Chapter 10

Teddy raised both eyebrows as Evan stomped toward him. He leaned on the counter without even glancing around the noisy room.

“I didn’t expect to see you this soon,” Teddy said as he wiped the counter.

“I didn’t expect to be seen this soon either.” Evan glanced over his shoulder.

“Where’s the witch?” Teddy’s eyes moved over him. “And the rest of your costume?”

Evan scowled. “She’s upstairs in the sitting room. I’ve come to inquire about Evan.”

Teddy tilted his head and looked at him. “She doesn’t know it’s you?”

He shook his head. “No. She’s only ever seen me in a suit.”

Teddy stared at him for a moment. “And is this the same lady you drop everything for and go see every day?”

Hadn’t they already established that? He nodded again. “It is.”

Teddy leaned over the top of the bar and lowered his voice as a vampire lingered near the end. “I’m not seeing the problem. You’ve been moping around her for the better part of two years and, now you’re with her, but aren’t telling her it’s you?”

Evan rubbed his finger over the pattern on the edging of the bar and did not look at the Teddy. “It’s hard to explain.” He leaned both arms on the bar and dropped his head down for a few seconds before raising his head. “She’s more than comfortable with the lion, but asks about Evan.”

Teddy laughed and then stopped quickly when Evan glared at him. “You’re jealous of yourself!”

Evan opened his mouth and realizing his most valuable employee and friend was right, closed it.

Teddy smirked. “I’ll draw you a picture, oh powerful one. Take the witch in your arms and kiss her mindless, and then later take the damn mask off and see what happens.”

Evan thought about that for a moment. Why was he acting like an idiot? Did it matter who held Arianna in his arms, the masked lion or the man behind the mask? His body reminded him that it was happy with either having her. “You’re right.”

Teddy sighed. “Tell the pretty witch that the bartender said he has no idea where Evan is. Truthfully, with the tentative way you’re acting tonight it’s the truth, I’ve never seen you like this.”

Evan took a deep breath and then started to turn. Spotting the vase of roses on the end of the bar, he leaned over and pulled a single red one out.

“Go get her, tiger—or lion.” Teddy said with a chuckle.

Evan turned and started to walk back to where he left her. He couldn’t help running through everything in his mind. Was he self-sacrificing enough to take off the mask and let her know it was really him? He didn’t think so. He wasn’t entirely lying to her, but even though it seemed to be less than complete honesty, he wasn’t feeling as remorseful as he should be. This may be his only chance to be close to her, to find out more about the woman that he’d been fantasizing about for too long. His body strained as he pictured how she looked tonight—he realized in that moment that his body liked the way she looked at the store too. He shook his head as he reached the top of the stairs and wondered if he could persuade her to wear fishnet stockings at work from now on.

Stopping in front of the door, he took a quick breath and then opened the door holding the rose behind his back. She stood leaning against the window ledge, gazing outside. His eyes noted everything about her as she stood there. “The bartender said he has no idea where Evan is,” he said quietly as he moved toward her.

The moonlight shone on her face and outlined the feminine slope of her jaw and cheekbones. She turned and looked at him and he paused noticeably. The light glinted off her alluring eyes, and he felt the burn all the way to his soul. Being captivated by the sensations looking at her created, he moved closer.

“I hope everything is all right,” she whispered.

“I’m sure everything is fine.” He stopped less than a foot from her and lifted the rose to glide it down over her cheek and jawline. “I find my attention completely diverted and not caring about anything outside of this room.” He moved closer and brushed the bright red flower over her lips. As the petals moved to the other corner of her mouth, he dipped his head and brushed a soft, lingering kiss on her warm lips.

~

Arianna’s heart beat faster as he moved close to her. The softness of the rose petals on her mouth was probably the most sensual thing she had ever experienced in her life. She drew in a shaky breath after his mouth lifted from hers.

She watched as he moved the rose to her cheek again. The velvety petals sent chills through her as he moved it down her throat meticulously slow. She lifted her chin and drew in another quivering breath as she let her eyes drift closed to absorb the feeling of this moment.

She knew she had long enough to stay without having to worry over the midnight hour arriving too soon, but her entire body responded in ways she’d never experienced before and she wasn’t sure if her very essence was going to survive after she went home. But still, to take the memories of this night was too tempting to resist.

She felt his breath on her neck and then his warm lips burned against her skin. Lifting a hand that felt bespelled, she rested it on his shoulder for a moment and then moved it up to cradle his head. His hair was no longer damp from wearing the wig, and her fingers caressed through the softness of the short locks.

As his lips trailed lightly over her throat and back up to her jaw, she moved closer to him and smiled when his arms slipped behind her to embrace her. She’d never felt seduced before, lust and want yes, but this—this was something new to her.

His mouth moved to her jaw and then to her lips. He kissed her in slow breathless movements and it made her feel revered and wanted in such a way that her body was no longer her own, but his.

Strong arms held her as her knees weakened from the onslaught of his drugging kisses. If it weren’t for his arms, she was sure she’d slip to the floor completely boneless.

Arianna gasped in air when he finally lifted his head. His eyes were shadowed from her with the moonlight behind her, but she could still see enough to know that no man had ever looked at her in the way he was. Heat flashed through her as his hands slowly moved down her back to slide over her hips and pull her into his body. She could feel how hard he was, but he still continued to move in a slow, mesmerizing way.

His hands ran down to the back of her thighs and she could feel him lifting the hem of her dress as he slid his hands back up over her. His mouth moved to her neck as he slowly inched the dress higher.

He turned to gently to rest her back against the edge of the deep window casing. His tongue plunged into her mouth and sent heat fanning through her. With a firm hold, he pulled her right leg up resting her foot on the low ledge. When he rocked into her, she moaned into his mouth. His other hand pulled the stretchy material of her dress down over her shoulder, and she couldn’t do anything but hang on to him when his mouth burned a trail of rough kisses down her neck to her shoulder.

~

Evan wasn’t sure how much longer he could continue with these soft, tantalizing kisses. He was completely enthralled by her every response to his touch. He’d never had a woman yield to him wholly, and he found it more arousing than anything he’d ever encountered before.

As he straightened, her warm mouth touched against his in a brief kiss. He stopped and waited as her hands moved slowly up his chest. As hard as he tried, he couldn’t control his breathing or his body’s demands. He hissed out a breath as she ran her tongue up his throat and placed a sweet kiss beneath his ear.

She’d almost undone him completely with that one touch he thought as he reined in his control and refused to rush through the moment. He’d seduced before and been seduced, but it had always been wholly sexual, this went deeper than that, this felt like more of a unification of souls. Two souls fusing into one gradually.

When her teeth gently closed over his ear lobe and pinched it, his body responded. Heat surged through his veins as he leaned in, seeking the feel of her body against his. He had to get her to the bedroom; he was not going to take her against the window. His reasoning faltered when she moved her mouth back to his and kissed him with a passion matching his. He grasped her hair with one hand and pulled her head back so he could take control of the kiss once more.

When her hips rocked into him, he clenched his jaw as a tremor of need pulsed through him. He reached down and gripped the dress to pull it up. She let him without a moment’s hesitation.

He lifted his mouth away from hers when she raised her arms and let the dress slide free from her. Looking at her in the moonlight, stretched out before him like an offering on an altar, he knew he’d never seen anything as beautiful. The sheer, black bra she wore barely covered her and did nothing to obstruct his eyes from seeing her dark, hardened nipples through it.

A narrow band of elastic rested on her waist and led down to the stockings he adored. She wore a sheer thong to match the bra, along with the black mask and it was the most stimulating vision Evan could remember seeing.

Somehow, through the haze in his mind, it dawned on him that he had her standing in the moonlight lit up in the window for anyone outside to see. Leaning down, he brushed his lips over her throat as he reached behind her and grasped her thighs. He pulled her up against him, and the feeling of flesh against flesh had him tearing his mouth from hers and panting out a breath.

Her legs locked around his waist, and the feel of that alone had him hesitating, not remembering why he was moving her in the first place. The contrasting sensations from the texture of the stockings and her warm, bare upper thighs against his skin had him clenching his jaw as he tried to focus on moving. He could have stood here with her wrapped around him for an eternity and not care if he moved again.

She nipped at his neck with her teeth. Moving his head, he looked at her, and the reality of both of them now standing in front of the uncovered window crashed through the lust tearing through him. He crushed his mouth to hers as he started to slowly move toward the bedroom door.

He made it as far as the wall beside the door before the teasing of her ass riding against the hardness of him almost drove him insane with need. Pressing her against the wall, he ravished her mouth. Her hands gripped his hair, and if he hadn’t been so turned on, the pain would have registered completely.

She moaned into his mouth, and all thought of slow was gone from his mind. Lifting her weight from the wall, he stumbled toward the bed and lowered both of them to the satin cover. Feeling her body under his ignited the lust flowing through his entire system. He rested his weight on one arm so he could touch her. He needed to touch her.

After running his mouth from hers down to her throat as his hand ran over her warm skin from her hip up to the thin strap of her bra, he leaned back to look at her. He pulled the strap down and then trailed his mouth roughly down to the soft flesh revealed to him. As his lips closed over the hard nipple, she gasped and arched back, grasping his hair again.

Reaching under her, he lifted her against him and growled against her breast at how good it felt. Lifting his head, he moved his hand up her back and pinched the clasp of her bra to remove it. She shifted to accommodate him and pulled her arms free from it before tossing it to the floor.

Lifting his weight from her, he went to his knees before sliding off the edge of the bed reluctantly. With shaking hands, he wrestled with the button on his own pants, wanting them off now. His eyes slowly traveled over her, and the vision she created lying there made him want to rush.

Dropping his pants to the floor, he stepped out of them and leaned over her. He pulled the strap from her shoe over her heel, slid the shoe from her foot, and quickly got rid of it. “These might be painful,” he whispered as he slipped the other one off. Leaving her lying there in nothing but her mask, thong, garter belt and stockings, he had to inhale deeply to focus.

Sliding his hands up her legs until he reached the strap for her thong, he leaned down and placed a soft kiss on her hip as he pulled the minute piece of material down her legs. He had intended to take off the stockings as well, but the lustful look she was giving him as her eyes moved caressingly over him had him not caring whether they were on or not.

Moving over her, he slid a hand under her and moved her up more on the bed. The picture she created, her pale skin against the dark material covering his bed would be forever imprinted in his mind.

Lowering over her slowly, he moved his mouth to hers.

~

Arianna felt like she was lost in some erotic dream, and she didn’t want to ever leave it. Each touch from him sent heat through her. She had never felt this wet and needy before, and in case she never did again, she reveled in the sensations he was creating.

The feel of his hot skin against hers, his hardness against her softness made her dizzy. She felt wicked lying beneath him with wearing only her stockings and a mask. He grasped behind her knee and pulled her leg up as he slowly entered her. She moaned as her body stretched to take in the hard length of him.

“You’re so wet, love,” he whispered with a strained voice against her ear.

A shudder of desire went through her from his words. Needing his mouth, she turned her head as he slowly moved back out of her again. The brief thought of not surviving the devastating effect he was having on her crossed her mind, but as his mouth crushed her in a rough kiss she didn’t care.

~

Evan fought to keep his movements slow and gentle, wanting to savor the feel of being inside her. She was so wet and tight around him that he wasn’t sure how much longer he could. Knowing this may be his only chance helped him to control the need to drive into her. With each moan from her he had to focus on his own control. His arms shook as he forced himself slowly into her again. Her hips lifted to accept him, and he wasn’t able to stop himself from pulling from her and plunging into her hard.

She groaned against his throat, and that sexy sound from her made a shudder go through him. It also made he decide he wanted her squirming with ecstasy beneath him before he gave into his own urges.

His movements were unhurried and gentle until each time their bodies were close to connecting then he pushed hard into her so their bodies would slap against each other. Each time she groaned and then panted as he withdrew, her hands grasped at him. He lowered his mouth to hers and kissed her with a heated frenzy while still deliberately moving slowly into her. She pulled at his hair and groaned into his mouth, and he felt his restraint fading away again.

Lifting his mouth from hers, he moved some of his weight from her and thrust hard into her. She cried out and closed her eyes. Clenching his jaw, he did it again, faster, and she gasped, trying to catch her breath. Three more strokes and she moaned and began whimpering, making the sexiest sounds he’d heard a woman make.

As he felt a heat wash over him just as her muscles clamped tight, he thrust as hard as he could without bringing himself to orgasm at the same time. He wasn’t nearly done with her this night. Slowing, he leaned down and kissed her as she panted and moaned against his mouth. He lowered his weight onto her and reached down to wrap an arm around her.

Rolling smoothly onto his back, he brought her with him and grinned when she had to grasp his shoulders for balance. He pulled one leg, then the other so she straddled his waist with him still buried deep in her.

Grasping her hips, he lifted her so she slid up his length before lowering her again. She moaned and tried to catch her breath. After using his own strength to life her a few more times, he felt her legs tighten as she began to ride him without his help. He pulled both of them higher in the bed so he could lean against the pillows to watch her.

Balancing herself on his chest, she dropped her head back and moved up and down on him. She was the loveliest woman he’d ever seen in that moment, carefree and completely at ease with what they were doing.

She paused and ground herself against him, and a shudder went through him. It felt so good that he didn’t want it to ever end.

Running his hands up to her breasts, he cupped them and lifted his head to taste. Nipping one hard bud between his teeth, she cried out and dropped her weight harder onto him. His whole body tensed as the pleasure buckled through him.

Leaning his head down, he gripped her hips and helped her increase the speed so their bodies collided hard and fast.