Edge of Passion (24 page)

Aiden carried Leila into one of the bedrooms and laid her on the Queen-sized bed. While he normally preferred a King-sized bed, he didn’t mind this time at all: he was planning on staying very close to her all night, and truth be told, a Full-size would have sufficed.

Tasting her essence and feeling her body give in to a shattering orgasm, had made him even hotter than before. He’d thought watching her touch herself that night had been scorching hot, but being the one to give her that pleasure was even better.

He covered her with his body, bracing himself on his arms and legs to keep his full weight off her. As he brushed a strand of damp hair from her cheek, she lifted her lashes and looked at him.

“Aiden, that was ... wonderful.”

Her eyes glowed and he couldn’t stop gazing into their depth.

“I love tasting you,” he admitted and slanted his lips over hers.

As he pressed gently, her lips parted and her tongue snaked out to meet his. He took the invitation and delved into her, pouring all his desires into this kiss. Beneath him, her legs spread farther, making him slide perfectly into her midst, his cock already poised at her wet pussy.

When he nudged forward, her hands pushed against his shoulders and her lips separated from him.

“Condom,” she whispered.

He shook his head. “Immortals carry no disease.”

“But I’m not on the pill.”

Oddly enough, the fact that she wasn’t using birth control pleased him, even though it didn’t matter: only once bonded to a human could a Cloak Warrior father children. In the meantime his sperm remained sterile.

“You won’t get pregnant.” As soon as he said it, a twinge of regret surged through him. Why did he suddenly wish that his seed would leave something lasting in her, when he’d never had this wish before? This could be nothing more than a fling, an affair that would last no longer than his assignment. To think of it as more was only inviting trouble. Yet at the same time, something in him revolted against the notion of leaving her.

“Are you sure?”

“I’m sure, Leila.”

Gazing into the deep blue of her eyes, he nudged forward, his cock parting her outer lips, her moist heat coating his bulbous head. He clenched his jaw at the tightness of her muscles and slid farther inside.

His heart rate accelerated and all the air left his lungs. Then he felt her legs wrap around his hips, her heels digging into his backside. Knowing he couldn’t hold off any longer, he plunged inside—into pure heaven.

Like a silken glove, she wrapped around him, her interior muscles velvety soft, yet gripping him firmly, her juices making him slide into her as if into liquid heat. His whole body burned from the intensity of the contact with Leila, his pulse beating violently under his skin. As blood raced through his veins, he moved inside her, withdrew, then thrust back in. First slowly, then with more determination.

Underneath him, she responded to his movements, arching her back, undulating her hips to urge him closer and deeper. As if, like him, she couldn’t get enough of this new connection. And it felt like a connection, not just mindless copulating, but a connection of two bodies that seemed perfect for each other. His previous one-night-stands had been frantic fucks without much involvement, simply rides toward completion. This was different. His gaze locked with hers, he looked into her and recognized the desire and passion that burned there, the need for more waiting in the wings. He was unable to tear himself away from the sight and continued to revel in her inner beauty—beauty he could see shining beneath her pretty shell.

The strength he saw there was what made this all the more exciting. For the first time, he shared intimacies with a human whose strength he admired, whose determination he understood. And as her body took him inside her, trusting him not to hurt her, he felt the walls he’d build around himself crumble. As they did, he felt his entire body begin to shimmer in a silvery fog. It engulfed Leila with him.

The moment she seemed to notice this change in him, her eyes widened. “What’s happening?” she gasped.

He brushed his lips against her mouth. “I’m making love to you the Cloak Warrior way.” Something he’d never done before, never felt safe enough with anybody before. “Hold on, baby.”

Allowing his energy to flow freely, the fog intensified, whirling around them like a storm. The room seemed to disappear and only their bodies remained, floating. Sparks of energy lit around them as he continued driving into her, his strokes hard and deep, increasing in speed and intensity as the fog grew thicker.

Sealing her lips with a kiss and intertwining his tongue with hers, he held her tightly, his cock pounding into her soft flesh harder than any human woman could take. Yet he wouldn’t hurt her, because as he made love to her, he shared his energy and strength with her, let her feel the essence of his power so she could taste ultimate ecstasy.

The pressure in his balls built and intensified to a point where he could hold back no longer. As his orgasm claimed him, his seed shot through his cock and into her body. With it, a spear of energy surged into her, the Cloak Warrior’s
virta
, making her body shimmer in a golden light. In the same instant, she screamed out her release, her muscles contracting
around him.

Slowly, they floated back down, the fog around them vanishing, and the room reappearing.

He looked down at her and into her stunned eyes.

“Oh, my God!” she whispered, then looked at her arms, inspecting them. “I’m glowing.” She stared at him, a thousand questions reflecting in her eyes.

“Yes, and you’ll glow for a few hours like that.”

“What did you do to me?” There was no accusation in her voice, only curiosity.

“When a Cloak Warrior makes love the ancient way, his energy flows into his partner. It will stay there for hours after lovemaking.”

“Why?”

“Because of this.” He grinned and shifted, pulling his cock back and then plunging back inside. A gasp was her answer as her eyelids fluttered and shudders went through her sensitive body. “As long as you glow, the slightest touch by me will give you another orgasm. A Cloak Warrior takes care of his woman.”

“I’ll never survive this,” she said in disbelief.

He laughed out loud and threw his head back. “You will, Leila, because while you glow you’re nearly as strong as I am.” He paused and winked mischievously. “And nearly as insatiable.”

“So there is an ulterior motive to this glowing trick. You want to make sure your women don’t get tired of sex.”

“Well, I did mention earlier that I was selfish, did I not?”

She smiled back at him and licked her lips, her pink tongue so enticing that he felt more blood rush to his cock. “What happens when you make a woman glow who’s already insatiable to begin with?”

His heart made a somersault at her seductive remark. “It makes for a very, very wild night. Without sleep, without rest, and without regret.”

Leila batted her eyelashes at him and slid her hand behind his head, pulling him to her. “Then let’s see if I’m really almost as strong as you.”

Before he knew what she was planning to do, she’d flipped him on his back and was on top of him.

He smirked. “Maybe I should have thought twice about making you glow.”

Slowly she began to ride him, moving up and down on his shaft, her muscles squeezing him harder now than before, an effect of the power he’d poured into her.

“Or maybe not,” he conceded and pulled her head to him for a kiss. “Ride me, my beautiful Leila.”

***

Leila felt amazing, free, powerful, and above all fearless. All of a sudden, all her fear had dissipated, dissolved into nothing, into meaningless thoughts that had no place in her body now—a body that felt reenergized and elevated, lifted from its ordinary life to something so different, she had a hard time putting it into words.

When Aiden had come inside of her and her entire body had all of a sudden started to glow, she’d felt an instant surge of power inside her, making her feel as if she could run a marathon and win it. But that wasn’t even the most amazing thing about it. More importantly, she’d suddenly seen a tiny glimpse of his soul, of the vulnerable man inside. It had been so fleeting that she’d dismissed it as impossible. Yet when he’d explained to her that he’d shared his power with her, she’d realized that he must have shared more—even more than he thought he had.

That knowledge wiped out her mistrust in him. And at the same time, it brought forward the guilt about what she was still hiding from him. Even now, as she was on top of him, impaled on his rock-hard cock, the pendant that contained the last copy of her research data hung around her neck. It felt as if it burned there against her flesh, urging her to tell him the truth. To confess.

But at the same time she remembered what he’d said to her earlier, that all her data must be destroyed. For the sake of her parents, she couldn’t let it happen. She had to hold onto the hope that maybe soon he’d understand, that maybe after a night in each other’s arms they would grow closer. Then she could ask him to reconsider, to help her find a way to keep her research alive.

Tomorrow
, she promised herself,
tomorrow I’ll tell him.

Tonight was meant for lovemaking and nothing else. Her body was primed for it, her own desire for him, coupled with his power inside her, making for an intoxicating cocktail of sensations. Sensations she couldn’t and wouldn’t deny herself now. The lust raging in her was too strong to hold back.

“How do you want it?” she whispered against his lips.

“Surprise me.”

Then his hands went to her hips, gripping them. With one forceful move, he slammed her down onto him, driving his cock into her to the hilt, sending another wave of ecstasy through her body.

“And do it soon, or I’ll take over,” he warned between clenched teeth. “Because every time you come while I’m connected to you, you drive me to the edge.”

Taking his hands by the wrists, she pried them off her hips and pinned them next to his head, leaning over him, her breasts dangling close to his face. Slowly, she gyrated her hips, letting his cock slide in and out.

“If you want to come, then you’ll have to do something for it.” She lowered her lids to indicate her breasts.

“Nothing easier than that,” he agreed and lifted his head, wrapping his lips around one nipple.

As he sucked it into his mouth and licked his tongue over it, waves of pleasure rocked through her body once more. Of their own volition, her hips started to move in a rhythm as old as time, and she rode him the way the waves dictated to her. As in an African mating dance, she let her body take over, move in synch with his, giving and taking all at once.

She heard moans fill the room, his and her own, and listened to the sounds of flesh slapping together. The scent of sex permeated the air around them, and the dim bedside lamp created a tableau of light and shadows that danced on their skin.

Beneath her, Aiden sucked greedily at her breasts, licked and tortured her nipples that had long ago turned into hard points so sensitive a light breeze could ignite them. Inside her, an inferno was raging that felt hotter than the fires of hell could possibly be.

And all the while, she rode his marble hard shaft, bringing him to the edge of his release again and again. With each of her orgasms, he screamed out in pure passion, and thrust deeper into her.

“Now,” he urged, his body bathed in sweat. “Give me everything.”

Instinct that could only come from Aiden’s power made her place her hand over his heart as she threw her head back and only concentrated on him and how much she wanted to feel his release.

A sudden warmth flooded her, and she felt it run down her shoulder to her arm, into her elbow and lower still.

Before it could reach her fingertips and connect with his skin, she felt her hand ripped from his chest. She snapped her head toward Aiden, noticing a shocked expression on his face.

A second later, she felt him explode inside her, harder than the first time.

She collapsed onto him and felt his arms wrap around her as his body trembled from the aftershocks of his orgasm.

“How did you know?” he asked, his voice hoarse.

But before she could form a word, darkness claimed her.

TWENTY-EIGHT

Aiden watched the coffee drip into the pot and ran a shaky hand through his tousled hair recalling the events of the previous night. He’d never had a more satisfying sexual encounter than what he’d experienced with Leila, however that wasn’t the focus of his thoughts right now. Rather, he couldn’t get out of his head how she could have known about the Cloak Warriors’ bonding ritual. Only Cloak Warriors and their chosen mates were aware of how it worked. It had never even been written down in their history books. As a matter of protection, it had been left out. Should their history books ever fall into the wrong hands, at least this secret would remain safe.

Because it was a secret that could kill a Cloak Warrior. It could have killed him last night, had he not stopped her in time. A bonding ritual performed between two lovers who didn’t share true love, was fatal for both of them.

It had nearly happened to Hamish the year before. He’d been in love with a human. And she had confessed her undying love to him. But it had all been a lie. The demons had influenced her, making her believe that she truly loved Hamish when in fact, she didn’t. When Hamish had found out shortly before their bonding ritual, he’d been devastated. Aiden had tried to console his friend by reminding him that had he gone through with it he would have died, yet Hamish had only given him an empty stare, professing he would rather be dead than live without her.

Ever since then, Hamish had stayed away from women, and to Aiden’s knowledge hadn’t touched a woman since. He’d lost the woman he’d believed to be his mate, and nobody could help him over the grief.

Nor could anybody explain how the demons had instigated the entire deception and how they could possibly know about the mating ritual and what it would do to a Cloak Warrior if he mated with someone who didn’t truly love him.