Immortals After Dark 09 - Pleasure of a Dark Prince

had always felt wrong to hurt MacRieve. Even
before
she’d fallen for him.
Ah, Freya, I can’t do this.
She eased the tension on her bowstring. “I-I can’t.”
I’m in love with him.
From the first moment she’d seen him… this had been
inevitable
.
    “Do it!” He lunged at her, trying to provoke her. “Lousha, shoot your arrow… only way this will end without me claiming you.”
    The wind gusted and moonlight pierced through the canopy. A spear of silver hit him, and he shuddered. “The moon… is
pulling
me. You canna know… the strength. Can you no’ choose me over your vows this night? For once, damn you!”
    She slowly shook her head. “It can’t happen.”
    “Then bluidy shoot me!” He stabbed his fingers through his hair, looking desperate, feral. “Goddamnit, I doona know what to do!”
    This was the first time he’d ever shown doubt, ever shown a moment’s hesitation in front of her. Even now,when the moon demanded, he was resisting its call for her. For over nine hundred years he’d awaited this night—and he would rather have an arrow bored into his brain than take her like this.
    Fate has a way….
He hung his head for long moments. When he raised his face, his eyes were pale blue, his fangs and claws grown long. The skin of his broad chest was damp with sweat and rain and sheened in the moonlight. He was erect, his shaft straining against his jeans.
    The beast was clear to her; MacRieve would lose all control soon. And with that realization, she was amazed to feel something she never thought she’d experience at a moment like this—
lust.
    Deep, wet, undeniable lust. Her claws curled and lightning struck nearby, searing through limbs above, letting more moonlight blaze in.
    She lost her focus for the merest instant. With unfathomable speed, he lunged for her, knocking her arrow away. Before she could even react, he’d taken her into his arms, squeezing her to him, his hands and mouth seemingly everywhere, stoking her need. When he snared her bow and quiver, tossing them away, she cried, “MacRieve, no! You have to fight this!”
    With his harsh, beastlike voice, he rasped, “Woman, you are everything to me!” He wrapped her hair around his fist, forcing her to meet his frenzied gaze. “Why can I no’ be that for you? Let me claim you for my own. Choose
me
this night….”
    His scent, his need.
The wildness in her—that darkness she’d tried to hide, to extinguish—flared with avengeance to meet his. As if she’d waited her entire life for this, just as he had.
    Every cell in my body is telling me to do this… is answering him.
    Against her neck, he grated,
“How I’ve ached for you.”
    She couldn’t catch her breath. Panting, trying to recall consequences, she struggled to remember exactly why this was so wrong, but her mind was shutting down.
    Until all she could do was feel.
I ache for you, too.
    He cupped her breast, thumbed her throbbing nipple. That one burning touch sent her house of cards tumbling down. When she cried out with pleasure, another bolt of lightning struck. Then another. And another.
    With a whimper, she grabbed the back of his head and yanked him in for a kiss.

THIRTY-NINE

    Growling against her lips, Garreth met her tongue for a deep kiss.
She’s surrendering. She needs me, too…
He wanted to roar with satisfaction.
    Before she could change her mind, he snatched off her pack, tossing it away, then slashed through her clothes with his claws. As soon as he’d uncovered her creamy breasts, his mouth latched onto one of her nipples. She gave a cry when he suckled her hard, groaning against her.
    By the time he’d ripped off her panties, she was shivering—but not from cold. He’d trained her body to respond to his, had learned how to pet her, how to make her melt.
    As he moved to her other nipple and his hand skimmed down her belly, she rolled her hips up for his touch. Before he obliged, he remembered to bite his claws off the fingers of one hand. Then he delved between her legs, finding her slick and ready. With another growl, he collected her moisture and spread it over her swollen little clitoris, rubbing her there in slow circles.
    His gaze held hers as he rasped, “Goin’ tae press… my finger into you.” He began easing it between herfolds. At first, she tensed, but as he went deeper, inch by inch, her lids grew heavy.
    He gave a sharp groan. “First time I’ve felt you inside.” So tight. So
hot
. He stirred that finger,