Constant Cravings (14 page)

“And elves,” I added.

“Energy flows more freely in an organized space,” Liam said. “So by cleaning your house, we’re actually making you feel better.”

Come to think of it, I did feel better. I cleared away the empty takeout cartons and poured myself a glass of water.

“What are we going to do about Cernunnos? I mean, if he doesn’t want to be seen, how are we supposed to talk to him?”

“Easy,” Liam said, wiping his perfect lips. “We summon him.”

“What he means is
you
summon him,” the elf corrected.

“
Me?
What am I supposed to do?”

“Cernunnos is drawn to certain types of offerings,” Liam said.

“Like naked women,” Nym butted in.

“But I wouldn’t worry about that now,” the shaman finished. “Now you need to get a good night’s sleep.”

“What the fuck? I’m supposed to summon this guy naked
in this weather
and you expect me to be able to get a good night’s sleep?” Liam put his arm around me. “It’s nothing to worry about, really. As for the good night’s sleep, I would be more than glad to help with that.”

“I think that’s my cue to say good night,” Nym said. “Unless you want me to—”

“Good night, Nym,” I said, cutting him off.

“Well, that answers my question.”

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He left, seeming unfazed by my reply, and kissed us both on the cheek before departing.

I turned back to Liam and despite my exhaustion found my desire rekindled by just the sight of him.

“What did you have in mind?” I asked.

His smile was wicked. “A potion. One of the ones in that basket there.” He pointed to the basket he’d sent. “But I’m open to suggestions.” Even without shoes he towered over me as I moved closer. “I’m not sure what’s going on or if I’m in any danger. Are we safe here?” He reached for me and I opened the front of his robe.

“You are safe wherever I am. No harm will come to you in my presence.” After the way he handled those werewolves I no longer doubted Liam could protect me.

My fair skin seemed lightly tanned next to his as I ran my hand over his chest. I could feel his desire but any other emotions were out of reach. Liam had his shields in place once more.

“You could have easily blocked me from your feelings before, but you didn’t.

Why?”

“I saw no reason to hide; I wanted you to know.” Wanting me to know his feelings was one thing. By his silence it appeared that being ready to talk about them was another. I didn’t mind. I wasn’t ready to talk about what I felt for Liam either. To tell the truth, I was frightened too. I’d never started to fall for someone so fast or been afraid of hitting the ground so hard.

“What I told you before was true—I don’t mind a little craving. I enjoy the way needing you feels, the hunger that lies just beneath the surface when I look at you. I hope that doesn’t sound desperate.” It did sound kind of desperate to me, but Liam seemed to understand.

“Not at all. I know what you mean,” he said. “Ever since we met I seem to need you too.”

I pulled back enough to look up at him and was surprised to find his eyes full of both compassion and desire.

“It’s a little unnerving,” he said, a slow smile curling his lips. “I haven’t needed anyone for a very long time.”

“So why now? Why me?”

He moved closer, his lips hovering above mine as he replied, “I have no idea.” Liam kissed me and with the soft touch of his lips any remaining fear was forgotten. Rachel’s death and the possibility of summoning Cernunnos were barely more than a cobweb in the back of my mind as I ran my hands up and down Liam’s arms. I could feel the power flowing through him, not just the raw power of his body but his magic.

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Liam pulled me against him, lifting me so that I could wrap my legs around his waist. In a moment our kiss became a tangle of lips and teeth and tongue. I always felt a little lightheaded when he kissed me, and glanced at the floor to make sure his feet were still on the ground.

He walked over to the sofa and tossed me gently onto the cushions.

“Wait,” I panted as he ran one hand up my thigh. “I want to see you by the firelight, all of you.”

I’d seen him by the firelight before, but never completely naked. I watched as he moved gracefully toward the electric fireplace and turned up the flame. He flexed his right hand and a small purple spark floated above his palm.

“If we did this at my place, I could light the fire myself,” he said. “But here I think I might short-circuit something.”

He smiled and with a flick of his wrist the spark was gone.

“Does it frighten you?”

I suppose my lack of response could be taken that way. “No. I like it. As a matter of fact, I think a man who has the power to electrocute me is kind of sexy.” He raised a brow and his eyes ignited with purple flame. “The fact that I could or that I choose not to?”

My heart fluttered. “Both.”

His hair began to rise from his shoulders, almost like it was full of static electricity.

Liam moved back to me slowly and I was both frightened and aroused by the sight of him. There is much to be said for the aphrodisiac effects of danger and power. I was never afraid that Liam would hurt me, but I had no doubt that he could. Something about that turned me on.

His hair billowed about his shoulders as if it were blowing in the wind and his eyes sparked with electricity when he smiled.

“I want to press you back against that couch and bury myself inside you,” he said.

The deep rumble of his voice and the bluntness of his words made me instantly wet. I’d never had a lover who would talk to me the way Liam did.

Something inside me rose to the challenge of his words, even as I rose to my feet.

He reached for me and I took a step forward as I replied, “Who said you could be on top?”

His laughter was a sexy, wicked sound that seemed to wrap itself around me. I hungered for the feel of his body against mine and I was growing impatient. I reached out and pulled the sash on his robe. As it fell open I resisted the urge to look down and instead focused on his eyes. They had darkened to a deep, hypnotic plum and reminded me of the color of his bedsheets.

I pressed both my palms against his chest as he continued to look down at me, hungry and waiting. His skin practically burned into my hands and I knew it must be 83

Tracey H. Kitts

due to his magic, because it was cold in my apartment. I also noticed that his heart was racing. It fluttered beneath my palm like a wild thing captured.

I ran my hands up and over his shoulders, causing his robe to fall to the floor. His hair still crackled with electricity as I touched it tentatively with my fingertips. My touch seemed to soothe him, to tame the storm I saw in his eyes. Liam took a deep breath and everything changed. His hair became like silk in my hands and as the firelight played across his features I could no longer resist my desire to see the rest of him.

Even though I’d seen him naked before, the sight of his bare flesh in the firelight was breathtaking. He was beautiful in a way that words could not describe, though every time I saw him I tried. Every curve was where it should be, every chiseled feature was exquisite in its placement. I also noticed that though his cock was as impressive as ever, he was not yet aroused.

“You first this time,” he purred, answering my unspoken question.

I slid out of my robe and tossed it onto the chair by the fire. The shock of cold air against my skin reminded me I wasn’t wearing anything underneath. Still, the fire was warm and so was the look in Liam’s eyes. Having no fear of freezing, I kicked off my slippers as well.

He took a step forward but did not touch me.

He gestured toward himself and for an instant his power was once more evident, so much so that he glowed. “This is one of the reasons we do not often mingle with humans and why Oberon so strongly disapproves.”

“And why is that?”

He ran his hand down my throat to my collarbone and I trembled. “Because when I truly unleash my power you will be bound to me in a way only a potent spell could ever break.”

I looked up and felt myself falling into his eyes. “What about death?”

“Death cannot stop this,” he said. “It can only delay it for a while.” My throat went dry and I found it difficult to swallow before I finally gave voice to my biggest fear. “But I’m mortal. Someday I will die.”

“You don’t have to,” he said softly.

He trailed one hand across my breast and images came to mind, erotic thoughts like paintings in my head. My, Liam was creative.

“The bond I offer you is a sacred thing and you do not have to answer tonight, nor should you under the influence of my magic. Once everything is settled I will give you two weeks without me to decide.”

“You mean you plan to remove the craving?”

“It’s the only way to be sure. I don’t want to frighten you away with talk of forever.

But I do want to continue whatever it is we’ve started here. I’ll only do that if you want me. Just
me
. Not the magic in my touch, but the man behind it.” 84

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“I understand.” I really did. What he said made perfect sense. I was thrilled to hear we were in agreement. I wanted to continue whatever it was we’d started too.

One moment I was waiting for him to respond and the next I was in his arms. Liam trailed kisses down my throat before burying his face against my breasts. His lips wrapped around one nipple, pulling it gently between his teeth. I cried out and he asked, “Is that pain or pleasure?”

“Both, don’t stop.”

Even as my mouth went dry, I felt my pussy becoming wetter with his every touch.

He sucked harder, drawing more of my flesh into his mouth. I ran my fingers through his hair as I pressed him against me. I’d never wanted anyone so much. No touch had ever brought me so much pleasure.

I was so wet I could feel the juices running down my thighs. He moved slowly down my body, kissing each curve as he moved lower. When he finally knelt at my feet, Liam looked up at me. His eyes were still dark and something within their depths made me weak.

He continued to look at me as he ran one hand up my thigh and one long finger inside me. I moaned and threw back my head as his mouth claimed me. He pulled my flesh into his mouth, just as he had done with my breast, sucking until the point of pain, but not quite beyond the realm of pleasure.

His tongue found my clit and I growled, “Fuck yes.” With Liam there was no such thing as inhibition, no way to hold anything back, even if I’d had the desire. I wanted this so badly. I needed to be possessed by him
completely
. I craved his hot mouth on every inch of my skin, to feel his touch not just on my body but within my soul.

Liam lifted me from the floor with a hand on each side of my butt and lowered me onto the couch. His tongue never left my clit and now his rhythm grew faster. I ached to have him enter my body and I wouldn’t be satisfied until I felt him splitting me in two.

He lifted his head from between my legs and his body trembled.

“Liam,” I panted. “There are condoms in the drawer beside my bed.” I hated myself for the reality check, but part of me was just too damn practical to forget.

He smiled. “I’ll be right back.”

One good thing about a small apartment, he didn’t have far to go. As he came back toward me I said, “Let me do it.”

Liam knelt in front of me again and lowered his head to my breast as I stroked his cock, rolling the condom down.

“Damn.” Every time I touched him I was impressed.

He sucked harder on my nipple and I arched upward, pulling him closer. If he didn’t hurry up I was going to come and I wanted him inside me when that happened.

Liam spread my legs wider, pressing himself against me. I could feel his cock growing harder as he spread my labia. He began to slip inside me and I moaned, but he 85

Tracey H. Kitts

wouldn’t penetrate me fully. He moved to kiss my throat, licking across my pulse while he teased me. He moved slowly, only allowing about two inches to slip inside my soaking pussy. Then, just when I thought I couldn’t take any more, he thrust into me deeply and I screamed.

He grew still for a moment as he buried himself deep inside me. Then, slowly, he began to move. My back arched as I ground my hips against him, rising to meet his every thrust. It felt so good I cried as I dug my nails into the smooth skin of his back.

“Make me come,” I commanded.

With these words Liam pulled out almost completely. Next, he bent forward to kiss me and this time I
did
see a spark. The instant his lips touched mine he began to press back inside me and release like I had never known flooded my body. I felt my muscles spasm around him, gripping him, pulling his cock deeper inside me with a ferocity I had not expected.

He lifted his head and smiled, his sultry lips swollen from so many kisses. I pulled him to me regardless, plunging my tongue inside his mouth, mimicking what his body was doing to mine. I lifted my hips higher, wrapping my legs around him.

“Say my name,” I whispered hoarsely against his lips. “I want you to say my name when you come.”

He pulled my head back, wrapping my hair around his hand as he whispered,

“Luna,” against my lips.

Several minutes later after we’d both caught our breath, Liam spread some blankets in front of the fire. He sat on the floor and rested back against the couch. I sat beside him and smiled when he began to rub my back.

“How did you know I needed that?” I asked.

He laughed softly. “That was an awful lot of back arching you did.”

“All your fault,” I teased.

We stared into the flames for a few minutes and everything we’d talked about earlier came back to me.

“When we talked to Marco, you said you went back to The Courtyard. When did you go?”

“After I took you home that first night. I was hoping to find a fresh trail to follow.”

“No blood at all you said?”

“None. I’m sorry. The only thing that was obvious was where you’d been chased. I have your coat if you ever want it back. It’s been cleaned.”