Fall leaves in a riot of color danced overhead in the crisp October air. Their breath made small white puffs as they walked, hand in hand, through the arboretum. It was all but deserted this time of year. Swirling eddies of autumn leaves played around their legs and crunched under their feet as they walked through the leaves that littered the ground like a carpet of fire. Their two dark heads were bent together in intimate conversation.
"And I said, NO, you can't." She teased, pulling away and darting behind a tree.
He waited for her face to reappear and quirked an eyebrow at her playfully, the barest hint of a smile curling the corners of his sensual lips. "Yes, I can," he growled with the confidence of a man who knew he could do exactly as he claimed.
His smugness rankled. He did not have more control over her body than she did. "You cannot make me blush, sugar." She countered hotly, still smirking at him from behind the tree.
His resulting smile was positively sinful. She should have known better than to challenge him like that. She saw the wicked gleam in his eyes and realized her error a second too late. His hand shot out and his fingers wrapped around her slender wrist. With a startled yelp and a burst of strength from God knows where, she managed to wrench her wrist free and she fled deeper into the woods. Her silvery laughter floated back over her shoulder to taunt him as she darted between the trees. Hot on her heels and grinning like a madman, he felt the predatory thrill even this simple chase ignited in him.
For a man who smokes cigars like it's going out of style, he sure doesn't have any problems with endurance. She laughed at the double entendre in her thoughts. You gotta love what a healing factor can do. Yes, sir.
That's it darlin', run. You know I only letcha go so I could chase ya.
He caught her easily and backed her against the trunk of the nearest tree with his body. Breathless from the impromptu run their chests heaved, drawing in great gulps of the frigid evening air. The rough bark of the tree bit into her back, but the dull pain was secondary to the heady rush of pleasure washing through her. She shivered in anticipation, waiting what seemed an eternity for that first elusive touch.
He liked to play, to draw it out until the tension crackled between them like a living entity. To see if he could strip away every shred of her hard won control and make her whimper. A game he won more often than not, but one in which she took a decidedly sinful pleasure in losing.
The fact that she could turn on her 'gift' for a brief moment, and ultimately win at any time, made the game all the more attractive to him. She hadn't ever done it before, but just the fact that she could made it that much sweeter. His girl liked to tease. He knew one of these days she was gonna let him have it, and the anticipation of that moment had him salivating like Pavlov's goddamn dog.
It wasn't a worthwhile challenge unless he could pit himself against someone that had a real chance of winning. Like her. And make no mistake; his girl could drop him like a fucking stone if she wanted to. She wouldn't ever really hurt him, but she would hold out just long enough to let him know he didn't get to be the boss all the time.
And he knew, he KNEW when it happened she'd just walk away and leave him lying here in a heap, wanting her but impotent to do a damn thing about it except wait for his healing factor to compensate. His devious mind was already thinking of ways to retaliate.
It was just that dynamic that made these little cat and mouse games so irresistible. Sometimes it was over quickly, like today, and sometimes he stalked her for days, never knowing if her skin was 'on' or 'off', never knowing if and when he finally touched her what would happen. It was a dangerous and addictive kind of foreplay, especially when he drew out stalking her until each of them held on to their monumental control by a thin frayed thread. When the sexual tension that had been slowly building for days finally erupted and burned them both to ashes.
He liked the danger, thrived on it. Skating the edge inflamed him, made the rush so intense it bordered on pain. The thrill it gave him was every bit as enticing as her tight body and intoxicating scent, and it was one that no other woman could ever hope to match. Every time he touched her he knew there was always the possibility her control might slip, and anyone who'd ever played with fire knew it wasn't any fun if you couldn't be burned.
His eyes flickered over her. She was fire personified. Ready to scorch his flesh and capable of consuming his very soul. She smoldered for him even now, frantically waiting for his touch to ignite the tension between them. He knew she wouldn't ask… not with words anyway. Not this time. He could feel her heart beating erratically in her chest and her exposed flesh glowed with a moist sheen. The heady scent of her arousal excited him, stirring his blood until he could think of nothing but burying himself inside her lithe body. Her hands fluttered against the small of his back, urging him soundlessly to end her waiting.
Her eyes dropped to the sensual mouth hovering a heartbeat above hers. His breath was hot against her cheek and she licked her lips with the unconscious desire to taste him. He saw the wanton little gesture and growled softly, focusing all his attention on her lush, wet mouth. Thoughts of her sweet little mouth and what it could do to him filled his mind and unconsciously he growled again. In an instant, her nipples peaked and she experienced a hot, wet rush of arousal as her body responded to the base sound.
She wanted him. He could smell it on her. Desire pooled hot and heavy between his legs. He could see her pulse pounding at the base of her throat, keeping time with the throbbing in the hard ridge of flesh caught between them. As much as he would have liked to finish this right here, right now, and his aching body was telling him to do just that, there was still the little matter of the challenge she had flung at him.
She was going to pay for that.
He smiled a wolfish smile at her. "And I said, YES, I can, darlin'." He waited that extra heartbeat, waited for that little whimper of surrender she just couldn't keep from making, before he leaned into her and took her mouth with a kiss that was more feral possession than anything else. It didn't matter how many times he heard it, that breathy little whimper got to him every fucking time.
He pushed his tongue into her hungry mouth, greedy for the taste of her, wanting her focus solely on him. Demanding it. He tangled his hand in her silky hair and the pad of his thumb stroked that shivery bit of skin just behind her ear while he deepened the kiss, swallowing each little whimper with arrogant satisfaction. He loved that he could reduce her to that. No thoughts, no words, just a primal mindless response. A needy little sound that spoke directly to the animal inside him.
He slid his hands under her sweater and her breath hissed through her teeth at the sensations his cold hands created on her warm skin. He kneaded her flesh roughly, still unwilling to give her a moment's respite to center herself. He wanted her lost. Hell, he wanted her screaming and he'd damn well have it from her before he was finished.
He pinched her hard enough to make her cry out and he soothed the aching nub with the rough pad of his thumb while he devoured her neck, drinking in the taste, the scent of her. He wrapped her hair around his fist and pulled until her neck arched under his mouth, bared to him in the ultimate gesture of animalistic submission. For a brief instant his control slipped and he ground himself against her with a snarl of unfettered lust.
She closed her eyes, lost in the pleasure of his touch. Her blood roared wildly in her ears, drowning out everything but him.
He lifted his head and listened intently for a moment. With her eyes closed, she missed his wicked smile before his mouth found her neck once more, biting her sharply, driving everything from her mind but his presence. His scent. His touch. His need.
He lifted her legs from the ground and pinned her against the tree with the solid weight of his body. Slowly, deliberately, he dragged her across the hard ridge at the front of his jeans and rocked his hips against her. He knew what she liked. He slid his hand into the back of her pants and pulled her closer, giving her the friction, the pressure he knew she craved. He growled deep and low in his chest as she shamelessly rubbed herself against him. She was so responsive he knew it wouldn't be long.
It wasn't.
A stinging bite followed by a violent thrust of his hips flung her ruthlessly over the edge. Her legs clenched around him and her fingers tightened painfully in his hair. She shuddered against him and hoarsely shouted his name loud enough for it to echo in the clear autumn air. Unable to stop himself, he thrust helplessly against her a few more times before he finally regained a small measure of his tattered control and lowered her legs none too gently back to the ground.
"You didn't...?"
"Later," he smiled smugly at her. Casually, with a practiced hand he adjusted himself, trying in vain to find a more comfortable position. If he was right, the discomfort he was experiencing was definitely going to be worth it, but only if they left right now.
"I didn't blush, sugar," she crowed proudly as he took her hand and led her back in the direction of the truck.
Wait for it, darlin'.
He swallowed his laughter and said nothing, just squeezed her hand and quirked that eyebrow at her again. They emerged from the woods and stepped back onto the path leading to the parking lot.
An elderly couple holding hands walked towards them on their way into the arboretum. With a mischievous twinkle in his eye, the elderly man smiled pleasantly at them and nodded. "You must be Logan," he said with a chuckle as they passed by and disappeared behind them.
Pay dirt.
It took a minute for that comment to register in her passion fogged brain. He waited for it, watching her eyes. They widened and he grinned with supreme satisfaction as a rosy blush stained her cheeks and crept down her neck to disappear into her sweater. He brushed a kiss against her flushed cheek and hugged her to him, before whispering smugly into her ear.
"Told ya I could."