Adric's Heart Read online

  “Of course not.” He caressed her shoulders. “Are you hungry? We could go out for a late lunch.”

  “Not really. I had a big breakfast.” Which was churning undigested in her stomach.

  “Then why don’t we go to the beach while the sun’s still out?”

  She sent him a relieved smile. “That would be nice.”

  “Okay.” He brushed his lips over hers.

  They walked the two blocks to the beach. It was a crisp, sunny day. A number of the houses were shut for the winter, but they passed a couple of humans out running, bundled up against the cold, and a woman pushing a baby in a stroller who took one look at Adric and made a wide circle around them. A pint-sized terrier barked at them from a covered porch, and a tomcat trotted across the road on its way to some important rendezvous.

  They left their boots at the head of a path through the dunes and wended their way through the scrubby bushes and grasses to the water. They were on the Delaware Bay, a large estuary at the place where the Delaware River emptied into the Atlantic. An icy wind blew from the northwest, but the bay’s winter-blue surface was calm. Long, low waves slid in, broke against the sand, and then slipped back out.

  Adric took her hand. She tensed, and he brought her fingers to his mouth.

  “Hey. I told you, there’s no rush. I’m just happy to spend some time alone with you. If you’ve changed your mind, I’ll live.” He gave her a crooked grin. “I won’t like it, but I’ll live.”

  Her heart turned over. He was being so damn sweet. “It’s not that. At least, it’s not just”—she waved her free hand— “that.”

  “Then what’s the matter?” he asked as they started walking barefoot along the bay’s edge.

  “You know I’m a Seer.”

  “I figured that out when your eyes went all scary black on me.”

  She nodded. “Well, I never know when touching someone will set off my Sight, especially someone’s hand.”

  “Even someone you know?”

  “Yeah. At home, they think I’m a little strange.”

  He frowned. “Your clan doesn’t know you’re a Seer?”

  “Just my family and a few close friends—but no one else.” She lifted her chin. “I’m going to tell them. Soon.”

  “Good. You shouldn’t have to hide your Gift.”

  “That’s what Isa says. She’s the woman who helped raise me after the ice fae captured my mom and dad.”

  “She’s right.”

  “You didn’t tell anyone, did you?” Rosana asked.

  “Just Marjani, but she can keep a secret. I’ll make sure she knows to keep it quiet. And if you don’t want to hold hands, that’s okay.”

  She tightened her grip on his fingers. “No. I want to hold your hand.” She took a deep breath. “I want to do everything.”

  “Good.” His smile was wicked. “Because trying to be nice about this is fucking killing me.”

  She chuckled—and her tension eased. After all, he’d seen her in the grip of a vision, and it hadn’t freaked him out. Much. He still wanted her.

  They continued walking in a companionable silence, the wind ruffling their hair, the sand damp beneath their toes. Overhead, seagulls wheeled and shrieked.

  She slid Adric a look. She’d never seen him so relaxed, almost boyish, his spiky hair tousled, a slight smile curling his sexy mouth.

  She knew so little about him. Oh, she knew he was the bad-boy Baltimore alpha, the man who gleefully provoked Dion every chance he got.

  That he hadn’t won alpha in a challenge, as honor demanded. Instead, it had been a sneak attack. And worse, the alpha had been Adric’s own uncle.

  Some of the Rock Run men, like Davi, sneered that Adric was a coward with no respect for fada tradição, tradition. But Leron Savonett had dragged Baltimore into the Darktime, an internal war that ripped his clan apart. Even Dion said Adric’s uncle had been a self-centered, sadistic cabrão.

  As far as Rosana could tell, if Adric hadn’t killed his uncle when he had, his clan would’ve been wiped out.

  Adric angled his head in a very catlike way. “You’re frowning.”

  “I am?” She smoothed out her forehead.

  “No, don’t hide. Tell me—what were you thinking?”

  She hitched a shoulder. “That I don’t really know you.”

  “You know the important things.”

  “But I want to know the unimportant things.”

  “Like what?”

  “Like…do you bleach your hair tips?”

  “Nah.” He shook his head. “It happened the first time I shifted to cougar, and never changed back. It grows spiked-up like that, too. My dad had the same hair.”

  “Huh.”

  “Here’s one for you. What’s up with the claws? Your animal’s a dolphin, isn’t it?”

  She let the short but sharp black claws slide out. “Otter. We can shift to other water animals, you know. We’re not limited like you earth fada. I just prefer my dolphin.”

  “Limited, huh?” He grabbed her, tickling her until she was breathless with laughter.

  “I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”

  “You should be.” He kissed her on the mouth and then released her, keeping an arm around her shoulders as they resumed walking.

  “I have more,” she said. “What’s your favorite color? The one dessert you can’t pass up? What do you do for fun? I don’t even know how old you are.”

  “Peach ice cream. Music—I don’t play an instrument, but I like to dance. And thirty-three turns of the sun—eleven older than you.”

  Of course, he knew her age. The man probably kept files on everyone in her family.

  “As for my favorite color”—he swung her to face him—“that would be blue. The deep blue of the ocean out there, where the color is so intense you can almost feel it.” He nodded at the horizon. “The blue of your eyes.” He cupped her face, his fingers warm against her chilled skin. “Sometimes I forget how incredibly blue they are.”

  She swallowed. “Yeah?”

  His own irises were a brilliant golden-brown. She swayed toward him, entranced.

  “I mean it.” His voice was a low rasp that reverberated in her body. “I love your eyes. Almost as much as I love your face, your body. Your smile.”

  Her heart gave a hard thump. “My smile?”

  “Um-hmm.” His fingers curled around her waist. He reeled her in, slowly, deliberately, until her body was flush against his. The firm muscles of his chest pressed her breasts, his erection hard against her belly. “Your smile is so wide and happy. It makes me…want.”

  “Want what?”

  “You.” His mouth whispered over hers. A barely-there touch that made her catch her breath.

  Excitement skittered up her spine. Her breasts felt full and heavy, the nipples pushing against the silky chemise.

  His tongue teased the seam of her lips, coaxing her to open to him. When she did, he tunneled his fingers into her hair, holding her still as his tongue explored the soft cave of her mouth—the sides, the sensitive roof.

  She rose on her toes and twined her arms around his neck, sucking his tongue deeper. His groan made everything female in her clench.

  Her leg was around his hip now, her sex rubbing against his.

  Somewhere nearby, a seagull screeched.

  Adric lifted his head, his breath uneven. “Let’s go back.”

  She swallowed. “Yes.”

  Adric’s heart was thumping, his cock so hard it ached.

  Rosana strolled beside him, her mouth swollen from his kisses, her bare feet dusted with sand, her hair a silky black waterfall down her back.

  She was a pagan priestess in red leather and jeans. The kind of woman who dropped men to their knees.

  He shoved a hand through his hair. The woman shredded his control. She’d all but melted in his arms, making those needy little noises, rubbing against him. Driving him insane with her unpracticed, uninhibited moves.

  He shouldn’t ev
en be here with her. This could never go anywhere. But Rosana just had to crook a finger and he was there.

  Her very innocence was a beacon to a man like him. A man who’d seen so much darkness, done so many dirty things that he’d never be truly clean.

  He set an arm around her shoulders, pulled her closer. Because he could. He had one night with her, and he was going to enjoy it to the fullest.

  She came readily. Their hips bumped, and she giggled, a young, happy sound.

  His heart twisted. If only things were different…if only she were a member of his clan, a woman he could claim as his own.

  You couldn’t claim her even then.

  He was basically a dead man walking.

  A less selfish man would stop this before it began, but he’d waited six-and-a-half years for her. He was damned if he’d turn back now.

  He nuzzled her hair, breathing her in. His hand went to her round ass.

  “When I get you back to the room,” he murmured in her ear, “I’m going to strip your jeans off you. But I won’t take your panties off. Not right away. I’m going to tease you first. Make you hot and wet. Make you beg a little.”

  She moaned his name. The spice of her arousal teased his nostrils.

  He smiled and ran his hand over the curve of her bottom. “Then, I’ll peel your panties off—but not fast. We’ll go slow, because it’s your first time. And I want to drive you a little crazy. And you’ll let me, won’t you?”

  Her pretty mouth formed an O. Her breath sped up, and she hunched her shoulders. She nodded rapidly.

  Gods, she was so young, and so much less experienced. On some level she’d been his since age sixteen, when they’d first met at Cleia & Dion’s mate ball.

  And so, she’d waited for him.

  He didn’t know why he was so sure, but he was.

  I’ll be her first. His chest squeezed.

  No other male had touched her. The primitive part of him reveled in that. He wanted to take her, long and hard. Imprint himself on her so that she’d always remember him.

  But he also wanted to take care of her. Show her how special she was. Caress her. Love her.

  He was a hard man, some would say a cold-blooded killer. But he’d done what he had to, survived when a softer man wouldn’t have—and saved his clan besides. For Rosana, though, he’d dredge up whatever tenderness he could.

  They exited the beach and stopped to put on their boots.

  The wind had picked up. It whistled through the dunes, whipped Rosana’s long black curls across her face. She captured them in one hand and beamed at him, her irises a deep sapphire in the fading light.

  “Race you back to the B&B.” She took off down the street, surprisingly agile in the high-heeled boots.

  He blinked, and with a predatory grin, loped after her. His cougar loved a chase.

  He stayed behind her until they were almost to the B&B, because hey, watching that ripe, pretty ass wasn’t a hardship. Then he lunged, grabbing her waist and swinging her into the air.

  She gave a shriek of laughter and grabbed his shoulders. Long legs wrapped around his hips.

  “Beat you.” He gently closed his teeth on her full lower lip and continued walking. “What do I win?” He nibbled his way down her neck.

  “No fair.” She angled her head so he could taste the tender underside of her jaw. “We didn’t agree to anything for the winner.”

  He reached around her to open the door to the B&B. The stairwell was silent, his animal-enhanced senses telling him they were alone in the building. He headed up to the second floor with Rosana wrapped around him like a sexy vine.

  He let his cat into his smile. “Where the fuck did you get the idea I play fair?”

  5

  Adric set Rosana on the floor and reached behind him to lock the door. She had time for a single sharp inhale, and then he had a hand fisted in her hair. He tugged her head back, exposing her throat.

  It was a very male, very dominant move. And damn, it turned her on.

  Her pussy clenched. Her knees turned to jelly.

  I’m going to tease you first… Make you beg a little.

  Goddess, he’d almost made her come right then with those hot, dirty words rasped against her throat.

  She set her hands on his chest. His face was still chilled from the cold, but the rest of him was all hot, tensile strength, his scent a mix of earth and the winter wind.

  He fastened his mouth to her throat above the collarbone and sucked hard. Leaving a love-bite she’d have to hide, but right now, she just didn’t care.

  Heat shot from her breasts to her womb, pooled between her thighs. Her skin felt too tight. She moaned and gripped his shoulders.

  Releasing her hair, he bent her over an arm and kissed his way down her neck to her breasts. Her nipples beaded against the thin barrier of her chemise and the cotton shirt. He pushed up the shirt and traced a finger down the V of the neckline to her cleavage.

  “Pretty.” He placed his mouth on the ivory material over one tightly furled bud and sucked.

  Her lungs jerked. She dug her fingers into his shoulders and rasped his name.

  “Mm.” He swirled his tongue around her nipple through the silky cloth and then moved to her other breast. “I want to lick you all over.”

  Need twisted through her. “Right back at you.”

  That earned her a deep kiss. When he lifted his head, he pulled her shirt the rest of the way off so that she stood before him in just the chemise, jeans and boots.

  His gaze locked on the wet fabric over her breasts. She glanced down to see her nipples dark against the pale material.

  “Yeah,” he said hoarsely, “I’m going to lick you all over. And maybe bite a little.”

  Anticipation coursed through her. She shivered and rubbed the goosebumps that popped up on her arms.

  “Cold?” he asked.

  “No. Just…” She shrugged a shoulder.

  His smile was knowing. He dragged off his T-shirt.

  Her breath jammed in her throat. In all the years she’d known him, she’d never seen him unclothed.

  He was…perfect. Smooth, honey-brown skin stretched over firm muscles. Dark hair dusted his pecs, arrowed through washboard abs before disappearing beneath his waistband. Her gaze locked on the hard ridge beneath his zipper.

  He didn’t give her nearly enough time to look. Instead, his hands were on her waist, his mouth covering hers. He walked her backward until her thighs hit the mattress, then lifted her onto the bed and crouched at her feet.

  Slipping off her boots and socks, he cradled one boot in his hand. “Later,” he said with a wicked curve of his lips, “you’ll wear these for me—and nothing else.”

  “I will?” She eyed the boot, intrigued. But it wasn’t in her nature to submit easily. When you were the youngest child—and a girl—in a family with four large, hard-ass brothers, you either stood up for yourself or got crushed.

  She moistened her lips. “Maybe if you ask nice.” Her voice came out husky, seductive, in a tone she barely recognized as hers.

  His smile increased. “You’ll do it. That’s my reward for winning the race.”

  She arched a brow. “What reward? I didn’t agree to—"

  “But you’ll do it. Because I want you to.” He set down the boot but remained where he was, crouched between her legs. Warm hands ran up her inner thighs. He rubbed a thumb over the seam of her jeans. “Won’t you?”

  She moaned, so sensitized that even that small pressure was almost too much.

  Then he leaned forward and replaced his thumb with his mouth, and it got even better. He blew on the material, a hot, moist stream that nearly made her come out of her skin.

  Gulping air, she dug her fingers into the fake leopard skin and arched her back. Pressing her pelvis toward him, unconsciously begging for more.

  He undid the button of her jeans and eased down the zipper. Two long fingers slid inside. He worked them under the boy shorts so he could tease her cli
t.

  “Say yes, angel. Say you’ll wear the boots. To please me.”

  She studied him. His eyes glinted up at her, bright, devilish. Did he mean it, or was it a game? Either way, she wasn’t ready to give in.

  She smiled and twisted against his fingers. If he’d just apply a bit more pressure…

  “More,” she said in smoky tones that made him swallow. Hard.

  He rose up to kiss her. His tongue swirled around hers, while inside her jeans, his fingers moved in a similar tantalizing pattern. Promising pleasure but holding it just out of reach.

  “You’re so wet.” A low growl. “So ready for me. But I haven’t heard a yes.”

  He withdrew his hand from her pants and brought his hand to his mouth, licking her juices from his first two fingers while he watched her from beneath his lids.

  She blinked up at him. Somehow she’d ended flat on her back with him propped on an elbow next to her.

  He peeled her out of the tight jeans, and then shucked his own pants. He crawled over her, heavily erect, his only adornment the big chunk of gray-and-orange quartz hanging from the leather thong around his neck.

  His expression was hard with desire, his bronze irises shot with the blue of his cougar. They were gorgeous, mesmerizing, like cyan fireworks exploding against a dusk sky.

  Both man and cat were making love to her.

  A primitive thrill raced over her skin. She touched his cheek, letting her own animal into her eyes—and surrendered.

  Because suddenly, she didn’t want to play games. What mattered was that he wanted her, and that she wanted him back, clear to the wild, untamed heart of her.

  “Yes,” she rasped. “Make love to me. Any way you want.”

  His throat rumbled in a rough purr that vibrated in all her secret places. He tugged at the chemise’s strap. “Take this off.”

  He helped her shimmy out of the sexy little top and then traced the edge of her jaw with his tongue before moving down to her neck. He pressed a damp kiss to the hollow of her throat and then continued licking and sucking his way to each breast. His hot tongue swirled around each nipple in turn, leaving them wet and aching.