Merrick's Maiden Read online

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  Addie breathed in deep, calming breaths on the journey back down to the lower levels. The one thing keeping her going was knowing that they would soon be rescued. Her face heated when she thought of what was about to happen. Glancing at the guard’s face, she knew there would be no help from him.

  I can do this. I know I can do this, she kept whispering to herself.

  What can you do? Merrick’s voice asked just as the guard opened the door pushed her inside.

  She would have fallen if not for Merrick standing, waiting for her. Panic erupted inside her until she glanced up into his eyes. They were burning with the dark flames again.

  “I… Rockman,” Addie swallowed. “Rockman wants me… She wants me to… Wants us to… Oh God.”

  Addie bent her head, unable to look at Merrick. How did she tell him they were supposed to make love? Hell, how was she supposed to do it when she couldn’t even tell him? She didn’t have a clue how far their rescuers were from them, but she really hoped they came in the next five minutes.

  She raised her eyes to him again when he gently tilted her chin back. Moisture pooled in them as she stared up at him. Confusion, uncertainty, and a sense of panic gripped her in its tight fists.

  “What does Rockman want?” He asked in a gentle voice.

  Addie bit her lip, wincing when she caught the tender spot between her teeth. Drawing in a deep breath, she stepped back and set her clothes down so he could see her. She knew that while she was uncomfortable in the dress that Rockman had given her, Merrick was not immune to it if the stunned expression on his face was anything to go by.

  “She wants me to seduce you,” Addie admitted in a soft voice. “She says if I don’t that she will kill you, then me.”

  “Addie,” Merrick’s hissed voice echoed in her mind.

  “I told her I wouldn’t do it, but she said if I didn’t,” Addie paused and drew in a shaking breath. “She said if I didn’t that she would dissect you in front of me. I honestly think she would do it, Merrick. I honestly think she is crazy enough to cut you up in the name of ‘science’.”

  She closed her eyes when he stepped forward and cupped her cheek in his large palm. Her breathing increased when he slid his other hand around her waist and pulled her close. Her eyelashes fluttered open when he drew her close again.

  “Look at me,” he whispered, rubbing his thumb along her bruised cheek.

  “I’ve never done this before, Merrick,” she admitted. “I always thought my first time would be special.”

  For a brief second, Merrick remained frozen. Even his thumb had stilled on her chin. It was as if he wasn’t quite sure of what she meant at first. Addie knew the exact second the translation connected with his stunned brain. A fury of color rose in her cheeks when his muttered curse exploded through her brain.

  Chapter 15

  Merrick had been suspicious earlier when the ‘tests’ had been cut short. He had been wary from the very beginning. It was true that most of the time, he was barely able to function. They had to keep him drugged up, to keep him under control. The few times he had managed to work the drugs out of his system was when he had been able to kill a guard or two.

  This time, not only had they not kept him partially sedated, the tests had been mundane. He had been chained to a device and told to run. After less than twenty minutes, the guards had removed him and taken him to a facility to shower. That was another first. Normally, he was restricted to whatever cleaning he could do with a damp cloth and the sink in his prison cell.

  He couldn’t imagine Rockman ordering him to bathe just so she could kill him. He had been in the middle of his shower when he had felt Addie’s jubilation. Relief and hope soared inside him when she told him that she had been able to call for help.

  He had thought the trembling in her voice had been from that. Now, he realized it was for a much different reason. When he heard the slight clicking of heels on the tile before she arrived, he had first thought it was Dr. Rockman returning. It wasn’t until the door was opened and he saw Addie’s golden hair and beautiful green eyes that he knew it was her.

  When the guard pushed her through the door, he had automatically reached for her. It wasn’t until she stepped back that he realized that she had also bathed and changed.

  Addie’s softly spoken words ‘Rockman wants me to seduce you’ had shocked him, but nothing prepared him for her next statement. Desire, the need to protect, and the primitive urge to claim all slammed into him at once. The loneliness he had felt, combined with the stress, melted away as he captured her lips.

  His fingers tangled in her long, blonde hair, holding her still as he continued to ravage her lips. A moment of regret surged through him when she winced, but even that dissolved when she started kissing him back. A long moan escaped them both when he slid his other hand down over her ass.

  “Addie,” he groaned. Tilting her head back, he looked down at her. “I will make this special for you. I promise.”

  He slid his trembling fingers down over her cheek before leaning down and tenderly brushing his lips across the bruised flesh there. He knew one way to help her through this. The chemical in his bite would heighten her pleasure and make her more receptive to him. From the little he had learned from RITA2, this was not something that a human male did for his female.

  The chemical was necessary for Prime females. It helped their body become more responsive and heightened their enjoyment. Without it, their bodies did not produce the necessary lubrication needed to accept the male. At least, that was what he had been told by his father and the other elders of his clan when he was growing up. He was not entirely sure how a human female became ready for a male, he could only hope that the chemical he released into her helped.

  Addie, I am sorry, Merrick whispered even as he felt his teeth elongate.

  Sorry for what? Addie asked before a loud gasp and startled cry escaped her.

  Ecstasy and relief washed through Merrick as he sank his teeth into the curve of Addie’s neck. A shiver escaped him and his arm tightened around her when she started to struggle. Instead of releasing her, he held her still, gently running his tongue against the skin of her neck while the chemical his body produced released into her.

  He knew the moment she began to feel it. Her skin flushed and her hands began kneading his back. The scent of her fear was quickly replaced with that of her arousal. Focusing, he withdrew his teeth from her flesh and ran his tongue over the two, small wounds.

  He may have lied slightly when he said he didn’t drink blood. While he didn’t in the way she was referring to, he did enjoy the coppery taste of her blood as he sealed his mark on her. A groan escaped him when Addie turned her face into his neck and pressed a hot, wet kiss to his skin.

  The groan dissolved into a low growl when she nipped his flesh. Knowing that she was an innocent was the only thing keeping him from taking her up against the wall. If she continued running her hands all over him, he just might forget that.

  “Addie,” he warned as her hands slipped lower to grab his ass.

  “I want you, Merrick,” Addie murmured as she continued to press hot kisses to his neck. One of her hands slid around in between them. “You feel so good.”

  Merrick choked back another curse when he felt her hand run over the front of him. All information that he had learned from the time he was old enough to discover how to please a female, vanished when she slid her hand down the front of his pants and wrapped her fingers around him.

  “Addie,” he groaned again, pushing against her soft palm.

  He pulled back far enough to grip the neckline of her dress. He hoped that she didn’t plan on keeping it. With a quick jerk, the material parted between his hands. Pushing the silky cloth off her shoulders, he muttered a curse when she released his cock and pulled her hand out of his pants.

  That curse died when she shrugged off the ruined remains of the dress and grasped the front of his pants at the waistband. He gaped down at
her when she slowly gripped both sides and pulled them down. In his dreams, he had imagined a female like this being his mate, but in reality, he had thought it would always be a fantasy… until now.

  Merrick’s eyes closed partially as Addie ran her hands up his legs. The warmth of her breath caressed his skin, making him clench his teeth as his cock responded. He remembered a vidcom that the first traitorous human male had shown him. It was one about…

  “Blood of the Goddess,” Merrick’s hoarse cry exploded in the room when Addie’s lips brushed the tip of his straining cock. His fingers tangled in her hair and he held her still while he willed himself to remain in control. Addie, you have to stop.

  I… don’t want to, she replied, looking up at him. If something should happen, either before or after your friends come…

  Do not think that, he growled, glaring down at her.

  I want to know, just in case. I want to feel alive, Addie continued. I want… you.

  Merrick pushed away the feeling of guilt. He didn’t know if it was Addie really speaking, a reaction to his bite, or a combination of his bite and the threat that Rockman had given to kill them. At this moment, he could understand her feelings about wanting to feel alive. After the months of constant pain, lack of sleep, and confinement, he thought he would never feel alive again. Now, gazing down at Addie as she looked up at him, he couldn’t imagine a life without her.

  “Addie,” he choked out over the lump in his throat.

  A soft, tender smile lit her face. Turning her attention back to her exploration, she leaned forward and pressed a kiss against his thigh. The shy look in her eyes before she turned her gaze down caused the lump in his throat to swell until he found it impossible to speak.

  Bending, he grabbed her hands as they reached for his throbbing cock. He was too on edge to let her continue. Her pleasure would come first, even if it killed him. He had sworn that her first time with him would be special, and it would be.

  Helping her to her feet, he kicked his pants to the side. Releasing her long enough to grab the bottom of his shirt, he ripped it over his head and tossed it aside. He swallowed hard when he got his first real look of Addie without the dress she had been wearing.

  Her long blonde hair had fallen over one shoulder and laid across her right breast. She was wearing a dark blue lacy garment that cupped them, pushing the large mounds up until they practically overflowed. His eyes ran down over her curvy figure.

  He liked that she was slightly plumper than the other human women he had seen so far. Dark blue lace covered her lower region, forming a teasing triangle that made him itch to uncover the treasure hidden beneath it. Reaching out, he touched the golden strands of her long hair. It was so different from the women of his clan. They all had black hair just as he did.

  “I want you, Addie,” he said, looking into her eyes.

  Addie’s eyes twinkled with mischief as her gaze ran down his body before returning to his face. A grin curved her lips and she tilted her head. The movement pulled the hair covering her breast away and he caught a hint of darker skin under the lace.

  “I can tell,” she replied. “Now, are you going to do something about it?”

  Merrick chuckled and reached for her again. This time, he wrapped one arm around her back and the other under her knees. Picking her up, he turned and laid her down on the bed. For just a moment, a flash of resentment rushed through him again at the narrowness of it. It was a reminder of where they were.

  Don’t, Addie said, looking up at him when he laid her down before slipping her high heels off her feet and tossing them aside. For just a little while, I want to forget where we are and what is happening. I just want it to be the two of us, no one else, just the two of us.

  Then, it will be just the two of us, Merrick promised. If we were on my world, I would take you up to my home in the trees. There, I would spread you across my bed and take you until the mist settled among the mountains. We would be the only ones. We would lose ourselves in the cloak of the mountain as she sleeps.

  His eyes softened when he saw the tears shimmering in her eyes. The whisper of her thoughts caressed him. For a moment, she could see the Eastern Mountains that he loved so much in his memories. He embraced them, pulling them forward so that she would feel as if she was there with him.

  Merrick continued to project the visions to her as he leaned down and brushed his lips across hers. When she opened for him, he deepened the kiss. His hands moved down, cupping her breasts in the lacy garment. With a flick of his fingers, he snapped the front clasp and released the lush mounds. A sense of satisfaction swept through him as he covered her body with his. Leaning on his left elbow so that he didn’t crush her, he continued to kiss her while he used the fingers of his right hand to tweak her taut nipple.

  “Merrick!” Addie gasped, turning her head and closing her eyes as he pinched her nipple this time. “Oh!”

  Merrick shifted his weight, placing his knee between her legs to force her to open for him. Sliding down her body, he continued to press hot kisses to her exposed skin. His heated gaze locked with hers as he hovered over her distended nipple. In slow motion, he lowered his mouth until she could feel the heat of his breath against her skin.

  He paused, waiting. The look of desperation in her eyes changed to determination when he continued to stare at her. He felt, more than saw, Addie’s hands move to grasp each side of his face. With a slight tug, she pulled his mouth down over her breast. A low cry of pleasure escaped her when he sucked deeply on the pebbled tip.

  “Yes!” She hissed. “Oh, yes!”

  A low rumble, almost like a purr, escaped him when the fragrant scent of her arousal touched him. Sucking deeply on first one, then the other nipple, he balanced his weight on his knees as he gripped the thin material covering her womanhood. Snapping the side, he tossed the ruined material to the floor when she lifted her hips.

  Unable to resist, he remembered a portion of the vidcom that spoke of a male pleasuring a female with his tongue. The idea of tasting Addie’s desire, of taking her, ignited the fire inside him that was quickly turning to molten lava. The feel of his cock, brushing against the covers as he leaned over Addie, just increased his sensitivity.

  He wanted her, needed her, with a hunger that defied anything he had ever experienced before. This was more than just a chemical reaction, this was something deeper, more emotional than just a physical need for release. Being with her filled an emptiness inside him and calmed the constant edge of feeling that something was missing inside him.

  Pressing his lips to the soft skin of her stomach, he glanced up to watch her face as he slid his fingers across her labia. The slick feel of her desire showed that she was just as affected by him as he was of her. He slowly pushed past the soft folds, enjoying the low groan that filled the air as his fingers sank into her liquid heat.

  “Merrick,” Addie cried hoarsely in a voice filled with laden desire and need, relaxing her thighs to encourage him to continue his exploration of her body.

  Shifting his weight, he emitted a low snarl of frustration. He pulled his fingers from her body and slid off the bed at the end. Reaching down, he pulled her down toward the edge of it and kneeled. He grasped each delicate calf in the palm of his hand and draped her legs over his broad shoulders.

  His eyes darkened to molten silver when he saw that this position opened her to him. His eyes flashed to hers. She gazed back at him, her arms over her head, clutching the top of the bed frame with her hands.

  “Stay like that,” he ordered, turned on by the thought of binding her wrists to his bed frame in his home. “Do not resist me, Addie. I am too close to losing control.”

  Her eyes widened in surprise, but she nodded her understanding. Merrick’s eyes returned to the glistening thatch of curly blonde hair and sweet warmth. He glanced up when he felt Addie pull him closer with her legs. Touching the soft curls, he was rewarded when she bowed upward into his touch.

  His fingers slid down along t
he slick folds and he carefully opened her to him. He had noticed every time he touched the small nub concealed within the soft folds, she would moan and jerk. Touching it again, he watched as her face flushed with pleasure and she rocked against his finger.

  Bending forward, he suddenly captured the hidden gem with his tongue. He slid two fingers into her at the same time, pulling a low shuddering cry as he pushed forward. A low growl escaped him when her legs stiffened and her heels drove into his back when he began caressing the nub as he slid his fingers back and forth, going deeper with each movement.

  He paused for a brief second when he felt a barrier prevent him from going deeper. In frustration, he nipped at the nub that he was teasing as he drove his fingers past it. Addie’s loud cry echoed and she froze for a moment. He waited, concerned that he had hurt her somehow. After a moment, she relaxed and began rocking her hips.

  Relief flooded Merrick and he pushed another finger into her as he teased the swelling nub. The next time Addie cried out, he knew he had brought her to pleasure as the warm ambrosia of her desire and blood flowed around his lips. Now, she was ready.

  Merrick was trembling as he carefully slid her legs from over his shoulders. He rose on unsteady legs and gazed down at Addie. Her body was limp, her face flushed and her lips slightly parted. His gaze moved from where her eyelashes lay like crescents against her cheeks to where her breasts rose and fell as she drew in deep breaths. Stepping to the side of the bed, he carefully lifted her higher on it.

  Her eyelashes fluttered opened and she stared up at him with dazed eyes. He gently settled her back against the lone pillow before he climbed over her body again. Her legs parted so he could slide between them. The movement opened her to his straining cock.

  Wrap them around my hips, he ordered in a hoarse, strained voice.

  Balancing himself on his elbows, he lowered himself over her. His body began to tremble uncontrollably when he felt the tip of his cock brush against the soft curls. Pushing slowly forward, he began to pant as her slick heat surrounded it.