Chapter One #2
“Don’t,” he barked at her.
Astonished, she glanced at him and stilled. He sported a weird twist to his mouth as if he couldn’t quite believe the situation or what had just happened.
Times two, she thought. And that was an understatement.
When she remained unmoving, his attention traveled to the spot between her legs. “Scoot over,” he said, and relief swamped her fears.
Every dream held meaning, and this one was beyond weird.
Or maybe not. Once she’d signed up Leo, part of her had hated handing the contract over to Iseult.
She’d wanted Leo for herself. Obviously, on the dreamscape, she felt confident enough to claim him.
She sighed at the vagaries of her world.
Goddess, she might as well enjoy the experience since sex with Leo would never happen in reality.
Leo hated her, and his future was limited since Iseult would kill him at their next meeting. The Spiderus woman murdered all her lovers, and there was nothing either she or Leo could do to change his fate.
“You’re not my normal type,” Leo said, breaking the silence that had fallen.
“What is your type?” she asked, startled by the fact he was speaking to her. Normally their interactions were confined to stony silence and accusing glares.
“I enjoy confident women. Women who are comfortable in their own bodies and dress accordingly.”
“You dislike my robes?”
“They help you blend into the background.”
The camouflage was a defense mechanism, a requirement around Iseult. If she behaved like furniture, she became part of the décor, and she raised her chances of living to see the next day and her son.
He stared at her a fraction longer before dipping his head and claiming her lips in a kiss. She expected ferocity. She expected anger. She expected punishment.
Leo Mitchell surprised her with gentleness and seduction. He traced his tongue over her lips, learning the shape of her mouth. His quick nip of her bottom lip surprised her. She gasped while he took advantage of further exploration.
He gathered her closer, pressing his muscular chest against her breasts. The sensations tumbled over her. Softness against hardness. Female against male.
His breath carried a faint tinge of mint while his scent held an addictive herby aroma that brought to mind open spaces and freedom. She wrapped her arms around his broad shoulders, wanting to wallow in the sensations of touch and taste and scent.
The sole person to touch her these days was her son, and Iseult monitored their meetings. The woman wanted to keep her slave and procurer locked into her contract, under her control.
It worked, and Betrys fell into line without argument. Anything to keep her son safe.
Leo slapped her shoulder, the sting giving her a fright rather than pain. “Don’t wander,” he ordered. “I’m here. I don’t know why or how, but I’m here, and for some reason, I want you. We are going to have sex, and you will stay with me every step of the way.”
His glare was dark green and fierce, yet strangely, she wanted to laugh. Confusion filled him as much as her—two lost souls stumbling on the dreamscape.
“Don’t let your mind roam, or I’ll stand and walk away.” The tight set of his face told her this was no idle threat.
“I’m sorry,” she said and meant every word. She should—they should—enjoy this opportunity because the chances were they’d both die at Iseult’s hands.
Unpalatable but true.
Decision made, Betrys relaxed. The instant their lips met, hunger exploded, and she rolled, taking him by surprise.
Grinning, she continued to kiss him, but now her hands wandered too, charting masculine territory.
Sleek, sexy muscles. Hidden strength. His chest, stomach and back bore scars from his two sessions with Iseult, yet they’d healed to blend more naturally with his skin tone.
She trailed kisses down his throat and took a teasing nibble from the fleshy part between shoulder and neck. He shuddered, making a gasping sound as she dragged her tongue over the spot she’d nibbled. His erection went from interested to rampant against her leg.
Fascinating.
An erogenous zone.
She nibbled again, but this time, he groaned and rolled her beneath him.
He ravaged her mouth now, seemingly intent on drawing a response.
Goddess, driving her to madness. Already her quim moistened for him, her pulse slammed in happy anticipation, and she couldn’t stop trailing her fingers over his warm skin.
The man was pretty, yet not in a feminine way.
He’d snared her attention from the first and continued to fascinate her with his bravery and cool belligerence.
He intrigued Iseult too.
“Right, that does it,” he snapped. He moved so fast that a surprised squeak emerged from her, and seconds later, she found herself dangling over his knee, staring at the floor.
His hand slapped her bottom, the sting sending ripples of shock scooting across her skin.
Before she could process, could react, he smacked her butt again with two quick swats.
She gasped a rapid breath, unsure and off-balance.
Myriad bursts of discomfort ruptured her feel-good mood.
Pain.
More shock, this time with a thrilling edge of dark heat.
An impudent finger made a quick foray between her legs, and his grunt suggested her wet folds pleased him.
“Are you going to focus on me?” he demanded.
“Yes,” she said quickly. Too quickly.
“I’m not sure I believe you.” He punctuated his words with another smack.
“Ouch!” By the goddess. She attempted to squirm free and he let her. She stood to put a healthy distance between them before sending him a haughty look. What sort of dreamscape let a man punish a grown woman in such an embarrassing manner?
“Come here.”
“Are you going to strike me again?”
“No.” He paused, and she swore the air shimmered between them.
Intrigued, she inched closer. Without warning, he grinned, and the tension leached from her tight muscles. Her bottom smarted now, but she wouldn’t feel a thing once she woke.
Leo wrapped his arms around her and lowered his head to kiss her. Once again, the kiss was soft and tender and sent messages diving to her quim. His hands wandered her back, her bottom. Nimble fingers stroked and delved until she moaned with enjoyment, craved his possession.
With ease, Leo lifted her and set her on the sleep-bed.
His mouth fastened around a nipple. Part of her had wondered if he’d be a lazy lover because he wouldn’t need to put forth much effort to get a woman.
But maybe the dreamscape worked in a different manner.
She had no one to ask about the intricacies of dreams or their interpretation.
He drew hard, and the sensations flared, pushing her into easy compliance. At least until he started to lift his head. She gripped his skull and tugged on his long black hair. It was soft and fragrant and she loved the way it spread around them in a dark curtain.
“More,” she gasped.
“I’m going to give you more,” he promised.
Without haste, she released her grip and snared his gaze with hers. His green eyes sparkled, the pupils flattened slits rather than round. Weird, but he was from a different planet.
She set about exploring him, searching for differences.
He had nipples—two of them, although she understood the women of his race fed their young.
She’d have to ask questions—no, maybe not.
The other difference she discovered was the color of his testicles.
Her husband’s had been less visible, and they’d gone blue on arousal.
Leo’s balls had hardened and risen beneath his cock. She’d been too enthralled with tasting him earlier to notice the more subtle changes, but she did now.
“Finished exploring?”
“Yes, thank you.”
“Good.” He rolled her, taking control of her arms by holding them above her head while he feasted on her mouth and her breasts again. By the time she lifted her head, sobs of pleasure and demand spilled past her lips.
“Now,” she said. “Take me now.”
Leo remained silent and used a muscular thigh to spread her legs farther apart. His nostrils flared, and a wash of embarrassment flooded her because the scent of her arousal perfumed the air.
Then she forgot her discomfort. Leo guided his cock to her entrance and thrust with one forceful stroke. She gasped at the drag of his shaft along her sensitive tissues and angled up her hips to receive his second drive home. More. She craved more of this unbearable friction.
Goddess, she’d missed this so much, missed her husband. She tried to hold on to the thought of her husband and his gentleness, but Leo shoved the memories aside with his vigorous plunges and his demanding personality. Her hands crept from above her head to clutch his back.
“Leo,” she cried out, the enjoyable sensations sapping any inclination to fight his dominance.
Each touch was so good. The swell of pleasure grew and expanded until she thought she’d explode, unable to contain all the emotions within her physical shape.
Leo withdrew, thrust and hit her clit at the perfect angle to make her implode with ecstasy.
The blissful feelings tingled and sparkled inside her for long, long moments, and once they started to ebb, the tension released from her muscles.
“You look beautiful when you come.”
Her eyes snapped open, and heat collected in her cheeks. The knowledge that he’d watched her throughout brought a rush of vulnerability. “I…don’t look at me.”
“Why?” He stroked into her, lazy and unhurried, then withdrew to repeat the move.
A shudder took her, another low-level climax already starting to build. A shocked gasp escaped her, and his eyes narrowed.
“Something wrong?”
“I’m going to come again.”
His grin was a flash of sharp white teeth. His thrusts continued but at a faster pace.