Spectra: A Paranormal Romance Novel Read online

  He licked, sucked, and stroked gently, teasing me till I was twisting across the bed, trying to escape. Mercury put one restraining hand on my hip, holding me in place as he lifted above me, the other finger still teasing inside me.

  “Your turn, Spec.”

  I bit my lip, trying to focus. I caressed my hands up his front to the collar of his shirt. “Are you sure?”

  Mercury raised one brow and gave me that smile. I gripped the shirt and pulled as hard as I could. A few buttons popped off, but I wasn't as strong as him. I pushed over, throwing him on his back, forcing him to relinquish his hold on me. I straddled him and felt his hardness through his slacks. I positioned myself over that hardness and started rubbing back and forth. I moaned at the feel of that rough material against my delicate flesh. Mercury groaned, gripping my hips with strong fingers.

  I grabbed his shirt and gave a really good pull this time, the rest of the buttons popping free. I dropped my mouth to his stomach and licked a line to his nipple, swirled my tongue around the nib, and then bit it. Mercury hissed and fisted my hair, pulling my laughing mouth to his. I continued to rub over him, bringing myself closer to the edge. Mercury moaned and threw me off him.

  “Fuck! I can't wait.”

  He stood up, dropping his slacks before stepping to the bookshelf and opening the wooden box to retrieve a condom, which he threw at me. I was ready and waiting when he turned to face me. I took his huge cock in my hand and stroked it lovingly before licking over the tip. I started to slip my mouth over him, but he gripped my hair and pulled my face away.

  “What about can't wait didn't you understand, woman?”

  He snatched the condom from my hand, frustrated, and put it on himself. I smiled wickedly as I crawled back on the bed away from him. “I'm starting,” I informed him as he went to grab me.

  With a sigh, he fell onto the bed and waited as I straddled him. Positioning myself, I slid back and forth along his shaft, bringing myself back to that point again. Mercury gripped my hips, teeth gritted as I slid his thick shaft between my labia. I bent and took his nipple in my mouth again, licking and flicking it, hearing his breathing pick up as I held out on him.

  “Spec!” He warned.

  I smiled and lifted my mouth to his. I kissed him heatedly then leaned to the side and retrieved the vodka from the floor. I sat up and took a large mouthful, closing my eyes and enjoying that rush of heat as the alcohol flooded my system. I put the bottle back on the floor, lifted myself, and slid down over his already throbbing cock.

  Mercury threw his head back, and I mimicked him as he slid home inside me. He was too big for me like this, it normally would take rough sex off the table, no pun intended. We usually had to be sleeping together regularly for a few days before he could go hard on me, because our first couple of days together he was too turned on and too large for my body to handle. But tonight, I was wet and loose, if you forgive the wording, but that's what alcohol does. Inhibitions be damned.

  Mercury grabbed my hips and thrust up to meet my next down stroke. I cried out, dragging my nails down his chest. Mercury moaned deep and moved my hips up before forcing me down hard again. I placed a restraining hand on his chest, knocking his hands away, and started moving at my pace, short, shallow strokes followed by one hard deep one. Within a very short time, Mercury was ready for more.

  Sitting up, he pushed me off him, twisting in behind me and pulling my hips back as he thrust into me quickly. He let go on me, thrusting hard, fast, and deep. I felt the burn of friction inside me, his cock too big, and with the condom, that natural silk slide of skin on skin was lost. I gritted my teeth and moaned through the burn, Mercury pounding into me till I felt him bruising my cervix.

  I heard a noise, and Mercury moaned, picking up speed for a moment before he pushed me away, frustrated.

  “Fuck!” He stepped off the bed, pulling the broken condom off and throwing it on the floor before he retrieved another. I blinked, annoyed that he'd stopped his onslaught but sort of glad for the reprieve as I fell to the bed and rolled onto my back. When Mercury returned, he smiled down at me, “That'll work.”

  He lifted one knee to his shoulder and slid home again. I hooked my other leg around his waist as he thrust back into me. He kissed me hard, and I sighed into his mouth as the change in position instantly returned the stimulation to my clitoris. Mercury's mouth drifted down, arching his body as his hand cupped my breast and lifted it so he could assail my nipple while he stroked inside of me. I threw my head back, nails digging into his shoulders as he took me to the edge. His face came back to mine, his body pausing as I grew too tight around him.

  He kissed me heatedly, my body squirming under him, pulling him into me until I could feel the head of his cock rubbing against my cervix, and that deeper orgasm started to build. Mercury pulled back with a smile, his eyes bright. “Oh, we're there tonight, are we?”

  He circled his hips, building that deeper orgasm faster, the smile on his face massive. It was harder for me to have these ones so if he felt my body trying for it, he'd coax it all the way. I arched my back, hands gripping the headboard as my body clamped down around him. I bit my lip, Mercury keeping those perfect circles going until my body spasmed and I cried out my pleasure. It flooded through my whole body, and when it was over, I dropped limp to the mattress, breathing ragged, a huge smile on my face.

  Mercury withdrew, and I frowned. “Wait,” he instructed as I went to object.

  He rolled me onto my side and lay down behind me, sliding straight back in. I gasped and let my head fall back on his shoulder. He propped his head up on the one hand, looking down at me, his other hand guiding my hips back and forth on him. As I started to add to the rhythm, his hand smoothed over my skin and pinched my nipple.

  The pressure started to build again, this time on the front wall. Mercury closed his eyes and took a deep breath. His hand slid down, my body now keeping the rhythm for him as his fingers found my clit and he drew circles over the sensitive bud. I gasped and bit my lip, Mercury groaned, and I knew he was moments away from finishing this, but he wanted me to come again first. He was going for the trifecta tonight.

  He swelled inside of me, and I struggled to move, putting all my strength into thrusting back. Mercury breathed out harsh and pinched my clit between his fingers. That did it, a wave of pleasure crashed through my body with little warning. Mercury put his hand back to my hip and thrust deep, finding his own release. He dropped his head to the bed, body still spasming with his release behind me. He bit my shoulder, and I moaned again and started to squirm.

  Mercury grabbed my hip to stop me. “I'm pretty sure I just filled that condom to bursting. You start that shit, and you'll break it.” I groaned unhappily, and Mercury carefully removed himself from me. “Don't bitch at me. You're the one who insists. You know I can't give you anything...”

  “You can get me pregnant.” I sighed, not really caring in this moment.

  “Except that, of course.” He kissed my shoulder, dropping his voice. “Would that be so bad?”

  I shook my head. “I'm not getting pregnant out of wedlock.”

  “So marry me,” he murmured, his hand caressing my body tenderly. “I'll buy us a place, we can marry, move in together, fuck like bunnies and breed.”

  “I'm drunk. Stop talking shit to me.” I sighed and snuggled down to sleep.

  Mercury chuckled, kissed my shoulder again, and climbed off the bed. He collected the broken condom from the floor and left the room, going next door to the bathroom. I gathered enough energy to climb beneath the blankets and stayed conscious long enough to feel Mercury climb back in behind me and cuddle me to him.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  Bay

  Spectra's vigil wasn't what I expected. Her emotional despair rang out like a beacon throughout the church, making it easy to locate her. I spotted the predator immediately upon entry, though it was too young to recognize me or my presence, but I knew Spectra could
feel me. I stood back observing her for several minutes, then moved upstairs to the balcony, which housed the organ and choir stands. From here, I took a seat so that I could watch Spectra without interfering with her vigil.

  A nun covered Spectra with a blanket as the wind outside turned vicious and the ice it carried penetrated the church walls. Her prayers were interspersed with crying, but she prayed non-stop for hours on end. The young predator sat back on her pew after the nun left and pulled out some dirty papers. Her muffled laughs, while quiet, still reached my ears, along with sounds of disapproval and sighs of sadness, interchanging as she read. After another two hours, the predator folded the papers and slid them away.

  Alexander Williams walked in before two. I expected him to go straight to Spectra, but he stopped by the hooded predator first and squeezed her shoulder. The predator stood and put her mouth to William's ear.

  “What's happening that you would call me?” she whispered.

  “I'm worried about her safety right now.”

  “You put her aside, you broke her heart so no one would use her to get to you,” the predator whispered harshly.

  “This danger found her all on its own. It's nothing to do with me.”

  “Fix it!” she hissed. “She was entrusted to your care. So take care of it.”

  The predator turned and left the church without a sound. Alexander ran a frustrated hand through his hair, ruining the perfection of its style, then went to join Spectra. I waited till they were both intent in prayer to make a quiet exit. The way they held hands while they prayed seemed intimate and not something anyone else should be watching.

  Friday night, I walked down the stairs into Ténèbres and made my way to the bar. Tonight I didn't get the curious stares or the looks of contempt of having an outsider in their world. The black jeans and black band shirt I'd borrowed off Calin, along with the way Selena styled my hair, seemed to make me one of their own. Luke, his ever-encouraging self, took a photo, promising to get it blown up to replace the painting above the mantle in my study. It made me miss the days before digital photography when my kind couldn't be photographed.

  Tommy was behind the bar as usual and when I first sat down, Tommy glared in my direction. After a moment, Tommy blinked and almost choked on a laugh. He poured me a scotch without me asking and moved to my end of the bar to put it in front of me. “You slide into Goth just like Spectra.” I looked at him questioningly, and he smiled. “You just put black clothes on and you're there. Effortless.”

  “Is she here?” I asked a little louder than I normally liked to talk to get over the melancholy music playing.

  Tommy pointed to the dark corner where Spectra first touched me. “In her office doing business.” I looked to the corner and saw Spectra talking to a woman. The woman wore a suit, cheap but well-maintained. I decided to wait till her meeting was over to approach her.

  Tommy turned and looked at two new arrivals. “Bourbon and Coke, thanks,” the taller of the two asked confidently. I smirked into my drink.

  “IDs?” Tommy raised a brow.

  The two guys looked at each other, their shoulders deflated. “Coke?”

  Tommy put two glasses of water on the bar. The kids groaned but handed over their money.

  “You should get your bouncer to check IDs,” I suggested.

  Tommy shrugged. “I don't mind them coming in. Better than getting drunk on the streets, but they won't get served anything but water. Most of them know it.”

  I shook my head. “With the porn that goes on in here, I still think you should be carding at the door. Some poor guy could end up banging his brains out on jailbait.”

  “Don't you worry your pretty face about it. I've stopped plenty of that before it happens, or do you think this place is designed so that all the dark corners put them in my line of sight by accident?”

  “I'm surprised you let Spectra into the bar. You must have suspected she was underage. I know I did when I first saw her.”

  Tommy smirked. “It's not the ID's that tell me someone's age, Ryder. Sorcerers’ abilities came from the Angels losing themselves in human flesh, remember?”

  Blue hair came into my peripheral vision, and I turned to find Mercury's friend from Monday night. “Hi,” she smiled, keeping her body pointed towards mine, breasts pushed up and out to gain attention, turning her head to Tommy. “Sambuca please, Tommy.” She turned those bloodshot brown eyes back to me and smiled. “I haven't seen you here before. I'm Cassie.”

  I studied her eyes and realized she was a lot healthier tonight than she was on Monday approaching Mercury. “I'm dangerous. You should find someone else.” I turned back to Tommy, who was watching Spectra. I followed his eyes and saw Spectra standing between the woman in the cheap suit and a very tall, angry-looking blond guy who obviously wasn't a patron.

  “I like dangerous.” Blue hair simpered and moved her body to press against mine.

  The man grabbed Spectra by the throat. Instead of becoming fearful, Spectra relaxed and stepped out of his grasp. Literally. She became insubstantial, only barely, a human wouldn't pick it up, and side-stepped before breathing in again. The guy’s face showed his confusion as she stepped into him, lifted her knee hard and fast, and the guy bent over with a howl. Not waiting, Spectra grabbed the guy by his belt loop and shirt collar and pushed him head first into the stone wall.

  Tommy relaxed as the big guy crumpled. He waved over one of the bouncers and pointed towards Spectra. The body pressing against me nudged me again, and I turned angry eyes to the girl there.

  “I said I like dangerous.”

  “Not my kind, you won't.”

  “Cassandra!” Tommy scolded. She turned annoyed eyes to the watcher. “Leave that one alone.”

  The girl pouted, threw back her shot of Sambuca, and walked off to find other prey. I looked back at Spectra, who was consoling the woman in the cheap suit while the bouncer dragged the nearly unconscious guy out of the bar.

  “That happen often?” I asked Tommy.

  Tommy shook his head. “Not often. It's been a year since the last time. That was a predator demanding Spectra take him on as a client.”

  “And she handled him?”

  Tommy's eyes smiled. “Not the way she handled you. How long has it been since a woman grabbed your balls before Spectra?”

  I shrugged. “A week. The difference is that was an attempt at seduction. Spectra did it to piss me off.” I stood up as Spectra's client handed her an envelope and left. “I'll go say hello.”

  Tommy gave me a knowing look. “You do that.”

  Spectra leaned against the wall with a sigh, closing her eyes for a moment before opening them and looking around her with caution. She spotted me approaching straightaway. She looked me over, face full of surprise, before she swallowed and let annoyance mask her features.

  “What are you doing here?” she scowled. “Is it Halloween already?”

  I put my hand on the wall beside her head and leaned down to her ear. “Unfinished business.” I touched her cheek with my other hand and watched her eyelids flutter as I ran that hand down her neck and across the exposed area of her chest.

  “Our business is complete, Bay.”

  “One night, Spectra.” I placed a soft kiss where her jaw ended and felt the shudder go through her body.

  “I remember saying no, Bay, several times.” She stood straight and put a hand on my chest to push me away. I stayed put and looked deep into her pale blue eyes, so full of confidence moments ago, now filled with confusion, fear, and what I now knew was her curiosity.

  “Say it again.” I dared moving my mouth to hers. I paused for a heartbeat to give her time to say no, and when it didn't happen, I kissed her.

  My body came alive at the feel of her mouth on mine, and when she opened her lips, I took the invitation and slipped my tongue into her hot mouth. I stepped closer to her, pressing my body into hers and the wall behind. I didn't push for anythi
ng more, just kissed her till her fingers entwined in my shirt and she pulled her mouth away, gasping.

  “I can't.” She breathed against my chest. “You're a predator. This would be stupid.”

  I touched her face, bringing it up to mine again. “Does it feel wrong?”

  She stared into my eyes. She didn't need to answer; the truth was swimming in the heat of her gaze. I kissed her again, wrapping my arm around her waist to hold her tight to me this time so her squirming body rubbed against my aching erection. She sighed into my mouth, her hands stretching open on my chest before they slid up, snaking around my shoulders and neck. One weaved its way into the back of my hair, the other hooked her elbow over my shoulder and pulled her up tight against me as her leg lifted and wrapped around my calf.

  I let my hand drop to her lifted thigh and ran my hand up her skirt-covered leg till I grasped her hip. I slid my hand under the hem of her top to her lower back and caressed her bare skin. Electricity ran through my fingers, and she pressed into me, her breathing speeding up as the kissing became more passionate and wanton. She gasped as if struggling to breathe and I sobered with worry. She hissed in pain and released me, pushing me away all of a sudden, shock in her eyes.

  “You're not shielding! Are you insane? You could kill a girl with that power.”

  I blinked and realized she was right. The touch of her bare skin made me forget my control for a millisecond, and I'd let my shield drop. Her look softened, and she stepped forward, hands wringing in front of her as if she was struggling to keep them away from me.

  “If you can't control your shielding, Bay, I can't be with you, no human can.” She walked away, disappearing into the crowd.

  I closed my eyes, trying to calm my body while I cursed internally. Spectra was right, I needed to be able to control my shielding, or I could kill her in the heat of the moment. Once my body settled, I took a deep breath and returned to the bar and took my seat again. Tommy placed a scotch on the bar in front of me.