Great Hexpectations, A Paranormal Romance / Urban Fantasy Read online

  “You are stunning,” I whispered.

  He shook his head. “I’m nothing compared to you.”

  I could argue that point but wasn’t going to waste my time. Instead, I wanted to see what was under his pants. “Take it all off.”

  He offered me a cock-eyed expression and a smirk but shrugged and undid his pants, pulling both his boxers and leathers down his sculpted thighs. But it wasn’t his thighs that captivated me. Nope, that honor was reserved for his penis, which was, in a word…beautiful. It was long and thick, longer and thicker than any I’d ever seen before and there was a part of me that cringed in trepidation at the mere thought of playing host to such a…Titan.

  “Wow,” I said in disbelief, never pulling my eyes from him.

  He chuckled. “Another Loki trait.”

  He laid back down next to me and pinned one of my legs between his as he started running his hands down my body again.

  “Where were we?” he asked as he bent down to kiss me and his fingers found the junction of my thighs. “Ah, I was going to taste you,” he answered his own question.

  I didn’t even get the chance to consider his statement before his head was between my thighs and his tongue was lapping at me with long, forceful strokes. I strained against him, lost in the bliss of his mouth and felt an orgasm seize me from the very core of my body. I shook against him and he grasped my thighs, steadying me. But he didn’t break the seal of his tongue; if anything he was more forceful, more demanding.

  “Knight, I need you now,” I groaned.

  He pulled his head up and smiled at me. “How bad?”

  “Bad.”

  He cleared his throat and faced me again with a wicked smile as I watched him shift himself until he was directly above me, supported by his hands. I leaned back against the blanket, preparing myself for his entry. He lowered himself down and that was when I felt the head of him pushing against me, just enough to allow an explosion of butterflies in my stomach. He pushed forward and I felt myself stretching to accommodate him.

  “Are you alright?” he whispered.

  I just nodded as I continued to thrive on the sensations of him as he entered me—something between incredible pleasure with just a trace of pain. It had been a long ass time since I’d had sex and my body was making that clearly evident.

  He still wasn’t all the way inside me and was going so slowly, it seemed like it might take him all day to finally arrive. “Just do it,” I said, bracing myself.

  And so he did. He pushed and filled me. As soon as the entirety of him was ensconced inside me, I felt the beginnings of an orgasm rain down within me. I gripped his shoulders and moaned out as the orgasm overtook me, all the while amazed by the fact that I’d just had one so quickly. Usually, it took at least fifteen minutes…Usually, just at the time I was about to climax, Jack had already finished and was on his way to dreamland.

  But the last person I wanted to think about now was Jack. Not while I was with the most beautiful, arresting and sexy man I’d ever met. No, I didn’t want to spare another thought for my ex-boyfriend. It almost seemed sacrilegious.

  “Did you,” Knight started as he glanced down at me with a smile.

  “Um, yes,” I said somewhat sheepishly.

  He chuckled. “That was fast.” He continued to push inside me, his eyes never straying from mine and that smile still firmly in place. “Are you ready for another one?”

  I swallowed hard. No point in lying. “Yes.”

  As I watched him, the intense blue of his eyes began to give way to a subtle glow, a white light that seemed to eclipse the entirety of his eyes.

  “Your eyes,” I said in awe.

  Knight smiled but said nothing because there really wasn’t anything to say. We both knew what was happening. He was claiming me, making me his. And the thought made me giddy inside.

  He started pushing harder, faster and I wrapped my legs around his middle, thinking sex had never been this arousing before. I could feel myself teetering on the brink of another orgasm as my body suddenly began to spasm, my legs shaking.

  “Knight,” I started, suddenly feeling frightened.

  “It’s okay,” he crooned in my ear. “Don’t fight it. It’s your body reacting to mine.”

  I exhaled my pent-up breath and closed my eyes, allowing my body its response. I tightened my thighs around his waist as he grasped me by the hips and held me at an angle, plunging into me as deeply as he could.

  That was all it took. I could hear my screams as another orgasm took control of my body. With a chuckle, he allowed my hips to touch the blanket again and I opened my eyes to find him studying me. Our gazes locked as his body pulsated within mine, erotic and sensual.

  He pushed into me as deeply as he could and then began grinding his pelvis against me, his penis as far inside me as it could be. I grasped his shoulders and dug my nails into his back even as I realized I could have been hurting him.

  “Sorry,” I started.

  “No,” he interrupted as he gazed down at me. “I like it.”

  Smiling, I increased the pressure of my grip and allowed myself to get lost in the feel of him up to my hilt as he continued to grind against me, rubbing that soft nub that sent me into another round of orgasms. I closed my eyes and thrust my hips upward, screaming out his name as I erupted into my own state of bliss.

  “I love listening to you,” he whispered and started kissing my neck as he began pulling out and pushing back into me again. The grinding bit had merely been for my own benefit—Knight was a generous lover.

  “That was amazing,” I said, still breathless. “No one’s ever done that to me before.”

  He smiled and I could see the pride in his eyes. “There’s plenty more where that came from.”

  But suddenly I wanted nothing more than to witness his own surrender, to watch him as he used my body to reach his own blissful euphoria. I wanted to watch him orgasm, wanted to watch his face, feel him. “It’s your turn,” I said.

  He nodded but said nothing more. Course, he didn’t really need to—his body was doing all the communicating. He pushed inside me and then started a quick rhythm, going faster and harder and deeper. All the while, his eyes were shut tight and small moans escaped his lips. At the point at which I thought I could no longer handle him, he pushed one last time, his eyes glowing all the while, and then collapsed against my chest, panting with exertion.

  I wrapped my arms around him and played with the hair at the nape of his neck, running my hands through the thick, silky locks. “Wow,” I said with a smile.

  He pulled up until he was on his elbows and smiled at me in return. “Wow, huh?”

  “That wasn’t quite as I imagined it would be.”

  His smile faltered. “Oh?”

  I patted his back. “In a good way, Knight. I, uh, I’ve never come so many times before.”

  “Really?” There was that look of accomplishment, of pride on his face again. “Then you don’t regret it?”

  “Regret it?” I asked in shock. “How and why would I regret it?”

  He chuckled. “I’ll ask you tomorrow.”

  Even though he was laughing, I realized he was partly serious. And you know what they say about jokes—that they always contain an underlying element of truth. But jokes and truth aside, what it came down to was that I didn’t want Knight to think I regretted being with him. “Why would you think that?”

  “Because I know you too well and I know that once you’re alone, you’ll start thinking and, invariably, you’ll put up those walls of yours that I’ve just fought so hard to tear down.”

  While it sounded like he had my general behavioral patterns down pat, it was merely a generalization. Yes, I was like that with most subjects, but I wasn’t about to let him think the same thing would happen in this case. “Knight,” I started. “That isn’t going to happen.”

  “Well, if it does, just talk yourself down. Or better yet, call me and I’ll remind you why we’re good togeth
er.”

  “Okay,” I said with a laugh as I allowed him to kiss me.

  #

  Five hours later, I sat at my desk in my humble apartment, staring at the blinking cursor of my word document. So far, I’d managed to type:

  The Vampire Raven, Book Two of A Vampire and a Gentleman series by Dulcie O’Neil

  Yes, I had aspirations to be a writer—not just a hobbyist writer, but a fully-fledged, career author who penned novels. I’d finished my first book, A Vampire and A Gentleman, which had been based on the exploits of my “friend” and vampire, Bram. That book had actually garnered the attention of the leading agent in paranormal romance, Barbara Mandley, from Great Fiction Agency and, even more amazingly, she loved the book and offered me representation a few days later.

  Owing to my last case, when I nearly succumbed to a Dreamstalker, (a goblin who hunted and killed his victims during sleep), I never had a chance to respond to Barbara. But, now I did have the time. And, based on the fact that it appeared my creative skills hadn’t yet announced themselves, maybe an email to Barbara was exactly what I needed to focus on.

  Pulling up Firefox, I logged into my Yahoo email account and, finding Barbara’s email address, quickly replied, typing:

  Dear Barbara,

  Thank you very much for offering to represent my book and me. I’m very excited to accept your offer of representation. Please advise what next steps will entail.

  Sincerely,

  Dulcie O’Neil

  I sat back in my seat and rocked forward, thinking about the fact that I was about to embark on a career path very different from law enforcement. And it wasn’t a feeling that was entirely joyful. The truth of the matter was that I loved my position as Regulator and, even now, I enjoyed my job of consultant Regulator to the ANC and to Knight. I’d been in law enforcement for the majority of my adult life and my identity really was wrapped up in my work—being a Regulator had shaped me; it had taught me how to be tough, how to survive and what was important in life. It defined me—in my blood, in my veins. It was me.

  But would the life of a writer allow me to continue in my role of consultant Regulator? I mean, with book deadlines, marketing and signings, would I have the time to continue in law enforcement?

  It was interesting, but this was the first time I’d actually considered any of this. I mean, it’s not as though I’d ever come close to seeing the fruition of my dream of becoming a writer in the past. But, now, with Barbara endorsing me, I couldn’t help but imagine all the publishing houses going into a tailspin to try and acquire the rights to my book. I mean, Barbara had to know what was hot and what would sell, right?

  Yes, I was firmly convinced that if my writing career took off, I would have to step down from the ANC…and from Knight. And while I was concerned about how Knight would take the news, I was more concerned about how I would take it. Would it change me as a person? Would I get bored? Would my creative juices dry up? How would I handle deadlines? How would I deal with the loneliness of being an author?

  I exhaled and realized my heart was pounding.

  “You don’t have to think about this now, Dulce,” I announced out loud and to no one, suddenly thinking it was very strange that I was talking to myself.

  The phone rang and I welcomed the interruption, since this latest realization completely depressed me. I reached for the receiver and brought it to my face.

  “Hello?”

  “Sooooo?” Sam asked expectantly.

  “So what?” I repeated, pleased to hear her voice on the other end. Whenever I had a problem, Sam could always talk me through it.

  She sighed. “So, did Knight hit the homerun?”

  I laughed. “Um…yeah, I guess you could say he did.”

  Sam squealed and, at the thought of Knight hitting his homerun, I could feel my cheeks beginning to color.

  “So, spill the details, girl!”

  So I did. I told her about my multiple orgasms, about how incredibly hot and passionate Knight was as a lover and how his eyes had glowed.

  “Wow, so you guys are like in a relationship then?” Sam asked.

  I was quiet as I considered her question. “Yeah, I guess we are.”

  “And are you okay with it or have you freaked out yet?”

  I shook my head. Why did everyone think I was going to freak out? I was a grown woman, for Hades sake! And it wasn’t like I’d never been in a relationship before… As soon as that thought left my head, I realized I was trying to deceive myself. It made complete and total sense that everyone thought I was going to freak out because, when it came to relationships in general, that was what I did—freak out.

  “I’m fine with it, Sam. I mean, it wasn’t like he blindsided me and forced me into something. It was my decision, remember? I’m the one who said I was good with it. I’m the one who said I wanted it.”

  “Okay, good, I just wanted to make sure you weren’t having an episode. Because if you were freaking out or if you’re about to freak out, I’d remind you of all the good things about Knight…like, um, how insanely hot he is, how smart he is, um how much he likes you, um, that he’s super funny and that he puts up with Trey at work all day.” She giggled. “He’s actually a really nice guy, Dulcie.”

  I got her gist. She still thought I was in the process of freaking out or getting close to it. “I’m fine, Sam.”

  As I said the words, I thought about them. Somehow, I was fine with everything. I didn’t have the feelings of panic that usually accompanied thoughts of entering into a relationship. I didn’t have heart palpitations or the feeling that I couldn’t breathe. Somehow, and I had no idea how, I was okay with everything. And, yes, I was slightly surprised by myself. Okay, the truth was it amazed me.

  “Wow,” Sam said.

  “I know, pretty crazy huh?”

  She laughed. “Just goes to show that when you find the right one, you just know it.”

  The right one. Wow, maybe I had found the right one. Maybe Knight was truly the guy for me? The thought caused a flurry of butterflies in my stomach and my body suddenly ached for him. I wanted nothing more than to see his boyish smile, feel his big arms around me, smell that spicy scent that characterized him.

  I missed him.

  “Dulce?” Sam asked and I realized I’d completely lost track of our conversation. “You still there?”

  “Sorry, I guess I’m just sort of floored by this whole thing.”

  She giggled. “Just go with it. I’ve been waiting for this to happen to you for a long ass time.” She was silent for a few seconds. “I’m really happy for you, Dulce.”

  I sighed. “Thanks, Sam. I, uh, I’m really happy for me too.”

  And it was the truth.

  Four

  It was the day after Knight and I had sex and I couldn’t wait to see him again. In fact, I tried to keep myself preoccupied all day with mindless things like taking my dog out for a very long run, going to the grocery store, washing the Ducati and tidying up the apartment. Anything to stop thinking about Knight and how incredible our sex had been. None of those diversions worked, however…Knight was on my mind and then some.

  Now it might sound strange that I didn’t pick up the phone to call him considering he was all I could think about. But really, I hadn’t been in a relationship in such a long time, I couldn’t remember what the rules were, or if there were any rules at all. I definitely didn’t want Knight to think I was needy or possessive. And I didn’t want to think I was needy or possessive. But would a phone call have been considered needy or possessive? No, probably not. Of course, it had only been one night and one day since we’d last seen one another. And wasn’t there some rule about waiting two days to call or was that to return a call? Or maybe that was if you weren’t yet in a relationship? Holy Hades, this stuff was going to be the death of me.

  What it came down to was that I didn’t want to change who I was. Being in a relationship should in no way, shape or form change me, I repeated to myself. I’
d just continue living my life in the same manner I always had. Just because I was now having intense sex with Knight and it would be an ongoing thing (Woo Hoo!) didn’t mean that I had to act or be any different. No, I was still the same headstrong, stubborn and emotionally calm Dulcie I always had been, right?

  Then why in the hell did I feel like this? Why could I not stop thinking about the sexy-as-hell Loki? Why did I keep replaying the events from the day before? Why could I not concentrate on anything other than remembering his eyes as he pushed inside me for the first time?

  My cell phone rang and I lurched for it, not even realizing why I felt so frantic. This just wasn’t like me. Reading Knight’s name on the Caller ID caused a flurry of excitement in my stomach and I wasn’t sure whether I wanted to kick myself or do a happy dance.

  Thankfully, I managed to restrain myself from doing either.

  “Hi,” I said, the tone of my voice belying the fact that I was happy to hear from him.

  “Hi, sexy.”

  I giggled and felt like shooting myself. “What’s up?” I asked after clearing my throat to ensure the giggle was dead.

  “How are you…feeling about things?”

  “Feeling about things? What do you mean?” I asked, although I couldn’t really say my focus was on the conversation. Instead, I tried to beat down the decidedly girly feelings that had suddenly welled up within me like a bad chick flick.

  “I just wanted to make sure everything was good, that you didn’t regret what we did yesterday?”