Read The Moon, the Madness, and the Magic Online

Authors: Eliza March

Tags: #Menage a Trois (m/m/f), #Menage Amour, #Fiction, #Romance, #Adult, #Erotica, #Fantasy

The Moon, the Madness, and the Magic (7 page)

BOOK: The Moon, the Madness, and the Magic
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“Hmm. Surely, that would be difficult for one of his nature, but is that your true concern?”

“No. I’ve seen something different in him. Something I’ve never seen, something dark. Maybe unseelie, maybe something else. Could there be another beast inside him?”

“Hmm, another. Really? Unseelie? Maybe.” The crooked smile on Celia’s face seemed strange. She didn’t sound as surprised as Celeste thought she should be at her announcement. “Well, my darling, use what resources are at hand.” Celia turned to Celeste and smiled benignly then disappeared without even a poof.

“Bitch! What resources?” Celeste jumped off the bed. “That’s easy for you to say and poof outta here. What kind of aunt leaves her favorite niece when the going gets tough?”

Celeste actually stamped her feet.

“I hear you.”
Celia’s light laughter faded away. “
You are all my favorites. Try less subtlety.”

Less subtlety. What did that mean? Her aunt was useless, but “less subtle” was the equivalent of “more obvious,” wasn’t it?

Aggression might be a helpful tactic to use on Rourke. She didn’t have much time to skirt the issues, not if she was going to aid the new regent through his transition and hers. There was no time left for niceties.

Maybe Dane would understand and assist her when the crucial time came. As a geneticist, he could make a life’s study of this place. She knew she could convince
him
to stay. He liked her. Rourke was a different story. Once he discovered how he’d been deceived all his life, there would be no accounting for his reaction.

Chapter 7

Hot tub

Subtlety?
Had she seriously entertained the thought that being
less
assertive would work with Rourke? A virgin wasn’t exactly the sexually aggressive sort of woman he was used to. With someone like him, she might need even more than her glamour to get his full attention. Nothing less than
blatant
sexuality and her sensual succubus was going to work against a sharp mind like his.

Celeste paused outside her door, dropped her towel on the chair, and stepped into the hot tub adjoining her private garden. With a strong, magical, mental push, she invited him, all the while knowing he would have to come.

The pull between destined mates was alleged to be irresistible. It had already influenced her feelings. She prayed to the goddess it would be the same for him.

Earlier, leaving and closing the door behind her was one of the most difficult things she’d ever done. What should have been an easy turning away had been nearly impossible. With the scent of his distinct, masculine fragrance drawing her to him and the magic driving her urges to mate, she’d had to impose her sheer will against them. Once the door had blocked his scent, the horrible ache spreading through her soul eased to a hollow, empty feeling in the pit of her stomach.

The
longing
, that need between mates to bond, to be together always, stirred her basic instincts to go to him. She was already feeling the consequences of separation, and they’d barely even spoken. But the
voice
affected her, too, that ability mates had to sound-imprint to each other’s voices. He hadn’t said much, but he’d turned her insides to mush. She wondered how much stronger this mate bond would get between them after they actually touched? Or more?

The sudden image of their bodies wrapped around each other in a naked embrace caught her off guard. Her insides quaked with the effect. The
vision.
The ability to create a link between destined mates existed so that they could endure minor separations. The problem was that it was so real the mates actually physically experienced the sensations and emotions of the experience.

She closed her eyes and leaned her head back, letting the gift of vision sensually fill her mind. The skill linked all the senses between them, as if they were actually participating in the actions. She could see through his mind and he through hers.

The tiny air bubbles from the jets tickled her flesh, building the tension rising within her as her desire for him increased. Her body wanted him as much as his would want hers. Neither could deny this attraction between their inner beasts, no matter their human desires or choices.

A heated flush moved over her skin like the rising tide over a sandy beach. She sensed his presence before she barely opened her eyes and saw him. He’d come. Followed her here. Tracked her like a wolf would his mate.

Exhaling a long, slow breath, Celeste enjoyed a brief moment to study him beneath her lowered lids. His thighs were eye level, and so was the impressive bulge beneath his bathing suit. He was a magnificent male specimen, no matter the species. She risked lifting her gaze to follow the trail of dark hair up to the thatch covering his thickly muscled chest. Not too much, just enough hair to soften the hard planes of all that bulk. His pulse beat a strong tattoo at the base of his throat. The urge to lick him there and feed had her running her tongue across her lips. The pulse beat picked up.

His jaw clenched. She inhaled and let her eyes study his lips. God, he smelled delicious. Her mouth watered just thinking about kissing him, having those hard lips plundering hers. Her tongue swept the corner of her mouth, and she heard a low warning rumble. She dared to meet his eyes.

As she anxiously waited for him to say something or do something more, his wary contemplation worried her.

“I thought I saw you last night.” His pointed stare trapped hers. “You knew I had to come.” The words sounded like an accusation as much as a fierce refusal to succumb. Although hearing him admit his need filled her with hope.

“I wondered if you felt the urges, too.” Her words were like a breathless whisper. “After the way a glance from you made me feel last night, I hoped…” She didn’t want to elaborate since her own motives weren’t clear.

“It was you I saw, then? I saw someone, felt an inexplicable attraction to her, but she disappeared. I searched, but you hid.” His blatant accusation challenged her.

“I stayed in the shadows, but I think you sensed me.”

“You. Yes. I felt like I was looking for… How did you do that? Some new kind of perfume?”

“I didn’t do anything.” Her glamour shimmered, catching his attention.

The pulse at the juncture to his throat picked up a beat. He turned away and looked around. She followed his gaze, certain he was evaluating their privacy. The isolated deck was empty except for the two of them. He turned and stalked the area, fixated on the lock, and swiftly secured the gate.

Celeste didn’t miss the birthmark on his upper back. The dragon.
My God, what does this mean?
“I guess we aren’t sharing the hot tub with anyone else.” Good, they’d be alone.

“Nope, I don’t think so.” With the gate locked and the vine-covered trellis providing sufficient privacy from curious onlookers, he seemed satisfied to continue their conversation where she’d left off.

He turned those golden eyes back to her and admitted, “You may not have done anything, but there’s something about you. Just now, I started to go to the hot tub across the complex looking for you, but something directed me here instead.
You did that.
How is that possible?”

There was that hint of accusation in his tone again, as if she had a choice in all this. Anger with her predicament niggled at her. “I don’t understand the dynamics, but I’m drawn to you, too.”

She couldn’t tear her eyes from his or stop her body’s response to him any more than he could to hers. And damn it, the more she listened to his deep voice and that low pitch, the more the scent of her arousal increased. As her desire intensified, becoming even more obvious to him, it drew him to her as much as his scent locked her to him. The attraction was a circular trap, entwining them tighter with each passing moment.

Thank goodness they were alone, because despite his quiet presence, she knew just how much her scent affected him. She noted the evidence of his erection strained even harder inside his bathing trunks.

The heat burned her cheeks, and she shuddered when his eyes narrowed on her nipples. She didn’t have to look to know they were poking obviously against her thin, white bathing suit top. From his glare, he wasn’t happy with his reaction to her.

She squared her shoulders and raised her chin defiantly, daring him to accuse her of something else. But instead of the sarcastic words she was coming to expect, Rourke allowed a slow, sensuous smile to take over his expression before he gave her the full wolfish grin.

Now, he did look remarkably like the wolf she thought he was.

“Good,” he said and brushed the back of his hand over her pebbled nipple. “For a minute there, I thought I was the only one feeling like this. It’s good to know I’m not alone.”

“Would it make a difference if I told you I don’t always respond to my body’s demands?” She couldn’t resist goading him.

“No.” He sniffed the air. “Not at the moment.”

“Just no?” She expected the man to be arrogant. On one hand, it pissed her off just a little. On the other, arrogance seemed downright sexy on him. “Not now?”

“Well, part of me is relieved to know you’re discriminating…”

Her breasts ached for his touch, and her nipples tingled, waiting for more. “And…the other part?” She bit her lower lip, refusing to look at the
other
part.

He stepped into the tub and paused, his cock at her eye level, so long and thick she couldn’t miss the outline of his crown detailed through the material. “Guess.”

“Oh, I s-see.”

Rourke didn’t move, but his cock twitched beneath his shorts as he hardened. She studied his erection and realized she had to force her eyes away from the tempting bulge.

Her gaze rose, slowly, reluctantly. “You believe I can be persuaded?” she asked. Her eyes stopped at his neck. She dared not look at his eyes this time. Instead, maybe it was a mistake. She took in every detail of his broad shoulders. Next, her attention sank lower to his amazing chest. The thick muscles there were beautifully defined. She wanted to trace her fingers over them, to touch his tight male nipples, puckering under her scrutiny, tightly beaded and aroused. The dark hair sprinkling his chest trailed down his abdomen, slipping beneath the bathing suit he wore and pointed straight to the huge bulge. Yes, she wanted to touch him there, too. She inhaled.

“Good, then you get my intention.” He ran a hand across his tight abs and lowered them until he stopped the downward path and moved it to his hip.

Arrogant bastard.
She bit her lower lip to keep from moaning. “Hard to miss.”
Oh, God, no pun intended.

He chuckled and cupped his balls. “Tell me I haven’t misunderstood yours.”

She ran her tongue over her lips and swallowed hard. Her mouth was so dry she did it again. What would touching him feel like? What would tasting him be like? His cock jerked under her scrutiny.

She was too distracted by her own imagination to see his reaction to her until he touched her face.

“Answer me. Have I misread you?” He tilted her chin up and looked deep into her eyes as if searching there for answers to all his questions.

Not realizing she’d been holding her breath, she exhaled. Her voice sounded different, raspy, when she finally answered. “No.”

He tilted his head. His gaze dropped to her mouth, and he brushed his thumb across her lower lip, forcing her to part her lips slightly. “Good.”

The temperature in the hot tub suddenly felt like it soared ten degrees, melting her from the inside out. Her pussy clenched. Her inner core anxiously wept the fluid heat, readying her feminine folds for him. Oh, how she needed his lips on hers, his mouth and hands roaming over her skin, exploring her body.

He leaned down and licked her lower lip, nipped at it, and brushed his lips over hers as if he’d read her mind. “I don’t know why I’m so desperate to be inside you, but I feel like I’ll die if I don’t get to bury myself in your hot, wet core.”

He pulled her up and out of the water, drawing her body against his. The feel of his silken skin over steeled muscle tantalized her as he pressed her body against his, grinding her along his raging erection.

The sound he made, low, deep, and sexual, was one of pleasure and pain, reminding her of a delight she’d never known. She wanted to be naked, needed the skin-to-skin contact, longed for his caress, and desperately wanted his hard length intimately pressed to her mound. When Rourke accommodated her last wish, she sighed, resigned to her mission. This act might be worth the pain of a broken heart should he reject her.

More hot fluid seeped between her thighs, preparing her body to accept him as they sank into the water, his big body looming over hers.

“I want to taste every inch of you, eat your pussy until you scream my name.” His words made her hungry.

Oh, yes.
She wanted that, too.
She closed her eyes and leaned her head back, exposing her neck. He kissed his way down to her shoulder and cupped her breast with his hand, teasing her nipple through the thin material. He wrenched the top of her bathing suit down, exposing her nipple to the air, and then he bent in to lick, nibble, and suckle.

Oh, yes, this pleasure may be worth any pain.

BOOK: The Moon, the Madness, and the Magic
6.17Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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