Zurlo, Michele - Riley [Daughters of Circe 3] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) Read online

  It would help if he wasn’t naked. She looked around the small room. “Where are your clothes?”

  He chuckled, and the memory of sitting in front of a warm fire, drinking cocoa and chatting companionably came to mind. “Probably where I left them. My jeans don’t exactly fit when I’m in wolf form.” His grin grew and his teal eyes glowed with a predatory light. “What’s wrong, Riley? Are you afraid you can’t control yourself around a naked man? I’m willing, sweetheart, but I’d like to have the bullet out first.”

  Reaching out, she slid the dimmer upward, and the soft, sexy glow turned harsh and real, just like life. She couldn’t say she owed him assistance just because he saved her from the mugger. That one good deed wasn’t enough to erase his list of sins, but she couldn’t stand to see anyone suffer.

  She motioned with her hand. “Turn around and put your hands on the counter. If you move, I’ll shoot you.”

  Soren grunted, but he did as she asked. “You know, a bullet won’t kill me. You could empty that entire clip into me and it wouldn’t do more than piss me off.”

  “I have silver bullets.” She tucked the gun under her arm and bathed the tweezers in rubbing alcohol. “Made for just this occasion.”

  “Silver doesn’t do anything extra to a wolf, Riley. That’s a myth.”

  She knelt behind him. The gun made it awkward, so she set it on the floor next to her knees. “It’s a figure of speech. I coated each bullet with wolfsbane. We both know how deadly that can be.”

  Soren flinched, and she knew she’d hit a nerve. He had used wolfsbane in an attempt to incapacitate his brother, Shade. At the time, Shade had been protecting Torrey from Soren, who wanted to sacrifice her and harvest her powers. The dose had nearly killed Shade.

  Though Torrey didn’t harbor any ill will toward Soren, Riley had a difficult time forgiving the man who kidnapped her and tried to murder her sister. And she absolutely hated that her body heated just from being this close to him.

  “Riley, I couldn’t help it. A compulsion isn’t something I can control. It controls me.” He looked over his shoulder, an appeal in his eyes she found difficult to ignore.

  She dug the tweezers into the wound, which already had begun to close. Perhaps she could have been a little gentler, but she didn’t feel he deserved a light touch. Her aggressive search for the bullet put an end the words coming from Soren’s mouth.

  “That’s just an excuse. Only a weak man lets a compulsion control him.” She dug at him as much as she dug for the bullet. It didn’t take long to find, but it did require a fair amount of tugging before it finally slid out.

  Blood seeped from the wound. Riley grabbed a tissue to dab it away. Soren ripped it from her hand and whirled around. “Don’t touch it.”

  She raised a brow. “I just pulled a bullet out of your ass. I’ve already touched your blood.” To prove her point, she held up her hands. Smears of his blood coated her fingertips. He hadn’t bled much, but she couldn’t very well access the little chunk of metal without touching him, and she didn’t have latex gloves lying around.

  Besides, werewolves didn’t carry disease. She wasn’t worried about contracting anything from Soren.

  Color leached from his face. He grabbed her by the wrists and shoved her hands under the faucet. Turning on only the hot water, he fumbled for the soap.

  Riley watched his face as he scrubbed her hands clean. During the time of her captivity, which he made seem more like a vacation, she had seen flickers of fear and uncertainty in his eyes from time to time. However, they always disappeared quickly. This time, it stayed put.

  “Soren? Are you okay?” This couldn’t have been the first time he’d been injured. A glance at his torso showed several old scars, and he hadn’t exactly been writhing in pain when she’d walked in on him trying to remove the bullet.

  “Ten years.” He snarled the words. “I’ve spent ten years searching for you. The very week I finally find you, I put you in danger.”

  Riley extracted her hands from beneath the flow of water. She had to pull hard because Soren ignored her subtle tugs. She dried them on a towel and reached for the hand cream. He’d scrubbed her skin a little too vigorously. “The mugger was after you?”

  It didn’t make sense. Why would a man who was after Soren attack her? Plus, the man who pushed her against the car wasn’t nearly as large as Soren. Riley had always considered herself a tall woman, but next to Soren’s six-ten frame, her five-nine height seemed tiny and petite. Her attacker hadn’t been much taller, perhaps six feet even. Baiting someone as large and formidable as Soren was akin to a death wish.

  Soren shook his head, the ends of his shaggy mane skating across his shoulders. “He didn’t see me. I cast a charm to make people’s eyes pass over me. You’ve looked directly at me several times in the past few days and you haven’t seen me.”

  A sharp pang thumped on Riley’s chest, but she couldn’t tell if it was fear or sadness. Soren evoked so many complicated emotions in her. She shook her head and left the bathroom.

  In the kitchen, she filled the coffeemaker and set it to percolate. Soren’s hands landed on her shoulders. She didn’t start. It seemed she had already slipped back into the reality of what it was like to share a space with him. His stealthy movements and sudden appearances in a room used to startle her. Now they failed to garner a reaction.

  That was a lie. She did react to Soren. She always reacted to Soren. Before she could stop herself, she had relaxed against his sturdy body. His arms closed around her waist, and she felt safe and comfortable in the way only Soren had ever been able to make her feel.

  “You kidnapped me.” Her accusation came out softly as exhaustion claimed dominance now that the adrenaline of fear disappeared.

  “I’m sorry,” he said, and she knew he meant it. He buried his face in her neck. “I wish things had happened differently, Riley. I’ve done a lot of bad things and I’ve lost everything in my life that ever had meaning.”

  She lifted a hand to hold his head close. “You left Lyton.”

  He nodded without lifting his head. “I couldn’t stay there. Torrey killed the demons that controlled me, but there are more, and they knew where I was. Plus, you weren’t there.”

  She didn’t know how to respond. Logically, she shouldn’t want him. She shouldn’t feel sorry for him and affection shouldn’t be tugging at her heartstrings. “It’s late. I have to go to work in the morning.”

  He turned her in his arms, holding her close so that her body brushed his. Acutely aware of his nudity, Riley did her best to keep her eyes pointed upward. His lips, full and sensual, parted and his nostrils flared. He inhaled her scent, marking her with the untamed predatory gleam in his teal eyes.

  His cock, a feature she had once tried so hard to get out of his pants, branded its heat into her stomach. She had thought him large before, when his member lay soft and flaccid between his legs. He would fit snugly inside her, though it would take some time their first time together for her to grow used to him.

  “I wish to claim you, Riley. I resisted you before because you couldn’t make the decision of your own free will.” His lips hovered an inch away. Warmth from his breath fanned over her lips and chin, and his thumb followed in a smooth caress.

  Faced with the possibility of her longtime illicit fantasy coming true, Riley trembled in his arms. The feel of his arms and the heat from his body combined to make her feel like she had finally found home. “And now I have a choice?”

  Soren nodded. “The only charm I used was the one masking my presence, which was shattered when I discouraged your attacker. The only magic between us is the magic we make when we’re together.”

  “Wow,” she said. She needed something to diffuse the effect he had on her. “That was some smooth line. How long did you work on it?”

  He brushed his lips against hers. She opened to him automatically, seeking to fill a need she resented herself for having. He didn’t take the bait.

  “You m
ake me feel things I thought I’d never feel. Let me show you, Riley. Let me show you what you do to me.” He whispered, but she heard his need and felt it in the insistent throbbing of the artery on his neck where her hand rested.

  A moan mixed with a whimper escaped from deep inside. Feelings and memories crashed in her head and heart. Leaving him, even knowing how he had used and betrayed her, had broken her heart. In the past decade, she had dated enough to know she would never recover. Every man fell short when compared to Soren.

  “Take me to the bedroom,” she said. There was no need to sleep on the sofa with a gun if he was going to be next to her.

  He lifted her, guiding her legs around his waist. His massive erection prodded at her pussy. The thin sweats between them did little to dampen the sensations. She wanted to feel his kiss, but he held himself just out of reach. His eyeteeth had elongated, and she knew his control could snap at any provocation. Never for one second did she fear him. In everything that happened, he had taken precautions to keep her safe from himself and from his pack. However, she knew better than to push him right then.

  The darkness of her bedroom closed around them. Only the streetlight filtering through the blinds lent light. Riley knew Soren could see just fine, but for her, shadows enshrouded everything. He loosened the hold her legs had around his waist and let her slide to the ground. Two tugs had her shirt and sweats in a heap on the floor.

  Soren knelt in front of her.

  “Wait,” she said, placing a hand on his shoulder. He peered up at her. She didn’t need to see his expression to know he lacked patience. “I want to see you, Soren.”

  His thumb swirled a pattern over the panties covering her mound, coaxing more cream from her pussy. “Are you sure about that, Riley? You might not like what you see.”

  She nodded quickly, almost frantic in her need for a visual. “I know what I’ll see. I know how your eyes will change. Your teeth are already different.”

  Fragile light cast a small, soft glow over Soren. He knelt at her feet as if he hadn’t moved, but Riley knew differently. His movements had been too fast for her to see. The faint stirring of a breeze danced across her bare legs, the only clue to betray him. He had turned on her desk lamp.

  He peered up at her, his eyes already ringed with silver. She held his gaze for as long as it took for him to be satisfied with her acceptance.

  Her panties disappeared altogether much too slowly. Soren hooked two fingers under the material covering her hips and planted a hot kiss on her mound. The panties remained in place while his kisses moved down. When he reached the damp parts, he inhaled the scent of her arousal. A possessive, satisfied growl sounded low in his throat, vibrating through his lips and the cotton to her swollen clit.

  She gasped and her hips surged forward, but he held her still. This entire night would happen on his terms. Riley whimpered and panted, but she didn’t protest.

  His mouth opened, and he sucked the damp fabric into his mouth, soaking it through. She adjusted her stance, widening her legs to entice him closer. It worked. His tongue plunged between her lips. The wet fabric acted abrasively, rubbing her just right. In seconds, she went over the edge. Cream gushed from her pussy as she cried out and braced her weight on his shoulders.

  Soren sat back on his heels and eased the panties over her hips. With excruciating lassitude, he spread his palms wide to caress her legs as he rid her of that small barrier. His mouth followed, brushing and licking a trail from her inner thighs to her instep.

  Liquid and malleable, Riley held on to his shoulders, the only eye in the storm he created. He eased her backward until her bottom hit the mattress, and then he lifted her, pushing her back until she lay with her legs dangling down. Only then did he finish removing her panties.

  Riley knew being with him this way would change her life, but she never understood how completely worshipped he would make her feel. He kissed his way back up her legs, finding every inch of her skin worthy of attention. By the time he returned to her pussy, another orgasm loomed close. His hot tongue slid through her juices. He lapped faster and faster, swirling around her hole to suck her clit into his mouth. She came again, and he added his fingers.

  “Soren.” His name croaked from between parched lips. She needed to feel him inside her, stretching her tender tissues while her legs wrapped around his hips. “Please.”

  “Soon.” He breathed the promise against the sensitized folds of her pussy. “I want you to be ready for when I take you, honey, because once I start, stopping isn’t an easy option. I’ve waited too long for this.”

  He scissored his fingers, stretching her. Delicious sensations shot through her body, and she thrust against his face. When he pumped a third finger into her, Riley’s hips lifted from the bed. She felt filled and possessed, and she knew this was only the beginning. Part of her anger with Soren stemmed from the fact she felt such a strong connection with him. Even before he kidnapped her and put a charm on her to make her forget she wasn’t with him of her own free will, she had wanted this with him.

  His fingers slipped from her dripping vagina. Tiny whimpers protested the loss. Riley hoped he would move up her body and finally lay claim to her. Instead, she felt his cream-coated fingers circling her back entrance. Before she could decide whether or not she welcomed this kind of intrusion, Soren plunged his lubricated fingers through the tight ring of muscles.

  The burning sensation had her hips shooting from the bed. She wriggled, not to escape, but to ease the intensity of this new kind of fire. The slight edge of pain receded. Surprised, Riley realized she wanted more. “Don’t stop,” she panted. “Oh, Soren, please don’t stop.”

  He latched onto her clit, scraping his teeth across her swollen tissues, and added another finger. Rotating and spreading them apart, he stretched the virgin territory. Riley didn’t quite know how to thrust with this kind of dual stimulation, so she relaxed and let Soren control everything. She came again. This orgasm was smaller, but she needed smaller right then. A larger orgasm would have caused her to pass out, and she didn’t want to miss something for which she’d waited so long.

  The heat from his body faded as he backed away. Riley lifted her head to study him. He’d been naked the entire time he’d been in her house, but this was the first time she allowed herself to look at him the way she wanted.

  Long, powerful legs, sprinkled with light hair, led to hips, a flat stomach, and a broad chest crossed with cords of muscle. Scars marred his skin at random intervals, each one a souvenir from a different altercation. Chunks of blond hair brushed his strong shoulders. Beautiful and harsh, his face had to have once belonged to an angel. Prominent cheekbones underlined teal eyes that held hints of danger.

  And love.

  He loved her. The emotion floored Riley, but she refused to admit loving him, even to herself. Instead, she concentrated on the erection jutting from a nest of pale curls. She reached out and tried to encircle it, but her hand didn’t quite close around it.

  Soren closed his eyes. A low hiss issued from between his lips, and he allowed Riley to guide him closer. She explored his soft skin leisurely, the effects of three orgasms lending a languor to her movements. A thick bead of moisture leaked from the tip. She spread it over the thick head with her fingertip.

  Taking her face between his large palms, he leaned down and kissed her. The musk of her scent lingered on his lips and on his breath, an erotic flavor he thrust into her mouth. One hand drifted down to slide under her bottom. He lifted her, repositioning her diagonally across the bed.

  Riley let her legs fall open, an invitation to her wolf-man. Soren settled between them and held his weight on one elbow. Reaching down, he set the tip of his cock at her entrance.

  “I claim you, Riley Quinn.”

  She opened her mouth to protest the primitive finality of his tone, but he plunged into her, silencing anything she might have said.

  As she expected, being filled by Soren redefined sex. All other experiences fell
away, insignificant and inconsequential. For one moment, she was new and untried. Her eyes widened, and she stared at him.

  Soren met her questing gaze with a steady determination, and she knew he understood what she felt. “Mine,” he growled. He withdrew and buried himself in her again. “Mine.”

  Riley drew her knees up as high as she could, allowing him complete access, and hung on to his shoulders. She rocked her hips to meet his thrusts. The tension coiling deep inside imploded when faced with the inferno he generated. Shock waves rolled through her body, a precursor to a kind of orgasm she’d never before experienced. In the past, the little waves of pleasure had always lapped at her afterward, not before.

  High-pitched squeaks ripped from her throat. She didn’t worry about what she must look like with her wild hair and wild behavior. These things could only appeal to the wolf in him, and she wanted to seduce the wolf as much as the man. Maybe he did claim her, but Riley was no shrinking violet. She claimed him as well.

  The fingers she dug into Soren moved, searching for a more secure grip. They flew over him frantically, unable to find what she needed. At last, he captured her hands. Wrapping one hand around her wrists, he held her hands high above her head. This new position stretched her body and forced her to surrender even more to him.

  She hooked her heels behind his knees and rolled her hips to make sure each thrust pounded against the tight bundles of nerves around her clit. Her body spasmed and shuddered, turning to liquid. Cream gushed from her pussy fast and hard, and she lost the ability to move.

  Soren withdrew from her pussy. It pulsed and pounded harder, seeking the return of his cock. She felt empty without that connection.

  The world turned upside down. Riley protested the altered position. She lacked the strength to raise her head from the mattress. Soren turned her face so that she could breathe. He lifted her hips and bent her knees to raise her ass in the air. If he hadn’t continued to hold her up, she would have flopped to the side.