Harley’s entire focus centered on the man lazily rubbing her cleft. The look in his eyes stripped her bare, left her aroused and wary. She didn’t understand what he asked of her, but she sensed it would change her for all time.
She leaned back to take in the full force of the powerful man and try to get a clue as to his motives. Wavy brown hair with a multitude of highlights from blond to chestnut hung in choppy sections around his rough face. His pale blue eyes stood out against his tanned skin. She suspected they could appear as cold as ice at times. Not today. No, lust heated them.
He wasn’t gorgeous, despite what she’d claimed, not in the same sense as the singers and movie stars she’d had crushes on growing up. Calan’s striking features gave off a commanding tone that appealed to her.
She wanted to kiss him, ride him and love him with everything she had. The yearning she’d carried for him had grown over the years. No other man had been able to break her fascination, despite her limited view of him. His eyes, the same ones that watched her with hot, uncontrolled hunger, had ruined her for any other lover.
If it was sex he wanted, she’d give it to him. The possessive edge to the way he focused on her warned he wanted more, which didn’t match what she suspected would eventually happen between them. That he would kill her.
She shook her head. “No, I—”
He stilled the back-and-forth motion of his finger and pressed the pad of his thumb to her clit. The damp cotton of her pants separated them, but the promise of what one flick could do hovered within reach.
“Wrap your legs around my waist and kiss me.”
The command slammed into her just like the one he’d given her all those years ago. She thought about resisting. It’d be better if they talked, but desire to feel his powerful cock between her thighs wasn’t a temptation she wanted to pass up. She settled over his thick length and dropped her head back on a groan.
He shifted his hand to her ass as he’d done earlier and caressed each cheek. The reverent way he touched her made her feel as beautiful as a flower. She’d been told countless times she was, had even been offered modeling and acting jobs, but never had she felt worthy of people’s attention.
The stain on her soul tainted her view of herself. She hated looking in the mirror, knowing what lurked inside her body—the remnants of the monster who’d created her. Calan’s confirmation that it was festering and spreading chilled her soul.
“How can you save me?” She cupped his face between her hands. “How, Calan? You told me—”
“Shhh, my flower. Forget what I said, and kiss me.”
He ran his finger down the crack of her ass to the spot where his length stretched along the seam of her sex. With his big palm on her bottom, he held her immobile and rocked against her. The bonds locking his body in place prevented him from stimulating her the way she would’ve liked, but the slow grind of his hips skipped electricity over her swollen lips to her clit. Pleasure built deep inside her.
She shook her head, trying to clear the lust, but her body wanted what Calan teased her with. All the nights she’d fantasized about him added to the moment. Emotions rose, ones she didn’t know what to do with. Hope, uncertainty and restraint warred within her. He bent his head and nibbled on her jaw. Her arousal flowed in response to his nipping bites. Licks of his tongue followed, cooling the sharp sting. Each swipe weakened her. She clasped her arms around his neck and matched the gentle thrusts of his hips. It was impossible not to follow his lead.
He was seducing her, but the growing passion between them tempted her beyond anything she’d ever encountered. Knowing it was Calan, her ghost man, who touched her made it better. She’d never been able to let him go or find any other man who made her feel a tenth of what she’d experienced each time she pictured his eyes. Goodness knew, she’d tried.
“Calan, I want…” She stopped herself before she begged him to fuck her. What they were doing was wrong on so many levels, but she needed his smoky taste on her lips one more time. A kiss. Just a kiss. That was all. She sifted her fingers through the strands of his hair and leaned closer until only a hairbreadth separated them. “You. I want you.”
“Harley, my beautiful flower, I want you too.” The words whispered into her head slipped through her in an intimate caress she hadn’t known was possible.
He explored her mouth, stroking and licking every inch as if he loved her taste as much as she enjoyed his. The appreciative moans spilling from his throat revved up her needs. She shifted her hips, grinding against him as if she had every right in the world to take her pleasure from his hands.
She tried to lead him in a quicker dance, but he ignored her demands. He eased back and allowed her to kiss him wildly. The opening to have her way with him would’ve been welcome any other time. At the moment, his passive response tore a whimpered groan from her.
“Please, Calan.”
“Open up. Let me inside. Let me shield you from the taint your father left on you.”
“I don’t know how.”
His gaze dropped to her mouth. “Kiss me, and let go. I’ll do the rest.”
She did as he ordered. She kissed him, allowed him to lead her and gave herself up to the emotions he stirred. With each stroke, her tension eased, but her needs grew. She wanted to take him into her body and make love to him the same way he worked her mouth—slowly, as if they had eternity to worship each other.
Something soft and silky wrapped around her, filled her up and completed her. The brush of his fingers along the column of her throat matched the gentle caress she felt deep inside her body. The burn, the constant unsettling reminder of the taint she carried, calmed. Still there, still a part of her, but the satin presence he poured into her covered it and gave her peace.
“Take my hand, Harley.”
She linked her fingers with his. Heat spread where their skin touched, not painful or unwelcome. His warmth seeped into her and rushed through her body much the same way his silky caress had. She breathed a sigh of contentment he eagerly swallowed.
Their kiss turned into a full-body experience. Every particle within her hummed under Calan’s skilled touch. She didn’t care what he did to her as long as she could hold on to the feeling for as long as possible.
“I give myself freely to you, my Harley. I ask nothing of you in return. Take me, treasure me or walk away, but know I will always be yours.”
Power whipped through her before she could question his words. Pain followed. Her back arched. A scream crawled up her throat. The sound of her anguish never escaped. He blew a stream of heated, smoke-scented air into her lungs. The agony ceased as quickly as it came, and pleasure replaced it. Her core tightened, and waves rolled through her from her womb to her fingers and toes.
The orgasm he created with only a kiss went on forever. She trembled under the force of it. Her eyes rolled back in her head. Colors sparked in an array of light over the inside of her eyelids. And the sound of their hearts, beating as one, echoed in her ears.
Finally, the pleasure faded. Sensations returned, and she sagged against him. He broke the kiss on a low, guttural groan. “Never knew how good…”
“Calan.” His name was all she could manage. Never before had she experienced anything like what they’d shared. It had been more intimate than sex yet not quite as satisfying. It only made her want more, all of him. She banded her arms around his chest and held on, hoping he understood what she couldn’t say.
“Harley, I need you.” He opened his eyes. A hazy ring of darker blue surrounded the pupils of his pale orbs.
“What? Your eyes…different.” She couldn’t get the words out. She felt drunk on desire. Her mind wouldn’t work.
A lazy, satisfied grin spread over his mouth as if he knew exactly why she couldn’t form a complete sentence. “Unlock me.”
The compulsion behind his order hit her harder than any other. Before, she’d wanted to obey him. The command he’d just uttered demanded her obedience. She shoved away and fell on her backside for the second time.
“Harley, come here and unlock me. I want to make love to you.”
He curled his fingers. A tug accompanied the simple motion. The pull tightened the silky second skin he’d spread throughout her body.
She sat there, muscles tensed, and breathed through the undeniable urge to close the distance. “What did you do to me?”
He watched her with hungry eyes but didn’t answer.
“Dammit, Calan, tell me the truth. Did you kiss me so you could force some kind of control over me?”
“I kissed you because I want to save you.” The bite to his words matched the glint in his eyes. “Now come here and release me. I need to finish it.”
She wrapped her arms around her knees so she didn’t run to him. “I don’t understand. I thought allowing you inside saved me.”
He flicked his gaze between her hand and her face. “It started the process.”
His harsh tone didn’t match the seductive whispers from moments ago. Wariness settled over her. She forced her attention from his and glanced at her hand. A swooping X marred the center of her palm. She traced the black lines.
“You will need to cover that. The redcaps will recognize the sacrifice I made for you and report it to Dar. You’ll end up in an eternal prison too.”
She peered at him, but his expression was one she couldn’t figure out. “What did you do to me?”
He didn’t answer her. Another curl of his fingers matched the rough jerk on her body. She locked her knees, but not before she took several steps closer to him without realizing she’d moved. She glared at him.
He sighed. “Do not be stubborn, Harley. Come here.”
“No, I will not be your puppet. Release me!”
The yank cut off abruptly. She fell a third time but scrambled up and ran for the door. An invisible hand wrapped around her waist and spun her so she faced him. “You are not a puppet, but I need you to release me. Both of our fates depend on it.”
“You tricked me, exactly as you did all those years ago. ‘Live for me. Let me save you.’ Bullshit!” She strained against his unseen grip and forced her feet to move. One step, two. She grabbed the doorjamb and hung on for dear life. “Both times you acted for your wants, not mine.”
He stared at her for a long moment and finally released a long, weary breath. “I am sorry. I truly am, but this time my motives include you.”
She shook her head. “No—”
“Take the night to think on what I’ve said, then come back to me. What’s one more day in hell?” He snorted, the bitter sound one she didn’t want to hear. “Promise me, Harley. Return to me tomorrow night and deliver my fate.” He shifted his gaze to her hand. “I gave myself to you. What will you do with me?”
She lifted her hand and stared at the mark there. “I give myself freely to you, my Harley. I ask nothing of you in return. Take me, treasure me or walk away, but know I will always be yours.”
She curled her fingers and peeked at him from under her lashes. “What did you do to me?”
He closed his eyes. “You know the answer. When you realize it, I’ll be here waiting for you.”
She backed away without promising anything. No tug or invisible hand stopped her. She climbed the stairs and ran, but she feared it wouldn’t do any good. She’d been marked, in more ways than one, and the stamp he’d left on her heart might be the one to destroy her, once and for all.