Reaver

He didn’t say anything. He kept coming at her, his expression serious, and the delicate flutter turned to an ominous thud. Was he angry?

He halted a few yards away, his nostrils flaring, his chest heaving. Burning, raw masculinity emanated from him, and Harvester’s body went hot with feminine appreciation.

“First,” he said, “thank you for getting me out of Sheoul and saving my life.” His voice was guttural, warped with emotion she was afraid to name. But he was wrong. He’d saved her life. “Second, we’re done hurting and hating and going through the bullshit.”

She inhaled sharply. After what happened at Tel Megiddo, she should have expected this, and it was inevitable, after all, but it didn’t stop sensation of her heart being shredded.

Squaring her shoulders, she tried to hide the hurt. “It’s probably for the best.”

Especially given that she was going to have to officially give herself to Raphael tomorrow night.

“I’m glad you agree.” In three strides Reaver was on her, his mouth crushing hers. “No more bullshit,” he said against her lips. “I want you. I think I’ve always wanted you.”

Shock and joy tangled so fiercely inside Harvester that she nearly crumpled to the ground. With a sob of relief, she arched against Reaver and lifted her thigh to hook around his waist as he pushed her backward against a tree.

God, he was a spark and she was dry tinder, and when his hand dropped to her ass to hold her for a slow roll of his hips that rubbed his rigid length against her core, she nearly burst into flame. The cool breeze coming off the ocean did nothing to help ease the heat. If anything, the reality that she was here in this tropical paradise with the male she’d loved and hated for centuries… the same male she’d loved and hated for the past few years… made it all that much hotter.

Reaver pelted her cheeks, jaw, and throat with hungry kisses. His breath fanned her skin, scorching her as he worked his way down, over her clavicle and then lower, to where he flicked his tongue under the V-neck of her silk tank top.

In the distance, Limos’s servants’ laughter rose above the crash of waves and the calls of the sea birds flying overhead.

“Not here,” she whispered.

Reaver dragged his tongue between her breasts as she flashed them deep into the jungle, to a crystal pool off a well-worn path from Limos’s house.

“Perfect.” Reaver stepped back just enough to help relieve her of her top. When she tried to shove down her matching black leather miniskirt, he circled her wrists and held them against her belly as he dropped to his knees in front of her. “No.” His voice was commanding. Hungry. So sexy she didn’t mind that he was taking control. “I get to do this.”

Releasing her wrists, he slipped his hands beneath the hem of her skirt. His palms were smooth and hot, and her thighs quivered as his thumbs stroked her sensitive skin.

Lifting his face, he caught her gaze. His gem-blue eyes smoldered as he slowly slid his hands upward. Inch by agonizing inch, he caressed her legs, kindling a sensual fire that threatened to set off an inferno. She started to pant before she felt the first brush of his fingers against her tender flesh.

“No panties,” he said roughly. “Damn, I’m so going to take advantage of that.”

Please, please take advantage.

Apparently, Reaver could read minds, because before she could catch her breath, he pushed the skirt up to her waist and eased her back onto a wet boulder. In an effortless surge, he draped her legs over his broad shoulders and opened his mouth over her aching sex.

Never before had she felt exposed when she was naked with a male. Copulation had always been about satisfying a basic urge, but this… this was about emotions and a physical desire so deep she felt it in her soul. She hadn’t felt like this since Yenrieth took her virginity.

Anxiety stirred, a protective instinct borne of thousands of years of hard living, and she pushed at him with a soft cry.

“Easy,” Reaver said, his soothing tone bringing her down a notch. “I’ve got you.”

He caught her hands, twining her fingers with his as he looked up at her, his gaze so full of promise that she had to lower her lids and turn her face away before he saw the vulnerability that was probably glaringly obvious.

For a long moment, he was still, and then, just as she opened her mouth to tell him to either get on with it or forget it, he lowered his head and nuzzled her inner thigh. His hot breath fanned her skin as he nibbled his way up, the erotic pinches of his teeth followed by velvet soft kisses that made her squirm in anticipation. By the time she felt the first probe of his tongue between her folds, she was so ready she cried out in sheer bliss.

He teased her out, licking in long, slow strokes before devastating her with quick side-to-side motions or a deep plunge of his tongue. She whimpered as he hit a spot that sent a jolt of electric sensation all the way to her womb.

“Reaver.” She lifted her hips, chasing his touch with wanton abandon.

“You drive me crazy.” He dragged the flat of his tongue through her slit and latched on to her clit, sucking gently. “I need to be inside you.”

“Yes,” she moaned, her body hovering at the edge of orgasm. “Oh… yes.” He did something sinfully wicked with his lips, and she came with a shout, bucking and thrashing so hard he had to grip her thighs and hold her down.

He rose up in a surge of flexing muscle, but even as he centered himself between her legs, she flipped him into the shallow water onto his back. Most males would have freaked out at the manhandling, but Reaver only growled his approval as she took his cock in hand and guided it inside her. The cool water countered their molten heat as she rocked on top of him.

He was big, thick enough to stretch her almost to the point of discomfort, and she reveled in it, taking all of him to the root.

Closing his eyes, he gripped her waist and arched to meet her downward strokes. Each thrust lifted her out of the pool, and on the return, little waves lapped at the juncture where their bodies met. Water licked at her clit as Reaver’s cock stroked her on the inside to create a storm of erotic wonder. The musky scent of sex rose up, mingling with the freshness of the ocean breeze and the flowers and leaves surrounding them. It was as if Harvester and Reaver were one with each other, one with nature, and for the first time in centuries, Harvester felt alive, like she was exactly where she was meant to be.

“Damn.” Reaver’s husky voice rolled through her like thunder. “This is so… good.” He opened those amazing eyes, and she lost herself in them and in the moment, letting the sounds of the waterfall and sex take her so high she felt as if she could bump her head on the moon.

She moved faster, the tension inside her building to a fever pitch. She couldn’t get enough of him, could never get enough to make up for time lost.

Arching her back, she took him deep, needing to feel him everywhere. He hissed and jerked, his body going taut as his hot flow spilled inside her.

“Yes,” he gasped. “Fuck… yeah.”

His eyes glowed with blue-hot inner fire that sucked her in and triggered an explosion of ecstasy so powerful she screamed with the force of it. Pleasure crashed through her in unrelenting waves.

Beneath her, Reaver peaked again, and they came together in an overwhelming tempest of rapture so fierce that when it was over, neither of them could move. She collapsed on top of him in a heap, hoping no one stumbled upon them, because she didn’t have the energy to even lift a finger to say hi.

They lay half in, half out of the water for a long time, sated, breathing hard. Harvester nuzzled Reaver’s throat, figuring now would be the best time to break the news. Maybe Reaver was as exhausted as she was.

“There’s something I have to tell you.”

Reaver stroked her back, his warm fingers stirring her insides again. “This isn’t going to be good, is it?”

“No.” Dread descended on her like a swarm of ghastbats as she braced herself for what she was going to say next, but she couldn’t stop her stomach from churning. “I agreed to be Raphael’s consort.”

Reaver sat up so fast she fell into the water. He fetched her, sputtering and spitting, and pulled her onto the sandy bank with him. “Consort? As in… mate?” He brushed her wet hair back from her face. “Harvester? Look at me.”