The Dark-Hunters (586 page)

Yet he knew no other way. He’d always paid for every caress and every kindness. Nothing was ever freely given. The only question that ever mattered was, was it worth it?

Would Tory be worth the cost?

He hoped so. He returned the sunglasses to his face. “I’ll be back.”

Tory watched as he left and her heart was heavy for him. What were the secrets that tortured him so? Why did he look so afraid of touching her?

Finishing up her food, she went downstairs to watch him again. Pam and Kim were standing in the front, smiling. She came up behind them and goosed them on the bottom.

Pam goosed her back. “He’s amazing, isn’t he?”

“Yes, he is.” Tory waved as Ash looked at her.

His answer was a sincere yet shy smile that warmed her heart and made her hot all over. The man was so choice …

She stayed there for several songs to watch and listen to Ash. When they started their final song, she went back upstairs so that she could get ready.

*   *   *

Ash frowned as he watched Tory leave from the stage.
Is she all right?
he mouthed to Pam.

Pam nodded reassuringly.

Relieved, he couldn’t wait until the song was done. The instant it was, he slung his Fender over his back, unplugged it, and jumped off the stage.

“You guys have fun,” Pam said to him while Kim giggled. “We’ll see you two later. Tell Tory to call me tomorrow.”

“Will do.” Ash cut through the crowd as he made his way back upstairs.

Justina and Katherine also took their leave with a promise to return in the morning.

Ash closed the outside door and locked it before he opened the one with a scanner. The moment he saw Tory, he froze. Dressed in a sheer black teddy that showed every curve of her body, she was dazzling. She’d brushed her hands through her hair, making it look rumpled.

Making her look delectable.

“Let me go shave real quick.”

She frowned at him. “Shave?”

He ran the backs of his fingers down his jaw, feeling how rough it was. “I don’t want to give you whisker burn.”

Tory was touched by his thoughtfulness. Until he tried to walk into the bathroom with the guitar on his back. He cursed as it caught sideways in the doorway. His face mottled with color from his embarrassment. “Guess I should take this off.” He shrugged it over his head before he leaned it against the wall.

She covered her smile with her hand as she struggled not to laugh. He could be so adorable at times.

While he was in the bathroom, she thumbed through the quick notes she’d made in Tabitha’s book. When he turned the water off, she put the book in the nightstand and tried to pose seductively on the bed.

Ash paused the towel against his chin as he caught sight of Tory on the bed with her legs tucked under her. She was trying to look seductive, but with her glasses on, it was a strange combination of the serious Tory and vixen.

And it made his cock hard. Tossing the towel aside, he dropped his coat in the doorway, then pulled his shirt off over his head.

Tory was stunned by that body and the muscles that rippled with every move. He knelt on the bed and crawled toward her on all fours like some lumbering, hungry predator.

He paused over her as his long black hair fell forward to frame his face. Their bodies weren’t touching, but his swirling silver eyes seared her with heat. The muscles of his arms bulged from supporting his weight as he met her gaze. It was open, honest and at the same time she saw the fear in the back of those eyes and wondered what caused it.

The scent of leather and masculine skin made her instantly wet. He dipped his head down to hers and she shivered as only his lips made contact with hers. Then ever so slowly as he deepened that kiss to one of extreme potency, he lowered himself down on top of her until his weight pressed against her.

Tory sighed at the incredible sensation of his body on hers, of his lean hips resting between her legs. Her heart pounded at the bulge in his pants pressing against the center of her body. There was just so much of him. She reveled in the way he surrounded her with warmth and strength.

She ran her hands over his perfect back, feeling his muscles contract and tense as his mouth plundered hers. Wrapping her body around his, she rolled him over until he was pinned under her.

Ash didn’t move as she pulled back to kiss her way down his chest toward his navel. The sight of her so hungry for him made him ache not just from lust but from some inner part of him that wanted, just once, to have someone really love him. She cupped him through his pants, making him growl in pleasure. Looking up, she smiled at him as she nipped his stomach. Her playfulness was so charming and sweet. So very precious.

He cupped her face in his hands and returned her smile as he sought to burn this memory into his heart so that he’d always have it close.

She moved to take his boots off. He held himself perfectly still as she unzipped his left one and removed it. She tossed his boot to the floor.

She pulled the other boot off and tossed it over her shoulder before she moved toward his pants. Ash sucked his breath in and held it as she reached for his zipper. The sight of her head poised over his fly … It was almost enough to make him come.

She pushed her glasses back up on her nose. Smiling at him, she unbuttoned his pants. Ash waited, his heart pounding as she slowly slid the zipper down to expose him.

Tory bit her lip in satisfaction as she freed him from his pants. The man was completely commando and he was huge. Not that she was surprised. Her earlier encounters with that bulge had given her some idea of its size, but this …

She pulled his pants off and took a minute to just soak in the beauty of his naked body. Tabitha was right, she could be rich if she took pictures of him and posted them online. He was flawless. Absolutely flawless. From his wide shoulders to the narrow hips all the way down those long, muscled legs that were dappled with black hairs.

And she wanted to please every bit of him.

Taking her glasses off, she placed them on the nightstand, then returned to stroke his hardness.

Ash leaned his head back as pleasure assaulted him. He watched through hooded eyes while she studied his cock. Opening her lips, she started to take the tip into her mouth then pulled back and frowned. She tilted her head and opened her lips as if trying to think of the best way to taste him.

She moved toward his cock again, then pulled back … again.

“You’re killing me, Soteria.”

“I’m sorry.” She scurried away from him, and put her glasses back on before she opened the drawer and pulled out a book.

Ash scowled while she thumbed through the pages to a section that had a small makeshift bookmark and notes in the margin. “What are you doing?”

She ran her finger down the notes. “I just want to make sure that I do this right.”

Leaning up on one elbow, he nipped her shoulder then gaped at the graphic drawings of a woman going down on a man. He pulled the book out of her hands and frowned at the title.
“How to Tickle His Pickle?”

She shrugged adorably. “You know I don’t know what I’m doing. I wanted to make sure that I pleased you, too.”

Those words struck a chord so deep inside him that for a solid minute he couldn’t breathe past the swell of emotion he felt for her. “There’s nothing you could do that wouldn’t please me.” He kissed her gently as he dropped the book to the floor. “You don’t need that, Tory.” He took her glasses off and put them away before he returned to her lips. “All you have to do is touch me and I promise you I’m in ecstasy.”

Tory swallowed as he led her hand to his cock and showed her how to stroke him. Wanting to make him happy, she dipped her head down to taste the moisture that was leaking from his tip.

Ash stopped moving the moment her lips closed around his cock. Not wanting to hurt her, he didn’t so much as breathe while she explored him with her mouth. “You have the sweetest tongue,” he growled.

She ran her hands over his thighs until she cupped his sac while she tasted him. Ash was blind from the pleasure of her touch. Unable to stand it, he pulled himself away from her. “I have a lot of control, Tory, but not with you doing that and I want to be inside you too badly to spoil it.”

“Okay.” She leaned to her side and pulled her sheer black panties off. Ash watched as she slid them down those long, graceful legs. His mouth literally watered as his body turned so hard he could drive a nail in with it.

She dropped her panties to the floor before she pulled a condom from the nightstand. “So how do we do this?”

As he unwrapped it and put it on, a thousand different positions played through his mind of how he’d like to take her. And just the thought of being inside her was enough to make him whimper.

But sex always hurt the first time and he was big enough to make it excruciating for her. That was the last thing he wanted.

“First, we have to get your body ready for me.”

“I’m ready.”

He laughed at her eagerness. His body burning, he sank his thumb inside her. She bit her lip and jerked in response. “You are wet.” He dipped his head so that he could tongue her and make her even more slick.

Tory spread her legs wider, wanting to feel as much of him as was possible. “You’re killing me, Acheron.”

“Patience, love, patience.” He slid one long finger deep inside her. She shivered in response as his tongue swirled and teased. That finger was followed by another. He slid his chin against her. “Come for me, Soteria. I want to taste you.”

When he returned to her, she had no choice except to obey. Her orgasm split through her until she was sure she’d die from it. Wave after wave cascaded over her and still he didn’t enter her.

Instead, he rolled her over, onto her stomach. Before she could ask him what he intended, he began massaging her. Not just a regular massage, but one that loosened every muscle in her body.

“I don’t want you to tense,” he explained, his voice thick with his melodic accent.

“Oh, trust me, I’m putty.”

His deep laughter filled her ears before he slid his fingers into her again.

Ash bit his lip as his body ached, wanting inside hers. She was even wetter now. One more orgasm and he’d be able to enter her without too much pain.

Leaning down, he nipped at her buttocks.

Tory yelped at the pleasant pain that was followed by his fingers delving even deeper inside her as Ash moved his mouth to kiss her at the base of her spine. He pushed her sheer gown up to her shoulders with his face while his hands worked magic on her body. Then he moved his hand so that he could rub his cock against her without entering her. She gasped at the sensation while he moved his hands to cup her breasts.

It was more than she could stand. Before she could draw another breath, her body climaxed again.

This time, he drove himself deep inside her body as her orgasm mounted. Tory groaned at the foreign sensation of his body inside hers. The thickness only made her orgasm all the more intense.

She cried out from the blind pleasure of it.

His throat dry, Ash didn’t move as he felt her body clutching his. It took all of his strength not to thrust, but it wasn’t time yet. Her body was still stretching to accommodate him. “Are you all right?”

“Are you kidding?” She slid herself further down his shaft.

He gasped as pleasure almost overrode his control.

“Is this right?”

“Yes,” he breathed, squeezing his eyes tightly shut as his entire body shivered.

She rocked herself against him even harder.

“Stop!” Ash cried.

Tory froze, afraid she’d hurt him. “What’s wrong?”

He pulled out of her and rolled over onto his back to look up at her. He brushed the hair back from her face before he ran the pad of his thumb over her bottom lip. “I want to come while looking at you.”

She kissed him as he pulled her over his body. She straddled his hips while they kissed.

Ash trailed his hand down her back until he touched himself so that he could guide his shaft back inside her. They gasped in unison as she sank herself down on him.

As she did so, her thoughts whispered through his head.
Am I doing this right? I hope he’s not disappointed. Why can’t I do this with my glasses on so that I can see him better? Please don’t be disappointed, Ash.

Those doubts tore through him. Most of all the sincerity of them, the concern for him brought tears to his eyes. “You’re wonderful, Tory. Perfect.”

She paused to squint at him. “Really?”

“Yes,” he breathed, reaching down so that he could stroke her while she rode him slow and easy. His throat tight, her gentleness succeeded in breaking him where the beatings never had.

One small tear slid from the corner of his right eye. Slamming them shut, he surrendered himself to her. Right now, this moment, she owned him in a way no one ever had before.

No, she didn’t own him.

He gave himself to her and for the first time, he understood the difference. He understood what it meant to make love. To share his body with someone not out of obligation or fear, but because it made them closer.

In this one heartbeat, he was hers and she was his.

Tory burned at the sensation of Ash deep inside her. All her life she’d wondered what this would feel like. But her imagination had nothing on this reality. Nothing on the beauty of feeling the restrained strength of Ash lying under her.

He was so hard and fierce and yet so gentle. She wished that she could crawl inside him, or more to the point, that she could wrap herself around him and keep him from harm forever.

If only he’d let her.

Ash cupped her face in his hands and kissed her passionately an instant before he came with a force so strong it rendered him temporarily senseless. Growling, he pulled back to stare in her eyes as he tasted the first real bliss he’d ever known.

And it was followed by a fear so profound that his heart stilled. Now that they were finished, how would she react?

Would she shove him away? Would she cry? Hit him? Curse him?

He held his breath, waiting.