Surrender (THE DRAGONFLY CHRONICLES) (30 page)

Jackson groaned against her lips. His strong fingers parted through her hair, fanning it wide across the rolled pillow. “God, little fire, you are so beautiful,” he murmured against her mouth. His hands returned to her face as he poured more and more molten heat into her body. It melted Kailin’s insides, all except for her heart which beat like a wild horse thudding across a moor.

“Let go, Kailin,” Jackson tickled against her ear sending a cascade of shivers down her neck and across her chest. He followed the shivers with his kiss to the hollow of her neck. “I’ll catch you, little fire.”

Her breath flew from her lips as she felt his hot mouth through her shirt. Her control shattered and she released a blast of power and gasped.

Jackson pulled back, questions and concern across his shadowed features.

“I…” Kailin began. “I let go. I’ve let go.” She closed her eyes and drew an inhale from deep down in her inflamed body. As she exhaled she released consuming fire, the quaking upheavals of earth, a flood of wind to shoot sand through any obstacle on the desert. She released it all…and opened her eyes. “Don’t let go of me,” she whispered as she glanced around at the silent, still night.

“And if I do?” he asked, studying her face.

A small grin pushed through her concern. “Possibly the end of the world.”

Jackson met her smile with his own. “Then I’ll hold on to you forever.” Hot and full of ripe promises, his kiss washed away all thought of control. Suddenly her own clothes felt confining and she broke the kiss to shrug out of her blouse.

“I thought—” Jackson started but Kailin cut him off as she reclaimed the kiss. She took advantage of the surprise by pressing Jackson back down so that she lay above him. She worked open the laces and hooks on her underclothes. His fingers replaced hers. Kailin tried to control her attack but Jackson fought back. Their passion met in a fierce battle of deep, exploring kisses while hands fought to remove her constraints.

The last of Kailin’s hooks parted and she threw her walls of control halfway back up. “No,” she murmured and forced them to evaporate.

Kailin’s kiss met mute lips. Jackson had stopped moving. “Don’t stop,” she demanded.

“You said no.”

She smiled and kissed him lightly as she sat up to tug out the garment. He kept his gaze on her face. “I was talking to myself, not you. I keep throwing up my controls, but I don’t have to. Not when I’m touching you.”

He exhaled as if he’d been holding in more than breath.

Kailin arched back, stretching, letting the chilled air cool her skin. Her legs and hips still pressed against Jackson, saving the world. The thought made the fire within her flare and she smiled wickedly while splaying her hair out around her shoulders. Without the constant need for restraint, giddy, sizzling lightning shot up through her belly. A bubble of laughter mixed with joy burst from her lips and she shook her head. She glanced at Jackson and laughed again.

His mouth lay open like a beached fish. He’d risen up on his elbows and stared with arched brows at her wanton form. His lips closed and he met her gaze with a bad boy grin of his own. Reaching forward he cupped one of her shoulders. His thumb ran small circles along her collar bone, massaging the tight muscle just under it. “Little fire, I think we’ll have to change your name to wild fire.”

Kailin smiled broadly and tossed her hair, almost drunk on her freedom. She’d dropped all control and the world continued to lie still around them, unharmed, unmoved.

He ran his hand down her wildly thumping chest. He was gorgeous, rugged, mountainous. She’d never let herself notice for too long before, but now. Now she could touch and look at him, all of him. Three days of hair roughened his square chin. Brown hair she knew had sprays of sun-kissed gold lay in sexy disarray almost to his chin. Jackson was a delicious cross between Perseus and a wild savage from the plains that grew him. Bronze and muscled, not afraid to dirty his hands, yet clever and cultured in a barely contained way.

His hand looked dark against the paleness of her breast. Kailin shivered as his thumb drew circles around her nipple.

“Atsila,”
Jackson murmured. “Come back down here.” He tugged but didn’t force.

Kailin lowered her cool body close to his. “I bared myself first. Your turn.” Before she’d even finished talking, Jackson yanked his shirt over his head. Kailin laughed and lowered herself down against his hot skin. “Mmmm…warm.”

“You’re colder than a sheared sheep in winter.” He threw the blanket back over them and wrapped strong, warm arms around her, his hands fanning down the skin of her bare back.

“Have you cradled a sheared sheep in winter?” Kailin asked against the hollow of his throat. She let her tongue slip out to wantonly touch his skin, tasting the salt there.

Jackson groaned and she shifted slightly when she felt him below. “Yes, I have.”

“Have what?” She’d lost track as she tried to let her fear of the unknown evaporate like her controls. Making love was nothing new to humankind. It was a simple response to life’s pressure to procreate. Why should she worry about it? Well there was the procreation part.

“Held a freezing lamb against my chest in winter.”

“Oh. Was it lost?”

He paused for a long moment. “I found her in a white-out and carried her home under my shirt.”

Kailin’s mind dismissed his words and followed his hands. They ran down her hips to loosen the rope she’d been using as a belt to hold up the men’s trousers. She snuggled into his chest and raised her hips to give him room. He chuckled and scooted her pants down. When his fingers trailed down her bloomers to the material slit between each legging, she stiffened. Apparently she wasn’t as wanton as she’d hoped.

He stroked her thigh on the outside of the thin white linen. Jackson lowered his face to brush against her lips. “This is where I stop then.”

“What?” she looked up at him.

“I’ve been waiting until you signaled. I’m just glad it wasn’t much further or I may not have been able to stop.” He kissed her shocked, tight mouth. Now who was mute? Though not for long.

“So you have a point in which you couldn’t stop? Even if I…stiffened?”

He broke away, confused. “Well, I would try.”

“What exactly is that point?”

His eyes narrowed. “So you can stay well away from it? Or are you trying to push me past it?”

A small grin played on her lips. “I’m not sure yet.”

“If you’re not sure, then you have your answer,” he said and ran his fingers down her spine. “You are a virgin.” His hands stilled along with his chest. She nodded and he released. “Well that saves me time.”

“What? Why?”

“Now I don’t need to hunt down the damn bastard to kill him.”

Kailin stared, her eyes wide as she watched the dangerous glint in Jackson’s gaze fade. “Plus that means I’ll surely not go any further with you tonight,” he added.

“Why not?” she asked and then wished she hadn’t. What if he didn’t want her? What if her wanton behavior from before had lowered her in his eyes? But men liked that, didn’t they?

“I’m not going to be the one to ruin you outside wedlock. I may come across like an ill-mannered rogue, but I’m not.” His arms tightened, drawing her down to lay across his naked chest. “Although you are damn tempting,” he murmured against her hair. He inhaled long and a small growl issued. “Damn tempting.”

“So you won’t steal my honor outside of marriage?”

“If you keep wiggling, I don’t know,” he teased but his voice was rough.

“I’m not marrying anyone else,” she blurted out and then realized how that sounded. “I mean”—she shook her head and pushed up onto her elbows on his chest—“I’m never marrying. So you can ruin me, that is, if I say yes.”

“Never marrying?”

“How could I?” She frowned, shaking her head. “Do you think I could marry someone around whom I could never lower my control? How could I make love with all my shields up, protecting the world from my devastating power?” She left the obvious lying between them. She wasn’t about to ask Jackson to marry her. “Plus Drakkina said we were soul mates.” Her words sped up. “She’d be quite happy if you…ruined me.”

“I…” he started and then stopped. “You don’t know me.” He shook his head.

“I know you held a baby sheep under your shirt to save it. I know you feel guilty for not being home when your parents and brother died. I know you love your sister. I even know you lied about working closely with Anthony.” He opened his mouth so she put a finger over his lips.

“I know you are honorable and therefore have a good reason which we’ll talk about when I’m not naked.” She removed her finger and he waited. “And I know that you whispered.” She glanced down to his chin, her own voice dropping. “You whispered in the sarcophagus that I was yours, your woman. I think that is as good as I’ll get to being married.”

Kailin looked up when she saw him shake his head. “You sell yourself too short, little fire.”

“It’s true though; you have to see. I can’t be with another man. What if he brought me to
petite mort
, as the French say?” Kailin ignored her blush but couldn’t stop from dropping her eyes from his gaze. “Major earthquakes, floods, brush fires.” She moved her hands for emphasis which brought the smile back to his face when she glanced upward. Kailin lowered back down to his chest so her full breasts smashed into the light sprinkle of hair. “Don’t make me beg, Jackson. We’re two adults. And you wouldn’t be taking anything I didn’t want you to take.”

“What if you get pregnant?”

“I’ve never lived up to cultural acceptance and I’ve always wanted a baby. One with gray eyes and golden brown hair suits me just fine.” He stared at her, not a single blink. “It’s not like I haven’t thought about it.” She didn’t add that she hadn’t thought about it until she’d met him.

In one fast exhale, Jackson grabbed her, rolling so that she lay beneath him. Before she could even think about his pressing weight, he held himself on his elbows propped on either side of her face. His lips crushed down onto hers, full of wild heat. Jackson’s one hand cupped her aching breast and she moaned into his mouth. It felt good, so good. He continued to kiss her as his hand trailed over her skin, as if mapping an unexplored landscape. Sensation tingled along every inch.

Kailin rubbed bare legs against his and reached down to unclasp his trousers. He growled low and shucked the trousers and his underclothes in seconds. Her hand came in contact with him and she jerked it back to his chest. He paused, his breath ragged. “Are you sure?” he asked.

All Kailin could do was nod.

“I want to hear you say it.”

“Say what?” she whispered, eyes round.

“Say what you want.”

“You, Jackson Black, I want you.” She moved her knee until it rubbed that long, hard part of him. “All of you. I…I just don’t know the exact mechanics of it all.”

There was no teasing, no grin, just a gentle command. “Don’t worry about that, little fire. I’ll lead this time.” He smiled and kissed the tip of her nose. “I have a feeling that once underway, your own fire will take things over.”

Doubt sat tight in her jaw and he reached up to rub the delicate bone. “I know you want to be on top,” he said. “But it will be easier if we start this way.”

She nodded. “I trust you.” He paused and a darkness crossed his face, but it passed before she was sure she’d even seen it.

The last coherent thought Kailin had was that they were indeed alone under the bright stars. Not even Tuto circled. No demons swirled death nearby. No Drakkina interfered or watched. Not even magic threatened their inner circle under the cocooning blanket. Only Jackson. Only Kailin. Together, striving for feelings she only barely knew. Had only studied but never experienced. Now it was her turn.

Moans hummed up her throat as Jackson kissed his way down the column. His tongue tasted her skin, probably as salty has his. “I wish I could bathe first,” she said.

“I prefer you dirty to croc-bitten,” he murmured and kissed and licked his way to her nipple. Her breath hitched as he encircled it with his lips, his teeth tickling the tip. She watched his head as he turned her breast to molten fire. He looked up then. “You taste delicious just the way you are.”

Kailin rested on her elbows and smiled just before he dove again to taste her other breast. Her smile faded into another moan. Jackson sent ripples of sensation through her chest as his hand wove a trail down her stomach to her bloomers. Would he…would he unlace them? Yes, he would, he was. Kailin lost herself in Jackson’s mouth on her skin. She ran frantic fingers through his soft, full hair. She barely felt the linen slide down her legs. Jackson shifted to her side and kissed her lips. He pushed her hair away from her neck and blazed a trail up and to her ear.

“You are…everything good, everything amazing,” he said before moving back to her mouth. He devoured her, slanted her face to deepen the kiss. He groaned and his hand coursed down the side of her breast to her hip, stroking, his rough palm tickling her smooth skin. Their kisses sparked as they tasted deeply of each other. Wet, hot, all-consuming kisses to where Kailin couldn’t tell where she stopped and Jackson began. They were fusing, becoming one.

She rubbed hands against his pectoral muscles. He groaned. She smiled against him and continued her explorations. Sprinkling of hair across the expanse. Narrow waist and hips, layers of muscle over bone. She turned further into him so that they lay facing each other. She ran fingers down his broad back, marveling at the rippled strength there, the heat he gave off. She reached his buttocks and squeezed. He groaned and rolled her back down, stroking down her stomach. Could he feel the butterflies flitting there? Where molten heat singed their wings until they flew, leaving only lava pooling in her pelvis?

He stroked her legs and hips, her inner thighs, but not her core. What was he waiting for? If he didn’t touch her there soon, she’d die! Kailin grasped the back of his hand and guided it to her. “Touch me,” she breathed into him. “Touch me there.”

Jackson pushed the heel of his hand down, grinding against a deliciously sweet spot that begged for more. Kailin surged upward into his palm and kissed him harder. Over and over she pressed in a primal rhythm that felt as natural as the cadence of her heart. He continued to grind into her as his finger slipped below.