Hunter: Faction 10: The Isa Fae Collection Page 10

  Her breasts rose and fell with each of her shallow breaths. Her deep rose nipples stood tight, and his mouth watered.

  As he stood frozen at the sight of her, she let go of him and reached up to pull the shirt from her shoulders. Then, releasing the material, it dropped to a mound around her feet.

  She undid the pants, nudged them over her hips, and they quickly joined the shirt on the ground, leaving her in only a pair or white lace panties.

  “You are so fucking beautiful,” he said reverently, then winced at his word choice. Yet, it didn’t seem to faze her. She smiled, and he crushed his mouth to hers again.

  She wrapped her arms around him, and he grabbed her hips, pulling her tightly against him. He curled his hands around to cup the cheeks of her ass, giving them a firm squeeze as he pushed his groin against her. He moaned at the pressure of her against his cock.

  His fingers slid between her ass cheeks, and she dipped slightly to let her legs spread enough for him to find the dampness of her panties.

  Her excited gasps drove him on, and he rubbed the hidden nub he found. She swayed and held him tighter, her fingernails digging in to his back.

  Not wanting to push her too fast, he withdrew his fingers, giving her a moment to steady herself before letting go of her.

  “Don’t go,” she demanded.

  “I’m not going anywhere,” he reassured her. He unzipped his jeans and pushed them off, leaving them with her clothes on the floor.

  His erection was clearly outlined as it strained against his briefs. Thora reached out and curled her hand around him. His hips surged at the touch, and a drop of precum created a wet spot on his briefs.

  He stepped closer, forcing her to move with him until the back of her knees hit the bed. She sat and immediately scooted back until she was lying in the middle of the bed. Covering her body with his, he moved between her legs while his dick insistently tried to push through the barrier his briefs created.

  He leaned down and planted a simple kiss on her forehead, followed with one on the tip of her nose, her lips, chin, and finally, on her neck before finding his way back to her ear. Rather than a kiss, he gave her ear a lick, which elicited a loud moan from her.

  He felt her heartbeat pound against her chest as he continued to alternate licks and nips of her ear with soft puffs of air before moving down, closing his mouth over a nipple and sucking it to hardness. Going from one breast to the other, he sucked, teased and rolled his tongue around the sensitive buds. Biting with both lips until she moaned out, begging for more, he was careful not to cross the line between pleasure and pain.

  His hand found its way to her thigh, caressing her with feather-light, teasing movements around her panty clad mound. Her legs spread in anticipation. He hooked his fingers under the edge of her panties and tugged them down while she lifted her hips.

  Tossing the panties to the floor, he moved back between her legs and licked his way across her chest to her belly button. He kissed all around, deliberately avoiding the mound that beckoned him. She ground her hips into the bed. A rise and fall action that attempted to get his mouth on her pussy.

  “What do you want?” he asked, and nuzzled the soft curls that concealed her clit.

  “Please.”

  “Do you want my mouth on your pussy?” he asked, watching for her reaction to not only the question but his use of the word.

  “Yes. Now,” Thora ordered.

  He smiled. She was always surprising him. She obviously knew what she liked, and wasn’t shy about letting him know it.

  Done torturing her, he spread her lips and licked from the opening of her pussy upward until he took her clit in his mouth.

  “Garrett, I don’t think I can take anymore,” she whispered, her fingers clenching in his hair.

  That was all it took for her to give a ragged cry as her orgasm hit. Her body spasmed, and he lapped up the juices her body released.

  He slid a finger in to her, and her muscles contracted around it before he proceeded to add a second finger. He slowly fingered her while she lay shivering in a post orgasmic bliss.

  Withdrawing his hand, he got up from the bed and got rid of his briefs, letting his erection spring free. As he climbed back on the bed, she knelt up and kissed him.

  Thora wrapped her hand around his length, stroking and pulling on it gently while her kiss became aggressive. She inched forward, and he twisted his body, pulling her with him until he was on his back and she straddled him.

  She sat up, and his cock bobbed between them, pulsing with an aching desire to be inside her. Holding him with one hand, she guided him to her wet pussy and the head of his penis slipped inside her.

  She was so tight he thought he'd explode before he was even completely in her. Desperate to feel her pussy grip his entire length, he thrust up. She gasped and leaned back, thrusting her breasts out.

  He forced himself to stay still as she adjusted to the fullness of him inside her. When she began a slow ride up and down his cock, he responded with similar slow movements, letting her set the pace. She placed both hands on his chest and began moving faster.

  A tightening crept down the back of his spine as his orgasm approached and the need for control took over. He pulled Thora down to his chest and, careful not to break their connection, rolled them over until he was on top of her.

  He rose to his knees and gripped the back of her thighs, lifting them. He began to thrust in to her, and the position let him see his dick sliding in and out of her hot depths.

  One of her hands played with her nipple, rolling it and giving it sharp tugs to show him what she liked, while the other burrowed through her soft blonde curls to find her clit.

  Without warning, her muscles contracted and her body shuddered with the spasms of her orgasm. Garrett made one last thrust inside her, groaned, and held still just as his hot release rushed from him, sowing his cum deep within her. His hips jerked as she milked the last drops from him.

  Garrett collapsed on top of her, catching his weight with his forearms. His heart pounding, he held himself there until they both stopped trembling with the remnants of release. He pressed his lips to her cheek then her mouth before carefully pulling out of her and rolling to his back.

  He stared up at the ceiling with its painted Fae frolicking in a mountain stream. All three Fae had the characteristically dark features of those from the Neraida Faction. Their olive complexions were complimented by their black hair and elegantly sharp bone structure. Sophie would easily have fit within the picture. Her witch genes were nearly impossible to see just by looking at her. It wasn’t until she used her magic or spoke that one noticed she lacked certain Fae abilities.

  Thora, on the other hand, would have stuck out in the painting. Her blonde hair alone would have pegged her as an outsider, not to mention the soft curves of her jaw and cheek bones, but her rounded ears and the utter lack of guile in her eyes made it impossible to deny that she had witch blood running through her. Perhaps it was the strength of that blood that had bewitched him.

  The sensuality of the painted scene had always been so natural. Their sexuality was such an integral part of them. Of Garrett. Sophie had never seemed to experience the same deep passion when they made love. She'd followed his lead and enjoyed sex, but he suspected that she would have been just as happy not to engage.

  But Thora… he'd never believed that he could be so connected to another being. She hadn’t followed him down the frenzied path of desire. She'd been right beside him, urging him further into the abyss.

  Beside him, she moved restlessly in the silence that had fallen as their breathing calmed. Her small hand slid up his arm to his shoulder and then came to rest on his chest.

  He reached up and captured it in his, squeezing it tightly, and turned his head to look at her. Rosy cheeks lit up her face, and her eyes sparkled with the remnants of their ecstasy.

  What had he done?

  Nausea swept over him, and he surged from the bed.

  �
��Garrett? Are you okay?” Thora sat up and watched him frantically tug on his pants.

  He froze in the process of buttoning his jeans and looked at her before averting his eyes.

  “I… Shit.” He rubbed his hands across his face.

  What the fuck had he done?

  Forget that he knew what he'd done. He even knew what had possessed him. Thora. It had started the night before when he first tasted her. And then again that morning. There'd been lucid points throughout the day when he'd been sane enough to realize that his thoughts of her were entirely out of line and leading him to temptation.

  So why had he touched her? Kissed her again?

  Shit. Shit.

  She was waiting for another explanation, and he knew the only one he could offer her was just as vague and crappy as the one he gave earlier about Sophie.

  “This was…" He searched for the right word.

  “A mistake.”

  “Beautiful.”

  They stared at each other as their overlapping answers echoed through the room.

  “A mistake,” she repeated.

  She flung off the sheet and stood in all of her glory, and he fought the urge to dive across the bed and take her back in his arms.

  “I told you things were complicated.”

  “I understand,” she said, snatched her shirt from the floor, and pulled it over her head.

  “No. You don’t.”

  “Oh. So I'd be fine with this being a big mistake if I understood, right?”

  He doubted that.

  She pulled on her pants, her movements sharp and full of fury. She was hurting. It radiated from her, pricking at him until all he wanted was to give her everything she wanted, needed, to be happy again.

  Grabbing her sandals, she sat on the edge of the bed to slip them on. He moved to kneel in front of her. Grasping her hands, he waited until her eyes lifted to meet his.

  “Sophie will be twenty-five in four months.”

  “Good for her,” Thora snapped.

  “The Sanctuary houses breeds, but it’s not forever. There are three options for those who come here. The first is for your family to remove you and take over your protection. The second is through unification. The third is to join the service staff. They have until their twenty-fifth birthday to decide.”

  She tried to rise, but he scooted closer, boxing her in. She might not want to hear what he had to say, but he was going to say it, and then she could go.

  “I’m Sophie’s choice for unification,” he said. “If I rescind my request, she either enters the service staff or she goes with Odessa to be whored out at will.”

  He could see the struggle in her mind. Thora wasn’t a cruel person. She'd never want to force someone in to a life of suffering, but her own misery was pushing back at her.

  “The Sanctuary was established by my grandmother, Tatiana. She worked to build it, and then gave her life to secure it. The duty of protecting the breeds has fallen to me.”

  He'd never considered his duty to be a burden before, but seeing the heartbreak on Thora’s face made him realize that his sacrifices couldn’t save everyone.

  “You asked me if I loved Sophie, and a month ago I wouldn’t have hesitated to say yes. Even a week ago, I would have said I loved her.” He let go of her hands and cupped the sides of her face. “I am forever grateful for her and who she helped me become, but I realize now that I don’t love her.”

  She started to speak, but he shook his head.

  “I don’t love her, but I have a duty to her,” he said. “I can’t abandon her to a fate worse than death when I promised to protect her. Even if it means I can’t have you.”

  Chapter 9

  Her father always said where the greatest of tears are, there is the greatest of regrets. Thora had so many regrets she was surprised she managed to keep the tears at bay as she fled Garrett’s room.

  She should never have gone to his room. She should have respected that he was returning to his life before her and there was no room for her in it. It would have been easier to accept his rejection of her if she hadn’t found paradise in his arms.

  She ran through the corridor and down the stairs, stumbling to a stop on the landing of the breed’s level. Darrian and Rossa stood watching her descent and her effort to catch herself with the railing.

  “Whoa!” Darrian lunged forward to brace her with his hand on her arm. “Are you okay?”

  Stiffening her features, she gave a tense smile and nodded.

  “I’m fine,” she said.

  “Thora, what happened?”

  The concern in Rossa’s voice was almost too much for Thora.

  Moisture pooled in her eyes.

  “Nothing happened. Just a bit of an upset stomach. It’s all so overwhelming.” She peered up at Darrian, and knew he hadn’t bought a word of what she was saying. “We’ll speak in the morning, all right?”

  “Sure,” he said, and let go of her arm. “Do you need help finding your room?”

  “No! No. I’m good.”

  Thora spun on her heel and walked down the corridor, knowing she needed to appear as normal as possible. She didn’t want either of them following her.

  She turned at the first corner, and the tears started a free fall. Her vision blurred, she wandered down the halls, turning corner after corner. It took her a few minutes to realize she was completely lost. Every hall looked identical, as did all the doors. She slowed her walk, studying each door, hoping there would be some marking to signal whose room it was. There was nothing.

  She tried making her way back to the landing, but even that was impossible. When Trilby first brought her up there, it had reminded her of a maze. Now she was certain that was what it was. That’s why the breeds were so safe there. Someone breaking in would never be able to find what or who they were looking for.

  Frustration mounted as she reached a dead end. She pressed her back against the wall and slid down to the floor. With her knees raised, she wrapped her arms around them and dropped her head to rest on them.

  She was a fool. She'd let herself believe the fantasy woven through the days in the woods when she and Garrett had been all that existed in the world. It had been a dream, kindled by the fleeting touches they'd shared each day and ignited by their kisses.

  Even after learning about Sophie, she'd believed that fantasy was still possible. What else explained her going to his room, pushing him for answers, and then having sex with him?

  “He’s an ass.”

  Thora snorted at the words and wiped her eyes before looking up at Rossa. Her new friend watched her with sympathy, and it nearly started Thora crying again.

  “Do you want to talk about it?” Rossa asked.

  A slightly hysterical laugh burst from Thora, yet, despite what probably looked like a strange reaction to such a question, Rossa seemed unfazed. When Thora composed herself, she shook her head. “No. I just want to find my room and sleep.”

  “By sleep you mean sleep, right? Not like: 'Oh, my heart is broken, and I’ll never be complete, so I’ll enter the eternal sleep’, right?”

  Thora’s laugh was less manic this time. “Definitely the first type.”

  She took the hand Rossa held out to help her up.

  “You weren’t too far off,” Rossa said as she led Thora around a corner then stopped in front of a door. “This one’s yours.”

  Thora glared at the offending door, unable to distinguish how it differed from the others.

  “How can you tell?” she asked.

  “Trilby didn’t explain, did she?” Rossa rolled her eyes and motioned for Thora to take a step back. “All right. So the trick is to almost look through the door. Like you can see what’s on the other side. Once you do that, you should see your name written on the door.”

  “Really? Just like that?”

  “Yeah. Though, finding your way around does get easier with practice.” Rossa gave her another sympathetic look. “I’m sorry.”

  “For what?�
��

  “For letting you get caught up in my hatred of Sophie. I wanted to spite her so badly. Showing you up to Garrett’s room was a way to do that. I never dreamed he'd hurt you.”

  “He didn’t. At least not physically.” Emotionally, he'd gutted her, and left her realizing how little she had. “I don’t think Sophie’s going to have any clue I was up there, so your plan didn’t work out too well.”

  “It was a long shot anyway.” Rossa shrugged. “Do you want me to pick you up at dinner time?”

  Thora shook her head. “I’m not hungry. I just want to rest. I’ll see you in the morning.”

  “Well, my room is the first on the left around the corner if you need anything,” Rossa replied then headed toward her room.

  Inside her bedroom, Thora flopped face down on the bed and let out a shuddering breath. She'd never considered herself reckless before. Impulsive, yes. Maybe strong willed, as her mother would say. But she'd been foolishly reckless. She jumped in to bed with Garrett without a single thought to the consequences.

  She went in only caring about what her body called on her to do. She wanted Garrett and, even though he and Sophie planned to unite, there'd been a seed of hope that he might want her as much as she wanted him—that he might care as much as she did.

  If he loved Sophie, Thora could have accepted it. It would have hurt, but she would have walked away without hesitation with the knowledge that he would be happy. But he didn’t love Sophie—at least not in a way that would make him happy.

  Then as frustration and helplessness flooded her, Thora cried for what she'd never have with Garrett. For the loveless existence he'd endure with Sophie.

  In the woods, even after Garrett’s charm to mute her grief faded, his presence and the hope for a new life numbed, letting only small pieces of her sorrow through. With that barrier gone, she gave in to sobs that wracked her body and cried for everything she'd lost. Her family, friends, the life she knew, and the one she dreamed of.

  Her tears seemed never ending, but eventually, weariness took over and she slept.