Temptation at Twilight: Lords of Pleasure (14 page)

“Do you need some help with that?” Harley asked, lips turning up.

“I’d love some.” He took one of her hands, but she pulled back.

“Not like that,” she said with a mischievous grin. “I’m going to be a mermaid, seducing my sexy sea captain.”

“Really? How?”

“Watch.”

With that, she pushed off his lap and moved to stand in the deeper water a few feet beyond the bench. Taking a deep breath, she lowered herself until she was completely submerged. In fascination, he eyed her rippling form as she swam toward him, long auburn hair streaming behind her like a banner. When she reached him, she tugged on his calves, urging him, he thought, to scoot to the lip of the bench.

He did and was rewarded.

Slender fingers squeezed his balls and began to manipulate them, a damned good feeling in the medium of water. But when she took the head of his cock between her lips and began to suckle him . . .

He nearly came undone. If anything had ever felt as fucking terrific as being sucked underwater, he couldn’t recall what it might have been. “Shit,” he moaned, lifting his hips. If any sea captain had encountered a mermaid like this one, he hadn’t stood a chance.

That hot, tight cavern enveloped his dick like a silken glove. She took him deep inside, down her throat, doing something mind-boggling with her tongue and the muscles of her throat to massage his length, driving him to the very precipice. Gripping her hair, he indulged in fucking her, using her as his naughty hole.

In and out, making her swallow all of him. To the root. His balls boiling.

But he didn’t want to come yet, and he had to let her up for air. Worried that he’d let her go too long, he forced her head up, grabbed her, and hauled her back into his lap. She heaved a lungful of air, and he wiped her face and her soaking tresses clear of water.

“That was incredible,” he praised. “Are you all right?”

“Better than.” To prove it, she reached between them and grasped his throbbing shaft. “Is this for me?”

“It is, and I hope you’re ready, because I can’t wait another second.”

His hands spanned her waist and he lifted her slightly, then took his cock and brought it to her pussy lips. She needed no further encouragement and sank onto him inch by inch, lashes fluttering closed.

“Oh, Soren. Master.”

That damned word! It tossed him into the abyss every single time. Capturing her mouth with his, he began to fuck her with slow thrusts. There was nothing finer on earth than the joining of two bodies, lost to passion. The tips of her nipples lapped at the water and grazed his chest as they bounced together, her fingers digging into his shoulders.

It wasn’t going to be long before he lost control, and he relished the moment as much as he dreaded it. He didn’t want this moment to be over, but his body demanded completion. That he mark this female as his.

His to fuck. To drink. To do whatever he wanted with, because she’d given herself to him.

He increased the tempo until he was slamming into her, putting as much force into it as he could, given their position in the pool. When the tingling started in the base of his spine and he knew he couldn’t hold off anymore, he pulled her head back, bared her throat, and struck.

Her scream of ecstasy, her pussy clenching around his cock, drove him over the edge. As her rich blood flowed over his tongue, his release erupted, shooting spurts of hot cum deep into her womb. He drank until they were both sated and then withdrew. She slumped against him and he just held her for a while, enjoying the intimacy of being buried in her after what they’d shared.

“You, sweetheart, are amazing.”

She cuddled close, and he heard the smile in her sleepy voice. “No, that would be you.”

He kissed the top of her head. “Why don’t we bathe and get dried off? Then I need to make some rounds and check on the guests.”

“Whatever you want, master.”

A grin teased his lips. “I think you already know how that gets to me.”

“Does it?” A finger trailed down his chest, her fingernail scratching lightly at his nipple.

He shivered and moved her off him with regret. “You know it does, naughty girl. Come on.”

Grabbing some soap from a built-in ledge nearby, he scrubbed them both from head to foot. They had fun dunking each other while rinsing off; then he led her from the pool and fetched them two big fluffy towels from a rack.

Once they were both reasonably dry, he left the towels poolside for the staff to pick up and grabbed their robes. After helping Harley with hers, he shrugged his on and took her hand, leading her down the glass corridor once more. When they reached the staircase, he gestured toward it.

“Go and get dressed. I’ll see you later,” he promised.

“Aren’t you coming up with me?”

“No.”

“But you’re still in your robe.” Her brows furrowed.

“Exactly. Our guests frequently see me in less, darling. It’s part of their entertainment,” he said.

“Now I know what you meant by
make some rounds
,” she muttered. She looked so miffed, he couldn’t help but laugh.

“Yes, now you do. Go,” he ordered, sobering. “Remember who’s in charge.”

“Yes, master.”

She obeyed, but not before shooting him a rebellious look and marching up the stairs. Fire. He liked that. So unlike Helena, his Harley. In every way.

“A delicious piece of ass, is she?”

Soren turned, squelching a curse. He hadn’t heard Leila sneak up on him from behind, and he hated that. He noted the skimpy shorts and top she wore, as well as the fact that she really did nothing for him. Without the black magic she wielded to use his mind and body, he’d never look at her twice.

“I’m not discussing her with you,” he said evenly. “Especially our sex lives.”

Closing the distance between them, she parted his robe and palmed his softened cock. “Really? What a shame. I suppose I’ll have to content myself with other adventures regarding my mate—for the time being.”

“Leila,” he ground out, removing her hand. “I have guests to tend.”

“Of course.” Smirking, she raked him with her hungry gaze from head to toe. “You do that, and I’ll see you later. Remember your task, though.”

He worked not to show his exasperation. “What task is that?”

Leaning close, she whispered, “Take the one you’ve been waiting to taste. Bury yourself deep and drain him dry. You want it.”

“No.” His protest was spoiled by the quickening in his groin, in his blood.

“You do. I can see the truth. There’s no point in resisting what you are and all you can be,” she urged. “You’ll do it. When you can’t stand it another moment, you’ll fuck him—”

“I can’t.”

“—and you’ll kill him.”

“I won’t.”

She spun and sauntered off, tossing him a knowing smile over one shoulder. Then she was gone.

He wanted to deny what she’d said. But the beast that had been blessedly quiet during his time with Harley awoke with a vengeance. It stretched and growled in dark anticipation of doing exactly what the witch commanded.

“Yes,” he whispered helplessly, the blackness descending.

He was left alone, his mind struggling against it, but his body aching for it—the taste of his prey’s total surrender.

And the elixir of death.

S
oren toweled himself off, drying his hair as much as possible. He dressed in jeans and a mesh shirt that showed off his chest and abs, a teasing look the guests liked, and he didn’t mind indulging them. After all, they were paying. Then he brushed out his long hair, leaving it to finish drying naturally, and went in search of his oldest brother. He’d been putting this off for a couple of days, ever since the interlude in the bathhouse with Harley, and that was too long.

He found Aldric at breakfast, chowing down on Nikki’s blueberry muffins and sipping milk while reading the morning newspaper. So normal and good. For a moment he stopped in the doorway and watched, a lump growing in his throat. He’d risked his family for his own selfish quest. If only he had it to do over . . . Would he do anything differently?

The witch had led him to Harley, who might or might not be descended from Helena’s family. The two females appeared as opposite as night and day, and he still wasn’t sure whether to be disappointed. Honestly, he was a fool for thinking they might be one and the same, or that he’d be happy if they were. Wasn’t it time to make new memories?

“Are you going to stand there all day or come sit down and eat?”

Soren blinked and pushed from the doorway, giving Aldric a wan smile. “Sorry. I’m not quite myself this morning.”
Understatement of a thousand lifetimes.

“What’s wrong?” His brother’s sharp gaze pierced his, studying him. No idiot, his sibling.

“Female trouble.” He reached for a muffin.

“If you’re out of tampons, I’m not going to the store.”

“Fuck you,” Soren muttered, taking a bite of the fluffy breakfast treat. “Mmm. Nikki’s outdone himself.”

“Yeah. I think Alasdair’s going to give him more training as a pastry chef. Kid seems to have a knack for sweets.”

“I’ll say.” He polished it off, licked his fingers, and reached for another.

“So, what gives?” Aldric glanced around, making certain no one else was within earshot. “Leila giving you problems?”

“Yeah, you could say that.”

“How?”

“Shut the fuck up!”

His brother blinked. “What?”

“No, no, not you.” His appetite gone, he set the second muffin down and buried his face in his hands. “I wasn’t talking to you.”

“O-kaay,” his brother drawled. “Then who were you talking to?”

“I don’t know who or what he is,” Soren whispered. “I just call him
the beast
.”

Aldric fell silent for a long moment. Lowering his hands, Soren raised his head to see his brother gazing at him with naked worry, all traces of teasing vanished. “Is this connected to the thing you said was growing inside you since you drank from the witch? The darkness?”

“Yes. It’s more accurate to say the beast
is
the darkness.” He gave a bitter laugh. “It’s meshing with me, taking over my mind. She and my beast want me to do horrible, evil things, and I
want
to do them. Long to do them so badly it hurts.”

I warned you!
Instantly, razor-sharp agony ripped through his head. With a cry, he slumped sideways, barely aware of falling from his chair to land in a heap on the floor.

“Oh, gods! Soren?”

Aldric was at his side in an instant, pulling Soren into his arms, cradling him. Shouting words Soren couldn’t understand because his brain was being skewered and turned inside out. “Help me,” he rasped. Or thought he did, but couldn’t be sure.

Footsteps came running. More shouts. Someone yelled for a towel, but that didn’t make sense. The pain was too much. His body shook, and vaguely he realized he was convulsing, the shudders racking him from head to toe. Strong arms held him close, kept him from moving too much, and the soft towel was pressed under his nose.

“Come on, bro. Come back to us.” Luc’s strained voice penetrated the thick fog of pain, and Soren looked up, trying to focus on his younger brother’s face. Gradually, his blurred vision began to clear. Blue eyes and short, spiky blond hair came into view, and Soren realized Luc was the one holding the towel.

“Easy,” Luc said softly. “You got a helluva nosebleed. What happened?”

His voice was a pathetic croak. “My head. Thought it was being torn apart.”

“The beast?” Aldric guessed.

“Yeah. I pissed it off by running my mouth.”

“Beast?” Luc frowned, glancing between them.

“I’ll explain it to you later,” Aldric said, shaking his head. He smoothed a strand of hair from Soren’s face. “I promise we’ll find a way to fix this. Can you sit up?”

“I think so.”

He pushed upright with his brothers’ help, but had to pause to wait out a wave of dizziness. When it passed, he nodded, and they pulled him to his feet. “Thanks. You guys, I don’t deserve your—”

“Knock that shit off before you even start,” Aldric growled. “We’ve always had each other’s backs, and we’re not going to let some two-bit whore bring us down. Speaking of her, where is the witch?”

“I don’t know,” Soren told him, taking the towel and wiping the last of the blood from under his nose. For now, the beast had subsided. “She’s been disappearing for a couple of hours or more right before dawn every morning. I have no idea where she goes or what she does.”

“Well, we’ll find out and put a stop to whatever she’s doing.”

“She may succeed, thanks to me.”

Aldric opened his mouth to answer, then stopped, noticing the small gathering of anxious Chosen and other house staff. “Let’s finish this in my office.”