She explored the textures of his body, fingers tangling and tugging teasingly in his chest hair, sliding over the broad expanse of his shoulders, the flexing muscles of his stomach. She leaned closer, inhaling.

  He smelled of dark woods and freedom. The male musk that surrounded him, unique to him, was intoxicating.

  Her breath puffed against his tightening nipple, her pink tongue lightly licking in query. His whole body jerked and she heard a slight cracking sound, which she ignored in favor of his other nipple. The flat disk beaded against her lips and he arched under her again as she nipped at his flesh.

  A thrilling feeling of power rushed through her. He wanted her. Needed her. She placed warm, open-mouthed kisses down his torso, nibbling on his ribs, dipping her tongue into that elusive navel. His skin burned against her lips and she could hear his breath catch each time her tongue touched his flesh.

  As her head slowly lowered to his engorged cock, it appeared to move on its own, seeming to reach up and beg for her touch. Her eyes rose up in surprise to the man on the bed beside her, his hands clasping the headboard behind him, his chest rising like a bellows as he struggled for breath.

  He gave a closed mouthed smile at her curious expression, she knew he was trying not to frighten her by revealing the emerging fangs lancing his gums…but she saw them.

  She felt another gush of arousal flood her sex at the sight, at this proof of his fraying control. His groan drew her fascinated gaze away from his mouth, swirling eyes begging her to continue what she’d been doing.

  Quickly absorbed in her task once more, she studied the liquid glistening from the slit, dripping down the shaft of his erection. She breathed deeply, taking in the dark, earthy scent of his arousal.

  She was so turned on she could feel the hard, pounding pulse of her clit and she squeezed her thighs together tightly. Her lips parted as she watched his cock jerk toward her once more, demanding her undivided attention.

  She was suddenly very glad that she liked to read erotic fiction. She desperately wanted to please him, wanted to put all her reading to good use.

  One hand gently cupped the tight sac of his hair-roughened balls as she licked the flushed head with delicate laps of her tongue, curiously needy for the taste of him.

  Damon’s hips gave a small helpless twitch before stilling, as if the added sensation was too much. “This may not be such a smart—oh baby, that’s feels so good!”

  Inspired by his reaction and his instantly addicting flavor, she laved his entire shaft with her tongue before trying to wrap her lips around him. He was so thick and long that she could only fit half of him in her mouth. She closed her fist around the lower part of his cock, licking and sucking as much as she could reach in vigorous delight.

  His reaction was gratifying. His groan poured over her, nearly drowning out the sound of cracking, crumbling wood that signaled the demise of a small section of the headboard behind him.

  One large hand reached down to caress her hair, soft as a butterfly’s wing. Her curls tangled on something sharp and she knew he was trying not to scratch her with his newly emerged claws.

  Reaching up, she placed one hand over his, keeping him there as she licked the sensitive flesh around the base of the crown, pressing her tongue against the vein there, smiling slightly as he arched against her mouth with a growl. She breathed out slowly as she relaxed her jaw muscles to take him as deep into her mouth as she could.

  His cock hit the back of her throat and she instinctively swallowed, Damon nearly leapt from the bed in reaction.

  “Oh shit, Meru…damn, how did you—? Oh gods, yes!”

  His clawed grip on her hair tightened convulsively as he pumped himself lightly into her waiting mouth. “That feels—oh, suck my cock, baby. Yes, just like that.”

  She felt the lightest sprinkling of soft fur on the back of his hand and shuddered with delight, pressing it against her head harder in a mute plea for him to let go of his restraint. His paw-like fist clenched in her hair, tugging her head up and her mouth away from its new favorite treat.

  “You don’t know what you’re asking for,” he growled. “I don’t want to hurt you.” She pulled against the restraining hand, extending her tongue to swipe at his pulsing shaft.

  Her eyes rose, looking straight into his. “You would never hurt me.” Her voice held absolute knowledge. Total trust. And he went wild.

  She was pulled up and flipped onto her back in the middle of the gigantic bed before she could blink, Damon was kneeling before her spread thighs.

  His smile was tight, as if he were still trying to reassure her even through his need. His sharp white fangs gleamed in the softly lit room. The only other outward changes she could see was the slight thickening of the furlike hair already covering his chest and forearms, the muscles of his already impressive torso rippling, growing larger and more pronounced. It was obvious he still held back from completely changing but she was in no way disappointed.

  She could feel her moisture pooling on the silk beneath her. He was the sexiest thing she’d ever seen. Still Damon, just…more.

  Her confidence in her own safety made her bold. Gripping his neck with surprising strength, she pulled him down for a deep, open-mouthed kiss. She wrapped her tongue enticingly around the sharp, sexy points of his teeth before sucking his lower lip into her mouth and nipping playfully.

  Damon pulled back, shock and lust stamped across his expression. He shuddered, his cock brushing against her wet pussy. Her hips twisted beneath him, begging him for more. She reached for him but he gripped her arms and raised them above her head with a silent order to leave them where they lay. He slid down her body until his mouth was poised over her dampened curls. Tilting her hips up high, he licked his full lower lip and breathed her in deeply.

  “The Lycan sense of smell is truly an amazing thing.” He took another breath. “I caught your scent that first night and knew I wanted to taste.” Her eyes grew bigger.

  “Then I tasted this delectable pussy and knew I would never get enough.” He growled hotly, vibrating the curls so close to his mouth.

  “What do I smell like?” Her gasping question made him close his eyes in need, his clawed hands curving on her silken skin.

  “Like flowers and spice. When you’re aroused, the scent grows stronger, tempting me, drowning me.” He licked the alluring, dew-covered curls lightly, placing his hands on her thighs to spread her wide open to his gaze.

  “And your taste.” He hummed appreciatively. “It’s addictive. Delicious. Thick, sweet cream that I don’t think I’ll ever get enough of.”

  She cried out hoarsely as he ended the conversation by diving down into her wet heat, tasting her fully with firm strokes of his rough, clever tongue.

  Her hips arched upward, already close, almost desperate. He took her drenched folds in his mouth, sucking and licking each in turn, before sucking on her clit with a strong, steady pressure, causing her to come in a shocking rush.

  That seemed to be what he was waiting for, she thought, feeling him chuckle against her flesh before thrusting his long tongue deep inside. He swirled it around aggressively, greedily lapping up all of her juices and demanding more.

  She came again and again against his avid mouth, his thick, thrusting fingers, crying out his name on a plea to stop. A plea to never stop. Tugging on his hair in an attempt to ease this pleasure that bordered on pain.

  After one last, savoring lick, Damon climbed back up her body, her thighs still caught in his firm grip. He pushed her legs up until her knees bent close to her shoulders, her thighs brushing the sensitive tips of her breasts.

  Looking lustfully at the bounty before him, her cream glinted wetly on his chin. He licked his lips as she watched, his smile pure carnality. He took his rigid cock in hand and entered her slick channel in one long, powerful stroke. She arched beneath him, crying out at the hot stretch of her flesh. He was so big. And it felt so good.

  He growled. “You’re mine.”

  She nodded jerkily at his rough decree.

  His ministrations had left her so wet that he slid in more easily than he had that first time, though it was still a tight fit. She watched him throw his head back in ecstasy at the feel of her muscles contracting around him, pulling him deeper.

  “That’s it, Meru, Take it. Take all of me. Yes.”

  Damon’s positioning left her completely open to him, each slow, controlled thrust filling her up, touching her core. She looked at his face, finding his eyes blazing down at the spot where their bodies joined, and hers followed.

  It was a beautiful sight. His dark cock wet with her arousal, stretching her open, going impossibly deep.

  “Damon,” she moaned, reaching for his hips to pull him more fully against her, needing more of him, straining to thrust against him from her helpless position.

  He wasn’t about to rush this time. He filled her again and again, slow and deep, despite her moaned demands for him to go faster. Tears of frustration and mindless pleasure spilled down her cheeks as her head whipped back and forth against the pillows.

  He seemed to sense each time she was close to coming. He would slow down just enough or move in just the right way to leave her dangling on the edge, in desperate need of satisfaction.

  Unable to take it anymore, the control he held even partially shifted, she reached between her bent legs to touch him. She gently caressed his ball sac where it sat high and taut against his skin.

  He growled.

  Then, straining to wrap her fingers around the base of his thick cock as it slid back from her body, using her own moisture as lubricant, she squeezed firmly as he slid through her snug fist and into her even tighter pussy. She was determined to throw him off balance. She needed to come. Now.

  He seemed to arrive at the same conclusion a heartbeat later, her name a barely recognizable roar on his lips as he slammed his hips forward, pounding into her wildly.

  Her legs slid around his waist, clinging to him as he fell on her breasts, sucking her deeply into his mouth, still careful not to break the skin. She arched into his mouth, the scrape of his fangs against her sensitive flesh sending bolts of white hot lust up her spine.

  Shaking the bed with his powerful thrusts, he groaned against her flesh, licking roughly up the curve of her breast to the pulse beat at her neck, his breath hot and humid against her.

  She was climbing higher than she’d ever been, higher than she ever imagined she could go. He reared away from her throat, taking her mouth desperately with his own, rubbing against her clit with every angled stroke.

  She soared, her whole body in flames. His cock swelled impossibly inside her as her inner walls milked his length, demanding that he join her in her flight.

  He ate her cries and fed her his own as he shot hotly into her, jerking against her as he felt his soul ripping through his cock to merge with hers. He came long and hard, jets of heat lashing up his spine again and again, his body reshaping itself, his mind transforming, knowing that something within him had changed.

  From the moment he’d held her in his arms, from the moment they’d met, it had already begun. And now he knew he could no longer avoid the truth.

  He was in love. He was still terrified at his lack of control around her but thankfully not as much as before. Hadn’t she seen him partially changed and still reached for him with acceptance and desire? Hadn’t he managed to pull the beast back before he’d had a chance to bite the fragile flesh of her shoulder, to taste her blood as he’d longed to do?

  As he lay down beside her, scooping her sleepy body up to cuddle her against him, he felt a renewed sense of hope. He would protect her, aid her in her quest and hold her as long as he could. As long as he held back from completely losing himself to the desires of the wolf, she could be safe. And his.

  Chapter Nine

  I’m dreaming.

  Again.

  She felt the cool, damp grass beneath her, smelled the sweet lavender on the breeze, even shivered at the slight chill in the air. It all felt incredibly real. But she knew it was a dream.

  Meru stood and looked around, recognizing the scene from the last dream she’d had. The same ethereal landscape, the same deep green mound beside the same flowing stream that threaded through the landscape like a ribbon of sky.

  “Hello, Meru, daughter of Áine.”

  She turned to see the familiar woman once again standing beside her. She seemed somehow a part of the mystical land that surrounded them. Her eyes were the clear blue of the water babbling beside them, her dress the same emerald green as the hillside. Her hair seemed radiant as the sun, the daylight glinting off the white flowers that glittered in the strands as if a jeweled crown had been woven in the flaxen tresses.

  “Danu.” Meru breathed reverently. The True Queen smiled kindly and took her hand, lacing it through her own as she began walking beside the water’s edge.

  “It’s so lovely here.” Meru sighed. She noticed a large, modern house situated at the edge of the woods across the water. It was all windows and thick timber beams, with a wide deck meant for enjoying the enchanting view. It should have seemed out of place here but it was perfect. She wondered if Danu lived there.

  “You’ll have to come home soon. I have so missed your family.” At her questioning glance, Danu shook her head, abruptly changing the topic.

  “Do you know why you’re here?”

  Meru knew what she was referring to. “The Cup of Inspiration. The one you created for Áine. Can you tell me where it is?”

  “Only you, my Druid daughter, can find the answer to that. What I can tell you is where it went when it disappeared from Áine and that silver-eyed Archon’s sight.”

  Meru heard an interesting note in Danu’s voice when she mentioned Myrddin. The way she said Archon as if it were a bad taste in her mouth confused her. For some reason, she had just assumed Danu was an Archon as well, like the rest of the Tuatha.

  “The Tuatha Dé Danaan are not Archon!” Danu responded to her unspoken thought almost angrily. Meru felt the wind pick up around them, lifting her dark curls with the force of Danu’s emotions.

  “The Tuatha were the first to arrive in this dimension, pilgrims seeking a land to love and nurture, far away from the power hungry violence of the Archons. But the portal could not be completely closed behind them. The others soon followed, seeking more territory to conquer.”

  Her hand tightened on Meru’s arm with remembered frustration, but her voice softened as she continued. “I gave the Tuatha gifts to protect themselves, hide them from prying eyes. But I could not hide the native inhabitants of this world I had discovered.”

  It was clear to see that Danu blamed herself for all the tragedy and subjugation her dimension had inflicted on Earth. And also obvious that she had no love for the Archon race or its council.

  Meru squeezed Danu’s arm comfortingly, causing her to smile and return the affectionate embrace.

  “It’s all right, Meru. And I don’t hate all Archons. Truth be told, I don’t hate any of them. They are just misguided. There are even one or two, our friend Myrddin for example, whose philosophies still align with ours. He is a good man. I am glad he’s finally going to find some happiness and love of his own. Especially after that horrible debacle with his brother’s wife.”

  Realizing she was confusing Meru, Danu just laughed softly and shrugged. “I am wandering away from the topic at hand. It is just so nice to be able to talk directly with someone again. It has been a long time. I was going to tell you of the Cup.”

  Meru listened, entranced by the lovely woman and her musical voice as she explained. “Myrddin spoke to you of The Book of Veils, how Áine put her essence into the book, giving up her life as priestess and leader of her people to ensure that all she had learned would be ready for you when the time was right.” At Meru’s nod, Danu continued.

  “That is the way of powerful Magick. There is always a price to be paid. The gifts I created for the Tuatha have cost me dearly. The Cup of Inspiration was no different. The loss of Áine wasn’t the only sacrifice needed to make it, but it was, for me, the hardest.”

  Danu looked off into the distance. “When you create a power-filled object like that, infuse it with a piece of your spirit, the thing you have made often takes on a life, and a Magick, all its own.”

  She looked deeply into Meru’s eyes. “I did not make Áine’s Cup disappear, it left of its own accord, searching for the next person who could call it forth.

  I created it specifically to grant the gift of knowing to Áine, her unique genetic markers. Her spirit. I ensured that no hands, Archon or Other, not even a member of my own Tuatha Dé Danaan, could touch it. And no mere human who held it would know it was more than an earthen goblet.”

  Danu sighed. “The ability to gain absolute knowledge, on any topic you request, would be far too dangerous a weapon if it were to fall into the wrong hands. One black-hearted question could unmake this dimension. But there has never been one more selfless, more loving or more aware of the responsibilities of her power than your ancestor.”

  She turned away from Meru and looked out across the vast green landscape. “When I realized what Áine had seen with my gift, I understood that it would go next to a woman of her direct genetic line, someone who shared her spirit of compassion and wisdom. And here you are at last.”

  Meru was amazed by the information she’d just been given. But she still had no idea where to even begin searching for the elusive chalice.

  “It will come to you. Trust yourself.”

  Meru felt a sudden, strange breeze wrap around her. Her limbs grew heavy and her body filled with embarrassing heat. Danu looked on, her smile knowing.

  “Enjoy your mate, daughter of Áine. Guard him as he will guard you against the danger that is coming.” She turned as if to walk away, her image near fading as the landscape began to blur before Meru’s fluttering eyes. She swung back around, calling out as if from a distance.

 

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