Phantom Warriors: Riot (12 page)

She stared at him, then glanced down at her
body. Her hand rose to skim the now healing wounds. Her mouth
opened and closed as she gave him a questioning look. “There’s no
pain.”

“No, but you’ll be tender for another day.
What I’ve done should take care of the damage and leave no scars.”
Riot couldn’t seem to tear his gaze away from her lush mouth. She
looked so bewildered and confused, yet somehow remained utterly
enticing. How did she do that? No other human female had managed
it.

As if feeling the heat of his stare, her
tongue darted, wetting her bottom lip.

“Forgive me,” he said.

“For what?” she asked.

“For this.” Riot pulled her into his arms and
took her mouth in a searing kiss.

Heat exploded the second his mouth touched
hers. Nina couldn’t seem to catch her breath as she was swept up in
a whirlwind of sensation. As a bear, he was fascinating. As a man,
Riot was lethal. More lethal than any man had a right to be. She’d
gotten a taste of it at Kim’s reception, but this was like being on
the receiving end of a cannon blast. His mouth fed from hers,
nibbling on her lips, begging for entrance.

Everything tingled from the top of her head
to the bottoms of her feet. Riot ran his tongue along the seam of
her mouth. Nina opened on a moan. Flames leapt inside her as their
tongues touched and explored. Her hands fluttered to his chest. The
second she made contact, Riot flinched, his hard body going even
more rigid.

The world around them dimmed as Nina sank
into the kiss, giving back all the passion that he was imbuing. Her
body temperature rose until it felt as if her skin would crack. She
stepped closer, burrowing into his chest. Nina needed the contact.
Wanted it more than her next breath. Her nipples beaded against the
hard muscled slab of his abdomen, leaving her breasts aching.

How long had it been since a man held her
like this? Nina couldn’t remember. She’d been so busy taking care
of everyone but herself. Oh how she’d missed the simple pleasures
of touch, the sharing of one’s breath.

Riot’s hand gently grasped the back of her
head, turning it slightly so he could deepen the embrace. It was as
if he feared that she’d break. She was stronger than that. Nina
vowed to show him just how strong she was, starting now. She
returned his passion with the flame of her own, igniting them both.
He growled. The sound rumbled down her throat, settling between her
thighs.

Need burst inside of her. Nina hooked a calf
around his thick, muscled leg. She wasn’t tall enough to get it any
higher, but she was prepared to climb him if necessary. Riot
groaned, then reached down to scoop her up, saving her the effort.
The second her core made contact with his rigid length, Nina’s eyes
rolled back in her head. She would’ve ripped at his clothes had he
not been naked already. She ground her small body against his hard
shaft, rotating her hips in order to reach her clit. Sensation
rocked her and she shuddered.

Nina threw her head back and gasped. “I need
more,” she said.

Riot grunted, then moved toward the trees.
When they reached one that had its trunk hollowed out, she noticed
a small pack sitting inside of it. He didn’t put her down. Instead,
he grabbed the pack and shoved one hand inside it. He came out
holding a blanket. It didn’t look like much, but Nina was too far
gone to care. She didn’t think she’d feel the ground right now,
even if he laid her on sharp rocks. She needed release. She needed
this
release. It had been far too long, since she’d allowed
a man inside of her body.

He laid the blanket onto the ground and
fiddled with something on the side of it. The blanket inflated.
“Now,” he said, carefully placing her onto the makeshift bed.

Nina sank into the ‘blanket’, its thinness
deceptive. She couldn’t feel the ground below her.

Riot followed her down, covering her with his
large body. “Am I hurting you?”

She frowned. “No, why would you think
that?”

Red blossomed in his cheeks. It was followed
swiftly by a wave of insecurity.

She wouldn’t have believed it if she hadn’t
seen for herself. What had caused this magnificent man to feel so
unsure?

“If you hadn’t noticed, I’m rather large,” he
said.

Nina’s lips quirked. “Yes, you are.” She
glanced down at his erect shaft. “You won’t hear me
complaining.”

He snorted, but there was no mistaking the
relief in his red-ringed brown eyes. Riot’s hands shook as he
slowly stripped away her bra. His breath caught as he stared down
at her erect nipples. His gaze moved to her face, his expression
full of wonder. “You are beautiful.”

Nina released a breath she hadn’t known she’d
been holding. She had never been ashamed of her body, but she was
well aware that she was average. Nina had always been okay with
that. She’d long ago accepted that she’d never be one of the pretty
people. But for some reason, it was important that Riot not think
so.

His head lowered, but he never took his eyes
off her face. Riot latched onto one nipple and sucked it between
his teeth. His eyes fluttered shut for a second and he gave a
pleasure-filled moan. His gaze flashed back to her face, gauging
her reaction. Nina bit her lip and smiled.

Bolstered by her response, he reached up and
kneaded her other breast, while he feasted on the first one. His
clever tongue swirled around and around, flicking and lapping the
pebbled flesh until Nina writhed beneath him. Riot released her
nipple and blew a hot breath across the puckered skin, before
switching to the other breast. His free hand pinched and played
until her breasts grew heavy.

Nina rocked her hips, brushing his cock
encouragingly. She still had her underwear on and desperately
needed to feel flesh upon flesh. The second time she nudged him,
Riot must’ve gotten the hint because he reached down and ripped her
underwear off her body, quickly tossing them aside. Her sex brushed
his testicles and Riot shuddered. His erect shaft seemed to grow
even larger, thickening and lengthening like a Leviathan rising
from a sea of dark curls. He sat up suddenly and took her mouth in
another savage kiss.

“Not yet.” He groaned against her lips.
“First I want to taste every inch of you.” With that said, he slid
down her body and buried his face between her thighs.

***

Riot couldn’t seem to get enough of Nina’s
unique aroma or the taste of her. She was tart and honeyed all at
once. He kept glancing at her face to make sure what he was doing
was pleasing to her. Fear still rested firmly in the back of his
head that with one wrong move he could injure her like he’d done to
the only other person he’d ever been with.

He quieted the nagging voice with a vow to
take care, then stared at the dark curls covering her sex. They
were soft beneath his large fingertips. He carefully spread her,
then slid his tongue along her moist seam, taking in her juices.
Flavor that could only come from the Goddess burst inside of his
mouth. He ran his thick fingers over her, spreading her wider,
revealing the hidden bud that held so much pleasure for Earth
women. He sucked on it, worrying the bundle of nerves with his
teeth, while swirling his tongue around it.

Nina’s hips rocked and her thighs
shuddered.

The beast inside him roared. It wanted its
own taste. It wanted to mark the female with its pheromones. Riot
kept it in check. He couldn’t afford to let his
Other
side
out. Not until he knew that a bond had been created. Not until he
could claim her completely.

He plunged his tongue into her scorching
channel and flicked it from side to side. Thanks to his
Other
side, his tongue was longer than usual, able to reach
places that no human male could.

Nina cried out as he curled his tongue and
found the patch of sensitive nerves inside of her.

Riot pinched her clit and continued to tongue
her until she quivered on the edge of release. He doubled his
efforts.

A second later, Nina cried out and her juices
flooded his mouth. Riot lapped up every drop as he savored what
he’d done. When the last twitch stopped, he gave her sex one last
long lick, then rose above her body, positioning his cock at her
entrance. He waited until their eyes met, then he leaned down and
gently kissed her lips.

“Thank you for trusting me,” he murmured,
then rocked back with his hips and plunged inside of her.

Despite the moisture easing his entrance,
Riot still had to work his way into her body. Nina was a small
woman by Zaronian standards and he was a
huge
man. For one
fearful moment, he thought he might not fit. Sweat broke out across
his forehead. The Goddess wouldn’t give him such a precious gift
only to take it away. Would she?

His fears were eased when Nina tilted her
hips and relaxed her body. She ran her hands over his shoulders and
pulled him close, clutching him like she’d never let him go.
Something inside Riot exploded. Something he’d fiercely guarded.
His eyes burned. He quickly looked away, not wanting her to see the
turbulent emotions she’d churned up.

“It’s okay,” she whispered. “I’m fine. This
feels wonderful.”

Riot closed his eyes and began to move.

***

Nina felt every last inch of Riot’s long,
thick shaft as he drove in and out of her body. For a moment, she’d
feared that he’d stop. He’d looked so scared, so insecure that it
nearly broke her heart. Someday she’d ask him what had happened. It
had to be a woman. Of that there was no doubt. But what kind of
woman had wounded him so badly that he doubted himself?

Whoever she was, Nina had the overwhelming
urge to strangle her. How dare she destroy such a sensitive, caring
man! She’d just have to show him that the woman was wrong, starting
now. Unchecked emotion flowed through her, surprising Nina with its
intensity. Their eyes met and held. The brown had faded until all
that remained was softly glowing red. It was a swift reminder that
she wasn’t dealing with a man. Riot was something
other
. It
would do well for her to remember that fact.

He rolled his hips, sending himself even
deeper inside of her. Nina’s breath caught as the heat inside her
began to build once more. Her fingers dug into his back, tearing at
the skin.

Riot growled and thrust harder.

She felt another orgasm building inside of
her, tightening her skin, sharpening her senses. Her womb clenched
as her nipples scrapped along his muscled chest. The
over-stimulated flesh was so sensitized that the pleasure bordered
on pain. “I’m…I’m.” Nina gasped, then locked her legs around his
tight bottom and held on as the world shifted around her. Her body
spasmed and she cried out, a second before she bit him on the
shoulder.

The moment her teeth sank into his flesh,
Riot grunted and went wild above her, driving in harder and faster,
all sense of rhythm lost. Nina released his shoulder and hung on.
He thrust and thrust, his powerful hips rolling madly as he locked
himself deep within her fluttering channel. Riot grunted. His big
body strained, then shuddered, as a wave of moisture flooded
Nina.

***

Nina lay in Riot’s arms, her body still
twitching from the amazing orgasms he’d wrung from her only moments
ago. She’d never felt the kind of connection she’d had with him. It
was like they were one and the same. Yet, that was impossible. He
was pure ‘magic’. Next to him, Nina was painfully aware of her
fragile humanity.

She stroked his bicep, following the nicks
and healed cuts with her fingertips, amazed again at how quickly
he’d recovered from the bullet wounds. She reached his massive hand
and interlaced her fingers with his. Riot gave her a gentle
squeeze. He felt so strong, so content beneath her that she hated
breeching the tranquility, but there was something she desperately
needed to know.

“How did you heal me?” she asked.

He took a deep breath, and for a moment Nina
thought that he might not answer. “I shared my essence with
you.”

She shifted her head higher onto his chest,
listening to his heart beat. It was strong, steady…and doubled. She
jerked her head up to look at him.

“What’s wrong?” Riot asked. His dark eyes
were slumberous and filled with satisfaction.

“Your heart…”

“What about them?” He hoisted himself up onto
one elbow.

Nina’s brow arched. “Them?”

Understanding dawned on his face. “I forgot
that humans only have one heart.”

“I didn’t know that the Great Bear had two,”
she said.

Riot grew concerned. “About that…we need to
talk.”

“Sure, but first I need to know more about
your ability to heal.”

His face flushed.

Nina studied his expression. At first
glimpse, she’d thought that she had somehow embarrassed him, but
upon closer inspection she recognized the color shift for what it
was—guilt. What did he have to feel guilty about? She pushed the
thought aside. There was plenty of time to find out later. What she
needed to know couldn’t wait. “Can you heal anybody?”

Riot sat up, his dark eyes growing wary. “Why
do you want to know?”

“Someone I care deeply about is ill. Doctors
can’t do anything more for him. I thought maybe you could…” her
voice trailed off.

***

Pain shredded Riot’s two hearts. She cared
for another. Why hadn’t she said something before she gave herself
to him?
You didn’t give her the chance,
a gruff voice
admonished in his head. They’d shared such passion that he couldn’t
imagine her experiencing the same with another.

Perhaps that was ego on his part or more
likely wishful thinking, but he hadn’t imagined her wild abandon or
her passionate cries. They still rang in his ears. He swallowed
hard, choking down the rock that had suddenly formed in his throat.
It took him two tries to speak, but he finally got out what he
needed to say. “It doesn’t work that way.”