Master of Fate Read online

  She’d touched him a thousand times, but that had been to demonstrate some combat technique. Or maybe as a gesture of friendship -- a squeeze of the shoulder, a pat on the back.

  Did she realize how much those touches had meant to him? How he’d fed them like scraps to his starving, unrequited love?

  Now he could feast.

  Davon groaned and crashed his mouth down on hers again. She leaned into him, warm and solid, one slender hand tracing the muscles of his biceps beneath his T-shirt as the other stroked the indentation of his spine through the cotton. Made him fight the urge to grind his erection against her soft belly.

  Alys closed her teeth on his lower lip in a gentle bite that made him shudder. His fangs ached, and his cock bucked in the confines of his pants. His need felt huge, an aching pit she alone could fill. With her body, her scent. Her wet heat.

  Davon slid his hands into the cool silk of her curls. He fingered one springy coil, pulling it straight. It was surprisingly long.

  She kissed him, slow and hungry, her mouth pressing softly against his. His tongue slid out to trace the line of her lips, tasting her skin, filling his skull with the delicate, smoky scent of Alys.

  Yes, she also smelled like sweat and desperation and grief, and, God help him, Sidhe hallucinogens. It was a good thing he was still wearing that necklace of hers, or he’d be high about now.

  But it’d be worth it, Davon thought as he bent his head to the fragile line of her jaw. His fangs throbbed. He forced himself to concentrate on tracing his fingers around the shell of her ears as he tasted her, pressing deep, then withdrawing, swirling his tongue against hers. His free hand slid down the warm curves of her body to cup the firm flesh of her ass. He almost moaned at her lush warmth.

  Gasping, Alys drew back. When her eyes met his, there was a wild, glittering desperation in their depths. “Make love to me.” The words hung naked in the air.

  Davon smiled. “I thought you’d never ask.”

  She laughed, the sound a little wild as she grabbed his hand and raced for the stairs. He loped in her wake as they took them two at a time, the wrought iron ringing.

  Chapter Four

  Davon was tempted to sweep her into his arms like a bridegroom, but he felt so damned shaky, he feared he’d dump them both on their heads, vampire strength or no.

  Magic swirled around them as they reached the first-floor library. Davon stopped, surprised. The library furniture had either vanished, or she’d transformed the bookshelves, couch, and desk into one enormous bed. Draped in white satin and covered in drifts of rose petals, it looked surprisingly romantic, given her usual hardheaded pragmatism.

  “Come. Here.” Alys’s small, strong hands wrapped in the fabric of his black T-shirt and pulled him closer.

  They kissed again, slower this time, though an undercurrent of desperation still flavored the way she cupped his erect cock through the soft fabric of his pants. Groaning into her mouth, he slid his hands down her body. Found the soft curves of those sweetly tempting breasts under the fabric of her nightgown. Her little nipples felt tight under his stroking fingers. Erect and eager. And oh, so tempting…

  Davon wanted her naked. He ached to see the lush body he knew so well from so much maddening combat practice. He knew the shape of her -- the long legs and slim, muscled arms, the fighter’s balance and grace. And yes, he’d seen her naked more than once, but never in a situation he could enjoy the view. Usually one or the other of them had just come too damned close to dying for him to find the situation erotic.

  So he was Goddamn well entitled to look at her.

  He realized he wasn’t the only one who felt that way when she ripped his shirt right off his back. The cotton tore like tissue paper under her Magekind strength.

  As she dropped the shreds on the floor with a feral grin of triumph, Davon’s brows climbed. “A little impatient?”

  “More like too fucking patient. That’s over tonight.” Alys dropped to her knees before him.

  Davon almost stepped back in shock. While he’d certainly fantasized about Alys taking him in her mouth, he’d never imagined she’d go on her knees to him. Then she demonstrated that being on her knees just put her closer to what she wanted. Grabbing the waistband of his cotton pants, she jerked them down to free his cock. Her eyes dropped to the thick, impatient shaft, throbbing with his heartbeat. Pretty lips curled into a wicked smile. “Mmm. I knew you’d be delicious. And look at that -- you are.” Leaning forward, she grabbed his width in one hand and sucked him in, so deep, so hard, so…

  Jesus! Davon jolted at the astonishing heat and warmth of her wet mouth as she began to suckle in deep, drawing pulls that made his knees go weak. “I want to make love to you, too,” he managed, his voice shaking with the furious lust blazing through his blood.

  Alys released his lengthening cock to flash him a white, toothy smile. “Oh, you’ll get your chance.” Then she angled him up and began to tongue his harp string, licking up and down over the gathered flesh before engulfing him again. As he quivered, her lips encircled his length and tightened, pulling hard.

  He threw his head back, gasping at the ceiling as she rolled her tongue around his shaft. Almost swaying at the intensity of his blazing arousal, Davon looked down at her as she knelt there in that virginal gown with his cock halfway down her throat, one slim hand tugging and working him. He had never seen anything so intensely erotic.

  Dropping his hands to the shoulders of her gown, Davon hooked his thumbs into either side of its lacy neckline. It was his turn to rip. The cotton shredded from top to bottom in his vampire grip, and he dropped the pieces on the floor.

  He drank in the sight of her kneeling there, long and lithe and naked, all slim brown curves in the moonlight pouring in through the library’s stained glass window.

  Alys drew her mouth off his erection with an erotic pop and caught hold of his shaft, angling it upward so she could lick her way up the underside, tongue flickering along the thick veins running from his balls to his cock head. With a feline little purr, she sucked his balls one by one into her mouth. Rolling them back and forth with her tongue, she sent even more rich pleasure raking his spine.

  Breathing hard, he watched her suckle him with slow, intense concentration. It had never even occurred to him that she’d serve him on her knees.

  She doesn’t belong there. Davon reached down and cupped her face in his hands, urging her to meet his eyes. Encouraging that devastating mouth to release him. “Let me,” he managed, his mouth dry, fangs aching. “I want to taste you.”

  “Well, then.” Alys drew back, releasing his captive genitals as she shot him a hot look. “I don’t want to be greedy.”

  Davon picked her up in his arms like a child. It always astonished him how little she weighed, considering how much mass she had in his life.

  She wrapped her legs around him, griping him with those strong thighs, and cupped his face, staring into his eyes. As he lowered them both to the mattress, he groaned at the feeling of her silken belly stroking his aching cock. Davon pressed soft kisses to her cheeks, her eyelids, her gasping mouth. Tasted the salt of her tears. “I’m going to make this good for you,” he muttered, his voice guttural. “No matter what else happens, neither one of us is going to regret this.”

  Kissing his way down to the elegant, fragile line of her jaw, he followed the tendons of her throat. Her heart pounded in his ears, her pulse beating against his lips. He fought the need to bite, despite the ache and sting of his fangs. Later, he promised them.

  Davon paused to explore her collarbone, acutely aware of the scent of her flooding his mouth with every breath. Her fists closed tight in his hair, pulling just short of pain as her hips rolled against his, stroking her lean abdomen over his aching cock. His balls gave a fierce, urgent throb.

  Not yet. He’d damned well build her arousal as high as she’d stoked his. She was probably dry even now, thanks to whatever she’d seen in that God-awful vision.

  Stroking,
kissing, he lifted a hand to cup her breast with careful fingers. God, the flesh was soft as kitten fur. Her nipple puckered as he stroked his thumb over it, teasing it even harder. She groaned, the sound breathy as she hunched harder against him. Davon inhaled, drinking in the erotic, salty fragrance of her need.

  At least her arousal was beginning to bloom. And she’ll be even hotter.

  “Oh God, I knew you’d be like this,” she hissed through her teeth.

  He shot her a surprised glance. Had she fantasized about this as often as he had? She returned the glance with a hot stare before the fists in his hair dragged his head lower. He needed no further encouragement. His mouth surrounded her nipple for a deep, fierce suckle.

  “God, Davon!” Alys cried out, arching upward against him so strongly, she lifted his two hundred pounds right off the bed.

  The sweet triumph of that reaction made him smile.

  * * *

  Davon’s mouth felt every bit as good as she’d always known it would. His clever lips tugged, spinning sweet starbursts of pleasure through her body in his own erotic magic.

  There was a delicious intensity to ’Von’s lovemaking, an intense focus on her pleasure. She’d always known he’d be like that. The man was a born caretaker.

  She let her hands drift down his flexing body, enjoying the muscle sliding under rich bronze skin as he nibbled his way from one breast to the other. Each tug and lick spilled pleasure through her nervous system in luscious waves. Alys shuddered as she remembered the feel of his cock filling her mouth until her jaws ached. Such sweet pain.

  There would be no other man for her. She knew it as she knew too many things, though she couldn’t tell whether that was because of love or death. If he survived, she’d have no regrets.

  Davon stopped at her bellybutton. His tongue stroked in and out in tiny licks. The ticklish sensation made her giggle, and he responded with a deep purr of pleasure.

  He’d always treated her approval as a prize.

  Alys lay back, focusing her senses on him, the feel of his mouth, the velvet lips, the gentle scrape of fang points against her belly. Oh, he was aroused.

  Wrapping her arms around him, she savored his hot warrior’s weight. He’d been leaner when he’d come to her a decade ago, but she’d sensed he needed more brute strength. She’d driven him to pile on muscle, obeying those seeress instincts. Now she knew why he needed so much power.

  Don’t think about that. Keep your head in the now.

  Davon helped. He’d reached the soft thatch between her thighs and paused to nuzzle. Lifting her head, Alys watched him, admiring the roll of those muscled shoulders, the corded neck, the clever, pointed tongue. He slid a hand up between her legs as he kissed her. When his eyes rolled up to meet hers, they looked completely black, with no hint of brown iris, as fully dilated as if he were drugged. His nostrils flared, breathing her in.

  Sword-calloused fingertips probed, and his eyes widened as he traced her plump inner lips, realizing how wet she was.

  Davon bent to devote his attention to her pussy, sliding two fingers deep until he found an exquisitely sensitive bundle of nerves. Sensation bolted through her like lightning as he strummed her G-spot like a lute string. Gasping, Alys threw her head back, arching her back, her breasts pointed at the painted cherubs lurking on the plastered ceiling.

  One big hand claimed her right breast, teasing and tugging the nipple, piling pleasure on pleasure. Alys threw her legs wide, shameless with need. God, she needed!

  He went on playing inside her, outside her, teasing sensitive nerves with exquisite skill, unbearable patience. If I’d known how good he’d be, I never could have kept my hands off him.

  Davon found her jutting, hungry clit and began to suck, drawing hard, then more gently, skillful and unpredictable. Meanwhile, one hand continued to torment her breast while the other fingered her G-spot. Dr. Fredericks definitely paid attention in anatomy class, she thought, writhing as he toyed with her, wrenching more pleasure from her straining body. The delight intensified until it grew breathtaking edges. Alys clawed for the orgasm just out of reach. Almost… almost…

  She dug her nails into his back and fought the urge to rake.

  It wasn’t enough. It wasn’t enough to just take from him as she so often took from her lovers, seeking the forgetfulness she could find in a big cock or a good spanking. She wanted more from him. Needed it. Needed him inside her. To the balls. “Enough!” she gasped.

  But his dark eyes only narrowed as his tongue flickered over her clit, driving her another bright fraction closer to that orgasm. God, she craved the hot oblivion of it, the utter exhaustion… if only for a moment…

  Not… enough! She sent her magic swirling over him, spinning glittering strands around him in an erotic web. His muscled body rolled in her magical grip as her power curled from her soul to his body. He made a low rumble of pleasure against her pussy, the deep vibration pulsing through her as he lapped and suckled.

  Alys spread her fingers, kneading the magic like a cat, enjoying his warrior’s strength as she caressed him. Slowly, carefully, she closed her fingers -- and her magic tightened, lifting him off her -- and into the air.

  Dark, startled eyes met hers. “Don’t… I want…”

  “I know what you want. You’ll get it after I’m done.”

  With a wrench of will, she flipped him on his back and pounced. His dark eyes narrowed in that stubborn determination she knew so well from a hundred training sessions. He surged upward, trying to get to her, and if it hadn’t been for her magic there was no way Alys could have held him down.

  But she did have magic, and he stayed where she’d put him. She reached down, grabbed his cock, and sent her magic pouring into it. Now it was his turn to jerk as her power found every nerve he had and played on them all at once.

  And stopped, in the very instant before he could come.

  He writhed, all fierce grace and lethal power, his cock so thick she could fit barely close her fingers around it. God, she was starved for him. The need clawed through her, born of ten years of self-denial, fed by the way he looked with a sword in his hand and sweat streaming down his muscled chest and long bronze thighs.

  He shouted, his fangs white and long against the red of his mouth. A little pre-come spurted from his cock head, drew a gleaming white line down his belly. She tightened her magical grip, stopping his orgasm dead. For the moment.

  Davon gave a guttural, outraged curse, and she grinned at him. “Patience, darling.” Bending over him, she aimed his cock upward.

  “Oh God, don’t. I’ll lose it…”

  Merlin’s Silver Cup, she loved listening to the man beg. “I won’t let you.”

  His mouth pulled into something between a grin and a grimace. “That’s what I’m afraid of,” he gasped. And cried out, sounding strangled as she swooped down over his hard, smooth shaft, angling her head to take him as deeply as she could. She couldn’t quite manage to engulf him all the way to the balls, so she moved around until she could, taking it slow, enjoying his gritted teeth and wild eyes. Enjoying the velvet slide of his skin over her lips, her tongue.

  He won’t forget this.

  Even if she had to.

  She began to slide him slowly, slowly out of her mouth.

  “Alys! Ahh… You’re killing me!”

  Not today. She cut the thought off.

  Alys gripped his shaft with one hand as she rolled his balls with the other, admiring the flexing play of his abdominals, his thighs straining as he fought to control the need to thrust deep. He was always so damned careful with her, no matter how she provoked him.

  She sensed the hot spill of energy through him as his climax tried again to break free. A flick of magic arrested his orgasm again. He cursed with such surprising invention she had to grin. “Why, ’Von, I didn’t even know you knew those words.”

  He hissed something rude through his teeth. Then she was on top of him, swinging one leg over his hips. Rising high, she angl
ed his length to the opening of her pussy. Biting her lip, Alys began the long, delicious slide downward over him. Down, down and down. He filled her so completely, so sweetly, taking her to the straining verge between pain and pleasure.

  Davon stared up at her, nothing of the calm, disciplined surgeon about him now. There was only a wild male animal straining to get loose in those black eyes. His long white fangs cemented the impression of a wolf on the verge of escaping a snare. “Let go!” he demanded, straining against her magical grip.

  “In a minute.” She rose again slowly, taking her time. “Oh God, you feel so fucking good!” The words sounded ragged, half-hissed through her teeth.

  “Let me play with your clit!” His lips pulled off his teeth as he said the words.

  Staring down into his feral gaze, Alys realized she wanted to let him take the lead. She released the grip of her magic. One of those big male hands found her nubbin as she began to jog on him, slowly, spinning out every single glittering moment, devouring each straining instant. She stretched herself along his sweating body, her eyes slitting in pleasure as the angle of the penetration changed. “Take it. Take me!”

  Swearing, Davon started pumping his cock in long, digging thrusts. Every one of them seemed to ram a sweet spike through her, jolting her deliciously. She clung to him, moaning without shame as he took her hard, fierce and driving. If she hadn’t been so wet, it would have hurt. Instead she savored every instant, teeth clenched, eyes squeezed shut. Felt him cup her breast, the flesh dancing in his hold as he teased her nipple and plowed her deep.

  Alys stretched her head back, angling it so her throat pressed against his open lips. “Bite,” she hissed.

  He hesitated -- probably afraid he’d hurt her in the violence of his thrusts.

  “Damn it, ’Von! Bite me!”

  His fangs sliced into her throat with a delicious, silvery pain that met the piston pleasure of his cock. The building climax coiled tighter and tighter and… slammed into her in an explosion of blinding, white-hot sparks that made her toes twitch and curl. The orgasm was so overwhelming she thought she was having another vision.