by Ravyn Wilde
Looking up to meet his gaze, she trailed her fingers over the jumping muscles of his stomach and then moved to his belt. Unbuckling his pants, she slowly lowered the zipper.
“Nicky.” Her name was said half in warning, half in raw supplication.
“Remember the rule. You let go…I stop.”
After warning him again, she pulled his jeans and underwear off his hips, leaving him naked except for the socks on his feet. When his erection had cleared the constricting confines of his pants, it sprang free to bob in front of Nicole’s face. “God, you’re beautiful,” she whispered, reverently sliding her hands up his thighs to cup his weight in her palms.
He slipped a little. Nicole looked up, taking her hands away. Watching as he tightened his grip on the metal rod, she smiled at the determined look on his face. Twisting his body, he arched toward her. Nicky waited until he begged.
“My hands were sweaty. I’ve got it now. Please.”
She refused to rush this seduction. It was her turn to make him squirm instead of being ravished. He had a tendency to control their lovemaking. Not that she minded in the least. But this was her fantasy.
Besides, she wanted to see if the scene she’d written in her book would work. Like I really care about anything but having my hands on his flesh.
Deciding the torment would be more effective if he could look down on her naked body, Nicky quickly stripped out of her clothes. If his indrawn breath was any indication, he appreciated the view.
Without wasting any more time she reached up, running her hands over his thighs to circle his staining cock. The deep purple vein running underneath his shaft throbbed.
“Woman. You know this is insane,” he growled.
Nicky smiled, watching his reaction as he threw his head back when she pulled her closed fist up his broad, blood-engorged length. Moving her hand up to slide over the dark, bulbous head, she traced her fingers in the little slit, trailing in pre-come. Using her palm to spread the liquid over him for lubrication, she started to stroke. “This is one more thing for me to cross off my list,” she purred.
“Ah, Nicky!” Zane gasped in obvious enjoyment.
Nicky wanted him mindless. Craving all she could give him. Leaning forward, she stuck out her tongue, licking the crown of his shaft then laving around the deep-plum head. She was a little surprised that he’d been circumcised. Once she found out how old he was, she’d have to do a little research. Or just ask him. But that was a question for later.
“Hell. I’ll…hang here all night,” he groaned. “If it means…you’ll keep…doing that!”
Continuing to lick him from root to tip, she was encouraged by his rumbling growl. When her wet lips closed over the flared head, she swirled her tongue around him and was delighted by the sound of Zane’s gasps.
With her eyes closed in enjoyment, she imagined him looking down at her as she serviced him. And prayed his hold on the bar would continue a little longer. She smiled as Zane tried to rock his hips as she took his length down her throat. Using one hand wrapped around his shaft to assist her movements, she grabbed his ass, holding him in place.
Stroking him with one hand and her mouth, she raised her gaze the length of his body, following the dark trail of hair from his trembling belly to his shuddering chest as he struggled to breathe. Noticing the fine sheen of perspiration glistening on his tight muscles, she finally met his burning gaze.
His eyes blazed with fire, his lips parted in tortured bliss. Drawing back, she took pleasure in the silky, solid length in her mouth, the salty-sweet taste of his skin and the vein pulsing under her tongue. He hissed when her teeth scraped him and she released him. “Sorry,” she said. Looking up, she met his gaze and winced.
Zane shook his head. “God, don’t apologize!” he grumbled, groaning once more when her tongue slipped through her lips to lick him. “I love the burn of your teeth on my flesh, the pleasure-pain of you feasting on me. It’s perfect.”
Leaning forward, she wrapped her lips around his cock once more and took him into her mouth. Sliding his length down her throat, she pumped him with one hand and bobbed her head back and forth over his cock. Releasing his tight ass, she reached around to cup his balls with her other hand, compressing the small orbs with gentle force.
Zane roared and flexed, straining to thrust his hips in an effort to push his cock farther into her mouth. Hot jets pulsed from his shaft and shot down her throat. Feeling him shudder, she continued teasing his semi-hard cock by swiping the small hole at the tip with her tongue and then taking just the head into her mouth.
“Hmmm.” Nicky hummed her pleasure and Zane’s cock reacted to the vibration of her mouth, growing eager for another round.
“Step back,” he demanded in a hoarse growl. “It’s my turn.”
Landing beside her, Zane pulled Nicky to him and kissed her softly. As he eased her to the floor, she wondered if he could taste himself on her lips.
“I am going to lick and suck you until you come, then I’m going to fuck you,” he whispered intently.
Her body constricted in delighted anticipation at his promise. Watching Zane fall to his knees between her spread legs, she moaned as he used his hands to separate her swollen labia. Within seconds she felt his hot breath against her flesh and the slow slide of his tongue through her slick folds. Gasping, she arched into his mouth as her fingers tried to find something to hold on to.
The thrust of Zane’s tongue spiked through her like lightning, moving straight to her core. Nicky groaned at the sensation, her body tightening as she let herself drown in the pleasure moving through her. Bucking in urgent demand, she was rewarded with the pressure of his tongue circling her hardened clit, his lips and teeth pulling at the inflamed nub. Fingers slid inside her, pushing her closer to orgasm. He continued to use his tongue and mouth to drive her insane. Running a wet finger down to the little rosette of her ass, he teased her tight flesh. She couldn’t wait. “Zane, please,” she cried. “No more teasing. Fuck me!”
Rising up and over her, he took his cock in hand and slid it along her weeping slit. Nicky moaned beneath him. Spreading her legs wide, she bowed her back and offered her body to him.
She’d noticed that when they made love, she experienced a strange connection with Zane. It was a freaky, mind-meld thing where physical sensations magnified. Spooky as hell, it was also really, really hot. If she feathered his nipple with her fingertips, she swore a ghost of a touch passed her breast. His thoughts were closed to her but when they connected like this—his body became an extension of her own.
She panted when he pushed the thick, swollen tip of his cock against her opening. The spiritual merge meant getting both sides of the coin, his reaction to her tight sheath and her frantic response to his invasion. Moaning, she flailed her head from side to side as he taunted her with a scant inch. In. Out. Hands on his shoulders, she tried to pull him closer. The dual sensations made her crazy. “Please—Zane, now!” she begged. She screamed as he slammed forward, stretching and filling her. They both cried out in shared pleasure, as the clutching, ravenous addiction for each other seemed to take control of their bodies.
They came together in a frenzied dance of agonized rapture, racing for completion. Driving deep within her, he thrust hard and fast, balls slapping against her ass. Holding her hips, he pulled her against him and Nicky dug her heels into the floor and thrust upward. Her keening cries of pleasure seemed to encourage him to press for more.
Cradling her head with his hands, he turned it to one side. Feeling his mouth on her neck, she tensed, the sharp slide of fangs sinking into her flesh stinging for a brief heartbeat. And then she felt nothing but pleasure.
Screaming, mind-shattering, please-don’t-stop…pleasure.
“Oh God! Ohgodohgodohgod,” she chanted, fingernails digging into his shoulders as she tried to hold him in place.
Feeling her inner muscles clench around him, she knew the spasms preceded her orgasm. Zane used his body to force her lust hi
gher. He dug his cock into the pulsing constrictions of her cunt. Continuing to suck and pull at her neck, he tied the motions together.
Nicky screamed, jerking hard against him. Her arms wrapped tight around his neck to hold him to her. She felt every nerve ending in her body respond to the small, sensual pain from his fangs, the thrust and drag of his long, thick cock in her vagina and the slap of his testicles against her ass. The combined ravishment pushed her arousal so high, torturous need seized her insides and burned her alive as he fucked her.
Her mind warred with her body…one wanting him to stop and one wanting more. Unable to make sense of what she wanted, she knew she was going to come so hard she’d likely faint from the experience. Tugging against him, she screamed a final time as agonizing pleasure detonated throughout her body. Every synapse sizzling, her body went up in flames. Letting her head fall back, she gulped air and held Zane as his body stiffened. His release echoed through her soul.
“Wow!” was all Nicole could say a very long time later. Good grief, if mortal women found out vampires existed and had this kind of stamina, the vamps would find themselves locked in an entirely different sort of research lab. Lying on the floor wrapped in Zane’s arms, she had absolutely no plan to move anytime soon.
“I have to tell you I never imagined using that bar in such a way,” Zane chuckled. “When can I see the rest of your list?”
Nicky laughed. “What’s the use in being a vampire if you can’t hang from the rafters once in awhile?”
His laughter choked at her words. Then he went still beneath her. “Nicky, why haven’t you asked more questions about me?”
“What kind of questions do you think I should ask?” she queried as she snuggled her head into a more comfortable position on his arm and ran her fingers through the crisp hair on his chest.
“You haven’t even asked if I’m a vampire.”
“Zane, it’s not like I was so overcome by the orgasm that I missed the fangs in my neck.” Narrowing her eyes, she turned to meet his gaze. “You’ve done it before, haven’t you? But you did something so I wouldn’t remember.” The last wasn’t a question.
“Yes.” His body tensed.
Nicky blew out a breath. “I thought so. I should be mad at you, but it’s a little hard to argue right now.” She ran her fingers through the hair on his chest and tugged. At his exclamation, she laughed.
“So. You’re a vampire. Even without the biting thing, I kind of thought so. After watching you set that lock from the outside today, I knew you had to be something.” She didn’t say anything else. Just enjoyed having his arms around her.
“So that’s it? Don’t you have more questions? Like if I kill those I feed from?”
“I thought about the killing thing for about half a second and decided the answer had to be no. Was I wrong?”
“No, you weren’t wrong but…how did you decide?”
“If you did, there’d be bodies everywhere. I assume you aren’t the only vampire in the area.”
“No. I’m not.”
“We need to add another column to my list of suspects. Vampire or human. But with other vampires living in the area, if you killed when you fed, that would be an awful lot of dead people I haven’t heard anything about. I may be a little bit of a hermit, but I would notice the news of a dozen or so missing or dead people every week. How often do you feed?” She ran her hand down his arm, trying to encourage him to talk.
“Daily…or at the very least, every other day.”
“There you go. Too many bodies. At that rate, if you killed them you’d be out of food pretty soon.”
“So you don’t have any questions? I find that hard to believe.”
Nicky gave a very inelegant snort. “No. I have millions of things I’d like to know. I just figured you’d tell me when you’re ready.”
“I don’t think we have time right now for a million questions, but I could take care of a couple before we get up and finish looking for a traitor.”
“Okay. Can I see your fangs?” That wasn’t the question she meant to ask, but it would do. Raising her body up off the floor, she turned to look at Zane. He looked a little sheepish when he opened his mouth and within seconds, his incisors grew very long. Sharp. Flopping back down, she decided she was glad to have the death-by-blood-sucking question answered. But the pleasure those sharp teeth brought her took the edge off her fear.
“How old are you?” she asked next.
“Two hundred and fifty-two. I was born in 1756. How old are you?” When he rolled to his side so he could look down on her, she was happy to notice his teeth were back to normal.
“Thirty-seven and you’re way too old for me. Did you become a vampire by choice or were you forced?”
“I was thirty-two years old, living in Ireland. There was some small skirmish between neighbors and I was mortally wounded in the fight, left to die as the combatants moved on. Vampires have always used the battles of men as a sort of feeding ground. Thomas thought I looked like his son. So instead of hastening my death, he turned me. Until that moment I’d had no idea such creatures existed.”
“Thomas? The guy who used to live here?”
“Yes. Thomas was my sire.”
Nicole considered that for a bit. Obviously he’d cared about the man. “So, not being able to go out in the sun is a myth?”
“It takes a couple centuries. Age builds immunity. In daylight I’m weaker and my eyesight isn’t as keen. I have to watch how long I’m exposed or I’ll burn. Every decade the adverse effects dwindle. And before you ask…crosses, garlic and holy water have no consequence for my kind. However, a stake through the heart, decapitation or fire will kill us.”
“On that happy note, I think we need to get back to finding your traitor. Do your employees have cell phones?” she asked.
Zane blinked. “Excuse me?”
Nicky laughed, knowing she’d confused the hell out of him with her abrupt change in subject. “Cell phones. I just realized that if Mike and JJ gave me a number to contact them, they probably gave the same number to the other guy.”
Zane frowned down at her for a second. “Actually…I have a group cell plan. Its one of the benefits I provide for those under my care. Employees or friends.”
“A vampire with benefits? You realize you’re blowing my preconceived notions all to hell, don’t you? Do you have group dental too?” She didn’t try to keep the sarcasm out of her voice.
“For mortals, yes,” he replied, laughing.
“Good. We can check online billing to see if the number was called or received by anyone’s phone,” she explained.
Slapping her ass, he stood up, reaching a hand down to assist her. “Come on, woman. Get dressed, let’s go log in to the cell company and see if we find the number on my bill. You know, its really going to piss me off if I find out I’ve been paying for calls to the vampire hunters.”
Chapter Six
Zane looked up from the computer to see Nicole asleep on her couch. Watching her did something funny to his heart. Rubbing his hand on his chest, he was terrified and thrilled by the curious melting sensation coursing through his body. He couldn’t afford to feel this way. As if every night to come should end just like this.
No matter the threat to his sanity, he couldn’t take his gaze off her. She wasn’t the most beautiful woman in the world. Or at least not in the classical sense.
After using Thomas’ bat pole in a rather intriguing way, she’d changed into faded blue jeans and an oversized t-shirt. She’d pulled her wealth of black hair into a ponytail and removed her makeup. A dark sweep of eyelashes stood out in stark contrast to her pale face, a light sprinkling of freckles accented her nose.
She was beautiful to him.
Checking his watch, he grinned. She should be asleep. It was after three in the morning.
As the laptop shut down, he took a minute to enjoy the sight of her sprawled in slumber. Hair coming loose from its confining elastic, it was now a wild t
umble around her flushed face. She’d tucked one hand under her cheek.
Just as he stood to scoop her into his arms with the intent of taking her to bed, he glanced at the pile of colorful folders sitting on the end table by her head. The dark blue file folder on top was labeled Blood Red Ruby.
Zane sucked in a sharp breath.
Instead of carting Nicky off to bed as he’d intended, he picked up the file and glanced inside. Abruptly he sat back down and started reading.
The first page was a copy of information from Wikipedia.com on Catherine the Great and a ruby given to her by Gustavus III of Sweden. Underlined in red ink were the words “a beautiful ruby the size of a pigeon’s egg, the present whereabouts of this stone are unknown”.
Well. Zane knew exactly where the damn rock was. Underneath his bed in the small safe he’d installed beneath the floorboards. Shit. This was too coincidental for his taste.
Glancing at Nicole, he decided he needed some answers. But not tonight. Tonight he’d go home and read the rest of the information in her ruby file, including what looked like the rough draft of a book. In the morning—hell, it was already morning. In the afternoon he’d have a better idea of what to say to her. If there was anything to say at all.
The first flicker of anger caused his gut to churn with the prospect of betrayal. Was he wrong to trust her? Was this entire exercise a ruse to gain possession of the ruby? Son of a bitch.
Was she sleeping with him, hoping to find where he kept the stone? That first night he’d fucked her in the kitchen, he’d had the damn thing in his hand. Hadn’t she noticed?
If not, the joke was on her.
Could he have been wrong about Nicole’s motives in all of this? After one final look at the sleeping woman, Zane turned silently and left the room. He’d go home, read the file and her work in progress and then talk to her tomorrow.
Nicky didn’t go downstairs until a little before noon. At five this morning she’d woken on the couch, freezing her ass off and disappointed to find she was alone in the house. Zane hadn’t bothered to tell her goodbye. Nor had he thought to cover her with a blanket before he left. Confused by his actions after the day they’d spent together, she’d dragged herself to bed after deciding she was being too sensitive.
