Chapter 23

Wait a minute, Saint George was going to kiss me? Like, on the lips? In front of Jude!

My inner voice was running ninety miles a minute. Surprise and something like fear must have shown in my face. Jude nodded in reassurance, though his expression remained tight. And very grim.

"Genevieve, don't be afraid." George gave me his charming laugh, complete with wide smile and adorable dimples, making me blush further. He covered both of my hands in my lap with one of his. "It's not that kind of a kiss. All right?"

Rather than frighten me, his touch was comforting. He waited with eyebrows raised for my consent.

"All right."

"It will feel a little odd, but it won't take long."

As in my-man-watching-another-drop-dead-gorgeous-man-kiss-me-on-his-couch odd? My heart fluttered. Not in the same way Jude made my poor heart race, but she was definitely gearing up for warm-up laps.

I was stiff as a board. George gave my hands a reassuring squeeze to make me relax, but it didn't work. As he shifted his upper body toward me, I closed my eyes, unable to watch him draw closer. A hand gently cupped my cheek, tilting me at a small angle. I could feel Jude's gaze burning into me, no matter that he'd actually asked George to do this.

Soft, warm lips touched mine, slightly apart. He didn't move in a sensuous motion. Thank God! But his hand drifted to the nape of my neck, lightly pressing us together. The pressure of his lips felt soothing. With a sudden shock, my VS jolted awake, flashing in a burst of stars.

Our mouths tasted each other more urgently, his tongue sliding over mine, lost in a moment of sensation. His power replied with a burning waterfall, a cascade of energy pouring over me from the tip of my head to my toes. Talk about a kiss that makes you melt. Fiery power draped through my torso and limbs, penetrating through bone, muscle, and singeing along my skin—a symphony of energy meeting and connecting us to one another.

Although the kiss wasn't sexual, it was sensual and intimate, a bonding of another kind. My VS hummed, absorbing the power as my own. I'd forgotten that we were kissing in that extraordinary moment of light and power. Coming back to myself, I realized my hand had curled tightly, clutching his hand in my lap. Electric-hot, his mouth pulled from mine slowly with the slick, wet sound of lips parting.

"Genevieve." He grinned devilishly. "Talk about seeing stars."

I exhaled an unsteady breath, leaning away from him. My whole body thrummed with power.

"I'm not so sure you're a saint anymore."

He tossed his beautiful head back in a laugh. Jude rose stiffly, pulling me to stand beside him. I could feel the strain in his body, tight like a rubber band. I hoped he wouldn't pop.

"I'm sure it was a wonderful experience for the both of you," Jude bit out with painful effort and a sardonic lift of the brow. "Much obliged, George, but she needs her rest."

In other words, get out.

"A lovely creature, your Vessel," he said, clapping a hand on Jude's shoulder and giving me a wink. "Keep her close."

"I intend to," was the curt response.

Before George had even sifted out, Jude's lips devoured mine in a bone-melting fusion of tongue, heat, and breath. I knew what he was doing. Marking me. Not like Danté. No.

Jude spread his scent with mouth, hands, and body—a primal need to imprint me as his own overpowering every other impulse.

If I'd tried to resist, it would've been futile. As it was, I didn't want to. I wanted even more than he gave. After kissing me senseless, he pulled back, piercing me with lion-gold eyes.

"My Genevieve."

A throaty whisper against kiss-swollen lips. He held me against his body with a steel grip, the hard lines of him promised protection. And pleasure. He started a slow descent down the upward edge of my jaw, nipping softly at the tender flesh of my neck. I couldn't say the word as my body tipped into a pool of sensation, swallowed whole by Jude. But my response pulsed loud and clear in my mind.

Yours.

Suddenly, I was on his bed with his hard body pressing me into the mattress. Crazed with lust, I thrust my hands under his shirt, moaning at the feel of smooth skin over taut muscles.

On a groan, he popped up onto his knees between my open thighs. Holding my gaze, he unbuckled his belt, sliding the belt out of the loops with a resounding snap.

Jumping at the sharp sound, I said, "I thought we couldn't…"

I lost my words, waiting for him to continue and unbutton his black pants.

Instead, he lifted the other end of his belt then said, "Put both of your arms straight out."

Confused, I still thrust them forward. He wrapped a figure-eight with his belt, pulling tight to be sure they were secure then wrapped and buckled the ends around a decorative bar in his intricate headboard.

"What are you doing?" I asked in a rush, twisting my wrists on instinct, finding them securely bound.

He devoured me with his gaze and unbuttoned his black dress shirt with impressive speed. He tossed it aside then his undershirt, effectively punching the air from my lungs. The Celtic cross with its dark ink and sharp barbs rippled beneath flexed muscle, especially when he lowered his body over mine, propping his weight on his forearms.

Hovering his face close to mine, amber gaze molten fire, the lion present and hunting, he murmured, "I can't fuck you, any part of you without putting you in danger." He ground his hard cock between my thighs, his warm chest pressing to mine. "But apparently I can kiss and touch you without breaking the rules."

Breathless, I managed to ask, "Who'd you find that out from? George?"

"Mmm," he murmured in assent, lowering his mouth to my neck and licking my pulse. "Didn't think I'd ever have to ask him the details of a Vessel's boundaries."

He lifted my dress, knuckles trailing up my thighs and stomach as he revealed more skin, pushing the thin fabric up to my neckline. Then he reached under my back to unsnap my bra.

"You didn't think you'd ever date a Vessel, I guess." I was nervous chattering.

"Date." He huffed a small laugh. "We're well beyond that phase, Genevieve."

After unclasping my bra, he lifted the cups up to expose my breasts. A deep rumble vibrated from his chest to my stomach where he rested between my legs. His gaze was on my breasts as he mounded one, lightly pinching my nipple into a peak.

He glanced up at me to catch my reaction, but I couldn't take that intense stare. My head dropped to the mattress on a moan as he held my breast and circled the nipple with his hot tongue. Then he sucked—hard—drawing a wet line with his tongue to the other and repeating his attentions.

"God, Jude," I muttered, rocking my hips against his torso, needing friction.

Then he was dragging my panties down my thighs. I couldn't help but open my eyes, heart pounding at the sight of him, sitting back on his knees, his gaze on my pussy.

After he tossed my panties aside, he circled his long fingers around my ankles, lifting them to plant my feet on his bare shoulders.

When I tried to pull them away, feeling utterly exposed, he held my ankles against him, his chest rising and falling quicker.

"Don't hide from me," he rumbled, meeting my gaze as he smoothed his palms over the tops of my thighs. "I want all of you, Genevieve."

He dropped one hand between my thighs, the other cradling a knee to keep my foot planted. He stroked two fingers along my slick slit.

"Even the secrets at the heart of you," he murmured and planted a biting kiss to the inside of my knee as he thrust two fingers inside me.

My hips came off the bed on a whimper. I bit my lip, while eagerly thrusting up for more.

"You're so fucking beautiful," he whispered, stroking and curling his fingers slightly, brushing against the bundle of nerves inside me.

"Ah!" I cried out at the pleasure, raising my hips to meet his shallow thrusts.

Then he lay down on the bed, his head between my legs, my knees gripping his shoulders, and he opened his hot mouth over my clitoris.

"Fuck!" I screamed, jerking on my wrists that were bound too tightly to pull loose.

"That's it," he murmured gently, licking a circle around my clit while pumping his fingers a little faster. "Take your pleasure from me, Genevieve." A suckling kiss on my tight nub that had my vision hazing. "Because I'll be the only man to ever give you pleasure."

The possessiveness in his voice and in his hands had me spiraling closer to my climax and breakneck speed. He reached up with his free hand and gripped my breast possessively, pinching my nipple lightly.

That did it. I screamed his name as I came, undulating beneath him then suddenly tightening every muscle, curling my toes. He opened his mouth over my pussy, lapping up the juices as more slid out with his slow-pumping fingers.

He hummed against my clit, making me jerk, now that it was so sensitive post-orgasm.

When the throbbing dimmed, he pulled his fingers free, pumping one last time, before he climbed over my body and pressed me flat. He took my mouth, kissing me on a guttural groan, rocking his hips against my wet pussy. I was soaking his pants, but he didn't seem to mind.

I couldn't help but rub against the giant steel rod, wishing he could fuck me already.

The irony. I'd waited for the right guy, and now that I'd found him, I couldn't fuck him or I'd become a demon's pet. My goddamn luck.

Jerking on the belt, I huffed in exasperation, "Why the belt? Are there rules that I can't touch anyone else or something? With the whole Vessel boundaries, that is."

He reached up with one hand and unbuckled his belt, freeing my wrists. He took one and pressed a kiss on the reddened underside.

"No." He exhaled a heavy sigh. "That's for me, actually."

I frowned.

"If you touch me," he explained, "then I'll lose control." A swirl of darkness blackened the outer rims of his eyes. "Can't take that chance."

He pressed a quick kiss to my lips then shot off the bed, gaze raking my half-naked body as he gripped his big dick over his pants. Then he turned abruptly for the door.

"Where are you going?"

"To take a shower. And take care of this." He gave his cock a squeeze.

"Oh." I pushed my dress back down to my thighs, inching toward the edge of the bed. "I should probably shower too."

"Don't you fucking dare." He pointed a finger at me, serious Jude scowl in place. "You stay in this room till I'm done."

I fell back onto the bed, smiling while basking in my orgasm endorphins. But also, I was feeling a little guilty about not being able to help Jude get his own.

One thing that I knew for sure about this new world that I hadn't known existed—demons sucked.