by V. A. Dold
Just when she was about to go over the edge into bliss, he slowed to lap and flick her sensitized nub. Willa panted, chasing the release that seemed just out of reach. Her hips bucked in time with his wicked mouth and still, he didn’t let her come.
Etienne wrapped one arm across her middle to hold her down and added another finger, driving through silken folds. “I have to make sure you’re ready. I don’t want to hurt you.”
Ready? Was he serious? She was so ready, she was going to explode. “Damn it, Etie,” she managed between gasps.
Once more his mouth was on her. He feasted like a starving man presented with a banquet. Willa tried to rock her core against his mouth, tried to take his fingers deeper, but he tightened his hold. Seconds became minutes. Every time she got close, he eased off. Finally, he closed his teeth on her nub and bit gently. She screamed as pleasure shot through her like a rocket. Willa swore she saw stars. Her body convulsed, and her legs clamped around his head so tightly she was afraid she’d hurt him.
Chuckling, Etie licked his fingers clean.
He prowled up her body, looking every inch a deadly vampire. His cock skimmed along her thigh, teasing her with what she wanted until he nestled between her legs, heavy and full against her core.
He kissed her long and deep, playing with her hair. He loved the multitude of colors, thick and wavy, framing her face and curling around her vulnerable neck. He would miss all that riotous color after the third exchange.
Willa was magic. All those years of loneliness, of unnecessary guilt, ended with this incredible woman. She had saved him from the bleak, endless existence where all he had were his people and his honor. Now he had someone to share life’s joys with, and no one knew how to live life to the fullest like his muierimei.
Her hands flexed on his shoulders, fingernails pricking his skin like tiny kitten claws. Flares of need shot down his spine straight to his balls. A grin twitched at the corner of his mouth. That was precisely what she was. His little wildcat.
There wasn’t a shy bone in Willa’s body. She knew exactly what she wanted and went after it, no holding back, no regrets. Her hands caressed down his back, stroking, kneading, urging him to get on with making love to her.
“Patience, my love,” he whispered against her throat. He kissed his way back to her lips, her nose, her eyes. He loved the way her exotic sapphire eyes had gone midnight blue with passion. He wanted to see that desire for him shining in her gaze every night. He needed to wake up with her in his arms every morning.
Willa’s gaze drifted over his face, her fingers massaged his scalp and combed through his hair. Good heavens, that felt amazing. Just her hands on him were enough to bring him peace.
With one hand cupping his face and the other behind his neck, she pulled his head down and took his mouth again. Dang, the woman could kiss. The moment her lips touched his, his hand bunched in her hair.
She took control of the kiss, deepening it. He followed her lead, tasting her sweet, feminine flavor, savoring it, letting her devour him. He could drown in her kisses.
Then his mouth was roving again. He took his time, stretching out the lovemaking for as long as possible. He kissed her throat, the curves of her breasts, heightening her need with every caress of his lips and tongue.
When he sucked one nipple into his mouth and suckled vigorously, she nearly came off the bed. He rasped his tongue over the nipple, then scraped the hard peak with his teeth. Willa’s hands tightened on his head, the tiny bite of pain only served to spur him on and do the same to the other nipple.
He rose over her again and waited for her to open her eyes.
“Etie...” Her demand clear in her voice.
Holding her gaze, he surged forward, burying himself in her body.
Her voice broke off with a gasp.
He retreated and surged again, pushing through the tight, greedy folds that tried to hold him in place. A groan rose in his chest; she felt so good surrounding him. Tight, Hot. Pulsing. Fire streaked up his cock, spread through his groin, pulled his balls up tight, and sizzled all the way to his toes.
He caught up her legs and pulled them around his hips. She locked her heels behind his back, rocking her hips to take every inch of him. Willa made a sexy moaning sigh that sent another zing through his balls.
He took a moment to regain his control. When she narrowed her eyes at him, he grinned, pulled almost all the way out and slammed home. Then he set a hard, pounding rhythm, designed to take her over the edge fast.
Her heat surrounded his shaft as she gripped him like a silken fist. His gaze locked with hers, reveling in the beauty of her passionate nature.
She rocked her hips in time with him, taking him hard and deep. Her fingernails scored his back. Fucking hell, he loved when she used her nails. He pistoned into her, burying his body again and again.
Her sheath rippled and pulsed. With each stroke, she gripped him tighter.
Thunder pounded in his ears. His breath rushed in and out of his lungs. Her body clamped down on his shaft, squeezing and milking. Right before he pushed her over the edge, she bit his neck hard. Her lips latched on as she took long hard pulls on his vein.
“Willa!” he cried as she took him over the edge with her.
He collapsed on top of her, sucking air into his lungs. When she licked the wound closed, he raised his head to look her in the eye. He was almost afraid to ask, but he had to know. “Did you mean to bite me or was it in the heat of passion?”
She smiled up at him, licking her lips. “That was my evil plan all along.” She turned her head to the side, exposing her neck. “Come on, big guy. It’s your turn.”
Etienne kissed her neck, nuzzled her, then sank his fangs deep.
Willa cried out as erotic pleasure threw her into orgasm again. Her hands cradled his head as he completed the third exchange.
Moments later, he licked the wound closed and eased his body down beside her to pull her against his chest. “You never cease to amaze me.”
“Remember that when I’m driving you nuts over the next couple of centuries.”
Willa was a limp noodle, her head on his chest. She kept waiting for something fantastic and magical to happen. You would think with the third exchange trumpets would sound or something. When she heaved a sigh, his chest rumbled under her ear.
“Were you expecting more?”
“Hell, yes,” she groused.
“Open your eyes and look around you.”
She lifted her head and gasped. Even though the windows were closed, the candle flames flickered in a soft breeze. Tiny sparks of light danced in the air all over the room. And magic swirled in multi-colored hues around them. “Wow!”
“You pack quite a magical punch, sweetheart.”
“Me?”
“That’s all you, Willa.”
“No way,” she breathed out.
Willa watched the dancing lights for a minute before turning to study Etienne.
“What?” he asked.
“Why were you in such a bad mood when you came to bed?”
He sighed heavily. “I was going to explain myself. I just thought I would let you enjoy the moment a little longer.” Etienne pushed himself to a sitting position and scooted to the head of the bed to press his back to the headboard. “Sit on my lap, I need to hold you in my arms for this.”
He waited for her to get settled before he started his tale. “My father was the first vampire, but the gift of near immortality came with a steep price. Because he was the original vampire, the magic that converted him came directly from a goddess. That level of magic triggered a deep burning rage in him. We are not sure why it happened, but it became something that was difficult to manage.
“My father dealt with it by going into the wilderness when he felt the anger building. He wouldn’t return until it subsided. He didn’t want to hurt my mother or his children, so he put distance between us when it was too much for him to control.
“My brother Ivan and I had j
ust reached puberty when it became apparent that we had inherited our father’s rage. Ivan went to Asia to learn the art of war with the most savage warlords he could find. His answer to the problem was to feed it.
“I chose another path. I knew I would have to lead the vampire race when my father left the throne. He was the best man I have ever known. A just and fair ruler in all things, and I wanted to live up to his legacy.”
He paused to breathe away the tears that after a century and a half still threatened to spill each time he spoke of his father.
Willa snuggled against his chest, and wrapped her arms around him. Comfort and love surrounded him as he prepared to continue.
“I spent two decades with the Dalai Lama learning to control the rage through meditation. I spend time in meditation every day without fail to center my mind, body, and spirit. Only, I have been busy wooing and protecting you these past few days and failed to keep my routine. I live by two rules. Meditate every day and never lose my temper. I failed to follow my own rules and paid the price.
“When I went to question a vampire attacking my people and the humans of the city, I found him dead in the holding cell. He had committed suicide rather than talk. The anger and frustration of losing my only link to the vampires stalking you pushed me over the edge.
“The rage threatened to surface. I spent time in the library calming myself as best I could before joining you, but I was still on the edge and will be until I can center myself again.”
“Oh, Etie, I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have pushed you tonight. If I had known, I wouldn’t have demanded that you make love to me when all you wanted was to be alone.”
“But there you’re wrong. I wanted to be with you. Badly. I just had to be in control of the situation or the rage would have slipped free of the tenuous hold I have on it.” He took her bottom lip between his teeth and tugged gently. “I think you behaved perfectly. And the vision you made all naked and ready in my bed—sweet mercy, woman.”
“Thank you. But I can’t take all the credit. You made behaving so very easy and enjoyable. But are you sorry I forced the third exchange?”
“Are you kidding? I think it’s great you took the initiative.”
Willa exhaled the breath she was holding. “Thank God.”
Chapter Fourteen
Willa woke slowly. She was warm and comfortable, wrapped in the arms of the most amazing man.
Her head lay cradled in the crook of his shoulder, and her right arm was thrown over his waist. She flexed her fingers, needing to touch, but not wanting to wake him. Etie had tucked her in last night and then disappeared to meditate and regain his control. She wasn’t sure what time he had finally come back to bed, but it had been late. She had waited up for over an hour before succumbing to sleep. He hadn’t returned.
She studied the soft chest hair covering his tawny skin. It was dark, almost black, but soft and fine. She could pet him all day. But why was everything a little blurry?
Carefully, she tilted her head to see his face. His face was blurry, too. Weird. Maybe her contacts were dirty. Etie was on his back with all of his glorious hair fanned across the pillow and down his arms. That must be what was tickling her shoulders. Mystery solved. Stubble shadowed his jaw in the most enticing way. She itched to touch but restrained herself.
There was more to him than handsome good looks that super-charged his appeal. Etie had the biggest heart of anyone she had ever met. He always took care of everyone and put himself last. Etie had a heart of gold, ravaged and perhaps tarnished by life, but golden all the same.
Willa slowly worked her way out of the bed without waking the sleeping giant. He looked exhausted and needed his rest, but she needed two things… stat: the bathroom and coffee. In that order. The bathroom was easy enough since Etie had an en-suite. The coffee would be more of a challenge.
She grabbed clean clothes and quickly dressed. Quietly she slipped from the bedroom and used the facilities. First things first, she relieved her screaming bladder and then gazed at her blurry image in the mirror. Carefully, she removed one contact to clean it.
She dribbled a pool of saline into her palm and was washing the lens when she realized she could see her hand clearly. Her gaze jumped to the mirror again. If she closed the eye that still wore a contact every detail of her face was sharply defined. Heck she could see her pores plain as day. Holy cow! Her vision was perfect. She didn’t need contacts or glasses anymore. Score!
Quickly she removed the other and smiled at herself. Whoa. She had little fangs at the edges of her lips. Leaning into the mirror, she examined them more closely. Crap, they were sharp. She would have to remember to stop biting her lip.
That was when she recalled the fight at her apartment and how a vampire could lengthen its fingernails. She brought up her right hand and concentrated. Awesomesauce!
She stared at them until they went back to normal, so she could brush her teeth and hair. Hair! HAIR! Son of a… The length was right, but all of her rainbow colors were gone. Dang, it! She was plain old blonde again. Scowling, she went in search of caffeine.
Once in the kitchen, she searched the cabinets until she found the coffee grounds. Typical men! The can was in the cupboard—empty. She could fix that. Café Beignet was only eight blocks straight down Royal Street. Easy peasy. As a local and college student, she was used to either walking or biking most of the time.
She would be there and back with a tray of steaming large coffees before anyone knew she was gone. The sun was shining, and people were out and about. What could happen?
As quiet as a mouse she slipped out of the house. She had just passed the entrance to the police station next to Café Beignet when a blast of dark fury hit her hard. Her chest tightened with fear, and the fight or flight response kicked in. What the heck?
Then she spotted her tall, dark, and handsome man. He had his back to her, so she rushed forward and grabbed his hand to turn him around. “Etie? How did you get here before me? I left you sleeping in bed.”
She snatched her hand away and stumbled back when he leaned in and snarled.
“What crawled up your butt and died?”
He glanced left and right. “It’s too early in the day for your crassness.” he sneered back, his voice every bit as cutting as his expression.
“You should know by now that I speak my mind.”
“I noticed,” he spat. “It’s impossible to miss.”
She watched him follow the progress of the pedestrians on the opposite side of the street. Poking him hard in the chest she hissed, “I’m also an empath, remember? I feel what you do, and your unwarranted anger is pissing me off. I thought you took care of this last night.”
His jaw ticced ever so slightly, and he pulled his sunglasses down his nose to glare at her. “You’re an empath? With a gift like that, you could ruin all my plans. It’s a damn good thing I’m ready for him.”
That’s when she realized he didn’t sound like himself. His accent was different, he smelled like cheap aftershave, and his eyes were the wrong color. Etie had silver eyes. This man had gold. Dread chilled her flesh. He’s not Etie.
She turned to run, but he was on her before she took a step. Her feet left the ground, robbing her of all leverage. Then he started to haul her toward a blacked-out SUV. She tried to scream, but he clamped a massive hand over her mouth.
Willa squirmed and swung out at him like a mad woman. She head-butted him, kicked his shins, and brought her fist up and back breaking his nose. When his grip slipped, she lunged for the café and the safety of witnesses.
He grabbed a handful of her hair and yanked her head to the side. Before she could get free again, he plunged a syringe into her neck, and everything went black.
Ivan tossed Willa’s dead weight into the back of the SUV and climbed in. “Get us out of here before the cops show up,” he barked at the driver. The vampire floored the SUV jerking the vehicle into oncoming traffic leaving a minor pileup in his wake.
�
��I can’t believe my luck. Etienne’s bitch walked right up to me. If I had known it would be this easy I wouldn’t have wasted the manpower on her.”
He had his enemy’s woman. He leaned around his seat to look at Willa and took a good long sniff. That was when he noticed her hair. Hot damn! He had abducted his brother’s muierimei. Etienne would come after him for sure. His original plan was to steal the woman from his brother, robbing him of what he coveted.
And who was he kidding? Probably kill her, too. This plan was so much better. And it had gone down so smoothly as if it was meant to be. Well, except for his nose, but that would be healed within the hour.
Etienne had claimed and converted the woman. Her scent and sudden change of hair were evidence of that. She was the perfect homing beacon to draw him to the warehouse.
He glanced into the back again and barked out an evil laugh. She was out cold and would stay that way for at least an hour. That was plenty of time to prepare his fun and games.
Etienne sat bolt upright the instant he felt Willa’s terror and pain. He leapt from the bed, shredding the sheets with his effort. “Xander! Max! I need everyone. NOW!” he bellowed as he took the stairs three at a time to the main floor.
He flashed to the kitchen, then the library, where the hell was everyone? His breath pumped in and out of his lungs. His chest ached, and his face hurt like someone had used it as a punching bag.
“Willa!” He could feel their connection growing thin. Whatever had happened, she was moving farther away by the second. The vampires must have her. She was being taken from him. That was unacceptable.
The legacy of rage deep inside of him welled to the surface. Fury poured from his very pores as an arctic blast. The glass of the windows fractured, crystals from the chandeliers rained down to skitter across the floor.
Xander skidded to a halt as he rushed into the room. “What happened?”
Etienne swung around crouched and ready to attack. “They have my muierimei,” he growled in a guttural voice.
