Talent For Trouble (8 page)

Without speaking, he turned her by the shoulders and patted her butt to get her moving toward the bathroom. She went, as if in a daze. She closed the door and spent more than a few minutes trying to figure out how the odd garment was supposed to be put on. She got it eventually, after a few false starts, and what she saw in the mirror floored her.

The gown was modestly cut, except for the huge swaths cut out all along her right side, where the majority of the crystals sparkled in her skin. The clever drape of shimmersilk covered the strategic points of her nipples and the apex of her thighs, but each and every crystal shard was clearly visible, exposed to the air and the hungry gaze of the man standing behind her in the bathroom.

This time, he hadn’t even knocked on the door before invading her space.

“It shows them all.” She said the first thing that popped into her mind.

“To great advantage.” His eyes sparkled, and the focus of his gaze on her body turned her insides to mush. “You’ll probably start a whole new fashion trend once a few people see you in this.”

“It’s so formfitting, though…”

She was uncomfortable showing this much skin. Darak moved closer, and his warm hands skimmed her midriff, just below her breasts. She didn’t object as he pulled her back against his hard chest. Her eyes were glued to their reflections in the large mirror.

“It’s either this or expose your lovely nipples to every member of the Council. Which would you rather do?” His hand lingered under the exposed curve of her right breast, rubbing over the stones permanently set in her soft flesh. He traced the fine web of shimmersilk that held the dress in place over her hardening nipple.

“Darak.” Her voice was nothing more than a shocked whisper as he let his fingers roam under the gossamer fabric, stroking and touching, pinching and teasing.

“You’re beautiful, Jana. Just let me touch you. That’s all I want. Just to touch you.” His voice was ragged as he turned her in his arms. His tortured gaze said even more than his words. “I dream of that day in your room when you came apart in my arms. I lie in bed at night and stroke myself, thinking of how you looked, how you sounded, how you tasted. I want to taste you again.”

His lips moved toward hers slowly, with great deliberation. She knew he meant to kiss her, but she didn’t turn away. She wanted it, too. She dreamed of him in the dark of night and, sometimes, even during the day. She dreamed of the pleasure he had shown her, knowing she had never felt such fierce passion before and never would again, if not with him.

Darak was the only man she could imagine letting this close to her. She worked daily with Master Toombs, but even that revered gentleman was unsure if she’d be able to have a normal sex life after what she’d been through.

Still, she wanted to try. With Darak. Only with him.

But she was scared.

His kiss started gently but soon escalated. His body bracketed hers, moving her toward the marble vanity table along one wall. She went willingly. So far, he hadn’t done anything she didn’t like. She had to warn him, though. Just in case.

“Darak,” she whispered. “I’m not sure I can—”

He silenced her with his mouth, kissing her deeply enough that she forgot what she was going to say. So deeply, she forgot her own name.

“This is for you, sweet Jana.” His raspy whisper was spoken against her lips as he let go for just a moment, only to hoist her upward to sit on the edge of the vanity. His hard body insinuated itself between her splayed legs, the shimmersilk of the gown flexing and stretching to give him all the room he wanted.

The part along the right side of the gown extended to her waist, allowing easy access. She hadn’t been able to wear anything under the gown, and she gasped as she realized she was naked to his gaze when he dropped to his knees in front of her.

Strong hands pushed the expensive fabric upward and to her left, letting it pool on the vanity at her side. He guided her right leg upward so that her knee bent, making even more room for him. She could feel the heat a blush forming all over her body. There was an underlying heat, as well. A heat generated by Darak’s touch, by his gaze as he examined her folds, by his tongue when he licked his lips.

“I’m going to eat you up, milady. And you’re going to love it. I promise.”

He didn’t give her a chance to respond. His fingers stroked up her bare thighs and combed through the light curls over her mound. Then, they spread her wide, tracing the hidden contours of her pussy, touching places that had never been touched so carefully by a man before. He took exquisite care of her, never grabbing, never being too rough. Nothing about his behavior to this point reminded her of anything that had come before with men.

She could barely think as his finger found a little button of pleasure at the top of her thighs. It was something she’d heard about, but never experienced before Darak. He had a way of pulling responses out of her abused body that made her heart sing and her female parts shudder with pleasure. She felt moisture releasing from that lonely part of her and tried to shut her thighs in embarrassment, but Darak soothed her.

“That’s what I was waiting for.” His voice was rough, his attention focused on her most private place. “You cream so beautifully for me, Jana. I want to taste your heat, your passion. I want to give you more pleasure than you can handle and feel you come apart in my arms.” His gaze sought hers, and she read the truth of his words in his eyes. He wanted to give to her, asking nothing in return. He…cared?...for her on some level that she didn’t understand. Just as she felt something inside her shielded heart for him. Something she didn’t dare examine or name.

He held her gaze as one finger pressed into her core. Slowly…so slowly it made her squirm to get closer. She wanted more of his invasion. More of his possession. Though she’d never wanted any man inside her body before. Not even in this small way.

Darak pressed forward, his finger impaling her with its hard, flexible heat, bringing her a feeling she couldn’t describe.

Then, he crooked his finger.

An explosion went off inside her as he touched some previously unknown hidden nerve endings that lit her up like a skyrocket. She jumped, and his lips widened into the most devilish grin he’d yet given her.

“You like that, don’t you?” He did it again, and she nearly whimpered. “Oh, yes. I can see that you do.” He teased her, beginning to stroke his long finger in and out of her channel, the way made easier by the moisture that continued to flow in small increments. Every third or fourth stroke, he’d add that little rub of his fingertip over the spot that made her squirm.

“Darak!” She was growing increasingly desperate for the release she’d only ever known in his arms. She reached for him, clutching his strong shoulders in silent entreaty.

“Do you want me to kiss you,
dama
?” His use of the honorific drew her gaze back to his. He stilled, waiting for an answer.

What was the question? It took her a moment to focus her scattered wits.

“I want…” What were the words to explain what she wanted more than life at this moment?

“Yes,
dama
? Your wish is my command.” He had the audacity to wink at her.

How could he tease at a time like this? He had his finger up her cunt, her body writhing to his every movement, and the rogue had the nerve to take the time to tease her.

“I want to come, Darak. Please, make me come.”

He withdrew his finger and sat back. She wanted to cry.

“All in good time.”

He stroked her right foot, positioned on the edge of the vanity. How she’d ended up in such an indecorous position, she really had no idea. She tried to move, but he wouldn’t let her.

He rose on his knees to kiss her foot, sucking each toe into his mouth. At first, it seemed a strange thing to do, but the way he held her gaze as he laved the sensitive skin between her toes made her realize there were erogenous places even there, where she least expected them.

Darak kissed his way up her calf to the bend of her knee and then down the other side, over the inside of her thigh. He nibbled and licked, nipped and even bit her gently a time or two, leaving no outward mark. Inwardly, she was on fire.

When he reached the place where her thigh met the rest of her body, he sat back to look again. His fingers returned to her folds, spreading them and rubbing over her clit with slow, steady, repetitive pressure until she was nearing the peak once more.

“Some people call these the nether lips,” Darak mused, shocking her.

His contemplation of her body at such a critical time was maddening. Why did he talk so much? Why didn’t he just let her come already? He really was the worst possible tease. He got her all hot and bothered—a state she had only ever achieved with him—then made her wait.

“I don’t care what it’s called,” she muttered, contemplating ways to murder him in his sleep. He had the nerve to chuckle, which didn’t help her mood.

“Oh, but you should,
dama
.” He moved closer, inhaling her scent. He seemed pleasantly enthralled by his study of her, so she didn’t feel too self-conscious.

“Why?” she felt compelled to ask.

“Because, wherever you have lips, I will always want to kiss them.” So saying, his mouth lowered to her, delivering a kind of kiss she had never imagined. His tongue swirled through her folds, exciting the already engorged nub. He paused there to suck it into his mouth and tease her with his teeth and tongue. Then, he moved lower. His talented tongue delved inside her sheath, stroking as his finger had done, only thicker, hotter and wetter. The combination was enough to make her backside lift from the vanity as her body strained toward him.

His arms went around her, steadying her on her precarious perch. His mouth rode her as her pleasure peaked, riding her body in waves. She cried out as ecstasy hit her. It could have been his name she called, but she wasn’t sure. It didn’t matter. All that mattered was the man between her thighs and the pleasure only he had ever given her.

This climax was more than the one she’d had before. More demanding of her body and soul. More pleasurable than anything she had ever experienced. Longer and deeper than anything she could have imagined. She began to understand how people could seek out this kind of feeling again and again.

She was discovering how sex with one special man could become an addiction that would take a lifetime to fulfill.

“That’s it, baby. Come for me.” Darak had stood, grasping her tightly in his arms as she shuddered and clenched. The main crisis had passed, but her body still rocked with echoes of the pleasure he’d given her.

It was like some kind of tripwire had been cut. Little explosions continued in her body long after his sinful kiss had ended.

“What’s happening to me?” She clung to him, resting her head in the hollow of his neck.

“You’re more than I ever imagined, Jana.” His words sounded like praise. “I’ve heard of this reaction, but never seen it before.”

Her body wouldn’t stop quaking. She needed something more. Something only Darak could give. She just knew it.

“Help me, Darak,” she whispered. She was afraid that, if he left her now, she would never recover from the loss.

“Do you trust me, Jana?” He seemed so earnest. “Do you trust me not to hurt you?”

That didn’t even require thought. “I trust you, Darak. Only you.”

“Thank the stars,” he muttered, moving one hand between them. She didn’t know what he was doing. She didn’t care. Her body needed something to find relief, and he seemed to know what it was. She’d trust him to take care of her as he had since the moment she’d been separated from the collective. He’d been there for her, then. He’d take care of her now. She trusted him.

A moment later, she felt the invasion of what had to be his cock into her core. Shocked, she gasped. He was going to rape her. Just like the others. Damn him.

Her mind said those things, but her body was singing a different tune, she realized after a moment. Darak’s possession wasn’t the hard, uncaring thrust of a man who only sought his own satisfaction. No, Darak’s cock claimed her slowly, with infinite care and patience. And it was a claiming. Not a conquering. The distinction was subtle, but she felt it in her soul.

“You’re so tight, Jana. Are you all right?”

Tears formed in her eyes. No man had ever cared for her comfort. Not like Darak.

And her body welcomed him. Even as he pushed fractionally deeper, her body gushed in welcome of his possession.

“Jana, sweetheart. Tell me if I’m hurting you.” He sounded so desperate she was compelled to answer.

“I’m okay,” she whispered.

He thrust deep within her channel, stopping only when he was fully encased in her straining body. The quaking had grown worse with his claiming, though she felt better with him inside her than she had before.

“Believe me, sweetheart.” He took a moment to comfort her as he rested within her. “I didn’t mean for this to happen. Not this soon.”

She believed him. It might be against her better judgment, but she believed he hadn’t meant to fuck her so soon. Not that he’d ever made a secret of the fact that he wanted to fuck her. He was a rogue, but he was an honest one.

At the moment, she didn’t really care. She just wanted the quaking to stop. She wanted to reach the fulfillment it promised and know finally what sex was all about. She’d never understood the big deal people made of it. Not until Darak.

He’d been her teacher in many things since she was cut off from the collective. He’d be her teacher in this. Heaven knew, there were few men better qualified.

“Are you ready, Jana?” he whispered near her ear. The next thing she knew, her earlobe was in his mouth and little shooting sensations of pleasure were transmitting from her earlobe to her clit, setting off another little chain of explosions inside her body.

“Please, Darak!” She couldn’t take much more. Her every nerve ending was on fire with need. Need for something only Darak could give her. And she needed it now.

He began to move within her tight sheath, stroking in and stroking out in a slow rhythm that drove her wild. His cock was nothing like his finger had been. Or his tongue. This was as it was meant to be. His cock felt right inside her. Like it was made to be part of her. The girth and length of him was a perfect fit, the slight curve hitting that hidden spot over and over as he advanced and retreated.