Embraced by a warrior

Chapter Six

“Come on, Brisa. Nobody is going to see you.”

She gave Darius a stare that said she wasn’t totally convinced. They were outside in his backyard in the late-afternoon sun. After they’d scrounged up some lunch in his kitchen that consisted of sandwiches, he’d suggested they come out here to take a dip in his hot tub. The first thing Brisa had said was that she didn’t have a bathing suit with her. Darius’ reply had been she didn’t need one.

So now here she stood only wearing one of Darius’ t-shirts, which was miles too big, as he stood at the edge of the hot tub with just a towel around his waist to hide his nakedness.

“Are you sure your neighbors can’t see into your backyard?” she asked.

“Brisa, I have over an acre of land, and privacy fences surround the whole thing.”

Darius turned away from her and dropped the towel to the concrete at the edge of the hot tub before climbing in. The man had no shame, but with a body like his, she figured he had no reason to have any. She didn’t have issues with hers, but that didn’t mean she liked to go running around outside butt naked.

“Come on, Brisa,” Darius urged. “Just do it.” When she didn’t move so much as an inch to do as he suggested, he said, “Do you want me to strip you out of my shirt and throw you in?”

Brisa sighed. She had a feeling he’d do that if she didn’t get in by herself. She walked closer to the hot tub. “Fine, I’ll do it, even though I’ll feel uncomfortable as all hell.” Before she could talk herself out of it, she whipped off the large t-shirt and quickly clambered into the hot tub next to Darius. “Happy now?” she asked.

“Yes,” he said with a sexy smile. He pulled her down so she sat on his lap. “Now isn’t this nice?”

Actually, it was. “All right, this was a good idea.” She wrapped her arms around Darius’ shoulders. “Just don’t expect me to go into the pool. It’ll be freezing after being in here.”

“It just makes it refreshing.”

“No, it makes it damn cold.”

“You win. No pool, at least not for you.”

With that said, Darius pushed her off his lap before he pulled himself up onto the side of the hot tub. In long strides, he reached the pool and dove into the deep end. Brisa watched as his head broke the surface of the water.

“Cold?” she asked.

He shook his hair out of his eyes. “No. It’s perfect.” Darius swam to the end, then started doing laps.

Brisa followed him with her gaze. His muscular shoulders and arms flexed with each stroke he made. She sighed to herself. She was falling for Darius, and it was something she never expected to happen so fast. She had her share of infatuations, been in lust with more than a couple of men, but not like what she felt right now for the man in the pool.

She knew she wasn’t doing herself any favors by letting her feelings get too involved in a start of a relationship, but knowing and doing were two different things. And she wouldn’t be telling Darius how she felt about him, either. Not right now, at least. She didn’t know him well enough yet to know if he was the type of guy who wouldn’t run for the hills when a woman told him how she truly felt about him.

No, she was better off keeping that knowledge to herself. Brisa would just have to watch that she didn’t get her heart broken if she and Darius didn’t work out. For now, she’d enjoy just being with him.

Darius hauled himself out of the pool and jumped into the hot tub. Before she knew what he intended, he scooped her up in his arms and got out of the warm water. Brisa struggled when he headed back to the pool.

“Don’t you dare,” she said in her sternest tone.

“You mean this?”

He took a few running steps and jumped into the pool. Brisa held her breath as they went under, then kicked away from Darius. She came up screaming like a banshee.

“That’s fricking cold,” she yelled.

Darius bellowed with laughter. “You look pretty hot when you’re angry.”

Using her palm, Brisa sent a wave of water in his face. He sent an even bigger one, making her sputter when she ended up with a mouthful. That started a water fight, which ended with Brisa surrendering and feeling as if she’d swallowed half the water in the pool.

Back in the warmer water, she watched Darius climb in beside her. He pulled her close and kissed her slow and tender. Goose bumps rose on her skin, and not from being cold.

Once he lifted his head, he said, “Thanks.”

“For what?”

“For giving me a chance to let loose and have some fun. My life hasn’t given me that opportunity in a very long time. I’d almost forgotten what it was like to not be so serious.”

Brisa put her arms around Darius. “I’m glad I can give it to you, even though it was at my expense. You do realize that now I’ll have to think of something to get you back for dumping me in the pool?”

“I guess that means I should keep an eye on you then.”

He gave her a grin that did warm things to her body. Yup, she was in trouble. It wouldn’t take much for Darius to worm his way into her heart, and once there, she’d want to keep him forever.

Darius sat across from Brisa at the restaurant they’d picked to have dinner. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d had such an enjoyable day. Most of it stemmed from the woman who was coming to mean more to him than she should.

Since pledging himself to the god of the underworld, he’d only thought about the job he did for Anubis. Darius had never thought about doing anything beyond that. He realized now he’d basically been living half a life. He may be immortal, but that didn’t mean he had to keep himself distanced from mortals. Brisa had shown him that.

“So what do you want to do for the rest of the weekend?” Brisa asked. Their waitress had already taken their orders and they were just waiting for the food to arrive.

Darius reached across the table and captured her hand in his. “Get you naked in my bed and not let you out until Monday.” Brisa licked her lips, reminding him of what it felt like to have them wrapped around his cock. It jerked, pressing up against the zipper of his jeans.

“I’m sure that can be arranged,” she said, her voice tinged with a seductive huskiness.

He sucked in a big gulp of air and smelled the scent of Brisa’s arousal. His cock went hard. One sniff and he was raring to go. She enticed him like no other. The longer he spent with her, making love to her or just talking, he felt as if he never wanted to let her go. Even though they’d only known each other for a couple of days, he felt as if Brisa had been a part of his life for much longer.

“Does that mean you’d be willing to get our food for takeout instead?” he asked.

Brisa shook her head. “No way. I’m starving. You promised a meal out at a nice restaurant, and I’m holding you to it.”

As if on cue, the waitress returned with their orders. Wearing a smile, Brisa picked up her fork and dug into her food with gusto. Darius settled for watching her eat. Even though she wasn’t doing anything overtly sexy, she was still turning him on. His gaze followed her tongue as she licked the melted butter off her fingers after dipping the crab she’d ordered into it. He got so caught up in Brisa, he ate without really tasting anything. The throbbing in his cock—and the person who caused it to be in that condition—demanded too much of his attention.

Brisa held out a bit of her food. “Would you like some crab? It’s really good.”

Drawn to her like a moth to a flame, Darius leaned forward over the table. He opened his mouth for the morsel she offered. She placed it on his tongue. He closed his lips around Brisa’s fingers before she could pull away and licked each one thoroughly clean, then released her.

He didn’t miss how much faster she breathed. Her cheeks had a splash of color on them that hadn’t been there a few seconds ago. And her scent had become more potent, telling him he’d gotten to her.

“Feed me something off your plate,” Brisa said.

Darius selected a plump shrimp, using his fingers instead of his fork. It had been cooked in lemon butter, so he ran it through the extra sauce before he picked it up. Brisa leaned forward as he’d done and opened her mouth. Instead of waiting for him to give it to her, she took it from him, closing her lips around his digits.

He had to hold back the moan of pleasure that threatened to break free when she pushed the shrimp to the side of her mouth, then sucked and licked his skin. She pulled back, scraping her teeth along his fingers. Too much more of that and he’d be making a mess in his jeans. Something he hadn’t done since he was a young teenager.

“Give me another one,” Brisa said after finishing the mouthful, her eyes taking on a slumberous look.

He shook his head and cleared his throat. “If I do, you’ll find yourself dragged outside, put up against the nearest wall away from prying eyes and have me between your thighs before you know what hit you.”

“Oh my,” she breathed and waved a hand in front of her face. “Did it just suddenly get very hot in here?”

It had, at least between him and Brisa. Darius was surprised not to see waves of heat rolling off them. Passion had flared to life in an instant, growing more intense by the second. He needed to get her out of the restaurant. His hunger for her was outdoing his need for food.

“I suggest we hurry up and finish our meals,” Darius said. “Then we can have our own dessert back at my place, which doesn’t necessarily have food involved.”

“Then what are you waiting for? Stop talking and eat.” Brisa attacked her plate, eating at a faster pace than she had before.

The bill paid and the waitressed tipped, Darius walked Brisa out of the restaurant. It was now evening, the sky just starting to darken. They were halfway to his car—he’d managed to have the window fixed on the way to the restaurant, since Brisa refused to ride on his motorcycle—when he felt it, the familiar pull on him. Given how he wasn’t on the verge of a shift coming on, he figured the evil he sensed wasn’t in the middle of a criminal act. But that didn’t mean he could just drive away with Brisa and ignore it. Once an evildoer had been sensed he physically couldn’t walk away until he’d dealt with the individual.

“What’s the matter?” Brisa asked as he slowed their steps.

Fighting to not follow where the pulling would take him, Darius racked his brain to come up with a reasonable excuse as to why he had to leave her for a little while. Something that wouldn’t have her wanting to go with him. He’d never told a mortal about what he was, and hadn’t made up his mind if he wanted Brisa to know. For now, it had to remain his secret.

“Nothing,” he said. “I just have to make a quick stop in the restaurant’s men’s room. Sorry. I’ll be quick.” They reached his vehicle. “I’ll let you in the car first.”

Darius unlocked the passenger door and held it open as Brisa sat on the seat. The pulling sensation became stronger, and would the longer he ignored it. Once she brought her legs in, he shut her inside, then turned to head back to the restaurant.

At the door, he looked behind him to see Brisa had turned her head to watch him through the window. He ducked inside the entrance, then waited until she looked away. Darius slipped outside and ran in the direction of the rear of the restaurant, where he was being led.

After Darius disappeared through the restaurant’s door, Brisa looked down as she adjusted her purse on her lap. She looked in the direction Darius had gone again and could have sworn she saw him running around the corner of the building, heading toward the rear of it. But only having glimpsed the back of a male figure before it was out of sight, she wasn’t all that sure it had been him.

When a couple of minutes ticked by and there was no sign of Darius walking out to the parking lot, Brisa felt her curiosity getting the better of her. Maybe that had been him running to the back of the building. More than likely wrong, that didn’t stop her from getting out of the car and heading in the direction she’d seen the man going.

Brisa gave the entrance doors a quick look as she came closer just to make sure Darius still wasn’t there. Not seeing him, she continued on. It was getting darker and the alleyway she entered after rounding a corner was mostly in shadows. She was probably wasting her time, trudging around in the dark. She wouldn’t find anything and would end up going back to the car to find Darius waiting, wondering where she’d gone.

She heard what sounded like a bit of a scuffle at the opposite end of where she walked, a place where the light over the back entrance of the restaurant didn’t quite reach. Brisa squinted, trying to see into the darkness. She went closer, and figured she had to be seeing things. A very tall figure that looked half human and some kind of animal stood in front of a man.

“Hello? Is anyone there?” she called.

After blinking a couple of times, still not really having a clear picture of what she thought she saw, the beast thing disappeared, along with the man she thought she’d seen.

Okay, she definitely was seeing things that weren’t there. Deciding Darius had to be at the car already, and that he hadn’t come back here, Brisa turned on her heel and walked the way she’d come. At the car, Darius still wasn’t there. She got inside. She’d give him another minute or so, then go look for him in the restaurant. He was taking too long for just having to use the toilet.

A minute almost up, that’s when she saw Darius finally walk through the entrance doors and out into the parking lot. He hurried across it and got into the car once he reached it.

“Sorry,” he said. “I had to wait my turn. I guess more than a few people needed to use the facilities at the same time I did.”

“I was beginning to wonder what had happened to you. So you only went to use the men’s room and didn’t run outside to the back of the building?”

He gave her a confused look. “No. Why?”

Brisa shook her head. “Nothing. I just thought I saw something, but obviously I was mistaken.” She leaned across her seat and gave Darius a hard kiss. “Now didn’t you say something about getting some kind of dessert at your house?”

He returned her kiss before he pulled away and put the key in the ignition. “You’re right. I did.” He started the car, then drove out of the parking lot.

Darius snuck glances at Brisa from the corner of his eye as he drove toward his home. That had been too close for comfort. Not in a million years had he expected her to end up in that alley behind the restaurant. He’d just about shit bricks when he’d heard her calling out to see if anyone else was there. Only being well-practiced at hiding in the shadows had saved his ass from being caught. It hadn’t been hard to keep his prey quiet.

Once Brisa had left, he’d quickly dispatched the evildoer, a rapist, to Anubis. Then he’d had to sneak his way into the restaurant through the back door. There had been no way he could risk going around to the front from the outside. Brisa would have seen him for sure.

After this close call, Darius decided he and Brisa would stay at his house for the rest of the weekend. While she was with him, he couldn’t run the risk of sensing evil. As long as he didn’t feel the pull he was safe. Taking the weekend off would be a nice change, anyway. Especially considering he hadn’t taken any time off from his duty to Anubis, not once in the close to eight hundred years since becoming a warrior. He figured he’d earned it.

Arriving home, Darius pulled the car into the garage. He let Brisa inside the house through the connecting entrance there. He’d just clicked the lock into place and had turned around when he found himself pushed up against the door with Brisa all over him.

She nuzzled the front of his chest as she worked the fasteners on his jeans. “I’ve been dying to do this for most of the time we were out.”

Brisa yanked his pants down past his waist, springing his cock. It went instantly hard. She went down on her knees, took hold of him in a firm grip and sucked him into her mouth. Darius banged the back of his head against the door as waves of pleasure went through him, centering on his dick and what Brisa was doing to him.

He moaned and dropped his keys. He looked down to watch Brisa taking his cock in and out of her mouth. The sight had him hardening even more. No longer able to hold still, he pumped his hips, matching the rhythm she’d set. Besides sucking on him, each time he slid almost out, she swirled her tongue around the head of his shaft, then stroked the sensitive underside. She brought him to the verge of coming, but Darius didn’t want that. He wanted to be buried in her pussy when he reached his release. Wanted her to come when he did.

He pulled Brisa to her feet and switched positions so she was the one with the door at her back. He undid her jeans, yanked them down her legs and off, taking her panties with them. Her weight felt like nothing as he lifted her. She put her legs around his waist, her pussy coming up against his cock. He groaned as her wetness bathed his erection.

Keeping her pressed against the door, Darius pulled back slightly, then pushed inside Brisa, sheathing himself to the hilt with one thrust. He pulled back again before pushing all the way home. She locked her ankles at the small of his back, using her heels to urge him on as he pumped in and out. This would be hard and fast. He couldn’t take it slow, he wanted her too much.

“Yes, Darius,” Brisa moaned. “Just like that.”

“I want you to come for me,” he said as he continued to thrust into her. “I’m too close.”

“So am I. Only a little bit more.”

Then Brisa was crying out his name, her hips arching as her pussy milked his cock with her release. Darius followed her, holding himself tight to her as he filled her with his cum. This time the need to bite her didn’t surface, nor did his teeth change. It made Darius think the two times it had happened had been a fluke. Or their lovemaking had been over too quickly.

Totally out of breath, his legs shaking since he’d come so hard, Darius pulled Brisa away from the door. She put her arms around his neck and held on. After pulling his pants up near his hips, high enough for him to walk without having to worry about falling, or dropping Brisa, he turned and headed for the foyer. He then went up the stairs.

Inside his room, he placed Brisa on the center of his bed. She stripped out of the rest of her clothes while he shed his. Naked, he climbed in beside her and tugged her in his arms with her positioned along his side with her head pillowed on his chest.

Darius kissed the top of her head when he felt her relax and heard her breathing even out. The nap would do her good. Considering he couldn’t get enough of her, he pretty much assumed he’d keep her up most of the night.

Brisa sighed, blowing a puff of air across his chest. Sated for now, Darius closed his eyes. The last thing he thought about before he followed her into slumber was how good it felt to have her in his arms as he slept.