Obsidian Flame (Guardians of Ascension #5)(47)
Author: Caris Roane

But here he was with a perpetual hard-on because of his sensory recall of the woman’s scent, like fresh earth and sweet wildflowers. He wouldn’t have minded displaying his oh-so-worthy arousal except that in addition to being aroused beyond comprehension, he’d stopped craving the woman currently sharing his bed.

The exquisite Julianna matched his sadistic tendencies and enjoyed sex with equal abandon. But a woman who had spent the last century in a convent would really not enjoy an S&M threesome with a Goth abducted from a seedy local club, f**king her and drinking from her until she was almost drained of blood.

Right now he was screwed. He couldn’t see how to move forward but he knew he couldn’t stay where he was. How strange that one moment in time had altered his life forever.

He could hope that Grace would die as Greaves intended in their forthcoming little Convent adventure, but even as he watched the Paris lights twinkle, he knew he had to bring Grace home with him.

He hissed softly. He needed some relief. Now.

He walked to the master suite, gently gliding his fingers up and down his erection as he moved. At this hour, his boys were asleep along with their au pair, so he didn’t have to worry about being seen in the act.

He found Julianna asleep, which was good.

In a very swift move, he folded off his clothes then tied her spread-eagle to the four posts of the bed. As he positioned himself to straddle her neck, she blinked up at him ready to squawk. But he was too needy, and when she opened her mouth to yell at him, he inserted himself. He grabbed the headboard and mouth-fucked her as the image of Grace swirled through his mind, as the recollection of her scent brought him close to the edge.

He didn’t care that Julianna was struggling beneath his rough efforts. All he cared about was giving himself up to what he needed now more than life itself.

He came shouting. He came and came as he imagined burying himself between Grace’s legs and drinking at the same time from her neck.

When he was done, he rolled off Julianna, who was gagging with all that he’d given her and struggling against the bindings.

When she could finally talk, she glared at him. “I might have enjoyed that if you’d let me participate. What is wrong with you? You’ve been in a weird mood since you returned from Moscow Two. What happened out there?”

“Do you want to go back to Greaves?” He released her from the restraints then stretched out on the bed next to her.

She sat up, wiping a hand over her mouth.

He couldn’t look at her. He just stared up at the mirrored ceiling. He had his arm thrown over his forehead. He closed his eyes.

She drew close and stroked his fingers very lightly. “I’ve grown fond of you,” she said, her voice small. “I … I thought you enjoyed my company.”

“Something’s happened, something completely beyond my control and I know I can’t give you any longer what you’ll need of me.”

“So … you’re dumping me after having stolen me away from my heart’s desire? You’re letting me go because of something mysterious that I’m guessing you won’t even tell me about?”

“It’s not personal, Ju-Ju. I’ve even had a few times with you in recent weeks that I thought maybe we were soul mates. We certainly are evenly matched in bed. It’s a f**ked-up ascension thing. The problem is, I won’t treat you right during the next few days or weeks or however long it takes to resolve this situation and you need to go.”

But he felt the woman vibrating with rage next to him. He understood who she was, that she would find some way to punish him for being so summarily dumped, so he simply thought the thought and she was gone.

He rose, showered, and prepared for battle.

The hour had come.

Time to destroy Leto. As for Grace, he could hardly wait to see her again and to draw her meadow, wildflower scent into his nostrils.

* * *

Greaves was in the bathroom, flexing the DNA-altered claw of his left hand, when he heard a woman shouting, and not far from him. He frowned slightly, since he recognized the woman’s voice.

He was naked and aroused because working his claw was connected to his cock. Both were symbols of power. Flexing his claw therefore brought lovely ripples of excitement deep into his groin.

He held his erection in his hand as he left the bathroom. He found Julianna standing near the foot of his bed, naked, her back arched, her arms spread wide, her head tilted toward the ceiling and screaming profanities the likes of which he had never heard leave her throat before.

“Trouble in paradise?” he asked, walking calmly toward her.

He was both glad to see her and yet extremely suspicious of her sudden return to his bedroom. She’d been his lover for a few heavenly months until Casimir had required her as one of the prices he’d demanded for serving Greaves. He had hated parting with her, and deep within his mind he’d promised himself that Casimir would pay for having insisted on her.

Yet here she was, inexplicably back in his Geneva bedroom.

She turned toward him. Her body was perfection. She had perfect large br**sts, which were peaked because of either the chill in the room or her rage. He somehow doubted she was aroused.

“What did you do to him?” she cried.

He spread his hands wide. “I don’t know what you mean.” He snapped his claw, which brought her attention momentarily to one of her favorite tools. Her eyes flared, but she wasn’t to be so easily distracted.

“Casimir sent me back but he wouldn’t tell me why. He said it was some kind of ascended bullshit so of course I figured you must be involved.”

He pressed the claw to his naked chest. “You wound me, my dear. I’ve had nothing to do with this and I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

She turned her head to the side but eyed him up and down. When her gaze hesitated on his cock, he reached down with the claw and stroked himself. She’d always enjoyed his claw.

She sighed and her shoulders relaxed. She even took a few steps toward him. “I don’t mean to be a bitch and I missed you, but he dismissed me like I was some sort of ordinary prostitute for whom he had no further use.”

“You are anything but ordinary, not in any respect.” He snapped his claw again.

He watched her shudder. “Now tell me exactly what Casimir said so that I can interpret the situation for you. I am convinced you have somehow mistaken his intentions.”

She turned and sat down on the edge of the bed. She told him everything, including the recent invasion of her mouth. He moved toward her, gently rubbing the crown of his cock. Now that she was here, well, she was simply delicious.