Each of his failures—with Katie, the psychic and his own powers—weighed heavily upon his shoulders. So heavily he dropped his arms to his sides. Why did magic and spells come so easily to others yet prove so difficult and disastrous for him?
He ground his teeth. White-hot breath scalded his nasal passages. Pride demanded he do as he’d set out to do, break the curse and return home, and kill Percen, avenging lost time, lack of companionship and unending misery.
Pride demanded…and yet Jorlan could do nothing.
He uttered a dark, humorless laugh, frustration eating him up inside. One minute stretched to another as he fought for some kind of inner peace. A fruitless battle. He needed an outlet, something, anything to soothe the razor-sharp edges of his emotions.
A soft, gentle hand touched his shoulder. “Are you okay?” Katie’s voice caressed his ears and…aye, soothed him. “I know that didn’t go the way you planned,” she said, “but we’ll find someone else. Someone legit. I mean, before you appeared in my life, I considered magic a myth. Now here you are. So, there has to be a real psychic out there and I promise we’ll visit another place in the morning.”
He gazed down at her blunt-tipped nails, at her pale skin against his own deeply tanned. For one raw moment, that touch made him feel as if he’d harbored his hate and resentment for far too long, and he should forgive and move on. As if he had nothing to fear. That everything would work out for his good. Yet still he required an outlet, and she had just provided him with one.
He drank in her loveliness. Intoxicating. “I like this softer side of yours, katya.”
She snatched her hand back. “Oh, uh. I wasn’t making a pass or anything.”
“This, I know.” He clasped her forearms and hauled her to him. Chest to chest. Hardness to softness. “There’s still time to do so.”
Twin pink circles painted her cheeks. “Why? Are you wanting to kiss me?” she asked, breathless, sinking more snugly into him. What had changed?
“I always want to kiss you.” This was the most encouragement she’d given him. Though he knew he should wait until they were away from prying eyes, eagerness got the better of him. He wanted to hold her so tightly against him she could only part her lips and cry out his name.
“Jorlan,” she whispered.
Her carnal fragrance filled his head. He slid his hands up, up, and combed his fingers through her hair, fisting the strands at her nape. Drawn to her in a way he’d never been drawn to another, he tugged her closer until nothing separated their bodies.
Her pupils expanded, and her color deepened.
Can’t stop this. He lifted her to her toes and lowered his head. Their lips pressed together. She gasped, and he rolled his tongue against hers. So incredibly sweet.
He hardened to the point of pain, every cell sizzling with lust. He burned for more. For everything.
For her, and her alone.
She would be just as sweet when he feasted between her legs, he knew it. Cannot wait.
Uttering a low, needy moan, she thrust her tongue against his. Like throwing kindling on a fire.
He palmed and kneaded one of her breasts, rolling the nipple between his fingers. “This is what I long to do to you every time I see you. Hear you. Sense you,” he whispered. “This is what I craved as I lay upon your floor. What I imagined as I stroked myself off while you slept.”
She whimpered, the sound one of pure need. That need played havoc with his pace. Been without passion for far too long. Missed it. Need it.
Need more.
Frantic, frenzied, he moved his grip to her buttocks and lifted, allowing her to wrap her legs around his waist. With a spin, he pinned her against the brick wall.
The apex of her thighs cradled his erection, both tantalizing and tormenting. The sensations… He’d never experienced anything so intense, but he instinctively knew he would need it forevermore.
No, no. This didn’t matter. Nothing mattered but the pressure building inside him. Unable to remain still, he rolled his hips and ground against her. A mimic of sex.
She shivered, plaintive moans leaving her faster and faster. Increasingly ragged whimpers, too. More moans. Groans. Sighs. Mewls and purrs. He marveled. With a simple kiss—liar! there’s nothing simple about it—he’d destroyed her inhibitions.
“How wet are you?” How much do you want me, little witch?
“No talking.” She ran his bottom lip between her teeth. “Feels so good. Don’t stop. Please, don’t stop.”
Pride swelled his chest. As she dragged her nails down his back, he ached to rip off her drocs, free his throbbing shaft and plunge deep inside her. He craved the clench of her inner walls as she chased her release.
He would give anything, pay any price, to feel her erupt with pleasure, to watch her face light with wonder, to hear her scream his name as she hurled over the edge.
I will give her one peak after another.
The heated thought torched what remained of his control. Get her to the car. Get inside her.
Aye! He wrenched his mouth from hers and unhooked her legs from his waist. Panting, every inhalation singeing his airways, he released her and stepped back. Surely the most difficult task he’d ever completed.
At least she panted just as forcefully. Lust crackled in her irises, and passion-fever bloomed in her cheeks.
Was she flushed beneath her clothing?
“Wasn’t ready to stop,” she muttered, reaching for him.
“Not stopping. Only pausing.” He took her hand and hauled her toward the car.
A tactical error he would not make again. By the time they arrived at their destination, she’d gone cold.
“Jorlan, I—” Katie closed her eyes. Opened them.
In an instant, the passionate haze that enveloped them evaporated, and her expression changed. From Take me now to I’d rather burn in the fires of Hel la Fir than be with you.
“I’m sorry,” she croaked.
“Did I frighten you?” Sweat beaded on his brow. He’d never begged for anything; he hadn’t even begged Percen for mercy. But right now, Jorlan was perilously close to hitting his knees and pleading for one more kiss.
“No, no. Nothing like that.” This time, she wrenched away from him. She stood several feet away, awash in golden sunlight. “I just…I want to be in love when I have sex.”
“And I want you to love me, so I don’t see a problem.”
She snapped, “I want the man to love me back. I want to know he respects me, and that he’ll stick around.”
Tension stole through him. She wanted everything he couldn’t give her. I might…fail. “Katie—”
“Being intimate will only complicate our relationship. I have no idea how I’ll react afterward. I haven’t…I mean I can’t…I mean I don’t know you well enough.”
“From now on, I will gladly tell you whatever you wish to know about me.” As a young lad, he’d learned to keep certain information private. Anything you revealed to others could be used against you at a later date. Since he would only be here another thirteen days, if that, “a later date” hardly mattered.
“No, you don’t understand.” Crisscrossing her arms across her middle, she said, “Right now, you want to share personal details because you think it’ll help you get into my pants. But I want a man who wants to share those kinds of details because he likes me. And he’ll want to learn more about me, too.”