Sydney hadnt finished processing the thrill of his mouth on her skin and the knee-melting male scent of him when he lifted her against him and braced her back against the wall.
The bedroom is just down the hall, she whispered, though secretly thrilled that he wanted to take her rough and urgent against the wall, just as shed written.
Here. Now.
He lowered her to his upthrust erection, probing until he found the creamy welcome hed ensured with his fingers. Then he paused, stared into her eyes. The connection between them locked into place, jolting her. The ticking of her grandfather clock in the next room and his harsh breaths filled her ears. Her belly tightened; her heart knocked against her ribs.
Roaring through clenched teeth, he pushed her down onto his shaft, arching up to meet her, driving deep. She gasped, long and astounded, as he filled her completely, stretching her nearly to the point of pain. But that pain quickly turned to pleasure. The feel of him, hot and large, clasped deep in her body, overwhelmed her.
She drew in a shuddering breath. More.
No need to ask him twice. With his chest, he kept her pinned in place as he brushed his mouth across her shoulder and impaled her again. His arms and shoulders flexed as he lifted her up and pushed her back down, leaving a trail of fire. The veins and tendons rose in his biceps and neck. And the pleasure was unlike anything shed ever imagined. Like opening a door and finding infinity, bright and endless and stunning.
He established a hard rhythm, holding her wide open with her legs over his arms. Her arms curled around him, her nails in the hard flesh of his back, as she moved with him.
Soon, her thighs trembled as she approached orgasm again, this one far bigger. Breathing? Impossible, and she didnt care, not when her entire body rushed headlong to the kind of fulfillment shed only read about. Again, he filled her, sliding deep, the slick friction of his stroke driving her quickly to a point from which she could not hold back.
Sydney moaned, and she felt Cadens mouth near her ear.
His labored breathing sent a fresh bolt of shivers down her spine.
I feel you, he whispered between thrusts. So tight. Another surge deep inside her that had her clawing him again. So ready.
Yes. Yes!
His pace was nearly violent as he pumped again. More incredible than her fantasy even. And Sydney couldnt stand it anymore.
Let go, he roared.
Those two words were all she needed to see stars behind her eyes, to fall off the cliff into a drugging release. He cried out, his fingers digging into her backside, his mouth clamped on her shoulder as a warm spray jetted inside her.
Oh, shit, she panted. We forgot a condom.
Im clean.
I am, as well. But not on birth control.
He hesitated, and something regretful crossed his face. With me, pregnancy is not an issue.
Sydney opened her mouth to ask what that meant. Was he sterile? Had a vasectomy? Before she could voice her questions, he brushed erotic kisses down her neck until she shivered.
When he finally came up for air, he murmured, Wheres the bed?
Caden woke in the predawn, wrapped around a warm raspberry-scented body. Silky hair like fire streamed down a narrow feminine back. Soft. Everything about her felt that way as she lay against him, sleeping peacefully. Sydney.
Despite taking her against the wall earlier, then twice again in the bed, he awoke full of energy and ready for more of her. She was no longer a craving, but an addiction.
Hed been so bloody careful with her. No kissing of that sweet, lush mouth or tasting of the wet flesh between her thighsno matter how badly hed ached to or how loud the voice in his head screamed at him. But it didnt matter. Everything in him cried out to take her again. And again. And he feared that if he kissed her, the dangerous, ancient words swirling in his head would fly out of his mouth. If they did . . . presto chango. Hed be mated in the blink of an eye, bound his entire life only to her, only able to derive his energy, obtain sex, and feel love with her. And if she didnt accept his Mating Call, or chose to break their bond someday . . . well, his brother was a living, breathing example of the result.
He wanted no part of magical anything, but seeing what Lucan had endured, Caden wanted no part of mating, in particular. Quick shags from random beauties suited him. Putting himself in a position to be feral and out of his mind without Sydney? Unthinkable.
Deep in slumber, she shifted, stretching against him with a sigh, her firm little backside brushing him in dangerous places. He hissed as a fresh jolt of lust pounded him. Then she settled back against him, her body limp and trusting. His temperature rose. She was definitely not helping his restraint.
Cripes, he had to get out of here. That bloody dream, a stupid whim, had brought him to Sydneys flat. He wanted to exit stage left immediately. But this was a prime opportunity to search her place again, find something useful to his mission, then retreat, before he did something really foolish, like succumb to the screaming need to kiss her and prove all his instincts right.
Gently, he rose, moving away from Sydney by degrees, careful not to wake her. Then he edged off the bed, onto his feet. Hed start with her notesand that bloody magical diary, if he could find it. Something he could take and call this fiasco a success.
On his feet, he padded across the hardwood floors and found his clothes where hed left them in the foyer last night wadded on the floor. With a curse for his unusually impulsive behavior, he donned everything, then began searching.
A quick inventory of the front rooms proved that she hadnt brought her laptop home. No notes, no scraps of paper with handy information, no Doomsday Diary. Bugger!
That meant he was going to have to return to Sydneys bedroom and risk waking her. He debated leaving now, forgetting the mission for the moment. But if he was smart and avoided more personal contact with Sydney, he would not have another opportunity to search her flat.
In the bedroom, he ignored the voice in his head asking if disregarding Sydney was even possible and worked methodically. Nothing in her wardrobe except a neat row of clothes on hangers arranged in outfits. Her sexy chocolate skirt and soft cream blouse were wrapped in plastic from the dry cleaners, hung beside the bold black and white dress that clung to her small, curved frame like a dream and always made him wonder exactly what she had beneath. Now that he knew, how would he ever stay away?
Drawing in a bracing breath, he forged on. A scan of her bathroom made him smile, despite the less than optimal situation. Orderly rows of lotions and perfume bottles. Sticky notes of lists stuck to her mirror, reminding her to buy toothpaste and return a DVD rental. Always organized.
Focus, he warned himself. Notes, names, Doomsday Diary.