Crystal Jordan: Embrace the Night

This book is special. No, real y. It is. This is the first book I ever started to write, quite a few years ago. At the time, it was a comedy. At the time, I had no idea what I was doing when it came to writing a story. I labored through many, many drafts of this book, and final y realized I didn’t have the chops to do the characters justice. Frustrated, I put it aside and thought I’d never come back to it.

But this book is special. These characters are special. Merek and Chloe and Alex wouldn’t stop popping up in the back of my mind, reminding me that their story was stil untold.

So, I dragged it out one day and dusted it off. I started reading, and it was even more awful than I remembered. I had to scrap everything, except the characters and the basic bones of the story. It went from comedy to dark and sexy. And my editor, John Scognamiglio, was his usual awesome self, bought the book, and gave these characters a chance to have their story finished. Final y.

There are so many others who have helped me get where I am with my writing, and helped me get this book to where it is. This acknowledgments page wouldn’t be doing what it’s supposed to if I didn’t give them a nod for al they’ve done for me.

There is my best friend, Michal, and my boyfriend, Frank. My two favorite partners in crime. Then there are the other authors who’ve prodded, cajoled, encouraged, or otherwise kicked my ass into meeting my deadlines: Kate Pearce, Loribel e Hunt, Dayna Hart, R. G. Alexander, Eden Bradley, Karen Erickson, Robin L. Rotham, Patti O’Shea, Rhiannon Leith, Elaina Huntley, Lil i Feisty, and Gemma Hal iday. And, of course, my Grams.

Thank you al for being part of this story with me. My story as a writer.

Gods, but she needed this.

Chloe’s body arched beneath the heavy, muscular form of the most talented warlock she’d ever fucked.

And he wasn’t even inside her yet.

A low moan slipped from her throat when Merek’s hands closed over her breasts. His thumbs chafed her nipples, and a little smile kicked up the side of his ful lips and crinkled the corners of his gray eyes as he watched the tips of her breasts tighten for him. Little bolts of lightning flickered around the warlock’s hands and up his forearms. The shocks hit her flesh, sizzling her nerve endings. She jolted, but a flood of moisture slicked her pussy. More. Gods, she craved more.

Sinking one hand into his dark blond hair, she urged his head down. A chuckle rumbled from his chest while he obliged her. His hot tongue swirled around each nipple in turn, sucking them deep into his mouth.

When that same electrical current pulsed from his tongue to her breast, she writhed helplessly, a scream ripping from her.

“You like that, don’t you, Chloe?” He glanced up at her, his gaze gleaming with silver light. His teeth scraped over her nipple when she didn’t answer. She jerked against his hold on her, her thoughts scattering into incoherency. “Don’t you, sweetheart?”

“Y-yes, Merek.” A shiver rippled over her skin as his tongue soothed the sting his teeth had left. “Oh, gods, yes. I like it.”

Her nails scored his back, raking down his flesh. He shuddered over her, groaning. His hips bucked against hers. She could feel his long, hard cock sliding over her naked flesh. His dick was already damp with pre-cum, but he didn’t try to enter her. She wanted him deep inside her. Now.

Parting her thighs, she wrapped her legs around his flanks and lifted herself into him, rubbing the lips of her wet pussy on his cock. His white teeth flashed in a pirate’s grin, his gaze heavy-lidded. She arched her body into him, enjoying the pleasure that flashed in his gaze as she watched him watch her twist on his sheets, the fabric warm and smooth against her back. He angled his hips and ground himself against her clit, but stil didn’t slide that long cock into her. Instead, he eased his weight away from her a bit.

“No, don’t go,” she whispered, shoving her fingers into his silky hair and dragging him back down to her breast. Her heart pounded so loudly in her ears, it drowned out the ragged sound of their breathing.

He batted at her nipple with his tongue, shoving the tight tip against the roof of his mouth. Her nails dug into his scalp, and he grunted, biting down on the beaded crest in retaliation. Her breath froze in her lungs, her body jerking under the lash of too many sensations overloading every nerve at once. “ Merek. Merek, please!”

He released her breast, blowing a cool stream of air onto her damp flesh. “I like it when you beg.”

It felt so fucking good, she thought she might die. Stil , she needed more. She needed to lose herself in the scorching heat of this moment with this man. “P-please.”

Those tiny sparks of lightning arced from his fingertips as he stroked them down her ribs, her stomach, and into the thatch of hair between her legs. The first touch of his hand on her clit made her sob with need.

Excitement twisted like a wild thing inside her, and she had to grit her teeth to keep from screaming again when his cal used finger penetrated her sex. He flicked his digits over her slick folds, diving into her soaking pussy. He hummed low in his throat. “So wet for me. I’m going to love fucking your tight little pussy.”

“Yes. I want that.” Her head rol ed on the pil ow, sweat gathering at her temples to slip down her skin as her muscles shook in reaction to al he was doing to her, in anticipation of al he would do to her. “Hurry.”

“Not just yet.” The pad of his thumb stroked her clit in time with his plunging digits. He worked her at a fast, punishing rhythm that made her twist in his embrace, a low keen of need spil ing from her lips. She was so close, her inner muscles clenching on his fingers with every hard push into her body, tingles skipping and racing down her skin, but she knew he wouldn’t let her go over the edge into orgasm until he decided. He was the master of this game, of that she had no doubt. The mere thought made her burn. It was exactly why she’d picked him for the night.

She sucked in a deep breath, trying to calm herself, but it only drew in the heady smel of sex and the rich, masculine scent of him. Heat and magic flared deep within her, spel s she was barely conscious of casting.

If he was going to drive her crazy with lust, then turnabout was fair play.

Golden light poured from her fingers as she slid them down his skin, over the flexing muscles of his chest, his arms. He went stil , a great shudder racking his big body as the spel worked on him, transferring her searing pleasure to him. It would feel like flames were licking at his flesh. He groaned, and she watched his control strip away—just as she had wanted. A tiny smile curved her mouth.

“Such a talented little witch.” He parted the lips of her sex with one hand and guided his cock to her entrance with the other. A hard thrust drove him hilt-deep into her, and she choked at the exquisite stretch.

Gods, he was so big it was painful to take al of him, but she didn’t care. She wanted this too badly to stop now. She bit her bottom lip and closed her eyes to savor the sensation.

“Mmm. I think that’s my job.” His tongue slid along her lower lip, sucking it into his mouth. The feel of his hard cock within her, the pleasure-pain of his thick shaft stretching her, almost made the gentle sweetness of his kiss overwhelm her. The man could kiss, his taste honey-spiced. He was already inside her, and his lips and teeth and tongue seduced her, coaxed her into an even wilder response, made her grow even wetter, her nipples bead tighter, her nails dig into his back as she slanted her mouth under his. His hands cupped her breasts, his fingers rubbing her nipples. She moaned against his lips.