The Dark-Hunters (86 page)

He lifted her up in his arms, supporting her weight as he deepened his kiss. Effortlessly, his strong hands held her bottom against his hips so that his bulge pressed against her core. She moaned at the intimate contact with leather and man.

Kissing him back as hard as she could, she wrapped her legs around his waist.

She felt his satisfied laugh rumble out of his body. It made his stomach caress her between her legs, his chest brush against hers, enflaming her even more.

Oh, hon, what are you doing?

Sunshine heard her reasonable voice in her head. She hadn’t had a one-night, or in this case one-day, stand since college. The one time she’d done it, she’d felt so sleazy afterward that she had sworn she’d never do it again.

And here she was on the verge of repeating that fiasco.

Good grief, she knew nothing about this man.

Not even his last name.

But for some reason, none of that mattered. The only thing she could focus on was how good he felt as she held him. How wonderful he’d looked in her bed, and the fact that she really liked him. More than she should. More than what made sense.

Right or wrong, she wanted to share her body with him.

No, she
needed
this. It was what she wanted deep down in her heart. And she’d always followed her heart—wherever it led her.

There would be no regrets about this. No second-guessing.

He slid the hem of her dress back, over her thighs. She shivered at the feel of the cool material crawling up her skin, followed by the heat of his hands. He glided his palms up the backs of her thighs until he cupped her bare bottom. He growled in pleasure, the sound deep and primal.

Needful.

“I like the way you feel, little Sunshine,” he breathed against her lips.

Sunshine couldn’t think straight with his large, strong hands on her naked skin. He dipped his head to her neck where his lips burned her. His teeth scraped her skin as he nipped it tenderly.

She was about to comment on how sharp his teeth were when he delivered a hot, shivery lick to her skin.

Her thoughts scattered.

The man was simply too delectable; she couldn’t let him leave without sampling that lean, hard body. She pulled his T-shirt over his head and ran her hands over his chest and tattoo. Oh yeah, she wanted this!

She wanted
him.

Talon gave her a tight-lipped smile as he saw the raw hunger in her dark brown eyes. He was going to savor this woman.

Every last tiny inch of her.

What with her passion and zest for living, he could only imagine how good a lover she would prove.

It had been a long time since he had found a woman who fascinated him. As a Dark-Hunter, he had chosen his lovers randomly, knowing he’d never see them again.

For centuries, he’d contented himself with one-night stands. With wanton women who wanted nothing more from him than the few hours of pleasure he could give them.

He had met them all in the dark of night.

Never in the light of day.

After minimal conversation to placate them, he had screwed them wildly, and in the end, they had gone their separate ways. Most of the time, he hadn’t even bothered asking their names.

But in the back of his mind, he knew something was different today.

Something was different about Sunshine.

He couldn’t count how many centuries had passed since he had last shared a real laugh with a lover.

And this woman made him laugh. She made him crazy.

Best of all, she made him burn.

Sunshine had stumbled into his world and turned it upside down. She’d touched the emotions he’d buried long ago. Made him feel strangely alive again, which for a man who had died fifteen hundred years ago was quite a feat.

She gave him feelings he didn’t understand. He felt like a kid on Christmas morning, overloaded with sights and smells. His senses were overwhelming him with need.

With desire for her.

Licking his lips in anticipation, he ran his hand over her silken thigh, up to her hips. This woman had the finest ass he’d ever caressed. He pushed her dress up to her waist while she locked her ankles behind his back.

His head spun at the feel of her wrapped around him like this. The heat of her inner thighs burned his waist as he felt her wetness against his stomach.

Returning to her lips, he carried her to the bed and laid her down on the mattress. Without breaking his hold, he lay down on top of her and kissed her fully, deeply, as he ground his swollen groin against the part of her he couldn’t wait to bury himself into. He sampled the warmth of her mouth and listened to her moans of pleasure.

Closing his eyes, he inhaled her unique scent and let it wash over him.

Sunshine wanted to weep at how good he felt on top of her. The leather of his pants caressed her intimately as his lips tormented hers. His braids tickled her neck with every movement he made. And his hands felt wickedly wonderful as he ran them over her body, seeking out every part of her.

She almost whimpered in protest when he moved away.

He pulled her dress from her and tossed it to the floor. She felt more than just physically naked in front of him. For some reason she felt spiritually bare as well. It was as if he could see deep inside her somehow, as if he knew things about her no one else knew.

As if they were connected on a level that transcended their physical bonding.

At least she thought so until he returned to lie on top of her. Then her thoughts scattered again and she became one with the moment. It was strange, really, this sensation of him.

Sunshine hissed at how wonderful he tasted. All that lush, tawny skin made prickly by his masculine whiskers. She so loved the taste of a man’s jaw.

No man had ever tasted more perfect.

She brought her hands around his waist, to his fly. His bulge was huge. Pulling back slightly, she watched his face as she opened his pants and touched him for the first time.

He closed his eyes and growled deep in his throat as he rocked himself gently against her hands. Oh, she liked the feel of him there. He was so hard and ready for her.

She laced her fingers through his short curls, moving her hand lower until she could cup the soft heat of him in her palm.

Talon moaned in pleasure. It felt so incredibly good to have her holding him like that. He’d had sex more times than he could count and yet there was something new about this experience.

Something fresh.

She pulled his pants down lower so that she could tuck her toes into them and pull them off. It wasn’t until she frowned that they both remembered he still wore his boots.

“Oops,” she said with a smile.

Talon chuckled, kissed her deeply, then rolled over to remove his boots. She rose up on her knees and leaned her naked body against his bare back, making him tremble from the feel of her breasts against his spine.

“I just love this tattoo,” she said as she slowly traced it down his back with her tongue.

“I love when you do that,” he said, tossing his boots and pants into the corner. He gripped the edge of the bed as she explored his back with her mouth.

“Does it have any special meaning?”

He closed his eyes as she returned to tracing the marks with her tongue. “They’re Celtic symbols for protection, power, and longevity.” Talon clenched his teeth at the irony. His uncle had had no idea what was awaiting his nephew when he had placed those markings on his skin. Just how long his life would be.

She gave one long, warm lick, then pulled back. “I can’t believe your uncle did this. My father had a cow when he saw mine.”

Talon looked at her over his shoulder. “You have a tattoo?”

She wrapped her left leg around his waist and showed him her inner ankle. It was a very small, stylized Celtic sun with the jagged symbol for creativity.

Smiling, he ran his hand over it. “Very nice.”

“Yes, but it hurt for days. I can’t imagine how much worse yours must have been.”

She had no idea. Especially since his had been performed long before the days of sterilized needles and machinery. His uncle had meticulously tapped the design into his body over a three-month period. Some of it had gotten infected and only Nynia’s herbal abilities had spared his life.

“It wasn’t so bad.”

“Ooo,” she said teasingly, wrinkling her nose. “Mr. Tough Guy.”

“Would you rather I say it hurt?”

“It never hurts to admit that you feel pain.”

“Baby,” he said gently. “I don’t feel pain. Ever.”

She looked at him in surprise. “Really? Not even a little?”

He shook his head as he clamped his emotions down. He didn’t dare allow himself to feel the pain of all he’d lost. Even after all these centuries, it would destroy him. “It’s a waste of time and energy. It also drains the mind and makes it weary.”

“But without pain, you can’t have joy. It’s the balance that makes us appreciate the extremes.”

Now that was a deep concept. Very deep, considering they were sitting bare-assed on her bed. “Do you always philosophize while you’re naked with a man?”

She nipped his shoulder impishly with her teeth. “It’s rather hard to find a man who’s willing to do that.”

He dropped his gaze down to her breasts. “I imagine it would be a lot easier if you didn’t look so damned good without your clothes on.”

She moaned as he dipped his head and took one of her breasts into his mouth. She lay back on the bed, drawing him with her.

Talon sighed at the feel of her puckered areola under his tongue. He brushed his hand down the curve of her hip, over her soft thigh, and through the moist tangle of curls until he could touch the part of her he craved the most.

She groaned and shivered as he carefully separated the tender folds until he could tease her cleft.

Oh yeah, he wanted this part of her. Wanted to see her head thrown back against the pillows and hear her scream out loud while she came for him.

Sunshine clutched his head to her breast as she opened her legs wider, giving him access to her body. She ached and throbbed at the feel of his hand stroking her. And when he plunged his fingers inside, she cried out.

Her body burned for his in a most unbelievable way. It was hot and fierce and made her tremble with need. She’d never wanted a man as much as she wanted this one. She wanted to pull him close to her. Closer and closer until they truly melted into one being.

Unable to wait any longer, she reached down between their bodies so that she could guide him deep inside her.

They groaned in unison.

Sunshine arched her back, drawing him in even deeper. He was so hard and hot, so full. She’d never felt anything better than him filling her.

He sat back on his legs and pulled her hips so that he could slide into her, slowly, deeply. It was a rolling rhythm that made her writhe from the intense pleasure of his intimate strokes.

She stared at him as he watched her with a tender look on his face.

“You are beautiful,” he breathed, rolling his hips against hers and thrusting himself even deeper and harder inside her.

“You too,” she said as she clutched at his knees.

His eyes darkened as he watched her and he gave himself over to their union. She’d never had a man make love to her like this. It was as if he were nothing but sex. As if he could feel nothing but her body.

He had such a way with his hips as he slid himself in and out, hard and deep. He teased her with his hands, his fingers stroking her in time to his thrusts. The pleasure of his touch permeated every fiber of her being.

And when she came, the orgasm was so intense that she screamed.

Talon growled at the sound of her ecstasy as her body clutched his. Crying out, she reached up and pulled him down on top of her.

Then, she did the strangest thing of all … she nuzzled his neck and face, raining kisses all over his cheek and shoulder.

Talon froze.

Her arms held him tight against her as she wrapped her entire body around his. The tenderness of her touch and actions pricked him, breaking through the chokehold he kept on his emotions.

It was as if she really cared for him. As if he meant something to her. As if she were making love
with
him.

Only one woman had ever held him like this …

He could barely breathe. For the first time in fifteen hundred years he actually felt as if he were making love to a woman, not just satisfying a primitive urge.

No, this wasn’t meaningless sex.

He
felt
her. Felt connected to her. Felt as if they were something more than strangers with no ties to each other.

Her lips scorched his skin as she continued to nuzzle his neck and thrust herself against him. He held her tight and closed his eyes. His senses and emotions reeled from the pleasure of the moment.

When he came in her arms, he shivered to the core of his battered and weary heart.

He lay there, vulnerable and panicked.

No, he couldn’t have felt that. He couldn’t have felt
her.
It wasn’t possible.

He was mistaken. What they had was sex. Incredibly great sex, but nothing more than that.

Sex.

Simple.

Basic.

Uncomplicated.

And he was going to prove it to himself one way or another …

Sunshine lay in complete satisfied bliss, breathing raggedly, drifting slowly back into herself. That was the most incredible orgasm she’d ever experienced. She couldn’t believe the way he’d felt, the way he’d touched her.

She held his head close to her heart and felt his ragged breath falling against her breast. She cradled him with her entire body and just soaked up the warm masculine weight of him.

Used to men who quickly dosed off after they came, she was completely unprepared when he rolled over onto his back and pulled her to lie across his chest.

“You didn’t think I was through with you, did you?” he asked in her ear.

“Well, yeah.”

He laughed. “Lady Sunshine, I’ve only just started.”

To her delight and awe, he proved those words well over the course of the next few hours.