“Then they’re getting wet.”
Her face went crimson - the blush blazing across her lightly freckled cheeks. I grinned, making her gasp as moved close to her, my lips by her ear.
“Dirty girl. Come, I’ll—”
The slap of her hand hit me square across the cheek. I growled, my blood running hot and my patience shattering.
“That’s it.”
Chloe shrieked as I snatch her up in my arms, tossed her over my shoulder like she was a prize I’d just claimed, and marched into the bathroom.
5
Chloe
I squirmed against his hard, chiseled, muscled body, even if I knew it was useless to try and fight his strength. My pulse thundered through me, and it wasn’t necessarily fear anymore.
It was excitement. Horrible, horrible, mortifyingly body-tingling excitement. Something about the way this rough, big stranger just manhandled me had a tremor of raw heat blazing through my body. No man had ever talked to me, or touched me, or commanded me like he had. And there was something so freaking sexy about it, as much as I wanted to pretend there wasn’t.
I gasped as he strode into the bathroom and over to the huge tub, with these massive windows overlooking the mountains. God, the whole house was breathtaking — almost as much as him.
He slid me off his broad shoulder, and before I could even think, he’d plunged me right into the tub. I gasped at the heat enveloping my body, and when I glanced down at the opaque, steaming whitish liquid I was sitting in, I startled.
“What is this, milk?”
He smiled. “Nyet. It has herbs and oils from plants that grow up here in it, which is why it’s that color. They’ll help with the burns and any infections.”
The bath smelled good, like flowers and pine and sandalwood, and I swallowed, already feeling the tenseness and the slight pain from my burns soaking out of me. I sank down into the deep tub, covering my breasts with my hands even if the water was white enough that he couldn’t see me.
I could feel the teasing heat of the tub melting over every inch of me, and something in the herbs he’d put in there made my skin tingle in a way that had me biting my lip and squeezing my legs together tight.
The tingling felt good. Really, really good, and I swallowed thickly as the blush crept over my face. The heat tingled between my legs, and I swallowed back the gasp that rose in my throat.
God, what was wrong with me?
I looked up at him — my mysterious mountain man, and let my eyes dart over his face. He was beautiful, but also dark and scary in a way. My protector, and my savior, but also my captor, which made the whole thing extra confusing and weird.
…And somehow hot.
Because there it was again — that uncontrollable, undeniable attraction I had for him. There was a reason I was twenty-two and still a virgin, and it wasn’t that I was some sort of social outcast or incapable of holding a conversation or anything. It’s that I’d always wanted to feel that something you were supposed to feel. I knew movies and romance books made it a bigger thing than it probably really was. But still, I’d never felt anything.
I’d gone on dates. I’d kissed a few boys. I’d let two or three of them move a bit past kissing. But beyond awkward gropes and one completely uncomfortable attempt to pry my legs apart across the center column of a Ford Fusion, it’d never gone farther than that. I mean, I knew how to take care of myself like that. It’s not like I needed a guy for that, right? And if was going to jump into bed with someone, especially after waiting that long, I knew I’d have to feel that “something.”
….What scared me the most about my nameless, rough, somewhat scary and totally gorgeous mountain man was that I felt more of that something with him than I’d ever had with anyone ever before. And it scared the hell out of me.
“Legs.”
I blinked, shaking myself from my whirlwind of thoughts as I looked at him.
“What?”
“Your legs, beautiful,” he growled softly, holding up a washcloth. “You’ve got some light burns on them. I’m going to wash them with the herb and oil water.”
I swallowed, nodding. “Oh.”
I bit my lip, raising one leg out of the hot, milky liquid. His warm, strong hands gripped my calf, making me tremble a little as he held my leg. He washed my leg with the washcloth in his hand, letting his hand linger up the back of my knee and making my breath catch.
“The other one.”
I nodded, wordlessly letting the first leg slip back into the tub and raising the other.
“Good,” he purred, his eyes burning into mine as he took that leg too, his hand skimming up to my thigh and making my breath catch all over again as he slowly washed it.
“Arm.”
He nodded at my left arm, under the water.
“What’s your name?” I said quietly.
He stopped, looking at me cautiously.
“Look, I’m here, right? I can’t leave, so who am I going to tell?”
He smiled a small smile, one brow raising in amusement.
“Vlad,” he growled, letting the eastern European name roll over his perfect lips.
“Vlad.”
“Da.”
“Nice to meet you.”
He chuckled darkly, nodding at my arm again, and I raised it. He did the same to my arms as he’d done to my legs — washing them gently with the oil-tincture water that left my skin tingling and buzzing. The smell of pine steamed through the room, making my head spin.
He leaned over me, his muscles rippling and making my pulse skip a beat and that naughty, wicked thrill of heat tease between my legs.
“Could you maybe put a shirt on?”
He grinned down at me, his eyes flashing.
“Nope.”
I blushed, biting my lip as his hands and the washcloth slid up my arm and over my shoulders.
“Lean forward.”
I did, hugging my chest as I did so. He started to wash my back with his hands, his strong touch making me melt as he slowly massaged my aching body until I was panting and almost whimpering with the release.
I glanced up at him, my heart flipping as my eyes locked with his. His muscles rippled, and when his jaw clenched and his eyes pierced right into me, I gasped quietly and trembled.
“You’re shaking,” he growled, his hand stopping. “Is the water cold?”
I shook my head, my whole body on fire even if my brain was telling me how insane it was to feel this turned on by this man.
“Then what?”
“I—” I bit my lip.
“You’re scared of me.”
I swallowed, not sure how to respond, and suddenly, his hardened, rough look softened, and he shook his head.
“Don’t be, beautiful,” he murmured, leaning into me. “If you were my enemy, you could be scared, but you’re not.”
“Just your prisoner.”
His jaw tightened.
“For now.”
“And you’re just going to keep me here?”
“Yes.”
His eyes pierced right into me, making me melt under that heated gaze.
Get ahold of yourself, I screamed to myself.
“Sit,” he growled, patting the smooth wood bench that surrounded the big tub on three sides.
I raised a brow.
“I’m going to take a look at that cut.”
“Oh, I can—”
“Angel.”
His voice was sharp, and when my eyes darted to his, he grinned.
“Stop being difficult. Sit.”
I swallowed. Getting up meant him seeing me basically naked again. And this time, my white cotton panties would be basically see through since they were soaked in bathwater now.
“Up,” he purred, tapping the bench.
I took a deep breath, and stood. One arm covered my bare breasts, and I kept a hand over the front of my panties as best I could as I sat, dripping, onto the seat, my legs still in the water. Vlad moved close, and when his f
ingers moved over the waist of my panties, I drew in a sharp breath. Heat shivered through me at his touch.
“Let me see, angel,” he purred, pulling the waist down over my hip. Fresh blood trickled from the cut, and he frowned as he leaned closer. He used a pair tweezers, making me gasp sharply as he snagged the splinter of wood and pulled it out. I winced, but he quickly stuck a square bandage over it, pressing at the adhesive edges gently to fix it to my skin.
“There we go,” he growled, looking up into my eyes. I sank into his gaze, feeling my cheeks redden.
“All better?”
I nodded, swallowing thickly. “Uh-huh.”
“Good.”
And then, before I could even take in what he was doing, he leaned in and pressed his lips to my hip, kissing where he’d bandaged me.
I gasped.
“What was that for?” I croaked out, my pulse racing as this gorgeous, dark, dangerous man held my thigh and kissed my hip with his fingers still hooked into the waist of my panties.
“My babushka, my grandmother — she did that when were kids. She said it helped to heal.”
“I think that’s a myth,” I whispered.
“I’m sure it’s a myth,” he growled. “I just wanted to taste that skin.”
I blushed, my skin tingling under his gaze and from the heated steam of the bath still swirling through the room. Our eyes locked, my pulse raced, and I knew I was falling even before I took the plunge.
“Show me where else it hurts, angel, and I’ll kiss it all better too,” Vlad growled fiercely, his eyes flashing and his fingers teasing the back of my knee.
“I— I’m not sure,” I panted out, my chest rising and falling as my head swam.
“Then maybe we just start here.”
His lips crushed to mine, his hand cupped my jaw, and he kissed me.
Hard.
6
Chloe
My whole body was on fire as Vlad kissed me — kissing me in a way I’d never even dreamed of being kissed. His hand held my jaw tightly as his lips seared to mine, and when he opened his lips, I opened mine, letting his tongue inside as he truly claimed my mouth.
This was insane, and I almost wanted to wonder if I’d hit my head or something back there in fire, but I couldn’t stop. I didn’t want to stop. Ever, actually. I whimpered into his kiss, opening my mouth for his tongue like a crazy person but loving the way he felt and loving the way kissing him felt like letting go. The way he took control and kissed me like I was his to kiss had my pulse jumping through me and my body aching for more.
His hand slid up into my hair, and he growled as he kissed me harder, our tongues sliding together and our lips sealed tight.
Slowly, he pulled away. And when he did, I gasped at the raw, fiery heat in his eyes.
“You’re here, in my home, angel,” he growled. “Because I couldn’t leave you back there. But no one can know I’m here so that’s why I’m keeping you. Why you’re here with me.”
I whimpered as he pressed his lips to mine again, even hungrier this time as he kissed me fiercely.
“People will be looking for me,” I mumbled lamely, like some stupid part of me was still trying to fight this inescapable, consuming attraction.
“Will they now?” he growled, almost in amusement as he moved back into my lips. His hand slid down my arm, tangling in my fingers and pulling my hand away from my breasts. I whimpered into his kiss, and when his own hand took mine’s place, cupping my breasts and teasing his fingers over my clit, I moaned.
“The question is, little angel,” Vlad purred into my lips. “Is do you want them to find you?”
I started to open my mouth to say something, but suddenly, I found myself hesitating. What did I have? My parents had died in a car crash during my first few weeks at college, and they’d really been the only family I’d ever had. I had some friends at school, but after I’d moved to the city for the job at Macworth Prep, we’d lost touch.
I had no boyfriend, and no prospects to speak of, and a job that made me feel like a servant to rich, pampered brats. And here I was with a gorgeous, toe-curlingly sexy man kissing me and making me feel more alive than I had in years — maybe ever — in his huge mansion-like lodge up on a beautiful mountain.
…Did I want anyone to find me?
“I like the hesitation,” Vlad growled, moving in again and letting his lips brush mine. His thumb rolled over my nipple, making me gasp as I blushed.
“I wasn’t hesitating…”
“Of course you weren’t, angel,” he purred, kissing me slowly. “But maybe you like the idea of being here with me.”
His hand slid into my hair, tangling in it and gripping it just tight enough to make me gasp.
“Maybe you like the idea of being mine.”
I swallowed heatedly as the rush of his words teased through me.
“Yours?”
“All mine,” he growled into my mouth, making me shiver.
It struck me that this was already the single hottest, steamiest sexual encounter of my life, and he’d barely touched me. I’d never been this undressed in front of a man before, and that thought sent a fire burning through me.
“I think it’s time to get you out of this bath, angel.”
He sat back, his eyes raking over my body and making me tremble as I stood in the steamy water. My hand slid back to covering my breasts, but I knew from the heat in his eyes that he could see my pussy right through the transparent white cotton of my panties.
I trembled, my pulse roaring in my ears.
“Can I…” I blushed. “Can I have a towel?” I whispered.
Vlad’s eyes were blazing as he dragged them back up to mine.
“Take them off,” he purred deeply.
“What?”
“Your panties, angel,” he growled. “Take them off. I want to see all of you.”
“I—”
“Wet clothes are no good,” he groaned, moving closer to me, on his knees in front of me as I stood in the knee-high water. His hands moved to my thighs, making me tremble as he slid them higher. His fingers hooked into the waist of my panties, tugging them down.
…And I didn’t even try or want to stop him.
His gaze grew fiercer as he tugged them down over my hips, peeling the wet cotton slowly off of me, until I knew he could see everything. He growled hungrily, tugging my panties down to my thighs before sliding his hands back up my legs.
“You have a pretty pussy, angel,” he growled. “So pink and so sweet.”
His hands slid up to my ass, cupping it and pulling me even closer to him. I whimpered, feeling his breath against my thigh, my hip, and between my legs over my very, very wet pussy.
…It wasn’t from the bath.
He moved closer, and when his lips brushed against my thigh, just shy of the seam between my leg and the soft lips of my pussy, I moaned. No one had ever touched me there. No man had ever seen me this naked, let alone had his lips on my bare skin like that. I knew it was insane that here I was in basically a stranger’s huge mountain lodge, letting him pull my panties down and tease my body with his mouth.
But then, the more I looked down into his eyes and felt the heat sparking between our gazes, the more it just felt right. It felt like a dam was breaking inside of me — like Vlad was shattering the walls I’d put up around my heart over the years, just by being him.
One of his hands slid back down my leg, helping me step out of the panties.
“Spread your legs for me, angel,” he growled, his eyes dragging back up every inch of my body. “Spread them wide and let me taste this sweet little pussy.”
I shuddered as I did what he asked, my head spinning and every inch of my skin tingling with anticipation. He moved closer, and just as I felt the heat of his mouth about to touch my aching pussy, I opened my stupid mouth.
“Wait,” I gasped. “I’m—”
My face blushed bright red, almost wishing I hadn’t even said anything. But when he looked
up into my eyes, and I felt myself drowning in his baby blues all over again, I felt myself opening up.
“I’ve never…I mean…”
Something twitched in Vlad’s jaw, and suddenly, I could see something fierce spark in his eyes as he slowly stood. I cringed, looking down and biting my lip, wishing I hadn’t said anything to spoil what I knew was the hottest moment of my life.
“Angel.”
His finger cupped my jaw lightly, tilting my face up.
“No man has ever touched you.”
I swallowed, shaking my head.
“No man has ever felt this heaven between your thighs.”
I gasped as his hand slid between my legs, and when his thick finger dragged between my soft, slick lips, I cried out.
“No,” I whispered hoarsely, gasping and clinging to his forearm. I could feel his muscles rippling under my grip as his finger rolled across my throbbing, swollen clit, making my legs shake and my body tremble.
“No other man has ever tasted this sweet honey, and licked this perfect little cunt until you come like a princess like you deserves to come.”
I couldn’t even answer with words, I just moaned as he rolled his finger over my clit again and again. He pulled his hand away, bringing it up between us. He kept his eyes locked into mine as he brought his slick finger to his lips and sucked it inside. I blushed, gasping as I watched him lick my pussy from his finger.
His hand slid back between my legs, making me moan again as he pulled me close — one hand teasing my pussy and the other firmly grasping my ass.
“And no other man has ever felt this tight, pretty little pussy sink onto his cock. No other man has felt your slick walls stretch around his cock, and felt your body tremble as he slowly claims every inch of you.”
I cried out, sagging against him and moaning into his shoulder as his finger drove me wilder and wilder.
“Tell me, angel,” he growled into my ear, rubbing my clit harder.
“No!” I gasped, trembling as he sent pulses of pure ecstasy through my body.
“Good,” he growled hungrily. “Good. Because, angel, I’ll be the man to feel all off it. I’ll be the man to make you come on my tongue, and make you beg for more.”