Groaning, he rubbed a hand over his face as the sounds of the night were a little too clear in his superhuman hearing. “How do you stand it?” he asked Adair.
She closed her eyes and smiled. “You mean Lana and the phone sex, Astrid’s little striptease, or that demon hunters heal so fast, that Quinn, and Ryan are already back at it and thoroughly enjoying themselves?”
A chuckle vibrated his ribs at her smartass quip. “Yep. Pretty much.”
“I like your team. And it’s apparent they really like each other.”
Grumbling, he rose from the table and nodded toward the door. “Walk with me?”
Sporting her poker face, she was neither smiling nor frowning, but her pulse kicked up as she brushed past him and walked into the night. Ever the fool, he nearly reached to take her hand, but shoved his fists in his pockets instead.
Ahead of him, Adair stood on the edge of the field and scanned the long stretch of grass and patchy forests that sprawled in all directions before hitting the coast and endless nothing spanned to the horizon. Not another home in sight on the isolated Northern California coast. Taunting him, she backed up until her feet left the stone path. “Think you’re pretty badass now? Still the demon hunter, plus enhanced senses? Let’s see if you’re fast as a pure vampire.”
“Like a race?” He stalked closer and stood a few inches away. He glanced down at her bare feet, the pastel pink nail polish where she’d worn blood red before. In borrowed jeans with more holes than denim, the plain t-shirt that wasn’t meant to be sexy, yet highlighted her spectacular curves, topped off with the makeup-less face, she didn’t look anything like a vampire. She looked like everything he’d dreamed of since long before they’d met.
Tugging her plump lip into her teeth, she contrasted the girl-next-door look with predatorial fangs, her blue eyes flashing with killer instincts… and capped the look of everything he’d dreamed of since. “To that fallen tree on the horizon.” Backing up, she taunted him to accept the challenge. “Scared?”
Tipping his head back in a subtle nod, he grinned. “Never.”
“Ready? One… Two….”
Spinning, she took off full speed, like a fricking Olympic sprinter on performance enhancement drugs.
“Cheater.” He laughed as he took off after her. Arms pumping at his sides, legs moving faster than he would have imagined possible, he moved with the velocity of the wind off the ocean. Air flowed in and out of his lungs smoothly, his heartbeat steady in his chest.
Laughing wholeheartedly, she soared, each footfall quicker than a blink, her strides long as a gazelle.
Shit, she was fast. The distance between them widened, but he was still so much faster than he’d been before.
She vaulted into the air and leaped over the log, her landing flawless. Laughing and beaming at her victory, she had an extra second to rest her hands on her hips before he caught up.
Not slowing, he launched over the log and grabbed her around the waist, pulling her to the ground with him into the tall grass.
Landing atop him, she sat up, her head tilted up to the sky as she calmed her laughter and tossed her hair out of her face. Her delight sent him off the planet. Holding her atop him, he gripped her hips and sat up to meet her. Sliding his hands under the hem of her top, the smooth silk of her skin warm under his touch, he craved her like nothing else.
Wrapping around his broad shoulders, she slid one hand around the back of his head and clutched her fingers in his hair. The cloudy night reflected as she searched his eyes before her gaze landed on his lips.
Uncertain after this morning, he waited. About killed him, her hesitation. His heart rate kicked up, and he could feel hers following.
His thumbs graced along her low back. While she decided if she was going to kiss him or not, the corners of his lips turned up in an ornery smile. Chuckling under her breath, her gaze met his.
There it was.
Leaning to meet him, she brushed her lips over his, tasting, tormenting him as she settled. Keeping still, he closed his eyes and savored the sensation while she seemed to debate how far to take things.
Something shifted. A decision. Instinct. Desire. Whatever it was, he was fully on board. Clutching her hands in his hair, she devoured.
Breathless at the urgency, he moved with her, needing to break down the barrier between them.
His hands shifted and slid under her bra, palming her breasts. She whimpered and leaned into his touch, then released him long enough to ditch her top.
Whispering against his mouth, she pleaded, “More.”
Heart thundering under his ribs, his cock aching at the mere possibility, at the feel of her, heat radiated through him. Massaging, he squeezed enough to bring a yearning gasp, then trailed his tongue along her skin.
A soprano moan passed her lips, her hips rocking against him. Taking her breast in his mouth, he laved, her breath quickening, her pulse thundering in rhythm with his. At the scent of her desire, indescribably arousing, he took her deeper, suckling one side while massaging the other, the intensity of her reaction so vividly palpable to his heightened senses, he drove her higher, faster, her thrill perpetuating his.
Desperate, hungry for more, he released her breasts and met her lips again, her bare chest pressed against him, wondering how to ask after the roller coaster they’d been through.
