet to force him to keep going, to take her harder because she was close now, could almost reach out and grab bliss.

A flash of Payne with his body pounding into hers and his fangs in her throat burst across her mind and she moaned at the image, knowing it was born of her imagination not his. Payne growled and she grabbed his hair, tugged him away from her mouth and forced his head down to her throat. She wanted him to bite her again, ached for the feel of his fangs penetrating her throat and the connection it brought to life between them. It was the push she needed to find release, and she knew he needed it too.

Payne licked her throat and the gentle way he eased his fangs into her flesh surprised her. She had expected him to bite her hard, to strike deep as he had before. The softness of this bite had her soaring higher, light and warm inside, filled with awareness of his feelings and the depth of her own. He loved her.

He pulled on her blood and the rush of it through her veins coupled with the way his long cock eased into her, striking her deep, tipped her over the edge. She cried out his name and clutched him to her throat, the back of her head pressing into the tiles. Fire swept through her, sending her limbs trembling, cascading over her quivering thighs.

Payne buried himself to the hilt inside her and groaned against her throat, pulling on her blood as he spilled himself within her, his hard length throbbing with his release. He wrapped his arms around her, holding her against him, clutching her close as he slowly drank from her, drawing out the hazy warm feeling that flowed through her, adding to her bliss.

She wasn’t sure how long they remained there, their bodies intimately entwined, adrift on a warm sea of ecstasy. It was only when Payne released her neck and licked the puncture wounds, his actions gentle, that she came back to the world. He drew back and she smiled into his eyes, not surprised that they were red now, his pupils transformed into their vampire cat-like state.

Elissa ran her thumb across his lower lip, wiping the blood away, and his eyes slowly returned to grey. Not cool grey but warm grey, full of affection and satisfaction. She leaned in and kissed him, keeping things at a slow tempo between them, enjoying the calm and the connection. She could feel him, feel his contentment and happiness via their combined blood, and it felt good.

He had needed to prove to her that they could be together without fear and he had done just that, and she knew things would be good between them again now, and forever. He would never fear that he would lose control and hurt her. He would know now that she was what she had come to realise he longed for her to be—the good that would balance out the bad in his life.

She would always love him and would never hurt him, and she would never let him go. He was her mate.

He withdrew from her, set her down and took hold of her hands. He stepped back, luring her under the warm jet of water. Elissa found the shower gel and set about cleaning him, fussing over his cuts and bruises. He smiled the whole time, his markings never changing from gold, blue and deep pink.

He had fought to protect her. Not just against his grandfather, but against those who had come after them and even against his friends. She had realised the moment they had appeared on the stage of the theatre and he had lost control that he loved her. He had kept his promise to look after her and keep her safe, and he deserved a reward for that.

She looked deep into his eyes, wondering what sort of reward he would like.

He had enjoyed it when kisses had been his reward. Would he still like that now that he had kissed her more times than she could count?

Payne shut the water off and stepped out of the shower. He grabbed a robe and held it out to her. She moved out of the cubicle and took it from him, and paused to watch him as he dried himself off, his body a shifting symphony of masculine power.