Witch Heart

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Claire curled her shaking hands under herself on the bed. She'd never talked about any of this to anyone before. She'd certainly never spoken aloud her suspicion that William Crane was her father. There was something about Adam that made her open up, something about him that made her trust him.

It was time she started trusting someone.

At any rate, it felt good. Like she'd oiled some rusty hasp on the box containing her secret self. Now she could open it easier and share the contents if she chose.

She watched Adam clean away the pizza box and turn the bed down. He'd taken off his shirt, so she watched with interest the way his muscles flexed as he moved.

Adam seemed deep in thought about what she'd told him and didn't notice her staring. He knew he was gorgeous, though. Adam was a man who understood the effect he had on a woman and used it to his full advantage.

Well, with all women but her anyway.

He looked up at her. "I guess we're sharing the bed tonight?"

Damn it. He sounded resigned.

Claire looked away from him. "Yes."

"We have no toothbrushes, nothing to sleep in but our clothes. In view of the situation, not knowing if the Atrika will track us here, we should probably sleep fully dressed." He spread his hands. "We don't know if they'll show up in the middle of the night. We don't want to be caught with our pants down. Literally."

She sighed. "Look, Adam. I can take care of myself. As I must keep pointing out, I'm stronger magickally than you or Theo. I need you two mostly to guide me through life here, not really to protect me from the Atrika. Houses, I'm strong enough to do that myself. Anyway, I'm fine with sleeping in the car—"

Adam was in front of her within the blink of an eye. He pulled her to her feet. "You're staying in this room. With me. Tonight. Don't give me any bullshit about me not being able to protect you." He paused and his lips twitched. "It offends my male arrogance and stirs up all my testosterone."

"Adam—"

The trace of amusement faded. "No. Really, Claire. All joking aside."

She tried hard not shiver at the touch of his hands, which now rested on her waist. "You just seem so reluctant to touch me." Claire did her best to keep the note of pain from her voice, but she couldn't manage it totally. "I thought I would spare you."

He glanced away and swore under his breath. "Claire, you're killing me. You know that? You're totally fucking killing—"

He kissed her.

His mouth came down over hers with such heat and possession that it pulled the breath right out of her. He didn't coax her lips apart, he demanded. The first touch of his tongue on hers was like a brand and it sent tremors of sexual need rocketing through her. He owned her mouth, every inch of it. With this kiss he made all question of his desire vanish.

Adam pushed her backward, onto the bed, and followed her down, still kissing her. He crawled up her body, sliding his hand beneath the hem of her shirt and up to cup her breast through the material of her bra. She gasped into his mouth.

"Claire, I want you. I'm fucking taking you this time, too."

"Finally," she whispered against his mouth and then nipped his lower lip. "I want you, too."

He shuddered and nipped back. "I have no condom."

"I'm an earth witch at the core and very familiar with my body's rhythms. I won't get pregnant tonight."

He kneed her thighs apart and pressed his cock against her through their clothing. "I guess we won't be staying fully clothed after all."

"It could be dangerous when we fall asleep."

He dragged her lower lip between his teeth. "I don't think we'll be doing much sleeping," he drawled in a honeyed voice. He slipped his hand to the waistband of her pants and unbuttoned them. "Let's get rid of these." Adam had them off her in a matter of moments.

She kissed over his chest as he worked her shirt up and over her head, leaving her clad in only her bra and underwear.

Her hands slid over his skin as she undressed him — over his shoulders and down his arms — velvet pulled tight over sinuous steel. Bit by bit, his clothes dropped to the floor, revealing his mouth-watering chest, his narrow hips, and—finally—his long, wide cock.

It was beautiful.

Claire closed her hand over it at the root and stroked upward, running her fingers over every delectable vein up to the smooth crown. Adam jerked and groaned against her mouth, dragging her lower lip between his teeth.

Pressing her backward, Adam braced himself above her on the bed and kissed her mouth, along her jaw, and the sensitive spot just below her earlobe. Then dropped to the swell of her breast.

Claire arched her back and her breath hissed out of her. Her fingers curled into the short strands of his hair when he drew her bra down low enough to lave her nipple. Ripples of pleasure shot through her as he explored the peak thoroughly — every ridge, every puckered valley. Her legs closed around his hips and he ground against her while he did the same to the other nipple.

What he did excited her whole body, clouded her mind with want. Her entire world became his hands on her skin, his lips trailing down her stomach, teeth nipping as he went.

Five small licks of heat flared against her skin — two on either side of her hips, two on her shoulders and one between her breasts. She glanced down and saw that he'd stripped her of her bra and panties using fine, controlled bursts of fire.

He nipped the curve of her waist. "I'll buy you a whole new wardrobe tomorrow if you want." His gaze flicked over her bare breasts and his voice took on a tone of reverence. "Gods, you are so beautiful, Claire." Kneeing her thighs apart, he dropped his head to her inner thigh and laid a kiss high on her leg. "And you taste too damn good to resist."

"Adam!" she yelped as his hot mouth closed over her. It was the last word she was able to utter for a while.

He laved her clit until she couldn't see straight, until the pressure to climax had her arching off the bed. Yet, he didn't let her tip over the edge. With his skillful tongue, he kept her suspended in the delicious space right before an orgasm. Claire moved her hips, trying hard not to beg him. She wasn't sure she could form the words anyway.

Adam slid one finger within her, then added a second. Deliberately. Methodically. Diabolically. He began to thrust.

The pent-up, withheld energy of the orgasm exploded through her. Claire fisted the blankets and cried out as it washed over her. Adam rode her through it, extending it, until Claire's body went boneless and her knees were weak.

Adam climbed up her body and found her mouth, kissing her deeply. His knee slid between her thighs and parted them, his hips settling in the cradle of her spread legs as though they'd been made to fit there. The head of his cock pressed against the entrance of her sex and she rolled her hips, trying to force him inside.

"Hush, Claire," he whispered against her lips. He stared down into her eyes. "We have all night." Holding her gaze, he gathered her wrists and pressed them down onto the mattress on either side of her.

Just like in her dream.

"I've been waiting a long time, Adam," she murmured.

He held her gaze steadily, his expression serious. In his eyes roiled dark emotion, but his body was taut with lust — desire — for her.

"What's wrong?" she asked, frowning.

Adam shifted his hips, bearing down on her wrists at the same time, and thrust the wide head of his cock inside her.

Claire's eyes widened. It had been so long since she'd had a man inside her. The fact he held her gaze as he came within her made the moment that much more intimate. Her muscles stretched as he worked himself slowly within — inch by mind blowing inch. Her breath caught once he was seated root-deep within her. She felt possessed by him, filled up by him… and she liked it.

"Claire," he murmured.

Her name sounded so full of emotion that it momentarily pulled her out of the sensuality of the experience and brought a lump to her throat.

Never, never had a man looked at her the way Adam now looked at her. Never had a man, not even Ty, said her name like she was the center of everything. Tears pricked her eyes.

And then Adam began to thrust.

Her fingers curled around his shoulders as he dropped his head and kissed her mouth and then her jaw and then her throat. As he pumped inside her, letting her feel every glorious inch of his cock from root to tip, she let her hands trail over his back, waist, and the gorgeous curve of his rear.

When she finally came the second time, Adam did, too. Pleasure poured over them both and Adam whispered her name over and over into the damp curve of her neck.

They lay tangled together on the bed, breathing heavily for several moments, before Adam rolled to the side and tucked her against him. He trailed his fingers down her arm and over her breast, making her shiver with delight and her nipples pucker.

"I keep having dreams about you, Claire. Sexy dreams. Gods, I've never had dreams like these, not even at the height of my hormone-filled adolescence."

She turned onto her back. He drew lazy circles on her stomach. "That's strange. I've had sexy dreams about you, too."

His circling finger paused, then restarted. "That is strange. What exactly did you dream?"

She licked her lips and felt her cheeks heat. "They're pretty erotic. Are you sure you want to know?"

"Do I not want to hear about an erotic dream you had about me?" He gave a low, rough chuckle and moved back to her nipple, teasing it with his fingertip. "You really have to get to know me better."

"Okay, I'll tell you." She closed her eyes and sighed, enjoying the play of his fingers over her body. "The first night I slept in your room, I dreamt you made me come with your lips and tongue. You sucked my clit until I screamed your name, then you mounted me and held down my wrists as you took me. Just like you did now."

"Mmm… I like that dream. What else?"

"Another night while we were at the house in Crocus Hill, I dreamed I took you into my mouth. I explored you with my tongue and it was fascinating. I licked up and down your shaft and I wanted to make you come, but instead you flipped me to my stomach and came inside me from behind."

His hand slid down her stomach and between her thighs as she spoke. There, he wove a spell of dark erotic magick that made her made her breath come faster. The pad of his finger stroked her clit, making it spring to life with pleasure once more.

"Uhm…" She picked up her lost train of thought. "I could feel your chest against my back and you pressed me down… oh … against the mattress with your body as you thrust inside me. You slid your hand between my body and the bed to stroke me—"

"Stroke your clit?" he purred. "You mean, like how I'm doing right now."

"Uh, yes."

"And then what happened?"

She licked her lips. "I came. In my dream, I came."

"And now, Claire? Are you going to come now?"

She did. It rolled over her slow and easy, beautiful and gentle in contrast to the two explosive ones she'd already had. Her back arched under the spell of it. Adam sealed her mouth with his and ate up every sigh and moan she made — hungry for them.

Claire curled against his body once it was over and closed her eyes, exhaustion settling over her.

"I had the same dreams, Claire."

She lifted her head. "What?"

"Exactly the same dreams, I bet even on the same nights. Probably at the same time."

"How?

Adam shrugged a shoulder. "That's a question for Micah."

"Magick." She kissed his shoulder. "It had to be magick. Some kind of psychic bleed-through. Maybe it was my air magick reaching out for you in my dreams."

Adam held her closer. "Baby, everything about you is magick."

Claire roused in the morning to Adam returning to the hotel room. Between his teeth was a white bakery bag. In one hand he held several plastic shopping bags and in the other he had a cardboard holder with two coffee cups. He set everything on the table. "I got you some new underwear."

She sat up, letting the blankets fall away. Claire hid a smile at the way Adam's gaze roved her bare breasts hungrily. "And coffee."

He picked up the white bag. "And doughnuts. I figured they'd go well with the pizza we had last night. We have to make sure all four food groups are represented in our diet — fat, sugar, carbs, and caffeine."

She smiled. "Excellent."

Adam walked to the bathroom, pulling his shirt over his head as he went. "I'm going to hit the shower. Let me know if I bought the right stuff for you." He disappeared past the doorway.

Claire stared at the closed door. Adam's mask was firmly back in place this morning. Now she could easily recognize it. Something was bothering him, but he didn't want her to see what it was.

The man wore his emotions on his sleeve, but he didn't think he did. Adam obviously thought his mask was seamless, no cracks at all. And perhaps he had managed to hide himself and his feelings from his fellow witches all this time.

But she could feel the darkness in him and see it in his eyes. She saw it pass over his face in unguarded moments and could hear it in his voice. Adam kept secrets, ones he didn't want anyone to know.

She slid from the bed and wandered over to the bags. He'd bought her a few changes of clothes, not just underwear — a couple pairs of jeans, a couple sweaters, a few shirts, and some socks. There were three sets of soft, satiny pajamas, plus various sundries — toothbrush, toothpaste, shampoo, and the like.

He'd also purchased many pairs of panties and several bras, all silk and lace, feminine ones like she'd selected the first day they'd gone shopping.

Had he understood her need to feel such soft, girly articles of clothing against her skin? After so many years of serviceable gray Atrika underclothing, the frothy bits of almost nothing available to women here seemed downright decadent — lovely. Or maybe Adam was simply being a man, and hadn't thought past what he wanted to see on her. Claire could hope it was the former. Adam was insightful enough to manage it.

She stuffed the clothing back into the bag. Houses, she was thinking way too much about Adam and his intentions toward her. Under the current circumstances, such frivolities hardly mattered. Why was she even wondering about this? She had a demonic weapon inside her and two Atrika on her tail.

Putting the shopping bag to the side, she pulled out a doughnut to nibble on and sipped her coffee while Adam finished up in the bathroom. The doughnut was so good she thought for a moment she'd pass out.

Adam exited after a few minutes with a towel around his waist. In the doorway, he halted, comb halfway through his hair. "Claire, if you sit around the hotel room naked, I can't be held responsible for what I might do."

She set her coffee cup to the table and stood. "Oh, I hope so." Keeping her gaze on him, she took the bag with the clothes and sundries, walked past him slowly into the bathroom, and closed the door.

It took Adam exactly five seconds to follow her.

He caught her by the arm and pressed her against the bathroom counter, facing the mirror, and bracketing her on either side with his hands.

He met her gaze in the reflection. "That sounded like a challenge."

Her lips curved in a smile so mischievous, she wondered for a moment who the woman in the mirror was. "You gave me a taste of everything I've been missing out on for the past five years, Adam." Her sly smile widened. "Can I be blamed for wanting another helping?"

Adam slid his hands up her body to cover her breasts. She watched in the mirror as his skillful fingers plumped and teased each nipple into a hard peak. Her breath came faster and her sex heated. His touch did that to her.

Adam's touch made her body want. Action. Effect.

Still holding one breast, he dragged his other hand down her flesh and between her legs. Eyes wide, she watched him stroke her sex in the mirror's reflection. His big hand moving so softly, so slowly. All to pleasure her. The gentle, giving action seemed so at odds with the sight of his forearm and upper arm, which was muscled and powerful — built to be a weapon, yet now bestowing soft erotic pleasure.

Her eyes fluttered shut and her head fell back as the now-familiar haze of lust began to swamp her mind.

"No," he commanded roughly. "Watch me touching you, Claire. Watch."

She opened her eyes again and focused on his hand between her thighs. The pressure of her impending climax building, she watched him ease a finger inside her and press his hand against her clit as he thrust in and out. He held her tight against his bare chest, other hand around her breast, fingers playing on her nipple.

Claire's cheeks were flushed and her lips parted. Her eyes were heavy-lidded, languorous, and her hair lay against her shoulders in lazy disarray. Her body tensed as she reached the maximum threshold and her orgasm washed over her. Claire's knees went weak as she came, and she gripped the edge of the counter with trembling fingers.

He flipped her in a heartbeat and had her up on the counter. Adam ripped his towel away and slid her rear to the very edge. Then, setting his cock to the entrance of her sex and tangling his fingers through her hair on either side of her head, he pushed within her to the root of him. His stomach muscles rippled with the long, easy thrust.

There was a mirror behind him, too, one that stretched from the floor to the ceiling. In it she watched in fascination as his buttocks and the muscles of his calves and thighs flexed as he pushed his cock deep into her body. Her legs, paler than his, were spread wide and dangling on either side of his narrow hips.

Claire gasped at the delicious stretch of her muscles and wiggled a little on the counter. He dropped his hands to her waist and held her still as he thrust.

She curled her arms around his neck and he dropped his head to suck one of her nipples into his mouth. His hands roved her body along with his lips, tongue, and teeth. The man loved to use his mouth, always gently biting, claiming. Always kissing, always licking. Every drag of his lips left a trail of fire behind.

He buried his face in the curve of her throat. "Gods, you are beautiful, Claire. So fucking pretty. And you feel so good." He paused. "In every way. Good enough to melt my heart."

She came first, again, impossibly. It was like her body was making up for all those lost years. Then he came, murmuring her name and kissing along her jawline before claiming her mouth.

He stayed inside her, arms around her and face buried in her curls, long after they'd both found their bliss.