The Vampire's Concubine

by Kallysten

  She tilted her head to one side and smiled coyly. “I didn’t bring a suit.”

  Laughing, he crossed the last couple of yards to the ladder and pulled himself out. Only then did Meriel understand what had amused him: he had been swimming in the nude. Humming to herself, she turned away to pick up the terrycloth robe on the lounge chair behind her. When she turned back, holding out the robe to him, she wasn’t shy about letting her eyes trail over his body.

  Decades as a vampire had not robbed him of the tan skin-color that had to have been his since birth. The muscled chest she had discovered the previous night was even more attractive with droplets of water sliding over his skin, begging for a gentle hand to dry them off. Her gaze dropped a little lower. Aidan chuckled, and she realized she had been humming again.

  “Thank you,” he said, amusement tinting his words. He slipped into the robe and tied the belt loosely at the waist. Head tilted to one side, he considered her with sparkling eyes. “Should I be wondering whether you have a stake handy?”

  She returned his look evenly. “You think stakes are my only weapon?”

  “I’m not that stupid. I just figure stakes are what I should be worried about now since you already used your feminine wiles on me.”

  Meriel let out a little snort. “Yes, and it worked so well that you went to sleep in a different room.”

  He reached over and traced the curve of her jaw with his fingertip. “If you wanted me to stay, all you had to do was say so.”

  Repressing a shiver at his touch, Meriel pushed a smile to her lips. She hated playing with him like this. She consoled herself with the thought that at least, her attraction to him was genuine. “Say so?” She captured his hand in hers and narrowed the distance between them. “What if I did this?”

  She leaned in, crossing the last few inches between them and pressing her mouth to his. At the same moment, her free hand slid inside his robe and around his waist to rest on his ass. She gave it a gentle squeeze.

  “You might want to be more explicit,” he said, tongue in cheek, when her lips trailed over his chin and jaw. “I’d hate to understand you wrong.”

  Taking a step back, she rolled her eyes at him. She pulled the zipper down the side of her dress and let it fall to the tiled floor, standing nude in front of Aidan. She met his eyes for a moment before stepping aside and jumping straight down into the water. It felt warm against her cool skin. When she emerged again, she slicked her hair back and looked up at him.

  “Is that explicit enough for you?”

  He dropped the robe and plunged in, arms extended in front of him and barely splashing any water at all. Swimming under the water, he approached her and pulled up close enough that their bodies brushed against each other when he broke the surface. Meriel rested her arms on his shoulders. Her puckered nipples brushed against his chest every time she kicked the water beneath her. His hands settled on her waist, so light that she could have broken free without effort.

  “At least,” he said with a slight grin, “now I’m pretty sure you don’t have a stake on you.”

  “Only pretty sure?”

  “Well, I can think of a couple of places still where you could have stashed a stake.”

  Her burst of laughter reverberated over the water and filled the room. “I’m not into toys,” she informed him, still laughing.

  “Really?” He waggled his eyebrows at her. His hands still held her waist loosely, his thumbs now tracing circles over her skin that felt like fire. “Toys can be fun.”

  “Let me correct that. I’m not into toys when I can put my hands on something like this.”

  She punctuated her words by taking hold of his cock. It grew harder in her hand, and she gave it a lazy stroke. A low humming sound rose from his chest. Using the hold of her hand on his shoulder, she raised herself a little in the water, just enough to be able to wrap her legs around his hips. At once, she started guiding his cock to her folds. After all, he had asked her to be explicit…

  He stopped her with a shake of his head. “Not here,” he said, his hands firming on her waist and holding her far enough that he couldn’t slip inside her. “You’re not into toys; I’m not into exhibitionism.”

  Disappointed, she let go of his cock after giving it a last small squeeze, but kept her arm on his shoulder and her legs around him. “Funny coming from someone who swims in the nude.”

  He shrugged and they bobbed up and down in the water. “Swimming is one thing. Making love to my concubine is something else.”

  She refused to take the bait. He could call it making love if he wanted. For her, it would be fucking. She wanted this—wanted him—but she also remembered he would soon be dead.

  “Shall we take this elsewhere, then?” he asked when a few seconds had passed in silence.

  Meriel nodded curtly and they separated. He swam ahead of her and climbed out of the water first. When she stepped up the ladder, he had his robe open and ready for her to slip into. She heard voices behind him, and realized he was shielding her body from view of two vampires who had just stepped in the room.

  “We’ll have to find you a suit for next time,” he said, a little too casual.

  Tying up the belt at her waist, she watched him wrap the towel that had been lying on the chair around his waist. It did very little to hide his erection.

  “We’ll have to find one for you too, then,” she said dryly. “I’m not into sharing my lovers, not even the sight of them.”

  A low, rich chuckle rose from his throat when he picked her up, one arm behind her knees and the other at her back. He dipped his head and pressed a peck to her lips before starting toward the staircase. Closing her eyes, Meriel rested her face against the crook of his neck. Her right hand was in his hair, tugging lightly at the strands. This felt comfortable, she thought. Much more than she would have expected when she had only met Aidan the previous night. For now, she could let herself forget why she was there.

  She opened her eyes again when she heard a door close behind them. He had brought them to her room. He set her down next to the bed, and she watched his eyes as he tugged on the robe’s belt and undressed her. Earlier, they had been sparkling and playful. Now, they shone with unmistakable lust.

  He brushed back wet strands of hair and rested his hands on either side of her face, brushing his thumbs lightly over her cheeks. He caressed her mouth with his, pulling away when she expected him to deepen the kiss. His lips pressed against cheek, the tip of her nose, her eyelids, her brow, each touch so light that Meriel wasn’t sure whether she imagined it.

  His lips slid over her skin and to the crook of her neck. Ignoring her uneasiness, she tilted her head to the side, granting him better access. She sighed softly when he sucked at the marks he had left on her the previous night and tingles shot through her body, arousing her further. She could feel a slick wetness between her thighs, and it had nothing to do with the pool anymore. Her hands clenched at his back, her nails drawing lines onto his skin. She tensed at the light pricking of his fangs, just a second before they reopened the bite, and closed her eyes in anticipation of the inextricably mixed pain and pleasure of sharing blood. Aidan teased the marks with the tip of his tongue before drawing a mouthful of blood. Her head feeling suddenly very light, Meriel moaned quietly.

  “Can I?” she asked, trying and failing not to sound as though she were pleading.

  He stilled and pulled back until she could see his eyes again. His features revealed nothing. “Do you plan to try to kill me anytime soon?”

  She hesitated for a couple of seconds before replying, “No.”

  A corner of his lips curved, though the result couldn’t really have been called a smile. “Another time, maybe. When you don’t hesitate anymore.”

  He drew her onto the bed and kneeled over her closed legs. His cock pressed into her thigh when he leaned over her and, capturing both her hands in his left hand, drew them above her head. His right hand, meanwhile, was skimming over her skin, barely touc
hing her. Meriel tried to arch into his touch, but trapped as she was beneath him, she couldn’t do much. She could have thrown him off her if she tried, but it would ruin the mood.

  For long minutes, Aidan explored her body with no more than his fingertips, setting her skin ablaze and making her crave more contact. He caressed every inch of her with his fingers, then proceeded to do the same thing with his lips and tongue. When she moaned or bucked against him, Meriel realized after a while, he remained on the same spot a little longer, drawing out the sensations. He was figuring out what parts of her were most sensitive, she understood at last, feeling a little silly for not understanding it faster. Although why he would want to map out the erogenous zones of her body, she couldn’t fathom. Hadn’t he said himself that he knew what she was supposed to do? Did he hope to convince her not to kill him by fucking her well enough?

  The thought annoyed her. She wasn’t so weak that a round or two of sex would make her forget everything, and Aidan was an idiot if he thought she was.

  “My turn.”

  She freed her hands and pushed lightly against his shoulders. Aidan rolled off her and onto his back. She followed his movement and lay on her side next to him, letting her hand ghost over his chest.

  A jagged white line on his tanned skin over his ribs caught her attention and she followed it with a finger.

  “Knife,” he said simply.

  She glanced up at his face before looking at the scar again. To be so neat on his skin, it was either only a few years old, or he had received it as a human. She wanted to ask which it was, but she didn’t dare. Getting to know him better wouldn’t help her accomplish her mission, far from it.

  Abandoning the small line, she looked for more on his smooth, silky skin, and was surprised by how many she found. She touched each of them with a gentle finger before pressing her lips against each faded scar. As she did, she wondered how many times he had needed to defend himself since becoming a master. Many more times than she had fought, she imagined. Even so, she didn’t doubt her chances when it would come to it. Her sire had trained her well, and what better way to get through Aidan’s defenses than to lure him to sleep in her arms?

  After allowing her free rein for a few minutes, Aidan clutched her forearms and drew her up to lie on top of him. Hyperaware of every inch where her body touched his, she sought his mouth and pushed her tongue inside to stroke his. She could feel his cock trapped between their bodies, hard and wet, but not as wet as she was. His hand slipped to it; she raised herself up to allow him access, ending the kiss. With her hands resting on the bed on either side of him, she looked down to where he was fisting his cock. The sight entranced her, and for a moment she forgot everything that wasn’t him or her. The only thing that mattered anymore was for her to have him, his beautiful cock, inside her body.

  She looked up at him and could see the question in his eyes. She nodded. He smiled as the tip of his cock brushed against her folds, teasing and spreading the slick wetness around. On the next passage, she lowered herself abruptly, forcing him inside her. They gasped, and for a moment were still, eyes locked together and savoring this first union of their bodies.

  Her hands now resting on his chest for leverage, Meriel took a few rocking strokes up and down his body, driving him a little further on each push down. His hands on her hips reinforced her rhythm while his eyes roamed over her, caressing her with as much intensity as his hands and mouth had moments earlier.

  All of a sudden, he wrapped his arms around her back and pulled her flush down against him. He then rolled them to their sides. His hand slid to her thigh, silently requesting. She heard him and raised her leg to rest it over his and open herself more to him.

  As he set a slow rhythm of thrusting and drawing back, his hand on her thigh traveled over her to caress her ass, her back, her neck and chest. Meriel contented herself with being passive for a little while, but as his rhythm intensified, she just had to touch him. Her fingertips played over his lips and he kissed them. Her fingers were wet by the time she flicked them over his flat nipples, making them grow taut for her.

  He made a sound, low in his throat, and a shiver coursed through Meriel. The next instant, he had pushed her onto her back and was thrusting faster into her. His left hand cupped the side of her head, his thumb stroking her cheek, while the right had snuck between them for his fingers to press against her clit in between each of his strokes. A fire was burning inside Meriel, growing brighter and warmer with each touch from Aidan.

  She wanted to caress him, return the pleasure he was giving her, but she couldn’t find it in her to move. She could only watch the play of sensations on his face, could only listen for his accelerating breathing and moans, could only feel his growing need with his now-erratic thrusts as he sought to push the two of them a little closer to orgasm.

  When it struck Meriel, it was like lightning spreading through her and blinding her for a second. Her body arched against his, drawing him into her pleasure, and she felt him shake against her and inside her.

  Aidan rested over her body for a few moments, and rather than being heavy or stifling, his weight felt almost comfortable. When he rolled off her and laid by her side, she quickly missed his body and turned to him, pressing her legs and lower body against his.

  “Wow,” she said, still breathless.

  “Wow?” he repeated, looking at her with a raised eyebrow.

  “Ten years don’t seem so long anymore.”

  His eyes widened in delight. His rich laugh sent a shudder down Meriel’s spine. He reached and touched her face with her fingertips, caressing. Without thinking, Meriel leaned into his touch.

  “Did you feed yet?” he asked after a little while.

  “No. I was going to go in to town tonight.”

  “Would you like company?”

  As earlier, she hesitated, though for a very different reason. When he had asked if she intended to kill him, she had needed to lie and had worried that he would be able to tell. Now, she could tell him the truth—yes, she did want him to come with her—and it was how easily this answer came to her that stilled her tongue, puzzling her.

  “Another time, maybe,” he said with a small, lopsided smile.

  Meriel shook her head. “No. I mean, yes, I do want company. Come with me?”

  His smile widened, becoming more natural—and more beautiful. Part of her hoped she’d be able to make him smile again. She doubted she would have many occasions before she had to kill him.

  * * * *

  Meriel had only stepped into the shower moments before, but already a fine mist filled the bathroom. Rather than joining her immediately, Aidan rested his back against the door and watched her through the fogged-up shower door. The curves of her body seemed to call to him, for his hands to run over them, for his mouth to explore them again. He wasn’t able to resist the call very long.

  Drawing the shower door open, he slipped inside behind Meriel. Her back tensed, no doubt in wariness, but relaxed again when he laid his hands on her shoulders and kneaded lightly.

  “I thought you were getting ready in your room,” she said, her tone making the words a question.

  Aidan brushed her hair aside, baring her shoulders and neck. He pressed a single kiss to the back of her neck. She shivered against his gentle touch. “I changed my mind,” he said, his lips caressing her skin with each word. He picked up the soap and worked up a thick, lavender-scented lather in his hands before washing her shoulders and back. He followed the cascading water and slowly made his way to her ass where he spent maybe a little more time than necessary.

  Meriel turned to face him. Water clung to her eyelashes, and the heat of the shower had colored her pale skin pink. Shiny and wet, her mouth was nothing if not kissable.

  With a gentle hand, she took the soap from him and ran it over his chest, letting her hand follow to chase away the suds.

  “Changed your mind about hunting, too?” she asked in a throaty voice.

  “No, w
e will go. Soon.”

  He trailed a series of soft kisses along her collarbone. Her right hand stilled on his back, then came to rest at the back of his head, accompanying his movement without pushing him in any way. The way she shifted against him, however, gave him a clear idea of what she wanted, and he kissed his way down the center of her chest and along the curve of her right breast.

  He licked a path to her nipple and teased it with his lips and tongue, adding only a hint of blunt teeth when Meriel’s hand at the back of his head pushed him tighter against her breast. Leaving a hard and peaking nipple behind, he turned to her other breast and inflicted the same delicious torture on it until she was moaning quietly and pressing her hips forward to rub against his hardened cock.

  Satisfied that he had lavished enough attention on her breasts, Aidan trailed kisses lower and lower down her body, crouching then kneeling down, his hands guiding him as they slid down her stomach, her hip and then to her thighs.

  He licked the delicate groove where her thigh met her hip and drew an appreciative murmur from her. Very gently, he pushed at her hips until she was leaning back against the tiles.

  “Steady, now,” he murmured against the soft skin of her leg. Without further warning, he gently took her ankle and raised it. He guided her leg up until her thigh rested on his shoulder, offering her folds to his eyes, mouth and fingers.

  He leaned forward, and her fingers raked through his hair, accompanying his movements and even pulling him a little faster toward her. He let her guide him to her core and traced her labia with the tip of his tongue. Her fingers tightened almost painfully, demanding more. He complied and this time pressed the flat of his tongue to her opening, dipping in briefly before sliding up to curl around her clit.

  “Yes,” she hissed. “Right there.”

  Drawing back, he pressed a series of small kisses against her thigh. She trembled and groaned in frustration, her hands trying to lead him back to where she needed him most. When he figured he had teased her as much as she could endure, he slid his mouth back to her folds, this time settling directly over her clit. He flicked it with his tongue a few times, and Meriel’s hips bucked against him to accentuate the contact. He pressed his left hand against her side to try to still her. Then, delicately, he took her clit between his teeth and sucked. Meriel was moaning continuously now, quiet sounds that went straight to Aidan’s balls.