Granite Kiss Read online

  Zander jumped off the ledge, and when he reached her, he gathered her in his arms. She returned his embrace, sighing in contentment.

  “Every moment I am away from you is an eternity,” he mumbled against the top of her head.

  “Mmm, you will win my heart if you keep talking like that, beast.” She giggled.

  “Would that be such a bad thing?” The apprehension in his voice pained Elena. She would have handed her heart over to the beast without hesitation, if she honestly thought he would accept it.

  “No, Zander.” She placed a kiss in the center of his massive chest. “It would not be a bad thing.”

  “Hey, Elena,” Adan called over.

  “Milady, good evening,” Henrik said as he bowed.

  “Hey, guys,” Elena said. “I’ve ordered in dinner from the deli tonight.” Pulling away from the warmth of Zander’s embrace, she nodded toward the openness of the darkened night sky. “So why don’t you go do your thing, and I’ll set up the table for when you come back.”

  “Sounds good.” Kenyon moaned, rubbing his impressive six-pack abs. “I am starving tonight.”

  “Well, get going then.” Elena chuckled. “Go have fun.”

  An hour later, with the table heaped with sandwiches from the deli, Elena stood watching the beasts flying toward the terrace. One by one they landed.

  The seven of them sat around the table and dug into the feast she had laid out. Over dinner, Elena shared with the beasts her visit with Jeff that morning, and her research regarding the curse.

  “I feel really bad, guys,” she said, beginning to stack the empty plates and bowls. With a defeated shake of her head, she sighed heavily before continuing. “I’m no further ahead with a solution. Or even any idea of a solution.”

  “It is all right, Elena,” Mabon said. “Your efforts alone are appreciated. More than you know.”

  “But it’s not good enough,” she stated with a groan. “I need to get my hands on the damn spell book that creepy student has.”

  Standing, she reached to pick up the plates, but Magnus was at her side. “Allow me,” he said. “And thank you for dinner.”

  “Yeah, thanks, Elena,” Adan repeated.

  Each of the beasts grabbed something to help clean off the table, before the group moved into the suite. The air grew cooler, and the wind picked up. Elena felt sprinkles of rain as they walked across the terrace toward the open glass door.

  Once inside and their dinner dishes tidied up, she joined the guys in the sitting area. Mabon, Henrik and Kenyon were each flipping through the books she’d gathered from the university library. Adan sat on the floor in front of her laptop, which she’d left open on the coffee table.

  From the moment he’d awakened, Elena had felt Zander’s eyes following her wherever she went, and whatever she did. Under the weight of his gaze, every aroused erogenous zone she had–and a couple she’d never known about–were delightfully stimulated. Elena wasn’t certain how much more of Zander’s visual seduction she’d be able stand. She was already about to cream her panties.

  “So, you have found nothing regarding the curse, milady?” Magnus asked.

  Elena shook her head. “Nothing substantial. I’ve come across things like, ‘curses work on your imagination since no one genuinely has the ability to place one’. Which is a crock of shit,” she said, glancing at each one of them. “They say curses only work when you believe in them. Stop believing the curse can affect your life and it loses power over you. This is another load of shit, because I’m sure you guys have tried that one.”

  “Yes, we have certainly thought of that,” Kenyon admitted.

  “I’ve got to tell you, it would put my mind at ease to get my hands on that ancient spell book.” She groaned when she caught Zander’s heated gaze. The tightening of her nipples beneath her shirt had erotic images of her and Zander together, flashing through Elena’s mind.

  Remembering the beasts could hear her thoughts, Elena’s cheeks warmed. She gave her head a swift shake and cleared her throat. “Um, yeah, anyway... I think I’ve found every spell ever thought of under the sun, except the ‘spell of humility.’”

  “As Mabon said, your efforts are appreciated,” Henrik offered.

  “We have been this way for hundreds of years, milady,” Magnus said. “There may be no way to break the curse.”

  “A spell was cast, there is always a way to break it.” Elena stood beside the sofa and pressed her fingers to her temples.

  A challenge always got her blood flowing. Elena loved to solve a mystery. Why could she not concentrate on fitting the pieces of this puzzle together?

  The reason for her distraction sat on the sofa, eyeing her as if she were a tasty little morsel he was dying to sample. Any doubts she had about Zander’s interest dissipated at an alarming speed.

  No longer could she stand it. The differences between their physical forms meant nothing to her in the grand scheme of things. Elena could no longer fight the attraction, and damn it, she knew Zander felt it as well. She could see it in his eyes when he looked at her, felt it in the weight of his stare as he watched her. More importantly, she felt his need when he held her in his arms. His touch was electric.

  Elena wanted more. No, she needed more.

  “For heaven’s sake, this is ridiculous,” Elena said, and leapt through the air, landing on top of Zander.

  * * * *

  The suddenness of Elena’s acrobatics threw Zander off guard, causing him to lean back into the sofa.

  “What are you–” His question was cut short as Elena brushed her soft lips against his.

  The room fell silent. After several moments, she pulled away from him, waggled her brow and dragged her tongue across her lower lip.

  “Uh,” he managed to squeak out. “That was...nice.”

  “Nice?” she repeated, narrowing her eyes.

  “Well, uh, the others are–you know–here. Watching,” he said in a low voice, trying not to attract any more attention to them. Which he knew was futile, since Elena sat sprawled on top of him, and he was panting like a dog in heat.

  Elena’s heated gaze held his, and over her shoulder she growled, “Leave.”

  From the corner of his eye, Zander watched his five fellow beasts stumble over one another as they raced to the open terrace door.

  “See ya,” Adan said quickly.

  “I was just thinking I could use some air,” Henrik announced, pushing past Mabon.

  “Where are we going to go?” Kenyon muttered.

  “Stop talking and just get the hell out,” Magnus said nervously, glancing back for a split second.

  The loud flapping of wings carried into the suite, signaling the beasts had launched off the building.

  Leaning down, Elena pressed her lips to Zander’s again.

  They were just as he’d imagined–soft, confident. Elena was a woman who knew what she wanted. And by the gods, she wanted him. The taste of her mouth made his head spin.

  He needed to stop her.

  The tip of her tongue teased the seam of his lips, coaxing him to open his mouth. As he did, to utter a protest–a mild one, but a protest nonetheless–Elena seized the opportunity to slip inside.

  The slide of her tongue alongside his made Zander’s breath hitch. Wide-eyed, he watched her. Elena’s eyes were closed, lids fluttering as her excitement escalated. The subtle fragrance of feminine arousal tickled his nose. He inhaled deeply, her natural pheromones taunting his lust as he allowed her to control their kiss.

  A moan of passion caught in her throat, and her arms tightened around his neck, her fingers fisting in his hair.

  Closing his eyes, Zander permitted himself to savor the moment. The repressed libido he had buried years ago began to emerge. His hands stroked down the length of Elena’s back, over the luscious curves of her hips, then cupped and squeezed her buttocks.

  If this were to be his last moment on earth, Zander would die a happy man, or rather beast. With the days of livin
g as a man long gone, he’d never imagined once again living in human form. Yet right then, with Elena straddling his thighs, his body aching to be one with hers, Zander wanted nothing more than to be a man.

  Just once, he began to think, and felt the instant void as Elena pulled away from his mouth.

  “Do you feel it?” Her breath was harsh, her voice husky.

  “W-what?” he stuttered, attempting to tamp the hoarseness of his own voice.

  “The sparks. The electricity.” She paused to run the wet tip of her delicious tongue over her swollen lips. “We have chemistry.”

  Oh the gods. If she moves her cute ass a bit lower, she is going to feel it all right.

  Elena’s eye sparkled and grew dark. “Sounds like fun,” she said, in a huskiness that had Zander’s body standing at full attention. Wiggling her backside down the length of his body, when she reached his erection, she pressed down and a sexy grin played on her face. “Mmm,” she groaned. “Is this all for me?”

  Zander held her hips in place. She was going to kill him by rubbing herself against his hardening shaft.

  “Elena,” he murmured as she once again pressed her lips against his.

  Across the muscles of his chest, her hands roamed and explored. Gentle fingertips traced the flat dark disks of his nipples, and a firm squeeze brought them to immediate attention.

  Her lips left his once again, and Elena placed light kisses along his jaw line. Her teeth nipped at the flesh of his neck as she ventured lower to flick her tongue across the peak of one of his nipples.

  Zander’s balls threatened to unload as the wet tip teased his flesh.

  Lower down his body, Elena wiggled until she’d settled between his thighs.

  “Elena,” he moaned, uncertain if his tone carried a warning or just arousal.

  He needed to stop her.

  She leaned over, and using her teeth, plucked the end of the cord holding his loincloth in place around his hips. As she lifted her head, the cord released and the scrap of cloth was discarded to the floor.

  When Elena’s gaze settled on the hardened flesh between his legs, her eyes grew wide. Her luscious lips gaped open, and a soft groan came from her throat.

  She looked up at him, apprehension flashing in her eyes. “I’m no expert,” she said, shaking her head. “But I don’t think that’s going to fit inside me.”

  Zander’s cock, proportionate to his body size, jutted proudly, eagerly, from a nest of tight dark curls.

  Standing close to eight feet tall and weighing over five hundred pounds, his body was enormous compared to that of a mortal man. He suspected the flesh between his legs would cause Elena intense pain if he were to enter her body. Gods, it might even kill her.

  “I will not put it inside you,” he told her regrettably. As painful as it was to Zander thinking he could never love Elena physically, as she deserved to be loved, he would not cause her pain.

  “Well, I didn’t say I didn’t want you to.” Elena must have read the concern on his face, because her smile once again turned incredibly sexy. “We’ll work on it,” she said in a husky tone.

  Turning her attention back to the hard length of his cock, she wrapped her fingers around his extraordinary girth and began to stroke him. Eyeing his shaft, Elena licked her lips.

  Zander sucked in a breath. She wouldn’t touch his cock with her mouth? Would she?

  “Hmm,” she moaned, sizing up the situation. “I’ve got an idea.” Holding his gaze, she dipped her head to flick her tongue across the broad mushroom shaped bulb of the end.

  Of its own accord, Zander’s ass shot off the sofa at the warm, wet contact.

  Around the head of his shaft, Elena licked while her hand slowly pumped his length. Her full lips closed over the crest, and she suckled him into her mouth.

  “E-le-na,” he croaked out, reaching for her, but not touching her.

  As she worked over every inch of his shaft with her right hand, she slipped her left lower to cup the heavy weight of his sac. In her palm, she rolled his aching balls, squeezing with just enough pressure that they threatened to release.

  “Yes,” Zander heard himself moan, over and over.

  A prickling began to travel up his spine, his nipples hardened more and Zander’s toes started to tingle.

  “Oh...the...” The words lodged in his throat as lava raced from the ache in his balls up the length of his shaft.

  Watching Elena between his legs, her mouth working on the head of his cock, her hand stroking faster, Zander was unable to stop himself from following through.

  His seed spewed from the end of his cock, and a savage roar burst past his lips. Though Elena gave it her all, she was unable to swallow as fast as his balls emptied. The length of his shaft glistened from the overspill, which aided in the stroking of her hand as he continued to spurt into her mouth.

  Several moments passed in silence as they held each other’s gaze. Zander was having difficulty catching his breath after watching Elena suck him off. He still could not believe she had pleasured him with her mouth. And that she appeared to enjoy it.

  A soft pink hue tinted her cheeks and her own breathing was ragged. The fingers of her hands continued to stroke and cup him. Zander’s cock, thoroughly enjoying the attention paid to it, stayed hard and ready from her touch.

  “That is a first,” he said in a hushed tone, and then wished he could retract the words.

  “What do you mean?” she asked, still sliding her hand up and down on his flesh. “Your first ever, or just in a long time?” The smile she gave him, he easily returned.

  “The first release not by my own hand,” he confessed, and awaited her next move.

  A shudder wracked her body, and the fragrance of her feminine scent grew stronger under his nostrils. “I’m honored to have been the one you shared it with.”

  The huskiness of her melodic voice brought a dewy drop of liquid from the tip of his cock head. Elena lowered her mouth and licked the droplet as it trickled over the crest.

  “Mmm, want to go again?” Her eyes twinkled.

  Without effort, Zander scooped Elena up in his arms and made for the hall leading to the bedrooms.

  “I desire to give you pleasure, my beautiful Elena,” he said, as he carried her to the bedroom she’d used the night before. Gently, he placed her in the middle of the bed.

  His large fingers fumbled as he unfastened the tiny buttons marching down the front of her shirt and then spread it open. Using the sharp nail on the end of one finger, he sliced through the panel of material between her breasts, and the delectable pale globes sprang free.

  In the air, Zander caught her scent again, though this time her muskiness seemed heavier. Every cursed cell in his body needed to please her. Something deep inside him needed to show Elena that despite his disfigurement, he could demonstrate his love for her.

  Could these simple exchanges of pleasurable touches be enough for her though?

  Zander stopped himself from thinking ‘what ifs’, all that mattered at the moment was the beautiful woman before him, who unknowingly had been sexually tormenting him for two days now. He needed to touch her, intimately–he desperately needed to taste her, as she had tasted him.

  Dipping his head, he dragged the flat of his tongue over the rigid tip of her left breast. Elena moaned, arching her back off the bed. Closing his lips around the swelling bud and careful of his fangs, Zander drew on her flesh.

  Soft mews whispered past her lips, and her breathing grew harsh. As he suckled her left breast, he reached up to cup the right one and lightly plucked at the nipple as it came to attention under his touch. Licking a wet trail across Elena’s chest, he nipped at the flesh of her right breast before pulling the distended peak between his lips.

  Elena stroked his hair and tightened her hands into fists as his mouth grew more insistent. The moans and groans as he stoked the fires of her arousal higher were music to his ears.

  Damn it, if he didn’t need more.

 
Down the length of her soft body, Zander roamed. On his journey, he tasted every luscious inch of her flushed skin until he came to the waist of her jeans. Slipping a finger inside the waistband, with a deft flick the button released, and slowly Zander drew down the zipper.

  Elena propped herself up on her elbows, grinning as he worked the denim over the curves of her hips and off her legs. Covering her sex was a skimpy stitch of pink lace.

  “These are quite pretty,” he said, sliding the tip of a finger between her legs. The digit slipped inside the crotch of her panties, brushing against the plump lips the fabric hid. Then Zander gave a sharp tug, ripping the material in two. “But they are keeping you from me.”

  Elena chuckled and sank her teeth into her lower lip.

  Zander pushed her legs wide and, using a couple of fingers, spread the outer folds of her pussy open. The tender slit they protected glistened and pulsed as he studied the swollen pink nubbin at the top.

  “You are so beautiful,” he whispered, and then moved in for a taste.

  “Mmm.” Elena groaned deep as Zander licked the length of her opening with the tip of his tongue.

  “I agree,” he said, his voice low. “May I taste more of you?”

  “Y-yes,” she moaned, watching him.

  Zander moved in again and flicked his tongue over her clit. Faster, slower, gauging her body’s reaction to his strokes, and the pressure he used. He enjoyed the way her bosom heaved as she struggled to draw breath. A light sheen of perspiration glistened between her breasts and peppered her upper lip. Elena’s flavor was addictive, and now that he’d sampled her, he knew he would never taste anything as satisfying again.

  Beneath him her body trembled. Her throaty, feminine moans and groans echoed off the walls of the bedroom and sent a jolt to Zander’s already aching balls. He was surprised that after the explosive release he’d enjoyed only moments before, his body threatened to unload a second time.