He opened his mouth to tell her that wouldn't be happening, but she quickly said, "He didn't feel comfortable at first, because ..." She trailed off again.
He smirked. You're on your own, lass. And the water's gettin' deep. "Nice try."
With a challenging lift of her chin, she said, "He wasn't comfortable because of myriad reasons that we soon worked through. Completely. I reminded him that it was just me. Just his Regin. And that I'd seen him in so many guises and had known him in so many lives."
Her eyes got a faraway look when she said, "We'd been through too much together to ever hold back from each other." She faced him again. "Declan realized that I'd never judge him and that he could always trust me. Once he relaxed, we started kissing and petting each other, exploring each other with slow, grazing touches." Her voice was growing throaty.
Declan was literally on the edge of his seat. Though his body felt strung tight as a bow, his mind's turmoil continued to ebb. He dimly thought, This is what it's like to feel normal. Somehow this Valkyrie made him feel ... right.
"Soon neither of us could stand it any longer. He saw how my claws were curling for him--"
"I ken what that means now," Declan said, cutting her off. Then his eyes narrowed. "Let me see them."
She raised her hands from the water to display her little shell-pink claws.
--Curling for her man.-- He swallowed. "You're gettin' aroused right now."
"I don't deny it."
"Then by all means, woman, keep talkin'."
Another reluctant grin. "He lifted me from the bath and laid me down on the rug." She pointed to the one beside the tub. "Which, coincidentally, looked a lot like this one."
"And what'd you do on it, then?"
"We were both dripping water and breathing heavily as he knelt between my legs. His hand trailed down my body, caressing with the back of his fingers. Descending inch by inch. On the way down, he circled my navel with the pad of his forefinger, round and round--"
"And then?"
She grinned at his impatient tone. "And then his fingers dipped to my sex. Is that what you want to hear about?"
"Aye, I'll hear of that."
"With his first touch, he gave a groan. In his husky voice, he told me he loved how slick I'd gotten for him."
Would I find her so right now? God help him, he knew he would.
"He began leisurely stroking me, making me roll my hips up to his teasing touches."
A sudden thought occurred. I could tease her. Since he suffered no strain with her, he wouldn't have to speed through the act, gritting his teeth as he tried to come. I could play with her. He swallowed. Play with her all night long.
Except he wore gloves. How would she react if she saw his scarred hands? His body?
"By the time he finally delved his fingers inside me, I was whimpering with need."
--She needs them deep.-- Inward shake.
"But Chase was merciless, slowly thrusting them, readying me." She'd begun panting, the tops of her breasts almost visible.
"Readying you," he repeated. Would I have thought to do that?
"He knew it'd been two hundred years since I'd had sex last."
"Two hundred." And Declan had thought he'd been celibate for an age.
"I stay faithful to him, always have. But Chase would prepare me anyway, since he was quite large." Her gaze fell on his erection, bulging against his pants.
When her eyes went silvery, he found himself easing his knees open for her to better see it. Lips parted, she glided through the water closer to him; he yanked the bench closer to her.
"We're like magnets," she breathed.
"Kneel up." If he was going to hell ... "Let me see you."
With no hesitation, she did. Giving him a clear view of her breasts.
He ran a shaking hand over his mouth, muttering, "Jaysus." They were flawless, fuller at the bottom, with tawny nipples proudly upturned.
Deja vu rocked him. Losing his mind . . .
She placed her hands on the end of the tub, leaning toward him on straightened arms. Her body was trembling so much that her breasts quivered, suds dripping from them. Her nipples were so tight they had to ache.
Not as much as my cock is achin' from this sight. The urge to run the heel of his palm down his shaft grew nearly irresistible. "Keep goin'."
"H-he covered my body with his own, removing his fingers to replace them with his shaft. Inch by inch, he sank into me while I writhed in delight--"
"Wait." Eyes narrowed, he leaned forward as well until he could feel the electricity sparking off her. Addictive. When their faces were only a few inches apart, he rasped, "He didn't kiss your pretty little ears or tongue those stiff nipples?" I would have. Wouldn't have been able to stop myself.
She sounded like she'd stifled a moan. "For that first time, he was trying to keep me from coming before he could claim me. He knows I love to climax when I'm being filled, but sometimes I orgasm too quickly."
Almighty. He had to cough into his fist before he could grate, "Do you, then?"
She nodded. "And he knew he had plenty of time for that. He planned to have sex with me at least ..." She trailed off once more.
Gaze locked on hers, Declan told her, "He'd fuck you till you lost count."
***
Thunder rumbled outside from Regin's lightning. She was on fire for ... Declan Chase?
The customary coldness in his eyes had been replaced with a wicked glint. His face was flushed with color, highlighting his handsome features--that chiseled jawline and those broad cheekbones. His firm kissable lips ...
Somehow he'd turned everything around, tantalizing her with glimpses of what Aidan used to be like when he was aroused--carnal, a touch playful, yet definitely in charge.
And still Chase was so different from Aidan. He was complicated; she never seemed to have any idea what he was thinking. His thick accent made shivers dance over her skin.
And the way he gazed at her ...
Those heated looks tinged with that unmistakable yearning were doing funny things to her. This wicked, sexy Irishman made her feel punch-drunk.
Gods, his mouth was so close. She wanted it on her own.
"Go on, Regin."
"Our tongues were twining, our lips locked so tight that we were breathing for each other. My claws sank deep into the rigid muscles of his ass to drag him closer, but by this time I was just hanging on for dear life--because he was pounding between my thighs with all his might."
Chase groaned, rubbing his palm along his length, making her gasp. But when he realized what he'd done, his cheeks flooded with color, and he fisted his gloved hands beside his hips. "And then ... ?"
Drawing from memory, she told him, "Just when I thought I'd pass out from pleasure, he clasped me against his big body with his arms like bands around me, while he shuddered and plunged. I tried to last, but I couldn't stop from coming. He groaned in my ear that he could feel me squeezing him, that he'd give me what I needed. That he was going to come so hard, it'd feel like a thrust inside me. He had to throw back his head and yell--"
"Could you feel his spend?" Chase demanded, his breaths quickening.
Now she moaned, as much from the memory as from his question. "It flooded me, so hot that I orgasmed again."
They must have reached Chase's limit; without a word, he lunged forward, lifting her from the bath.
Declan set her on the bathroom counter, wedging his hips between her thighs.
"Chase?" Whatever she saw in his expression made her fall silent, simply letting him feast his eyes on her.
He was spellbound as streams of water descended from her slender neck past the delicate line of her collarbone. From there, droplets slipped between the swells of her breasts to her flat belly and lower, drawing his eyes to the small patch of blond curls between her legs. Just like in his dreams.
Now he nearly went to his knees at the sight. "You're so beautiful, Valkyrie." And I have no idea what I'm goin' to do with you. H
e'd meant only to kiss her, but now he wanted... more. "I need to touch you." He quaked with the need. Explore every golden inch of you.
When was the last time he'd felt anticipation--or experienced anything that he couldn't get enough of?
"I'm yours, Chase. You can do whatever you like to me. Just take off your gloves."
Frustration whipped him. "You think I don't want to?" He knew the whispers in the ward, knew everyone believed he didn't like to touch or be touched.
Right now, he wanted to feel her more than anything. But to reveal the backs of his hands to her ... ?
An idea arose. "Do no' move from this spot, Regin. Do you understand me?"
She gave him a sarcastic salute that made her breasts bob. He bit back a groan as he turned toward his room.
He ransacked his meticulously stowed belongings until he found what he sought, then returned to her, holding it up like a prize.
She raised her brows. "I think I'm underdressed."
With that sinful gleam in his eyes, Chase had returned with a civilian necktie. He didn't ask, just wrapped it tight around her head, blindfolding her.
Then she heard him tearing off his gloves, his excitement palpable.
Earlier he'd told her, "Eyes forward," as he'd removed her cuffs. And now this. So why didn't he want her to see his hands?
For long moments, she waited for him to make a move, her anticipation building. She could feel his gaze on her naked body and suspected he was deciding where to touch her first.
Finally he grazed the pads of his fingers over her cheekbone. She shivered as he rasped, "Soft as silk."
Gods, it'd been so long since a man had caressed her.
Another long hesitation. Then he ran a finger over the pointed tip of her ear.
She began to squirm.
"You like that?"
"Uh-huh." Wondering where he'd touch her next grew maddening.
When he traced the tip of her other ear and her nipples tightened into aching points, he hissed in a breath.
Touch them, she inwardly begged.
Instead, he brushed his big knuckles along her jawline. "You look so delicate, Regin. Deceptively so."
Though she couldn't see, the scene was vivid enough to her. With each hesitation, she knew he was deliberating over which part he wanted to feel next. As if he was sampling her.
And she wanted to sample back. When she raised her hands, he said, "Ah-ah, Valkyrie. Just me touchin' you." He drew a finger from her inner ankle up to her knee.
She bit back a cry, dropping her hands. Wicked, complicated man--
He swept his thumb over her bottom lip, and she softly moaned, just stopping herself from darting her tongue to his finger.
She'd begun swaying from the sensual onslaught. "Chase, do you... do you like the way I feel?"
Moments passed in silence. Then his finger circled her nipple.
When she cried out, arching her back for more, he groaned, "I like it."
TWENTY-SIX
Declan had never seen anything like the sight before him. The Valkyrie was trembling, panting, her nipples rock-hard. Her responses had him in a lather to come--the little sounds she made, her expressive mouth, her soft, sensitive skin.
He could stroke himself off right here, but this teasing her excited him like nothing ever had. In this, his will was her will. If he decided he'd keep her on the edge, then that was where she'd stay. The idea was erotic as hell.
How had he missed out on this for so long? To go without stroking a woman's giving flesh?
But even as the thought arose, he knew his reaction was due to her. The Valkyrie was special to him in some way, her pleasure important.
For twenty bleak years, he'd convinced himself that he was cold and unfeeling, that he wasn't burdened by a man's needs.
No longer. I need her. "Where do you want me to touch you, Regin?"
She jutted those breathtaking breasts.
"There?" Just to keep her guessing, he would not be touching her there. Not yet.
"Uh-huh."
Instead, he leaned in, grazing his lips over the tip of her ear. Sexy little ears.
She shivered wildly. "Chase!"
Thrilling. After a pause, he reached around her and dragged his nails across her arse.
Her plaintive moans came quicker and quicker.
I could make her orgasm. Just from this game. He'd never felt a rush like this, as if a mystery he'd long pondered was being revealed--
She pressed her hand against her flat belly and began sliding it down.
She would touch herself? In front of him? He groaned, wanting to see her rubbing her sex, but that was for another night. "No, Regin."
"Then let me touch you." She reached for his chest.
"Put your damned hands down," he snapped, knowing she'd be horrified by the feel of his skin. "Sit on them."
"Chase--"
"Do it."
After a hesitation, she did. He rewarded her by tracing her ear with his lips again. Directly beside it, he murmured, "Are you wet?"
She could only moan in answer.
"Show me, then." He skimmed his finger along one taut inner thigh, and she dutifully spread her legs, revealing her glistening sex. At the sight, his cock pulsed so hard, he thought he might spill at once.
His control was in shreds. Have to feel her there, explore her flesh. He skimmed the backs of his fingers down her belly to her navel, just as she'd detailed earlier. When he circled it, her lips parted around a whispered, "Oh!"
"You know what comes next. You described it to me." His fingers trailed from her navel down, lower... lower ...
"Chase!" Her skin glowed even brighter. "What are you doing to me? I-I'm close."
He'd bring her over the edge. With his other hand, he finally rubbed his thumb back and forth over one nipple.
"Oh, my gods," she breathed, licking her lips. His gaze was rapt on her darting tongue.
Declan had imagined her kiss, had dreamed of it. No longer could he deny himself the taste of her sweet lips. To catch her cries as she goes over the edge? With his fingers still teasing, he leaned in, dipping his head, his lips hovering just above hers.
"Chase?" It was as if a spell had been broken. Before she'd been arching to his touch, her body begging for more. Now she drew back from him. "Wait, I... just hold on a minute, just let me think."
"Woman, you've been pushin' me for just this."
She lowered her head, whispering, "I can't do it."
"You can." He pinched her chin, holding her face up. "You will."
"Shh." Her ears twitched. "Someone's here."
"You're just saying that--" Then he heard it too. Footsteps within his chambers, heading for the bathroom. He was about to kill whoever was stupid enough to interrupt this.
After I've waited so goddamn long?
She reached for the tie, and he yanked on his gloves--
"Son, get away from her."
"Webb." Here. Three days early.
When Declan threw a towel over her, he saw her silvery eyes were wide. He moved in front of her, hissing under his breath, "I will protect you." Then he turned to his commander, battling the urge to bare his fucking teeth that the man had seen her unclothed.
"Declan, what the hell are you doing with this prisoner?"
Risking everything ...
Regin couldn't decide whether she was irate or grateful about this Webb's interruption.
How had things with Chase burned so totally out of control? She was supposed to put him under her spell. Instead, just the opposite had happened. ...
Webb swept his gaze over her with a look of revulsion. Her eyes slitted. Right back at you.
He was big, not tall like Chase, but burlier. He wore a military uniform and sported a salt-and-pepper buzz cut.
By Chase's reaction, Webb was a superior officer. Yet Chase faced him with his shoulders back and said, "I want her."
"You what?" Webb's gray brows shot up, his forehead creasing.
/> Dude's about as shocked as I am. She knotted the towel around her chest, then hopped down to watch the exchange.
Chase stretched his arm in front of her protectively. "I'll continue to do whatever you ask, but she belongs to me."
"Listen to what you're saying!"
"You're going to let me take her from here, to an older facility. Someplace where I alone will see her."
Chase was telling a superior what's what? Gods, his arrogance was magnificent--and so familiar. Aidan had expected Woden to bestow ohalla on him; now Chase was demanding Regin as his due.
"No, you don't want her, son. She's just made you think that you do. Ask the Valkyrie why she's tried so hard to get you to remember this Aidan."
"What are you talking about?"
"Tell, him, female," Webb said. "Tell him how you've been trying to kill him."
Oh, shit.
Chase turned to her. "What is this?"
From behind him, Webb said, "She believes you're her lover reincarnated."
"Aye. She's told me as much."
"Has she told you that every man she's slept with has died within hours of it? She believes you're cursed to perish in each lifetime as soon as you claim her."
Shit, shit!
"Deny it," Chase commanded her.
She gazed up at him, knowing she should lie... "I can't deny it."
"And her lips have a drugging effect--like a narcotic," Webb continued. "That's why she was coaxing you to kiss her. She planned to seduce you, and then you'd perish like the others, allowing her to escape."
Between gritted teeth, Chase said, "How do you know this?"
"The transcripts from her cell. We had her conversations translated by a new source. She told her cell mate that this was her plan for escape--your death."
What new source? When I find out--
Chase launched a fist into the wall beside her head. "You fuckin' bitch, deny this!"
She sucked in a breath at the lost look in his eyes, the palpable pain. "What did you expect me to do, Chase? Calmly await my torture?"
His fists tightened even more, his muscles growing as rage welled inside him.
She stared up at him. "Hit me, Magister. Make this easy for me."
Again Declan couldn't. Damn her! He roared, "Get her away from me!"
Webb grabbed her arm, shoving her out of the room. "Declan, come to my office in an hour. We'll talk once you've had some time to process all this."
And then they were gone. Leaving him alone in his chambers, where he'd likely go mad.
So it's over. The excitement he'd felt. The pleasure. The highest high to the lowest low.