Page 80 of Pride
He took her face in his hands and lowered reverent lips to hers. The only reason he could be this gentle with his bionic hand was because of her.
Their soft kiss sent sparks shooting down his spine, waking up any sense not already at attention. Another dip against her lips, a little more pressure, a lick along the plump bottom, and she let out a sound that would haunt his dreams forever. A whimper, a sigh, perhaps a need. Any or all, it didn’t matter. His mate didn’t hide from what they shared. She lit up with desire and tugged him hard against her lips to kiss him with an urgency he’d never seen—hunger.
And he loved it.Christ, he loved it.
She was his shining star on a stormy night, and he wanted to take it slow, to show his respect, his affection, her beauty. But The Beast had other ideas. It had waited too long. The moment she brushed open his collar and her sweet kiss moved down his jaw, lust tore through his veins like napalm. The erection that had plagued him all day came back with a vengeance, hard and painful and unrepentant. His teeth elongated in his mouth. Even the claws pricked beneath his fingertips, begging to get out.
He wrenched away from Alice and hid his face.No. Not now.Not when he wanted to show her he was in control, that he could be her safety, her new church. Her everything. Not some kind of damned animal that should be locked in a cage and studied. He braced himself against the back of her door and hung his head in shame, breathing through his changes. He was no better than the boy in the lab, just a freak show.
29
Alice’s heartbroke as Parker shunned her. He leaned against her door, breathing hard, yet trying to not breathe at all. Through his shirt, muscles rippled and tensed. A flush colored his neck. He pounded softly on the door in frustration.
But it wasn’t at her.
He reacted like this every time that wild part of him broke free. Was this shame? Embarrassment? The knowledge released something in Alice. Shame she could deal with. Embarrassment, she had an answer for. A finger in his belt loop, and she dragged him back to her.
“Alice,” Parker warned, shaking his head.
“Shut up and kiss me.”
He tried to pull away, to hide his face, but she kept drawing him back to her until eventually she smacked him across the cheek. The wild scowl he shot her did nothing to quench his energy, but it changed the mood. A growl slipped out of his lips, and it sounded neither human nor animal but something between. Something only this man could be.
“You talk about trust, Parker, but you don’t trust me enough to reveal this part of you.” She pushed his pecs until she backed him up against the door. “You talk about falling in love, but you won’t let me love you back. Well, I’m sorry, but this is my choice, not yours.”
“You’ve truly reached a new low, Alice. To want something as disgusting as this.” He bared his fangs.
Like a hit to the solar plexus, his words robbed her of breath. Until she saw them for what they were… a cry for help. Parker, the tall brave genius who had the world wrapped around his finger, didn’t think he was good enough forher, the Sinner.
“God, we’re a pair, aren’t we?” She raked her nails along his short beard and shivered at the texture. He leaned in to her touch. “I think you’ve spent so long trying to be perfect that you’ve forgotten it’s okay to be something else.”
“Says the woman who flogs herself for absolution.” His tone was ice.
“That’s different.”
“Is it?”
This was the last of his defense. She could see it crumbling behind his eyes. This was Parker Lazarus burning.
A glance at the tray of tools and then she did something she’d never thought she’d do. She tossed them aside and watched them scatter to the floor. She was taking this leap with him. If they burned, then so be it. They would burn together.
“I want you, Parker Lazarus. Every part of you.” She unbuttoned his shirt, starting slowly at the top. “Even the parts you think are wrong.Especiallythose parts. I’ve wanted you like this for years. What you’ve become has only increased that desire. I will never think that part of me needs absolution. You are not my sin. You’re my salvation. My…” Her throat clogged and she couldn’t finish, so she kissed him over the heart.
His breathing quickened, as though he couldn’t quite believe her words. He gripped her hands as she opened his shirt, but didn’t stop her. He stayed with her as she explored him, as she soaked up the masculine beauty of his body—strong, powerful, hard. With every inch she discovered with her lips, her body grew hot with need until eventually she realized he was guiding her touch, taking her hands places she was too afraid to go.
He lowered them, golden eyes intently watching her reaction. As her fingers brushed the coarse hair of his lower abdomen, he sucked in a shaky breath, almost nervously.
She plunged her fingers into his waistband and went straight for the thick erection pushing against the trappings of fabric. A whimper of need shot out of her as she clenched around him, but the sound Parker made—the grunt of abandon—it sent a bolt of white hot heat between her legs.
“Damned belt,” she snarled. It was in the way. Then it wasn’t. She unzipped the fly and dropped his pants around his ankles. Naked. No boxers. Nothing but a proud, jutting cock, rock-hard and begging for her lips.
She wasn’t sure what came first—landing on her knees, taking him into her mouth, or his fingers spearing into her hair and pulling tight. He held onto her as though he’d fall. It didn’t matter. They’d already fallen. Now they were on fire. The taste and feel of him consumed her. With every lick, nip, or suck, the man came undone. What started as her advances ended with his. He threw his head back against the door and thrust into her mouth, taking his pleasure in her, giving himself over to her.
Every time she looked up from beneath her lashes, she saw a flushed and feverish man in the throes of pleasure. Sweat dappled his brow and plastered strands of hair around his chiseled face. As she pumped his length, his top lip drew back, and she glimpsed fang. It only made her hotter, needier. She pressed her thighs together and gripped his hips, opened her throat, and took him deeper.
He pushed her off him and growled, low and deep.
“Stop,” he said with a ragged breath. But he didn’t pull his pants up. He didn’t pack himself away.
