Taboo Kisses (18 page)

Holding the fruit
up
by the
top
, he rested a forearm on the counter and leaned toward her. Her gaze riveted to his
mouth, while her tongue swiped across her blood red ones.

Didn’t like orgasms? Pfft…he suspected she liked them more than she’d admit, but since
she couldn’t lie, there was something about them that bothered her. The quick lick
to her lips however, signified her desire to be kissed. Even if unknowingly, she invited
his attention.

Maximus ran the pebbled tip of the strawberry along her bottom lip. Her
otherworldly purple
eyes brightened
,
and her lips parted. An open solicitation
, but he suspected she held no knowledge of the temptation she projected
. Declining her offer equated to self-mutilation
,
and he felt it in the
longing
of his cock
.

He slid t
he fat
, succulent
base between her lips and pushed the fruit inward. Sameya surprised him by sucking
on the
strawberry. His dick reacted,
becoming
hard
e
r
and pressing uncomfortably against
the leather
.

“Bite.” The one word was all he could push past his lips at that moment.

No arguments forthcoming, she obeyed, her teeth slicing off the tip of the strawberry.
Sameya chewed, her eyes widening. “Mmm….”

Maximus smiled, using his thumb to wipe off a spot of juice from the corner of her
mouth. “Strawberry.”
He sucked his pad and
held up the remainder of the fruit
. He
popped
the
rest
of the strawberry
into his mouth. In a silent offer for her to help herself to the fruit, he
pushed the bowl closer to her and was delighted when she selected another one.
“Why are orgasms disturbing
, Sameya
?”

The second strawberry halted centimeters from her mouth. Tentatively, she met his
gaze and shrugged as she swallowed what was in her mouth.

“All women enjoy them.”
At least all the ones he’d been with
had
.

“You would have me believe you’re that familiar with women?” She munched on the fruit
pinned between her fingertips.

Maximus plucked the remainder of the strawberry from her hand and
tossed
it in his mouth.

“Hey!”

He flashed her a wicked grin. “Why wouldn’t I have knowledge of women?”

“You’re with Gabriel. Shifters are possessive.”

“True, but you thought Gabby was our lover.”

She shrugged. “She
seemed
like yours and Gabriel’s type.”

Maximus chuckled. “Far from it.”
He slid the omelet onto a plate
and proceeded to make another
.
“I’d never been with a man before Gabriel came along. Mating doesn’t mean instant
love or trust, but it’s a bonding of the souls.
We took our mating slow
,
and before we mated, we’d fallen in love with one another.”

The typical mating ritual was frenzied, and so out of control, the parties rarely
knew what was going on until it was over. But a shifter and vampyr together was taboo,
so they’d taken it slow to make sure they weren’t reading the signs wrong. Since nature
didn’t put together what couldn’t procreate, they’d known a female would someday enter
their lives. Maximus had expected a shifter female, because to add a third species
to their tri-union was so
forbidden
, it rather worried him. But already his protective instincts were honed razor sharp
toward Sameya.

In time he hoped she’d
love
them
, but they didn’t have time for that. “I
would die for
Gabriel
and would kill without regret for him.
I
feel
the same for you.” She looked away. Why’d that make her uncomfortable? Maximus cupped
her chin in his palm and turned her to face him. “
We
both delight in the softness of a woman, listening to her soft cries as we give her
pleasure. We
’ve
shared
many
women together in our bed
, but we have never invited another man into our relationship
.”
To fuck another ma
le
would’ve been cheating.
He ran his fingertips along her eyebrows when they arched a little higher. “Now that
we’ve
located
you,
there won’t be another woman
.”
Even if she leaves us. Such injustice in that truth.

Fingertip running the length of the round bowl filled with strawberries, she watched
him. If the frown furrowing her forehead was any indication, her thoughts
were troublesome
.

Maximus lowered his hand, but maintained eye contact. Waiting for whatever she had
to say…if she ever spoke. When she did, it wasn’t what he was expecting.

“My power is cerebral.
” Sirens controlled others with the
ir
mind
.
H
e comprehended that
. “
I lose
control of that function when I
…climax
.”

She sounded as uncomfortable
with
the word
as she was
with
the defenselessness she suffered from
having one
. “You believe that makes you vulnerable?”

“I know it does.” She pulled his shirt to the side
exposing the marks
Gabriel
had given her.
T
hey still
seeped
blood. “Had I owned my faculties, this wouldn’t have happened.
I should’ve fought him harder, but I was
so
lost to the feel of him inside me and you doing…your thing.
”

“Can’t you self-heal?”

“No. But
I don’t need to if my
cognitive abilities aren’t
compromised.”

Without any thought, Maximus shifted closer and licked Gabriel’s mating marks.
A tremor ricocheted through her, as her
tiny gasp of surprise
painted the air
. Shifting to the end of the island, Maximus palmed her nape and pulled her against
him as he tongued the puncture wounds.

The taste of her blood
lured
him to bit
e
over the lesions Gabriel gave her.
Worse, he wanted to sink his fangs into her as he thrust his dick into her
wet sheath
. He’d withheld his need earlier for fear of scaring her off.

The taste of her essence dissipated, the injuries healed by his saliva. Maximus slid
his tongue up her throat
,
and she angled her head exposing her jugular to him. Even if it wasn’t intentional,
his vampyr interpreted it as
a sign of
trust. His fangs hit his lips
,
and he scraped them back and forth along her neck leaving red lines, but taking care
not to break her skin.
Her pulse visibly escalated
. He sucked on the rapid tap,
caught it between his teeth and flattened his tongue over
the
steady thud, relishing the feel
against his
over-
sensitive
senses
.

One of her hands came to rest on his hip. The other cupped the back of his head. She
seemed to understand his need
to claim her like this
because she melted into the pose, her breathing steady as he inhaled her scent.

He and
Gabriel
would
always protect
her
.
Her
vulnerability
was un
acceptable to
them
.
How could he make her understand that?

Fingertips dragging down her spine, they traipsed through the cheeks of her ass and
teased across her pussy, wet and sticky from hers and Gabriel’s release.

He thrust two fingers into her.

“Maximus!”

“You want me
,
”
he said without releasing his hold on her pulse.

“Yes.” Her
husky voice had him pushing his fingers deep. She whimpered for him. “But I don’t
like it.”

Physically she liked it,
but
mentally, she was a bit reticent. “And Gabriel?”

“The same.”

His fingers plunged in and out of her
,
and she tilted her pelvis
back
to deepen his penetration. She ha
d no idea how natural she was at
sex. “Will you stop me from
t
aking you
once more
?”

“N-no.”

Just as Maximus suspected, she was incapable of resisting them as they were her.
The mating call was as impossible to
oppose
as her siren song.
A good thing since during the beginning of
any
mating, they’d be driven to
have sex
often
.

He released her throat, withdrew
his digits from her body
,
and lifted her onto the counter.
In the doorway, he spied Gabriel leaning against the doorjamb. The tiger nodded for
Maximus to proceed.
He
combed his fingers through her hair and kissed her before assisting her to lean back.

“Stay on your elbows and w
atch me
.” He captured her calf between his hands and guided her foot up to anchor on his
shoulder.

“W-what about Gabriel?”

“You want him here?”

“It feels wrong that he’s
not.”

A good sign their unmated female wanted them both even though she was angry
with
one.
Kissing her ankle, Maximus glanced at Gabriel. “What say you, Gabriel? You going to
join us?”

Sameya twisted enough so she could angle her head to get a glimpse of
the tiger
.

“I’m sorry,” he said as he ambled toward them. “I shouldn’t have bit you, Sameya.
I wasn’t thinking clearly.”

“Don’t do it again.” Gabriel stopped on the other side of the island and wrapped his
arms around her waist, nuzzling his face against her neck.

“I still get to bit
e
, but I promise not to mark unless you give me permission.” A vampyr bite was different
than a shifter
’
s
. The only time a shifter breed bit was to give the mating mark
…or to reclaim his partner
.

“Make sure you don’t mark me, Maximus.” Sameya lifted an
arm and cupped the back of the tiger’s head. “I have no idea why I’m forgiving you
so easily
, Gabriel
. But I don’t want to be angry with you.”

Gabriel lifted his head enough to peer
at
her face. “You’re vulnerability is our problem, too.”
How long had he been listening to their conversation?
The tiger rubbed his nose against hers. “To lose you
would
kill us both.”

“You don’t know me well
enough to feel that way
.” She bit her bottom lip as Gabriel inched Maximus’
s
black shirt upward, exposing her belly.

Maximus captured her face between his hands and stared into her eyes.
“
Our souls are connected, we would be devastated to lose you. And if you think walking
away from us in a month is going to be easy, you’re
deluding
yourself
.”

“We will make it as hard on you as possible.” Gabriel flicked a finger over one of
her
cotton-covered
nipples. “We won’t play fair.”

“Not when we’re playing for keeps.” Maximus lifted her off the counter
,
and she wrapped her legs around his waist. “Gabriel can’t assist
very well
from across the counter.
Will you bring the strawberries, Gabriel?
”

Maximus
carried her to the table and placed her on it.
With a hand on her back, h
e
slowly guided her to lie back. Once she
lay
flat, with her butt on the edge of the surface, he clamped her arms over her head
and held them there with a hand on her wrists.