EdgeofEcstasy (10 page)

Over and over he fucked her breasts, faster and slower as
his control waned and then was reined in and lost again. A few times she could
feel bursts of seed shoot out as she sucked him, her breasts squeezing a tight
and tiny hole for him to penetrate and the heat of her mouth and wickedly
enticing tongue forcing Daniel to lose some of his iron-hard control.

“Circe, Mel, I’m not going to last like this!” Daniel
finally shouted as she swallowed a spurt of his seed. Slightly rougher than she
thought he intended, Daniel pushed her back until she was pressed against the
coffee table. He cupped his large hands over Melissa’s so they were both palming
her breasts. Daniel kneaded her flesh with obvious desire and enjoyment.

He sighed before circling one hand around his cock and
pressing it toward her lips. Obediently, Melissa opened her mouth and swallowed
him. The groan he let fall sounded as if it had been torn from the depths of
his soul. Melissa moaned a little, the sound muffled by the thick cock in her
mouth and partway down her throat. The vibration of the noise rippled along his
shaft and aroused them both even more.

Slowly at first, Daniel withdrew his cock, then pressed it
back into her mouth and far enough down that the blond, wiry hairs of his pubes
tickled her nose. In and out he fucked her mouth and throat, and Melissa used
her tongue and grazed her teeth lightly over his sensitive flesh until they
both were sweating and panting hard with the exertion of their coupling.

Melissa let her hands roam to Daniel’s ass cheeks, clenching
him to help to keep her balance as his thrusts grew more vigorous, truly
fucking her throat now as his control once again slipped and his arousal
overrode his gentleman’s instincts. A moment later and his hips were snapping
forward with regular motions, the sounds of wet flesh, suckling and moaning in
tandem filling the room and overpowering the soft jazz.

Melissa breathed heavily through her nose, her body
tightening with arousal as Daniel took his pleasure. His face strained with
ecstasy, clearly loving the attention and skill she lavished upon him. She
decided to perform her own exploration, eagerly delving her hands between his
cheeks to stroke the super-sensitive, delicate skin behind his scrotum and
around to his tightly furled anus.

Daniel cried out hoarsely, clearly caught by surprise but
not seeming to be against her curious explorations. She ran the tip of her
finger over his tight opening, probing gently with the soft pad until she could
barely squeeze the tip of her finger—not even up to the first knuckle—into his
passage.

Curious, she twisted the finger in a half circle, tenderly
stroking his inner walls and finding a bump, which she caressed. Melissa could
feel the vibrations of Daniel’s cock as he struggled to withhold his climax,
finally unable to stop a stream of pre-cum from leaking out of his slit.

He reached warm, strong hands under her arms and lifted her
back onto legs that wouldn’t support her weight. As he moved her, the motion
severed the connection of her finger to his ass.

Daniel held her weight and ripped the tiny scrap of see-through
lace from her body, the thong shredding easily under the pressure. Under his
guidance, Melissa lay back on the cool glass of the coffee table as Daniel
lifted her legs and pressed them over his shoulders, opening her body wide for
him.

He spent a moment testing her readiness with one hand, the
slick evidence of her creamy pussy more than satisfying his curiosity. Daniel’s
cock was already well-lubricated both from his own arousal and her mouth, and
he fitted his large head to her entrance and pressed inside her with one fierce
stroke. Possessed deeply, Melissa arched her back up from the cold glass as she
felt almost torn in two at the thick, fast, hard penetration.

Daniel paused for a moment but shook his head.

“Circe, love, I just can’t wait,” he moaned. He withdrew in a
hard, yanking motion only to press directly back in, and Melissa cried out with
pleasure at the sharp, ferocious claiming. Her legs tightened around his neck
and she gripped him tightly, loving the strength of his penetration and
possessive fucking.

“Please, Daniel,” Melissa panted, her eyes wide open,
watching as he claimed her. “Fuck me hard—make me come now!”

Daniel moved even faster and pressed deeper inside her
pussy. Her dirty talk seemed to spur him on. Melissa clenched down on him,
wanting to heighten his pleasure as he filled her body to the very depths of
her core. She tightened her inner muscles so her passage constricted tightly
around his thrusting cock. They both moaned loudly, the pleasure intensifying
even more as she contracted around his thick prick and he pushed himself harder
and more deeply inside her slick cunt.

Tingles exploded through her. Melissa’s nipples tightened to
painful points. She couldn’t catch her breath, no longer getting enough oxygen
into her lungs. Gasping heavily, she struggled to contain the prickling,
magnificent feelings consuming her every sense.

In a sudden burst, she exploded, her back arching once again
against the glass table and her entire body detonating.

Her eyes squeezed shut instinctively and Melissa screamed as
she came in wave after wave of pleasure. Almost immediately, as if given leave
to finally release his own control, Daniel thrust one last time, so deeply that
Melissa could feel the slightly painful thump of his head against the edge of
her cervix. Hot seed spurt out of his cock and Daniel roared his climax as he
came in thick, heavy waves inside her pussy. As if it were its own entity,
Melissa felt her soul open up and once again she and Daniel shared an intimacy
she had never really heard of.

Melissa could feel his satisfaction, his relief at being
able to unleash himself and not have to restrain his completion for a moment
longer. She could also feel Daniel’s fierce possessiveness over her and an odd
form of protectiveness. Melissa knew without questioning it that he didn’t
believe for a moment she
couldn’t
protect herself or take care of her
own safety, yet he still wanted to protect her, cherish her and make her safe
and happy. It was a driving need in him—almost a craving he could not control.

It didn’t take much soul-searching for Melissa to know she was
balancing precariously on the edge of ecstasy with this wizard. Each and every
time they came together, the bond between them grew deeper and more intimate.
They didn’t just join bodies, but spirits, essences. With Daniel she could see
clearly into the future—a bright, sparkling place that would be filled with
sizzling sex, an intimate closeness not many were granted and the blissful
temptation of being able to lower her guard and truly be herself, not some
mythical woman a more regular wizard would desire her to be.

All in all, Daniel could offer her a perfect life of ecstasy
not many others would be able to give. Balanced on the edge as she was, Melissa
hesitated still. She almost loved him. Melissa knew she was currently toeing
the line between true love and deep infatuation with Daniel. All her life she
had been reactive—waiting for things to happen to her and wishing for items out
of her reach. Yet here she stood on a very thin line, caught between the sanity
of taking her time with Daniel and the insanity of so completely trusting a man
she had barely known for more than a few days.

As they collapsed together in a sweaty, mingled heap on the
coffee table, Melissa knew with a certainty that nearly scared her that it
would take very little for her to fall over the edge into complete abandon and to
love this man deeply, eternally. The thought simultaneously thrilled and
terrified her. As they caught their breath, Melissa tried to make sense of the last
few days but finally had to give up due to exhaustion. They had cooled down
slightly and Melissa realized she had no idea when their intimate connection
had dropped.

Fearful for a moment that Daniel might have discovered her
love for him, she froze in silence and worry that she might have ruined
something before it had fully blossomed. But as the minutes ticked by, she
realized the silence between them was easy, not stressful or tense. When Daniel
tenderly kissed her lips, his now-flaccid shaft still lodged inside her pussy,
she knew nothing had been destroyed after all.

“You most certainly are not a virgin,” he confirmed rather
smugly.

Melissa laughed and nodded. “Well I’m not
now
,” she
teased him.

Daniel nipped her shoulder lightly in chastisement, a
stinging little kiss that seemed to convey his adoration for her.

Charmed, Melissa lowered her legs until they wrapped firmly
around her lover’s waist.

“I could go for a nap,” she murmured softly.

Daniel grunted and nodded his head in agreement but didn’t
move a muscle. Melissa laughed and nipped at his earlobe.

“If I fall asleep here on this cold table, you’ll have to
carry me to your bed,” she warned.

“Just a brief nap then,” Daniel agreed tiredly.

Melissa sighed happily and together they helped one another to
stand, ignored their discarded clothing scattered all across the room,
staggered to the master bedroom and collapsed on Daniel’s enormous bed.

Wrapped warmly in each other’s embrace, they were asleep
within minutes.

* * * * *

The Assassin felt the most magnificent satisfaction.
Surveying the scene before him one last time, he shivered and rubbed his naked
arms. The corpse lay before him, splayed grotesquely, sucked dry to a bare
shell of the bounty it had once contained. The Assassin felt not the least
regret.

One does what one must to survive in this world
, he
thought, partially to himself and partially as an explanation to the dead
person lying at his feet. The Assassin had once known the other wizard,
considered him a friend, a comrade. Now…well, he felt no real pity. The wizard had
contacted
him
, after all. Such an invitation would have been impossible
to refuse.

The Assassin shivered again and cast a look around the room,
wondering where the cool air was coming from. Nothing caught his attention and
for a moment he became puzzled. Shrugging the concern aside, he ran his palms
vigorously up and down his arms, annoyed that he was merely wearing a T-shirt
with the sleeves torn out. He’d need to go back to his apartment, clean up and
be ready for their call.

A part of him wondered whether he should talk to his
partner, but he quickly dismissed the thought. He wouldn’t understand. The
Assassin’s partner refused to open his mind to the magnificent possibilities.
The Assassin knew the other had the potential for greatness—possibly even as
much as he, himself. But the partner refused to risk his soul and essence for
what could so easily be grasped.

The Assassin had an overwhelming feeling of power. A heady
rush that had him certain he could conquer worlds. The voice inside his
meditative mind had been right—Assassin essence had strengthened and shored up
his own power. He became stronger and more clear-sighted with every kill.

But it would not do to get greedy. The Assassin knew he
would only take one or perhaps two more. There were two he knew of—two who were
as tenacious as bulldogs and refused to let the matter drop. The Assassin was
not stupid enough to attempt to remove someone connected too closely to him,
but if he organized their demise soon enough, before they got to the real heart
of the matter, maybe he could still be successful.

The Assassin decided to think more upon it—for now he simply
wanted to bask in his own glory. He gazed upon the tableau he had created and
enjoyed it for every second he could. All too soon others would come and
measure, calculate, study and ruin the perfection of this scene.

He supposedly among them.

A pity, but should he be able to convince his partner…well,
a whole new world had been opened at his feet. There would be plenty of room
for two, should he be amenable.

The Assassin drew in a slow, deep breath, wishing he could
take the scene with him as more than just a very happy memory. He felt solid,
robust in a manner he had not felt for years. The power sang through his veins
and beckoned to him for more. After his next few kills, he could revert back to
collecting more power until the Tribunal answered to him and him alone.

For what was the point of unending power if one could not
make a few changes? And the world they all currently lived in could do with a
bit of shaking up—a world where wizards and witches ran amok and could not even
organize a proper government, let alone rule the world as they were so clearly
meant to.
His
world wouldn’t make the same mistakes. He would learn,
grow and not waste the opportunity he had created.

The Assassin jacked up his already potent powers and checked
the scene once more, this time to ascertain that nothing could lead back to
him. He had only begun his project. This was the precursor to the real
movement. It would not do at all to make a mistake, slip up and be caught.
Explanations would not go down well until his plan was far more progressed than
it currently was.

Satisfied, the Assassin licked his lips in anticipation of
what was to come. With a final mental snapshot taken, he turned around and left
the apartment, locking the door behind him and cheerfully returning to his car.
He had known it for years now, but finally he had solid proof. He was
invincible.

It had been a most excellent evening.

A shrill ring jolted Melissa out of a peaceful sleep. The
sound rang through the air and she bolted upright in the bed. Her hand
automatically dove underneath her pillow to search for her gun as she tried to
make sense of what was happening.

Simultaneously Melissa realized two things—one, the hand
under her pillow was not finding her gun and two, a man had moved next to her
in the bed. Instinctively she reacted. Realizing she was not in her own bed and
not armed, she threw herself immediately away from the large man.

Falling out of the bed and onto the floor, Melissa gasped in
pain just as her brain caught up with her. Staggering to her feet, she panted
as she recalled the day before and the fact the man in the bed was Daniel. They
were at his apartment, safe and secure.

“Holy shit,” she swore. She fluttered a hand to her naked
chest as she tried to see in the pitch-black darkness. “You almost took ten
years off my life. I’m not used to waking up next to anyone, let alone a large
man—or being jolted awake.”

Daniel snapped on the bedside lamp. The dim glow created
shadows in the corners of his room but managed to illuminate them both—each of
them still stark naked. Melissa could see that he was attempting not to chuckle.
She flushed but tilted her chin high, determined to brazen out her
skittishness.

“I’m actually very glad you’re not used to waking up next to
strange men,” he said. “Though admittedly even if you were, I’d simply attempt
to get you used to waking up next to
me
and not anyone else.”

Melissa laughed and sat down on the bed. Blood and
adrenaline were surging through her body, waking her up better than a cold
shower ever could. She nodded to the phone on Daniel’s bedside table, up to its
tenth ring now. With a grin, Daniel reached out and picked up the receiver
without moving his cool, clear-blue gaze from her face or body.

“Yeah?” he answered.

Melissa assumed that, much like her own, anyone who actually
had possession of Daniel’s private number would know exactly whom they were calling.

Slipping her legs beneath the covers, she remained sitting
upright as Daniel silently listened to someone speaking on the other end of the
line. After half a minute or so, his face stiffened, a veil almost visibly
coming down over his eyes as his features returned to their normal hard, impassive
look.

Melissa’s stomach dropped as she watched her lover. Something
had happened—she knew that without any further information. And from Daniel’s
icy response, it was something bad.

“When?” he asked sharply, his voice full of command and
steel. A few words were spoken by the caller, then Daniel followed up with, “We’ll
be right there. Don’t let them fuck with the scene. I want Melissa to see if
it’s the same asshole.”

Melissa climbed back out of the bed and stretched. Every
morning she went through a complex routine of part meditation, part yoga
stretches to help to keep her mind and body balanced. She never really thought
too hard about it—the ritual was just one of any number of things she did
without fail to help to keep herself properly balanced and on the right path.

The sharpness of Daniel’s tone had her worried about just
what it was she would be looking at. Almost certainly the Assassin had struck
again. Melissa tried to convince herself that no murder scene could be worse
than Falconn’s. If it had been Daniel…her stomach lurched and for an
astonishing moment she wondered if she would be violently ill. She pushed the
thought aside, swearing to herself that she’d protect Daniel with her very life
should it become necessary, and the nausea passed after a moment.

“Yep, okay.” Daniel wrapped up the conversation, climbing
from the bed with the receiver still pressed to his ear. Melissa continued with
her routine and tried to clear her mind.

“No problems—we’ll be there soon, Will. Yes, you’re a rocket
scientist. Of course she’s here. What of it?” Daniel snapped. Melissa wasn’t
certain what Will said on the other end, but it managed to wring a half-smile
from her lover and the tension that had crept into the conversation melted
almost instantly.

“Yeah, I’m a lucky son of a bitch and I know it. I pity the
moron who tries to make an issue of us being together. Sure thing—we’ll see you
soon.”

Melissa didn’t even bother to look up from her stretches as
she heard Daniel replace the receiver on its cradle.

“Another one?” she ventured softly, certain in her gut of
what had occurred but still holding out a slim hope that she was wrong.

“Yes, and it isn’t pretty,” Daniel warned her.

Melissa stood up straight and shook out her body, the last
of the kinks and lethargy of sleep dissipating as if they had never been there.

“Murder rarely is,” she commented. “Is it a stranger? Or
another one of us?”

Daniel crossed to his wardrobe and pulled out clothes
seemingly almost at random. His face had become mask-like, but Melissa could
still read hints she had come to recognize over the last day or so. She crossed
her arms over her chest, uncaring of her nudity and determined to wait Daniel
out. She’d never known him to hesitate and his very caution proved to her more
than words and warnings that she probably was not going to like this.

“It’s Ryder,” Daniel said softly, pausing in the act of
pulling on a pair of black slacks to look gently at her. His gaze was soft but behind
it there lay an icy determination that Melissa could understand. She’d seen
that same resolution in the mirror every morning in her own dark-blue gaze
after she had been called to the scene of Falconn’s murder.

Melissa rocked back slightly as if his words had been a
physical blow. Guilt assailed her and for a moment her face crumpled with
dismay.

“But…but we saw him just a few hours ago,” she protested.
“He was fine. He was only going to make a few calls, nothing more. What
possible reason—”

She drew in a sharp breath and got herself under control.

Daniel remained silent, though he finished putting on his
slacks, as she reached the same conclusion he had already come to.

“It’s one of us,” she finally said firmly, emotion clogging
her voice. “He called the wrong person. One of the calls was either to the
killer or someone in cahoots with him. Ryder unknowingly tipped our hand and so
he was eliminated. Circe, Daniel, this…this has serious ramifications.”

“That was Will on the phone,” Daniel replied, “and he’s
about to blow a gasket, he’s so pissed. Special Ops have been called in and
they’re trampling his scene, throwing their weight around and attempting—and
from the sound of it failing—to bully him. We need to hurry, because personally
I don’t want to be the poor jerk who’s called in to bail Will out of prison
when he’s arrested for a dozen different obstruction charges and not
acknowledging the so-called authority Special Ops think is their right.”

“What a mess. Will can be such a charmer when he has a mind
for it, but diplomacy and politics are not his forte. Not even close,” Melissa
moaned. Under different circumstances she might find some black humor in the
mental image of Will clashing with the elitist group of Special Operatives. But
this was Ryder. She didn’t think anything could stop the ill sensation knotting
in her stomach.

Melissa breathed deeply, slowly. She calmed her heart rate
and tried to focus her mind. She felt sick but there was work to do, and now
more than just Falconn’s life to avenge.

“I’ll be with you,” Daniel said. Melissa met his gaze and
they stared at each other for a moment. She nodded, unable to articulate
anything. “This isn’t your fault, or mine. Ryder was a seasoned professional.
We just underestimated our enemy. This is on his head.”

“A mistake we won’t be making again,” Melissa said
determinedly, her words taking on the weight of a vow made in blood and sealed
with magic. “I haven’t been at my most clear-headed either. Falconn’s death has
had me all twisted up. But we aren’t going to lose someone else—we’re going to
finish this.”

“And with Special Ops on his ass, this guy is toast anyway,”
Daniel agreed. “There’s nothing they hate more than a crooked wizard, one who
has been trained and given every advantage and assistance who then turns on his
own kind. ‘Traitor’ and ‘betrayer’ are not words and labels these guys take
lightly.”

Melissa drew in a deep breath before realizing with a slight
start that she was getting cold. “I’m going to grab my bag, get dressed and
then we can head out. Did Will give you the address?”

“Yeah—apparently Ryder had the chance to set off some sort
of silent alarm before he…got in too deep. That’s why they discovered him so
quickly.”

Melissa nodded and left the bedroom, going back out into the
main room where she had dropped her satchel. She glanced at the clock as she
passed it and groaned when she realized it was barely after three in the
morning. A horrible time to be heading out for the morning, but she was
nevertheless grateful that they had caught Ryder’s murder so quickly. Hopefully
there would be more clues to discover with the lesser passage of time.

Quickly, she dressed, folding her spare clothes back into
the satchel and putting on some fresh ones. The demi-bra and a new set of
panties were donned first, followed quickly by the same dark-blue skinny jeans,
a fresh black shirt and a jacket with a nipped-in waist. Melissa checked her
gun carefully before pushing it into the waistband of her jeans at the base of
her back, easily hidden under her untucked shirt and open jacket.

After pulling on her heeled boots, Melissa strapped a sheath
to each of her ankles and slipped a balanced throwing knife into each of them.
Her magic was powerful and she was a highly trained Assassin. That didn’t mean she
didn’t prefer to use weapons—a gun in particular—when she faced something
uncertain. Melissa had held a gun in her hands before she could fully walk, her
father beginning her shooting training the moment she could stand unassisted
without losing her balance.

A gun, for her, was as natural to wear as a bracelet, watch
or necklace. It was the only accessory she couldn’t be without when working or
walking into unknown dangers.

Packed and as mentally prepared as she could be, Melissa
looked up as Daniel entered the living room.

“Ready?” he asked.

She nodded and slung the satchel over her shoulder.

“Ready. Let’s go.”

Together they left the apartment and caught the elevator
down to where Daniel had parked his car. With very little talk, they climbed
into Daniel’s car and headed over to the crime scene.

As Daniel parked, Melissa carefully scanned the area. Even
had she not known where they were heading she would have been able to ascertain
which building they would be entering. To the untrained eye it would just
appear that more vehicles than usual were parked in the street, but Melissa
could see the heavily trampled garden around the unit she presumed was Ryder’s.
Not only were the flowerbeds faintly crushed, but there were obvious—to her
eyes at least—shadows next to trees and cast from around corners betraying the
agents who were scouting the area and gleaning whatever facts they could from
the scene.

“Looks like half the cavalry has been dispatched,” she
muttered as Daniel cut the engine.

“Ryder was a well-known, often-used Sharp Shooter,” he
commented as they climbed out of the car. Together they walked up the pavement
side by side, easily in step with each other.

“Not only did he have contacts pretty much throughout the entire
industry,” Daniel continued, “but he was a charming son of a bitch and well-liked.
Add that he was one of Isacar’s most successful protégés, and this borders on a
celebrity murder for us. We’ve stepped into a tricky, messy political mission
this time.”

Melissa smiled at the “we”, so very grateful she was not
alone in this.

“No wonder Will is having a fit over all the people trying
to take his mission away from him,” she commented quietly as they drew closer
to the unit. “Suddenly this is an important case and all the pompous jerks come
out of the woodwork, wanting to look good and curry favor.”

“We’ll get there,” Daniel murmured in her ear as they paused
to have their essences checked by the Enforcer on guard duty. “We’ll solve this
fast and by ourselves and shove it to all these arrogant jerk-offs. Never
fear.”

Melissa snickered and hastily repressed her childish
response to Daniel’s words of encouragement.

“Whoever said we were possessive or competitive?” she teased
him. “No one could ever believe Assassins don’t have the team spirit with our
attitude.”

Daniel didn’t reply but they glanced at each other, sharing
a private, utterly amused moment of clarity. Tiny smiles twitched at the corners
of their mouths as they were admitted into Ryder’s unit.

Will stood on the edges of the scene, pacing ferociously and
chewing the hell out of his cigar as he growled at the two Special Op agents
who seemed to be giving him a rough time. They were both tall and well-built,
one of them looking studiously as neat as a pin, the other scruffy and with an
evident five-o’clock shadow around his jaw and chin.

Daniel and Melissa walked over to Will, who appeared to be
visibly restraining himself from decking the wizards. He caught sight of them when
they were still a few paces away and Melissa could just make out his words as
he bit them out around his somewhat mangled cigar.

“You see? Here they are. Now you can both go off and fuck
yourselves,” he said sharply.

Melissa had not met either wizard before, but she could tell
just by looking at them that they were Special Ops. The scruffy one wore a knee-length
black leather jacket that had the look of a well-worn, much-loved coat. The
other wizard had a regular leather jacket on and looked fastidious in his
appearance, as if he had primped and presented himself perfectly after a full
twelve hours sleep and wouldn’t ever have a hair out of place, even in the
middle of a deathly struggle.