Bound by Night(76)

“Thank. You.” He pulled his hand away, and she almost cried at the loss.
Until she heard the zing of his zipper and felt the prod of his shaft between her legs. “Thank you,” she whispered.
He drove into her, burying himself in one smooth motion. They moved together, his hips slapping against her buttocks. He released her hair and gripped her hips, holding her for his powerful thrusts. His breathing grew ragged, joining hers, and she knew he was as close as she was.
Could he go all the way?
She sensed he was holding back, that part of him still hadn’t come to grips with what had happened to Terese and Nicole’s family’s role in it. But screw that, she wasn’t going to let his past interfere anymore. He was hers now, and he was going to learn that, right here and now.  
Hers? Vaguely, she was aware that there was an impossible number of reasons he couldn’t be hers, but right now, none of them mattered. A fierce, primal instinct rose up in her, requiring that she stake a claim on the male she wanted.
“Stop,” she snarled, and to her shock, he froze.
She pushed against him, forcing him free of her body. In the narrow, crushing space between them, she turned, smiled at the confused look on his face . . . and then scaled him like a tree.
“Jesus, Nicole—” He caught her waist as she lowered herself onto his erection. Ruthlessly, she dug her nails into his shoulders, and he hissed in pleasure. Once again, he braced her against the wall as he pumped his hips with an urgency she hadn’t felt from him before.
Still, she felt his restraint, weaker than a moment ago but hanging on. No, no, no. Rocking her head, she bit him, sinking her teeth into the soft spot between his shoulder and his throat.
 He shouted and bucked, drilling her savagely, sparing her nothing. She clawed harder, forcing him to think about her and her alone. The past wasn’t allowed here. No other female was allowed here.
Oh . . . yes. Her body tightened as ecstasy engulfed her, sparking from nerve ending to nerve ending. She cried out, clenching around him, the orgasm going on
and on. Riker’s chest expanded on a huge, shuddering breath, and then his movements became jerky and erratic. A hot splash filled her, setting off another climax for her as he convulsed and shuddered.
Riker’s forehead, damp with sweat, rested against hers as he continued to move inside her, wringing the last drops of pleasure from both of them.
“Thank you,” he murmured, petting her hair with lazy, uneven strokes. “That was . . . amazing.”
She couldn’t agree more.
Too soon, he slipped out of her and lowered her to the ground. With tender care, he wrapped her in the towel and kissed her.
“I have to go,” he said. Sated and exhausted in a way she’d never been, she nodded. “Get some rest.”
She let him carry her into the bedroom and tuck her into bed.
He left, and she was nearly asleep when she realized that they still hadn’t discussed a single thing.
 

Chapter 24
Riker was pretty sure hash browns weren’t supposed to taste like sawdust, but wood chips were all he tasted as he shoveled food into his mouth on the way to Grant’s lab. He left a trail of potatoes behind him, because apparently, he couldn’t eat and walk at the same time. Add thinking about Nicole to the mix, and he might as well put on a bib and drink out of a damned sippy cup.
He’d gone to check on her this morning, but she was still crashed, and there was no way he was waking her. If she wanted to sleep for a week, he’d let her.
Well, maybe he’d wake her up for sex. She’d seemed to like what they’d done last night.
His cheeks heated in remembrance, and his body hardened in anticipation.
Whoa, buddy. We’re not going back to her chambers right now.
Holding the plate he’d swiped from the main kitchen in one hand, he rubbed the spot where Nicole had bitten him with the other. She’d been a wild thing, and though her bite and claw marks had healed, he still felt them like erotic whispers on his skin.
Sex with Terese had never been like that. No,
Terese had viewed sex as a duty to be tolerated, and the only time she was ever even remotely interested was on the new moon, when her hormones and her need for blood took control. Even then, she’d never scratched him. Or climbed up him. Or reveled in being fucked against a wall.
The raunchy images played like a skin flick in his head, and he missed a step as he took the corner to the lab. Baddon, who was coming in the opposite direction, grinned.
“Smooth, man,” Baddon said. “Can you do it again? I missed most of it.”
Riker snorted. “How about I kick your ass?” He popped Baddon in the shoulder as they passed in the hall. “You won’t miss any of that.”