Dark Heat: The Dark Kings Stories (8 page)

As if they couldn’t be kept apart, their mouths found each other again. The kiss was frantic and consuming, desperate and wild.

It took her breath away the same time it filled her soul.

Their limbs became tangled as they struggled to get closer together, and then the next thing Cassie knew, she was lying on the rug with Hal leaning over her.

“Cassie,” he murmured before he kissed her again.

He straddled her and straightened as he reached for his sweater. She bit her lip in awe at the specimen before her when his bare chest was revealed.

The tattoo of the dragon was spectacular. It covered his entire chest with the head starting at Hal’s right shoulder and the dragon’s tail disappearing into the waist of his jeans.

Cassie spread her hands wide and caressed up his abdomen from his waist to his shoulders. Her gaze lifted to find him watching her with passion darkening his eyes.

He groaned deep in his throat as he cupped the back of her head and kissed her once more as he laid her back. She clung to him as he rolled them so he was on his back.

She clutched his chest, loving the feel of his skin against hers. There was a slight tug, and then the straps of her bra fell off her shoulders.

Never had Cassie been so desperate to get out of her clothes. Hands tangled while they continued to kiss and remove the rest of their clothes.

And then finally they were skin to skin.

Cassie inhaled and closed her eyes, letting her body feel every inch of Hal.

Once more he rolled her onto her back with his weight braced on one arm as his other hand stroked down her body to her hip before leisurely caressing back up until he cupped her breast.

He stroked his thumb over her nipple, causing her to cry out. She strained for more of his touch. And then he was touching her everywhere.

His mouth, his hands, his body.

Every caress, every lick sent her passion higher. She was breathless and shaking for more. She wanted to touch him, to run her hands over his magnificent body from his wide shoulders to his tapered hips where the dragon tail ended.

But Hal had other ideas.

Cassie was powerless to do anything other than lie there and feel the exquisite pleasure.

When his hand slid between them to thread in the curls of her sex, she opened her legs wider. Needing him with a hunger she couldn’t deny or explain.

His fingers slid inside her before finding her clitoris and swirling his thumb over the tiny bud. His mouth closed over her nipple and began to tease the tip with his tongue.

It was too much for Cassie. Her skin felt too tight, her nerves taut and ready to break apart. It had been so long since she’d had release, and the passion and pleasure were too great for her to hold off the climax when it took her.

She screamed Hal’s name as stars exploded behind her eyelids and she was swept away on a wave of bliss.

Somehow Cassie knew, this night, this amazing, wonderful night was just the beginning.

CHAPTER
EIGHT

Hal couldn’t stop touching Cassie. She was so responsive, so beautiful. So damned wonderful.

He watched as she peaked, his name on her lips, and he wanted to see it time and time again. He’d been a fool to think he would be strong enough to have her once and keep his distance.

That one kiss had stayed with him for days, waking him with dreams of her beneath him just as she was now. If he couldn’t shake her after one kiss, how did he expect to do it after making love to her?

But he didn’t want to think that far ahead when he had such an alluring, fascinating woman in his arms.

Hal watched her eyelids flutter open and her dark brown eyes meet his. His cock ached to bury inside her, yet he found himself wanting to prolong the exquisite torture.

And then Cassie took his arousal in her hand.

Hal squeezed his eyes closed and groaned, his hips automatically moving against her. He’d never experienced such need before, and he knew there was only one woman who could satisfy him.

Unable to wait another moment, he moved between her legs. He watched as she guided him to her entrance. Hal clenched his jaw when he felt how incredibly hot and wet she was.

Her hands went around him while one of her feet rubbed back and forth over his calf. Hal shifted his hips forward and sank inside her.

Nothing had ever felt so wonderful, so absolutely right. She was slick and gripped him like a glove. He pulled out only to thrust deeper. Her soft cry of pleasure urged him onward.

With one more plunge, he seated himself fully.

Hal wanted to give in to his passion and let the orgasm take him, but he was determined to bring Cassie with him. He moved in and out of her with short, slow strokes until her eyes rolled back in her head and her nails dug into his shoulders.

Their harsh breaths filled the cottage as he set up a rhythm that sent them spiraling toward pleasure all too quickly.

When she wrapped her legs around his waist, he leaned up on his hands so he could thrust deeper, harder inside her. Her cries of passion propelled him toward his climax no matter how much he tried to resist.

And when her dark eyes locked with his as her sex clenched around him, he was powerless to hold back the tide.

Hal gave one last thrust that buried him deep and let the orgasm take both him and Cassie. The ecstasy took them, wrapped them, swept them over an abyss of never ending pleasure.

He pulled out of her and rolled to the side before he collapsed atop Cassie, and cradled her on his chest. A smile tugged at his lips as he found true contentment that had eluded him for centuries.

Cassie was warm and more relaxed than she had been in months. As she slowly woke, she realized the reason she felt so good was because Hal was still holding her.

She was surprised to find him asleep, his face turned toward the fire. She couldn’t stop herself from running her finger along his jawline.

Cassie leaned up to kiss him when her attention was snagged by his tattoo once again. To say it was incredibly odd that the man she’d found naked on the mountain also had such an elaborate dragon tattoo was stating the obvious. Coincidence?

Maybe, but she didn’t think so.

It was probably one of the things Hal had said he couldn’t tell her. Cassie didn’t like secrets, but she hadn’t been able to resist Hal. Even now, if he gave her the same option, she’d take him over knowing his secrets.

She took a closer look at the tattoo. Though she wasn’t an expert, she didn’t know that ink could be an intricate swirl of red and black. It was a startling contrast to Hal’s tanned skin and made the dragon appear almost be alive. Whoever had done his tat was an amazing artist.

Cassie reached out to touch it when the dragon moved. She jerked her hand back, her heart pounding as she stared at the tattoo.

What the hell?

Had she just seen it move?

When she looked to Hal’s face, it was to find him opening his eyes. He gave her a heart-stopping smile.

“Who are you?” she asked in a whisper, the words almost too much to get past her lips.

“The man who can no’ resist you. The man who doesna want to lose you.”

She looked at the tattoo again, wondering if she should tell him it moved.

“I doona want you worrying about pregnancy or disease. I doona have anything, nor can I get you with child.”

Cassie blinked. Belatedly she realized she should have worried about that before they’d slept together, but the passion had taken her.

“Um … that’s good about the pregnancy thing. And I … uh … it’s been a couple of years since I’ve been with anyone. I’m clean as well.”

He put an arm behind his head and regarded her. “What’s wrong? You seem like something is bothering you.”

“Besides the fact I have a gorgeous naked man in my living room?” she asked with a teasing smile.

He chuckled. “Aye. Besides that.”

“Your tat. It’s similar to the one I saw on Tristan.”

“It was dark. Are you sure you know what you saw?”

She sat up and faced him, though she didn’t move away. The need to keep touching him was too strong. Yet there was no doubt she had heard an undercurrent in his voice. “Is this one of those things you can’t tell me? Just say so, and I’ll stop asking questions.”

For long moments he simply stared at her. “What is it about my tattoo?”

“It moved.”

Hal’s brow furrowed deeply. “That’s the second time you’ve said that. First with Tristan’s, and now mine.”

“I’m not crazy. I saw both of them move. There’s a connection between you and Tristan, isn’t there? For each of you to have such intricate dragon tats seems … well, odd.”

He sighed and gently tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. “They’re just tattoos. Tristan seems to appreciate dragons as much as I do.”

Cassie let him lie. She’d known as soon as she asked the question that he might not be able to answer. But his lie told her one thing—the tats were important.

She let the matter drop, however, as Hal jumped up and began to rummage through the kitchen. Still completely naked.

Her gaze raked over his tall body and all the wonderful bulging muscle. He was a feast for her eyes, and she wasn’t about to waste a moment.

He returned to the rug a few moments later with an array of food and some wine. She couldn’t stop grinning. A picnic in front of a fire. It was as if he had delved into her most sacred fantasies.

She sat up as he handed her a glass of wine. There was no denying the desire in his eyes as he bent and gave her a quick, mind-blowing kiss before handing her a piece of cheese.

They sat before the fire and sampled the food before them. With the flames casting the room in an orange glow and her body sated and warm, Cassie had never been happier.

“My first winter picnic,” she said.

“Winter picnic? I’ve never heard it called that, and lass, you’ve been missing out.”

“Apparently. What else have I missed out on?”

His moonlight blue eyes darkened. “I’d love to show you.”

“Is that a promise?”

“Aye.”

He said it with a smile, but she saw something flash in his eyes. Regret? Apprehension? But it was gone too quickly for her to be sure.

“I have a feeling the Dreagan Distillery is more than just a job and a home. Are the others your family?”

He offered a piece of bread and shrugged. “In a way, aye. We’ve been together a verra long time.”

“They don’t approve of me, do they?”

He paused with cheese midway to his mouth. Slowly he lowered it and shook his head. “It’s difficult to explain. I’ll deal with them.”

“Is there anything I can do?”

“Just be yourself,” he said, and covered her hand with his.

Around Hal she found that remarkably easy. She loved to hear his laugh and watch him smile. And when she would find him watching her, it made her stomach flutter.

It was as she was on her way back to the living room from cleaning up that Hal grabbed her and spun her toward the wall. He pressed her against the wall as he molded himself to her back. She felt his arousal against her, the heat and hardness of it causing liquid to pool between her thighs.

“I need you,” Hal whispered.

Cassie turned her head to the side, her mouth open in a moan as Hal reached around her and parted her folds. She closed her eyes as he spread her slickness over her sex.

“So damned wet,” he said.

And then the blunt head of his cock replaced his fingers. Cassie gripped the wall as he filled her, stretched her. He wrapped his arms around her middle to hold her as his hips began to pump.

Her desire was only banked, and flared quickly and brightly at his touch. No one had ever touched her body like Hal, and certainly no one had ever made her feel such passion, such lust.

Such hunger.

His face moved beside hers, their rough breaths mixing as he thrust inside her. He was plunging so deep that he was moving her against the wall.

And she loved every moment of it.

The angle from which he entered her allowed him to go deeper than before, touch her in ways she had never thought possible. He commanded her body and demanded she give him everything she was. It never entered her mind to refuse him.

All too soon she felt the tightening in her lower stomach, a signal that she would soon peak. Hal must have felt it as well, because he increased his tempo.

And then her world shattered into a million pieces. She tipped, fell into a chasm of profound pleasure. Her scream was locked in her throat as Hal gripped her hips and pumped desperately until the climax took him as well.

The passion sent her higher, winding tighter and tighter inside her until it burst free in another orgasm, wringing a strangled cry from her lips.

The splendor once more took them, enfolded them and swept through them until they were holding each other up.

Gradually, the afterglow faded.

Cassie wrapped her arms around Hal when he turned her to face him and then lifted her in his arms. She rested her head on his shoulder as he climbed the stairs to her bedroom.

She had no idea how he could still move after such lovemaking. Her body still tingled from the orgasm, but more from his touch.

There was a smile on her face when Hal climbed into bed beside her and covered them with the blanket. Then he pulled her against him so that she rested her head on his chest. Her last thought before she fell asleep was how lucky she was to have found him.

*   *   *

Hal stayed at Cassie’s as long as he dared before he made himself crawl out of her bed and her arms to find his clothes. He was loath to leave her, but he had no choice. He had to get back to Dreagan before they realized where he was.

He closed the front door behind him and turned to look out over the early morning land. The sun was hours away from finding the sky, but Hal could tarry no longer.

He’d taken but three steps before a voice stopped him cold.

“You tread on dangerous ground.”

He turned to find Rhys leaning against the corner of the cottage, hidden half in shadows. Hal took a deep breath. He’d expected this, just not so soon. “We’ve each taken our pleasure with women plenty of times before.”