Embrace the Wild (The Blood Rose Series Book 6) (6 page)

Then he saw something that both startled him yet made his leathers tight across the zipper. Small white fangs appeared and were now pressing onto her lower lip. Fangs smaller than a vampire’s.

He knew what they were at once: Wraith fangs.

“Willow?”

She lifted her gaze. Her hazel eyes were dark, her pupils dilated. “Yes?” Because of her fangs, she had a slight lisp.

She covered them quickly with her fingers and her cheeks flamed a dark peach color.

He went to her and took her hand away, so that he could see the sharp points again. Very carefully, he thumbed her lips and rubbed the edges of the fangs. “I don’t think I’ve seen anything more beautiful than these.”

“I didn’t mean to … it’s just that …”

“I know.” The time had come. “Why don’t you show me your bedroom, and I’ll happily let you tap in anywhere you want to.” Bold words.

In response, she almost fell, but he slid his arm around her waist, supporting her. “Knees buckled?”

“Uh-huh. It’s been a long time. Way too long. But please know nothing permanent can come of this.”

“I know, and I’m with you. We both need to stay focused on our separate duties. But right now, I’m going to focus on you.”

She whimpered softly, leaning her head against his shoulder.

He picked her up and flew her slowly out the door toward her bedroom. The fresh smell of the oak wood spilled over him.

When he crossed the solid wood bridge and reached the open doorway to her treehouse bedroom, he paused on the threshold. He didn’t usually attach a lot of meaning to sex, or even to where a woman slept. But something about this moment felt sacred. Once more he experienced the vibrations from deep in the earth as though Willow and now he had a connection to the land.

Miriam had been right; everything about his relationship with Willow felt very realm.

The room had windows on each side. And just like that, vines suddenly appeared at the long, open window above the bed. He had no doubt he was looking at Willow’s magic, and that the vines that grew at the base of the central oak, had just climbed into her room.

She moved in his arms and he set her down.

“Your vines are here.”

She glanced back at the bed. “Yes, they are, but don’t worry; they’re part of me.”

“I’m not worried, Willow, not on any level. You spoke of trusting me, but I feel the same way about you.”

She turned back to him and caught his face in her hands, kissing him once on the lips. “Will you let me do something for you? It would mean a lot to me, a sort of ritual.”

He’d known many fae through the years and knew that they placed great value on the order of things. “I’d be honored.”

She drew a deep breath and he felt how nervous she was. But what she said surprised him. “Take off your clothes.”

~ ~ ~

Willow felt her cheeks grow warm, having just told the Mastyr of Ashleaf to essentially get naked. She added quickly, “I’ll be right back.”

She moved into the small adjacent bathroom and filled a white ceramic basin with cool water. Afterward, she removed her clothes then donned her thin, white, floor-length robe. She took a moment to brush out her long hair.

She heard Malik cursing. Right afterward, the sound of his boots striking the wood floor reverberated into the bathroom. The Guardsmen wore thigh boots over leathers, a very masculine, sexy look, but they couldn’t always be easy to remove.

Carrying the basin and two soft cloths, she stopped on the threshold. He’d laid out his clothes on a ladder-back woven chair by the window opposite the bed.

And he was naked.

She couldn’t believe that after two years of painful longing he was finally here. Given her level of responsibility, she might only get to experience this with him once, but she wanted to do it right. Besides, the earth sustained her as though approving of what she was doing, and she knew the colony was safe.

Bidding him stand on the oval rag-rug that she’d made herself, she dipped the cloth in the water. She sank to her knees and began with his feet and cleansed him, her heart very full, her fangs sitting on her lower lip because she was terribly aroused. She washed his legs and felt his hand on her head in soft, affectionate strokes.

His very tender touch was just as she’d imagined. She sensed his emotions as well that he was somewhat in awe of what she was doing. At the same time, his mating vibration came to life, a soft hum in the center of his being, which naturally stirred her own needs.

Was this the man for her, the mastyr of an entire realm?

Her pleasure was intense as she asked him to spread his legs. She carefully worked the cool, damp cloth over his testicles and cock, the latter of which was thick and long and quite perfect.

And fully erect.

She kissed his groin on either side, just above the veins. She could smell his blood because of her latent wraith abilities. Looking up at him, she said, “Your blood smells of the richest part of the forest, Malik. Just like you.”

“And yours smells like the forest after a rain. That clean, almost spiritual fragrance.”

She smiled. “I like that you’ve said it that way.”

She busied herself again, cleansing his abdomen and chest, taking her time, wiping down both arms. She tended to his back and his buttocks in the same way.

When she was done, she took the basin back into the bathroom and returned with her brush. Pulling back the sheets, she had him sit on the side of the bed and took her time brushing out his Guardsman hair.

As Willow ran her hands down his hair, she could feel the subtle vibration. “Your hair makes you stronger.”

“That is our belief.”

“I can feel the frequency.” She rose as she spoke, and while standing in front of him, she removed her white robe.

His eyes flared, but he made no move to touch her. Instead, he waited, letting her lead the moment.

Her heart beat hard now, ready to be touched and loved by Malik after so many months of painful longing. Without saying anything, she stretched out on her stomach on the bed and waited.

Closing her eyes, she expected Malik to join her. Instead, the floor creaked and a moment later, she heard the water running. She lifted up on her forearms and tears came to her eyes when he returned with the basin.

He took his time as well, beginning with her feet and washed her head-to-foot. Tears began to fall and she couldn’t seem to stop them. She’d bathed Malik because she revered what he did for her kind. But to have him return what was for her a very sacred act, struck her deep in her soul.

When she turned over and he cleansed her legs, then deep between her thighs, desire began to rise once more, the way it had for the past two years.

He swept the cloth upward and over her abdomen, the sensation leaving a trail of shivers. Her breasts puckered and he leaned down and half-sucked, half-kissed each in turn.

She cupped his face in her hand and turned him toward her. This was Malik, the man who had chased her, whom she’d spurned. Now he was here.

Her heart labored in her chest as though anxious to feed him. She wanted him to bite her and she wanted to use her fangs. Something she’d never done before. But Malik’s blood called to her.

He set the cloth and the basin aside and kissed her, moving between her legs. “Your fangs are beautiful.”

Her tongue emerged between them and he groaned, his forest scent permeating the air.

The next moment, in response to her growing need, the vines at the open window began to move down the white, cast iron frame behind her.

He lifted up, his eyes widening. “The vines are moving now.”

She slid her hands over his shoulders. “They’re responding to me. They’ll be part of what we’ll do together, if that’s all right with you?”

He glanced down as one of the vines touched his arm and slid over him, caressing him. He closed his eyes. “Sweet Goddess, that feels good and no, I don’t mind, because this feels like you. But what exactly are you doing?”

“Needing you to make love to me, that’s all. I’m connected to the vines on my land. I can’t explain it. They hide me and they protect the wraith families. They respond to my thoughts and desires, and they would even protect me at my command.”

Another vine now moved across his back and he moaned. “I’ve never experienced anything like this.”

“Is it too strange, Malik? If I concentrate, I can make them leave.”

“No,” he answered quickly. “I want them to stay.”

She smiled, because she could feel how much he was enjoying the sensation. “You probably should be inside me.”

He gave her an answering smile. “I could come so easily right now.”

“I know. Me, too.” She shifted her hips, letting him know that she needed him filling her. The foreplay had lasted two years and she was ready.

The moment she felt his cock at her entrance, a heavy moan left her throat. The physical connection soared through her, a vibration all its own, and small cries left her mouth at the exquisite feel of what was so hard and began moving inside her.

He pushed, and her whole body writhed. The vines stroked her hair and her face and she watched one slide across his neck, where she wanted her hand to be. When she moved her hand, the vine gave way and covered hers adding the smallest pressure so that she caressed Malik with the vine aiding her.

Inelegant yet erotic guttural sounds left his throat. “Never been like this … the vines.”

“I know. This is new to me as well.”

“It is?”

She met his gaze. “Yes. All new. Oh, Malik.”

Passion rose to a dizzying height as he kissed her hard. Because of the vines, she could feel what they felt like to him, as though the realm itself, which he loved with all his heart, was caressing him. What a strange mystery this had become, this sharing with Malik, full of the heights and depths of all of life experience. She’d never felt more connected to the earth on which she lived, to the frequencies beating deep in her land, to the vines that helped her to protect the colony.

His tongue penetrated her mouth, and moved in rhythm to his thrusts between her legs. Several vines slid beneath her and she felt them wrapping tenderly around Malik as well.

He continued to kiss her, their bodies moving in such an exquisite motion and in sync with her heart.

He drew back slightly and presented his wrist. “Take my blood, Willow. I offer it for the way you’ve laid down your life to protect the innocent.”

She lifted her hand and the vines gave way just enough to allow for her movements. She pressed his wrist to her small fangs and with the memories given to her by all the wraiths in her maternal family line, she struck quickly, then began to suck.

The first hit of his blood caused her to clench deep and in response, Malik groaned.

She held his gaze as the erotic flavor of his blood poured over her tongue. Power moved through her and the vines tightened and released in response. Everything was so sensual and erotic that she could hardly control herself.

When she began pulling on him low, deep in her well, she forced herself to stop or he would come. They both would. And she knew exactly how and when she wanted to reach the pinnacle. She wanted to be with him in that moment, his fangs having opened her vein, his mouth sucking down what she could feel he needed more than anything else right now.

She breathed hard, trying to calm down.

He’d squeezed his eyes shut, doing the same thing.

Only how to hold on, to make the moment last?

CHAPTER THREE

Malik had imagined being in bed with Willow for a long time now. But even the best of fantasies hadn’t come close to this erotic reality. He felt lost in her arms, barely able to make two thoughts connect.

The vines.

Sweet Goddess, the vines alone had his balls ready to release. The tendrils held him tight to Willow, and moved as he moved. Yet he could feel that with the slightest resistance the vines would shift and give way.

And Willow’s fangs. The piercing had sent a thrill straight through his cock and he’d almost come … again. He was so ready to let go that every muscle in his body twitched with anticipation.

He could feel that she was close as well, each of them riding the edge.

She looked so beautiful suckling at his wrist, her eyes glittering. He wanted her neck. His stomach, always cramping, now screamed for what he’d been desiring for the past two years.

She suddenly released his wrist. “Malik, now, please. I’m right there. Right there.” She squeezed her eyes shut.

“Me, too.”

Rolling her head, she swept her auburn hair away from her neck. The vines adjusted for each movement. “Please, do it. Take from me. I need to feed you. So heavy in my chest. And I’m ready to release. So close.”

He was too lost to make sense of all her words, but he got her meaning, especially when his eyes zeroed in on the vein beating in her throat.

He leaned close, his hips still working her low, and licked a line up her neck. Usually this would encourage the vein to rise, but hers was already pulsing and waiting.

His fangs descended and in a swift strike, he broke through. Her blood flowed into his mouth.

The world disappeared as the flavor of her life-force hit his tongue, his throat, then traveled like exquisite liquid fire into his stomach. Fireworks exploded within, sending her power into his blood-stream. The muscles of his arms flexed and released. His buttocks as well. He felt stronger, suddenly, as he moved his hips faster.

His mind spun as he continued to drink, taking the fire down his throat.

Willow whimpered and writhed beneath him. She took shallow breaths, holding herself on the cliff.

He felt something real and thrilling move through him. He couldn’t wait any longer and let go of her neck. He lifted up on his forearms so that he could look down at her, the vines giving way to his movements, then wrapping around him once more. Her eyes were closed, her body in a state of passionate suspension.

“Look at me, Willow.”

Her eyes opened slowly.

He smiled and increased his speed. “Come with me. Now.”

She nodded. “Yes.”