The Fairy Tales Collection (18 page)

Nearly an hour later she wandered down the
hallway.  Duncan was surprisingly neat for a bachelor and she wondered why he
even wanted a weekly cleaning service.  He seemed to pick up after himself and
his home wasn’t that large.  Expensive furnishings though, she thought distractedly. 
The man had good taste, that was obvious.

There were three closed doors in the
hallway and she tried the first one.  It was locked and she shrugged and moved
on to the second.  This one revealed a bathroom and it took her less than
twenty minutes to clean it.  Swiping the sink one last time, she headed toward
the final door.  This one led to his bedroom and her heart sped up when she
stared at his rumpled sheets and the pair of jeans lying crumpled on the floor.

“Keep it together, Ella,” she muttered to
herself.  She took a quick peek in his closet, stopping herself from actually
sniffing the neat rows of clothing that hung on the metal rod before dusting
the nightstand and the top of the dresser.  There was a picture of Duncan and
his parents sitting on the dresser and she picked it up, tracing her finger
over Duncan’s face before returning it to its spot.  She picked up his jeans
and laid them neatly on the bed.  She noticed that they were covered in smears
of different coloured paint, then turned to sweep and mop the hardwood.

The door to the master bathroom was open
and a grin crossed her face when she entered the small room.  As neat and tidy
as the rest of his house was, here was actual evidence that Duncan was a
bachelor.  Blobs of toothpaste and shaving cream were in the sink.  A pair of
his briefs and a couple of towels were on the floor and the mirror over the
sink had water spots all over it.

An image of Duncan shaving, maybe standing
there naked as he waited for the shower to heat, went through her and her
nipples hardened immediately.  She sighed and returned to the bedroom to pick
up her bucket of cleaning supplies.  Duncan’s house was her last house of the
day and she really shouldn’t linger.  She wasn’t sure what time he would be
finished playing basketball but she had no wish to run into him.  What if - her
stomach churned with jealousy - Ana was with him?  She sighed and pushed the
image of Ana in Duncan’s bed out of her head before starting to clean the
bathroom.

* * *

Duncan tossed his keys on the hallway table
before kicking off his shoes.  He stopped in the kitchen for a drink of water
and then jogged to his bedroom.  Basketball at the rec center had been a damn
nightmare.  Ella’s stepsister, Ana, had shown up in a skin-tight red dress that
left nothing to the imagination.  His teammates had been stupidly distracted by
her but he had ignored her grimly.  He’d even slipped out the back door of the
locker room, hoping to avoid her, but she had been waiting for him at his car. 
His polite smile had turned into a grimace when she had pressed her body
against his and asked him to go for drinks.  At his polite but firm refusal,
she had pouted like a little girl – God, why did so many women think that was
attractive – and then asked him to go to the Centennial Celebration with her.

He had nearly laughed in her face,
swallowing it down at the last moment, as she had rubbed her hand across his
chest.  At his second refusal, a look of frustration mixed with anger had
crossed her face and he had mumbled a quick goodbye before sliding into his
truck.  She had still been standing in the parking lot, looking more than a
little shocked at his quick exit when he had pulled onto the street.

He pulled his t-shirt over his head and
dropped it into the laundry basket.  He couldn’t get Ella Cinders out of his
head and if he had to listen to his lion grumble at him one more time to claim
her, he would go mad.  He shouldn’t have ignored her text this morning.  She
really had nothing to apologize for but he was so worked up that he probably
would have tried to get her to sext with him if he had returned her text.  He
literally had no self-control when it came to her.

There was a noise in the bathroom and he
froze in the process of pulling off his gym shorts.  His lion roared happily
when Ella wandered out of the bathroom, tugging a pair of rubber gloves off her
hands and carrying a bucket of cleaning supplies.

She was wearing her red work shirt with a
pair of worn jeans and – holy fucking hell – her long blonde hair hung in two
neat braids down her back.  At the sight of those braids his control snapped
like a twig and his lion pushed to the front.

“Duncan?  I – I thought you were playing
basketball.”  Ella stared at the man standing in the middle of the bedroom.  He
was wearing nothing but a pair of gym shorts and she studied his lean body as
lust danced to life in her belly.  He made a low growl.  Her pussy throbbed at
the sound as he stalked toward her.

“Duncan,” she whispered as he pulled the
bucket of cleaning supplies from her hand and threw them on the floor.

“Mine,” he said and yanked her into his
embrace.  He kissed her hotly as the purring started and she put her hands
against his chest.  She meant to push him away, meant to tell him that they
couldn’t do this, but at the feel of his warm skin, she moaned and threw her
arms around him.  They kissed eagerly, their tongues battling for control
before he tore his mouth away and grabbed the front of her shirt.  He ripped it
in half and yanked it down her arms before fumbling for the clasp of her bra. 
He released it and her bra was gone before she could even blink.

He tore at the button on her jeans and then
raked them, along with her panties, down her legs.  When she was naked, he made
a low growl of approval before picking her up and carrying her to the bed.  He
dropped her roughly onto the mattress and when he shoved down his shorts, she
stared eagerly at his cock.  It was erect and standing straight up from his
body, the tip of it brushing against his lower abdomen.  Wetness flooded her
pussy as he ripped open the nightstand drawer and grabbed a condom.  He rolled
it on hurriedly and she lifted herself to her elbows as he placed his hands on
her knees.

“Open,” he growled.

She spread her legs immediately and he took
one quick glance at her glistening sex before pushing his lean body between her
thighs.  The head of his cock bumped against her clit, she cried out, and then
he was sliding into her tight entrance.  She threw her head back and moaned,
nothing had ever felt so good, so right, as the feel of his cock stretching her
inner walls to the limit.  She moaned repeatedly as he pushed again until he
was buried completely inside of her.

“Fuck!”  Desperation coloured his voice as
he propped himself up on his hands above her.  “Fuck, Ella I can’t wait.”

“Don’t,” she panted.  “I’m good.”

She slid her hand between their bodies and
rubbed at her clit as he thrust back and forth.  Her pussy tightened around him
and he muttered another curse before moving in hard and furious strokes.  She
pressed her other hand against his chest, feeling the reverberation in her hand
as his purring started.

He thrust and retreated, their hips
slapping together in a quick rhythm as her pussy sucked eagerly at his cock. 
She caressed her clit, pinched it lightly with her fingers and then rubbed it
again as his purring became deafening.  His eyes glowed bright yellow and a
heavy beard covered his lower jaw.  She touched the coarse hair and he turned
his head and captured her fingers in his mouth, sucking heavily on them as he
fucked her roughly.

She made a sudden cry, her fingers slowing
to a stop against her clit and her body shuddered as her orgasm rushed through
her.  He pumped furiously back and forth and then with a roar that brought forth
images of a jungle cat, he climaxed.  She squeezed her legs around his hips and
dug her nails into his back as he jerked and trembled and moaned above her
before collapsing.

She rubbed his back as he licked her neck
repeatedly and listened to the sound of his purring.  She loved that sound, she
realized with soft wonderment, and when it began to die out, she stroked her
fingers through his thick, blond hair and smiled when the purring immediately
began again.  He rolled off of her and she smiled briefly at him as she mourned
both the loss of his cock and his body. 

“I’m sorry,” he said.

“For what?”

“For being so rough, so impatient,” he
said.  “Plus I kind of smell.”

She laughed softly.  “I was impatient too
and I smell like cleaning supplies.”

“I like your scent,” he said.

She sat up on the side of the bed, knowing
she needed to leave but not wanting to.  He sat up beside her and tugged
lightly on one braid.  “I like your braids.”

“Thank you,” she said quietly.  “I guess I
should probably get going.”

He cupped her face and turned it toward his
before pressing a gentle kiss against her mouth.  “Stay the night with me,
Ella.”

Happiness flooded through her.  “Ok.”

“Really?”  His grin lit up the room.

“Really, really,” she said.  “But you’ll
have to feed me at some point.  I’m starving.”

He laughed and kissed her again.  “I can do
that.”

“Ella, you don’t have to do this.”

“I want to,” she said as she hopped out of
Duncan’s bed.  He had ordered them pizza for dinner and she had shamelessly
eaten three pieces.  She hadn’t had much of an appetite for the last few days
but apparently sex with Duncan had brought it roaring back to life.  She’d
watched in amazement as he polished off the rest of the large pizza.

“How on earth do you stay that lean?”  She’d
finally asked.

He had shrugged and patted his stomach. 
“Good metabolism and I play a lot of sports.”

Duncan grabbed her hand as she reached for
her pants.  She had borrowed one of Duncan’s shirts but her massage supplies
were in the car and she couldn’t very well go outside in just his shirt.

“Where are you going?”

“I’ve got my massage oil in the car.  I
worked on Mrs. Wilkens this morning before I started cleaning houses.”

“You really don’t have to give me a
massage, Ella,” Duncan said again.  “There was nothing wrong with the first
one.”

She laughed.  “You were so tense it was
like torture.  Let me try again, Duncan, please.”

He grinned at her.  “Okay but you don’t
need to go to your car.”  He reached into the nightstand and grabbed a bottle
before tossing it to her.

She studied the label before arching her
eyebrow at him.  “Why do you have edible cherry flavoured massage oil in your
nightstand?”

“Why do you think, sweetheart,” he said
without a hint of shame.

“It’s half-empty.”

“I masturbate a lot?”

She burst into laughter before patting him
on the thigh.  “Roll onto your stomach.”

He pulled off his shorts and tossed them
over the bed before smiling at her.  “Take off your shirt.”

“Why?”

“I’m going to be honest with you – when I
booked that first massage session, I might have been holding out hope that it
would be in your bed and you would be straddling me naked,” he said.

She laughed again before whipping off his
shirt and striking a pose. “Well, tonight’s your lucky night then, handsome. 
Better?”

“Sweetheart, you have no idea,” he
breathed.  Already his cock was starting to stiffen and she gave him a look of
disapproval.

“You need to behave, Duncan.”

He grinned at her before flipping to his
stomach.  “Yes, ma’am.”

She straddled him and poured some oil on
her hands before rubbing his shoulders.  He groaned happily and she smiled a
little as she massaged and kneaded the large muscles in his back.  When she
rubbed his lower back, he groaned loudly and his pelvis pressed into the bed.

“Fuck, that feels amazing.”

“Good,” she said.  She tried to ignore the
way her pussy was dampening as she stroked and worked the muscles.  He had some
tight muscles, especially in his upper back and she worked them until they were
loose and pliant under her hands.

She scooted her body down to his thighs and
admired his ass for a moment before slapping it lightly.  “Turn over, Duncan.”

She lifted herself up and he moved to his
back.  His eyes were closed and a look of bliss was on his face.  Smiling to
herself, she rubbed his chest for a few minutes before pinching one flat
nipple.  He grunted and his eyes flew open.  His gaze immediately latched onto
her breasts and he reached out and cupped her left one, his thumb rubbing at
her pebbled nipple.

“Behave,” she reminded him before pushing
his hand away.

His cock was standing straight up between
them and he took her hands and pushed them toward it.

“Please, sweetheart,” he said in a low
voice.

“Therapeutic massage, Mr. Gillis,
remember?”  She said tartly.

He scowled at her and she grinned before
rubbing his ab muscles.  Fuck, he had an amazing body.  He moved restlessly
beneath her and tried to cup her breasts again.  With a teasing grin, she
pushed his hands away and traced his v-line with her fingers.  It made him jerk
and moan loudly and he clenched his hands around the sheet.

“You’re killing me, sweetheart.”

“This is supposed to be relaxing you,” she
said teasingly.

His muttered curse turned into a loud moan
when she gripped his cock with her oil-slicked fingers and stroked firmly.

“Oh shit, yes,” he sighed happily as he
arched his pelvis into her hand.  She wiggled back a little more and continued
to stroke him with her hand.  His hips rose and fell as his eyes closed and his
hands gripped her thighs.

“Do you like this, Duncan?”  She asked
softly.

“Very much,” he replied hoarsely. 

She bent and licked the head of his cock. 
He made a decidedly unmanly-like yelp of pleasure and thrust his hips upwards. 
She smiled at him and he reached down and wrapped a hand around each of her braids. 
He tugged firmly, guiding her mouth to his cock, and she slid her mouth around
his cock and sucked.

He moaned her name as she rubbed the base
of his cock with hard strokes and bobbed her head up and down.  The combination
of cherry and his own personal taste was intoxicating, and his soft groans of
pleasure made her pussy throb.  She traced his thighs with her fingers before
gently cupping his balls.  She licked the length of his cock and then sucked on
the head before pressing firmly on the smooth spot just behind his balls.  He
cried out, his body arching and his hands tightening painfully in her braids,
as precum coated her mouth.

“Ella, please!”  He twisted and squirmed
beneath her and groaned in dismay when she released him and straightened.

“No!”  He growled and she laughed as she
used both hands to stroke his dick.

“Something wrong, handsome?”

“Don’t stop,” he muttered.  “Please.”

“I like it when you beg,” she said.

“Please,” he said again, “Please don’t
stop.”

She stroked his abdomen before leaning over
and opening the nightstand drawer.  She smiled in triumph and pulled out the
condom.

“Sweetheart,” he rasped again, “please.”

“I want to fuck you,” she said with a sweet
little smile.  “Is that a problem?”

His hands latched onto her hips and he thrust
against her.  “God, no.”

Her hands were covered in oil and he
grunted in frustration when she couldn’t rip open the foil.  “Give it to me.”

He ripped it open and she carefully rolled
the condom onto his cock, spending a little longer than necessary smoothing it
down, and he growled at her. 

“No growling,” she chastised before giving
his cock a hard squeeze.  It never occurred to her that admonishing him not to
growl was more than a little odd.  Already the purring, the growling, the way
his eyes lightened to yellow seemed almost normal to her.  They were a part of
who Duncan was and everything about him fascinated her.

She crouched over him, gripping his cock
and guiding it into her pussy.  She was very wet and as she sank to her knees,
sheathing him entirely within her, they both moaned.  He started to purr
immediately and she leaned over and brushed her breast against his mouth.  He
sucked her nipple into his mouth, laving it with his tongue before biting it
gently.  She cried out, her hands sinking into his hair and clutching tightly
as he cupped both her breasts and kneaded them roughly before sucking on first
one nipple and then the other.  His hips were thrusting against her in short,
hard strokes and she straightened and rubbed his hard chest. 

He raised his legs and rasped, “Put your
hands on my knees.”

She did as he asked and he stared at her
naked body for a long moment.  She would have been embarrassed if the desire,
the need for her, hadn’t been so obvious in his gaze.

“Ride me,” he said hoarsely.

Using his knees for leverage, her back
arching, she rode him slowly.  His eyes were glued to her pussy and he purred
loudly before saying, “You have no fucking idea how good your pussy looks
sliding up and down my cock, sweetheart.”

She cried out when his fingers traced the
soft blonde curls at the top of her sex before moving lower.  His thumb
massaged her clit and she jerked against him, bringing a moan of pleasure from
his throat.

“That’s good,” he breathed.  “Squeeze me
again, sweetheart.”

She concentrated on squeezing him as she
moved up and down and he rumbled his approval before tugging on her clit.  She
cried out with pleasure and rode him harder as he rubbed her clit firmly. 

Her orgasm was starting, waves of
breathtaking delight that started in her throbbing pussy and went crashing down
her legs and she screamed breathlessly.  “Duncan, I’m going to come!”

He pinched her clit again in reply and she
made another soft shriek as she rode him furiously to her climax.  He sat up
abruptly, throwing his arms around her waist and thrusting his hips as he
kissed her hard on the mouth.  She could feel his purring reverberating against
her breasts, the vibration of his chest making her nipples tingle with
pleasure, and she clung to him as he pumped furiously into her.  He threw his
head back and shouted her name as he came, and she rubbed his back soothingly
when he buried his face against her throat and panted harshly.

With a soft groan he collapsed on his back,
dragging her down with him.  She tried to move and he shook his head, “No, stay
right where you are.”

She rested her head on his chest, listening
to his purring as his cock softened within her and his warm hands traced
circles on her naked back.

“Hey, Duncan?”

“Yeah?”

“The sex is really good with us, isn’t it?”

“Yes.  Best sex of my life, sweetheart.”

She raised her head and gave him a small
grin.  “I bet you say that to all the girls.”

He stared solemnly at her.  “No, I don’t.”

His look of intensity was making her feel
weird and she stroked his fingers through his thick hair.  He immediately began
to purr and she smiled again.  “Do you always purr during sex?”

The low rumble of his purr cut out and he
gave her an uncomfortable look.  “I – I don’t purr, Ella.”

She laughed.  “Yes, you do.” 

She touched him again, petting him like he
was a cat and grinned delightedly when she was rewarded by the now-familiar
purring.  “See.  You’re like a big old kitty-cat.”

He cleared his throat and looked away. 
“It’s not purring.  It’s just a – a sound I can make, that’s all.”

“How do you do it?”

He shook his head. “I don’t know.  It’s not
that big of a deal.  Don’t make it into a thing.”

She rolled her eyes.  “I’m not making it
into a thing, Duncan.  I’m just curious.  I like it.”

Duncan could feel himself blushing as Ella
studied him and he gave her a tentative smile.  “You do?”

She nodded and rested her cheek on his
chest.  She rubbed his side and hip and he was helpless to stop the purring. 
Fuck, at this point all she had to do was look at him and he had the urge to
purr. 

Knock it off
,
he snarled at his lion.  It ignored him and continued to purr happily.  It
wanted him to shift.  His lion wanted to feel Ella’s soft hands in his mane,
wanted to rub up against her and mark her and get her to scratch that one spot
on his back that he could never quite reach.

Shift so we can mark our mate
, his lion rumbled.

Have you gone insane!  I can’t shift in
front of her.  It’ll give her a damn heart attack!

His lion hissed angrily and Duncan’s eyes
widened when it tried to force the change.  His hands tightened around Ella’s
waist and he fought bitterly against the shift.  His lion roared and tried
again and he muttered a low curse as his body stiffened.

“Duncan?”  Ella tried to raise her head and
he cupped the back of her skull and kept it pressed against his chest.  He had
managed to successfully keep his fangs in check whenever he was around her but
they were out now, large and white and wickedly sharp, and he knew she’d be
terrified if she saw them.

“Duncan?  What’s wrong?  Your heart is
going a mile a minute,” she said worriedly.

“I’m fine,” he said. 

She wiggled against him.  “Let me up.”

He released her reluctantly as with an
incredible amount of willpower, he forced his lion back.  It snarled angrily
but retreated and his fangs retracted with a soft pop. 

“Your lip is bleeding,” Ella said.  She
touched his bottom lip and showed him the smear of blood on her finger.

“I must have bitten it,” he said.  “It’s
fine.”

He licked the blood away and she frowned at
him.  “Come to the bathroom and I’ll put a dab of antiseptic on it.  It’s quite
deep.”

* * *

“Someone sent me one of Samuel’s
paintings,” Ella said quietly.