by Dianna Love
His lips curved in a wry smile. “Maybe I wasn’t clear. If the legend is true, the same applies for you. If I should die, you may very well be driven to seek your own end. Though obviously not by sunlight.”
“But compared to you, I’m so … fragile.” She twisted her hands together in her lap. “I’m subject to illness, disease, decrepitude, death. These things don’t even have to enter your vocabulary.”
He took her hand in his, the same one she’d gnawed on a moment ago. “You think your mortality frightens me?”
“I’ll grow old! Wrinkles and gravity and post-menopausal weight gain—”
“Ah, yes. The aging process. Ainsley, have you forgotten that I’ve been there before? I cherished every minute of every day I had with Margitta, and she was never anything but beautiful to me. Never. I can assure you that the prospect of your aging holds no terrors for me.”
“But it does for me!” she wailed.
He turned her hand over and stroked the incredibly sensitive flesh of her palm, the pad of his finger moving in a slow, seductive circular motion. “Then I shall have to do as I did for Gitta, proving every day how lovely she was in my eyes.”
Ainsley’s breath caught, partly at the sensations he was arousing from the brush of his fingers against her palm, but mostly at the idea of his making love to her like that, as though she were the most beautiful woman in the world. It took an effort of will to force her mind back to what she wanted to say.
“In your wife’s case, I have no doubt that you succeeded. One look at that photo you keep in your bedroom and anyone would know she felt beautiful.”
He’d adjusted his grip on her hand and his caress moved to the inside of her wrist. Her pulse, already hammering frantically, kicked up a gear. God, he must be able to feel it. Hell, he could probably hear it.
Concentrate, Ainsley.
“But if that relationship was so wonderful, why have you been alone so long?”
His fingers stilled. “I believe I related the experience with Reina, did I not?”
She pulled her hand away from his clasp. “I’m not buying it.”
His eyebrows soared. “You doubt my veracity?”
“Of course not. I don’t doubt your story for a moment. But clearly it was the result of an unfortunate set of circumstances. A long period of celibacy after your wife’s death, followed by a purely carnal encounter with a vampire groupie.”
“Ainsley…”
“Okay, okay.” She held up a defensive hand. “Negative characterization withdrawn. But the fact remains that you didn’t love Reina and she didn’t love you. You obviously had no such control problems with your wife.”
“Perhaps it had something to do with the fact I was enjoying regular conjugal relations with my wife?” he suggested dryly.
“What about us? You were able to stop with me,” she pointed out. “And your period of celibacy was much longer this time, correct?”
A muscle in his jaw leapt. “Correct.”
Her triumph at scoring the point sputtered, as the obvious occurred to her. “Unless—”
“Unless what?”
Oh, Lord, how pitiful was she? Ainsley lifted one shoulder in a stiff shrug. “Nothing.”
He laughed softly, knowingly.
No fair! Her chin came up. “Dammit, Delano, I thought we were going to stay out of each other’s heads.”
He lifted a hand to cup her cheek. “I can state unequivocally that I did not find Reina remotely hotter than you, to use your own vernacular.”
She gritted her teeth. “Well, here’s some more vernacular for you. Screw you, Delano. I don’t care what you find hot. Or who you find hot.”
“No?”
His gaze swept her face, dropped to the curve of her breasts, to her hands clasped so primly on her knees. His gaze traveled back up to meet hers. Without warning, his mind brushed hers in a sensual caress a hundred times more seductive than the one his fingers had bestowed on her palm.
Oh, help! He was right there. His mind was right there, barriers completely down. She shuddered.
“Don’t be frightened,” he coaxed. “Come in and see for yourself how much I want you.”
Tentatively, she ventured further, instantly encountering a vast need, powerful and unquenchable. Moaning, she let it wrap around her, felt her womb clench and her nipples go tight with it. Heart pounding, she pushed deeper, then deeper still. And dear God, there was no end of it! A sixth ocean, unfathomable, endless.
A hundred images washed through her mind, pictures of the two of them, limbs tangling, bodies joining in every way imaginable, and some she had never imagined.
“Delano!”
He laughed. “Need I point out that not all those erotic pictures were mine?”
“Well, it’s not hard to isolate the ones that weren’t mine!”
He picked up her hand again, brushing her knuckles with his thumb. “And did they offend you?”
She let her breath out on a groan. “You know they didn’t.”
He smiled.
How do we do this, Del? How can I be in your mind and you in mine?
The blood-bond. While non-vampires can develop this talent to some extent, it takes a lifetime of dedication and discipline. You don’t just develop it overnight, as you appear to have done.
Ainsley turned her hand within his grasp so she could caress his palm, and was rewarded with a fresh blaze of desire straight from his mind to hers. She closed her eyes against the intensity of it, and when she opened them again, he was watching her face with a thrilling, dark hunger.
She swallowed. “Earlier, in your bed, after we… Well, you told me that if you were to take my blood and we were to make love again, I would feel what you felt and you would feel what I felt.”
His soft chuckle fanned her face. “It would seem we arrived there by another route.”
“This is the oneness of mind you share with non-vampires?”
Only fleetingly. Only while we are physically joined in the sex act. He tipped her chin up with a forefinger under her chin. This … this, my love, is unique.
He bent and caught her lips with his.
With no thought except getting closer, she clasped a hand behind his head and returned his kiss, even as she climbed onto him. Straddling his lap, she slid her free hand under his lab coat to touch him through the Oxford cloth shirt he wore.
And oh, mercy, this desire … so sweet, she could die of it. It filled her, flooded every nerve ending, burst forth from her pores, spilled from her mind. Urgent, aching, and incredibly sweet.
“Yes, my love.” His lips left hers and his hand urged her chin up. Without hesitation, she bared her throat for the hot exploration of his mouth.
Oh, Jesus, I want your teeth right there. I want to feel the burning pierce of them.
His own excitement leapt fiercely, but she felt him force it down with ruthless control. We can’t.
“I know.” She clutched his shoulders, trembling violently, trying to master her own clamoring desires. “I know.”
“But we can do everything else.” With dizzying speed, he rolled her onto the bed, coming down to cover her torso with his own, pinning her there with his weight and strength.
Pulse thundering, she pulled back a few millimeters to make sure she was reading him right. “You’re kidding? What about all those good reasons we talked about?”
He pulled away slightly, fumbled in the pocket of his lab coat and produced a box, which he held up for her examination.
“Condoms?”
“Courtesy of Eli.”
“But condoms? If it’s that simple, why didn’t we think of it before?”
“We weren’t blood-bonded before.”
She heard the echo behind the words: We had a choice before. Her happiness dimmed a few watts. A man of reason and science, did he begrudge the hijacking of his higher brain by this mystical bond?
He took her hand and drew it down to press against his erection, which currently tent
ed the fine wool of his trousers. “Does this feel like I begrudge our bond?”
She laughed, and his mouth caught hers.
Okay, she thought. Okay.
Chapter 20
DELANO CAUGHT the laugh as it left her mouth, taking the joy straight into him. He was drunk on her. Her fragrant hair, the rising musk of her arousal, the soft silk of her skin, and yes, the slide of his thoughts against hers. It was the most erotic thing he’d ever known.
He lifted his head. “Listen to me, Ainsley. You mustn’t let me take your blood.”
She smiled up at him. “We talked about this. I trust you, Del.”
He let the reins of control slip the merest bit, just enough so she could feel the breadth and scope of the blood hunger.
“Oh. Oh!”
She tried to struggle up, but he held her there until she subsided on the mattress again.
“Why didn’t you tell me you were fasting? My God, Delano, I’m such an idiot. I can’t believe it didn’t occur to me that you wouldn’t know your own blood type.”
He pushed the blood-lust back down. “It didn’t seem important to mention until now.”
“Not important? What are you going to do for sustenance?”
“I can go without blood for a couple of days with minimal impact.”
“Really?”
“Really. It certainly didn’t cause that scene out there with Eli. At worst, I get a little … how do you say? Bitchy. The other was caused by … well, you know.”
“I know.”
She traced his mouth with a delicate finger, and it was all he could do to keep from drawing it into his mouth. Patience.
“So how long do you need to fast?”
“Forty-eight hours should do it. If there are no changes in my blood chemistry by then, we can safely assume there will be no reversal and I’ll go back to my regular infusions. And if there are changes, I won’t need to worry about typing and cross-matching, because I’ll be looking for a rare steak and a pint of dark ale.”
Her lips curved in a smile, but her eyes stayed sober. “You sure you’re okay for this?”
Let’s hope he was, because he wasn’t about to stop now. And that thought he kept carefully shrouded. He bit her finger gently, delighting in the shiver that went through her. “With a little help from you, it won’t be a problem.”
“As in don’t go begging for the teeth again?”
“Exactly.”
He felt her hands pushing against his chest. Roll over.
He obliged, but pulled her with him, not ready to lose contact. She stretched for something just beyond her reach, flattening her breasts against his shoulder in the process, then came back with the prize — the box of condoms. She pulled one out and waggled it, smiling wolfishly.
“I’m guessing you’ve never had occasion to don one of these, huh?”
“You’d guess right.”
“Then let me do the honors.”
He started to sit up so he could remove his clothes, but she pushed him back again.
“No. I want your clothes on.”
Clothes on?
He couldn’t have stopped the probe he sent into her mind if his life depended on it, and she was right there, ready for him. His heart literally skipped a couple of beats, then fell into a heavy thudding. She meant to take him as he had taken her, thoroughly and relentlessly, and all she required of him was a promise of passivity.
“That’s all?” He groaned. “Lord, woman, this will kill me.”
The smile she gave him was all sin, and his heart rate took another jump.
“Okay, do your worst.”
Laughing, she leaned forward and kissed him briefly. When he would have deepened the kiss, she pulled away. “My worst is very, very good.”
She slid off the bed, her fingers already working on the buttons of her shirt. The garment floated to the floor, and she turned her attention to the khaki pants, making short work of them. In fifteen seconds flat, she stood there beside the bed in her bra and panties.
“Can I talk?”
She grinned. “You’re required to talk. Or at least think loudly. The only thing you can’t do is take control.”
Lord, this would kill him. “You are so lovely.”
“Wanna see more?”
Yes.
She popped the front clasp of her bra, freeing her breasts. The bra slid down her arms to join the other clothing at her feet.
She angled her head. “What’s that? Did you say something?”
“The rest,” he croaked.
Holding his gaze, she slid her fingers into the waistband of her lace panties and pushed them down over her hips. With a little encouragement, they settled around her ankles and she stepped out of them.
Perfect.
She stepped closer to the bed and he started to sit up, intent on touching her. She pressed him back down with a hand to his chest. “I want you like this, flat on your back with your feet on the floor.”
His sex jerked beneath the fabric of his trousers, drawing her attention.
“Poor baby,” she cooed. “Would you like me to let you out of there?”
This is going to be hard.
“Ah, but incredibly rewarding.” She stepped closer and he widened the stance of his legs to allow her to get as close as possible. Then her fingers were at his belt, working it loose, and unfastening the button at his waist. Her hair, which she’d flipped to one side, trailed against his left side. With the skill of a nurse, she eased his zipper down.
“Boxers! I knew it.”
Despite his intense arousal, he laughed. “There have been many scientific and technological advances over the years that I’ve taken full advantage of, but spandex briefs is not one I’ve — ah!”
She’d eased his boxers down, and his sex sprang free. Her eyes fixed on him, pupils dilating, nostrils flaring. And oh, God! He hardly needed to read her mind to know she was frankly savoring the scent of his arousal, feeling it do its work to intensify her own arousal state. He could practically hear the blood rush to her genitals, congesting the tissues, slicking her vagina…
He groaned. “Ainsley, honey, have mercy on me.”
“What?”
“If you’re going to think thoughts like that, I might not last long enough for you to ravish me.”
She flushed. “You heard that? I didn’t mean to project it.”
“Forget what I said. Don’t edit. I want to feel everything you feel.”
“Good, because obviously I have some work to do to master that editing thing.” She picked up a condom from the spilled box and tore the wrapper off. “Showtime.” She positioned herself to apply the condom, but hesitated.
He caught her concern and laughed. “Don’t worry. I know it’ll be different, but that’s a good thing. It’ll be the perfect reminder why that luscious carotid artery of yours shall remain unmolested.”
Needing no further assurance, she applied the condom with a practiced touch.
“Does it bother you?”
He didn’t pretend to misunderstand. “Not for a minute. Everything that you’ve done was all part of a path that led to this moment. How could I wish it otherwise?”
“Good answer.”
With that, she bent and took his phallus in her mouth. And by all that was holy, she was better at shielding her thoughts than she’d thought, because he hadn’t seen that coming! Then she swirled her tongue around his latex-sheathed glans, and coherent thought fled. There was only sensory input. Her hot mouth doing unspeakably wonderful things, her warm breath and hair tickling his skin, the thrilling surge of blood in her—
No, don’t think about the blood. No blood. No blood.
Instead, he focused on the erotic picture she made at his groin, completely naked while he was completely clothed. And that just about put him over the edge. Fortunately, she pulled back before he had to beg, though he wasn’t sure whether he’d have begged for her to stop or keep going.
“Not a chance, Bo
wen. Not this time, anyway. I planned to ravish you, remember?”
“I remember. That’s the kind of detail a finely-honed scientific mind like mine tends to keep a firm grip on.”
“Yeah?” She climbed fully onto the bed, straddling him with her thighs. “Well, here’s another instruction for that steel trap of a mind of yours. No touching. I’m sure you can remember it.”
No touching? His fingers itched to catch those breasts, to guide a tight, rosy nipple into his mouth. “You can’t mean it.”
“Oh, but I do. You’ll take control if I give you half a chance, so no touching.”
He groaned. “This is going to kill me.”
“Not unless the condom breaks.”
A bark of laughter escaped him. “That’s one black sense of humor you have, my love.”
“Meshes nicely with yours, I’ve noticed.”
“Okay, no touching,” he conceded. “Although in that event, restraints might have been a good idea.”
Her eyes blazed. Next time. You can even use them on me.
He couldn’t help it; his mind immediately conjured a picture of her spread-eagled face down on the bed, bound with soft ties and blindfolded so she couldn’t see him. He’d shield his thoughts so she wouldn’t know what sensory assault was coming next—
“See? Give you an inch, and you’ve got me tied up. No touching.”
“Yes, Mistress.”
A wicked smile curved her lips at his mock submission. “That’s better.” She moved up his body, bending low to loosen the top two buttons of his shirt. Then she kissed the vee of skin she’d exposed. He shivered involuntarily as she made her way up his neck, over his chin. When she found his mouth, her tongue invaded aggressively. He caught it and sucked gently, rewarded by the surge of excitement in her mind. She lifted her head.
“What?” he reasoned. “You offered it to me.”
“Okay, your mouth only,” she allowed.
Then give my mouth what we both want.
Patience, my sweet.
She tortured him some more, raking her hands through his hair, nuzzling his ear, and all the while rubbing her arousal-swollen breasts against his shirt-covered chest. And then, finally, finally, she arched over him, presenting him with one pink-crested breast. He sucked it greedily into his mouth, savoring not just the taste and texture of her, but the abundance of blood just beneath the skin, the blessed vasocongestion of sexual arousal. God, if he could just use his hands, he’d lift and shape those luscious mounds.
