The Dark-Hunters (95 page)

“Who’s Nick?” she asked.

“He’s my personal assistant. He’s on payroll, so anything you need, you just push four and the pound sign and it’ll ring his cell phone.”

Ooo that was neat. “Really? You have a personal assistant?”

“Unbelievable, isn’t it?”

“Well, I have to say you are the first biker I’ve ever met who has a stock portfolio and an assistant.”

He laughed.

“So, what’s ‘red mojo juice’?” she asked. “Some kind of wine?”

He looked
very
uncomfortable. “Something like that.”

There he went again with his secrets. Ugh! The man needed to loosen up a bit. Be more trusting.

She’d definitely have to work on him.

Talon headed for the small kitchen. “I don’t know about you, but I’m kind of wired. I don’t normally go to sleep until a couple of hours after dawn. You hungry?”

She watched him search through his cabinets and pull out a couple of pans. “Not really, but I can make you something if you like.”

He looked up, his face startled by her offer. “Thanks. That’d be nice.”

She took the pan from his hand and set it on the stove. “So what are you in the mood for?”

He licked his lips sinfully as his gaze roamed over her body, making her instantly hot. Needful.

“How about naked Sunshine al dente covered in whipped cream and chocolate?” He brushed the hair back from her neck. “We could even put a cherry on top.”

She laughed at that. “That could be arranged.”

Sunshine moaned as he dipped his head down and nuzzled her neck while he cupped her breasts in his hands.

Her breasts tingled and swelled as desire swept through her, making her instantly wet and throbbing for him.

“Are you always this insatiable?” she asked.

“Only when I see something I want,” he said, moving his hand to cup her between her legs. “And you I want most of all.”

She hissed at how good his fingers felt stroking her through the denim.

Her heart pounding, she looked down to watch his hands as he unfastened her jeans. His long, finely shaped fingers opened her fly, pushing the flaps aside until her lacy white panties showed. He teased her ear with his tongue, his breath hot against her skin, as he dipped his hand under the elastic band and found the center of her body.

Sunshine reeled at the sight of his hand there, of his fingers gently caressing her nether lips. His tanned skin stood out darkly against the white as he slid his fingers inside her.

Groaning, she rubbed herself against him, needing to feel him deep inside her again.

He growled like a ferocious beast before he knelt down behind her and pulled her jeans and panties free.

At his bidding, Sunshine allowed him to remove her shoes and jeans.

He was on his knees and still completely dressed as he turned her to face him and stared at the dark triangle between her legs.

His obsidian gaze met hers and she saw the fire inside him. “Open yourself for me, Sunshine. I want you to invite me in.”

She blushed at what he was asking. She’d never in her life done anything like this and yet she wanted to please him.

Swallowing her inhibitions, she parted her legs and reached down to open her nether lips for him. “I’m all yours, baby.”

He was like a wild, hungry beast as he buried his face between her legs and took her into his mouth.

Sunshine cried out in pleasure. She leaned back against the counter for support. His tongue swirled, then he gently sucked and nibbled. She buried her hands in his soft hair, her body burning at his touch.

Her nipples were so tight they hurt. “Oh yes, Talon, yes,” she breathed, pressing him closer to her.

Talon growled deep and low in his throat as he tasted her. Her feminine scent invaded his head as her graceful hand tugged at his hair.

He ran his tongue over the hard edge of her cleft, sampling and tasting the woman before him. It had been so long since anyone or anything had given him this much pleasure.

But please him she did.

Her passion, her creativity, her quirkiness. All of it was a magnet that drew him against his will.

He licked and teased her. Tasted her. Let her murmurs of pleasure become his and when she came, calling out his name, he swore that he saw stars from it.

Sunshine’s breath came in short, sharp gasps as she looked down to see Talon rising up from the floor. He towered over her, his eyes dark, his face still hungry.

“What is it about you that I can’t resist?” he asked. “Every time I get near you, all I can think of is tasting you.”

He led her hand to his groin where she felt him hard and throbbing for her.

“I don’t know,” she said, her voice ragged as she dipped her hand below his waistband and trailed her fingers through his short, crisp hairs until she could wrap her fingers around his swollen manhood.

He drew his breath in sharply.

“But I feel the same for you,” she said, sinking her hand lower, seeking out his soft sac.

He closed his eyes, his jaw flexing, as she caressed him. She knew she gave him pleasure and yet he acted as if her touch pained him.

She felt strangely vulnerable as she stood there with her lower body exposed while she wore her sweater and bra. Talon was still fully clothed.

It was erotic and disconcerting.

As if sensing her thoughts, Talon removed the rest of her clothes. She was completely naked now.

He was not.

He ran his hands over her, masterfully, tenderly. “Tell me your fantasies, Sunshine. Tell me what you dream about late at night when you’re lying in bed alone.”

She’d never in her life shared such an intimacy and yet before she realized what she was doing, she found herself confiding in him. “I dream of a handsome stranger approaching me.”

He circled behind her. “And?”

“It’s dark and hot. I imagine him standing behind me and pulling me against him. Feeling him take me from behind while I can’t see him at all, I can only feel him.”

Talon moved away from her and turned out the light.

Sunshine shivered in the darkness. “Talon?”

“Shh.” His deep, accented voice seemed to engulf her.

Then she felt his hands on her. Completely blind, she was all sensation as he pulled her back to his front and she realized he’d removed his jacket and shirt. He ran his hands over her breasts, cupping them while he nibbled the back of her neck.

She’d had this fantasy for years, but never before had it been real. Never had she seen her dream man’s face. Tonight, she envisioned Talon. She imagined what his hand looked like as he resumed stroking her between her legs.

She heard him unzip his pants. The heat of his body warmed hers as he whispered to her in a language she didn’t understand. It deepened his voice, made it even more enticing.

Erotic.

Then, he was inside her, hot and hard. She moaned, arching her back, as he sank himself deep into her over and over again.

He buried his hands in her hair while nibbling her shoulders. Her neck.

His touch was hot, scorching.

He bent her forward.

Sunshine gasped as he penetrated her even deeper than before. He thrust himself against her, pounding pleasure into her body with such intensity that she found herself moaning and gasping in time to his movements.

Talon clenched his teeth as he felt her body clutching his. She was so wet and hot, so silky. It was crazy but when he was inside her, he could almost feel his missing soul.

“Come for me, Sunshine,” he whispered in Gaelic, then he remembered that she couldn’t understand him so he offered her the translation.

“Talon.” Her voice was a mixture of pain and pleasure. Of hot, demanding need. She was on the edge of climax.

Seeking to help her reach it, he reached his hand down to her cleft and stroked her in time to his thrusts.

She screamed out almost immediately as she came in his arms. Talon quickly joined her in that place of divine pleasure.

They were both sweaty and panting as he pulled her naked body back against his. He laughed in her ear, grateful that for once he didn’t have to hide his fangs when he smiled.

In the dark, she couldn’t see him.

But he could see her plainly. Her long, black braids were hanging down, trapped between her back and his chest. The scent of them hung thick in the air and she was wet and hot against him.

He carried her to a chair and sat down with her in his lap. They were both still panting and weak.

She leaned back against him, then reached her arm up around his neck to hold him close. He ran his mouth and tongue over her cheek, nibbling her gently.

Sunshine had never before been like this with a man.

Sure, she’d had sex and her ex-husband had been a horny toad, but she’d never wanted anyone the way she wanted Talon.

His body was so warm and hard beneath her, so innately masculine, that she had no desire to ever move again from his lap.

She sighed contentedly.

“Talon, do you do this with every woman you meet?”

“No,” he whispered in her ear. “I don’t, and I’ve never brought a woman out to my cabin before. You’re definitely a special case.”

“You sure?”

“Positive. What about you? Do you go home with every guy you meet?”

She leaned back, wishing she could see his face. “No. I promise you, you’re a special case too.”

He kissed her gently.

They sat like that for a long time, just holding each other, lost in the quiet stillness of the dawn.

Sunshine wasn’t sure what she felt for Talon. There was a part of her that wanted to hold on to him like this forever and another part of her that told her she was an idiot for thinking any such thing about a guy she had just met.

Yeah, he looked great in leather pants and could rock every piece of her body, but at the end of the day would he bother hanging around, or would he be just like every other guy she’d known? Selfish. Possessive.

Judgmental.

She didn’t know for sure.

She wasn’t sure if she wanted to wait around and find out.

Sunshine yawned. It had been a long night, emotionally and physically draining.

Now all she wanted to do was cuddle up to that warm masculine body and sleep.

Talon felt suddenly awkward. Bringing her here had seemed like a good idea at the time, but now that he thought about actually going to bed with her to sleep …

It was an intimacy that he hadn’t experienced since the death of his wife. There were plenty of times he’d had sex with women and afterward they had both drifted off to sleep for a little while, but this was entirely different.

They would actually spend the day together. Sleeping. Their bodies touching …

She yawned again. “I’ll be right back.”

Turning on the light for her, Talon didn’t say anything as she grabbed a T-shirt from her bag and headed to his bathroom.

While she was gone, he listened to her in the other room. He could hear the water running as she washed her face and brushed her teeth.

This felt so strange.

Memories drifted through his head. Memories of a life he’d purposely forgotten.

Memories of a man he’d buried.

He remembered countless nights when he had climbed into bed to wait for his wife as she readied herself for sleep. Nights when he had watched her brush her hair until it gleamed in the firelight and then braided it before she joined him.

Nights of listening to her hum while she sewed before the fire …

He gazed over to his dresser where Sunshine had placed a small cosmetics bag, a pink hairbrush, and a small bottle that probably contained her patchouli oil.

He stared at the dainty items that looked so out of place among his belongings. Items that were feminine and foreign, and that wrung his gut.

How he’d missed sharing his life with someone. Having someone to care for, someone who cared for him.

It was something he hadn’t thought about in a long, long time. Something he hadn’t dared think about.

Now that he thought about it, he had to admit life as a Dark-Hunter did have moments of profound loneliness.

Sunshine came out with her black hair still braided and her legs peeking out from the hem of the shirt. The smile on her face tugged at his warrior’s heart.

Centuries ago, he’d looked forward to battle, knowing that if he survived, he would return to the warm embrace of loving arms. The comfort of a friend.

As a Dark-Hunter the best he could hope for after battle was curling up to the computer or phone and sharing the fight with someone who lived hundreds, if not thousands, of miles away.

That had never bothered him before.

Tonight for some reason, it did.

“You okay?” she asked.

He nodded.

Sunshine wasn’t so sure of his answer. There was a haunted look to his face. “Have you changed your mind about me staying over?”

“No,” he said quickly. “It’s just been a long night.”

She nodded. “Tell me about it.”

She climbed into his bed and pulled the black comforter over her body, then turned out the lamp by the bed.

Talon turned to look at her. She lay on her side, facing the wall. Her head looked small against his king-sized pillow and she looked so tiny and womanly against the blackness of his bed.

Most of all, she looked delectable.

He lay down beside her. Before he could stop himself, he pulled her into his arms, spooning up behind her.

“Mmm,” she breathed sleepily. “I really like it when you do that.”

Pain ripped through him as he closed his eyes and inhaled her unique scent. She felt so incredibly good in his arms.

Nae!
his mind roared. He couldn’t do it. He couldn’t let himself care for her that way.

There could never be anything between them. Tomorrow he would have to let her go back to her life while he returned to his.

That was the way of things.

Kissing her gently on the back of her head, he sighed and forced himself to sleep. He could never have her; she could never be more than a passing whim for him.

Never.

Sunshine lay there for quite some time listening to Talon breathe. There were no words to convey exactly what she felt lying beside this man. It was as if they fit. As if they were meant to be together.