Braving Fate (The Mythean Arcana 1)

“The bed is yours,” he said. “I’m going to shower.”

As much as he ached to feel her soft form against him again, he wouldn’t rest until she was safely at his home.

“What about sleeping?”

“Damn it, Diana.” Just her presence was stringing him tighter than a wire. “Doona worry about me. Until you’re safe, I won’t be sleeping.”

She huffed, then stalked toward the bed. He didn’t look at her as he walked into the bathroom.

He flipped the water on. Lying in the same bed or not, he didn’t know how the hell he was supposed to keep his hands off her. He prayed she wasn’t one of those active sleepers. The sound of sheets on her soft skin....

Cadan stepped under the spray, intending to turn it down to cold. It wouldn’t work. A shower in the Arctic wouldn’t get rid of his raging hard-on. He sighed, and tilting his face up into the spray, letting the water pound down over him.

The soap was slick in his hands as he lathered up and attempted to remain detached as he ran his hands over his body, washing away the sweat of the day. The sweat caused by rubbing against Diana.

Unbidden, images began to flash across his mind. Diana, sprawled naked in a bed, her honey-red hair tousled and her white flesh gleaming. He tried to resist, but eventually gave in to the fantasy, and his hand drifted to his cock as he imagined her turning her head and looking at him expectantly.

Please, she said. I need you. Fuck me, Cadan. Her lips parted as she breathed heavily, slipping a small hand down her stomach to the glistening pink between her thighs.

He knew what she wanted, what she was desperate for. He could almost feel her need on the air. The scent of it made his mouth water. She bit her lip and looked at him with eyes full of need, desire, and...love.

He tore his mind from that thought and turned it toward the baser elements of the fantasy.

Dream Diana said, Please, Cadan, I need to feel you inside me.

He fisted his cock, the flesh warm and hard beneath his hand, and wished it were Diana stroking him. Diana on her knees before him, his cock disappearing between her plump lips.

Dream Diana licked her lips and undulated her hips as she languorously stroked her pussy. He strode over to her and she looked up at him expectantly, her eyes full of need.

In the fantasy, he dropped to his knees on the floor beside her, his only thought that he wanted to taste her. The idea of her sweetness on his tongue made him bite back a groan. She cried out in thwarted desire, but he reached over and yanked her toward the edge of the bed.

Spreading her thighs, he draped them over his shoulders. His hands gripped the supple flesh of her ass, and she cried out as he lifted her to his mouth. He thrust his tongue between the glistening folds. Her sweetness drenched him. Delicious. He began to lave her clitoris.

Diana cried out and sank her hands into his hair. A groan tore from his throat as she squeezed, pressing his face tighter to her and clenching her thighs around his head. The taste of her was exquisite, and when she began to writhe against his mouth, he gently eased a finger inside her. Her wet heat gripped him, muscles clenching down as her orgasm began to wash over her.

Cadan savored the feeling of her legs quivering on his shoulders, her hands fisted in his hair as she pressed herself to him. He thrust another finger inside, curling them up to stroke the sensitive spot that would ensure she soaked his tongue with her release, and he felt her muscles contract harder. She screamed, a sound of passion that made him grip his shaft hard.

As his dream Diana drenched his tongue with her orgasm, he felt the pressure in his balls and shaft increase unbearably. He couldn’t suppress a groan, and stroked his cock faster.

His knees weakened and he had to prop an arm on the wall next to the tub. He bit his lip as the orgasm crashed over him, stifling a shout. The pleasure made him blind, the image of Diana arching her body while his tongue was inside her the only thing he could see in his mind.

He shuddered as the sensation and the image drifted away, leaving him out of breath.

Lonely.

Breathing heavily, he turned into the spray and rinsed himself clean. Damn it. He punched the wall in frustration, then cursed at the pain. That was the best orgasm he’d had in centuries, and he’d only been dreaming about her.

Gods damn it. He didn’t have the will to last an entire night in the same room with her.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Diana would never fall asleep as long as Cadan was naked only a few yards away. She couldn’t get that kiss out of her mind. It had been amazing, mind-blowing, out of this world. All the way up to the point where he’d pulled a one-eighty and stormed out. He’d mentioned the importance of rules to Mytheans, and it made sense that following a strict code was the only way to ensure their survival. And technically, he was on the job. And that job was to protect her from demons. She really didn’t want him to fail at that. But still, it sucked.

The sound of a low groan carried through the door and she twitched. Had he slipped? She started to get out of bed to see if he needed help, but paused when another groan sounded. This one did not sound like an exclamation of pain. Heat crept into her cheeks.

She slipped back under the covers as silently as she could and closed her eyes. It would be best to look like she was asleep when he came out. She couldn’t hear any more noises, but the silence only egged on her imagination.

Was he really masturbating in the shower? She remembered the hard bulge of his erection pressing against her. Yep, he was definitely relieving some pressure. The idea of him naked under the spray of water made her clench the sheets in her hands. What did he look like? Was he tan or pale? Which hand was he using? Both? Did he stroke quickly or slowly? Roughly or gently?