To Love a Shifter: A Paranormal Romance Boxed Set (140 page)

          He slowly shook his head, his lilac eyes darkening even more. “But they were right. It is not my place to be your companion. You are human. I am not.”

          I looked away. “If that’s your way of not being able to admit to me that you don’t find me desirable---” He moved over me, something hard brushed against my core, and I stopped.

          “Desiring you has never been the problem, woman.”

          I swallowed. “Then…does that mean you want me and like me, but you just don’t think it’s possible for you to…love me?”

          Varthan said flatly, “I do not believe in love.”

          I almost protested, but I remembered Elsine’s words and it made me stop. He was a stubborn man who would never admit his feelings willingly. If I wanted him to stop pretending to be blind about what’s between us, I had to figure out a way to force his hand. That – and make him fall in love with me even more.

          Clearing my throat, feeling my face go red, I said, “I’ve changed my mind.”

          He stiffened and to my confusion, I saw his face whiten completely. “Just like that,
skat
?” he asked hoarsely.

          “Uhh, yes---”

          His hand suddenly gripped my hair and his lips were on mine the next second, ravaging them completely. “Just like that and you will forget about me?” he growled. “You think you will be able to find another man who can make you feel the way I do?” His other hand gripped my breast, squeezing hard, causing my nipple to prick against the cottony fabric of my pajamas.

          His touch was making me disoriented and I had a hard time understanding what he was saying. “Varthan.”

          “I am not someone you can so easily set aside,” Varthan said between clenched teeth just before he tore my pajama top open and threw the fabric away. I gasped.

          Oh my God. What had gotten into him?

          I didn’t have any bra under my pajama top, leaving my breasts completely bare to his eyes. “Varthan---”

          He bent his head and took one nipple into his mouth in answer.

          I nearly jumped off the bed, unable to believe the sheer beauty of the agonizing pleasure of Varthan taking my nipple into his mouth, suckling on it hungrily, its noise only adding to its tormenting delight.

          My hands swept over his shoulders before moving up to his hair and gripping it tightly.

          Varthan moved to my other breast, squeezing and playing with it before he started suckling on my nipple again.

          “Varthan!”

          “I will not let you cast me out of your life. You are mine, woman, and will always be so. I no longer care what you think or say.” He tore the other half of my pajamas away, throwing it on the floor.

I immediately tried to squeeze my legs closed, uncomfortable of being only in my panties and nothing else, but Varthan didn’t let me. His hands were demanding as he pushed my legs wide open. He nuzzled his way down, clamping his hands hard on my thighs to prevent me from wriggling away from his devastating touch.

The closer he got to my most private part, the louder my cries were. I really, really hoped he had soundproofed this room. If I ever learned Pepper could hear me cry out from the other room, I was going to die.

“
Please
.”

He used his teeth to pull my panties down. With one quick strong tear, the panties were ripped apart, the scraps of lace pushed out of the way and then his head was down there, his breath tickling the sensitive skin.

His hands went to the edges of my folds, pulling them wide open, stretching me beyond what I could normally do.

“Varthan-------aaaaaaaaaaah.”

He started licking me, the tip of his tongue beginning at the edge of my clitoris then moving all the way down to where the lines disappeared into the back. He did this repeatedly, his tongue moving faster and more roughly.

I jerked, twisted, and turned. I was near to doing gymnastic routines in an effort to get closer and farther from his hungry tongue. When he lifted his mouth, I started to breathe a little more, only to have his mouth back down again, this time pulling my clitoris into his mouth.

I screamed. It deserved the loudest scream possible, the way he so beautifully tormented that tiny pleasure nub of flesh, and I gave it all I got, my body shuddering with such immense force it made my eyes roll back.

Something inside my body started to spread, liquid heat that had me tensing as I felt myself swelling and reaching out.

“Varthan,” I whimpered.

          Fingers digging into my inner thighs, Varthan responded by sucking hard on my clitoris.

          I screamed as pleasure burst from my core like the most sensual fireworks, and I could only clutch Varthan’s shoulders as I came violently, my body almost thrashing with the force of my climax.

          Before I could catch my breath, Varthan was pushing my thighs wide open, settling himself between my legs. The head of his cock, already slippery wet with pre-cum, nudged against my entrance.

          He started to push.

          “Aaah.” The fullness of him stunned me, and I suddenly lost all strength in my body, allowing my legs to fall flat against the bed and giving Varthan the ease to slide his cock into me more quickly.

          “Ooooh.”

Varthan locked eyes with me just before he thrust all the way in.

          I moaned, feelingly deliciously and completely possessed.

          My arms wrapped around his neck. “Please,” I whispered.

          “Please what?” he growled.

          “Take me.”

          But he still didn’t move.

          “Make me yours.”

          And still he didn’t move, his cock a heavy pulsing weight inside me that promised the most illicit splendors.

          “Deflower me.”

          “
Yes
,” he hissed. “Your virginity is mine, as it was always meant to be and everything of your body will only be mine.”

          I didn’t have a chance to answer. He was already moving, thrusting in and out in a rhythm that had me clenching my teeth as I held on to him with all my might. The pleasure threatened to sweep me away any second but I tried to last as long as I could, knowing that anticipation would make it all the sweeter.

          His thrusts became faster and more forceful, his cock pounding into me over and over like he wanted to drive home the fact that my virginity had always been his to take.

          “More,” I whispered, shameless now with my need. He was so good at this, so, so, so good and I just wanted more. I didn’t think I’d ever stop wanting it.

          A dark smile slashed his lips as I pleaded with him, and he suddenly took hold of my legs. As Varthan pulled almost all the way out, his hands moved further down until he was clasping my ankles. And then he lifted my legs up, my toes pointed, and slammed back into me.

          The new position made his thrust raw, powerful, and deeper, and I screamed. It hurt, but it hurt in a terribly good way and I couldn’t get enough of this.

          His hips slammed back down on me, his cock driving into me further and further until I could fancy him reaching my womb. The force of his thrusts had me screaming, my nails clawing his back wildly because I needed something to channel my frustrations on.

         
More. Please. More. More.
I begged and begged and he thrust harder and harder until I started to see stars.

          Varthan’s hand slipped between us, having no problem finding my clitoris, and he started timing his flicks with the thrusts of his cock. In moments, the stars I saw exploded into a galaxy of devastatingly sensual beauty.

          “
Vaaaaarthan
.” His name was all I could think of as I climaxed.

          Varthan swallowed the rest of my scream, following into the abyss of pleasure not a few seconds after, his huge strong body shuddering on top of me as his cock released his come.

          A few moments passed before Varthan rolled onto his back and brought me with him, settling my heavy limbs on top of his form before drawing the silken covers over us.

          “Still thinking of changing your mind?” he asked.

          “I just did, didn’t I?” I asked sleepily. “I let you deflower me.”

          Silence.

          I forced my brain to work. My eyes flew open. “Varthan…surely…” I shook my head. “Varthan, you didn’t think I had changed my mind about you? About my feelings?” When I had said I was going to change my mind, it was about letting him deflower me, of showing him how much I trusted him not to leave me after and that what we had between us could and would be true love.

          But instead, he thought I was changing my mind about us, that I was going to love another human like all the other previous
skat
did.

          “Varthan,” I whispered. “I’d never leave you.” It was so, so crazy, promising something like that to someone I knew for less than a week. But the words felt right. It was like what Varthan had said. The Goddess chose pairs for a reason. And with Varthan – I felt like I could finally let go, to stop worrying and let someone do things for me instead.

          And though I would never admit it, deep inside I was tired – had long been tired of doing things all alone.

          “I do not think…I will survive if you leave me.”

          Tears struck my eyes at his words. It was not a declaration of love, but it was a start. It was a very good start.

“So…” Elsine swung her huge executive chair around to face us, a pretty smile on her deceptively innocent face. “What can I do for you?” With her so cute and small behind the massive-looking desk, it almost seemed like she was playing make-believe in this office. This place seemed a more suitable fit for the CEO of Google rather than a pagan priestess. But then, who was I to judge? Surely in the thousand years she had lived, she would have gotten some kind of background on interior design?

          “There’s this one request we were hoping to ask of you,” I hedged. It had been almost a week since the last time we had visited Draugar Isle, and things had changed so much since then. Yes, goblins still chased after me, and yes, Varthan still turned into a zombie to get rid of them, but I wasn’t talking about silly unimportant stuff like that. What I was talking about was the fact that Varthan and I made love every chance we could get – and still we couldn’t seem to get enough of each other.

          And, basically, that was what brought us here.

          “I want her to be immortal like us.” That was Varthan, straight to a fault.

          “Ah.” Elsine was doing her best to look surprised, but I was so not buying it. She was still #2 in my list of Persons Not to be Trusted. Ever.

          “I’m afraid I cannot make her into another Draugar.” She paused. “Well, not unless you have her sign up in the army and wait until she dies as a fallen hero---”

          “That will never happen,” Varthan said coolly.

          God, she was really so devious. But…she also made devious sense. I gnawed on my lip. “But Varthan, if that’s one way, I can enlist---”

          Varthan glared me into silence.

          I sighed.

          “There must be another option,” Varthan insisted.

          “Oh, there is, but it’s even more improbable.”

          More improbable than
dying
in a war?

“What is it?” Varthan asked.

          “You must prove your love to each other.”

          Varthan’s jaw hardened.

          My stomach flipped at the words.

          We could have done almost anything and everything
but
that. She might as well have asked for the moon. Oh, darn it. That might even be easier than the reality of Varthan saying those three little words to me.

          “You must be joking,” Varthan snapped.

          I winced.

          Seeing it, Varthan cursed. “No,
skat.
I did not mean it that way.”

          “Uhh, yeah, I know. No offense taken.” Well, not much.

          He was still frowning. “I never want to cause you pain, woman.”

          “You didn’t. I know you didn’t mean anything by it.” His concern was mollifying. He did love me. I was becoming more certain of it every day, with every word he said and everything he did showing me how much he cared.

          I glanced back at Elsine. “How do we prove it?” Varthan was staring at me with narrowed eyes and I was doing my best to ignore him. He might not think we were in love, but I did and I wasn’t going to pass up on this chance to claim immortality with Varthan for anything.

          “Don’t worry, it will be very simple.”

          “Somehow, when you’re the one saying it, I have a hard time believing those words,” I said.

          Elsine gave me a hurt look. “How can you say such things?”

          “Because when you thought of getting me to
prove
my powers, you tossed me in a dungeon with a murderous monster.”

          “But it turned out well, didn’t it?”

          “That’s not the point.”

          “Oh, that’s exactly the point.” Elsine looked at us expectantly. “So…what do you think? You must make a decision about risking it before I can let you know what the test is.”

          Varthan said, “I do not think it’s safe---”

          “We’ll take it,” I cut him off.

          “Dazzle!”

          I resolutely ignored him. “What do we have to do?”

          “Oh, it’s very simple. You will go to every lifetime that he survived with a
skat
and you must make him choose between you and the other skat. If you fail in any of those eight lifetimes, you shall be stuck there forever.”

          Elsine beamed. “See? I told you it would be easy. No goblins involved at all!”

****

“At least it doesn’t involve goblins.” It was weird, finding myself comforting Varthan when normally it was the other way around. But Varthan had been silent all this time that I was beginning to take pity on him.

          Varthan held my hand tightly as he led me out of Elsine’s wing in Draugar Castle. We made our way back to our quarters. Oh yes, we shared a room now. I would have personally thrown a fit if Elsine suddenly pretended they were all traditional here and didn’t allow me to sleep in Varthan’s arms every night.

          “Are you okay?” I finally asked when he was silent for too long.

          “I am furious that she is playing with us---”

          “No, no, she’s not. Or at least I don’t think she’s completely playing with us. There
has
to be a reason why our challenge to gaining the immortal kind of happy-ever-after is like this.”

          “There is
no
reason except for the fact that our priestess is perversely sadistic.”

          I had an urge to cross myself at his words. “Err, Varthan, she is still your priestess so I think you should be careful with your words if you don’t want to be suddenly turned into a mouse or something.”

          “She can try,” Varthan said darkly just as we reached our room. He opened the door, and used now to his ways, I waited for him to check the room for assailants. He gave me the signal that it was safe to enter and I followed him inside. I turned to close the door and I had barely finished locking it when Varthan suddenly pushed me against the door, flattening my front against its surface while he swiftly pushed my skirt out of the way.

          “You can’t always use sex to relieve your anger,” I teased him breathlessly even as I did my best to accommodate him, lifting my legs one at a time so that he could roll my panties off my legs as well.

          “Of course I can, woman. Everything of this body is mine.” He came back up, kissing my neck and when he closed the distance between our bodies, I gasped in surprise, stunned at the fact that his cock had already sprung free from his pants.

          “Varthan---”

          He teased my folds, found it wet, and without warning, he entered me from behind, bending me halfway down as he did. It took me by surprise and as he started to thrust forcefully, I found myself moaning.

          “So…good,” I panted. My mind was blown away at the pleasure his touch generated and how easy it was for him to arouse my body.

          “And do you want more of this?” He whispered the words into my ear.

          I shivered. “Yes,” I gasped. “Oh, please, ye---aaaaah.”

          The sudden rampaging strength of his thrusts pushed me firmly against the door, and somehow the hardness against my nipples just made me more aroused. There was nothing to hold on to but his arms, and I hung on to him as best as I could, my entire body focused on how his cock kept pounding into me.

          He started playing with my clit, and I gasped and arched, shaking my head at him, not wanting to climax so soon.

          Varthan laughed.

          I glared at him even as I could feel my eyes rolling back at the pleasure his cock was giving me. “Varthan, I swear…”

          “Swear what?” He pulled his cock almost completely out.

          I closed my eyes. “I swear that I’ll always wait for you to love me back.”

          “DAZZLE.” He pinched my clit as he shoved his cock back into me, so deeply it was almost like he was tearing me apart in the most beautiful way. I reached an orgasm in that instant and I screamed as ripples of pleasure washed over me, and I could only let out a long and loud whimper as Varthan shouted and came after me, his cock filling me with the heat of his release, his come so abundant some of it trickled down my thighs.

          I felt his lips touching my hair, the gesture so unexpectedly tender it made me open my eyes and turn my head to search his gaze.

          “I was not a good man in my previous lifetimes. I am afraid that…I will cost you your chance at immortality. There must be another way---”

          I shook my head. “We’re a pair, by fate and by choice,” I said softly. “So trust in us.”

          His arms wrapped around me, his lips trailing down to leave soft warm kisses on my back. “Whatever happens, know that you are the only treasure in this life I shall never give up.”

###