Page 22 of Claimed

“I see what you mean,” Stefan said as she squeezed him, but Nicki wasn’t paying any attention to him anymore. She moved with surprising speed to take him deeply into her mouth, the burst of sensation so immediate and shocking that he sucked in a breath in a startled gasp—then she slid away from him.

“Like that?”

“I—” before he could complete the thought, she leaned forward again. Stefan’s sight dimmed as she sucked hard, her light grasp on his balls growing more insistent. This time when she broke free, she was more intent.

“You really need to lose the pants,” she muttered, shimmying out from underneath him.

“I thought I was the one giving directives.” Nevertheless, he let her push him to the side onto the wide mattress, and he rolled over onto his back as she yanked what remained of his clothes free of his legs.

“Trust me, this is for the good of the mission. You’ll thank me later.” She positioned herself between his legs and leaned down once more.

“I think I’ll be thanking you right now,” he said, his words ending on a moan as she nuzzled his stiff shaft.

“Mm,” Nicki responded, the vibration of the word making him shudder in response. “I think I’m going to be taking over from here, if you don’t mind?”

Stefan groaned. “I want you to do whatever you want,” he said, and she glanced up at him, her eyes alight at the guttural rasp of his voice.

“Really?” she asked.

“Really.”

“Then I want to do this.” Nicki drew her face along the side of his engorged shaft as she watched him. “I want to take you in my mouth ‘til you explode.”

Stefan couldn’t stop his eyes from flaring wide, but Nicki was staring at him, that curious mix of confidence and uncertainty there, hovering right below the surface. “Nicki,” he warned as she dipped down between his legs again, her gaze tracking his the whole time. The sight of her burnished red hair spilling over her shoulders and onto his skin was driving him to distraction, and she hadn’t put her mouth over him again. “That’s not all that’s happening here today.”

She winked at him. “That’s up to you, soldier,” she said, and she sank over him again, her mouth moving slickly down his shaft.

Stefan fell back against the pillows. This absolutely wasn’t how he envisioned the evening to start—or to finish. But all hisplans were scrambled as Nicki tightened her hold on him as she pulled away again, her tongue flicking over his head once, twice, driving him almost mad with need before she took him deep into her mouth once more. The pressure inside him built and crested, and though he could resist the urge to finish, he definitely didn’t want to resist.

He wasn’t thinking especially clearly, but then Nicki watched him from between his legs, her mouth freeing him once more as she tilted her head up, her gaze pinned on his face, clearly trying to read every nuance of his expression. This mattered to her, somehow, being able to give him pleasure before she took any for herself. And while Stefan was used to running everything, from ops to diplomatic envoys to special intel missions for both gods and mortals, he got the unerring sense that this wasn’t something he should run. This was something he should let go, something he wanted to let go, something his body very much was urging him to let go.

“Nicki,” he growled as she dropped over him again, and the tight wet hold of her lips sank slickly down his length, then pulled up again, her fingers fanning out to flutter against the base of his ball sac. His eyes practically rolled back in his head. “Nicki, you should be very sure of what you want to have happen here.”

She pulled free to speak against it, the words creating a new and opposite vibration as her breath hushed over him. “I’m sure,” she murmured, circling the head of his shaft with her tongue. “I’m very sure.”

She pushed down again, once, twice, and he surged up to meet her stroke for stroke, until the tide of need rose too high for him to call it back. Gasping out a warning, he grabbed the sheets into tight fistfuls as his back arched and his body surrendered to a release sharp and full enough to make him want to collapse. Nicki clamped her hands on either side of his hips, bracingherself, bracing him, as he gritted out her name in wonder and a little shock, the power of his release more than he ever expected, more than he’d experienced in longer than he could remember.

At length she pulled away and rolled off him, but when she would have left the bed, he snaked out an arm, yanking her back until she sprawled in the soft sheets.

“You stay right here,” he said, with enough command in his voice that she blinked, startled. “It’s time I took back control of this operation.”

Fifteen

Nicki rolled to the side as Stefan left the bed. She pulled up the sheets to half cover her body, suddenly chilled with the absence of him. She watched him pad across the room to the bar, where a second bottle of wine sat in a large silver urn. He’d apparently planned on them being together long into the night, she realized with sudden clarity. The man wasn’t anything if not confident.

Yet, he’d let her make the first move. Let her lead though his natural instinct had surely been to take control, to draw the lines firmly between pursuer and pursued and keep those lines intact between them. He’d brought her here, after all, clearly intending for her to stay. In his long life, he’d probably had hundreds of women more than willing to play whatever role he wanted—herself included, at least when it came to following his lead as a member of his team.

But she’d pushed to assert herself, to take charge, and he’d let her. Seamlessly and without question, without any apparent blow to his masculinity. She’d been half afraid that the skies would open up and god-like bolts of lightning would smite her when he’d climaxed—but then again, Stefan was a demigod ofHermes, not Zeus or Poseidon. She probably should be glad he hadn’t started spontaneously levitating or speaking in tongues.

She bit her lip to tame her grin as Stefan returned to the bed with two full glasses of wine on a tray, setting the latter down on the stand beside the bed before turning to her, his face so full of appreciation and open admiration for her that she wondered for a second if she’d somehow slipped into a dream world.

This guy wasn’t just a demigod, he was a freaking unicorn.

“Here,” the unicorn rumbled. Stefan lifted a glass to her, then picked up his own. “To your first command operation,” he said. “May it not be your last.” He touched his glass to hers, and the chime of the fine crystal echoed through the room. Nicki took a healthy gulp, feeling her nerves zing with anticipation.

Far from being ready for a break in the action, Stefan appeared…more than ready to continue.

She glanced hurriedly at his face after that distraction, a blush staining her cheeks, only to find him watching her, a decidedly smug grin tugging at the corner of his mouth. “You didn’t think you could topple me that easily, I hope?” he asked.