“Let me?” I asked—my voice a guttural whisper.
She nodded and let her hands drop away. Mine stayed where hers had been and began to slowly unfasten her buttons. I’d lived through villages being raided, natural disasters, and new eras. But never had I felt as unsteady as I did unbuttoning her shirt.
It was as if I was unveiling a treasure that would soon be laid bare before my eyes. I couldn't help my anticipation and couldn't deny my fascination. First, the golden skin of her cleavage was revealed, followed by the globes of her breasts. My heart quickened.
Her breath caught on a sigh. I trailed my hands inside her open shirt and softly dropped them to caress her stomach. Tantalizingly, I moved upwards to her ribcage. Augusta jerked. I growled.
I fanned my fingers out to soothe her, then let them rise higher to caress the indented place between her breasts.
Augusta’s heart beat erratically. How I loved the feel of her heart under my hand. I leaned my head back, and for the first time my fangs descended.
She watched them, with heavy-lidded eyes, and licked her lips. “Do you... do you like to bite?” she asked.
I glanced at her warily. Was she asking because she was afraid that I might do so or was she asking because she wanted me to?
“Only when asked,” I said.
She frowned prettily. “Should I not have?”
Slowly, I descended my mouth towards her neck and she stretched it out so I could have better access to it. I kissed the length of her neck column all the way up to her chin, sprinkling kisses along the way until I was once again at her mouth. “I meant if you want me to bite you, I'm not opposed to doing it.”
A little tension released from her shoulders. I had to swallow back a smile. I had to admit, though, the question did stir something inside of me. I wanted to protect her and being a master vampire, I could mark her. It would be a sign of ownership. It would also enable me to come to her at any time if she was in danger no matter how far she was from me.
I’d come to her.
Not every master vampire had that capability, but I was unique among my kind. I watched her. If I bit her, it would be only at her request, but it'd be entirely my pleasure.
I leaned down and kissed her mouth. The emotion of the day was overwhelming, but not as much as what I felt for Augusta right then. I had to admit it. I cared for her.
Her hands laced around my neck. I normally didn't let anyone touch me there. To me, it was very intimate. For a vampire to sire a child, the vampire had to drain the blood and then share his own. My preferred method of taking blood from a willing person was from the neck. It’d be the same if I ever allowed another to take my blood.
The link would be strong. So was the blood that had to be exchanged between both parties to complete a sire bond. I’d never sired another—though I could. But that meant no one had been near my neck in ages.
But with Augusta, I allowed her questing hand to tenderly caress my neck. Slowly, she took her mouth away from mine and kissed me just below my pulse. The smell of her was intoxicating as she fondled and kissed my neck. It was strange to feel her lips there. I stiffened excruciatingly in my jeans.
I felt her lips move, and then I heard her say, “A shifter knows her true mate, Cade. When she comes across him, they bond with the shifter’s bite during sex.”
I was quiet.
Augusta stopped talking and stepped back. She chewed her lip and looked at me guardedly.
“I don't know why I just told you that,” she said.
She’d moved away from me. The space that she put between us worried me, and I immediately brought my hand back up to hold it over her chest. Earlier when I had done it she’d seemed to grow excited by the caress.
True mates. Was that what we could be? I continued to calm her, this time I teased a nipple with tiny flecks of my fingers.
“It would be a possibility if I were a shifter only?” I asked.
I wanted to know as much as I could about what she was telling me. I’d heard occasions where a vampire and a shifter had been mated for all eternity. The vampire imbued some of his immortality onto the shifter, and they lived forever together.
I sighed. But they weren’t us. We were forbidden mating with each other on so many different levels.
All the years that I had walked the earth, I had never once, come across anyone who I could consider my mate. Was this growing attraction, this incessant need to be near Augusta, this ability to think of almost nothing else but her because we might be true mates?
She stepped into me and ran her hand down the trail that disappeared inside of my jeans. She caressed me carefully, and I grunted. “Augusta, I'm going to have to come out of these jeans sooner or later.”
She nodded. “I was thinking that maybe you could bite me.”
That nearly made me cum in my jeans right there. I moaned softly. “I will mark you.”
“I just—” she started and then stopped. “I just think it's the safest way for me to see if we are.”
I wondered if she was still thinking about what she’d said about true mates. I could have tried to read her intent and deciphered her emotions, but I wanted her to tell me what she was thinking.
Backing her onto the bed, I leaned between her legs. “To see if we’re what?”
“Compatible without committing until we're ready,” she said.
So she did think that we were true mates. When had she come to this conclusion? Was it just now? Or maybe it was while she was in the room when I’d left the cabin. We had a strong attraction to each other, I didn’t disagree with that fact. But didn't mates need the softer things like love, affection, and constant attention?
I stared at her, not wanting to make her uncomfortable, but trying to wrap my head around true mates.
“Sometimes true mates find each other and the connection just is, Cade,” she said. “I don't know anyone who's found their true mate because my parents just got married without either of them being the one. They don’t believe in it. I always have. They told me I was silly. Maybe I am. But from what I understand it's not something we can run from if it is taking place. Cade, hopefully in time, true mates do fall in love.”
“Let's not worry about anything beyond the night.”
What I said seemed to hurt her and she dropped her hands from me. “That’s right, you bring people here to your cabin and you have your one-night stands, right? What if I told you, that's fine, you want this to be one night only, then I won't bug you in the morning.”
Her lips quivered. What was this upset about? I leaned forward and placed my forehead against hers. My arms were on either side of her, and my body all but engulfed her.
I sent her one thought. I never have.
What? She asked back, her thought tentative.
Brought any other woman here to my cabin.
I didn't know why I’d disclosed that fact to her. This was my place. My sanctuary. My home. I kept it private from anything else I did in the world. For some reason, though, that seemed to melt away the last of her resistance, and stopped the last of her objections in regards to what this was or was not.
The gaze that she gave me was wide. She leaned into me rubbing her hands under my shirt, up my back, and around to the front. Augusta scratched her nails gently from my chest down to the trail that disappeared inside my jeans.
I shuddered. The sensation was pure rapture.
“What are you waiting for Cade?” she asked.
It was all the invitation that I needed. Lifting my arms out, I let her take off my shirt. Then I stepped out of my pants. I held her body against mine loving the feel of her erect nipples against me.
She pulled me more on top of her. Her strength was spectacular. I held up my hands and let her tug me the rest of the way onto her. Augusta laughed. It was a delicate sound.
“Have you ever had the feeling that a bed was too small?” she asked.
As a matter of
fact, I did all the time. I wasn't very fond of beds, and from the way that the two of us made the bedpost squeal and the headboard squeak, I was fairly certain that this one was no match for the two of us.
We discovered each other’s bodies. I realized I couldn't wait much longer to be inside of her. Running my hand down until I was even with her entrance, I eased my fingers inside of her and began stroking her.
She moaned. Her hair lay like a silken curtain around her as she lifted to meet the thrust of my hand. Her neck curved. I watched it with the intent of a man drunk on desire.
Her breathing became harsher until she stiffened and grabbed my hands with both of her nails digging into my wrists. It caused me to sway with pleasure. Augusta’s breathing grew heavier as she came from my hand.
“Yes, Cade!”
As she began to relax again, she made delicious little rumbling noises. I slowly lowered my head to her neck, right over the place that I'd sink my teeth into, and bit her. Again she arched and whimpered.
Her hands were restless against my back, and I brought my mouth up, licking my lips. She stared at me with such abandon. I stayed still a moment allowing her to feel the two of us together.
“Cade, don't stop now. I can’t take it if you do,” she pleaded.
That fueled my excitement and turned me on past restraint. I positioned myself and thrust into her wildly. She met each thrust with her bucking hips. We rode each other passionately on that poor creaking bed.
Finally, her eyes widened. She growled and began to shake.
Her thighs convulsed. I jerked and sweet delight traveled up my spine. It tingled down every nerve ending until I came with a shout.
I was sweating, she was glistening, and the room was spinning. Slowly, our breathing once again returned to normal.
She stared at me all wonder mixed with a little amusement. With a lazy grin, I wondered what was so entertaining.
“Do you think you can stop the room from going crazy?” she asked.
Not wanting to pull away from her, I held her tightly and looked over my shoulder. When I turned around, I chuckled low, but in the back of my mind was a bit of trepidation. My world wasn't spinning, it was everything else in the room I’d made do so. I’d never lost control like that while making love.
I continued to hold Augusta. I realized at some point I had to stop grieving over the loss of my partner. I had to stop beating myself over the head at wanting to be an investigator now—but I still carried the guilt of what I’d done and what it had inadvertently caused. I could see what needed to be done, and I was going to start trying to stop prizing my solitude over everything else. I had to if I ever hoped to make Augusta my mate.
CHAPTER TWENTY
*Augusta*
TRUE TO HIS WORD, WE left the cabin for a road trip to the gift shop in Badger Town the next day. On the ride over, we listened to nineties music. Who would have thought a thousand-year-old vampire had favorite decades? It didn't bother me. I had a thing for singing in a car or truck, no matter what year the song came from. And I knew all of these songs.
It’d bothered Mark when I used to sing along—my parents too. Cade just kept beat by drumming his fingers on the gear shift and every now and then bobbing his gorgeous head, while looking in the rearview mirror.
Quickly, Cade called Dayle, using his hands-free system. I’d never known an old truck to be as spruced up as Cade’s. “Dayle, we’re on our way to Betty’s. Do you know what assortment of chocolates was in the box?”
I heard Dayle groan. “I’m with someone and we just got to sleep.”
“You’re on speaker,” Cade said.
“What can I help you with?” Dayle asked sounding as if he was still half-asleep.
“The chocolates. We just need something to go on,” Cade said.
“Listen, I couldn’t tell you,” Dayle groaned. “Personally, they’re not my thing, but they do wonders for putting the ladies in a good a mood. If I had to guess, I’d go by what I know. My secretary is a chocolate fanatic and she swears that there’s no bad tasting chocolate at Betty’s. Does that help?”
“That’s all we need for now,” Cade said and got off the phone. “We’re on our own, Augusta.”
Dayle had not been much help at all.
Leaning my head back against the seat, I decided to keep myself entertained by thoughts of my family. I grimaced thinking about my old life. My brother had kept my whereabouts secret so far. If I was ever going to be the person who lived her own life, then I was going to have to start making big choices without the interference of my family.
Also, in order for me to be respected by my co-workers, I was going to have to begin to believe in my decisions enough to get what I wanted. With Cade, too. He was a strong vampire. Even I felt his will when he made it known. I had to be strong, confident, and competent if I wanted to be with him.
I’d let others take from me things they shouldn’t have. Others still had tried to mold me into what they wanted. Consciously, I had to try to work on not letting that happen anymore. I looked at Cade and tilted my head thinking about the night before. He was powerful and he needed me to be at my best and most capable.
Cade looked in the rearview mirror again. I wondered what he thought was back there.
I shook my head and dismissed it. We hadn't said too much about last night, but then we hadn't talked very much about anything this morning. We were too busy making love.
He looked in the rearview mirror again.
“Are you looking for someone?” I asked. We'd been driving for two hours, and both my legs were beginning to cramp. I shifted in the seat.
“You sore?” he asked like he was asking me if I wanted to stop for something to eat. He said it that casually. I blushed an unbecoming shade of pink. I wasn't going to answer that, and I made a mental note to myself not to adjust my cramping legs again.
He glanced in the rearview mirror once more.
“Hey, I don't see any cars following us, or motorcycles, or helicopters overhead...” I stopped teasing and frowned slightly. “Do you think Kip's somewhere back there?”
“He doesn't need standard transportation, Augusta.”
“We could benefit from the way he travels. No time, no hassle, no wasted gas,” I said. “By the way, you and I are splitting that, right?”
He had his steel and wood business going. I wasn't too certain, though, how well he was doing with it. There were men who depended on the work he provided but it was hard to tell how much he made.
I didn't care about the money he made or didn't. I sighed thinking about my job. I'd seen many men wealthy beyond anyone's wildest dreams have houses that weren't homes.
Cade’s cabin was comfy. It didn't matter if he didn't have money. What did matter was that what little he had, he used it to help other men provide for their loved ones.
“There’s land beside the cabin you originally were staying in, right?” he asked.
Remembering the cabin that I was supposed to be staying in, I shuddered. “I was told to stay away from that land. The owner is pretty grouchy from what I hear.”
“At least seven more ranches the size of the one next to that cabin are around here,” he said.
“Wealthy and grouchy,” I said running my fingers through my loose hair. The back of my legs stuck to the seat. “Lucky for me, I haven't run into him. So who do you think's behind us, Cade?”
“That land isn't all that I own,” he said. “I have more forests and cabins. I provide work for people at many sites around here. Add to that the will signing I went to, where Slade left all of his holdings and the majority of his company to me.”
I had to grab the hand bar. I needed the support. Yeah, more than likely my neck would never be the same again after suddenly whipping it to stare at him.
“You were the friend that Christie was trying to reach that day at the diner? Why didn’t she just say something to you when you walked up to them?�
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“My bet is that she wanted to see Thorley’s surprised face when I walked in,” he said.
“He probably thought you showed up to be a witness to the will signing,” I said.
“An impartial one?” he asked.
“Yeah,” I said. “There's no indication in Slade’s dossier that he had any friends in this town. I don't mean that to be rude, either. A company? All of it? Thorley must have been shocked.”
“Christie was too. She didn’t know why the lawyer wanted me there. I think she thought Slade would have left her something. He didn’t,” he said drily. “Needless to say, I now more than ever, want to know who wanted Slade dead.”
“Sometimes, the deceased explain why they make such a drastic will. Did he?” I asked.
“He stated he had enemies and he didn't want them going after any of his family members.”
That was heartless on all accounts. I was positive Slade had thought that he was doing those he’d left favors. But he took away a company that his sister and maybe secretly even his brother, thought they were going to get. Then he gave it to another man.
He did that in the event someone was trying to kill his brother and sister, for his company. Then they would be safe and no longer the focus of a maniac’s attack. Instead, said maniac would target Cade. I shook my head. From what I’d read about Slade, he hadn't seemed to be this cold. “Do you... are you on good terms with Thorley and Christie?”
His words were strained. “Mostly.”
I didn't have the nerve to ask what else had taken place at the will reading. We still had a long ride ahead of us. I looked out the rolled-up window. Then I leaned my head against it and closed my eyes. The image of Evelyn Harrison flashed before me, and the truck swerved.
Cade was the one she left behind. I hurt for him. Cade must have really respected her... to leave the Arcane Affairs Agency.
The Vampire's Alpha Mate: A BBW Tiger-Shifter Romance (Arcane Affairs Agency) Page 14
