Devour Me. Lydia Parks

swallowed hard. The white shirt he wore showed off more of him than the black one had. In the kitchen she’d been too uncomfortable to look very closely. Now she had a chance.

      He had to be well over six feet tall, his shoulders and chest were broad and muscular, and his belly showed no hint of a bulge. He must spend a lot of time working out. Jones was obsessed with working out, and he’d never looked half as good.

      There was something truly different about this man, however. Star tried to find a single word for it, but couldn’t. He had an air of authority about him, as if he were used to having his orders followed without question. And even in his own home, he seemed a little out of place. He was…what was it?

      Realizing she was staring, she mentally shook herself. “Uh, these are your books?” She used Call of the Wild to point to the bookshelf.

      “Aye, that they are.” He clasped his hands behind his back and stood with his feet spread.

      “How many of them have you read?”

      “All of them.”

      Was he serious? There were more books here than she could read in fifty years. “Holy crap,” she muttered.

      His eyebrows arched up and one corner of his mouth rose.

      Heat crawled up her throat to her cheeks. She hated being laughed at.

      Clenching her jaw, she marched to the bookshelf, slid the book back into place, and then turned to leave. “Good night.”

      “Wait.” He grabbed her arm.

      Star tried to jerk her arm from his grasp, but nothing happened. Although he wasn’t hurting her, his grip was like a vise she couldn’t shake. “Let go.”

      “Don’t leave.”

      Something in his voice stopped her. She looked up into his dark eyes and saw raw emotion that caused her chest to clench. She saw sadness, and loneliness, and a hint of desire.

      Her belly did somersaults.

      He drew her slowly toward him until they stood inches apart and he towered over her.

      She fought to drag air into her lungs.

      His gaze slid down from her eyes to her mouth, and she began to tremble.

      Was he really going to kiss her?

      God, she wanted him to kiss her. She wanted to know how his arms felt around her. As he leaned close, she caught a scent of wildness—the woods, wind, and dewy grass.

      He caressed her jaw and drew her mouth up to his.

      When his lips met hers, a jolt of excitement shot through her. His lips were cool and moist, and they demanded surrender.

      Star sucked in a breath of surprise.

      He drew back, then cocked his head and took her mouth completely, parting her lips.

      She clung to his shirt.

      His hand slid up her arm and across her shoulder, and he encircled her.

      His tongue tested, explored, seduced. And she welcomed it.

      God almighty, was this what a kiss was supposed to be like?

      Her entire body turned to mush. She might have collapsed if he hadn’t held her.

      She melted against him, warm mush to a wall of cold steel, and a soft, vibrating groan rose up through that wall.

      They crashed into the bookshelves and he pinned her there with his weight as he drew her legs up around him. He tore his mouth from hers to press it to the side of her neck.

      His hips bruised the insides of her thighs as he pushed against her, and his chest flattened her breasts. Bookshelves dented lines in her spine.

      Christ. If she could have reached his waist, she would have ripped his pants open. But all she could do was push back, thrusting her crotch against his bulging hard-on.

      And what a bulge it was. The feel of it swelling against her liquefied her insides.

      With a handful of his hair in her fist and clinging to his massive shoulders, Star dropped her head back to a shelf.

      Benjamin kissed her bare throat, and sucked on it, probably leaving a hickey. She didn’t care, she just wanted more of him.

      His right hand rode up under her T-shirt to the side of her breast, and his thumb slipped across her nipple, creating lines of electricity between his touch and her crotch.

      Her clit swelled with need and juices gushed from her pussy.

      With one hand on her ass, he drew her up against him and eased her down, using her throbbing pussy to stroke his erection through their clothes.

      No one had ever caused her body to do such crazy things. Goose bumps covered her from head to toe, and she shook with desire.

      He covered her jaw and cheek with hungry kisses, took her mouth again as she struggled to breathe, and then locked his lips on the side of her neck as he rubbed harder, faster. Her neck tingled and then warmed.

      Her body exploded with pleasure that quivered through her backbone and bounced off the bottom of her feet.

      Gripping him tighter, she cried out. Amazing tremors of satisfaction racked her body and fogged her brain.

      And the world disappeared.

      Benjamin dragged the back of his hand across his mouth as he knelt beside the sofa. Star’s eyes moved back and forth beneath the lids as if she fought monsters in her dreams. Had she sensed the beast she’d just held while awake?

      He hoped not.

      He hadn’t meant to bite her, or even to kiss her. What was it about this mortal woman that drew him like a moth to a flame?

      The intensity of her emotions had taken him off guard. He’d wanted all of her as a result, and that terrified him. When had he even come close to making a mistake such as this?

      Never. Not since Cassandra taught him how to control the minds of his victims and leash his hunger.

      But he’d sensed Star’s strength, even before he tasted her blood. Perhaps he’d felt it when he first met her. Something had caught his attention.

      Now he knew it, the strength. She’d faced many difficulties in her short life and learned to survive alone. She didn’t need anyone. She stood with fists at the ready, protected by a wall of stone.

      Damn. He wanted more of her, even now as she lay unconscious. The small holes in her skin puckered and lightened as he watched. If he drank from her again, she wouldn’t heal so quickly.

      Benjamin pressed his lips to her warm forehead and pushed forward peaceful thoughts. Then he staggered to his feet. Plucking Call of the Wild from the shelf, he opened it, placed it face down on Star’s stomach, and rested her hand on top of it.

      He must leave before she woke, and he wanted to be alone to enjoy the remnants of her in his system.