Celeste Anwar: Carnal Appetite

Raoul closed his large hands around her biceps in a vice grip and pressed his hard body tight to hers, caging her so that she couldn’t move ... unless he willed it. She struggled a minute, realized it was less than useless to fight someone so much larger, and relaxed her back against the cool metal door.

“What do you want?” she asked belligerently, forcing herself to breathe deeply to calm her racing heart. She could act brave when she needed to. She’d talked her way out of worse situations, and she was eager to put this night behind her.

“I’m afraid I can’t allow you to leave,” he said with soft menace.

“I’ll scream.”

He leaned in close, until his mouth was inches from her own, teasing with his nearness. His breath warmed her skin, making her lips tingle with awareness. She thought he would kiss her, but when he did nothing, she was strangely disappointed. He was close enough she caught that wild scent that drove her insides into turmoil and filled her with instant lust. She couldn’t remember ever being so ... animalistic before.

“You would have screamed already if you’d planned to, chere.”

What? She’d been so focused on his mouth, she forgot she’d said anything. “I still could.”

“But you won’t.” He rubbed his thumbs against the soft sides of her breasts in a manner that soothed as much as it teased. Her nipples tightened inside her lacy bra, and she suddenly had too much clothing on. She squirmed under the touch, and he pressed his hips harder against her as a warning. Any closer, and he’d be inside her. She bit her bottom lip, hating her responsiveness to him.

“There’s over a hundred people inside that club. Someone will come,” she said softly, unwilling to concede defeat.

“You know very well no one would hear you over the music. Besides,” He paused a moment, his smile feral as he pulled back slightly. He passed a lingering look over her breasts, exposed by the hastily fastened blouse and her position. “No one heard your cries of pleasure.”

Heat suffused her body, flushing her skin pink under his gaze. Her breasts felt heavy, swollen. She longed for him to massage the ache away. “Don’t look at me like that,” she said, attempting to bolster her anger.

“Tell me you don’t enjoy it....” He smiled knowingly. “You can’t lie to me ... I can smell it.”

His voice was soft, almost apologetic in tone. But the look in his eyes belied that impression, dared her to contradict him. Clara remained silent. It was the truth. She swallowed hard as the realization hit home.

“What are you going to do with me?” she asked softly, almost afraid of the answer. There was a dangerous allure, a restrained savageness, about him that had captivated her from the moment she first saw him. She wanted him to brand her, to take her god only knew where. And that was the most frightening realization of all--even if he was mixed up with some lunatic.

As an answer, he shifted against her, almost nestling between her legs, as if he knew exactly how much she wanted him. And damn the consequences. The thin, silk skirt she wore was little barrier to the bulge of his arousal pressed hard into her. Moisture gathered in her sex with the insistent contact, tickling her swollen labia. She tilted her head back, closing her eyes, resisting the urge to moan, and suddenly remembered she hadn’t put her panties back on. A flick of his wrist, and he could release his erection, take her there on the car. She shuddered.

“I want you to come with me.”

She looked at him, and her clit throbbed at the look in his eyes. Her mouth was instantly dry. Clara swallowed past the lump in her throat. “I ... can’t. This is crazy. I don’t even know your full name, who you are....”

“It’s Etienne. Raoul Etienne.”

“Clara Falkner. I thought you sounded French.” It seemed ridiculous to have this conversation now, after all they’d shared, after the strange confrontation the two men had had. Jeez, could she be any more inane?

Clara wanted to dig a hole and cover herself with a rock. This man had had his tongue and cock inside her, and she’d not even had the grace to discover his name first. Her family would be so ashamed at her behavior. She hadn’t decided if she would bury the memory yet. It was hard to think past the fog of lust he inspired in her, with his scent still on her skin, with his erection pressed intimately against her and her own body begging to be filled by his cock once more.

“Cajun,” he said succinctly, bringing her back to the present. “Danior still wants you. You will be safe at my place, Clara. Allow me to take care of you.”

Staring into his eyes, she felt her willpower wavering. She was just about ready to say yes to anything he proposed. She’d begun the night with insanity. Shouldn’t it end that way as well? Instinctively, she knew he would not hurt her, so what was the harm in living out her fantasies?

Lost in thought, she said nothing. When she didn’t answer him, his face grew serious. His eyes darkened and his brow furrowed. In a voice chill with certainty, he said, “If you do not come, you will die tonight.”

* * * *

Raoul saw his words had provoked the appropriate response in her. Her face paled, and her eyes grew wide with dawning fear. Danior had scared her--he had reminded her of that fact. If she’d known the truth about Danior, about what he himself was, she would likely be terrified. He wanted her to be afraid. Fear was the ultimate survival tool.

She seemed to remember herself after a moment and clenched her jaw tightly.

Raoul’s face darkened with irritation. He tightened his hands on her arms but she continued to look at him unafraid. She had him to thank for her ease of mind, though she didn’t realize it. Had he not broken the vampire’s mind marking, she would have willingly gone wherever the bloodsucker asked and been completely susceptible to his every suggestion.

He had made a mistake not taking her from this place to start with, to goad the vampire so near his lair. But when she’d begged him to take her and wrapped those sweet thighs around his waist, he’d been unable to resist sinking into her depths. And still he’d not had his fill of her. A mere human woman had tempted him and clouded his reason. It angered him to lose his control ... and it was deadly.

Danior had given them a brief respite for some unknown reason. Raoul couldn’t risk that he would not return with back up. He could only fight so many before succumbing. Clara wouldn’t have a chance in hell. He wanted to shake her, make her realize the danger.

If he’d had time to place the remaining marks on her, she would not be so foolishly defiant now. She would be bound to him, would crave his touch as she would no other. His cock hardened unbearably at the thought of laying his claim to her.

Beneath her bravado, she was still anxious, still afraid, and the heady mix only increased his hunger for her. She couldn’t know her heightened adrenaline was as enticing to him as the musky perfume of her desire. Couldn’t know that he was dangerously close to losing his chained beast after confronting Danior. He could not afford her fear right now, and did not want to fight her. “I am the only one who can protect you. I swear, on the blood of my heart, I will not harm you.”

His sincerity pierced her stubbornness. “I’m regretting this already.” She sighed and closed her eyes, shaking her head once before looking at him again. “I’ll go with you. But you have to explain everything to me.”

He nodded once and released her. “You’ll learn more tonight than you ever wanted to know.”

* * * *

Clara was surprised when they reached his car, not expecting that he would drive such a costly vehicle. He was a large man, well over six feet tall, and the black viper fit as though made for him. A custom job on an already expensive car. Luckily, wealth had never impressed her like it did some people, and she was able to be at ease in the luxury vehicle.