Between my thighs, his steely length strained against his pants, igniting a fire in my core that blazed out through my limbs, urging me to rock against him, desperately seeking that friction, that pressure, that sweet release.
With nimble but impatient fingers, he pushed up my borrowed tank top, revealing the black lace bra beneath. My nipples ached for the touch of his mouth, but Darius held back, blowing a cool breath across my skin, his thumbs teasing the bottom curve of my breasts as my skin pebbled with goosebumps.
“Please,” I whispered, burying my face in his silky hair.
Darius moaned softly, palming my breasts with a too-light touch, unleashing a desperate whimper from my lips. At this, he lowered his mouth, tonguing one of my stiff peaks through the bra, soaking the lace. I gripped his shoulders and arched my back, pressing myself against his mouth, desperate for his kiss on my flesh. His bite.
The gentle lick of his tongue turned wicked as he sucked me between his lips, nipping and grazing, and those nimble, dextrous fingers finally slipped inside the waistband of my yoga pants, ghosting over my clit. The damp fabric of my panties felt cool against my skin, and I sighed as a new rush of pleasure coursed through me.
He must’ve sensed the change in me, the desperation, because without warning he slid his hand down the front of my panties, dipping two fingers inside me. I was already so wet for him, so eager for his touch, and I arched my hips in response, urging him closer.
His teeth grazed my nipple again, and he stroked my core, slow at first, then faster, deeper. My head rolled back as the pressure built between my thighs, intensifying with every perfect thrust.
“Let go, Gray,” Darius whispered, and I rocked forward on his hand, my thighs beginning to tremble, heat coiling low in my belly…
“That’s it, love.” Darius palmed my clit, fingers curling inside me, thrusting harder and deeper. “Let me feel you come undone.”
“Darius!” I shattered, my body clenching hard around him, wave after wave of white-hot pleasure washing over me as I rode out every last ripple, every last hot, tingling sensation.
Breathless and dizzy, I finally collapsed against his chest, waiting for the aftershocks to fade as the muffled sounds of the marina filtered through: the horn of an arriving ferry, bells clanging on the boats in the harbor, the mournful cry of a lone seagull out past his bedtime.
When I finally got my bearings again, I looked up into his eyes and smiled, dark and devious. Then, I reached for the button on his pants, eager to feel his hot, hard length inside me.
“What’s this? My little brawler isn’t yet sated?” he asked playfully, eyes darkening with lust as I unzipped his pants. In the steamy cocoon of the car, his voice was thick and seductive, and the intense way he watched me made me feel alive and powerful.
“I don’t know,” I teased, scraping my fingernails over his lean, hard abs, following the thin line of dark hair that led down from his belly button. “But I seem to recall something about repayment of a debt? A settling of our affairs the old-fashioned way?”
I’d meant it as a joke, a nod to our first meeting at the Black Ruby when he’d agreed to keep my magic a secret in exchange for some future favor, but Darius frowned, and something almost wounded flashed in his eyes.
I immediately regretted my words, but before I could apologize, his devilish smile returned, a threat and a promise.
“No, love.” He grabbed my hands, pulling me away from his rock-hard body. “When it comes time to have you in my bed, it will not be a debt collection.” Then, in a voice so fierce and commanding it almost made me come again, “And you willbegfor it.”
I held back another shiver, not doubting his words one bit. It’d only been a few minutes since he’d sent me over the blissful edge, and my body was already begging for it again, urging me to reach for him, to finish what we’d started.
But Darius was already zipping up, the lusty haze clearing from his eyes.
“So,” he said cheerfully. “I’d love to treat you to coffee, but obviously if you’re not keen on that, we could go elsewhere. A drink, perhaps?”
The playful tone and abrupt subject change lent an adorable nervousness to his cool, you-will-beg-for-it demeanor, and I laughed, relived he wasn’t holding a grudge. Incredible chemistry aside, I wasreallystarting to like Darius. As crazy as it sounded given my intense feelings for Ronan, something about the whole thing with Darius just felt… I don’t know. Right. Different, but right.
Having feelings for more than one man was a new and complicated world I wasn’t sure I was ready to enter, but I’d been judging myself so harshly about everything else—my screwed-up magic, the way I’d treated Sophie, all the mistakes I’d made—why not give my heart a break?
Unlike the rest of me, maybe my heart actually knew what it was doing.
“No. I mean, yes,” I said, beaming. “Coffee sounds great. That’s really sweet of you.”
“Sweet?” Darius sighed. “Oh, dear. Don’t letthatget out.”
I touched my thumb to my wrist, tracing the invisible seal of our strange but no longer uncomfortable bond, feeling the last of the adrenaline leak from my limbs. Tonight’s vampire bloodbath would certainly come with consequences, but one thing was certain: I was safe with this man.
“Don’t worry, D,” I whispered, pressing a quick kiss to his cheek. “It’ll be our secret.”
Twenty-Eight
Gray
By day, Luna’s Café served black coffee and bacon-and-egg sandwiches to rough-and-tumble dock workers, and overpriced scones to the tourists chartering whale-watching boats.
