What the Heart Haunts(10)

Nalla nipped under his jaw, then along the stretch of his neck. “Any time now, big guy.”

A laugh rumbled up the length of his body, an odd sound, so reminiscent of a growl that he found himself smiling down at her. “Shush you. I’m just...savoring this. I’ve never...”

“No shit. It’s a perk of being one of Herne’s Hounds. Celibacy. It’s a bitch.” She nipped his lower lip. “But look, if you’ve made up your mind, one hundred percent, I’ll happily show you the ropes.”

He arched an eyebrow. “A hundred and ten percent.”

“Good.” She looped a leg around his hips and twisted, flipping them until Khost slammed back into the dirt, Nalla straddled on top of him. “Cause I hate a bad tease.”

Nalla slid her hands up under his shirt and Khost arched into her touch, letting her draw the fabric up his belly. She paused to trace circles around his nipples.

“Ab-crunch time,” she said. “Sit up.”

“Not exactly an easy thing to do with you sitting on me.”

But he complied, slipping out of his jacket, only to help her strip away his shirt too. He tossed it aside, rattling a nearby bush. One handed, Nalla pressed him back down. He loved the intensity blazing out of her eyes as she stared down at him, slowly dropping her head until she could lay a kiss against his sternum. Then one against each nipple. Her tongue tasted each delicate nub, followed by the quick scrape of her teeth. Khost closed his eyes on a harsh gasp.

The call of the wild thrummed through him, hot in his veins, desperately needing the cool night air, but it suddenly felt balmy. Heated. She nipped over his jaw and then she was gone. Standing over him. She kicked off each boot, the heavy thumps sounding from somewhere next to him. In one smooth motion, Nalla stripped off her shirt and let it fall. The black lace of her bra stood out against the pale cream of her skin. Khost’s throat went dry at the sight of her, his cock heavy with need. His skin suddenly too tight.

She reached a hand behind her and he heard the clasps sliding loose, right before the fabric began to slip. His heart hammered in his chest. Oh, sweet Herne, he thought as she stripped the lace away and held it out to him, dangling it over his chest. A shoulder strap teased over one nipple, then lower, a faint breath against his stomach, before she flicked it aside and sent it tumbling into the shadows.

Her pale breasts bobbed in the moonlight. Then her hands went to the clasp at her jeans and Khost was damn sure his breath shorted out. A ragged gasp shook him and Nalla tilted her head. “I don’t think you have much teasing left in you.”

She flicked a glance at his crotch and he followed her gaze. A groan roused from his lips at the sight of his own discomfort. At this rate he was going to split a damned seam. He reached for the zipper and Nalla tsked softly. “No, no. Remember, I’m showing you the ropes, tonight. I figure, if you’re screwing your life up for forever, you might as well do it right.”

Her voice was soft, taking the sting out of her words. One look back up at her bright eyes and he knew she didn’t really believe he was making a mistake. He knew she didn’t quite grasp the why, but she accepted his choice. Understood it better than anyone else ever would.

The soft whir of her zipper opening filled the night and Khost instantly riveted his gaze back on her. She slipped her hands under the hem of her pants, the black fabric of her underwear, and in one smooth movement drew all that fabric down her hips. She shimmied out of them and tossed them aside, rising to stand again, this time completely nude.

She hid nothing from him. Not the small mounds of her breasts with the golden necklace dangling between them, not the smooth expanse of her belly, or the thatch of curls above her thighs... The scent of her lust hit him. Ripe, luscious. Nalla knelt beside him, her features suddenly soft as she laid a kiss along the strip of hair that led from his belly button to his groin.

She laid her cheek against the muscles of his stomach, looking up at him, eyes suddenly solemn. “He’ll come for you. You know that, right? The moment you find your first release, he’ll come for you.”

“And?”

“And know that he can’t hurt you here.”

Her hand found the button of his jeans and flicked it open, the soft press of the zipper being tugged down and Khost hissed, bucking up into her touch. She moved, dragging jeans and boxers off of him. Pausing only long enough to yank off his shoes, she stripped him of everything but his socks and then climbed back up his body, straddling his thighs, just short of his erection. She ran one finger down the rigid length drawing a raw groan from him.

“How long were you a Hound?”