A Vampire's Soft Embrace

by Caris Roane

  She headed into the hallway and back to the kitchen. She’d forgotten her glass. Oh, well. She’d get another.

  His voice followed her. “I didn’t come here for a drink.”

  “Then why did you come?”

  She turned in his direction as he entered her kitchen. He once more glanced around and again he scowled.

  “What, Dev? You don’t like my kitchen? Is that it?”

  He seemed to struggle within himself.

  She slid her gaze around her kitchen wondering why he found fault with it. She loved her soapstone counters and creamy white French cabinets. The uppers all had glass insets. The curtains above the sink were green toile, with a sweet country scene on them.

  It wasn’t a ridiculous space. So why was he scowling?

  She drew another glass out, smaller this time. “I need more wine. Sure you don’t want some?”

  “No. Thank you.”

  “Terse and scowling. Devyn, why did you even come here? I don’t understand. You don’t like my slippers and you apparently hate my kitchen.”

  She rounded the far end of the island and headed to the refrigerator. She drew the open bottle of wine out and filled her new glass. Full. She almost overflowed it.

  Setting the glass on the island, she leaned way over and sipped from the top. She had to hold her shirt up or her right breast would fall out the saggy side of her shirt. She wished she’d put on a bra.

  But who the hell cared, anyway?

  Once she brought the level of wine down, she picked up her glass and sipped some more.

  When he remained silent, she gave him a hint. “Have you forgotten how to talk?” Now she was scowling and pissed.

  “Why didn’t you tell me a mastyr had tried to abduct you?”

  Her heart jumped at the memory of the vampire’s cold hard grip on her arm. She shuddered. “I’m safe now and that’s why I called Vojalie. She’s going to have someone pick up provisions for me. Though I haven’t broached the subject yet, I think she’ll help me find a suitable mastyr. She knows everyone or at least she and Davido together do. Once I’m properly bonded, I won’t have to worry about Scarface.”

  “But you should have called me, Em. I want you to be safe. It’s important.”

  “Why is it important to you?”

  “We’re friends. We’ve known each other for five years. You were engaged to my brother.”

  “And we had sex and I ended your crippling chronic blood starvation. Don’t forget those things. Or have you already?”

  “That’s not fair.”

  Why was the damned man still so handsome even when his brow was split with a frown?

  She took a hearty drink of her wine. “Do you know what’s not fair? The way I felt when I kissed you that first time. With the stupid snow on your stupid navy wool coat over your stupid, sexy Guardsman uniform. Your lips were so warm and there was something else, Devyn, like this stream of energy that flowed from you into me. I think it wrapped around my heart and has had hold of me for five years. That’s what’s really not fair.”

  Glass in hand, she drew closer. “You know what else isn’t fair? I started building a new supply for you when you called and now I hurt. I haven’t created additional blood for the past week, not until you called. So, you see, that’s not fair.

  “You’ve done this to me, Devyn. You made me a blood rose. So, fuck you for coming over here tonight. It’s cruel and I don’t care if you hate my bunny slippers and my French cabinets and my sloppy shirt. I don’t care. Do you hear me? I’m going to learn not to care that you and I inhabit the same universe. I’ll figure it out somehow. See if I won’t.”

  Chapter Six

  Devyn knew the wine had hold of Emily. But in this case, she was speaking things from her heart. He knew what she was talking about, the same stream of energy that had wrapped up her soul had tied up his as well.

  She was wrong about one thing. He loved her shirt, her torn jeans, even her ridiculous slippers.

  He loved her house, her garden, the artistic way she put everything together, no matter what she did.

  He loved everything about her.

  But right now what he loved most was the scent of her summery wildflower blood.

  His nostrils flared and quivered. “You need to step away from me.” His legs shook. He was badly aroused, hard as flint.

  She was a blood rose. She was his blood rose.

  But she stayed put. “What if I don’t want to? What if I stayed right here?” She stepped another two inches toward him. “Or here.”

  He took her wineglass from her. She protested, but she was loose on her legs and unable to counter his move. He grabbed her with one arm around her waist and steadied her as he set the stemware on the soapstone.

  Sweet Goddess, he had his arm around her.

  He shook now head to foot. He could smell her blood and it was doing something to his brain. He leaned in, and swept his tongue along her throat where he’d fed from her before.

  She moaned heavily and slung her arms around his neck. “You’d better not fucking leave me in this condition.”

  Maybe she’d said something. He wasn’t sure. A fog had penetrated his brain and it was all sex, need and desire. He picked her up and headed toward her bedroom.

  He knew the way. He’d been to her home several times when she hosted a family dinner. He’d stolen into her bedroom just to be there. By then, she was living mostly at Kyle’s city apartment, but she’d kept her own place.

  Yeah, he loved her house with the French feel.

  He held her tight against him as he levitated. He didn’t want to bruise her arms or legs by moving too fast through the fairly narrow halls.

  The bedroom faced east, like her backyard. The same kind of windows in the sitting room were also in her bedroom. The skylight had a view of a panorama of stars. The moon was cresting and full, already high in the night sky. Pale light covered the bed.

  His blood was on fire.

  As he rounded the far side of the bed, she found his throat and latched on. She used her levitation to keep her body pinned against his. Because of it, he floated next to the bed, free to take care of business as he whipped the covers back with his free hand.

  He then laid her out beneath him, her lips making a sucking sound as she detached from his throat. He knew she was part vampire herself, an aspect of her genetics that seemed insistent on playing a role, even if she didn’t have fangs. He loved it.

  He tried to get her clothes off, but she kept attacking him. She giggled and cursed. She tried to work his zipper, but he stopped her before she did some damage.

  He was so far gone. He swore he’d walked into a cave of wildflowers now and her scent had him going mad.

  He ended up pushing her back on the bed and kissed her bare shoulder. He tried tugging her shirt up, but her arms were wrapped around him too tight.

  She kept giggling and it made him smile. Shit, when was the last time he’d felt anything but dead somber?

  He finally drew back. She leaned up on her elbows. She was smiling, her hair mussed, her lips swollen. She was a little drunk. “Okay fine. I’m not doing this right. Just get my pants off.”

  He removed her bunny slippers, then undid her jeans and pulled them down. As soon as he saw her bare sex, he almost stopped to use his tongue, but he knew it would be a mistake. He had to stick to his goal and get them both naked first.

  He removed his Guard coat and his woven shirt. That helped a lot.

  He managed his hip boots by sitting on the side of the bed. This turned out be a mistake because she jumped behind him and started sucking on his neck. Her hands were all over his pecs, his chest, his arms.

  His cock wasn’t small by any standards, which meant when aroused, the zipper and snug leather of his pants was a problem.

  “I need to stand up and you have to lie back down.” He shoved at her and she fell backward laughing. He turned to her, his lips curving. “And stay there, dammit.”

 
She curled a lock of hair around her finger. “Yes, Mastyr.” She was smiling, too.

  He worked carefully at his zipper which was where her gaze fell.

  He was charmed. He was fucking charmed because she was half-drunk and being herself. He was charmed by how much she wanted him and by the way her room looked like something from Paris with light walls, beautiful floral paintings, some etchings, a couple of nudes. She had an Eiffel Tower on top of her dresser. Ceramic fleur-de-lis glass dresser knobs. The drapes to the side of the window were olive green silk. Her headboard was ornate, cream and antique-looking.

  Emily was all about love, about passion, about amour.

  When he finally had his pants off, he turned to find her where he’d commanded her to stay. But she still wore her sloppy shirt, though nothing else. She had one arm lifted over her head. She was rubbing the emerald stud at the top of her pointed ear while she watched him. She looked him up and down and smiled all over again.

  “You’re a gorgeous hunk, Devyn.”

  He levitated in a swift move to hover over her, then lowered himself to take her ear, stud and all, in his mouth.

  She sighed gustily as he sucked.

  I’ve wanted to do that to you forever. You’re always rubbing your ear and it made me wish you’d be rubbing something else.

  As he settled himself on the bed, she eased her hand down his back. He felt her fingers go exploring just like he hoped, moving to the front of his body. Lower she went, down his abdomen until she touched the crown of his cock.

  She fondled him. “You mean rub you like this?” Her lips were against his cheek.

  Goddess, yes. Just like that. He licked lower until he was doing what earth-dwellers called Frenching-her-ear.

  It wasn’t exactly a French thing. In his experience, it was a pretty universal thing.

  She moaned as he sucked and she played with his cock. She ran her hand the length of his stalk then reached low to tease his balls. She shifted to use both hands. She was worshiping. He was savoring.

  His nose landed on her neck where the fragrance of her blood was strongest. He groaned and his cock jerked. He’d barely been doing anything and he was worked up to the tipping point.

  Sweet Goddess.

  ~ ~ ~

  Emily was grateful she was tipsy from the wine. It helped her not to care so much that Devyn was being a pain in the ass about Kyle. She needed to love him and love on him and use his body and play with him. Touching him right now had become everything.

  Her head had cleared a little, which was a good thing. She didn’t want to miss any part of this time with him.

  His mouth was already making sucking motions on her neck. But like hell she was going to let him get away with a quick draw then leave once more in another cloud of guilt.

  The way she saw it, circumstances outside her control had brought Devyn to her home. He wouldn’t be here otherwise. So, in her mind this could still be the last time she’d ever get a chance to be with him. For all his fine qualities, he was a stubborn vampire.

  She pushed at him. “I have an idea.”

  He drew back to look at her. Though he was frowning, he gave her room to move out from under him. She levitated then turned midair to land on his back. Not bad for a woman who’d had half a liter of wine less than an hour ago.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Taking what I want.” She might as well be up front. She stretched out on top of him, her front to his back, and felt him relax beneath her on the bed.

  “Don’t think,” she added.

  He chuckled softy which caused her to bounce a little. She loved it. “How well you know me,” he said.

  “You’re here with me, for whatever reason, and I want this time with you. Are you gonna let me have it?”

  “Oh, I’m going to let you have it.”

  She chuckled again. She couldn’t help herself. Devyn didn’t joke often. She took it as a good sign. It also sounded like, at least for this moment, he’d accepted the inevitable.

  She pressed her arms against his shoulders and hugged him. She savored the warmth of his big masculine body. She wiggled to feel every part of him, his strong back against her breasts, the soft yet muscular shape of his ass, the backs of thighs. She even rubbed her feet over his ankles.

  When he spread out his arms, she did the same, laying hers on top of his. “I love you, Dev. Always have. Always will.”

  She felt him take a deep breath and release a heavy sigh. Her body rose and fell with his.

  She smiled as she asked, “But do you know what I’d really like right now?”

  “What?”

  “It was something I used to fantasize about doing with you, but I’m not sure you’ll want any part of it.”

  “Okay, now I’m intrigued.” He lifted up a little and craned his neck to look at her.

  She took a moment to remove the woven clasp that held his long Guardsman hair away from his face during battle. She tossed it in the direction of his coat. She smoothed out his hair. “I want to be on my knees, on the bed, and I want you to take me from behind. But I want you feeding from me at the same time. Is that something you can see yourself doing?”

  He growled softly and the tips of his fangs showed. His mating frequency suddenly dove inside her chest and made a trip around her own frequency. She gasped at the sensation. “I take that as a yes?”

  “It is.”

  She moved away from him so he could switch positions. Once levitating above him, however, he reached for her and pulled her down on the bed. She squealed and laughed as he flipped her over, then guided her to a soft landing on her stomach. She loved being man-handled like this. Even when he was rough, the damn vampire had a light touch she loved.

  She lifted up on her knees immediately and arched her back. He was directly behind her and took a moment to massage her bottom. “You are so beautiful, Em. Every bit of you.”

  She couldn’t believe how comfortable she was with him. In some ways, it was as though they’d been lovers forever.

  He leaned over her and pushed her hair away from her neck. He kissed her below the ear. “Thank you for this.”

  “I want it, too. I need it.”

  Because his hair was so long, it fell to either side of her. She could see the windows and her garden through the spaces where his hair separated. She smiled. She hadn’t expected to ever have this particular view.

  But he drew his hair away, shoving it behind his neck no doubt to give himself a clear path to her throat. His rigid cock rubbed against her sex. She tilted her pelvis, encouraging him to do exactly what she wanted. She felt his hand as he held his cock then began to push his way inside.

  A delectable shiver traveled her entire body, especially when his mating frequency began moving more quickly over hers. She closed her eyes and savored each part of the experience, from his cock driving in and out of her, to his lips kissing a line up her neck, to his mating frequency swirling over hers in a way she could only describe as erotic. The whole time, she smelled lemons and oak.

  She supported herself on one forearm as she reached up and stroked his face with her hand. “Bite me, Dev. I want you to. Take what you need.”

  He grunted as he angled his head. She returned her hand to support herself on the bed and once more licked her neck. She held herself very still and he quieted his hips. She could feel him placing his mouth and his fangs in the right position. A second later, he pierced her skin, penetrating to the right depth.

  As soon as he began to suck, everything shifted to a different level. She didn’t feel completely inside her body. A mist moved through her mind.

  His scent rose all around her, lemons and oak, as he thrust into her, building her toward release.

  She was realm, both animal and spirit. She was fae and vampire. She was a powerful time-pather with increasing abilities. She was a blood rose.

  As had happened last time, she was able to create a kind of convergence of time and suddenly they were both in the
past, back at the coffee shop and she was kissing Devyn.

  The dual experience flooded her body.

  Holy fuck, Emily. I can feel you kissing me in the coffee shop again. We’re in both places like last time, but how are you doing this? His voice sounded strained, yet exhilarated

  She didn’t want to disturb the moment by speaking out loud, so she stayed with telepathy. I don’t know exactly. But it has to be a form of time-travel. I can feel your lips on mine in the coffee shop. Yet, at the same time, I know you’re feeding from me here in my bed.

  Sweet Goddess, Emily. His hips moved faster and he sucked harder. There’s a mist covering my mind. I’m with you. But the sensations, they’re like fire. And I love that I can feel that kiss again even while drinking you down.

  His telepathic voice sounded deep and masculine. I can feel the urgency I experienced back then. I wanted so bad to take you out of the coffee shop that night. In those split seconds. I wanted to take you home with me. I wanted to make love to you.

  Me, too. So much.

  I want to do something with you right now, Emily. You willing?

  Totally and completely. I’m yours.

  With that, he swiped the wounds on her neck then drew back. The mist moved out of her mind as it must have for him as well. She was back in the present.

  He pulled out of her, then slowly rolled her over, onto her back. “I know you wanted to be on your knees, but I want to do what I’d envisioned in that moment.”

  She nodded. “Yes.” But tears bit her eyes. To have the two experiences converge had tackled her emotions to the ground.

  He pushed her legs apart and entered her again. Slower this time.

  She loved feeling his cock pushing inside her. This was Devyn, what made him a man. Time seemed to slow in a really good way. She saw the clarity of his brown eyes, the straight strong line of his eyebrows, the angle of his cheeks, the fullness of his lips.

  He dipped down and kissed her. She arched her neck to receive him and gasped lightly. He began to thrust into her sex in long, slow glides. His lips plucked at hers, his tongue rimmed her mouth. As she opened, he dipped inside.

  This is what you wanted that night?