Savage Lessons (Temple of Luna #3) (2 page)

He slanted his mouth over hers but didn't accept her invitation to deepen the kiss. The beast inside him already paced with hungry impatience, desperate to break free and flood him with base instinct, with the need that made him so dangerous and so very, very good at his job.

Soon enough, the beast would feast on her pleasure. But not until the man had pushed her to the edge and learned her boundaries. So he licked and teased, scraped his teeth against her lower lip and encouraged her with the fist in her hair. But he didn't give her more.

She bit him back, taking as much control as she could, and her tongue sought his as she leaned up. It must have pulled her hair, but she only moaned again and kissed him harder.

She was eager, and it turned him on. He bit her lip again, harder, and chased her tongue back into her mouth with his own.

Lexa pulled her mouth from his with a muffled, helpless noise of pleasure. "I want to be naked. I want you naked."

At least the words were honest, not rehearsed. Dejan dropped his hand and shifted his leg to free her. "Stand up. I want to watch you take your robes off."

She rose in a steady, fluid movement, but her hands were trembling as she lifted them to free the knotted belt of her robe. It slid from her shoulders to reveal a white chemise so thin and filmy he could see through it.

The fact that she wasn't wearing anything under that damn transparent slip made him want to groan.

He dragged in a deep breath and lifted his gaze to her face again. "Do you always fumble with the knot of your belt, or am I making you nervous?"

Her chest rose and fell rapidly, and her nipples were hard under the thin silk. "Maybe if I weren't enjoying myself so much, my coordination would be better."

Dejan smiled slowly. "And you think that's desirable? That you prove to a man you're not enjoying yourself with coordination?"

But something in her eyes hardened. "I apologize for my clumsiness."

He recognized that mask. He saw it on Celine's face every time he met with her. Worse, he could remember a time when she hadn't worn it, when she'd been open and passionate. A broken heart had given Celine her mask, but she'd been older. High priestess already. Seeing that wary guardedness in a novice stirred something protective inside him.

Dejan came to his feet and circled slowly around her to give himself time to regain his balance. When he stood at her back, he lifted the heavy mass of her hair and brushed his fingertips along the side of her neck. She shivered. "Never apologize to me for feeling enjoyment. It's the only thing I want from you."

Her head fell forward, and she shivered again. "Are you good enough to take it?"

"I'm good enough to
give
it," he corrected, dropping his mouth to the soft skin under her ear. "Are you secure enough to accept it?"

Lexa hesitated. It was everything she'd heard from her first day in the Temple. The need that built in the warriors could only be soothed by the pleasure of a priestess -- penance to Luna for the violence visited outside the Temple walls, or maybe just a celebration, a reminder of life.

Some men needed to be led in the proper direction, shown how to touch. Dejan wouldn't, she knew that much. All she needed to do with him was let go.

She turned her face toward his. "I accept you."

Warm lips brushed over her skin, tracing the line of her jaw. "Tell me again what pleases you. Don't think about what I want to hear, just talk."

A blush heated her cheeks. "I do like those things. I'm not foolish enough to mislead a man just because the words are pretty." Though a little exaggeration never hurt, or the right combination of innocence and seduction.

"Then you're wiser than your fellow novices." The hand in her hair twisted, fisted in the strands and pulled her head back. "Do you know why I'm the best?"

Her breath caught. The other trainers she'd worked with had been attractive, but none of them had possessed the sheer sexual magnetism of the man behind her. A shocking desire coursed through her. "No, I don't."

His free hand came up to splay across her belly, the danger in its size and strength undercut by the gentle way he touched her. "Fifteen years ago, I came to this Temple feral. I'd been that way for four weeks."

Lexa had never heard of a warrior losing himself for so long and remaining intact. "Why?"

"I was a prisoner of the humans. Locked away in one of their lifeless steel cages. By the time I escaped, I'd been nine months away from the Temple." His mouth closed on the tender skin of her neck in a soft, quick nip. "The beast had taken over. They thought me lost, but Celine brought me to heel. But she couldn't give back everything I was."

Lexa couldn't even picture Dejan in a cage. Everything about him screamed confidence and freedom. Magic welled in her suddenly, the soft magic meant to soothe a wounded warrior, and she lifted her hand to his head. "That must have been horrible. I'm sorry."

He caught one of her fingers between his teeth, and his tongue stroked along it, hot and sinful. It sparked an even hotter fire in her, and she would have fallen if he hadn't been holding her against his body. "There's something else I like," she whispered.

His hand gathered her thin chemise. "What?"

"I assume you take great satisfaction in a woman's pleasure. So do I. I mean, in your pleasure. A man's," she clarified, her blush returning in full force. She didn't usually stammer. "Tell me what
you
enjoy, Dejan."

He chuckled and released her hair. His hands fell away from her, and he stepped back. "In good time, kitten. Undress me."

He wore the traditional attire of a visiting warrior -- loose linen pants and a light robe. She laid her hand on his chest, bare where his robe gaped. Her gaze was drawn lower, to the prominent swell of his cock through the linen.

Lexa swallowed hard and lifted her gaze to his as she pushed the robe from his strong shoulders. His muscles tensed and flexed under her touch, and she trailed the tips of her fingers down his chest and stomach, all the way to the tie at his waistband.

His hand rose again, strong, blunt fingers catching her chin and tilting her head back. He caught her gaze, his eyes dark. "This first time is play. I like to learn a woman, learn her limits and her body. Because I need to know before I let the beast free."

It sounded like heaven, and this time Lexa didn't try to calculate what would earn her the most intense reaction. She just bit her lip and untied his pants. "Play with me. I want to know too."

"You will." He caught both of her wrists, something dangerous flashing behind that dark gaze. "Finish undressing yourself first."

Instinct almost drove her to refuse. The silks worn under a priestess's robes were meant to be torn, ripped away in a symbolic claim. She'd presented herself to him already. Now it was his turn to take her.

Except he isn't claiming you,
she reminded herself as she reached for the high hem of her diaphanous slip. She could still see him as she drew the chemise over her head, and she watched his face while it fluttered to the floor.

The corner of his mouth curved up, as if he could read her thoughts. But then his gaze dropped from hers, sliding down her body. His smile faded, replaced with a flattering heat. "Stunning."

"And naked." She stood, bare except for the leather cuffs around her wrists and ankles. "Now what will you have me do?"

He raised his gaze to hers again and held it as he loosened his pants and let them fall to the ground. "Give me your wrists."

It didn't occur to her not to obey. The small metal circlets on the cuffs clinked as she held out her arms.

His fingers encircled them easily, wrapping around her wrists and the cuffs alike. He held them in front of her and smiled. "If you truly enjoy a man's pleasure... take mine."

He held her wrists as she knelt on the pillows. He stood at attention, hard and thick, and she licked her lips. She stroked her tongue slowly along his shaft and then sucked the head of his cock between her lips.

He rewarded her at once with a low, rumbling moan. "You like to tease, don't you?"

"Mmm." Lexa released him and traced the tip of her tongue over him in small circles, enjoying the texture of velvet skin over his rigid length. "You're not going to let me make you come right now anyway, so I might as well."

He pulled her wrists together and caught them both in one hand. His freed hand fell to her hair. "You don't know what I'll do, sweetheart."

She didn't, and the realization intensified the wet ache in her cunt. She stared up at him in challenge and opened her mouth. This time, she kept her lips slowly sliding down his cock until he bumped the back of her throat. His fingers tightened in her hair, and he hissed out a breath. "You
have
been practicing."

She moaned and sucked hard as she pulled back slowly. "Again?"

"You decide, kitten." His rough voice cut through her careful submission, sending a pulse of raw pleasure through her. "You said you like a man's pleasure. If you want me to come, make it so hot I can't help myself."

He was too composed, and Lexa was already shaking in his grasp. It made her angry to feel so vulnerable, and she growled softly. He might be jaded as hell, but he'd never had
her
before. "As you wish," she whispered, and lowered her mouth to him again.

She took her time, slicking her tongue over every inch of him before giving him her mouth again. It was impossible to hide her excitement, so she didn't try, just moaned around him when his grip in her hair tightened and he groaned, long and low.

His hips jerked, just a tiny bit, and he controlled the movement so quickly she knew he hadn't intended it. He wasn't as unaffected as he liked to pretend, and the knowledge sent another spiral of satisfied arousal shooting through her. More than that, it bolstered her confidence, and she looked up at him and intensified her efforts.

She kept it slow, gradual, but moved faster and longer until she was fucking him with her mouth. His gorgeous hazel eyes stayed fixed on her face as his breathing sped until he was panting harshly.

He growled the next time she took him, his fingers clenching for a heartbeat, and he came with a roar that sounded pleased and shocked at the same time.

Lexa kept him deep in her mouth while she eased him through his orgasm, then finally pulled away to lick her lips once more. "You don't know what I'll do either, Dejan."

"I suppose not." He released her wrists and smiled down at her, slow and lazy. "Get on the bed."

Her knees were weak, but she forced herself to her feet anyway. She reached it in steady steps, crawled onto it on her hands and knees and stopped to look back at him. "On my back?"

His eyes flared, and he crossed the space between them in two long strides. His large hands landed on her hips, his grip harsh. "Do you know what you do to a warrior when you taunt him like this? What you invite him to do to you?"

"Yes." Rough. Wild. Her breath caught, and she arched under his touch. "I know."

"You've never had a feral man take you." His fingertips trailed down her ass to graze her cunt. "Don't taunt a man unless you already ache for him."

Lexa almost rocked back against his hand, anything to ease the need. Instead, she rolled to her back and parted her legs. "I'll remember that."

His eyebrows climbed nearly to his hairline, the look in his eyes wild. "And you think this is less tempting?"

The expression made her bold, and she teased her toes up his thigh. "When did we establish
not
tempting you as a goal?"

He moved fast, snatching her ankle and flipping her over. She landed on her stomach, his body stretched out over hers. "If that's how you'd like to play..."

It
was
what she wanted, and the realization shocked Lexa too much for her to hide it. "I want to arouse you so much you can only think of me."

His lips brushed her ear. "Lift your hands above your head."

She stretched her arms out on the bed and clenched her fingers in the soft coverlet. "I wasn't taunting you. Well, maybe a little."

"A little is all it takes." His teeth closed on her earlobe, hard enough to warn, to show dominance and danger.

It sent pleasure shivering through her, and she arched up against him. "Warriors don't taunt. They take, don't they?"

"They're not mutually exclusive." His mouth jumped to the back of her shoulder to deliver another bite, a quick sting of teeth followed by a leisurely exploration with his tongue. "Any taunt you deliver to a warrior you'll get back a dozen times. They'll play with your body, learn what makes you beg and glut themselves on your pleasure."

His tongue on her skin made speaking difficult, and his earlier words came back to her.
This first time is play.

She could fight it, try to keep the upper hand and control him... or she could give in. Let him show her. Let him have his play, learn her body, and see how far beyond the edge her pleasure would take him.

Lexa shuddered and relaxed. "I'm at your mercy, warrior."

The words almost undid him. Dejan hissed in a breath and dug his fingers into the covers, his entire body tense and trembling. And hard -- Goddess, he was so hard. Unacceptable, even for a man with his incredible stamina. He wasn't a youth anymore, wasn't a twenty-year-old who would thrust into the heat of a woman's body and spend himself before she realized he was there.

Except he had. She'd nearly made a fool of him with her mouth and here he was, hard again and ready to sate himself in fast, furious fucking just because she whispered the words that unleashed the wildness inside him.

He bit her shoulder again, hard this time. "Don't say that again. Those words have power, and I'm not ready to give in to them. You're not ready, either."

She stiffened under him. "You chastise me when I act, yet you do the same when I give in. What do you want from me?"

Fuck. Pull it together.
He kissed her ravaged skin. "I'm sorry. That's something I should have told you at the beginning. My fault, kitten, not yours."