Chapter Twelve

T he debriefing went well, Derek thought. All in all, they’d killed twelve demons tonight. Not too bad. But the best part was all of the hunters had come back alive and unscathed.

And pretty damn pumped up, from the looks of all of them.

If they had champagne lying around the new hunters would probably be spraying it over each other right now. Grins abounded, backs were slapped, war stories were told.

Derek and the other hunters just sat back and watched, amused. Hell, they’d all been there before, that first night of hunting. Kill a few demons, then think you could take on the whole world.

He’d let the new guys have tonight to celebrate and feel invincible. Tomorrow he’d hit them with the debriefing, remind them this wasn’t as easy as it looked. In their business, hunters died. Unfortunately, all too frequently.

But they had done well and that was good. They needed more competent hunters. If this new team worked out, he’d be happy.

“I couldn’t believe Derek chased down that demon,” Gina said as they traded stories back and forth. “My calves were killing me trying to keep up. I almost lost him a few times.”

“Dayum, Derek,” Linc said, elbowing him in the ribs. “Since when did you become a speed runner?”

Derek shrugged. “Hell, I don’t know. Maybe I had a slow demon tonight.”

“Interesting,” Lou said.

Derek rolled his eyes. “It wasn’t that big a deal. I wasn’t that fast.”

“Hell you weren’t,” Gina argued. “I’ve never seen anyone run like that.”

Derek tried to blow it off, but even he had to admit he was surprised by his own speed tonight. And his reflexes. And being able to sense the demons before Lou commed him. Maybe Lou was right and he’d been doing this so long he was just getting really good at it.

And maybe he believed in faeries and unicorns, too.

Fortunately, the conversation died down after awhile and everyone headed off to the bungalows to get some sleep, the first rays of dawn signaling safety.

But for some reason, despite the grueling night, he was still too keyed up. He tried a glass of whiskey, and still ended up pacing back and forth in his room.

He took a shower, but the only thing that did was dredge up memories of the last time he’d walked out wearing only a towel and found Gina leaning against his doorway. And that mental visual did nothing to calm his jittery senses.

“Damn,” he whispered, stepping out of the bathroom and dragging his hand through his still damp hair. What he saw when he entered his bedroom made him wonder if he’d been hurled back in time.

Just like the other night, she leaned against his doorway. Only this time, the door was closed, and she wasn’t wearing a pissed-off expression. Her eyes were smoky blue, her lips parted, high color spread across her cheeks. She must have just showered, too, because her hair was damp. Soft curls framed her face, the rest of her hair spilling over her shoulders and breasts. She wore a little sundress again. This time all black, silky, hugging every single one of her curves. His mouth watered and his towel started its own version of the tent dance. No way in hell was he going to be able to hide how felt about finding her here.

Then again, he got the idea she hadn’t come to his room to discuss demon-killing strategy.

“I can’t sleep,” she said, resting her head against the wall.

“A little keyed up?” he asked, approaching.

“Yeah.” She licked her lips and his mind went in a million directions. Like exactly where he’d like her to put her mouth. He could already imagine her sliding down the wall, grabbing his towel on the way, and taking his throbbing shaft between her sweet, full lips as soon as she hit her knees, her warm tongue sweeping around his hot flesh.

Yeah, there went the towel, but he didn’t stop to pick it up.

Her gaze went south and lingered for a few seconds. She drew in a shuddering sigh, then dragged her focus back to his face, her eyes glassy and dark. “I can’t sleep.”

He planted his hands against the wall on either side of her head. “You said that already.”

“I did?”

“Yeah.”

“Then kiss me before I say something else stupid.”

He leaned in and took her mouth, entering slowly, just the way he wanted to slide between her legs. Slow and easy, savoring every touch, every taste. He caught the flavor of mint from her toothpaste, imagined her showering, brushing her teeth, looking at herself in the mirror while she was readying herself to come to him. He liked thinking she’d been getting ready for him.

Oh, he wanted this slow for her, wanted to take his time to do it right. But then everything he’d been holding in took over, and it wasn’t gentle anymore. All the pent-up anxiety and energy came pouring out in that kiss. He tunneled his fingers in the thick softness of her hair, dragging her closer. She whimpered into his mouth and met him eagerly, lifting her leg to wrap around his hip.

Contact. Flesh on flesh. Heat against heat. His mind became a foggy mist where only he and Gina existed.

With one hand he lifted her, pushing her against the wall as he settled himself against her hips, running his hand down the smooth silk of her rib cage, over one hip, dragging the hem of the dress up to reach the soft skin underneath. She wore only a tiny scrap of a panty that he eliminated with a fierce tug. She gasped, breaking the kiss long enough to cast him a shocked look, then a half smile, before groaning and grabbing his head to plant her lips more firmly over his again.

Desire took hold in a way that was overpowering, animalistic, and damned near hard to control. He’d never felt such a rush of hunger, a need to possess. Gina had been through something crazy tonight. He should pick her up, carry her to the bed and undress her slowly, then make love to her all night long. He was supposed to worship her, make her feel cherished.

But he couldn’t. A raw need to brand her, to take her in some primitive fashion, had taken possession of him and wouldn’t be denied. He searched the crevice between her legs and found her wet, swollen, ready for him. The first touch of his fingers made her cry out and arch against him.

And that made the madness even more intense.

Or maybe it was the sounds she made. Whimpers, moans in the back of her throat every time he rocked his hand over her sex, petting the bud that seemed to swell and tighten with every stroke of his fingers.

“Derek,” she gasped. “Please.”

“Tell me what you want, baby,” he murmured against her ear. “You want to come?”

She shuddered, nodded, her entire body trembling against his. He loved having this power over her. He controlled her pleasure and he damn well enjoyed giving it to her. He wanted to make sure no other man would ever give her this much satisfaction again.

He slammed on the brakes, dropping to his knees and lifting the dress, balling the fabric into his fist. He kissed her thigh, her hipbone, glancing up to find her looking down at him.

“I like when you watch,” he whispered, pushing away at the madness enveloping him, coaxing him to take her now.

She sucked her lower lip between her teeth.

God, that was sexy.

Her scent enveloped him. Primed, sweet, and musky. He lifted one leg and rested it over his shoulder, unveiling her altar for him. He wanted to worship her, to give her all his gifts, to show her a pleasure she’d never experienced from any man.

His first taste of her was a slice of heaven, her response even more as she moaned and shuddered, threading her fingers in his hair.

“Derek.”

The way she whispered his name, in a throaty, pleading voice, was the sweetest music he’d ever heard. He leaned in and took her again, tasting her, loving her with his tongue, drinking all she had to offer until she was buried against his face, writhing against him and completely out of control.

Oh, he liked Gina out of control.

Gina knew she was tugging at Derek’s hair, probably hurting him, but she had no power over her reactions.

He was killing her. His tongue and mouth performing a maddening dance. She never let a man do this. It was too intimate, took away her control. Yet she couldn’t voice the words to tell him no when he’d slipped down there and taken possession of her.

And when he’d touched her with his tongue, so wet and warm, claiming what no man had ever claimed before, her legs had begun to shake and she wanted nothing more than to give him everything.

Everything.

Not that she had a choice in the matter. Already it was spiraling up inside her, tightening, a vortex of tornadic sensation that swept her along in a whirlwind, and she could only brace herself as he swept his velvet tongue along her folds and carried her away.

She’d come to his room without thought other than she was too pent up to sleep and his room was the first place she’d thought to go. She’d wanted to talk. Really, that was her intent. But then he’d walked out of the bathroom clad only in a towel and talk had been the last thing on her mind.

Now she had no mind at all, just a body that Derek was doing devilish things to with his tongue. And she was watching him, his dark head buried between her thighs, his tongue snaking out to twirl around the tight little pearl. He looked up at her, smiled, covered her with his mouth, and sucked.

“Oh, God,” she cried, then she was lost, flying as Derek grasped her hips and latched onto her with his mouth, capturing her essence as she rocked against him. She tightened her hold on his hair and shivered uncontrollably, giving him all that he’d asked for.

She’d barely caught her breath before he stood and claimed her mouth, letting her taste what he’d done. So erotic, so wickedly sensual it made her shudder, her body melting and warming inside.

Derek fought against the demons plaguing him, the ones telling him to forget slow and easy—to take, to ravage instead. The sweet strokes of Gina’s tongue against his were maddening, the way she responded to him, the way she came for him. But he had to control his urges.

He slid two fingers inside her. Like a silk waterfall, she poured over him, and he almost lost it. It took every ounce of restraint he had not to let loose right there on the floor like some teenager getting it for the first time.

Control, his ass. He didn’t have any at all where Gina was concerned.

With his free hand he jerked one strap of her dress down, then the other, freeing her breasts. The pink crests tempted him in the soft light spilling in from the open window of his bungalow. He dipped down and tasted her, sucked in the soft tip of her nipple and rolled it around on his tongue, relishing the sound of her sharp intake of breath as it hardened under the sucking pressure of his mouth. In return, he continued to gently dip his fingers inside her, teasing her with what was to come.

Her fingers danced in his hair as she held his head to her breast, arching her back to give him more.

“Oh, please, Derek,” she whispered, rocking against his fingers.

She was close again, so responsive he could do this to her again and again, just to watch and feel her climax. But he didn’t want her to go without him this time. He withdrew his fingers and stood, sliding them between his lips to taste her.

“Like honey,” he said after he withdrew them, then kissed her again. She licked at his lips, taking her own sweet taste from his mouth without hesitation.

She was every man’s dream.

The dress had to go. He wanted her fully naked. Yanking the material over her hips, it pooled to the floor and he kicked it out of the way.

She was so damn beautiful, her face devoid of makeup, her hair tumbled around her shoulders, her nipples hard, and the sweet musky scent of her sex entering his senses and driving him to madness.

“Spread your legs for me, baby.”

He positioned himself at her entrance, then slid inside her in a slow thrust that made his balls quiver. He closed his eyes for a brief second and just felt her surround him.

She was a damn silken waterfall inside. Hot and pouring over him as she gripped him in a tight vise that had him struggling for restraint. Restraint that he had very little of right now. He grasped her wrists and pinned them over her head, then nestled fully against her so he could feel that little knot at her apex rubbing against his pelvis. Her eyes widened every time he brushed it with his thrusts.

Oh, yeah. If he had all the time in the world, he’d do this slow and easy, maybe even pull out and cover that sweet spot again with his mouth and tongue. He’d like to tease her a little, lap up every bit of her sweet honey, and drive her crazy until she was begging him to let her finish.

But there was a madness boiling up inside him, a driving need to thrust hard, to drive home, to possess her completely.

It was as if his blood churned and twisted, and it was damn painful. Voices inside him urged him to take this woman, to make her his.

Gina gasped as tiny pinpricks of pleasure splintered in side her. She’d like to say she hadn’t come here tonight for this, but she’d be lying.

She wanted this, needed it, and was damn glad she hadn’t had to resort to begging to get it.

And now Derek was inside her, and it was magic. A perfect blend of heaven and hell, ecstasy and torment as he moved slowly, then thrust hard, gave her an easy stroke or two followed by a punishing drive that nearly made her cry out with madness.

The things he did to her, the way her body responded…it just wasn’t normal for her.

Just like the other night, her gaze was riveted to his, the intimacy almost too much to bear. A connection that went beyond their bodies, and that was something she never did. He’d made her connect with him the night be fore in the first-aid tent, and he was doing it to her again now. She was powerless to do anything but obey his silent command to look, to watch, to bond with him on this intimate, emotional level.

“Feel me,” he commanded, whispering to her in a low, husky voice that made her shudder.

“I do.”

“Feel me, Gina,” he said again, thrusting upward, grinding against her.

Oh, God, she did feel it, and it was moving her to tears as the tension built, coiling around her center like a snake. Squeezing, tightening with every one of his exquisite thrusts.

He knew her body as if he’d been touching her forever. How could this happen? No man ever made her come as easily as he had the other night, as he had tonight. She was…difficult. And she never…not this way. Yet she felt it building, was almost afraid to hope it could happen.

“Let it go, baby,” he said.

She shook her head. She never let go. It was too scary. This was madness. It had never happened.

“Gina, look at me.”

She did, staring into gray eyes that were a vortex of stormy darkness. She was so lost when she looked at him. Yet she felt so safe.

“Let go,” he said again, his voice demanding, gritty with the same need that she felt. Her belly tumbled with sensation and need.

And again, he ground against her, making her so wet she felt it trickle down her thighs. The quivering began then, and she went with it, digging her nails into his broad shoulders as he moved so expertly against her she quivered from the sheer pleasure of it and felt tears sting her eyes.

She was there. God, she was really there. “Derek!” she cried as her orgasm washed over her, making her shudder uncontrollably and tighten around him. It burst inside her and spilled over, a wild ride she was helpless to control. His jaw clenched and he groaned and went with her, emptying inside her while he gripped her buttocks, his gaze so intense it was almost painful to look at him.

But she couldn’t tear her gaze away, locked with him in this amazing journey that tore her apart, watching his eyes go nearly black as he rode with her to dizzying heights. It was frightening and exhilarating. She couldn’t let go no matter where it led.

He trembled then, too, holding tight to her and burying his head in her shoulder. She wrapped her arms around him and held him, feeling an inexplicable wave of tenderness, almost as if she had to protect him as he panted against her.

The unfamiliar emotional highs and lows she’d gone through the past few days were the weirdest things.

But right now was definitely a high.

“Whew,” Derek said against her neck.

Gina smiled, grateful he’d broken the spell of intensity that seemed to hover around them. She needed light and easy right now. “Uh-huh.”

He leaned back, grinned, then swept her into his arms, carrying her to his bed and depositing her there before crawling in next to her. The breeze from the open window and the fan overhead cooled her heated body, though not for long.

Not the way he was looking at her, scanning her body from head to foot. When he reached her eyes, he arched a brow and said, “I wasn’t tired, either.”

“Are you now?” she asked.

“No. You?”

“No.”

“I had thought of dragging you away from that door way and making love to you properly,” he said.

“That seemed pretty damn proper to me,” she teased.

Laughing, he said, “Well, thanks, but I had something different in mind. Something more slow and leisurely. A little time for exploration.”

To prove his point, he began drawing lazy circles around her belly button. Her abdomen quivered and she laughed and slapped his hand away. “Exploration, huh? Yeah, I might be up for a little exploration, too,” she said, reaching for his shaft and encircling it with her hand.

It pulsed to life around her palm. Amazing. Oh, yeah, she wanted to spend a really long time playing with every part of his body.

“Haven’t you ever dabbled in fun and exploration with a man before?”

“Mmm, not really. I’m more about the release, not the relationship. No lingering, no conversation, no play, and certainly no exploration.”

It took her a few seconds to realize he hadn’t replied. She looked up to find a frown on his face and immediately let go of him. “What?”

He pulled her against him and kissed her. “You really never had much fun, did you?”

Oh, hell. She hadn’t meant to launch into a “poor Gina” scenario. “I had plenty of fun,” she said, shrugging.

“Bullshit.” He sat up and leaned against the headboard. “Doesn’t sound to me like you even had much in the way of sex.”

Rolling her eyes, she sat up and crossed her legs over each other, pulling the pillow onto her lap. “I’m hardly a virgin, Derek. I’ve had plenty of sex.”

“Didn’t sound like it from what you just said.”

Sometimes she said too much. “I’ve been busy.”

“You’re what? Twenty-seven?”

“Twenty-eight.”

“A woman who looks like you, with a career like yours, should have had a ton of men by now.”

And that was exactly what everyone believed. Or what she wanted them to believe. “I’m selective.”

“You’re afraid.”

So much for the afterglow. “You psychoanalyzing me?”

“Maybe.”

She looked out the window, suddenly wanting to be anywhere but here right now. “Well, stop it. I don’t like it.”

“You just don’t like it when someone gets close to the truth.”

Her gaze shot to his, anger replacing the pulses of joy from a few moments ago. “I don’t pick on your psyche, Derek. Leave mine the hell alone.” She slipped off the bed and padded over to the door, grabbing her dress and tossing it over her head.

“Where are you going?”

“Back to my room.”

“What about fun and exploration?”

She shot him a glare. “I think I’ve had enough of that. I’m tired now.”

“Coward,” he said, not even budging from his spot on the bed.

“I am not. I just don’t want to talk about my past.”

“Because you’re afraid.”

“Because I don’t want to. This is stupid. I’m going to bed.” She turned and walked out, slamming the door behind her and storming back to her own bungalow.

She closed and locked her door, took off the dress and threw it in the corner, then crawled between the sheets of her bed.

Dammit, she wasn’t at all tired.

Now she was just irritated. She and Derek had had a wonderful time, right up until he wanted to talk about her past, about feelings and emotions, things she wasn’t ready to get into.

Like fears.

Shit.

So much for getting any sleep.

 

Derek stared up at the darkness and drummed his fingers across his chest, wishing he could take the last twenty minutes back.

Great. Why did he have to open his big mouth and start asking Gina questions? Couldn’t he have left it alone?

No, he couldn’t. Not when she’d started talking about not having relationships, not having much sex, and not having fun with men.

Hell, a woman who looked like Gina, a famous actress, gorgeous. He just didn’t get it. She should have had a string of lovers by now. But his sixth sense or intuition or whatever the hell it was told him she’d barely had a handful, and the guys she’d been with just hadn’t melted her butter.

Yet she’d come apart for him tonight. And the other night. So it wasn’t like she didn’t know how to respond. She sure as hell responded to him.

Which made him feel like king of the world.

But it also meant mystery, and he just couldn’t let a damn mystery go, could he? Why him and no one else?

So instead of spending the next few hours wrapped up in her arms and losing his mind inside her, he was staring up at a dark ceiling, coiled up tight with tension and pissed as hell at himself.

Because he had to go and ask questions, probe her, demand answers she clearly didn’t want to give.

Because he had to go and start caring about her.

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