emotions you stir within me. This isn’t the right time for us to get involved.”
He was wrong about that, but she didn’t want to tell him why. Not yet. The pressure of figuring out her challenge would make what was happening between them much more difficult.
“But you want to get involved with me? Is that what you’re saying?”
“Yes, I want you. Over me, under me”—with his gaze still on her face, he skimmed his fingertips over her panty-covered cleft—“tied to my bed.”
The teasing words she’d spoken to Trevor sounded like a promise coming from him. Her breath hitched. “Trevor, I—”
He slipped his fingers under her underwear, much the same way he had the previous night in the alley. He didn’t stroke her cleft or push his fingers inside her, though. He hooked the material and tugged. She lifted her bottom, complying with his silent demand. He dragged her panties off, letting them drop carelessly to the ground.
“But that’s going to have to wait a little while longer. I’ve got a plan to see through.”
“What kind of plan?”
He licked her lips, the bottom, then the top. “Don’t worry. It involves you. Me. Us, naked and sweaty.”
“Yeah? Don’t you think you should run this plan by me first?”
“Don’t need to. I know what you desire, but if you want me to waste my breath, I will. I’d rather get drunk on you. Bury my face in your folds and make you come apart around my tongue. And with the number of brothers you have wandering around here, privacy is hard to come by. We have it right now. Don’t know how long that’ll last.”
“Aren’t you worried about what they’ll think? Brothers can be protective.”
“I’m an only child. Can’t speak on that, but I’m not concerned. Zeph already saw us together. I just don’t want to be disturbed when I’m eating you out.”
“I didn’t get a chance to talk to you, and”—her breath escaped in a shaky exhale—“you didn’t explain what you meant about me being dark.” She wasn’t sure why she was delaying him. She wanted his mouth on her too.
“We’ll talk tomorrow after you get back from hunting.” He skimmed his parted lips down the column of her throat to her upper chest. “I’ll make us something to eat, and we can sit out on the patio.”
“I’d like that.”
“Good.” He dragged the tip of his tongue between the swell of her breasts, stopping at the neckline of her top. “If you can, come home early enough that we can watch the sunrise.” He stroked his flattened tongue over her nipple, wetting the fabric of her top and hardening the tip. “Just you and me, okay?”
“Yes, I’ll try, but I can’t promise. It all depends.” On how long it’d take her to talk to Arawn and hunt down Minerva.
“As long as it doesn’t involve rapists or any of the other pieces of shit you’ve been hunting as a woman, then I don’t mind waiting for you. I know you’ll come back to me.”
His words slammed into her with a commitment she hadn’t expected to come so soon. With one sentence, he acknowledged their connection and staked his claim on her.
“I won’t hunt humans tonight, but that’s not something I can stop doing permanently for you.”
He nibbled on the erect nipple, sending sparks skipping through her, then kissed his way to the space between her legs. With his thumbs, he gently exposed her opening and brushed his lips over her sex, a chaste kiss. He eased back and met her gaze. “I know. That’s the darkness inside you. You want to make the damned regret their bad choices now, not wait until they die. You want them afraid. Groveling like babies knowing they’re going to Hell, hoping they can make up for their sins, so they won’t commit more.”
She stared at Trevor, shocked by his insight. That was exactly the reason she roamed the human streets. If she could stop one sinner from hurting another person—saving someone from experiencing the grief she’d endured—then she
C. J. Cherryh
Learning to Kill: Stories
John O'Riley
Brenda Sinclair
Christopher George
Stephen Lloyd Jones
Karl Iagnemma
Celya Bowers
Jill Gregory
Aria Cunningham