***
“So with a cattle prod in my left hand and a whip in my right, I got him cornered, and then I…”
“Whoa! I do not want to know. Damn, girl. You were some wild teenager.” Gunn ran one finger down the bridge of her nose to the tip and gave it a tweak. Bunching her shoulders and sniggering at his playful touch, she turned her gaze back to the dance floor and jolted when Angel and Cordy weren’t there.
“Charles! Where’d they go? Oh, my God. They were just there!” Jerking her head across the mass of bobbing bodies like a frightened fowl, she began to shake when she couldn’t instantly find them.
“There they are. At the bar drinking. See? Now calm down.” His experienced, sedate detective hands gripped her shoulders and forced her to relax back into her seat.
His touch soothed her a bit, but he could still see the panic not ready to retreat from her eyes.
“Fred, you’re way too worried about this. Tell me something. What happens when they leave here and we follow them to wherever? Are we going to barge into the room with crosses and holy water and tell Angel to get his hands off her booty? I mean if they’re already doing it, I just don’t see how we’re supposed to stop them from falling in love.”
She stared at him a moment then sighed. “I dunno, Charles. I guess I don’t really even wanna stop them from falling in love. Seeing them out there dancin’, they just looked so right together. I just thought if something happened – if Angelus did come out – maybe I could help. When his demon came out in Pylea, it didn’t hurt me. I was able to calm him down. I figured maybe I could do that here, too.”
Shaking his head partly in disbelief and partly in awe of her courage, Gunn tried to reason with her. “There’s a big difference between the animal you saw in Pylea and Angelus. From what I know about him, he’s not real big on being talked out of killing. It’s what he does and he enjoys it. Baby, there is no way I’d let you go anywhere near that beast if he showed up, so just forget that plan.”
Fred did a double take and then tilted her head curiously and asked, “Did you just call me baby?”
***
Tipping his tumbler up, he looked at her sparkling eyes through the glass prism as he sipped his second whiskey. Instead of two, there were eight gold-flecked, hazel stars twinkling at him.
“You’re a private investigator? Do you enjoy digging into people’s private lives?” Foregoing her typical tequila shots for a more dignified Cosmo, she brought the martini glass to her lips daintily sipping without having to move her head or her gaze from his.
“Well, that’s not exactly what I do, but I do enjoy it. What about you? What do you do?” His lips raised in one corner, anxious to hear what she thought her life was about.
“I’m complicated. Like a tragic Russian novel.”
“Oh?” This should be interesting. Which one?”
She didn’t miss a beat, her comeback immediate. “You know. The one where the incredibly beautiful, intelligent but stuck up Czarina gets her comeuppance by being deposed by the rebel IRS mob and ends up starving on the streets, eating thrown out finger food, until one day an old acquaintance takes pity on her and sets her back on her path to designer knock-offs by making her an office manager and giving her the freedom to pursue her eventual comeback as a jewel in the Hollywood crown only to discover her dreams of taking revenge through fame and fortune were foolish when her true purpose in life is given to her by a tiny drunken man from the Irish section of Siberia who blesses her with mind-splitting psychic abilities so she can help save the very people who made her life miserable. That one.” She finally took a breath, arched her brow and brought the soothing liquid to her lips.
**Damn she’s got some lungs. I’ll remember that when I’m taking all that breath away.**
He was having the hardest time keeping his lips set into a simple grin. Inside he was laughing so hard he was shaking. “Was there snow?” He sniffed to keep his voice from cracking.
“Only once…in the very beginning.” Her grin traveled ear to ear and her soft, milk chocolate pools danced as they watched him struggle to hold on to his last thread of composure.
“Hmmm. Tolstoy?” The mistake he made here was trying to calm himself by taking another sip of his whiskey.
“No, an obscure author you’ve probably never heard of. Powersthatbesky.”
That was it. He lost it and performed his very first spit-take. Luckily, he was fast enough to turn away to spew the warm liquor toward the bar instead of all over the cause of his embarrassment.
Oh, hell. He’s going to kill me. She bit her lower lip and looked pleadingly at him hoping she could still any anger by her innocent expression.
Instead she was amazed to see his shoulders jiggle and chuckles reverberate in his chest as he apologized to the bartender for his rudeness. Then he turned toward her, still cackling, face actually flushed and eyes sparkling, as he wiped some remaining drops of liquor from his chin and pointlessly swiped at the wet spots on his shirt.
“Remind me never…to drink…while you talk…ever again,” finally getting the words out, albeit haltingly, between chortles.
“You’re going to be awfully thirsty.”
Laughing together now, they languished in each others excited countenances, each attempting to gather oxygen to steady their desire, neither wanting the moment to end.
Instinctively, she took his hand from the counter, still exuberant, saying, “Let’s go. We need to get you out of that wet shirt before you catch your death.”
His eyebrows shot up both at the innuendo and the dead joke. Happily, he let himself be led, slightly tipsy, from the far too crowded room by the only person in the world he wanted to be with. This mysterious creature had warmed him in a way no other had before. He felt light and young and the night was just beginning.
Neither stranger noticed as they exited the young couple, tall dark chocolate and petite white porcelain, entranced in each others arms dancing to their own music. And the young couple was equally clueless as their quarry escaped.
***
Racing to his car like giggling teenagers, they stumbled to a stop at the passenger door. He righted himself in time not to crush her from behind. Spinning her panting body around, he crossed his arms around her back, slipped his hands beneath the slick, loose fabric at her waist so his palms caressed bare skin, and pulled her tight.
Temporarily dazed by his swift move, she soon recognized the feel of his touch and his concrete hard chest pressing against her breasts. He jerked her even closer, her head snapped back, and she heard a growl just before his mouth consumed hers. Caught in mid-breath, his tongue easily snaked between her lips and possessed her, darting and flicking hungrily to taste every morsel.
Weak limbs dragged leaded hands up his broad arms, across tensed shoulders and up his neck to cup his cheeks. Her delicate caresses elicited another lament of pleasure from him as he brought his hips forward searching for even more intimate contact. He heard her feminine groan when his awakening desire pressed against her. Her fingers coursed through his hair pulling on the short strands as her body tensed and began writhing against him.
Desperately needing to breathe, she pulled on the back of his head and yanked her mouth from his. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she hugged him closer. Cheek rubbing cheek, his hands slid up her body until his fingertips rested on the sides of her breasts under her arms.
Puffs of her warm breath passed his ear as did her sighs each time he ground into her. Almost whimpering, she softly instructed, “Put the top up and let’s go.”
There was a moment’s hesitation at her request, but he decided not to question her. Stealing one more hard, wet kiss before letting her go, he opened her door for her and held her hand as she slid in. It only took half a minute to convert the convertible to a sedan, but it seemed like an eternity.
The bench seat dipped and the whole car bounced when his heavy weight settled behind the wheel. The engine roared as he turned to her expectantly.
“Where to? Your place or mine?”
Cat like she slid, closing the gap between them. She rested one arm across the back of his shoulders and the other hand clutched what looked like a credit card in it.
“Neither. The Mondrian.” She showed him the card key before tucking it into his shirt pocket.
Nice touch. No reminders of who we were a few hours ago. Strangers in an equally strange room.
“Drive slowly,” she rasped. “I’ve got things to do before we get there.”
He reluctantly took his eyes from hers and shifted into gear. Whether he was anxious or just lost the feeling in his foot, something caused him to push too hard on the pedal and they lurched forward, peeling from the parking lot into the thankfully empty street.
Keeping his left hand on the wheel, his right was busy grazing and caressing the velvet skin of her back. Her fingers had begun massaging his chest immediately after depositing the card key and had worked his nipples into hard peaks that she tweaked and tugged through the silky fabric.
His eyes darted from the highway to her glistening lips which seemed to get closer every time he looked at her. At the first stop light, he turned and his bottom lip was instantly sucked between hers and then gently nibbled and laved. She murmured against his mouth, “Are these tinted windows?”
He nodded yes and moaned out, “Mmm-huh,” all the while nibbling and licking her in return.
In between kisses and before the light changed, she said, “Roll up your window.”
He fumbled for the handle blindly, never removing his mouth from hers, and closed it quickly. A horn sounded behind them.
“Mmmmm…guess the light’s green,” she whined before the tip of her tongue darted in to play with his.
“Gueth tho,” he lisped, and then reluctantly left her warm mouth to start the journey again.
He kept his eyes on the road while her hand traveled from his chest on a slow southerly descent. Just as she pressed her palm along his hard length, her tongue flitted into his ear.
“Oh, God,” he cried and his fingertips dug into the top of her hip.
He heard a soft snicker, and then she whispered, “I told you so,” before she cupped and massaged him with deeper strokes and ravished his ear and neck with nips and rough tongue lashings.
“This is dangerous.” He wasn’t very convincing saying it while moaning, stroking her back with his palm, and pushing his groin up to meet her strokes.
“Isn’t it?” She couldn’t hide the evil glee from her tone. “I’ll stop if you want me to.”
**I’ll run this car into a wall before I’ll let you stop.**
“No…not….yet…mmmmmm…don’t stop.”
She smiled and took his lobe between her lips and sucked and bit while drawing her palm from between his thighs up the length of his arousal. “Slide down and shift your hips forward a bit.”
He felt liquid in her hands and unable to resist anything she asked. The new position was less constricting and opened him up for what she planned.
Trailing soft, suctioning kisses down his neck to his collarbone, she felt for the button on the waistband and undid it. As she unzipped him, she kissed her way down his chest leaving a wet stream on his shirt.
Removing her arm from around his shoulders she used that hand to slip beneath the layers of fabric and clasp his erection while the fingers of the other weaved through the gap in the front of his boxers.
Another red light stopped the car’s motion. He looked down and watched her guide his tip and then more of his length through the opening in the boxers and the unzipped pants. He felt her fingers below and above the fabric on his shaft, squeezing and stroking. His chest heaved in excitement and anticipation of the feel of her hot, wet mouth on him.
She turned her face toward his and said, “I need to taste you. Can keep your eyes open while I swallow you?”
**Stop talking and start sucking.**
Words were failing him. When she said ‘swallow’ all he could do was mime the motion himself and nod. Then he saw her turn away and lean down. Her hair fell blocking his view of the moment her tongue licked his head and made a wet circle around the ridge.
Tilting his head back, he instinctively closed his eyes and sighed, “Oh, yes.” He bucked up as her mouth finally took him and he began to rock back and forth inside her wet cavern. His hand moved up her back and rough fingers entwined silken, gold streaked locks and held on tight.
Another horn sounded but he wasn’t sure why he was hearing horns. There shouldn’t be horns while she was going down on him.
**Open your eyes, dipshit, and drive. I’ll take care of the mouth fuck.**
Shaking his head clear, he blinked a few times to refocus straight ahead but couldn’t remember how to get the car to go. He was sure it had something to do with action below the waist, but down there was currently occupied with his grinding hips, her thin fingers fondling and squeezing his balls, more of her digits clamped tightly around and gliding up and down his shaft on lubricant provided by her hot, damp lips and tongue. Nothing there that gets the car to go.
The angry drivers behind him sat on their blaring noisemakers again.
**Take your goddamn right foot off the brake and push down on that other pedal right beside it you asshole.**
I knew that.
He finally sent a message to his foot to move, but being fairly uncoordinated, he pressed the pedal in synch with his hip action. The car lurched forward in rocking motions just like his hips. The second jerk caused her to bang her head against the steering wheel and she accidentally bit him just below the rim hard.
“Holy fuck!” His bucking stopped and his foot slammed on the accelerator leaving an angry mob of motorists behind him stuck behind the light that turned red again.
**You said it brother. Man, that felt good. Tell her to do it again.**
She removed her mouth and turned to him meekly. “Um, sorry. Couldn’t help it. And, ouch!” She brought her hand back to the knot forming on her noggin to rub the pain away.
He blinked furiously to stop his eyes from watering. “That’s okay. My fault. Is your head okay?” He tried to help her sooth the sore spot with his free hand.
“Yeah, I think so. Is yours?” She let out a low, involuntary laugh and then bit her lower lip to stop herself from more.
He smiled back because it was funny, but he wanted the mood back. He was aching for her mouth and had yet to feel deep in her throat. “It could be better. Maybe you could help me out.” He gently nudged her toward his member which had lost a little of its conviction without her favors.
Keeping her eyes on his face for the moment, she resumed her stroking, pulling back the foreskin that had slipped up, and let the tip of her tongue bathe the tender area marked by her teeth. She saw his tongue moisten his lips at her touch and felt his growl reverberate through his body.
When he looked down to watch, she circled the tip with her flattened tongue and then guided him into her mouth. His eyes widened as he watched her lips open and close around him, feeling her tongue swirl over his head and then fully press against him as she suctioned him deeper into her.
As he hardened inside her, she had to forego the satisfaction of watching his pleasured expressions to turn her head and position her mouth directly over his penis. Pinning his hips down with the weight of her body, she held him steady as her mouth pistoned up and down in time with her hand’s grip.
The fingers next to his skin skittered between cuddling his balls, scraping fingernails over them and up his shaft, and encircling the base and pumping with the other hand.
His hand became restless as his body tensed. Massaging its way down her neck and across her shoulder, it glided beneath the silk under her arms and found her breast. Cupping her and pinching her puckered nipple between two fingers, he felt her moan vibrate in her throat and tickle his cock.
He mewled in delight and, encouraged, she took him deeper into her throat. Little by little she swallowed him, and each contraction of her throat around his head brought louder and louder groans of approval.
**Yeah, baby. Take it all you hot bitch.**
“God, that’s good. Don’t stop.” He wanted to push. He needed to thrust so badly. The frustration was coming out in the rough way he was kneading her breast and tugging frantically at her nipple. And, the way his head thrashed from side to side to keep from closing his eyes and letting his body just react.
He was either going to kill them both in a fiery crash, have to stop her or find some place to pull over. He chose option three.
She had no idea the dilemma she was creating just by sucking and stroking, moaning and grinding, fondling and squeezing. She knew she must be doing something right because he was like a rock in her mouth and his hand was going wild on her breast. His groans were getting louder and higher pitched by the second and each one made her work him harder and faster and deeper than before.
In an instant he found a dark alley and managed to pull in and brake without slinging either of them across the seat or into the floor. Turning off the motor, he finally was free to enjoy her completely.
His wheel hand fisted in her hair and lightly pushed down to increase the pressure on his shaft. The other freely roamed from her breast over her back and finally plunged beneath her dress and cupped her ass before retracing its journey.
He let his head fall back, closed his eyes and thrust his hips up again and again in rhythm with her oral stimulation. He grunted with each plunge and felt his balls tighten against his body.
**Oh, yeah. Pound it in deep. Make her choke on it.**
“Faster…so close…oh, God…” She stepped up the pace and he matched her strokes with his writhing hips. His hand unconsciously pushed her head down harder and he felt his cock slide in just a little deeper.
The burning in his balls was intense and his cock throbbed on the verge. The muscles in his abdomen and thighs tightened and forced him to drive wildly into her already swollen and bruised mouth.
Feeling he was close, she sucked and swallowed with every last ounce of energy she had left and positioned one hand over his balls and squeezed.
“Oh, shit!
**Tell her. If you don’t tell her…**
Dammit
“Bite me…bite me now!”
Blunt teeth clamped onto his shaft. A feral growl turned into a scream as he exploded into her. Propelled off the seat by his strong thighs, he came hard, jetting cool, thick liquid down her raw throat. His lifted hips remained stiff, but his body trembled while her throat contracted around him as she swallowed, her mouth sucked and siphoned, and her hands pumped all he had to give. When he was spent, he relaxed and sank back onto the seat. His eyes cleared and he looked down to watch her lick and swallow the last drops of his come from his tip and gently stroke and kiss it before resting her head on his thigh and letting out a satisfied sigh.
**About fuckin’ time. Goddamn that was good. Glad to know that big mouth of hers is good for something.**
You got your way, now shut the hell up.
**Don’t play righteous with me. You wanted it.**
Maybe I did, but if you don’t stop bad mouthing her, you know I can stop you.
**What? It was a compliment. She can deep throat with the best of them. I’m counting my demon blessings here, you freak.**
His attention was drawn back to her as she tucked his now flaccid member back in, closing his boxers around him, and zipping and buttoning his trousers. Rough fingertips grazed her back as she gently redressed him and crawled up his chest to taste the tongue that peeked out to greet her.
“Mmmm…you taste wonderful,” she purred as she lapped at his lips.
“Are you okay?” He rubbed the small lump on her scalp while he luxuriated in the taste of himself on her tongue.
“I’m fine.” Teasing his tongue with hers, she snagged his between her lips pulling him in deep. Muffled moans accentuated each savoring stroke.
Ending the fencing match, she settled back in the seat next to him resting her head on his chest, his arm snuggling her close. “I’m learning so much about you. Dumas, hockey, Donna Reed, and now…who knew biting was a good thing?”
If he could blush, he would be beet red. “What can I say? Sometimes it is, sometimes not. I’m complicated.”
“Like a Russian novel?” she joked.
“Not that complicated. More like Irish whiskey. One minute you’re sobbing singing ‘Danny Boy’ and the next you’re ripping someone’s head off for insulting someone who may or may not be your sixth cousin three times removed that you don’t even know.”
“Are you saying I may have to hear you sing “Danny Boy” later, because if I get a choice, I’ll go with the head removal.”
The smile was in her voice. He didn’t have to look while he started the engine to know it was there. “Don’t be hasty. ‘Danny Boy’ can be very moving. Some say my rendition leaves them numb.”
As dark as it was in the alley, he could still make out the pointed arch of her brow as it shot up. “Why don’t you get this car in gear and let’s find out just what it takes to make me numb.”
***
“I can do it! If you’d just move your hands,” ranted the frustrated male.
“You’re doing it all wrong. Just slide it in this way,” instructed the equally impatient female.
“Like I haven’t done this before,” he retorted.
“This takes finesse and patience, both of which you lack,” she chided.
“Fine! Take it. Do what you want with… Ahhh,” he sighed.
“Mmmmmmm….see?” she moaned.
Finally, the pesky card key dilemma was solved and the door opened to their luxury suite. The Mondrian was a beautiful hotel nestled on a small hill on Sunset. Too bad they hadn’t bothered to even notice, especially since it was costing her four months of her savings for one night.
From the moment they left the car with the valet until now, their eyes had only darted away from each other long enough to locate an elevator, punch the right floor button, find the right room and fumble with the key. Now that they were in, they quickly surveyed their surroundings only for the purpose of locating essentials – bed placement and bathroom location.
Once he was satisfied he knew his way around, the need he’d felt to hold her since leaving the car overwhelmed him. He grabbed her arm and pulled her into a strong embrace feverishly consuming her mouth and running his fingers through her hair and down her spine.
His lips made her womb hum and her hands roam to his rear. Strong fingers roughly kneaded his cheeks and dug into his firm flesh to still him. Her quickly warming center massaged him, commanding his incitement with each pressured touch. In mere moments she felt his arousal growing. The slickness of silk against leather inhibited the heated friction they both longed for.
**Get her naked now!**
Forcing himself to leave her mouth to let her breath, he growled in her ear, “Take this dress off before I rip it off.”
“But you’ve got so much more to take off than I do,” she pouted. “You start and I’ll catch up.” Backing away from him, she casually let her palm slide up his hardened length before leaving him to undress. She watched as he undid each button on his shirt and his cuffs slowly, punishing her for her impudence. Using his toes to push at his heels, he scuffed each shoe off.
He brushed past her to sit on the foot of the bed to remove his socks and then stood to unfasten the button on his pants and open the fly. “If you’re not naked by the time this shirt and these pants are off, you will pay the price,” he smirked.
“Ooo, I love a challenge. Bring it on,” she shot back, her mouth smugly curling in confidence.
He reached to remove his shirt and her fingers slipped under the spaghetti straps on her shoulders and slid them off. Before his shirt floated to the floor, the silk slip of a dress skimmed her curves as it effortlessly glided down her body and folded at her feet. She wore nothing underneath.
His eyes widened and, gasping, his face molded into that whipped puppy look. “You cheated.”
“Do you want me naked or do you want to win? Ah, don’t pout. Technically, I still have my shoes on. You can still beat me.”
**Did she really just say that? She does know you’re a vampire, right, or is she taking this stranger bit too far?**
He took the opportunity and removed his pants and boxers in one fluid motion. She stood like a statue, not even trying to remove her shoes.
“Hmm. Guess you win after all.” She walked out of her slides and over her dress until she was close enough to his body for him to feel her radiated heat. “Now what was that about making me pay?”
**I think a spanking is in order. Damn, I wish we had our paddle.**
What about ‘easing into demon sex’ don’t you get? That means no pain.
**I wasn’t talking about spanking her!**
Oh. OH! Still…it might creep her out…maybe later.
Subconsciously, he’d grabbed his engorged staff and was slowly stroking himself as his mind wandered through visions of his demon’s desires. He caught her eyes watching him. Her hungry eyes and darting tongue made his cock throb and brought his mind back to something more to her liking.
Finally, he threatened, “I think you’ll have to suffer through many, many body shattering orgasms before you’ve settled your debt.”
Seeing him handle himself and the thought of quaking by his touch made her juices overflow. Panting, she barely had enough breath to speak. “That’s harsh punishment, but I did lose, so I’ll just have to put up with it.” She leaned in closer, clasping one hand around his pumping fist and caressing his dangling jewels with the other, as she purred, ” And, you know what they say…put up or shut up.”
Removing his hand from beneath hers, he left his cock to her skilled touch. He dragged his huge paws over her rump and down the back of her thighs and facilely lifted her, positioning her soaked mound against his abdomen and nudging her legs to lock around his waist. Her hands grabbed his bulky shoulders as he carried her to the bed and sat on the edge.
Allowing her to rest on his thighs, he pulled her tighter to his body so that her warm, wet folds molded around his erection. The hardness made her shiver and moan sensually as she began to circle her hips against him.
The smell of her arousal, the caress of her silky center, and the sexy sounds coming from her throat made his mouth water and fangs twitch. He needed to put his lips around something and her plump breasts were only inches away. Bringing one hand from her hip, he clutched at one, squeezing and tugging it to his open mouth.
Stretching as wide as he could, his mouth tried to eat her whole, but she was more endowed than even he could handle. Her body instinctively pressed against him, begging him and assisting him in his attempt to consume all of her. He growled hungrily and, like an animal tearing at its feast, fiercely shook his head back and forth working her between strong lips and nipping at her with still dulled teeth.
The torment at her breast and the incessant rubbing of her fleshy curtains against his cock put her senses on overload. Her fingers maniacally worked through his short strands and scraped viciously at his scalp as her back arched and her hips rocked. The passion of his mouth and desperation in his vocalizations sent worms of heat slithering to her still empty cavern.
“Me or my finger?” His urgent rasp broke through the haze overtaking her mind. A few uttered words and then his tongue was fluttering over her other nipple sending chills down her spine.
“Both,” she implored. “Soon!”
Suddenly his strong hands grasped her thighs and she was floating over his lurching member. Kissing frantically up her neck and to her ear, he couldn’t resist weaving his tongue into the dark shell before whispering, “Take me.”
Holding him still, she guided his tip to her entrance. Her glassy flesh licked him like a hot tongue on ice cream and melted his strength. He lowered her gently and felt himself push past the strong muscles of her opening and then her warm silk began to engulf him. Their voices rose in one long sigh as he lessened his support and allowed her female wetness to drown him.
Her body naturally rocked in a mating rhythm that sang to his animal heart. The siren called one hand to play with the puckered skin between her cheeks, and the other to maneuver between their flailing torsos and help her find release. The moment his finger pressed on the delicate nerves at her apex, she plunged her tongue between famished lips and thrashed his insides as savagely as he was pummeling hers.
Her walls tingled and throbbed with each stroke he gave her. In only moments, the tension in her center was so strong, her heart drumming so quickly, that she became faint from the loss of oxygenated blood rushing to her core’s muscles. Gasping for air, she jerked from his mouth and flung her arms around him, gathering him in a death grip.
He felt fingernails digging and scratching his back and fevered panting in his ear. Upping the rate of his massaging as she increased the fervor of her bucking, he roared as her walls gripped him like a vice and her teeth dug into his shoulder. Then, suddenly, she held still as her muscles compressed his cock even more and her arms and legs squeezed the un-life out of him. Seconds later her head flung back and she screamed, “Oh, God,” as her orgasm rushed through her.
She thrust herself on his shaft as deeply as he would go and kept him there while the spasms ruthlessly pummeled him. As the waves subsided, she writhed on him slowly to milk the sensation as long as she could. When his touch on her clit elicited a whimper instead of pleasure he slowed and then gently slid his hand to her face to cup her cheek.
Licking her parched lips, he waited for her to catch her breath before covering her mouth with an adoring kiss. Softly his lips grazed hers again and again and then he let her head rest on his shoulder. He lifted her limp body and turned around to lay her on the bed. Crawling next to her, his fingertips traced lazy circles over her stomach, in the valley of her breasts and back down to the tender skin of her inner thighs.
She moaned in delight as his loving touches soothed her still twittering nerves. “You do know how to torture a girl.”
**The only one being tortured here is me. Did you happen to notice we have not gotten our rocks off yet, lover boy?**
We did once. There’s plenty more to come.
**Cum being the operative word here. You do not want a frustrated demon on your conscience.**
Yeah, because that would be…no different than any other day. Empty threat, evil one.
Maybe it was because Angelus had distracted him, or maybe it was because of the ‘stranger’ theme of the evening, but as his fingers grazed over the faded but discolored strip on her abdomen, he innocently asked, “What’s this scar from?”
When he didn’t get a pithy reply immediately, he looked at her face and saw a sadness there he wished he could take away.
Dammit. Xander. Rebar. Of course.
“Sorry. You don’t have to tell me.” He went back to concentrating on his brush strokes hoping they would return her to a happier mood.
“S’okay. Long story short: boyfriend cheats with another girl, I fall through rickety stairs in attempted graceful exit, I get impaled on long pointy steel bar. Single and sterile all in one day.” She didn’t mean to blurt that out. Her suddenly moist hazel eyes met startled brown ones.
“Sterile?” He couldn’t believe he didn’t know this especially after the demon impregnation incident. “Why didn’t…”
**I knew it was a mistake to leave that prick alive.**
“Boy, was that not a cool thing to say on a first date! Okay, sorry for spewing that out. Sterile isn’t exactly the right word. Just not able to…you know…complete the process. Too much damage.” A single drop escaped from the corner of her eye and streamed toward her ear. “Hey, I said I was complicated.” She put on the fake smile he recognized as her reply to every after vision concern he raised. He wondered what other terrible truths she was shielding him from.
“I don’t know what to say except I’m sorry.” He brushed the tear away and kissed the offending eye that dared reveal her secret sorrow.
“Don’t be. It’s not your fault. Besides, I’ve had a lot of time to adjust to the idea and I’m okay with it. I’ve got a life that I love, and it’s really not a child friendly one anyway.”
“But, don’t you ever want that to change? Don’t you want more?” As much as he wished for her to have more, he knew in his heart he wanted her to want less. To want him.
“I honestly don’t think I could ever want more than the life I have now. It’s what I’m meant to do except…” She reached down and fondled his balls and flaccid penis. “I do want more of what you promised – I mean threatened – me with.”
His hope was instantly buoyed by her words and her longing for his touch. His hope for a future not spent alone became a bright torch that sent beams of warmth to every part of his being.
God, I love this woman.
**Just figured that out, did ya? I’d be puking about now if I didn’t want to fuck her so bad. Can we get back to it now?**
As crude as it was, the demon had just confessed something that astonished him. The awakening arousal blossoming in her hand was partly due to his demon’s desire for her and partly from the man’s newly admitted love. Desire and love lived in him and both for the same person. He’d never experienced this lack of conflict before.
“What are you grinning at?” she asked as his lips spread across his face to reveal sparkling teeth and twinkling eyes.
“I was just thinking.”
“About what? Or should I be afraid to ask?”
“I was just wondering,” he said as he leaned in to smother her mouth with his and tease her lips apart with his tongue. “Do you want tongue or fingers this time?”
She tasted him and nibbled on his bottom lip while saying, “Mmm…both. What can I say? I’m greedy that way.”
As he trailed kisses down her throat and toward her downy mound, she heard the faint, off-key melody of Danny Boy vibrate against her skin. Her peels of laughter made the journey to her most sacred and tender flesh a bit bumpy, but oh so worth it.