Deadly Sins Ch 03 Lust

Author's Note:

Thank you guys so much for taking time out of your busy day to read my story! I am very happy that everyone is enjoying.

Please continue to rate and comment.

And, without further ado, I present Chapter 3!

*****

A nightmare. It

had

to have all been a nightmare.

Rayn's eyes fluttered open and without looking at a clock she knew the hour was early, the lack of sunlight filtering through the mini blinds on her windows an excellent indication. Although she'd gotten less sleep than normal, her body was so use to waking at the same time each morning it was steadfast in its refusal to deviate from schedule.

She knew she would pay dearly for her body's unyieldingness, but also knew she wouldn't be able to fall back asleep. Whether she liked it or not, it was time to get up. She would just have to take a nap later or else take the chance of collapsing dead on her feet.

Stretching languidly, scenes from her strange dream re-played in her head, her nipples hardening as the most crucial moments lingered overlong. The clarity with which they came through was remarkable really, especially considering she normally didn't remember her dreams. Or, if she did, they didn't make sense with their farfetched content and lack of fluidity.

Finding yourself standing in your front yard one minute able to see in stunning detail every planet in the galaxy and the next finding yourself flying through that same galaxy with a colony of pig-headed penguins at your back just was not believable, asleep or awake. Not even to drug addicts caught in the effects of an ecstasy induced stupor.

But last night's dream was different and Rayn was able to pinpoint the exact moment her brain started its nighttime gymnastics. Absently she pinched one of her sensitive nipples through the thin fabric of the t-shirt she wore, musing the moment had happened shortly after she'd drunk that apple martini at Orgasm and returned home.

It was around that time her mind had created the very sexy Thane Wulff. And, Rayn had to admit, the events which occurred right after his conception hadn't been all that bad. They had been quite nice actually.

But the liquid heat pooling between her thighs belied her nonchalance. Thane was not "nice". Smoking hot with fingers of fire and a tongue of pure bliss was a hell of a lot more accurate description.

But the man had also seemed a touch bi-polar. His change from seductive to threatening had been instant. And it was with that transformation that the nightmare had begun. The weird sexcapades in Orgasm. Being stranded. Stripper heels.

Cael. That man was the icing on the cake, the reason she knew none of it was real. There was just no way in hell any man on the face of earth could truly be that insufferable.

Rayn continued to roll her bud between thumb and forefinger, her opposite hand inching down her belly to pull her shirt up around her hips. No underwear or shorts to hinder her exploration, one finger traced the outline of her outer lips, following the path charted earlier by her dream lover.

Her hips pushed up and thighs spread wide to allow her single digit access to play along the inner set before she burrowed it deep within her sex. But it was just a tease, not near enough to bring her to the edge as Thane had. Wanting more, Rayn added a second finger.

Increasing speed, two fingers pushing in and out furiously, Rayn ground her clit against her thumb. Slick sounds of wetness accompanied by her moans filled the air along with a fragrance she knew to be uniquely her own.

Jesus, she was getting close, so very close, the pressure building in her lower body screaming to be released. But she was missing something.

What

?

Then it came to her. Thane had begun with two...but concluded with three.

Roughly, Rayn shoved in a third finger, but it still wasn't what she needed. It wasn't until she remembered the intense look on the face of her bronze skinned, black haired, emerald eyed lover as her sex convulsed around his fingers that her body gave in, her sex convulsing identically around her own fingers.

Dazed, her eyes focused on the ceiling as a rhythmic knocking started from up above.

What in the world? Was that-

Oh, hell no

. Rayn extracted herself from under her comforter. She shivered as the cool air in her apartment touched her skin, the wood floors chilling the soles of her feet, but she refused to stay in her bed any longer. Not when Mr. and Mrs. Brown, who were eightyish, were doing lord knew what right above her head. They needed more privacy than what her ceiling, their floor and the floor joists in between the two were able to provide.

Drifting into the bathroom to brush her teeth and splash lukewarm water on her face, Rayn's mind turned back to her dream. Damn, but it had seemed so realistic. Thane's fingers...his mouth...her climax.

Climaxes

, she amended.

Totally

make believe. Mind blowing orgasms at the hands of complete strangers did not happen. Not to her. She wasn't that uninhibited.

Yet, even as her mind recognized that fact, it also recognized there was now a fundamental difference within her as evidenced by her recent actions. Before last night she would never have used her own fingers to touch herself, bring herself pleasure.

Okay, maybe she would have, but she definitely wouldn't have been able to do it without some sort of shame attached afterwards.

But now she felt...liberated. Alive. Felt as if some sensual part of her that had long slumbered was finally awake.

Maybe this was her mind's way of letting her know what her body was in need of. It had been months since she'd last let anybody touch her, pleasure her, satisfy her. To compensate for the neglect, her mind must have given her Thane.

Time to set that New Year's goal. It was a few weeks belated, but so what. Sometime during the upcoming months, she would open herself to dating again and, with any luck, find that special guy capable of eliciting a similar response from her body as Thane. Only in the corporeal plane.

Who was she kidding? No matter who he was, no man would ever be able to touch Thane's skills.

But that wasn't being fair. She couldn't use a figment of her imagination to set the standard. Unless she truly did desire to be single for the rest of life.

And, lord knew, she didn't need any man using porno star Pinky as the gauge for her abilities.

What she needed to do was just put it all out of her head for the moment. Thane. Orgasm. Her newfound sexuality. All of it.

Walking back into her bedroom, the glowing numbers on the digital display of the radio alarm situated on her nightstand caught her attention. It wasn't even six yet. She would give Nicki and Alexis another hour or so of recuperation before she disturbed them. But for now, Mr. Brown's loud groans dictated a glass of OJ was what she needed.

As Rayn neared the kitchen, she tensed on seeing light spilling into the darkened hallway. Being very conscious of her power bill, she rarely left lights on in a room she was not in. And never on all night.

Rounding the corner, she sighed in dejection at the sight of the large man dwarfing her tiny two person bistro, reading a newspaper. It was fast becoming apparent her nightmare was no nightmare at all.

"Bout time you came," Cael said on hearing her exhale.

Rayn's cheeks colored. Was he talking about...no. He couldn't possibly know what she'd been doing in her bedroom. She hadn't been loud. Had she? "Didn't realize my presence was required to entertain company I vividly remember stating I didn't want."

"I take it you're not much of a morning person," he observed dryly, slightly lowering the paper he held in his hands to regard her over the top.

"Or afternoon or evening where you're concerned," she mumbled, stalking to the refrigerator for the bottle of Tropicana. As she poured herself a generous cup, details from the previous evening poured into her mind.

She really hoped-

needed

-some of the wilder parts to be a dream.

Rayn sank into the opposite chair, glad the shirt which covered her body was knee length. This was her house and she was determined to be comfortable despite Cael's presence. It would've burned her ass if she had been forced to return to her bedroom to put on something more appropriate. "I have questions. And since you're here that means you get the pleasure of answering them."

"You can ask." The paper rose as he went back to reading the latest headlines. "But there are some things Thane will have to explain to you himself."

How nice of him to bring up the very person she wanted nothing more than to forget. "Thane can-" Never one to hold her tongue, Rayn nearly choked on it as she did just that.

She reminded herself she needed to play nice with this colossal stranger for two very important reasons: one, he was colossal and two, he was a stranger. And since the guy seemed to have a thing for his buddy, making Thane the subject of her acerbic wit probably wasn't going to be received well.

Taking a sip of her juice, Rayn then cleared her throat before continuing, "Never mind. Look, last night, did I, uh, did I chase..."

"Your sister around her house with a pair of scissors threatening to restyle what she kept referring to as her 'ridiculously expensive weave'? Yep."

"And did I...you know?"

"Catch her and nearly make good on your threat until I stopped you? Uh-huh."

Great.

Rayn massaged her temples hoping to prep them for the insistent pounding which would unfailingly start after her next conversation with Nicki. She didn't know what had gotten into her last night, but when she'd seen Nicki in her post coital glow it had triggered something feral in Rayn, flipped her psychotic switch.

Rayn had been rejected by Thane. It was very apparent, however, that no part of Nicki had been turned down by Cullen.

If Cael hadn't intervened when he did there was no doubt in Rayn's mind she would have gone to work on Nicki's hair with those scissors. Then gone searching for a serrated Ginsu to add the finishing touches.

"Afterwards?"

"Did you promise to go all Lorena Bobbit on me with the same pair of scissors?" He nodded his head. "By the way, Thane's woman or not, threaten my manhood again..."

After Rayn had shouted the threat, Cael had wrenched the scissors from her hand and tossed them far out of reach. After acquiring her keys from Nicki, he had then subjected Rayn to a sorely uncompromising hold, dragged her kicking and screaming out of her sister's house and deposited her into his Navigator. Calmly, he had requested directions to her house while ignoring her repeated protests for him to take her to her car.

"You are Thane's and he told me to take you home. So that is what I'm going to do," he'd finally stated. Hands on the top of the vehicle, he was wedged between her and the open door, effectively blocking her from getting out again.

The uncharacteristic fury she'd just experienced with Nicki surged a second time. "I am not Thane's. I don't know Thane. I don't want to know Thane. I just want to go home.

Alone.

"

"

Not happening

. I'll take you. Right after you give me the directions."

"To hell with you," Rayn spat. "Get out my way. I'll walk."

"Think clearly, sweetheart, even if I did take you to your car, I would just follow you. Bottom line is the same though. Thane wants me at home with you, s

o I'm going home with you

."

Unspoken was the threat that if she forced him to take such measures, he would still end up spending the night

inside

of her apartment whether she wanted him there or not. To him, a door was not a barrier. It was an annoyance.

And, just like that, as quickly as her anger came, it vanished. An acute weariness was left in its place and ready to crawl into bed, Rayn relented, giving Cael the directions.

"Still with me?" Cael asked, jerking her back to the present.

"Sadly, yes."

A small smile played along the edges of his lips. "Go pack some clothes. Thane will be here for you in a few."

"Jesus, is that the approach you always take whenever you want something? Just demand and expect everyone to obey?" Rayn questioned, before understanding the gist of his latest order. "Whoa, whoa, whoa...hold up. You told him where I lived? I didn't want you to know, much less him!"

"You are Thane's," he answered as if the words explained everything.

Mommy, why is the sky blue? Because you are Thane's.

Daddy, why is the world round? Because you are Thane's.

Sister, why are all men such blasted assholes? Because you are Thane's.

That last question and answer set would explain a lot actually. If she, being the incomparable Goddess of Beauty all women fancied themselves, was snatched away from all men by Thane, it would result in every man turning into an asshole when they found themselves settled with second rate quality.

But, good as that sounded, she was not the Goddess of Beauty. And, more importantly, she was not Thane's!

Folding the newspaper into neat corners, Cael laid it on the table between them. He pinned her with his frigid ceruleans. "For the moment, what you want is no longer relevant. Or haven't you noticed yet?"

Unfortunately she had. Because it certainly was no idea of hers to be trapped with Thane's henchman who, for whatever godforsaken reason, liked to remind her every five minutes the caveman personality was alive and well. Maybe Cael thought if he asserted Thane's nonexistent claim often enough, she would start to believe and act accordingly.

Right.

Meek had never been a part of her genetic make-up.

Standing, Rayn said, "I'm not going anywhere with Thane. And you can, in the words of your infinitely great friend, fuck off. He can too."

"You got five minutes."

"Fuck. You." Juice forgotten, Rayn stomped back to her bedroom, Cael's dark laughter trailing behind her. She slammed the door hard, taking pleasure in hearing the frame rattle.

Who the hell were these men? They threatened. They demanded. They snarled. They invaded her personal space.

They refused to leave.

But she wasn't the one. It was time to put an end to this one night stand gone horribly wrong. And from here on out, she would leave promiscuity to the professionals, Nicki and Alexis, because, apparently, they had a better understanding-

"I've been calling your cell all night," a malicious voice ground into her ear. "Wait, I almost forgot. Make that one whole long ass fucking year that I've been calling you with no answer."

With a lurch, Rayn's heart stopped beating then fell into her stomach.

*****

Impatiently, Thane sat in Cael's two door coupe, stuck at a red light. He was mere minutes away from the place his very being ached to be and his excitement was tangible, raging.

He couldn't wait to lay eyes on her again. His wolf couldn't wait to be in her intoxicating presence again. They both couldn't wait to come face-to-face with the completely unsuspecting woman they desired with a fierceness to rival the terroristic political repression tactics employed against the public in those countries that favored dictatorships.

He couldn't wait to see Rayn...the woman who was fated to die young in order to save mankind. Talk about a motherfucking double edged sword.

Thane's meeting with Amina hadn't produced the preferred results. Instead, it had simply served to reinforce what he already knew. Rayn had to die.

It was written. It was decreed. For fuck's sakes, it was what his pack had been created to do.

And it was unthinkable. If Rayn was killed, those responsible would pray their gods had mercy on them by allowing them to die by their own hand or that of another. Because once Thane got hold to them, and he would, their demise was going to be brutal, painful and bloody.

Goddamn it!

Thane punched the steering wheel, the horn sounding a loud protest in the early morning air. There was no

if

about her being killed. It was more of a

when

type of deal.

But he wouldn't let anyone harm her. If she had to die...he would be the one to take her life.

Thane's only reassurance he wouldn't be forced to such a low rested on Amina's shoulders. She'd promised to consult with the other elders to determine if any knew of an alternative. And though he hadn't warned her discretion was of the utmost importance, he knew she understood and would keep his confidence.

In the meantime, he planned to take Rayn back to his estate where it would be easier for him to watch over her, protect her. It was a hairy move to say the least.

The only other people outside of Amina he could trust with this highly sensitive information were his brothers, the males he shared no blood with but was tighter to than his own family all the same. And they would all react similarly to Cael: bitch for a minute, question Thane's sanity, then express their loyalty. Those males would lay down their lives for him in a heartbeat, and Rayn by extension, just as quickly as he would do the same for them.

However if any of the other pack members suspected Rayn's identity, there would be no second thought about harming her. Which would then force Thane to start practicing his castration skills. To be performed with a rusty blade. And no anesthesia.

Basically, this whole thing amounted to him bringing Rayn closer to protect her while simultaneously placing her in greater danger. And she unknowingly possessed the power to send them all to the fiery depths of hell. Wearing gasoline soaked underwear no less.

Screwed up circumstances three hundred and sixty degrees around.

And that was only the beginning of his problems. His wolf had bonded with Rayn and keeping her close would be dangerous with a high possibility of severe repercussions. It was just in the past hour he'd forced himself to stop thinking of her as his mate. The mental distance was a necessity, insurance, just in case Amina came back empty handed.

Or else he was in jeopardy of having both halves of himself fall in love with Rayn.

Which would just serve to complicate this already overly fucking complicated situation if he was forced to eventually kill her.

The light turned and Thane pressed down on the accelerator, the highly responsive sports car reacting beautifully to his need to dispose of the remaining distance between him and Rayn. Two left turns found him in the residential area he sought.

But...something didn't feel right. Thane surveyed the front of the apartment building he was closing in on. Most of the units were dark, the occupants enjoying the luxury of sleeping in on a Saturday morning with only a handful of lighted units interspersed throughout.

But Thane's sense of foreboding steadily increased even as the distance decreased. Rayn. There was something wrong with her. Even without the intimate connection that resulted only from the mating ceremony, the closer Thane got, the more he was able to feel something amiss.

Roaring into the parking lot, he slammed on the breaks and barely shifted the car into park before jumping out. Taking the stairs three at a time, he didn't let up on his breakneck speed until he was in front of a door on the third floor. He didn't bother allowing the occupants inside a chance to grant him access by knocking, instead using his shoulder to grant his own.

The first thing he noticed was the cloying, unmistakable scent of evil mixed with the acidic smell of Rayn's fear. The next was his Beta coming out of a small kitchen on the right, headed for a short hall.

Cael's hard eyes met his. "They're in her bedroom."

"Fall back," Thane demanded, sprinting past to the closed door at the rear of the apartment. Through the paneled wood entrance, he heard Rayn ask, "How did you get in here?"