Guardian's Joy #3 (28 page)

“Spread your legs,” he ordered.

It wasn’t the order itself that made her
obey. It was the raspy desperation in his voice. He wanted her,
wanted her in a way no man ever had. That sound and the heavy
breathing that followed made her feel powerful and… and…
beautiful.

The feeling might not last, but for this one
moment in time, she was beautiful and powerful and capable of
bringing this breathtaking Guardian to his knees.

She spread her legs as best she could in the
oversized tub and pressed her hands against the tile and glass for
balance. She watched him lean forward and lap the length of her
folds with the flat of his tongue. The feel of it almost lifted her
off her feet. He sat back on his heels and bowed his head as if in
prayer. His shoulders relaxed as the pent up air left his lungs.
And then he kissed her, right below her navel. His hands gripped
her hips and held her tight to his mouth as he worked his way along
her pelvic bones and down the tops of her thighs. His tongue and
lips and teeth were everywhere, leaving searing little marks and
kisses everywhere but where she most wanted them to be.

She threw her head back and thrust her hips
forward, trying to direct his attentions to her hot, needy core.
The water from the shower head above rained over her breasts and
flowed down her body adding to the heat flowing through her from
inside.

When the tip of his tongue finally touched
her swollen nub, she gasped. A flutter of fear passed through her
mind; the old fear that she would disappoint him when she couldn’t
come, but the thought was no more than a shadow in her mind. Her
body was already spiraling higher that she’d ever soared
before.

Chapter
27

Nardo used his thumbs to separate her folds
and plunged his tongue into the liquid honey of Joy. His fingers
danced tiny circles around her swollen clit and her soft moan told
him his pleasure was hers as well. He nibbled and sucked his way
along her folds and delved his tongue into her most secret places.
Her hips began to thrust against his mouth, seeking more and while
his tongue continued its work on her clit, he plunged his finger
into her core. In and out, in and out, he matched the rhythm of her
hips. Another finger joined the first and he reveled in the sound
of the small moans and whimpers that joined the rhythm of his
fingers entering her body.

Her moaning became more pronounced. She was
reaching for something only he could give her. It made him feel
more powerful and alive than any demon fight ever had. He felt her
body tensing, spiraling up and up toward an explosion of body and
soul. His increased the speed and depth of his thrusts, his fingers
rubbing against the inner wall of her feminine channel.

“Please, oh please.” Her plea was the cry of
angels in his ears. He pressed his lips to that sweet nub and
sucked it into his mouth. His tongue touched the tip. Her body
clenched around his fingers so tight, so tight, and she cried
out.

“Oh, Nardo!”

He rose to meet her mouth, swallowing her
cries while her body shuddered against him. She clung to him, and
while he knew it was only a momentary thing, her need for his
support touched him deeply. She was his and the responsibility of
that didn’t weigh him down. It made him stronger. Finally, she
collapsed against him and he reached behind her to turn off the
water.

“Are you okay, baby?”

“Better than okay,” she answered and her face
turned a deep and becoming crimson. “You made me… I thought I
couldn’t… You made me… beautiful.”

“You were always beautiful,” he laughed.

“No, you don’t understand.” She leaned her
forehead against his chest, so she wouldn’t have to see his eyes
when she said the rest. “I’ve never had a man make me feel like you
just did, like he wanted me. Me and not just sex. That’s what made
me feel beautiful.”

“So those other guys didn’t do it for you,
huh?” Nardo puffed out his chest and winked salaciously.

JJ looked up at him and tried to frown.
“You’re going to be insufferable now, aren’t you?”

“Probably.”

Nardo was grinning as he helped her from the
tub and wrapped her in one of the thick oversized towels from the
warming rack. Then he lifted her in his arms and carried her to
bed. Her arms were around his neck and her face was buried in his
chest. She was warm and soft and tender; nothing like the woman who
sparred in the gym or the one who threw herself at the guy with the
gun.

He laid her out on the bed with her head on
the pillow, glad he’d turned down the covers on the way to the
bath. A bottle of wine and two glasses waited on the night
stand.

“Pretty sure of yourself, weren’t you?” She
stretched languorously like the cat that purred contentedly on the
chair in the corner. With other men, she’d always been aware of her
body’s deficiencies, but with Nardo, she didn’t feel the need to
cover or hide.

“I told you I would be here. You didn’t say
no.” He pointed to the platter on the dresser. “Fruit, cheese,
bread? Or I can go heat up some left over supper. Anything you
want.”

“Anything?”

“Anything.”

She held out her arms to him. “Then I want to
finish what you started in the shower. You look like you’re up for
it.” She laughed when Nardo palmed his erection.

“Oh, baby, with you that’s gonna be any time,
all the time. All you have to do is call my name.”

Her laugh was husky with anticipation when he
slid up her body before she finished calling, “Nardo!”

Later, much later, as they lay together sated
and content, JJ thought about the events that brought her to this
House. She tried to attribute it to happy coincidence, but she’d
never been a big believer in coincidence. She eyed the cat, curled
up and sleeping in the chair in the corner. No, her connection to
this House of Guardians, to the Daughters of Man, and to this
wonderful man lying beside her, couldn’t be attributed to an
accident of circumstance.

Her mother claimed to have second sight. JJ
could remember as a little girl, sitting quietly in the corner
watching her mother do readings at the kitchen table. Sometimes she
would use the tarot and sometimes the rune stones. Customers always
left happy and always left money on the snow white tablecloth.

“Never give them the bad stuff, Joy, only the
good. That way they always come back.”

As an adult, JJ saw her mother’s readings as
a harmless con game, but after meeting the women here, she was no
longer sure. Grace sometimes got flashes of those she loved and
Manon claimed to ‘see’ the past. Had her mother seen what the
future held for her daughter? Is that why she tattooed the lilies
onto JJ’s back?

The words flitted through her mind.
This
is who you are.

She shifted to her side and laid her hand
over the skull and lilies on her lover’s chest. With her fingers
spread wide, her hand covered the symbols of his Guardian
commitment; the skull for his willingness to die for the Race and
the tears for the blood he would shed.

She gathered her fingers into a fist as if
she could gather the lilies to her, lightly scraping her nails
along the petals. She smiled at the little ripple of movement in
the muscles beneath the skin. Nardo’s eyes were closed, but she
knew he was awake.

“Nardo?”

A half smile played across his lips. With
eyes still closed, he waved her off, “I know I said you just have
to call my name, baby, but you’ve worn the little fella out. Give
us a minute and we’ll be ready to go.”

JJ used her newly made fist to thump the
chest she was only moments ago caressing. She was laughing and
this, too, was new and wonderful. She’d never had a lover to laugh
with and tease.

“I’m not interested in your ‘little fella’.”
Which in truth, wasn’t little at all.

“Sure could have fooled me.” The half smile
turned into a full grin as Nardo rolled toward her. He slid his
hand over her hip and pulled her to him.

“Stop it,” she said, pushing at his chest
with her hands, “I mean it. I need to talk.”

Nardo sobered immediately, though he didn’t
remove his hand. “I’m listening.”

“We need some ground rules,” she told him.
“You were angry with me for following you.” She put her fingers to
his lips to silence him when he started to speak. “You were trying
to protect me. I get that and a part of me even likes it. But you
almost got yourself killed because you didn’t trust me to take care
of myself.

“The other women, they laugh about their
‘Neanderthals’ and they ignore the orders they find unreasonable. I
get that, too, and it works for them, but when I’m out on the
street with you or anyone else for that matter, I don’t want to
question the motives behind every order I’m given. I shouldn’t have
to. You, all of you, should have enough confidence in my abilities
to trust me fighting by your side.”

Goddess, but she loved this man! She could
see the words trying to burst from his mouth, but he kept his lips
sealed and listened to what she had to say.

“If I expect that kind of trust from the
people around me, I have to prove I’m worthy of it and so far, I
haven’t done that.” Here was the part that was so hard to admit.
“You were right about the panic attacks. They’re dangerous. That’s
not the worst problem, though. This is.” JJ wiggled her fingers and
the crackling blue sparks gathered at the tips. “My power’s become
unreliable. That’s why I had to throw myself at the gunman.” She
looked at her fingers and the sparks died. “Power failure.”

Nardo looked confused. “It worked fine when
you zapped the vamp.”

“It did,” she agreed, “But why? What’s the
difference between you and the vampire?”

“Blood Rage. Beyond that, I have no idea. Why
me?”

“Because I couldn’t zap you either.”

“Ha! Tell that to my leg.” He looked so
outraged, she giggled.

“If I’d zapped you, you wouldn’t have been
able to run me down.” She saw the look of remorse on his face and
knew he was remembering her injuries. “Don’t,” she whispered and
leaned forward for a quick kiss. She continued as if nothing had
happened. “Believe me, I tried to fry your ass, but it just
sputtered. I must have thrown fire instead. It wouldn’t have hit
you at all if you hadn’t moved.”

“Sorry,” he said sarcastically, “Next time
someone is firing at me, I’ll try to stand still.” He rolled to his
back and stared at the ceiling, mulling over what Joy had said.
“What about Otto? Do you think you could zap him?”

“I don’t know.”

“Humans?”

“I don’t know,” she answered, frustrated.
“I’ve only used it on the monsters, the demons. I’ve never had a
reason to use it on anyone else.”

Nardo rolled off the bed, grabbed his shirt
off the floor and headed to the bathroom. “Come on. We’re wasting
time.”

JJ sat on the edge of the bed, looked at the
clock and groaned. The red digits showed 3:52. “I was hoping to get
a little more sleep,” she said in what she hoped was a seductive
voice.

“Sleep later. We need to get down there
before the others are awake. That way we can avoid a lot of
questions.” He came back into the bedroom fully dressed and pulling
his hair back with a wide leather casing. He laughed and ruffled
her hair.

It was an annoying gesture and she swatted at
the offending hand at the same time she reached for her underwear
drawer.

In the bed, she’d felt uninhibited and sexy
in her nakedness. Now, she felt self-conscious and she kept her
head down as she hastily dressed. Her time with Nardo was over, the
romantic spell broken. This hurried dressing and escape before the
rest of the world was awake was too reminiscent of the countless
times, sober and ashamed, she’d fled the scene of a one night
stand.

She pulled a sweatshirt over her head, zipped
up her jeans and, shoeless, headed for the door. Nardo followed her
down the stairs.

“Hey!” he called in a whispered shout. JJ
ignored him. They were at the War Room before he caught her.

“You’d better go change your clothes,” she
suggested. She refused to look at him, afraid she couldn’t mask the
hurt in her eyes. “You wouldn’t want too many questions.”

Nardo looked down at his shirt. He’d changed
before he went to Joy’s room and while it probably wouldn’t hurt to
change again, he didn’t see why anyone would question it. It wasn’t
like he’d dribbled gravy down the front or spilled his beer.

“Questions about what?”

“About where you wasted your time,” JJ
muttered. She gritted her teeth when Nardo started to laugh. “Glad
you find it so amusing.”

“You’re pouting,” he sputtered. “My fierce
warrior woman is pouting.” He wrapped his arms around her
middle.

“I’m not pouting,” she argued and set her
mouth in a straight line. She never pouted. She made fun of women
who did. She wasn’t pouting. She wasn’t. Was she?

Nardo confirmed it. “You are. Now tell me
what’s wrong.”

“I’m not,” she insisted, “And there’s nothing
wrong.”

He pressed a kiss to her neck and spoke with
his lips tickling the spot he’d kissed.

“You are and there is and we will stand here
just like this until you tell me why. I’m bigger and stronger than
you. I can make it happen. Grace will have to vacuum around us. In
a few months, there won’t be room in this hall for you, me, and
Grace with her monster baby bump. Cobwebs will collect in our hair.
Millions of teenagers will go through withdrawal because you’ll
deprive them of the electronic games they depend on. Hope will be
unemployed. You won’t be able to escape if the professor starts
quoting poetry. We’ll eventually starve and where will they keep
us? Canaan already has two bodies in the freezer. It’ll be tragic
for all concerned, but especially for Dov. He’s already obsessed
with our sex life. He’ll grow old and bent watching to see if we’re
doing it in the hall.”