Crystal Jordan - Believe in Me

He groaned and pulled away, searched her face, gave a little smile, and then planted a few more soft, warm kisses on her lips. «I told myself I was going to talk to you, not dive on you the moment the door shut, but you just have to look at me and my control goes haywire.» He trailed his fingertips across her jaw. «We need to talk. About us. What we're doing, where we're going. And especially where we've been. I have a lot-«

«No.» She jerked back, stepping outside of his arm's reach, moving away until her legs pressed against his big dining room table. It hurt to deny herself contact with him, but she had some self-preservation left. Pulling in a deep breath to calm her racing heartbeat, she forced herself to recall the gut-wrenching moment when she'd walked into a saloon to find him sharing a bed with a whore. Sure, they'd argued, he'd dumped her back off in her brother's camp, but really? That was all his soul mate had meant to him? A convenient lay? Less than a day after they'd parted, and he'd paid to fuck another woman. The memory was a splash of cold water on her overheating hormones, a stab of utter agony to her heart. She narrowed her eyes at him, her shaking fists clenched at her sides. «You want this thing between us, that's fine, but the deal is we do not talk about the past. At all. Ever. It didn't happen.»

«It did happen.» Now it was his turn to narrow his eyes, and she saw rage burn in his gaze, but he banked the emotion, and his voice was almost even when he spoke. «Just trust me for once and listen to what-«

«No.» She shook her head and folded her arms protectively over her chest. «Not just no, but hell no. You want to keep getting hot and heavy with me while we're working together on this assignment, then we don't talk about anything that went on before now. That's over. We already failed the test. It doesn't matter anymore.» She met his eyes, refusing to back down. She'd already had to piece together a broken heart once before, and she doubted it could stand a second round. «That's the deal. Take it or leave it.»

«I'll take it.» He jerked her against him, and the fury he no longer tried to control made his eyes an incandescent silver. «Let's start now.»

His mouth slammed down over hers, his tongue thrusting into her mouth to demand a response from her. She gave it, matching his demands with her own. They fought for control of the kiss, biting, sucking and nipping at each other until their skin was hot to the touch, burning up. Their breathing was nothing but harsh rasps, and they groaned into each other's mouth. She tasted blood, but didn't know if it was his or hers. It didn't matter, the copper tang of it drove her excitement to a primitive, carnal place.

They came together with the same speed and urgency of the night before, but instead of desperation, this was a furious claiming. All the building anger, pain and desire they couldn't deny exploded between them. She grabbed the front of his shirt and ripped it open, the buttons scattering in every direction. Then her hands were on his chest, thumbing his flat little nipples. He groaned, broke the kiss and wrenched her shirt over her head. Her bra shredded under the same treatment, but his mouth was on her breasts, sucking her hard, making her back bow as pleasure speared straight to her pussy. Her inner walls clenched on nothingness, and she shuddered.

He bit her nipple, batted it with his tongue and bit her again. She gritted her teeth on a scream. Her fingers fisted in his hair, twisting until he grunted at the pain. «Fuck me, Jericho.»

«Whatever you want, darlin'.» The words were harsh with sarcasm, strained with unsated lust.

Grabbing her shoulders, he spun her around and forced her to bend over the table. His hands jerked open her pants and shoved them and her panties down her legs. She kicked them aside, her heart pounding as she heard the clink of his belt buckle, the rasp of his zipper, and then he crowded between her thighs. His cock was like a thick, hot pipe pressing against her buttocks, sliding into the crevice. His arms wrapped around her torso, one hand moving down to shove into her sex. She bucked against him, but it did nothing to dislodge him. She was caught, trapped, and it made the flames licking through her even hotter.

Three big fingers filled her pussy, stretching her. He didn't give her time to adjust, just thrust high and hard into her soaking channel. This time, there was no holding back her scream. It was too much, and not nearly enough. He worked her until she thought she'd faint, her wetness growing with every plunge of his fingers inside her. He pulled from her abruptly, making her cry out at the loss. Using her own moisture, he slid those same fingers one by one into her backside. Shudders wracked her body, and she whimpered when his other hand took the place of the first, filling her pussy. It was more than she could bear. She came, screaming. Her sex milked his fingers, tingles exploding over her skin as she rocked herself between his hands.

Fire flashed in her blood, sweat slid down her temples, and all she could do was let her head fall back as she moaned. «Jericho. My Jericho.»

«Yes,» he groaned, the sound tormented pleasure. «God, yes.»

His fingers jerked from her ass, and she felt him position his cock at the entrance of her anus. Oh. Jesus. A whimper fell from her throat, and his thick cock pressed her wider than his hand had. The tight ring of her anus bore down on him, and she forced her shaking muscles to relax, to accept the hot invasion. Anticipation pumped her blood even faster through her veins, a sizzle of ecstasy arcing through her overloaded system. He worked his cock deeper and deeper. She fell forward on her palms, bracing herself on the smooth wood table so she could move with him, take all of him. He thrust slowly at first, but picked up speed and force until his taut belly spanked against the softer curve of her buttocks.

The heel of his palm rotated against her clit, and her breath caught in shock. His hand worked her pussy to the same rhythm as his cock in her ass. His fingertips rubbed the thin layer of flesh between her two channels, stimulating her to a point she'd never reached before. Her nails raked across the tabletop, her back bowing as he fucked her hard and rough. Taking her. Possessing her. His palm slapped against her clit with each movement of his hand, his pelvis grinding into her ass. A wave of ecstasy hit her, almost taking her over the edge. Almost. God, she was so damn close. A few more strokes of that big cock in her anus, a couple of flicks of those clever fingers and she would break. He paused for just a moment, a fraction of a second, but it was enough to make her cry out in desperate longing. He couldn't stop now. She'd throttle him if he tried.

Jericho's deep rumble reverberated in her ear, the tone silky, dangerous. «Deny it all you want, darlin', but we belong to each other. You belong to me.» His hot breath washed over her skin, making goose flesh break down her limbs. His thrusts became wilder, fiercer. «I don't have to talk about the past for you to know you're mine, Tori. Mine. You always have been, you always will be. You'll never be free of me, you'll never get the feel of me off your skin, the taste of me out of your mouth. You. Are. Mine. My soul mate. Just plain old fucking mine.»

«I hate you!»

He laughed at her, bit the back of her shoulder, licked the stinging flesh until she panted. «No, you don't. You only wish you could.»

He was right, damn him.

Those wicked fingers rubbed her G-spot, and he shoved his cock deep in her ass, deeper than he'd ever been before and she was lost. She shattered, pushed beyond her endurance. Her inner muscles clenched around his fingers, his cock, and her entire body undulated against him in wanton abandon. Her skin felt too hot and too tight to hold in the ecstasy roiling through her, splintering her into a million unrecognizable pieces.

The last thing she heard before reality dissolved around her was his growl of «Mine.»

Her eyes rolled back, and she collapsed forward. He caught her, cradled her against his chest, brushed her sweat-dampened hair away from her face, kissed her temple. He whispered something against her skin, but she didn't hear it. Consciousness slipped away, and she welcomed the sweet nothingness of oblivion.

Tori dreamed about her last day as a human every night that week, her subconscious's constant reminder to keep her guard up around Jericho, to not get too close, to never repeat her past mistakes. Because she might help other people fall in love, but her final hours as a human proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that she was a failure in the love department-always had been, always would be.

She just wished the details had grown fuzzier with time, but they hadn't. The nightmare always started in the same place. She and Jericho arguing. Again. She'd wanted to see Enrique, to assure her brother that she was all right. She'd hated that she knew he'd be worried, and she'd been certain if she explained to him how she felt about Jericho, that he'd understand, that he'd give them his blessing. Jericho didn't want to release her as his prisoner, but her insistence had finally paid off and he'd returned her to her brother-or maybe he'd just gotten sick of listening to her, and his sexual toy had been less fun to play with. Her reputation had already been tattered beyond repair, so the damage to her brother's honor had been done.

The reasons didn't matter, in the end. All that mattered was that things hadn't gone the way she'd planned. She'd been such a naive little idiot. Enrique hadn't understood-he'd refused to let her go back to a man who'd stolen her virtue. Nothing she said would make him believe she loved Jericho, that she didn't want to live without him.