Satisfaction (5 page)

* * * * *

She jumped when Jace’s hands touched her shoulders and began pulling her toward his body. Damn…she hadn’t even felt him come across the room to her. She couldn’t let him trick her into doing this with some soft-spoken words and a gentle touch. This was the rest of her life he was talking about, and none of this sounded sane to her.

“You need to leave. I want you to go.”

“Ashlynn, I know you’re frightened, but don’t send me away. I can’t handle being apart from you. Please, baby.”

“
No
,” she shouted, glaring at Jace as fear began to completely take over her mind. “Leave now.”

His bright blue eyes went a shade dimmer as Jace let go of her shoulders and stepped away from her. “I’m not giving up on you or us. I will get you to accept what we are supposed to have with each other,” he swore before he vanished again right before her eyes.

How could she accept it when she was still having a hard time believing any of this was real? What was she going to do? Once again, she wished she had listened to Krishell’s warning and just left Jace Diamont the hell alone.

Chapter Ten

Five days later
…

“I can’t believe Ashlynn hasn’t come to me,” Jace complained, staring at Devin across the kitchen table. “I mean I laid everything out on the line for her when we had dinner, and nothing has happened since then, and I’m thoroughly pissed. How can she keep running from me like this? I need her; satisfaction is getting harder to fight off. My body knows she’s so close but untouchable.”

“Krishell ran from me too when she realized what she had gotten herself into, but she came back to me, and look at how happy the two of us are now,” his brother pointed out.

“Our two situations aren’t the same at all. Your mate had already accepted you and let you change her the same damn night, but mine is in hiding from me. Don’t you know she isn’t answering her phone and she hasn’t even been to work? She has another choreographer teaching her classes. I should just vanish right into her house and shake some sense into that beautiful head of hers.”

“You know you can’t force her into accepting you, but you can give Ashlynn what she wants.”

Leaning across the table, Jace glared at his brother. “You can’t be talking about what I think you are. It will go against everything a true vampire believes in. We are supposed to honor our mate, not use them just for our sexual pleasure. What is wrong with you? Why would you tell me to do that?”

“For you to be almost three hundred years old, you haven’t learned anything in all of those years.” Devin sighed. “Only give Ashlynn a taste of what she wants and then back off at the very last minute. Make her see how it would be each and every day between the two of you when she decides to become your mate and wife. It will dawn on her that love, commitment, and mutual respect mingled with some mind-blowing sex is every single thing she had been looking for in her life.”

“Fuck, little brother. You have really grown a pair over the last hundred years. I never believed you could think of something so brilliant. You’re right. I will give her a little taste of paradise and then walk away. I know her better than she knows herself. She might have spent the last five days in hiding, but I know she’s at the dance studio right now. I’m going to get my woman.”

“I wish you luck,” Devin said.

“I don’t need luck. I’m a Diamont, and I always get what I want, no matter how much Ashlynn might be putting up a fight. I already have half of her heart; all I have to do is grab the rest before she knows whatever happened.”

Chapter Eleven

Music played softly in the background as Ashlynn danced around in front of the wall in her studio. She cancelled the rest of her classes for today and told her new assistant to take the rest of the day off. She needed to unwind, and the best way she knew how was through her dancing. Sweat poured down her body as her high heels clicked against the tile on the floor and her hips swayed to the beat of the melody.

For the past several days, her mind had been filled with thoughts of Jace. She couldn’t get him out of her head. The one kiss they shared on her couch, the pleasure from it was so pure and explosive, nothing like she had ever felt before.

He was a vampire, and she was his mate. How was any of this possible? Was that why her body still ached for the heat of his touch? She was amazed at how she was filled with a sense of completeness any time they were in the same room. She was drawn to a height of passion she had never known before by Jace’s mouth.

Jace didn’t know she had wanted to submit to the burning passion that had captivated her, but she was scared of the unknown. Why couldn’t he have just agreed to give her what they both wanted?

Closing her eyes, Ashlynn allowed the soothing sound of the song take over her limbs, and she tried to push Jace away. He had gotten to her in such a very short period of time, and it wasn’t right. She wasn’t meant to be with someone for the rest of her life.

The thought of being married to anyone for two days scared the shit out of her. So, how in the hell could she accept being with him for eternity? It just wasn’t a part of her makeup.

“You look so beautiful doing that,” a voice said behind her.

Her eyes flew open as Ashlynn twirled around, gasping as she found Jace standing there behind her. She hadn’t expected to see him again since she had been finding ways to avoid him every time he came to visit
her. His blue eyes pierced the distance between them, and she tried to relax as he held her gaze.

“Thank you,” she muttered, wondering what he was going to do next.

“I should apologize for surprising you like this, but I think I should tell you that I have been thinking about what we talked about, and you were right.”

“I was right about what?” Ashlynn asked, not quite understanding what Jace was telling her.

“We shouldn’t try to have a committed relationship with each other. So, if you only want a one-night stand with me, then I’m going to give it to you.”

She was too startled by his suggestion to offer any kind of comment at first. “Are you sure about this?” Ashlynn asked, surprised again by the unpredictable man.

Jace kept walking until he was in front of her. “Sweetheart, if this is what you want, then I’m going to give it to you, because your happiness is the most important thing in the world to me.”

Lowering his head, Jace captured her mouth with his, and the last of her calm was shattered with the hunger of his kisses. Ashlynn kissed him for a few minutes before she placed her hands on his chest and pushed him away.

“Stop, I’m all sweaty from dancing. You don’t want to get covered in it.”

“Ashlynn, you look stunning. A little sweat isn’t going to keep me from kissing you,” Jace said, taking her face into his hands. Reclaiming her lips, he crushed her to his body, and his tongue sent shivers of desire racing through her.

Tired of denying herself the pleasure that she wanted from Jace, she wrapped her arms around his wide shoulders, giving herself freely to the passion of his kiss. She had a burning desire, an aching need for him to do more than this.

“Please…” she whispered against his lips. “Touch me. I want to feel your hands on my body.”

Jace chuckled as he raised his head and gazed into her eyes. “Oh, baby. I’m planning to touch you and do so much more.” After picking her up, he carried her across the dance floor to the table she kept over in the corner where she sat at when she auditioned new dancers.

He laid her down gently on the top before sliding her skirt up past her thighs until the material pooled above her panties. “Damn, you are so beautiful. I could just stand here and stare at you for the rest of the day.”

“Thank you,” she whispered softly.

“Are you wet for me, baby? Did I soak your panties just from my kisses?”

The arrogance in his voice should have upset her, but instead it turned Ashlynn on even more. “Yes…I felt them get soaked the second your tongue touched mine. I
want
you so much. I’m burning up with the need to have your cock buried inside of my pussy.”

“How about I see for myself?” Jace moved his large hand over her flat stomach, placing it against silk underwear. “Oh, darling. You are really wet for me. Let me see if I can make you even wetter than you already are.” He leaned over her body, pressing his mouth against the side of her ear. “Do you like how this feels?” His thumb brushed over the moist impression in the center of her panties. “I think that you do. I know that I love how good you smell right now.”

Ashlynn bit the bottom of her lip, trying to stay in control as her fingers gripped the edge of her desk. She wanted to keep quiet, but his touch was driving her crazy. Why was he teasing her like this? She had thought about this from the first moment she saw Jace standing outside on the sidewalk that one night.

“Sweetheart, I can’t hear you,” he breathed into her ear as his finger eased underneath her underwear, teasing her wet curls. He moved his index finger up and down her wet slit, teasing her cunt more and more. “I need to know if I’m making this beautiful body of yours feel special…good…
hot
.”

Nodding, she moaned a soft yes.

Jace kissed the side of her jaw as she felt one of his thick, long fingers enter so slowly, inch by inch, into her wet pussy. He ran the tip of his tongue down the side of her neck, sending shockwaves of pleasure over her heated skin.

She squirmed against the hard desk underneath her back at the snug fit. It had been so long since a man touched her like this. She almost forgot how much she
loved
it. Foreplay to her was more important than sex, and she was finally going to get it from Jace.

Slowly, Jace grazed his thick thumb over her clit. “I’m glad to hear it, because I want to make you forget any other man has touched you like this. Did any of those boys make you scream?”

“No…never,” Ashlynn whispered, remembering all of the times she was left lying there wanting more from her lousy, selfish lovers.

“Well, I know you will without a doubt get that fulfillment with me,” he bragged as his thumb continued making lazy circles around her stiff clit. “I will have you screaming so loudly that your neighbors will hear you. Damn…baby. All I want to do is rip this flimsy underwear off your body and push my cock inside of you.”

As Jace’s words took over her senses, Ashlynn felt a hot spark of passion race through her like out of control fire she didn’t want to extinguish. She thought she knew what Jace was going to tell her, but she wasn’t prepared for his words.

He was making her shake with need while taking care of her in ways none of her other past lovers thought about doing. He was setting her on fire, and Jace was the only man who would be able to put it out.

“Jace,” she whimpered. “Stop teasing me.” Ashlynn didn’t care if she was practically begging him to take her on the desk she used for work. She wanted to feel him inside of her desperately.

“Baby, I’m so hard right now that I can barely think straight. Do you know that I want to do more than fuck you? I want…no need to take my time with you. A vampire always makes sure his mate knows how cherished she is when they are making love.”

“I want to be cherished,” Ashlynn admitted, getting lost in the sensations he was creating in her body.

His fingers started thrusting in and out of her while Jace used his thumb, massaging it over her clit until Ashlynn gasped as her nipples hardened inside of her bra. She was unable to ever recall a man making her feel so sexy…so wanted…
so desired
with only his touch.

Jace nibbled at the side of her neck as he worked another finger inside of her; it was almost too much for her to handle at one time. It had her wondering, if his fingers felt like this, then what in the hell would his cock feel like buried deep in her?

“Spread your legs wider for me, sweetheart,” he whispered against her skin. “Let’s get rid of your underwear.”

Ashlynn moaned softly as Jace used his free hand and slid the black fabric down her legs, leaving her panties to dangle off her right ankle.

His gaze raked over Ashlynn’s soft, beautiful figure so open to him, so perfectly ready for him to love in any way he wanted. Jace watched her every reaction as he withdrew his fingers halfway before easing them back inside of her cunt inch by inch until he thought he was going to lose his mind.

He loved how his woman’s eyes were partially closed and her mouth slightly opened as little mewling sounds came from the back of her throat. Her hips were thrusting back and forth, keeping perfect rhythm with his fingers.

Ashlynn’s perfect face possessed an expression on the brink of utter ecstasy. Her unabashed look made his cock so painfully hard that it was literally straining the zipper of his pants, pushing to be released from its prison.

“Baby, do you want me to take you over that edge you have been searching for?” Jace questioned softly.

“OhmyGod…
y
es
,” Ashlynn screamed as her breathing sped up.

Jace noticed how hard her nipples were straining against the fabric of her shirt, begging him to draw one into his mouth and suck. He wanted them so badly that his entire body ached from just the thought of how they would feel against his tongue.

“Are you ready to give yourself to me fully and completely? Accept me as your man…your mate for the rest of your life?” He knew what he promised Devin he would do, but this was his woman, and he had to at least try one last time.

Moving back from Ashlynn’s tempting form, Jace placed his hand on the zipper of his pants, more than ready to make her his. His blood raced through his veins as his fangs slowly descended from his mouth, the sweet scent of his mate’s arousal filling the air around them.

Her eyes slowly opened as Ashlynn leaned up on her desk. Resting back on her elbows with her legs spread wide and her panties hanging from one foot, his mate looked more than ready to be fucked long and hard.

All he needed was her acceptance, and he would take Ashlynn into a world she had never experienced before with any other human male. Only three little letters, y-e-s, were keeping both of them from going over the brink.

“I can’t think about any of that right now,” Ashlynn said, reaching for him. “All I want now is for you to finish making love to me. We can talk about all of that later.”

A heaviness centered in Jace’s chest as he felt a permanent sorrow about to weigh him down. Ashlynn might not have realized it, but she just made her choice about him loud and clear. She rejected them and anything they would have had together. He ached with an inner pain that he didn’t know was possible. He shook his head regretfully as he took several steps back from her.

“What are you doing?” she demanded. “Why did you stop?”

He swallowed the lump that lingered in his throat before answering. “I thought I could go through with this, but I can’t do it. I just won’t be a fast fuck for you or worse, a one-night stand so you can move on to the next guy,” he said, watching as Ashlynn dropped her gaze. “You denied me, and there’s nothing I can do to change that fact.
Satisfaction
is going to be my fate.”

“Jace, I wasn’t—”

“Stop right there,” he snapped, jumping in, trying to stay calm, but he was fast losing control. “I know how you feel about me, but I thought I could change your mind after you felt how good we fit together. However, I can see now I was wrong.”

Jace turned on his heel and stormed away from Ashlynn, heading for the door. He couldn’t look back, because he wouldn’t be able to leave her a second time…no matter how strong he thought his willpower was. He quickly vanished from the room when he was steps away from the exit sign.