by Susan Illene
“You would not be able to speak, either,” he said, remembering that was what caused him trouble last time. “Though I think you are safe to moan.”
A smile played at her lips. “You think you can make me moan?”
Bartol gazed down at her, aware that his eyes must have been glowing from the passion she ignited in him with a mere look. “I already have.”
“I’ll do whatever you need,” she said, holding her wrists out. “If it means you’ll touch me.”
By all that was holy, this woman would be the death of him.
Bartol flashed away for the brief moment it took to acquire some rope from his storage shed and drop it off on his dresser. After he returned to the bathroom, he grabbed a surprised Cori and transported her to his bed, laying her flat upon the mattress. She rested her head on the pillow and put her arms at her sides so that none of her beautiful body was hidden from him. If he could have grown harder, he would have. This woman reminded him of exactly how many years it had been since he’d last slaked his lusts. Not even his worst memories affected him right then.
Cori watched with intense fascination as he yanked his shirt off and ripped it into long strips. She cooperated fully as he wrapped each one around her wrists and ankles to protect her skin. He could smell her arousal, which fed his even more.
Bartol grabbed the rope from the dresser and held it up. “Are you certain about this?”
“I trust you.”
The faith that reflected in her eyes was far more than he could have hoped for from this woman. After all she’d been through and all she continued to suffer at the hands of her former husband, it humbled Bartol that she’d handed control of her body over to him.
“Thank you.”
She stared at him a long moment. “You’re welcome.”
He pulled a folding knife from his pocket and began cutting the long rope into four sections. Cori trembled at the sight of the blade, so he put it away as soon as he finished. Then Bartol began the tying process, starting at her ankles. He made them tight enough that in his mind he’d feel safe from Cori, but not so much it would hurt her. He also left a tiny bit of slack so that he could adjust her limbs as needed. Though his motions were mostly mechanical, he found the act helped him gather himself for what he would do next.
Bartol hovered over Cori to reach her wrists and noted a hint of nervousness reflecting in her gaze. He sought to comfort her, wanting this to be as perfect as it could be despite the unusual circumstances. “You have a beautiful body.”
“I was wondering if you…” she trailed off. It was unlike her to become uncertain.
“It is perfect,” he promised.
She swallowed. “Even after all those other women?”
“You’re the only one I care about right now.”
“Good.” She adjusted herself underneath him. “Because I want tonight to be amazing.”
Bartol tied the last knot, some of his old confidence returning. “If I do my job right, it won’t be for only one night.”
Cori gave him a challenging look. “We’ll see.”
Her words strengthened his resolve to make this work. Bartol wanted to take this woman to new heights and show her that not all men were bad. This wasn’t only about him, but also her. She needed to learn trust again. Perhaps if they each gave themselves over to the pleasure and let their past pains go, they’d gain something even greater from the experience.
Bartol switched the bedside lamps to the lowest settings so that they left the room in a soft glow. Cori’s gaze followed him everywhere he went. He stopped next to the bed and kicked his shoes off, enjoying the way her eyes stared at his chest. It had driven him crazy the way she looked at him before, but only because it felt like torment at the time. She’d been tempting and taunting him when he thought he could never have her. Now that she was bound and completely open to him with her legs spread apart, he planned to take full advantage.
Bartol put a knee on the mattress and hovered over her. He waited until she shifted in restlessness before making his first move. It was important that he feel fully in control or this moment would not last. He took a finger and slid it between her legs, finding her dripping wet.
She arched into his touch. “Oh, shit!”
“No talking,” he warned.
Cori clamped her lips shut.
Bartol leaned forward and brushed his lips against her neck, feeling her shudder. He kissed, licked, and nibbled his way across her throat and over to her delicate ears. To add to the effect, he ran a hand up her body, stroking and touching, but never staying in one place long. He enjoyed watching the way she strained against the ropes and how the passion in her eyes grew just for him. She was giving him so much that he was determined to make this a night she would never forget.
Taking stock of himself, he was grateful no dark thoughts had hit yet. So far, so good.
He moved his lips down to her breasts to suckle and play with them next. They were full and easily filled his hands. It made him wonder what they’d looked like when they’d been filled with milk, and part of him wished he had the ability to give her another child. That destiny was not meant to be for them, but he could allow himself the simple pleasure of imagining it. He continued his path down her body until he’d touched and memorized every part of her.
Having her lay there before him, it was as if she was a canvas and his hands were the paint brush. He had no intention of leaving her exactly as he found her. She would be changed because the one thing he’d mastered over his long centuries was how to make himself the center of a woman’s world. For the next hour, he touched and fondled her without mercy. Cori grew so wet that she filled his mouth when he drank from her, and her orgasmic cries rent the air.
She called out his name. Bartol’s chest tightened and dark thoughts began to invade. Unaware of his dilemma, Cori mumbled words of how amazing she felt. His body shook with the effort to hold back the tidal wave of terrible images filling his head. He pulled away to grab a cloth, and with apology in his gaze, gingerly slipped it over her mouth. She accepted it without complaint. It took several minutes after that to get himself under control and resume touching her. He had to take things more slowly at first, but his previous confidence steadily returned as he brought Cori’s body to new heights of pleasure once more. It saddened him that he’d once used words to seduce and enjoyed talk during sex play, but now it only brought him pain.
Eventually, the moment came when he couldn’t wait any longer and feared spilling his seed before he’d had the chance to enter her body. He was amazed he’d held on as long as he did, but he’d feared if he didn’t make himself completely comfortable with Cori, then he wouldn’t have been able to handle the most important part.
He moved to the side of the bed and dropped his pants, stepping out of them. Cori’s gaze fell to the thick member between his legs, and her eyes widened. Nephilim were not built small in any way. Bartol worried she might become too scared to take him, but then she widened her thighs as far as they could go. It was her way of giving him final permission. Still, he felt guilty about keeping her mouth bound when it removed her ability to communicate if necessary.
Bartol dropped the gag to around her neck. “Do not speak unless you need me to stop, understand?”
She nodded.
Then he covered his lips with hers, pleased when she kissed him back with the same intensity. With her mouth, she told him what she couldn’t say with words. He felt how much she wanted him with every graze of her lips and brush of her tongue. This woman might be mortal and weaker than him physically, but she had the power to completely overwhelm him. He could think of nothing except her and the welcome body she provided.
Bartol pressed between her thighs, angling his member toward her entrance. Cori was more than wet enough to handle him, but he still moved into her carefully—one slow, agonizing inch at a time. She moaned, lifting her hips for easier access. He drove in all the way until their bodies were locked and then he fr
oze.
The memories crashed over him.
Monstrous women with horns and distorted faces laughed as they cut and burned him in every manner possible. They took pleasure in his cries of pain. All they wanted was to make him suffer and beg for mercy they would never give. Bartol clenched his eyes shut. This couldn’t be happening now, not now!
The real woman underneath him moved. “Look at me.”
“I can’t,” he said, voice pained.
“It’s me, not them.” Cori lifted enough to graze her lips against his jaw. “I would never hurt you.”
He shook as the memories continued unabated. He was inside of her, but he couldn’t see anything except the visions Kerbasi had skillfully created. Bartol felt the sting of whip lashes, the sharp pains from spears being pierced into his body, and the tongues dripping acid that licked their way across his most intimate parts. He shuddered and shook, trapped in the nightmare.
Cori whispered soothingly to him. He tried to concentrate on her voice and follow it, but it wasn’t easy. Bartol had never had an anchor before and didn’t know how to use it. He gave it all he had, though, and bit by bit, the visions started to fade.
“That’s it, sweetheart. Come back to me,” Cori called to him.
Bartol opened his eyes. She was still there, helpless and bound underneath him, yet unafraid. Who was this woman that she could have the patience to wait out one of his terrors and even draw him back? She should have been screaming for him to free her.
But she wasn’t.
Instead, she gave him a seductive look. “Don’t stop.”
“Are you certain?” he asked, surprised she didn’t want to give up.
“This isn’t over until you finish.”
His member jerked inside of her, having somehow stayed hard despite everything. “What if I lose it again?”
She held a promise in her eyes. “Then I’ll call you back like I did just now.”
Bartol found himself moving inside of her without any more encouragement. Deep and steady, he thrust again and again. She was like an oasis in a desert. He found respite in her body when he’d thought there was no safe place for him. His breathing intensified, matching Cori’s. They were one in a way he’d never felt before. He leaned down and pushed as deep as he could go, grinding into her until she screamed her release. Bartol followed her into that pleasure-filled place, and stars filled the backs of his eyes.
The climax didn’t end quickly like he’d expected and kept going until he thought he’d become trapped in it. Then something happened. Fangs slid from the top of his gums, and he felt a driving desire to bite her. He needed the world to know Cori was his and his alone.
Bartol was in a primal state of mind, unable to reason or come to any rational thought. He drove his head toward her shoulder and bit into it. Cori screamed, and her inner muscles convulsed around him in a second orgasm. Their thoughts and feelings suddenly became one, and there were no secrets between them. A tidal wave of information he couldn’t begin to process flooded into him. He experienced the joy of Cori giving birth to her daughter, and the pain of the little girl’s death. She experienced the agony from his many years of torture. Still, the orgasm continued, driving him to clench his fangs even harder and steal a taste of Cori’s blood. Only after his thirst was satisfied could he let go.
He pulled away, drawing in heaving breaths. “That was…not quite…how I intended it to go.”
“You…” The passion in her hazel eyes faded to be replaced by anger. “You bit me!”
Bartol swallowed, guilt flooding him. “I hadn’t meant to do it. I…”
“You grew fangs, bit me, and somehow got into my head. I didn’t even know nephilim had fangs or that you could mind meld like that!” She was growing more irate by the second.
“We usually can’t. The only exception is when we…” Bartol trailed off, at a loss for words. There was only one possible explanation he knew of for why he’d bitten her, but it didn’t make sense. She was human. Nephilim usually didn’t permanently mate with humans for the obvious reason that they were mortal.
“Untie me,” Cori demanded, straining at the ropes.
He did as she requested, using his increased speed to finish the job quickly. As soon as she was free, she leaped off the bed. Cori was going to run without even giving him a chance to explain. Bartol flashed over and grabbed her, wrapping his arms around her. She struggled, and they both stumbled back to the bed. She hit and kicked him for several moments, angrier than he’d ever seen her. It was all he could do to ride it out.
“You fucking bit me, and you took my memories and made me live yours.” She punched him in the chest. “How could you do that to me when you promised you wouldn’t hurt me?”
“It was not my intention to mark you as my mate,” he said.
She stopped fighting and narrowed her gaze at him. “You did what?”
“It was not something I could control.” He tried rubbing her back in a soothing manner, but she shrugged his hand away.
“Wait.” Cori pushed herself into a sitting position. “Are you talking about mating like Lucas and Melena did? Like how every supernatural who gets near Mel knows exactly which man she belongs to because of that mark?”
It appeared she had heard of it. “Yes, that would be the same.”
“You asshole!” she screamed.
Once again, he had to grab hold of her because he could not let her go without at least talking it out. “It was no more voluntary for me to bite you than it was for you to accept it.”
“I didn’t accept anything.”
“Yes, you did,” he argued. “The mark will not work if somewhere deep down you don’t want me just as much.”
She took a few deep breaths before meeting his gaze. “Are you saying we were somehow destined to be together?”
“It doesn’t have anything to do with destiny or fate. No one knows why, but some nephilim, and occasionally vampires, are able to identify their true mates after getting to know them for a while.” He thought back on all he’d heard about the process. “It isn’t a love at first sight sort of thing, but rather after a strong bond has been formed between two people.”
“I’m human,” she said in a flat tone. “I will die and then what?”
He worked his jaw. “I don’t know.”
She was certainly still mortal now just as he’d heard Melena was when Lucas marked her. The bite didn’t change that. The couple eventually found a way around it, but that process had killed every human it was ever attempted on. They believed the only reason it had worked with Melena was because she was a sensor. Cori didn’t have the same advantage, and now they knew she couldn’t become a vampire, either. Bartol didn’t know what to do. He’d inadvertently mated himself to this mortal woman, but that didn’t mean either of them were prepared for the long-term consequences.
“I need time to think about this,” Cori said, pulling away.
Bartol let his hands drop from her, amazed at how difficult it was to let her go. Touching Cori wasn’t affecting him negatively at all right now, though he had no idea if it would last. He didn’t feel cured. More like his shock over the mating and his concern for Cori took precedence over his trauma.
“I will go sleep in the living room.”
“No.” Cori shook her head. “I can’t…I can’t stay in here. Let me take the couch.”
He didn’t like it. Perhaps he had been a bit of a womanizer in his time, but he’d always given deference to females. He wanted even more for his mate. “Are you certain?”
She nodded emphatically. “Yes.”
“Very well, but if you need anything, you will come tell me?”
“Fine,” she said.
He watched her go, wishing he could have held her a little longer.
Chapter 24
Cori
She lay on the couch unable to sleep. It had been several hours since she left Bartol’s room, shutting the door behind her for emphasis that she wanted to b
e left alone. When Cori had decided to give him free rein over her body, she’d never imagine things would go the way they did. It had been the most incredible experience of her life. So much so that when he bit her, it hadn’t bothered her right away. Cori had even reveled in the feeling of it during those first few moments. There was no way she could have been more connected to another person than while he was deep inside her.
It had only been after the memories faded away that she realized what he’d done. Bartol had mated them. How could that have happened? She’d lain on the couch for hours trying to recall the few details Melena had given her about the bite mark and how it worked. All Cori could remember was that it lasted for life, and she would always be connected to Bartol on some deeper, metaphysical level. Oh, and every supernatural within spitting distance would know he’d claimed her as his. She’d sworn she would never let another man have a strong hold on her again, and then she’d let this happen. Cori wanted to throttle herself.
A hint of sunlight filtered through the living room windows as dawn’s early rays shined inside. She got up and took a peek outside. To her surprise, she found a thin layer of snow on the ground with more tiny flakes falling from the sky. It had been cold last night when they left the shop, but she hadn’t checked the weather forecast lately and didn’t realize it was supposed to snow. She supposed she should have expected it. Fairbanks often got an early snow in October, though it usually didn’t stick for long.
Cori stared at the glistening white stuff for a while until a plan formed in her head. She needed answers about the claiming mark, as well as a friend to talk to, and she knew where to get both—without involving Bartol. It was daylight, so at least she wouldn’t have to worry about Griff attacking her. She’d go straight to Melena’s, and everything would be fine.
Resolved in her decision, she dug a notepad from her purse and wrote a note to Bartol, letting him know where she was going. Cori set it on the dining room table. No way did she have any intention of waking him up, but neither did she want him worrying when he didn’t find her in the cabin. Satisfied she’d done enough, she got dressed, adding an extra layer for the cold. Cori moved as quietly as possible, worried the nephilim might wake up at any moment and stop her. When she made it to the front door without him coming out, she figured he must have been sleeping deeply. Maybe having sex for the first time in a century had worn him out.
