Love at First Bite Bundle

by Kimberly Raye

  He held himself steady and stared deep into her eyes. “Why?”

  “I…” She caught her full bottom lip to stop its trembling. “I acted really awful last night, but I was scared.”

  He stiffened. “Of me,” he stated flatly.

  She shook her head. “Of myself. But I’m not anymore. I know you want to be with me. You need me.” Meaning gleamed in her bright gaze. “And I need you. I want to be with you tonight. All night.”

  “And tomorrow?”

  “We’ll worry about that when the time comes.” She leveled a stare at him, and he saw the sincerity gleaming in her eyes. “Okay?” Her voice was small, as if she was actually afraid he might turn and walk away.

  As if he could ever do such a thing.

  She was offering him the most precious gift in the world. Her body. Her blood.

  Her heart.

  That’s what he wanted. At the same time, he knew it would only make walking away that much harder. If he walked away.

  Before he could dwell on the possibility, he stepped forward and backed her up into the house.

  Turning, he closed and locked the door and then backed her up another few steps toward the wall. A sense of urgency rushed through him and he grasped the hem of her shirt. He pulled it up and over her head and tossed it to the hardwood floor. His fingers went to the clasp of her bra and her breasts spilled free.

  He dipped his head and drew one sensitive peak into his mouth. She tasted every bit as good as he remembered. More so because there were no secrets between them. He didn’t have to be afraid of her, and she didn’t have to be afraid of him, and he meant to prove that once and for all.

  Nikki closed her eyes against the wonderful pull of Jake’s mouth on her breast. He sucked her so hard and so thoroughly and she sagged against him. Wetness flooded the sensitive flesh between her legs and drenched her panties. He drew on her harder, his jaw creating a powerful tug that she felt clear to her womb. An echoing throb started in her belly, more intense with every rasp of his tongue, every nibble of his teeth….

  The thought faded as she felt the razorlike sharpness against her sensitive flesh. Her body went stiff and he pulled away.

  She opened her eyes and found herself staring up at him the way he’d been their first night together.

  He stared down at her, into her, his eyes hot and vivid, his fangs fully visible. He didn’t move. Rather, he waited, his body taut, his muscles stretched tight.

  She trailed her hand along his jaw, touched his bottom lip and smiled. And then she snaked her arms around his neck and pulled him back down to her breast.

  That was all the urging he needed. He suckled her, laving, grazing, driving her to the brink of insanity. But he didn’t bite her. Not yet.

  No matter how much she suddenly wanted him to.

  Heat flowered through her, pulsing along her nerve endings, heating her body until she felt as if she would explode.

  He didn’t touch her with his hands. Just his mouth. He worked her until she moaned long and low and deep in her throat and her nipple throbbed. Goose bumps chased up and down her arms, and her legs trembled.

  “Please,” she murmured.

  He seized the other nipple and delivered the same delicious torture. She grew wetter, hotter, her body shivering with each movement of his mouth.

  And then his mouth was on hers, his hot fingers rolling and plucking her damp nipples. She felt the sharpness of his fangs against her lips, and the sensation sent a shiver of excitement through her.

  He pulled her flush against him, his hands trailing down her bare back, stirring every nerve ending along the way. Fingers played at her waistband before slipping lower. His palms cupped her buttocks through the material. He urged her up on her tiptoes until her pelvis cradled the massive erection straining beneath his zipper.

  The feel of him sent a burst of longing through her and suddenly she couldn’t get close enough. She grasped his shoulders and clutched at his T-shirt as she wrapped one leg around his thigh. His erection rubbed against her slit and she moaned. She couldn’t get enough of him, kissing him with all of the passion that had built inside her.

  He tugged at the elastic waistband of her sweats and pushed at the material until it slid over her hips, her thighs, to puddle around her ankles. His fingers snagged on the straps of her panties and urged them down. Until she was completely naked.

  He slid his hand between her legs and played the slick flesh. His thumb grazed her clitoris, rasping back and forth, over and over. She bucked as delicious tremors racked her body.

  She was so lost in the throes of her orgasm that she didn’t even notice that he’d picked her up and carted her up the stairs until she felt the soft mattress at her back.

  She glanced up in time to see him peel off his shirt and unfasten his jeans. He shoved the denim down in one smooth motion, his erection springing forward, huge and greedy. A white drop of pearly liquid oozed from the ripe purple head and slithered down his strong length. She couldn’t help herself. She scrambled to her knees, leaned forward and caught the drop with the tip of her tongue.

  He groaned, long and low and deep, his fingers splaying in her hair, cradling her head as she licked him from root to tip and back down again. He tasted salty and sweet and she couldn’t seem to get enough.

  “Not yet,” he finally croaked. “I want to be inside you when I come. I want to feel you hot and tight around me.” He pushed her into the mattress, urged her legs apart and settled his erection flush against her sex.

  He kissed her then, licking her lips and sucking at her tongue before he caught her bottom and tilted her just so. With one powerful thrust he slid inside her.

  Her head fell back and her eyes closed and her body convulsed around him.

  “Look at me, Nikki.” His deep, raw voice drew her eyes open and she stared up at him.

  Hunger blazed hot and intense in his gaze as he opened his mouth. His fangs glittered in the moonlight as he poised above her and waited.

  He was giving her one last chance to bail. He’d opened the closet door and unleashed the monster that lived and breathed inside.

  “For now,” his deep voice reminded her. “For tonight.”

  She arched her body and tilted her head, baring her neck, offering it to him. She knew what he needed if he intended to succeed and she meant to do everything to help him.

  Even more, she wanted this connection with him. She wanted to take all that he offered and give everything she had in return.

  No more holding back.

  He dipped his head. His mouth closed over the side of her neck where her pulse beat a frantic rhythm. He licked the spot, teasing and tasting, and then he sank his fangs deep. So deep. Oddly enough, it didn’t hurt. Just a stirring prickle, and then she felt a pleasure so intense her mouth fell open and a gasp trembled from her throat.

  And then the real pleasure started.

  He thrust into her, pushing deep with his body, all the while drawing with his mouth. He drove her mindless, pushing and drawing, giving and taking, over and over. The pressure inside of her built, climbing higher until she couldn’t take anymore. She cried out, splintering into a thousand pieces.

  His entire body seemed to vibrate as she came apart. He trembled and buzzed, drinking in her power-infusing blood as he drank in the sexual energy that rushed from her body like a tidal wave gunning for shore.

  His mouth eased and he leaned back. A fierce groan rumbled from his lips as he thrust one final time and followed her over the edge. His body shook with the force of his climax as he collapsed on top of her, his arms braced on either side of her head, his face buried in the crook of her neck.

  A few frantic heartbeats later, he rolled onto his back, pulling her on top of him without breaking their contact. He held her tight, as if he feared she might slip away.

  Nikki felt weightless, almost dizzy. She rested her head on his shoulder and drank in several deep draughts of air. A tiny trickle of warmth slid down her co
llarbone and she reached up. Her fingertips brushed the two tiny pinpoints where he’d bitten her and a sharp burst of desire knifed through her. She jumped.

  Surprised. Startled. Turned on.

  “It’s only painful if it’s meant to be,” he told her, his hand coming up to soothe the area. Not that it worked. It only served to stir her up even more. Her nipples pebbled and her thighs clenched and she closed her eyes as warmth bubbled between her legs and fizzled through her.

  “I would never hurt you,” he told her as he slid his hand down the length of her body, stroking, soothing. “Never.”

  “I know that.” Her eyelids fluttered open to find him staring up at her. Her gaze met his. “I know you.”

  Desperation fired in the rich silver depths, along with a fierce determination. He was thinking about the looming confrontation. “Thank you,” he murmured after a long, thoughtful moment. “Thank you.”

  “My pleasure,” she said—and meant it. She’d never felt such sensation with anyone but Jake. Sure, sex had been all right. But never incredible. Never like this.

  Never again.

  She fought down a wave of regret, settled her hand over his heart and closed her eyes.

  WHEN NIKKI WOKE on Sunday morning, she yawned and stretched and basked in the afterglow of their incredible lovemaking for all of five seconds before reality set in.

  Tonight was the night.

  When the clock struck midnight, Jake would face off with Sam. And afterward he would ride out of Skull Creek and never look back.

  He loves you, a voice whispered. He won’t leave.

  Nikki wanted to think so, but she kept remembering all the times Jolene had stumbled in late at night and bypassed her daughter’s room. There’d been no good-night kiss. No hugs. Nothing. Because while Jolene had, indeed, loved Nikki, she’d loved herself more. She’d been more concerned with her own wants and desires. Her own needs.

  Jake needed his freedom. He’d fought too long and too hard to simply give it up over a little thing like love.

  If he did, indeed, love her.

  He’d never said the words.

  He couldn’t. Jake didn’t make promises he couldn’t keep and so he’d kept his mouth shut.

  Because after tonight, he was leaving, whether he loved her or not.

  If he succeeded.

  And if he didn’t? He wouldn’t be going anywhere because he would be dead.

  Either way, Nikki faced a future without Jake McCann.

  NIKKI SPENT HER ENTIRE morning trying not to think about Jake. She threw herself into painting the kitchen. From the walls to the cabinets. Every time she started to think, she worked that much faster, making long, swift strokes here, dabbing there, until she finished. She rinsed out her brushes then, determined to stay busy and avoid the dread that built with each passing moment.

  She’d just washed and put away the last brush when she heard the knock on the door.

  For a few frantic heartbeats she actually entertained the notion that her life wasn’t some crazy nightmare. That Jake was just a man and he was here right now, ring in hand, ready to plop down on one knee and breathe life into her happily ever after.

  The small thread of hope that blossomed as Nikki walked from the kitchen to the front door quickly died when she found Aunt Izzie and Jolene standing on the other side.

  “You didn’t make it to church,” Izzie pointed out. “It was your turn to bring the coffee cake for the Sunday school.”

  “I’ve been painting.”

  “I guess it was too much to hope that you’d had a late night with that boyfriend of yours and had finally decided to sleep in,” Jolene said.

  “Jolene Marie Braxton, that’s an obscene thing to say,” Izzie huffed.

  Jolene eyed her aunt. “What’s obscene is the number of coffee cakes you old biddies consume in the name of religion. Why, I’m sure they didn’t have coffee cake at the Lord’s supper. Now wine—”

  “The disciples drank wine as a symbol, not for personal pleasure.”

  “And you would know because you’re old enough to have been there, right?”

  “You have no shame.”

  “And you have far too much.”

  “Come and see the kitchen,” Nikki blurted before the argument could get any more heated. She turned and led both women through a maze of boxes, toward the kitchen. She turned as they entered the freshly painted space and motioned around her. “So what do you think?”

  Izzie looked both surprised and dismayed. “I figured you would go with one color.”

  “Me, too.” Jolene’s gaze went from one cabinet to the next. “What happened to the red?”

  “It’s red.”

  “Just the trim.” Jolene frowned. “You should have gone completely red.”

  “It’s a kitchen, not a bordello,” Izzie said, her own gaze sweeping the walls. “She should have gone with the yellow.”

  “Yellow is blah, and nobody says bordello anymore. The PC term is whorehouse.”

  “Oh, just hush,” Izzie told Jolene. Her gaze shifted back to the cabinets. “Solid yellow would have been so much more cheerful, dear.”

  “Solid red is much more interesting.”

  “I really like them both,” Nikki blurted.

  She did, she realized as she stared at the pale yellow cabinets trimmed in vibrant cherry. The combination was both bright and bold. Peaceful yet daring. A little bit good, at the same time, a little bit bad.

  And that was okay.

  Even more, that was Nikki.

  The truth hit as she stood listening to her mother and aunt debate the merits of the two different paint colors. The same way they debated everything, from how much makeup Nikki should wear and what type of clothes to which dessert to have or what television shows to watch.

  They sat on opposite sides of the spectrum when it came to life, and Nikki had spent thirty years swinging from one end to the other. Trying to be bad enough for one yet good enough for the other. She’d been caught in between, eager to be loved by both, feeling all the while unloved by either.

  But she was loved.

  Jake loved her. She’d seen it in his eyes. Felt it in his touch.

  Whether he went or stayed, he did love her.

  All of her, from the bold, bad woman who’d taken her pleasure on the Ferris wheel to the kind, conservative woman who donated her services at the retirement home every Sunday.

  He loved the fact that Nikki was a little bit bad and a little bit good.

  She was both, and suddenly that didn’t seem like such a bad thing.

  “The yellow’s nice,” Nikki told the two older women, “but it’s too bland without the red to spice it up. Likewise, the red needs the yellow or it’s just too much. It’s the perfect combination of both—and so am I.”

  “I beg your pardon?” Izzie arched a questioning brow.

  “Me. I’m the perfect combination of the two of you. I’ve got Mom’s flair for fashion,” she told Izzie, “and I like showing off a little skin once in a while.”

  “Nicole Elizabeth—”

  “On the other hand,” she cut in, turning toward Jolene, “I don’t flash my goodies in everybody’s face just for the hell of it.” She caught her mother’s gaze and held steady. “That’s not me, Mom. I know that’s what you want me to be, but I’m not.” Her gaze shifted to Izzie. “And I’m not a saint, either. I’m not even close. And I don’t want to be. I know you might not want to hear that, but that’s the way it is. It’s the way I am, take it or leave it.”

  They left it.

  Izzie’s mouth dropped open and Jolene’s gaze flashed disappointment, and then both women walked out without so much as a goodbye. And it was okay.

  It was all okay.

  Because Nikki Braxton was through trying to please other people. From here on out, the only person she wanted to please was herself.

  It was no longer about what everyone else wanted. No, it was about what she wanted.

  And she wa
nted Jake.

  She wanted him to win tonight. To stay tomorrow. She wanted the next fifty years with him.

  If only he wanted the same.

  He didn’t. She knew it and so she tried to tell herself to forget him. To get on with her life.

  Better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.

  She held tight to the thought and went about her usual Sunday.

  She went by the hardware store to pick out colors for the living room—a neutral beige with a bold navy-blue trim—before heading over to the retirement home.

  She spent the rest of the day doing perms, mixing hair color and listening to the latest gossip. But that’s where the usual ended. The Greyhounds were too eager to talk about Jake, and so she begged off poker with them in favor of catching up on all the things she’d neglected at the salon.

  She unpacked and counted hair care products, replaced the old magazines with the new and restocked the individual stations with everything from hair spray to highlighting foil.

  But no matter how busy she kept herself, it wasn’t enough to distract her from the foreboding that sat in the pit of her stomach and gained momentum as darkness fell.

  A feeling that had nothing to do with the fact that Jake was leaving tomorrow and everything to do with tonight and the impending confrontation.

  Something was wrong.

  She knew it even before she saw the man standing on the other side of the front glass door of her salon.

  He looked like any other biker, with his bandanna and his skull-and-crossbones T-shirt. But she knew better because she’d seen the other side of him.

  Just as she’d seen Jake.

  “There’s something about you,” he said, his voice as loud and as clear as if he stood right in front of her rather than several feet away, a wall of glass and a dead-bolt lock between them. “You’ve got energy.”

  “Is that the classic vampire pickup line?”

  He grinned. “I’m not trying to pick you up. Jake’s my buddy. I wouldn’t do that to him.” His gaze grew serious. “I’m worried about him, though. About tonight.”

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing. Yet.” He shook his head. “When a vampire is reliving his turning, he’s extremely powerful. Invincible. Deadly. I don’t know if Jake is up for this.”