Gates of Rapture (Guardians of Ascension #6)(28)
Author: Caris Roane

Very alone.

“My turn,” he said, his voice deep.

She nodded. He pulled her up against the nearest tree. The rough bark would hurt her but he had a plan. “Get rid of your skirt and thong.”

“Okay.” A moment later he felt only flesh against the palm of his hand.

With a thought, he lost his kilt and briefs. “Put your arms around my neck and hold on.”

She did. “God, I need you.”

“Same here.”

With one hand, he lifted her left thigh. She lifted her other leg and he supported her underneath. He angled himself and pushed. He found her so wet that his knees buckled as he groaned.

“Don’t worry,” he said, his voice hoarse. “I’m strong and I can hold you like this.”

“I know.”

Bending his knees, he began to drive into her. It wasn’t the most elegant position but by God it worked, because he was inside her and that’s exactly where he needed to be.

She moaned against his ear, then his temple and his neck. There was nothing like strong muscles to get something organized and working just right.

But he needed just a little more resistance so he folded his kilt into his hand, placed the kilt behind Grace, backed her up against the tree, then seated her against the leather. He moved into her again.

Yes, that’s better, she sent.

Reassured and with her anchored, he could push the way he wanted to. She kissed him. He tasted his blood, and because she was crying into his mouth, he started pumping hard.

Leto, come. Please. Aloud, she said, “Please. Now.”

She threw her head back and then he understood. She was coming, and that brought his orgasm streaking through his cock. She gripped his hair and grunted, holding back her cries because anyone could be in the forest right now.

He came and came. His c**k jerked inside her, and she threw her head back again, hitting the tree and resting there.

She was breathing hard. So was he. He could feel her clench around him, and it was a wonderful sensation: that he was inside her when he hadn’t planned to be there quite yet, that he was connected to her like this, to Grace, to his breh, that she had been so overcome with jealous rage that she had run from the games, into the forest, probably trying to escape all those possessive feelings.

He knew how she felt. The breh-hedden was a tough master. If he’d been able to follow after Casimir, he was pretty sure he would have killed him for taking Grace away.

Kissing the side of her neck, he said softly, “If the situation had been reversed, if you had been cheering for another man, I don’t think I could have borne it. I will try to temper my actions toward Brynna.”

But Grace pulled back. “I don’t want you to have to do that. I feel like such a cretin. I don’t even know myself. It’s the breh-hedden.”

He shook his head. “Not entirely. I’ve talked to both Thorne and Jean-Pierre. They’ve both said that essentially you just become more of who you really are.”

At that, she seemed to relax, though she frowned. “Is this who I am? A jealous monster?”

But he gripped her around the waist a little more and pumped his h*ps once to make his point. “I like this part of you. No, I love that you got so worked up. You can do this for me anytime.”

She just shook her head. “How am I supposed to do that and still remain a civilized part of our society?”

He shrugged then kissed her. When he drew back, he said, “Well, I’m not sure. Maybe it’s something we’ll just have to work on, set some boundaries, have a couple of signals.”

“Oh, you mean like when you see my fangs emerge, you’ll know I intend to run off into the forest?”

She was sarcastic, but he pumped his h*ps again, and she groaned against him. “And I’ll follow you every time.”

He began sucking on her neck. Then he had new idea. “I think turnabout’s fair play, don’t you?”

“We should get back,” she said, but her voice was little more than a whisper.

He licked her neck and what do you know, her vein rose for him. The thought of taking her down his throat brought his c**k to attention once more and she groaned again. “Do it, Leto. Just do it.”

He bit her and sucked, then went to work on her, driving his h*ps hard once more.

* * *

A couple of hours later, Grace congratulated Brynna on her win. The warrior had a gold medal around her neck suspended on a purple silk ribbon. She was taller than Grace by at least two inches and couldn’t seem to stop smiling.

Grace took deep breaths as Leto slapped Brynna on her back and fawned over her. She could see the level of friendship they shared: best friends. Just terrific.

Grace wasn’t used to having a boyfriend but she really didn’t like that she was so ridiculously jealous.

Marguerite drew close and elbowed her softly. “Hey, do you want me to boil her in oil for you?”

Grace glanced down at her, startled. “I … uh … what do you mean? Why would you say that?” She tried to laugh, but the sound came out a little strangled.

“You look like you’re ready to kill her.”

Grace sighed and looked away. “I’m going out of my mind. I mean, he had a life while I was gone.”

“Leto wasn’t sleeping with her. I know that for a fact. Bryn and I are good friends. She’s good people. You can trust her.”

Grace looked down at Marguerite and turned a shoulder to the warm exchange five feet away that was driving her crazy. “I know and I wasn’t exactly a saint while I was gone. The whole thing is too ridiculous for words. I just can’t seem to control how I feel. It’s the breh-hedden.”

“You know, usually it’s the other way around. The men get horribly possessive, although I did see it once with Parisa when I hit on Medichi.”

“Wait, you hit on Antony? When? Oh, my God, Thorne must have gone ballistic.”

“Yeah, you could say that.”

“And Parisa?”

“She wanted to tear my face off. She had just launched herself at me, and was ready to get into a serious catfight, when Endelle intervened and used her stasis skill to stop the action.” Marguerite sighed. “I admit I was behaving badly but in my defense, I didn’t quite understand at the time what the breh-hedden meant.”

“But you had been with Thorne all that time in the Convent.”

“Yeah, I know. But I was also intent on making my escape to Mortal Earth and living my own life.”

“You changed pretty soon after that.”