“Thalia…” I faltered slightly because I’d never spoken her name out loud since her death. “She joined our group after two years had passed since the mass turning. We got along so well, it felt completely natural when we became lovers. I would’ve taken my vows then and there and become mated to her for eternity.” My tears mixed with the water on Dom’s back. “Thalia died protecting humans from the sharks, she took her last breath right in my arms.” My arms tightened around him and I felt my ribs contract with the pain of losing her all over again.
Dom let my hand go and turned to face me. His warm hand came up to stroke my cheek as he studied me with his blue and brown gaze, and he leaned down slowly enough where I could’ve stopped him if I wanted to, only I didn’t want to stop him, and when he hovered just above my lips, I captured his with my own and we kissed under the shower of warm water with a passion that rivaled that of my parents.
Fuck, it had been so long, so long since I’d felt passion. I devoured Dom’s kiss like he was my next meal, and he pushed us until my back was against the cold tile wall. I wrapped my arms around his thick neck, deepening our kiss, his hands coming up my sides until our lower halves were flush against each other, and I felt that hardness again.
I broke our kiss to stare up into his eyes, one blue and one brown, and I told him my deepest secret, one that had me fearful he would pull away if he knew the truth. “I’ve never been with a man before.”
He did pull away, and I felt ridiculous for a torturous second before he gently took me back into his arms and kissed me like Arthur kissed my mother, like I was a precious gem, delicate and beautiful beneath his hands. “We don’t have to do anything. I just need to kiss you, god, you’re driving me crazy.”
Our lips came together again, lifting me up on my tip toes to be closer to his massive height, and his hands came around me, picking me up to wrap my legs around him. With some adjustment, he pressed me into the wall more and aligned our centers until that hardness was against my heated core with only our underwear between us. Even with that barrier, I felt trepidation at the foreign feeling of his erection against me.
He felt my limbs shaking and kissed me gently. “I won’t hurt you, I promise. I’d never ever hurt you, Kitty.”
His hips moved and I gasped, feeling us rub together. “Because my dads will kick your ass, Arthur most of all?”
Dom laughed, shaking our bodies together and making me gasp again. “He’d shoot me if he knew what I was doing to his daughter right now.”
Breathing heavily, I met his eyes and pushed down my fear. “Do more.”
Pure desire enflamed his eyes, bending for another scorching kiss, and he started slowly rocking into me, the hardness of his cock rubbing along my cloth covered folds, hitting my clitoris just right. I moaned and clutched his head to me, anchoring myself on him as I was pulled into the new sensations he brought.
His hips moved in a measured pace, bumping me into the wall with every thrust forward, the showers not quite drowning out the sounds coming from me that Dom was starting to match with his own. The low, guttural moans escaping his lips were fueling the fire inside me, and though we’d only just started, I felt myself rising higher, the pleasure of his movements making me come undone.
I forgot where I was, I forgot our mission, the dangers ahead, I forgot everything except Dom’s gentle embrace, the feeling of him against me, and that I needed more of him. Before I could ask him to set me down so we could remove our underthings, his cock rubbed me at the right angle and I gripped his head so tightly I could smell his blood.
“Don’t stop, fuck,” I groaned out, pulling his lips to mine to quell my screams. I mewled against his mouth, his thrust sped up, and I was so close to climax I almost forgot to breathe.
“Christ, Kitty,” Dom swore against my lips. “Come for me, I’m going to…” He cut off, moaning, biting into my neck to muffle himself, and the slight pain sent me over, I was coming against him as his hips jerked with every push, signaling his own climax. He slowed as my body was still shuddering, but he held me close so I wouldn’t fall.
Mid-sigh, clarity stole away the pleasure running through me. What had I just done? I was trying to find my brother, I couldn’t waste time boning Dom. And what if he’d hated it? He seemed to enjoy being with me, but he could’ve faked it. Fuck me. Not literally, but fuck, I couldn’t do this. I couldn’t be with a man because I had no idea what to do. Dry humping was one thing, but I hadn’t even seen a penis before.
Was it a pity fuck?
“Kitty, are you okay?”
Suddenly feeling the need to vomit, I pat his arm for him to let me down, and I scurried out of the bathroom so fast I almost slipped on the wet floor.
21. There’s always time to flirt
Kitty
After I’d dried off and gotten dressed again, I left the showers to see Shadow licking himself by the empty pool. When he came out from the showers, I avoided looking at Dom as much as possible while I climbed into the empty pool and set my tent up inside it.
I was the most confident warrior this side of Salvation, but I’d choked with a gorgeous man making not-quite love to me. I was a fucking pussy.
Dom had his own sleeping bag, but he didn’t bring a tent with him. Tough luck, sir. My tent only sleeps one. Me. You and your fucking amazing orgasm that made my toes curl can sleep outside. I got inside my tent and zipped it shut to keep him and Shadow out. Dom rustled with his stuff, setting up his sleeping bag and getting something to eat from his backpack, dried fruit by the smell of it.
“Thank you,” he said after we’d been silent for at least thirty minutes. Thank you for the orgasm? “I know telling me about Thalia wasn’t easy. You’re not the type to share with just anyone, just like Arthur.” Humph. Awfully pretentious of him to presume things about me. Even if he was right. “I hope I’m worthy of that trust.” With the tent fabric in the way, I couldn’t see his face, but I could tell by his shadow he was looking in my direction. “Maybe we could kiss again and make it better?”
Fuck.
“No kisses, or anything else,” I said quickly, moving away from the tent door. “I’m not in the habit of doing any of what we did with strangers. You don’t even know me.”
He paused, and I felt my pulse thumping along my throat. “I’d like to.” When I didn’t answer, mostly because there was a lump in my throat, he laid down on his sleeping bag and I saw Shadow curl up next to him. “I’ll be here waiting, and when you’re ready for more, let me know.”
As if.
It took forever to fall asleep, maybe because of all the pent-up energy I’d gotten from thinking about Dom’s smooth, beautiful lips, or maybe because I wasn’t sure if I hated the idea of him unzipping the tent door and stripping me naked again, even though I was still terrified about it. Gods, I felt like a teenager again, stressing over boys and crap. I didn’t have time for this. I had to find my brother, and we had to return to Salvation to make sure my family wasn’t killed in the rebellion. There was no room for fucking.
I didn’t realize I’d dozed off until a loud bang echoed off the walls of the pool, snapping me awake. Jumping up, I grabbed Artemis and almost ripped my tent apart unzipping the door flap. Dom was sitting on his sleeping bag, opening a can of food with a can opener, and he looked up at the twin barrels of my gun.
“Don’t shoot,” he joked, and tossed me one of his cans of food. “I dropped mine, sorry if I woke you up.” He handed me the can opener when he was finished, his can wafting with the scent of baked beans, and my can turned out to be the same thing. I started eating, avoiding Dom’s face, and we both scooped out a handful for Shadow at the same time, smiling timidly when we saw the other doing it.
Fuck, no smiling!
“I’ve fed from the bleeders, so let’s get going as soon as we’re done.”
I nodded and took a mouthful of beans, chewing and letting the savory flavor of bacon and maple syrup fill me. I definitely wanted to get used to eating real
food again. “Were they all drugged out?” I saw him nod with a frown out of the corner of my eyes. “Too bad we can’t get them to donate more to bring with us. We don’t know where the next bleeder town will be. I can make it on shark blood, but you can’t.”
That’s when Dom smiled at me and I raised my eyebrows, looking over at him finally. “I might’ve negotiated further once they’d sampled the goods.” He shrugged unapologetically and patted a fabric ice chest next to him he must’ve had in his bag. “Brought it with me just in case. It has a battery pack I can recharge to keep the blood cool.”
“You sneaky bastard,” I appraised with a grin, and he shrugged a second time, matching my smile.
I wanted to touch him again.
No! We weren’t doing that. We had to find Jason.
We finished our canned beans and left the pool with Shadow at our heels. The humans were all asleep in the bar, so we left them where they lay and drove out of town. With both of our stomachs full, we wouldn’t need to drink again for days if it came to it. I was used to being thirsty, and I assumed Dom was as well.
Driving down the unending roads, I could feel Dom’s breath against my neck, and it made every nerve ending on my body feel like an open flame. To say I was frustrated by the time we made camp was an understatement. Dom brought out a hand crank and plugged it into his cooler to charge the battery. He cranked away at the handle while I set up my tent.
“Don’t suppose you’ll share that tent with me tonight?” he asked me, looking away to not seem obvious.
“If I do, that’s all I’ll be sharing.” He nodded distantly and cranked more, the sound much louder than I liked. We didn’t want a shark invasion on our hands. Every so often he checked the battery percentage and continued cranking. Shadow sat next to him, his ears twitching from the noise as he tried to fall asleep.
Despite the racket Dom was producing, the night was still and quiet, and I enjoyed the lull in our journey as I chewed on some jerky and stared at the night sky. With the city lights gone, I could see the smoky clouds of the Milky Way, all purples, blues, and pinks. I’d seen it every night for twenty years, but I’d never actually sat and stared to appreciate the beauty of it all. It wasn’t in my nature to stop and admire the roses, but maybe, after all this was over, I could finally stop moving long enough to do so.
Dom checked the battery one more time and stopped cranking, satisfied with his work. He set the crank back inside his backpack before moving past me to crawl inside the tent I was sitting in front of, barely brushing my leg and causing a shot of heat to go over me.
“Ahhh, comfy,” he said once he’d laid out his sleeping bag and gotten comfortable. With a turn of my head, I saw him fully zipped up into his sleeping bag like a vampire burrito. “See? I’ll keep my hands to myself.”
I wasn’t worried about him keeping his hands to himself. I was worried about my growing need to put my hands on him.
Shadow joined Dom in the tent, and with one last look at the sky I did as well, bringing our bags in and zipping the front up. I wasn’t fully joking about the tent being only for one because we were squeezed together inside with hardly any space left. I put my head where Dom’s feet were and got comfortable with my little pillow, even though Shadow was perched right at the apex of my thighs to keep warm. I reached a hand down and pet at his head, and he started purring.
“Now would be a great time to make some pussy jokes,” Dom joked in a whisper, and I knocked my hand against his leg in punishment. “I’ll behave, I promise. But I give great foot massages, just in case you’re interested.” I pulled my feet away from him and he laughed behind his hand. “I’m sorry, I can’t help it, Kitty. You’re so easy to tease.”
Humphing, I rolled over to face away from Dom, upsetting Shadow. “I don’t have time to flirt. I have to find my brother.”
“There’s always time to flirt,” Dom retorted, but he didn’t speak again until I fell asleep.
22. Shark attack
Kitty
“It’s definitely broken,” Dom pronounced, his head on the ground beneath my motorcycle.
I kicked at the dirt, bringing up a cloud of dirt. “Fucking damn it,” I swore, kicking more in frustration and letting out several swear words for good measure.
“Let’s stay calm, kitty cat,” Dom suggested unhelpfully.
“What did I fucking say about calling me that?” I hissed at him.
“That you’d empty a round into my testicles?” I groaned for a good ten seconds and started pacing the dirt road. “We can still walk. We’re almost to the Texas border, it won’t take long to get to the farmhouse. Maybe a few weeks.”
“Weeks?” I shrieked, turning sharply towards him and bringing up another cloud of dirt. “I don’t have weeks. My family could be hurt, or arrested, or dead. Or all three.”
Getting up, he dusted his jeans off and pat his hands together to get the dirt off them. “Your mother sent you on this mission because of that. She knew they were in danger, and if they didn’t make it, at least you’d have your brother.” He picked up his bag and started down the road without me.
I stomped my foot in anger. “Where the shit are you going?”
“Here, kitty, kitty, kitty,” he beckoned to me with his middle finger up.
Gods damn him.
I picked up my bag and left the broken motor cycle on the road. She’d served me well for many years. I’d miss her. Still, I had Artemis, who would come in handy if Dom called me kitty cat again.
“I spy with my little eyes,” Dom joked once I’d caught up with him.
“A dead man?” I offered, smiling sweetly.
He pursed his lips and reminded me of the way Knight looked when he was mock offended. “You’re not going to kill me, kitty cat.”
Grrrrrrrrr.
“Pray tell, future corpse,” I ground out, kicking at some plants on the cracked pavement.
“Because if you’re ever in a bind, I’m your only food supply.” He pointed a finger gun at me with a thousand-dollar smile.
Taking a deep, measured breath, I gave him the courtesy of not shooting him.
“I feel the need to remind you how short tempered the women in my family are.”
“A fact Arthur mentioned often,” Dom said with a chuckle. “He loves your mom’s temper.”
With a groan, I clamped my hands over my ears. “Lalala, I don’t need to hear that.”
Shadow ran ahead of us and jumped from one large pile of pavement to the next in a black blur, only stopping to munch on the green grass every so often, because that was the food of champions. Or he needed to throw up. Either way.
“I’m quite enjoying yours as well,” Dom said casually, not looking at me as we talked. I didn’t respond, just put one foot in front of the other so I wouldn’t have to deal with the turmoil inside me. “I know you’re scared of me. I don’t care that you’ve only been with girls before now. If you want me as badly as I want you, nothing else matters to me. But if you say the word, I’ll never touch you again. If that’s what you want.”
“I do,” I responded quickly, feeling sick to my stomach from the words. I wasn’t even sure I meant them.
Dom went quiet after that and he pulled up his skull mask to keep his mouth clean from the dirt in the air, or just so he didn’t have to talk to me. We walked for hours without speaking, and while I was ecstatic for the silence, it was also penetrative, and I didn’t want to fall inside the pit of my thoughts.
Oddly, I wasn’t thinking of Thalia at all. Somehow talking about her out loud had let me finally gain perspective on losing her. No, I was thinking of Jason, and my vision of him sickly and alone. Was that what awaited us?
Maybe he was dead.
What would I do if he was? What if I went back to Salvation and they were all dead too? I’d be alone again. And this time, there’d be no quest for my missing family to hold me together.
Immersed in my thoughts, I tilted my head to look at Dom beside me with his face hal
f covered by a skull mask and his blonde hair so covered in dirt, it was almost a different shade. He might stay with me, even after me rejecting him. The question was, did I want him to?
Dom blinked several times and reached a hand up to wipe at his eyes. Without goggles like mine, dirt was dotting his vision and he stumbled on a large pile of roots covering the road. I reached out for his hand and caught him before he could fall.
“Thanks,” he said, still trying to clean his eyes out with his dirty hands.
I came up close to him, so close our breath was mingling, mostly so I could block the dusty wind from his face. My body longed for him, and I told it to stop being a needy whore. “We should try to find the closest supermarket. They’ll have goggles so you can cover your eyes.” He nodded, and still holding his hand, I led him down the road, keeping in front to try and block the dirt as much as possible as Shadow followed behind us.
Our little caravan made it to a supermarket just before dusk, and we barricaded the doors before exploring the vast building. Shelves of packaged food, racks of clothes, and all the things a good supermarket needs awaited us. Most was aged with time, but since the building was still intact and the doors had been closed, it kept everything clean from the ever-blowing dust bowl.
The Born Vampire series: A Reverse Harem Paranormal Romance (The Complete Series, NSFW Edition) Page 78
