I shrugged as I moved to straddle his lower hips. “I guess you’ll just have to lose them along with your pants.” Reaching down, I unfastened the button on his jeans and pulled down the zipper before he grabbed me. He flipped me onto my back and came to kneel between my bent knees.
“I think that counts as—” he started to say, but I halted the words in his throat by rising up on my elbows and kissing him. I got the point—he wanted me to relax and stop second-guessing myself, but now I was ready to get down to business.
Shifting my weight to my left elbow, I reached up and ran my hand over his chest, loving the feel of his warm, smooth skin lightly laced with dark hairs. I deepened the kiss, tasting him, memorizing him the same way I did every time I made love to this man. I wanted him burned into my brain so there was no getting him out. I wanted him so deeply ingrained in me that I walked around with his scent wrapped through mine. A part of me still longed to have his blood filling my veins, but I refused to feed off him. I wanted Danaus to remain pure and untouched by my kind. He was to remain above the reach of the food chain.
Danaus reached behind me and with one hand unsnapped my bra. He quickly swept the bit of fabric aside so my breasts were free. My nipples brushed against his chest, teasing us both before he finally lowered his head and took one breast into his mouth. My head fell back and a low moan rolled from my throat as the first wave of delicious sensations slipped through me. My knees on either side of his hips tightened, holding him in place.
With my right hand, I slid my palm down his flat stomach and inside the waistband of his boxers. The tips of my fingers teased across the head of his hardened member, causing it to jump at my touch while his hips jerked forward. I tried to slide lower so I could run my hand down his shaft, but Danaus caught me by the hips and held me in place. His mouth switched to the other breast, while his hands started to pull my panties down off my hips.
Reluctantly, he pulled away from me so he could completely pull off my red panties, leaving me lying completely naked before him. The hunter stared at me with dark hungry eyes. Putting his hands on my knees, he spread my legs apart, leaving me vulnerable and aching for his touch. His right hand slid down my knees along my inner thigh to settle between the sweet folds of flesh to touch my clitoris. My hips instantly rose off the mat as I jerked at his touch. His finger easily slid deep inside of me, earning him another moan before he slid it back out again.
“You’re wearing too many clothes,” I choked out when I could think clearly again.
“I guess you should take care of that,” he murmured, sliding his finger inside of me again to erase all thought. His hand left me and I prepared to move when his mouth settled over the same spot his hand had been only a second earlier. His tongue invaded me, pushing me past all rational thought as a part of me hovered on the edge of an orgasm, but I wasn’t willing to give in just yet. I wanted him panting and desperate as well.
Grabbing a fistful of hair, I pulled him up so he was nearly lying on top of me, and then I slammed him down on his back. I quickly climbed on him so I was facing his feet, allowing me to jerk down both his pants and boxers to his knees. He was partially trapped by his clothing, limiting his movement and leaving him at my mercy. I wrapped one hand around his hard penis and raised it up so that I could run my tongue along its long length. Danaus groaned and bucked beneath me, then clenched my hips with both of his hands as I carefully took the entire length of him in my mouth.
He grabbed me and pulled me backward so he could return his tongue to my clit while I sucked on his hard cock. My thoughts swam in a warm pool of pleasure, pulling me back toward the orgasm I had been fighting moments earlier. I was close, but I needed more.
Sensing my physical frustration, Danaus lowered his head and focused on kicking off his shoes. I gave his cock one final suck before letting it go. The hunter jerked off the last of his clothes in one quick motion then pulled me beneath him. He entered me in one thrust, causing me to scream in pleasure.
Foreplay was over. No more teasing. No more taunting or gentle touches. With his hands braced on either side of my head, Danaus pounded deep inside of me while I wrapped my legs around his waist, lifting my hips to meet each of his thrusts. After only a couple of minutes I was crying his name as the orgasm ripped through me like a hurricane pounding the shore. My body gripped him buried deep inside me, squeezing him tighter until he finally exploded as well, wringing a groan of pleasure from him before he finally collapsed on top of me, his body trembling.
We lay together in silence for several minutes with him still deep inside me. I listened to his breathing slowly even out while his heartbeat returned to its normal rhythm. To my surprise, Danaus started chuckling. I looked over at him, raising one eyebrow, but he only motioned toward the wall closest to me. I turned my head to see the private bedroom I used during the daylight hours.
“So close to a comfortable bed, and yet so far away,” he said wearily.
I snorted, looking back over at him. With my hand, I moved some hair from his face so he could see me clearly. “Yeah, but this was more fun.”
“True.”
“Besides, we had yet to properly christen this room,” I teased. To our mutual delight, we discovered that we both had a ravenous sexual appetite, and during the past few months we had taken the time to have sex in most of the rooms of the house as the moment struck us. For some reason, the sparring room had been left out until now. It proved to be far more comfortable than the kitchen, but still not as nice as my bed in my private chamber.
I smiled at him, letting my fingers run down his hard jaw to rest for a second on his chin. “Thank you,” I whispered. Between the sparring match and the sex, he had managed to distract my thoughts and in some strange way restore my confidence. He believed in the decisions that I was making and the direction I was heading. Danaus believed in me.
“We’ll get through this. Nick, Rowe, and all of them. I’m here with you. I’m here to stay,” he said, leaning his head down to press a kiss to my fingers. “I just ask that we use a bed next time. I’m getting too old for this shit.”
Arching my back, I threw back my head and laughed. Danaus laughed as well, letting the sound bounce off the walls and fill the house, holding the darkness at bay.
Eighteen
Anxiety clawed at Rowe. While he had never been particularly talkative during our journey east, he seemed to grow even quieter as we approached the edge of the city of Savannah. This was the Fire Starter’s domain, and during our recent time together, he had made no secret of his animosity for the nightwalker. With her alone lay all his frustration and rage regarding his attempts to free the naturi from our cage. I wondered whether he was truly capable of working with her in an effort to stop Aurora. Did his need to protect and save his own people outweigh his hatred for Mira? Doubt ate at me.
Fully cloaked from the view of humans, we drew in our wings and settled lightly in a small opening that appeared to be a park in the middle of the city. I took a couple steps away from my companion and shook out my wings, giving them one last good stretch before allowing them to completely disintegrate.
When I awoke at sunset, he was already speaking with some of the other animal clan members while eating a quick meal. Rowe and I never spoke of what happened down by the stream, but then, I didn’t know what to say. Had it only been a splinter of time never to be repeated? Had we both suffered a moment of weakness and simply needed the physical closeness of another damaged creature? I didn’t want to consider whether there was something more. Didn’t dare to hope.
But none of that mattered now. I had to get him to Cynnia and focus on the coming war with Aurora. If either of us actually had a future when this was over, we would face those questions then.