Chapter Seventeen
F or the second time in as many days, I found myself being tossed onto a bed. Before my butt had stopped bouncing, Rhodes was on top of me, caging me in with his body.
His lips captured mine, kissing me with a passion that set my body on fire. Before I’d met these men, I’d been perpetually cold. Not comfy, but not really uncomfortable either. Now, thanks to being showered with so much touch and affection, I was toasty warm as long as I was with them. It was nice.
When Rhodes broke the kiss, his breathing was harsh and his eyes glittered. “I need to say something to you, and then you can either stay or walk out that door.”
“Okay. I’m listening.” That was only half true.
I was finding it difficult to focus with his spicy scent in my nose, his taste on my lips, and his muscular body pressing me into the bed. The men were great at turning me on, but their follow through reminded me of my mini golf games as a human. The first putt always went great, but no matter how close to the edge I got, or how many strokes I used, I could never get the ball in the hole.
He pressed a kiss to the hollow of my throat. “Axelle, I want to make love to you. I want to make you mine.”
“Wh-what?” I asked, voice cracking.
This man wasn’t playing around.
Lifting his head, Rhodes caught my gaze and held it. He’d dropped any pretense of being the tough, confident leader and was letting me see his raw desire for me.
There was something else in his eyes, though. Fear. What would a powerful man like Rhodes have to be afraid of?
The same thing I was afraid of. Rejection.
“I wanted to be patient and give you time to sort through your feelings. And if you decided to accept us as your circle, I wanted to let you figure out who you wanted to be with first.” Rhodes looked away, and his mouth tightened. “But it feels like I have a wild dog shredding my insides every waking minute. I found you in the library that first day we were in town, and you do not know how hard it was to keep from kissing you.”
He was wrong. I knew how hard it was because I’d desperately wanted to kiss him, too.
“Hades! It makes me sound like a creep, but if you had let me, I would’ve wrapped your legs around me and buried myself inside you right there on the spot.” His head dropped to rest against my chest. “I swear I’ve never been like this. It’s you. Since meeting you, I’ve felt as though my blood is gasoline and you’ve set me on fire.”
Lifting a trembling hand, I brushed my fingers through his hair. The truth was that I wanted him too, but the moment I said those words, there would be no going back. Was I ready for my world to change forever?
“I’m selfish and stubborn,” Rhodes continued. “It should be your decision who you want to bond with first, but it’s making me crazy. When Lochlan came back from the library and talked about his time with you, I wanted to rip him apart. In the tunnels, when you healed us, I was too weak to do anything. Hearing you climax with Evander was more painful than being attacked by the reaper. Trying to remain in control while watching Lochlan taste you was a special kind of torture. When I came downstairs to find Evander kissing you, touching you, I couldn’t take it anymore.”
Rhodes began kissing his way up my neck. “I am going out of my mind. It is still your choice, and I will respect whatever you desire, but I can’t remain quiet any longer. Axelle, I want to make love to you.”
I hesitated, struggling to voice what I needed to say before things went any further. “Rhodes, if we do this, you know it will change things. I don’t think this pull between us will be a one-night-stand.”
“This isn’t a one-night stand. This is forever.” His lips brushed across mine. “We’ll belong to each other. Heart and body.”
Swallowing hard, I whispered, “I keep hearing that I’m supposed to fade away. What if that happens and I leave you?”
His fingers curled in my hair, tilting my head back so I could see the hard set of his face. “I will not let that happen.”
“But what if it does?”
Rhodes dipped his head to kiss my chin. “Then I will be thankful for every minute of heaven I spent with you.” He trailed slow, erotic kisses down the column of my neck.
“Oooh,” I moaned, my vision blurring. “Rhodes? I know you guys said you were okay with sharing, but there is another man?—”
Rhodes’ fingers tightened in my hair, turning my head to the side as his teeth pressed against my neck. “I won’t let him take you from me.” His deep, guttural growl caused the window panes to rattle.
“It’s not that. He knows about you guys—” I tried to explain, but I wasn’t sure Rhodes was even listening.
“Is that where you went the night you ghosted us?” Rhodes’ arm snaked beneath me, pulling my body hard against his.
As though they had a mind of their own, my legs hooked around his waist. “Yes, but it was an accident.”
“Did he touch you?” Rhodes asked harshly.
I wrapped my arms around his neck, clinging to him. “Yes.”
Rhodes’ hand slid from my waist to cup my butt. “Did he make you come?”
“Yes.” The room was becoming unbearably hot. Had someone turned on the heat?
“Did he claim your body with his?” Rhodes snarled, grinding his hard length against my aching core.
“No,” I whimpered.
Rolling his hips in a way that had me seeing double, Rhodes asked, “Did he keep you safe?”
“He did.” If they were right about Saul being dangerous, I probably couldn’t have been any safer than I’d been in his bed. It didn’t seem like many people would dare attack him.
“If you want this man to join our circle, I have no argument. But if he hurts you, I will kill him,” Rhodes swore.
“His name is?—”
“Right now, you are in my bed, and I don’t want to hear another man’s name on your lips. Not even if he’s the devil himself.” Rhodes captured my mouth in a possessive kiss.
Pulling away, I pressed my fingers against his lips. “There’s one more thing I need to tell you.”
“You better hurry,” Rhodes grumbled before sucking my fingertips into his mouth.
“I, uh…” With his tongue swirling across my skin, he was making it impossible for a girl to remember her name, let alone what she wanted to say. “I read a lot of books.”
Rhodes’ eyebrows lifted. “That’s what you needed to tell me?” The words were barely intelligible, but I understood most of it.
“Yes. Just because we’re a thing doesn’t mean I’m going to give up reading. I made a commitment to my Tbrs first, and I’ll need uninterrupted time to meet those obligations.”
“Evander spends most of the day with his nose in a book. You two will get along great. I think I can survive a few hours without your attention.” His deep laugh was unexpected and had my stomach quivering at the sheer masculinity of it.
Hexes! The man was sexy… and he wanted to be mine. It was time to stop messing around and tie him down tighter than a straightjacket.
Silencing the last of my fears, I threw my arms around his neck and kissed him with the passion I’d been too terrified to give in to.
I focused on my energy just long enough to make my clothing waver and vanish. Rhodes groaned as his hand slid over my bare skin.
My fingers fumbled with the fly of his jeans, struggling to undo them. “Grrr!”
Why couldn’t he wear gray sweatpants like all the good book boyfriends? Those would’ve been a lot less frustrating to get off.
He had the audacity to chuckle. “Let me help, sugar.”
Rolling off the bed in the kind of smooth move wet dreams were made of, Rhodes stood and shed his pants. I’d expected him to be a boxer guy, but I wasn’t disappointed to see the tight pair of black briefs that clung to his bulge and butt.
Why hadn’t I jumped his bone—I mean, bones—right from the start?
His fingers hooked the band of his underwear, and when his briefs went down, something else went up… and I’m not just talking about the temperature in the room.
Rhodes didn’t try to hide himself, nor did he do a cheesy pose. He stood tall and motionless, letting me drink in the sight of him in all his naked glory.
“Am I satisfactory?”
His answer came when the lightbulb in his bedside lamp exploded, and the overhead light flickered wildly.
“I’ll take that as a yes.” Rhodes grinned and retook his position on the bed.
Once more, I was pinned beneath him, but this time it was skin-to-skin. His erection seemed far too hot, and I wondered if I’d simply forgotten that fact, or if he had lava pumping into it.
Our lips met in a tender kiss that went from PG to R faster than I could say boo. And after being promised a good time repeatedly over the past few days, my body was more than ready for him.
Slipping my hand between us, my fingers brushed against the velvety steel that was stabbing my belly. His hips bucked reflexively toward my touch as I gripped his length.
“Sugar, you’re driving me insane,” Rhodes hissed.
Lining him up with my soaked entrance, I guided the rounded tip inside, causing us to groan in unison. Rhodes gave a tentative push, burying himself deeper in my tight heat. I’d expected some pain, but my ghostly form seemed to adjust itself so that he fit inside me like a hand in a glove—or a cock in a condom. Which thankfully I didn’t need since ghosts couldn’t get sick, or pregnant.
“Am I hurting you?” Rhodes asked, his voice strained.
“Not at all.” I moved against him, quivering as tiny shocks of pleasure shot through me. “You feel perfect.”
Bracing his left forearm on the bed to support his weight, Rhodes’ hand pressed against my lower back just above my butt, holding me to him.
“My turn,” he whispered, playfully nipping my neck just beneath my ear.
His turn to what? “Oooh!”
Rhodes undulated his hips in a smooth body roll that only mermaids and a few gifted dancers could pull off. Was there some kind of afterlife stripper certification men had to go through or something?
Finding the perfect rhythm, Rhodes’ hard length slid back and plunged forward as he continued rolling his body. With each forward thrust, he watched my face, figuring out which angles gave me the most pleasure and adjusting his movements in response.
I’d experienced two types of sex when I was alive. Fast and hard—which usually ended up with me faking things during the climatic scene. And the second type was lackluster and boring—which also required me to brush up on my acting skills just to get it over with.
Rhodes’ body was taut with tension and his own need, but he was in complete control. Every move of his body was purposeful, yet unhurried.
This was a different kind of sex, and it was intoxicating.
Tilting my head back, I looked up into Rhodes’ face and saw the answer shimmering in his eyes.
It’s different because he’s making love to me.
Lacing my arms around his neck, I pressed my cheek to his chest. “Don’t freak out, but I think I’m falling in love with you.”
For the first time, Rhodes’ movements faltered and his breathing hitched, but he quickly steadied both. “That’s good, since I’m already in love with you.”
Squeezing my eyes closed, I tried to keep the tears from falling. I’d never heard those words from a man. Heck, the last time anyone had even bothered to care about me, I’d been in kindergarten.
I mattered to Rhodes.
I was loved.
Clinging to his sweat-soaked body, I came apart as white-hot pleasure hit me with the force of a runaway train. Rhodes thrust twice more, then stiffened as he followed me into mind-numbing bliss. Rolling to his side, he pulled me into the shelter of his body and held my trembling body as tears of happiness slid down my cheeks.
I lay on the bed, watching the minutes of the bedside alarm clock slowly tick by. It was 1:20 in the morning, which meant I needed to make my escape if I wanted to make it to the UnderGrave in time for the mystery meeting at 2:30.
That was assuming I could even find my way there. I’d been directionally challenged when alive, and that hadn’t changed in death.
Before I worried about finding the club, I needed to get away from Rhodes without him knowing—something that was easier said than done, since the giant of a man was cradling me against his chest like I was his personal teddy.
I needed to shift to the reaper realm, but that would take finesse. If I vanished too fast, Rhodes’ arm would drop and it might wake him. And worse, what if I screwed this up and ended up in Saul’s bedroom? I had questions I wanted him to answer, but tonight was not the night.
With painstaking slowness, I let my body turn to shadows. It took almost ten minutes, but by 1:30, I was on the street outside of the house. A cool breeze drifted lazily down the street, tossing bits of debris and leaves along its path.
Closing my eyes, I built a mental image of the sin city with its extravagant dinner shows, restaurants, and pretty much every other type of entertainment on Earth. I’d teleported myself halfway around the world to a place I’d never been. This had to be easier.
When my mental picture was as good as it was going to get, I steadied my nerves and forced myself to relax.
“Branson, Missouri, here I come.”