The taste of him drugged her. He was molten honey chased by pineapple-infused champagne. Sweeter than the speir, and the perfect contradiction to his wicked exploration.
He was more necessary than air.
To anchor her body against his, she wrapped her arms around his waist. Pleasure bombarded her in waves, one after the other, but still she needed more. She needed...everything. Up, up, her fingers traveled over the ridges of his spine, his muscles jerking beneath her caress.
So much strength harnessed by one man. My man.
He kissed her deeper, as if ravenous for her. She kissed him back, just as deep, just as ravenous. Control? She had none. Desperate--a common occurrence in his presence--she chased every sensation he elicited, her nails digging into his shoulder blades, new moans escaping her.
Her world spun, the kiss never slowing. Then cold rocks chilled her back, and a hot man heated her front; she gasped. And he wasn't done. He kneaded one of her breasts. His other hand glided down her stomach, tunneled under her panties and played her until she writhed and screamed and begged.
"Agree," he grated. A bead of sweat trickled from his temple.
"N-no." His future meant more to her than pleasure. Barely. "Please, Puck. Please. If you refuse to give me an orgasm, I'm going to spontaneously combust."
"I'll simply combust with you. I doubt there's a better way to go." He stopped all movement, just stopped, and she screamed for an entirely different reason, frustration like her own personal demon.
She beat at his chest. "What are you doing?"
"The impossible. I'm...walking...away." He released her breast...lifted his hand from her panties--no! "Hardest thing I've never done. But going to do it. A future with you means too much."
"Puck." She clutched his wrists and stared up into his eyes. Strain tightened his features. He clearly needed to come as desperately as Gillian. "Stay."
"You know how to keep me here."
She opened her mouth, closed it. He fed her a swift, hard kiss and stood, severing contact.
But...but... "You said we could kiss and touch."
"And that's exactly what we did. I never said I'd let you'd come."
"You lowdown dirty rat!" Lungs heaving, she scrambled to her feet to face off with him. "You finish what you started or...or..." Nothing sounded violent enough. "Or I'll take care of myself."
"I don't think you will. Because of the bond, I don't think you can." Leaning down, putting them nose to nose, he said, "But either way, your orgasm belongs to me, and me alone. You will not make yourself come, Gillian. Do you understand?"
Always so possessive. "No!"
He crowded her against the rocky wall. With his hands on the rough surface beside her temples, caging her in, and his erection rubbing between her legs, he ran her bottom lip between his teeth. "The moment you agree to my terms, I'll be in you so deep you'll feel me for the rest of eternity."
Tremors. Wavering...
Again, she opened and closed her mouth. Then her defenses rallied. This is for his own good.
He must have sensed her momentary weakness, because he gave her a look so smug she wanted to smack him and throw herself into his arms. Smug looked good on him.
"Hear me. Heed me well. If you make yourself come now," he said, "I won't make you come later."
Her frustration spiked. By "later" did he mean "ever"?
"You're going to return to camp, aching for me," he continued with a silky tone.
"Yes," she said, staring into his eyes. Two could play this game. As he watched, she licked her lips. "But so are you."
31
As the others slept safe and snug in their sleeping bags--everyone but Gillian, who tossed and turned--Puck marched the perimeter of their campsite, weapons in hand, a howling demon in his head.
The only reason he wasn't going insane right now, considering the awful racket in his head: my woman needs me.
Gillian hadn't made herself come. She'd waited for him. Whether purposely or inadvertently, he didn't know, didn't care. All that mattered? She ached for him. And she'd sought to avenge him.
When she'd returned to camp, she'd gotten in William's face and snapped, "I know you stabbed Puck. Don't do it again."
"What?" the warrior had replied. "He walked into my knife."
"If you do it again, you'll walk into my knife--repeatedly."
A thousand times, Puck had almost given in and gone to her, frantic to make her come, ready to follow her over the edge.
Too much at stake. Resist!
Take all or accept nothing.
Knowing he would be too amped to sleep, he'd requested the first night watch. One hour bled into another and another until Cameron appeared, startling him. He reached for a weapon.
"My turn for guard duty," his friend said, grinning from ear to ear. "A bit agitated, are we? And distracted? Surprise! I've been your shadow for the last two laps. I considered stabbing you to prove a point, but I figured you were in enough pain." He motioned to the bulge between Puck's legs. "I'd put that thing away."
"That's the plan," Puck muttered. He sheathed his dagger and scrubbed a hand down his face. The fact that he hadn't heard the warrior's approach...he deserved a flogging.
He strode back to camp, letting his boots thump into the ground, not even trying to be quiet. As he slid into his sleeping bag--which he placed right next to Gillian's--she turned toward him with a low, needy moan.
My woman is agonized. Must give her--
No! Not until she caved.
Moonlight caressed her exquisite face as she blinked open her eyes and peered over at him. "Puck," she whispered.
"Agree," he grated softly. William and Winter slept only a few feet away, but he didn't have the strength to end the conversation.
"Agree to my terms--sex without commitment," Gillian said, her tone just as soft, "and I'll do anything you've ever fantasized about. I'll do everything."
Yes. Harder than I've ever been. Need her. "Do you want me, lass?"
"So much." A ragged admission that only made him harder.
"Prove it, then. Agree to my terms. Give us both a happily-ever-after."
She sucked in a breath, as if he'd just scraped a raw wound with his claw. "You don't fight fair, husband."
"Never have, never will." Not with a prize of prizes awaiting him. "Agree."
"I...can't."
; "You can, but you won't. So we wait, and discover who can outlast whom..."
*
Puck never managed to fall asleep, the demon too loud, and his need for Gillian too great. He waited, hoping against hope that she would be the first to cave. But, as morning light dawned on the horizon, she remained still and quiet.
Resting peacefully? He--
The ground beneath him began to rattle, and he frowned.
Threat? Ready for battle, daggers in hand, Puck got up in a hurry. William, Gillian and Cameron joined him. A wide-eyed Winter stood at the camp's perimeter, holding on to a tree branch for balance.
Between them, small circles of ground crumbled, imploding from deep in the realm's core.
"Get over here. Now," Cameron demanded, motioning to his sister. "What the hell is happening?"
"I don't know." Winter bounded over, twisting and leaping to avoid falling into one of the pits. "The shaking doesn't reach the chimeras. Let's gather our gear and haul ass."
Good plan.
"I'll take care of the gear," William said. The bags and weapons vanished.
But getting to the chimeras? Impossible. Wind blustered through the camp. Magical wind. Sin's magic. In an instant, everyone was flashed to a new location, yards apart from the others, each standing directly in front of a pit.
Some of the pits were bottomless, some weren't. In the yawning hole before Puck's feet, spears were anchored into the ground and angled up. A fall inside guaranteed impalement.
Winter teetered, and Cameron lunged to catch her. At the same time, William snatched up a fallen branch to extend toward Gillian, but Puck had already followed Cameron's lead and lunged toward her. He stood behind her, one arm wrapped around her waist to hold her steady.
"This is Sin's doing," he said.
"You know him best." Gillian gazed around, her mind clearly whirling. "Would he create a way to stop this?"
More rumbling.
"Do we move? Do we stay put?" Winter asked.
Too late. New pits formed.
"Need to think." Puck's scattered thoughts began to align. Sin had always liked to toy with his enemies, so yes, he would create a way out, ensuring the game continued.
The first pits had formed when Winter stood at the perimeter, and the rest of them were close to the fire. The second set of pits formed after the wind had blown in, and magic had flashed everyone to new locations.