Blood by Moonlight

by Jocelynn Drake

  "Apparently, you don't know my habits very well. And you came armed." He held the gun up to her, then dropped it to the floor.

  She felt faint. What had she been thinking? Clearly, her desperation to find Britt had made her foolish.

  He leaned close and sniffed the entire length of her cheek, then her ear. He groaned. He drew back and met her gaze. "You shouldn't be here, Jenna." He ground his hips into her.

  So like a vampire, all sexed up just because he had a victim close at hand.

  But damn, the vampire was handsome. His eyes were an exquisite blue-green surrounded by thick black lashes. He wore his hair long to his shoulders and it was a fine look on him. His features were strong with sharp angles, his brows a pair of slashes above his eyes that suited his face. He could have been a model.

  He smelled wonderful too, like a mesquite wood fire. And as he leaned close and once more kissed her ear and cheek, now her jawline, her mind grew very loose. All her energy became focused not on forcing Treyne to do anything, but on the feel of his lips as he suckled just below her ear.

  She wanted to tell him to stop, but the words wouldn't come.

  He moaned softly as his lips descended to a place just above her vein.

  A strange sensation came over her as he suckled hard on her throat. Desire rippled down her body in heavy waves. Even as opposed as she was to anyone serving vampire needs, she wanted him to use his fangs. She wanted to tell him to do it right now.

  His hand slid over her left breast, kneading through her sweater until her lips parted and soft pants left her mouth. He had held her pinned to the wall for less than a minute and she was already lost.

  But then she'd been lost for months. She realized that now. She'd tried to curtail his visits in the evening, at least at first. But soon she'd grown dependent on seeing him and speaking with him. That's what made things so difficult. Treyne had made an effort to get to know her. How many times had she fallen into conversation with him, the hours passing like minutes.

  Worse, though, was how many times she'd awakened from dreams of making love with him, her body in agony.

  Now she was here.

  She glanced toward the door. Coming here was a big mistake. She should leave. Yes, she should definitely leave.

  She pushed at him. "Let me go, Treyne. I'm sorry I came."

  "You can't leave now. I won't let you. Do you know how long I've wanted you like this?"

  His lips traveled from her throat, over her chin and found her lips.

  She stopped pushing at him and instead her hands drifted to his back, embracing him, savoring the feel of so much man, even if he was a vampire. His muscles rippled beneath her fingertips as her hands glided over the silk of his shirt. What would it be like to have her skin against his skin?

  TREYNE SLID HIS tongue over her lips back and forth, dipping into them until her lips parted. He drove inside her mouth, his body tensing and arching over hers. He cupped the back of her neck, pinning her and kissing her deep until she was moaning against his mouth.

  He drew back, breathing hard. "Say you'll come with me to my rooms. Please, Jenna. I've wanted you such a long time."

  She shook her head, but her lips were swollen and her eyes had a dazed look.

  He smiled and kissed her again. He slipped his hand from the back of her neck and drifted his fingers slowly down her spine, pressing harder once he reached her jeans, but moving lower to caress her bottom, one cheek, then the next. He plunged his tongue continuously in and out of her mouth, helping her to understand what he wanted to do to her.

  As he continued to caress her low, he drew back enough to say to her. "I want my tongue between your legs."

  He heard the small cry as he once more shoved his tongue into her mouth. This time he drove fast, rocking his pelvis against her in a strong rhythm as he countered with his hand still stroking her from behind.

  He felt her body grow lax beneath his.

  "Say you'll come. I want you to come. I want to pleasure you, Jenna. Please say yes." Her rich floral scent teased his nostrils and hardened his cock even more.

  He waited, kissing her cheek and the sides of her mouth, while he continued the rocking motion low, the invitation to sex.

  The air felt charged all around him as though time had drawn to a standstill, the entire Earth waiting to hear her answer.

  Finally. "Yes. Oh God, yes."

  That was all he needed. He dipped low, caught her behind her knees, then lifted her into his arms. "Hold on," he said. "We're going to fly."

  She put her arms around his neck. He held her tight as he flew at a blinding speed down the sloped pathway. He called to his guards to lock down the commune. He extended his hearing so that even at such a distance he was able to hear the gate shut and the front door lock.

  Down he flew, deep into his cavern, levitating and flying until he reached his private suite. Once inside, he grew still but didn't let her go. She would need to adjust a little after the flight.

  After a moment, he put her on her feet, and when she was steady, he moved to the door and bolted it shut. He didn't want anyone or anything to disturb what he had waited so long to possess.

  He turned. She stared at him unblinking. He tried to discern what he felt now that she was here, in his home, in his bedroom. But all that came to him was his desperate need to bed her and his terrible craving for her blood.

  By all the vampire gods, how he longed for her blood, yet in that he would restrain himself. Sex first, then maybe he could persuade her to provide him with nourishment.

  Maybe.

  He lowered his chin and drew close, but she took a step backward, her eyes wide. Her mouth worked as though she wanted to say something, and God help him if she refused him now. But the smell of her sex permeated the air, so he thought he understood: She was frightened, but she wanted to be here.

  "Stay with me," he murmured, pulling her against him.

  Another cry left her throat as she flung her arms around his neck. He slanted his lips over hers and kissed her again. He wanted to devour her as he thrust his tongue heavily into her mouth. Her hands once more were on his back, her fingers digging into his muscles.

  When he drew back this time, her eyes glistened with tears. "I've wanted you," she whispered, "so much. But I'm afraid."

  He petted her face with his hand. "I won't hurt you."

  "I'm not afraid that you'll hurt me, Treyne. I'm afraid that I won't want to leave."

  "You'll always be able to leave, even now, this minute, but I'm begging you to stay. Please stay. I need you. I've needed you for months, since you first confronted me about your sister. But will you believe me when I say I don't have her? That I never met her or knew her? That none of my commune took her?"

  She nodded and touched his face, thumbing his lips. "I know that. I've known it almost from the first." Tears slipped from her eyes. "But you do know where she is."

  "I have a strong suspicion but I'm bound by my laws to reveal nothing to you. Can you forgive me for that?"

  He stared into her eyes, begging silently for her to understand and to forgive. He needed her so much right now. Could she forgive him?

  Finally, she nodded. "Our worlds are very different." She released a heavy sigh. "But right now, I want to be with you."

  He kissed her again, then released her. He unbuttoned her jeans and helped her take them off. Then her black lace thong. She lifted her sweater over her head, then removed her bra. He stroked her arms and looked at her. His breathing came in stiff gulps.

  He meant to take his clothes off as well, but the sight of her full breasts, pink areolas, and peaked nipples drew his gaze to her chest. He dipped, then took her left breast in his mouth and suckled.

  Her fingers slid into his hair, her body pushing against his mouth. He pulled back. "You're a feast and I don't know where to begin."

  "At least take your shirt off, Treyne. I've wanted to see you like this. You have a beautiful silhouette, and I never told you thi
s, but I loved to see you walk. Sometimes I would move from room to room in my house and make you precede me just to watch you."

  "You did?"

  She nodded.

  "And all that time, I thought you were afraid I'd do something to you so you made me go before you."

  "I wasn't afraid. I trusted you. I do even now."

  Every word she spoke worked him up. He unbuttoned his shirt slowly. He knew how his body affected women and he wanted Jenna affected. He wanted her thinking about him just like this for days to come.

  He removed his shirt, flexing his biceps, his pecs, his abs, then let it fall to the stone floor.

  Her lips parted and her gaze roved his body. Her breathing quickened. He waited for her to take her fill.

  Finally she moved toward him, her fingers reaching for the laces of his leathers. She untied the tight bow, then drifted her fingers down either side of his erection.

  His hips flexed. She tugged the top part of the laces apart, then dropped to her knees. She leaned over and took his crown in her mouth. He arched into her as she sucked, a very light suck that had him groaning again.

  Somehow he knew it would be this way between them, a pleasing back-and-forth, her touch just right, the pulls of her mouth on him exactly as he liked it. Kissing her had been like this, her mouth pliable and responsive as it was now.

  She drew back and worked the laces some more. Each tug made him harder. The sight of her head bowed as it was made his breathing shallow. It wouldn't take much to come but he didn't want to hurry this unexpected bounty.

  With the laces loosened, she tugged on the sides of his pants, pulling them low over his thighs. Her fingers glided through his trimmed pubic hair and over his abdomen as once more her mouth moved in the direction of his cock.

  It was almost too much when she engulfed him and with a combination of a rippling tongue and soft suck she pulled at him.

  The groan that left his chest this time was hoarse and heavy with desire.

  But when her hands slid around to his buttocks and she squeezed, he almost lost it. "Jenna, stop."

  She slowly pulled away from his cock.

  He lifted her to her feet but closed his eyes, forcing himself to settle-the-hell-down.

  "By all the vampire gods, Jenna."

  She met his gaze. "I've been on my knees, but I'm as achy as if you've been inside me."

  After removing his boots and leathers, he slid his arm around her waist and turned her in the direction of his bed. She walked slowly. He did as well. They were two cauldrons and so needy from a year of foreplay.

  He pulled the rumpled covers back all the way to the footboard. She climbed onto the bed, which caused him to reach for her hips to keep her on all fours. "Stay just like that. Let me tend to you just like that but move forward a couple of feet."

  She crawled a little more. He trembled as he watched her, his need overwhelming him. She was bare and her lower flesh was swollen and glistening. His mouth watered as he moved into her.

  He grabbed her thighs and squeezed as he set his tongue on her, lapping at her from behind, from the front of her clitoris, then dragging over all her sensitive erotic flesh to find his way inside. He drove his tongue into her.

  She cried out, her hips rocking. He stroked her buttocks and played with her, his fingers helping his tongue.

  "Treyne," she called to him. "I need you. Now."

  He rose up over her and turned her to lie on her back. "Like this?"

  She nodded. "Yes, please." She was panting, her body writhing. She spread her legs and he settled himself between.

  Her throat was exposed, and once more his mouth watered. He felt his fangs ready to descend and strike but he forced them away.

  She reached low and guided him to her opening. He pushed in and she released another cry. Her rose scent made him dizzy as he worked himself inside her.

  "I've needed you for so long," he said.

  "Me too. Treyne, you feel so good."

  He nodded, shifting his gaze away from her throat. He was blood-starved but he wouldn't take her without her permission, sex would have to be enough. And all her wetness gliding over his cock; heaven. He thrust harder now.

  "What is that sensation?" she asked suddenly.

  "What do mean?" Then he felt it like a cloak of mist surrounding him and ready to cover her as well. He knew the source: the Treathen bond.

  He stopped his movements and squeezed his eyes shut.

  "It's the bond, isn't it?"

  "Yes."

  "I don't want to do this. I don't want to be bound to you."

  He opened his eyes and saw how panicky she looked. "I promise I won't bind you. I don't want it either. This was just a result of my hunger for you." He remained still until he forced the strange, mistlike cloak away.

  He drew a deep breath and met her gaze once more. "Are you okay?"

  She had her hands on his shoulders and kneaded his muscles. "Yes."

  He lowered himself to her, supported on his forearms. "Jenna, you don't need to worry. I would never force the bond on you. I just lost control for a moment."

  "Okay."

  She still seemed upset. "What is it?" he asked.

  She chuckled softly. "This is so different. You're so tender with me and I almost feel like--"

  He kissed her again. "Like what?"

  "I'm overwhelmed. I've never experienced anything like this before." Her hands drifted over his back. "You fill me."

  He thought he understood. He was a big man. He ground into her, then slowly pulled back. When a small gasp left her throat, he moved faster. "I told you once that I had many skills, let me show you one of them now."

  Her eyes widened.

  He began to thrust faster, vampire fast, so that he was whipping in and out of her.

  As she moaned, she murmured, "My God, that sensation of speed."

  He was breathing hard now and the faster he drove, the tighter she fisted around his cock. "Jenna," he groaned.

  Small cries left her throat now, one after the other. She was so beautiful caught as she was by the pleasure building between them. Her head rolled back and forth and his balls tightened. "Are you close?"

  "God, yes."

  "Want more?"

  "Yes." She moaned heavily. "So this is what it's like to be with a vampire."

  He smiled. "Hold on." Then he gave her the real treat and moved at lightning speed.

  "Oh. My. God." She tugged on his shoulders and arms, then screamed at the ceiling as the climax took her over the edge.

  At the same time, Treyne started to come, pleasure flowing first in an intense heavy wave over his entire body, then in powerful streaks through his cock. He shouted and ground his hips into her, savoring each thrust even to the last pulse. With his final release, he eased down onto her.

  She settled back against the sheets, smiling. She was so beautiful with her breathing labored and a sheen of perspiration over her brow. Still buried inside her, he caressed her cheek with his hand.

  "That was unbelievable," she said.

  As he nodded his chest grew tight. He had wanted this for so long, but he knew now that he'd been under an illusion. For some reason, he'd believed that his pursuit of Jenna had been about this, about getting her into his bed. Yet what he felt right now was a profound need to keep her with him forever. How was that just about sex?

  She smiled and turned to kiss his arm. "This was all unexpected."

  He frowned slightly and shook his head back and forth. "Jenna, I'm sorry."

  "Sorry for what?"

  "I can't do this."

  "Do what?"

  The next moment he pulled out of her and rolled onto his back, shading his face with his arm. Oh God, how to explain. This was too much, all of it was too much.

  "What's wrong?" She shoved at his elbow.

  He glanced at her but couldn't find the words.

  "Talk to me," she said. "We just had some amazing sex and now you actually look mad."


  He sat up and shifted to sit on the side of the bed.

  "Yes, I'm mad. Pissed as hell."

  Chapter Two

  A FEW MINUTES later, Jenna watched Treyne pace back and forth, then turn and grab his clothes off the floor. She knew he was angry but she didn't get it. He'd just made love to her and now he was shoving his legs into his pants like he was trying to punish the leather.

  "Why on earth are you so mad?" she asked. "Because I said you were amazing?"

  Standing near the foot of the bed, he turned to glare at her. Again. "Why do you have to be so beautiful and have the scent of wild roses so that now my bedroom smells like a flower shop? This is maddening. Don't you get that? You're human. Your ways aren't my ways. You don't belong here. I don't want you here." He laced up his pants, then shrugged into his maroon shirt.

  "Hey, this was your idea to bring me down into your cavern, remember? You had me against the wall and worked your wiles on me until I said yes. But if you think I want to stay, you're crazy. And if anyone should be mad, it's me. I never wanted to get this close to a vampire and now I just had sex with one." She huffed a sigh. "Treyne, this doesn't have to be difficult. It's simple, really. We just shouldn't see each other again, that's all."

  "So you think this is simple?" He started buttoning his shirt.

  "Yes. I do. We slept together and satisfied some lust and maybe even a little curiosity. But we don't have to do this again."

  "Right." But the word came out slow. He drew close. "What do you smell right now?" he asked, leaning over her, his fists planted on the bed.

  Jenna blinked up at him. She didn't want to tell him the truth, but somehow she knew honesty was important, not for his sake but for hers. "A mesquite smoky aroma, like an open campfire. It's wonderful."

  He squeezed his eyes shut, then blew the air from his cheeks. "Fuck" came out of his mouth.

  "What's wrong? I mean what does it matter that I catch the aroma of smoke when I'm around you."

  "Don't you get it?"

  She shook her head, but she looked away from him. She'd met several vampires before but she'd never smelled them. If anything, vampires had a kind of sterile quality, but not Treyne.

  "I just thought it was you," she said. She finally shifted her gaze back to him. "Are you saying this means something?"