The Burning Bush (41 page)

He stared at me, saying nothing with closed fists planted against his sides. His cords didn’t glow. I felt nothing through our bond, none of his emotions. His whole stance made me unsure of how to approach him. He’d lost his sister, the only family member that had loved and accepted him.

How should I go to him? What should I say? Will he want me to pretend it didn’t happen? Or does he need me to listen?

The other thing that made me nervous was that Zulu had taken control of his body earlier than expected. When the tragedy was really horrific, most Shifters remained within themselves for weeks, sometimes months. I hadn’t expected Zulu to be back for a month at least.

When MeShack’s mom died, MeShack gave control to his cheetah. He’d come back to me after a few hours, but by the next morning he was gone again, remaining inside himself for two weeks. I’d been worried for MeShack, so I researched the whole process of Shifters giving up control.

What I learned was that, because Shifters shared two separate minds within one body, tragedy and stressful situations impacted Shifters more than other Supes. Both minds needed time to recover from the trauma. So when a Shifter went into himself, he was allowing both of his minds to heal. Without this downtime, both minds would go into overdrive from the stress of day-to-day activities and having to control their body. There’d been cases where Shifters’ sanities had deteriorated to the point where they went on killing sprees.

Maybe Zulu is different since he’s half Fairy.

I walked forward at a steady pace. “Zulu, are you back?”

“I’ve been waiting all day just to touch you for a few seconds,” he whispered.

I couldn’t stop myself. I sped up, needing to hold him. “I’m here now.”

When I reached him, he seized my waist and buried his head in my neck, kissing and sucking my skin. That sandalwood fragrance embraced me, instantly filling me with a hunger that I’d been ignoring all day.
Damn, I missed him.

“Did my beast behave?” he asked after several delicious seconds.

I wrapped my arms around his neck. “Have you not seen the nest he made out of my comic books?”

“Well, besides that.” He gently bit the curve of my neck.

“He’s a bit of a know-it-all, but I do like him.” I rubbed Zulu’s silky, short hair with my fingers. “I miss your locks, but you still look gorgeous.”

He let go of my waist, opened my door, and dragged me into my dark bedroom. “When I came back this afternoon, I just wanted to cut something so I attacked my locks.”

“Okay,” I said slowly. “And how long are you back for?”

“Does it matter?” Zulu guided me to my bed.

“Of course it matters! Yes, baby. You need time to heal.” I climbed out of his grip. “You can stay for an hour, but then you have to give your body back over to your beast.”

“Do I, now?” He captured me before I could move out of the way, lifted me up, and carried me over to my bed. “And what if I have things I want to do that will take longer than an hour?”

“Like?” I directed fire to the candles spread around my room. The Prime’s nest still sat up on the wall. “What’s going to take more than an hour?”

“Making love to you.” He laid me down on the bed, pressing his lips to mine. The mattress shifted under us as he positioned himself next to me. His tongue circled mine in a way that captured my breath. His fingers trailed through my dreadlocks, spreading them around the pillow. When his lips left, I had to force myself not to beg for their return.

“I’m staying for a few days.” His hands went under my shirt. His fingertips traced the outline of my belly button. “I have three things I want to do. Once that’s done, I’ll give the Prime control.”

Exhaling, I sat up and moved his fingers away. “No. A few days could hurt your body and, more importantly, your mind.”

“Stop worrying.” He lifted my shirt up and exposed my violet bra. “And don’t move my hands away again.”

Ignoring his order, I shoved his fingers to the side and yanked my shirt back down. “What are the three things you need to do?”

He snarled. His cords glowed a raging white, but no emotion traveled through our bond. Unfazed by his anger, I targeted him with my eyes. “Just tell me what you have to do. And by the way, why can’t I feel your emotions through our bond?”

“Because I don’t want you to feel my emotions.”

“So you can guard them?” I pursed my lips. “How long have you been able to do that?’

“What I want right now is to make love to you and not discuss the cords or giving my beast control.” His hand went to my thigh and caressed each inch as it traveled to my zipper. “Let’s talk about that afterward.”

He unbuttoned my jeans.

“Zulu, what do you have to do?”

His lips lowered into a frown as he directed his attention away from my zipper and back to my eyes. “The first thing is to spend the rest of my night tasting you. The second is to kill Dante tomorrow.”

“And the third?” I asked. He went quiet. I sighed. “Zulu, all of that is going to take more than a few days.”

“Especially if you keep stopping me from taking your clothes off,” he mumbled, sliding his hands into the waist of my jeans. His fingertips touched the top of my panties, and then went inside them, right where I was hungry for him the most. An even more intense yearning emerged in every place his fingers made contact.

“Don’t make me beg to take your shirt off,” he whispered in a hoarse voice. His hands massaged me, slipping up, down, and around the swelling bud between my thighs. My insides clenched in response.

“No.” I scooted an inch away, but couldn’t escape his hand. “We should talk first.”

He seized the swollen bud between two fingers, tenderly fondling and gently tugging it until I moistened around his satiny touch. A ragged moan escaped my lips.

“I love that sound,” he whispered. “I want to hear only that sound for the next four hours.”

He fixed his eyes on the place his hand was. “Please take your shirt off.”

“Damn you.” I snatched my shirt up, quickly taking it off. All worries had departed, at least for that moment.

“Oh, baby.” I rotated my hips into his moist hand. My body felt like a balloon slowly filling to a point where I would explode. His eyes shifted to my bra.

“Is my name still where I put it?” he asked with a wicked grin.

“I don’t remember. I’ve been pretty busy today.” I spread my legs. “Maybe you should check.”

His fingers entered, gliding inside me with an ease that only he could execute. I let out a small gasp.

“Please get rid of that bra.” His voice sounded husky, as if his throat had been rubbed raw.

I pulled my bra off with both hands, pulling it up my arms and over my head, not even attempting to undo it in the back. And before I could throw the bra away, his moist tongue began licking my left nipple. It stiffened under each wet stroke. I cried out with pleasure and lay back on the bed.

He followed me, diving between my breasts, greedily devouring each one with his mouth, and giving each nipple its own turn at his succulent attention. His hand left my panties, and there was an aching throbbing where his finger used to be. The ripping of fabric echoed in the room as Zulu tore my jeans from my legs.

“I’m so selfish. I should be forcing you to go back,” I said as he began taking off his jogging pants. I sat up. My hands went to his chest. It felt so hard, satin skin over taut muscle.

“It’s not selfishness. It’s mercy. You have no idea how much I thought about you these past hours.” He finished taking his pants off as I slid my hands down the stiff rows of muscle enfolding his waist. The ridges seemed more defined, more etched out and sculpted.

Is he bigger?

“What did you do while you gave the Prime control, sit-ups?” I joked.

“Pretty much. I just worked out in the darkness.” He pinched my nipples. “Now, less talking and more moaning.”

I waved his hands away. “You’re supposed to be meditating in silence, not exercising or thinking about anything.”

“I couldn’t stop thinking about you.” He clutched my waist and laid me back down. “And when your face wasn’t in my mind, it was Cassie’s or Dante’s.”

“That’s not what you’re supposed to be doing.”

He stopped my talking with a kiss as he climbed on top of me, separating my legs with his hands. When he moved his lips, I breathed his scent into me, drowning in sandalwood. His hands caressed my inner thigh. Sparks of pleasure swirled to my core. His fingers teased me, bringing a rush of sensations to the bundle of nerves between my thighs.

“I couldn’t sense you through our bond.” He moved my legs open wider. “I don’t like not being able to feel you.”

“We don’t have a full claim.” I gasped as his finger slipped back inside me. Teasing me, he took it away again.

“That’s the third thing I want to do, finish my claim.” With hooded eyes, he got above me, hovering over my body as I writhed with need and desire. His erection targeted me, but he didn’t move.

“Can I finish my claim?” He held himself above me. The muscles on his arm bulged, straining as they held his weight. His cords glowed different colors. They unwound from his skin. Hues of red, blue, purple, and yellow illuminated the space around us. The cords swayed back and forth and then slowly rubbed against me.

I shivered at his magic. My arousal increased to a maddening height. Licking my lips, I asked, “And if I say no to finishing the claim, we won’t have sex? We’ll just stop and go to sleep?”

“Hell, no.” A rumble emitted from his chest. His eyes shifted to black. He lowered himself and pierced me with all of him, filling and stretching me until I cried, “Please don’t stop!”

“Never,” he said with a fierce voice. My hands went up to his back, digging my nails into his skin as he moved with my body’s tempo. I wrapped my legs around his waist, relishing his long thickness. My entire body burst into a fiery yearning.

“I love you so much,” he whispered, landing kisses on my breasts and face. The headboard crashed against the wall.

“I love you too.” My heartbeats sped up.

He lifted my body, continuing to thrust inside me. “I may never go back.”

I moved my arms to the top of his shoulders as he flipped us over. He grabbed my hips and guided me back and forth onto him. Crying out his name, I let my head fall back and rocked into him. My dreadlocks tapped against my back. I wished we could just stay like this forever, never ending, never letting go of each other. But we would have to stop eventually. He had to give his beast control.

“Finish the claim,” I whispered, not completely sure if it was the correct thing to do, but it just felt right. “I want you to feel me when you go back.”

He stopped and held me tighter to him. Our eyes met.

“Are you sure?” he asked as his body trembled under me.

“Yes.”

“I will never hurt you.” His cords lifted from his arms. “Everything I own and receive is yours. Everything I am, will be, and was, is yours to do with as you want.”

My mouth dropped open as tears fell from his eyes. I held on to him, speechless. His cords swirled around my skin, tantalizing my cells with sparkling Fairy magic. His lips went to my breasts, licking and sucking. His enchanted cords penetrated my flesh and I screamed in pure pleasure, as I grinded into him. “Zulu!”

A blinding, enchanted light swarmed around us as my orgasm crashed into me. His Fairy magic was cool and smelled of mint and something sweet. Sparkles of silver exploded against my body. His magic swam inside me, making my body his own, and bringing a chilliness that froze my core’s heat. Shuddering, I tightened my hold on him, never wanting to let go as I rode his magical waves.

“I am yours, and you are mine forever.”

“Forever,” I agreed as a massive sphere of white light enveloped us, lifting our bodies high above the bed. We floated in the brightness. I gasped, gazing down at the bed below us. My body shivered in fear.

“Don’t worry.” Zulu combed his fingers through my locks. “I’ve got you, baby.”

The light brightened unnaturally, blinding me. I shut my eyes tighter.

“I’m scared,” I said with quivering lips, seeing light from behind my eyelids.

“Do you still feel me inside you?” He thrust within me.

“Yes.”

“Focus only on that.”

And I did. I centered all my attention on each passionate, relentless stroke. His cords stung a little as they began gently slicing and restitching my arms, but I paid the tiny bit of pain no mind. There were so many other things to focus on as I savored Zulu’s lips, his hands squeezing me, and his hard length bringing me to earth-shaking orgasms, one after another.

There was no way I was ever letting go of this man.