Primal Possession (20 page)

Liam lifted his head, causing her eyes to open. In a daze, she stared at him. Why was he stopping? He was so talented with his tongue she thought she might actually climax from his teasing alone. Her entire body was that primed for release.

“You are so fucking perfect, woman.” His voice was gravelly and rough and the words turned her on more than she could have imagined.

She wasn’t sure how to respond. If there even was a
response. The intense look on his face took her breath away, making speech or coherent thought impossible.

“I want to kiss you here.” He reached between them and cupped her mound. The feel of his large hand covering her made her abdomen clench and sent a shiver of desire curling through her.

Knowing how dominating he was, she was touched he’d asked first. “I want that too.”

And she did. Very much.

Smiling, he dropped a lazy kiss on her mouth before he pushed off her. In doing so, she loosened her grip around him and let her thighs fall open.

As he leaned back, he grasped the thin straps of her bikini-cut panties and pulled them down her legs in a quick, almost jerky motion. His hands shook slightly and something told her that was a rare thing for him.

Spread out like this for Liam, December looked like a gift one of his ancestors might have offered to their gods. But she was his alone. Even though his most primal side wanted to flip her onto her stomach, take her from behind, and mark her so that everyone would know she belonged to him, he held fast to his control.

His body ached with the need to sink into her, but he cared for her too much to take her so roughly. Especially now. Not after what she’d been through tonight. She deserved gentleness and care. Her desire was potent and damn near overwhelming, but he sensed how fragile she was and he just wanted to take care of her.

When he stared at her like this, it was hard to breathe. A thin strip of trimmed, light red hair covered her mound. The arousing scent she gave off was something that would forever be embedded in his memory.

When she went to cover herself, he realized he’d been staring too hard. He’d finally gotten her where he wanted her and he refused to screw this up. As gentle as he could, he placed his hands on her inner thighs and lightly pressed them open farther. Bending down, he swiped his tongue along her wet slit in one fluid motion. She tasted just as sweet as she smelled.

Her hips jerked erratically at his first lick, but he didn’t stop. Increasing the pressure, he continued teasing her until her thighs clamped around his head and she fisted the sheet beneath her. She was so close he could scent it. Even if he couldn’t, the panting sounds and moans she made got louder with each stroke. And it was written in every tense line of her body.

With one finger, he slowly inserted it into her tight sheath. She was so wet he couldn’t help the satisfaction that curled through him. This reaction was because of him. She was turned on because of him. She might want to deny their connection, but her body couldn’t.

Slowly, he pulled out, then pushed back in with another finger. When he did, her inner walls clamped around him. He could feel the small contractions starting the faster he moved his fingers, so he increased his pace.

The moans that tore from her throat were in unison with each unsteady roll of her hips. His balls pulled up so tight at those sounds he was afraid he wouldn’t be able to control himself.

Finally, her back arched as the orgasm ripped through her. Clutching the sheet beneath her, she moaned and writhed as she found that release. His name fell from her lips as her body finally stilled against the bed. Her erratic breathing and the blood rushing in his ears were the only things he could hear.

Looking up, he found her staring at him with wide,
blue eyes and a faint smile on her lips. “Wow,” she murmured.

If he could put that look of satisfaction on her face every day, she’d never want to leave his bed. Or him. Smiling, he covered the distance between them and stretched out on top of her. He’d never been great with words, but especially not in the bedroom. His partners had all been shifters and talking wasn’t usually on the menu.

When she wrapped her arms and legs around him and molded to him, he relaxed. This was exactly where he’d wanted her and now that he had her naked and underneath him, he couldn’t imagine letting her walk away from him. Something tightened around his chest when she increased her grip. After what she’d been through tonight, she trusted him enough with her body to completely open herself to him. Considering the invisible walls she’d been putting up for him, this act of submission touched him on a level he didn’t quite understand.

When she started to tug at his shirt, he tensed. Reaching between them, he covered her hands, stilling her.

“What are you doing?” She frowned at him.

“If I take off my clothes, I’ll forget all my good intentions.” It was hard to remember why he was being so noble when she had her hot, naked body wrapped around his.

Withdrawing her hands from his, she smoothed them up and down his back. The action was surprisingly soothing. “And what good intentions would those be?”

“Not to take advantage of you,” he managed to rasp out.

She smiled seductively. “I don’t think it’s taking advantage when I’m offering myself.”

Liam knew he could strip and be inside her in seconds.

Seconds.

But he held back. When they finally took that next step, he didn’t plan to let her go. He’d mark and claim her then. He wouldn’t risk her throwing it back in his face later that this was a mistake or that she regretted it. That she’d been weak or needy or some excuse. When they took that step, he wanted it to mean something to both of them. No doubts and no barriers between them.

He placed a light kiss on her lips, then pulled the covers back and slid in next to her. “I want tonight to be only about you,” he murmured against her hair as he pulled her back against his chest. She tried to protest, but he just tugged her tighter and kissed the top of her head as she settled against the pillow. “Tell me something about yourself.” He kept his voice a low whisper and his grip around her firm.

“Like what?” Her question was asked just as quietly.

“Anything. Something I don’t know.” He didn’t care what she told him as long as he learned more about her.

She paused for only a moment. “When I was about five, a German shepherd adopted me.”

His eyebrows drew together at her statement. “Adopted you?”

“Mm-hmm. Before my parents died, we lived in a giant house in South Carolina. Lots of land. Easy to get lost on. Parker was supposed to be watching me, but I was a handful and managed to escape his watchful eyes. Long story short, I got lost and was close to hysterics until I stumbled on an adorable puppy who I thought was just as lost as me.”

“So he adopted you?”

“Pretty much. He decided I was his owner and led me home. My mom wasn’t an animal person, but there was no way she could deny me or his cute little face.”

Liam could feel her smile against the pillow. Hell, he could practically feel her entire body smile as she spoke. “What was his name?”

She chuckled, the sound low and husky and sexy as hell. “Bubblegum. Parker tried to tell me it was a dumb name for a dog, but I was five and that was that. No one could change my mind. I haven’t thought about him in years.” There was a wistful note in her voice before she continued. “What about you? Did you ever have any pets?”

He couldn’t help it. A sharp bark of laughter escaped. “Sweetheart, wolves don’t have pets.”

“Oh, right…smart-ass.” She nudged his leg with her foot as she snuggled deeper against him.

“Get some sleep, Red.” He kissed her head again.

She didn’t try to fight him and minutes later the sound of her steady, rhythmic breathing filled the air.

Rock-hard and sexually primed, he knew it would be impossible to sleep anytime soon, but holding December this way was worth it. As she snuggled closer into his embrace, a light movement by the window made him tense. A black raven landed on the ledge. Pausing, it stared at him for a moment, then just as quickly flew away.

A trickle of unease curled through him like scorching, slow-moving lava at the odd sight. It was said that the goddess Morrigan took the shape of a raven when she visited her warriors. In that form she supposedly revealed that death was close. Neither he nor his brother believed in or followed her, but his parents had. They’d been devout worshipers of the goddess they’d believed had created them.

He cursed his sudden unease. He wasn’t some impressionable cub. Worrying about the bird’s appearance was
stupid and he wasn’t sure why it bothered him. Death had surrounded him his entire life. Something he’d never thought about until he met December. Now that he had someone to protect, things had changed. So had his priorities.

Shoving the ludicrous thoughts aside, he tightened his grip on her and closed his eyes. He’d rather focus on December’s soft curves and delectable body than some bullshit mythological sign.

E
dward’s hand tightened around his coffee cup as he heard the front door open, then shut. Brianna glanced over her shoulder from where she stood at the stove but quickly looked away. He’d been in a dark mood all morning and had been very close to taking it out on her.

Something he had no doubt she knew, because she’d been unusually quiet and stayed out of his way.

“Hello?” Joseph called from the front of the house.

Edward didn’t shout out for him. If Joseph wanted to find them, he could damn well look, like a normal human being.

Wearing a thick down coat and the same jeans and boots from yesterday, Joseph walked into the kitchen. He paused in the entrance and froze, probably because of the glare Edward gave him. “What’s going on?”

“Where were you all night?” he asked calmly.

He shrugged and stepped into the room. As he did, he pulled off his gloves. “I did what you said. I followed Katarina Saburova and tried to stake out her place, but I got a bad feeling, so I left.”

“Bad feeling?”

“Yeah, man. Like her place was already being watched by someone else or something. You said the enforcer wants her, so I didn’t want to hang around too late and get killed if that dude was there.”

“So where have you been all night?” The story sounded like bullshit, but lately everything out of Joseph’s mouth did.

He shrugged again in that maddening disrespectful manner and headed for the stove. “Something smells good.” When he tried to take a piece of the bacon, Brianna whacked his hand with a wooden spoon.

Edward inwardly smiled, but something about Joseph’s attitude was off. “So where were you, then?” He hated repeating himself, but he wanted an answer.

“I met a chick and stayed the night at her place. You’re not my fucking father. I tried to do the job and couldn’t, so I got laid. It’s none of your damn business what I do in my off time.”

He hated his attitude, but that sounded more like the Joseph he knew. Sighing, he pushed his mug away from him. He was just being paranoid. Joseph sure as hell wasn’t a mole in the APL and he had no reason to lie. The guy was too fucking stupid, so it didn’t surprise him he’d been thinking with his dick last night. He could reprimand him, but it likely wouldn’t do any good and he didn’t have the energy this morning. “There’s a fresh pot of coffee on if you want some.”

Visibly relaxing, the young man shrugged off his coat and laid it on the back of one of the chairs. “I’ll grab some in a minute. I need to shower and wash that bitch’s stank off me.”

After he disappeared from the room, Brianna shook
her head. “He’s so disgusting. I don’t know why you put up with him.”

He depended on these recruits and she knew it, even if she wouldn’t admit it out loud. Thanks to his scarred face, he was likely to be remembered everywhere he went. Before his accident he’d been a normal-looking guy. Good-looking enough to get laid on a regular basis anyway. It had been so easy for him to fly under the radar everywhere he’d gone. He’d had the kind of face people forgot.

Not anymore. Now he couldn’t get close enough to either of the women his boss wanted him to take. Pretty women steered clear of him. Some wouldn’t even step into an elevator with him. Well, except Brianna, but she was different.

To take either of the women associated with those animals, they had to do it without causing a stir. They needed to get in and out fast. Unfortunately finding good help was damn near impossible. Most of his recruits had no training or had washed out of various military branches during boot camp.

“I don’t know if I can use him anymore.” He stood and helped Brianna bring the plate of bacon and scrambled eggs to the table.

She brought their plates over and sat. “It’s only a minor setback. He might be disgusting, but he probably made the right choice last night. If the woman was being watched, he’d have been killed and our plan exposed.”

Edward still wasn’t sure he believed Joseph’s story. Something about his tone had been off. Nervous. But maybe he’d just been nervous of him. “He’s an idiot.”

Her blond eyebrows rose curiously, but she didn’t deny his words. “So what should we do?”

“I want you to befriend Katarina.”

Her eyes widened for a fraction of a second. “What?”

“Befriend her, gain her trust, then we’ll take her.”

Brianna shook her head. The movement was slight but firm. “I don’t know. I don’t even know how I’d meet her.”

“She’s a ski instructor.”

“So? I already know how to ski.” She stabbed a cluster of the fluffy eggs with her fork and avoided his gaze.

“She doesn’t know that.”

Brianna thoughtfully chewed for a moment before setting her fork down. “I don’t know. It’s risky.”

“If we get her, the boss will visit and I guarantee there will be a bonus in it for both of us.” If the APL knew how to do one thing right, they knew what people liked. Cold, hard cash. There was room to move up in the organization, and for a job well-done they received more than a pathetic pat on the back.

She bit her bottom lip but finally nodded. “Okay. I’ll do it.”