by Tamsin Baker
He’d never been anything other than charming, and he’d saved my life by decapitating Adrian. An urbane gentleman with a bite fit him in more ways than one.
I aimed for humor again. “Sounds like a living pantry.”
He ran his hands up my arms. “I will introduce you to them and you’ll see their living quarters for yourself.”
“You could hypnotize them, force them to say only what you want.”
He gave me a slow, disbelieving shake of his head.
The hurt look on his face tore at my heart. I leaned closer and squeezed my hands over his. “I’m just trying to understand.”
He focused his intense gaze on my eyes. “Vampire allure increases with age, and we often have little trouble encouraging someone who wants to do our bidding. But stories of our ability to hypnotize anyone to do absolutely anything are just that—stories. All will speak freely, I promise. Now, will you let me continue?”
I drained my coffee cup. It was difficult not to worry a little about vampire enthrallment. Tilly wrote mainly about vampire lore long before the twenty-first century, when we glamourized the image. In the old legends, no one found the bloodsuckers anything but disgusting and terrifying.
A memory from our first meeting on my back porch came to mind. “When we first met I felt blissed out, just for a few seconds. A flash of amber lit your eyes and drowsiness drew my eyelids down. I remember thinking that I suddenly felt as stoned as if I’d vaped way too much hash oil. My tongue loosened even as warning bells sounded an alarm at the back of my brain. As the glow in your eyes faded I became alert again.”
He ran his hands up and down my arms. “You may recall you brandished a solid rolling pin. I did try a light glamour, you resisted it well, even then.” He kissed my cheek. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done it.”
“Can I cast a thrall over someone?”
He pulled back. “One day, when all your skills are developed.”
“Wow.” Something to look forward to. “I trust all your blood donors will speak freely. Please continue.”
Ben rolled his eyes at my quasi regal tone. “Back to the blood that nourishes us. You may object to the parties. Ben does. I keep the invitation list small so people hunger for an invite. No one is forced to participate. But those who want to are encouraged to move into the private rooms to satisfy their desires. Once bitten, forever enthralled, is a myth. But I admit some people become as obsessed with our bites as we are with their blood. Some enjoy drinking a few drops of our blood. A rare pleasure when the two are combined. We take their blood and return a tenfold pleasure. The vampires I invite are all within my line or vetted by Gaspard.”
A shudder took hold of my shoulders. “There is nothing enjoyable about being bitten.”
Nic hugged me tight. “Adrian fooled us. He was a bastard leech. He deliberately hurt you when he could have made the experience pure pleasure. He was responsible for the girl you saw receiving a transfusion.”
“Do you mean he took so much blood she nearly died?” My gut tightened. “Did he attack her like me? He said something about having me for dessert.”
Nic stroked my back. “He didn’t attack her, but he did take far more blood from her than he should have and he did not close the wounds. Gaspard told him to leave and never return. He should have killed Adrian then. I’ll never forgive myself.”
“It wasn’t your fault. You saved my life.”
“But I didn’t get there in time to stop him from injuring you. Even worse, I’m almost glad he gave you no pleasure. I am looking forward to introducing you to my bite, and I promise you will get a kick from the experience.”
His silky voice edged with ragged hunger awakened my senses like no other sound ever had. I nestled into his neck, he caressed my cheek with feather-light strokes and I almost purred in weightless bliss. When he lowered his mouth in a hard kiss, I parted my lips with a moan. He snaked his tongue into my mouth and we fell back against the pillows in a tangle of heaving limbs.
I wanted to shout Yes! Yes! and more. But I couldn’t do anything except moan into his mouth. This was the raw, demanding kiss I’d been craving. Pure pleasure, with a hint of sin. Mysterious, intoxicating, and impossible to resist.
His hard torso pressed me into the soft bed. Sandwiched between the two, exquisite sensations rippled across my skin. Moisture blazed between my legs. Without breaking the most amazing kiss of my life, he pulled me onto my side, wrapped his arms around me and expertly explored my curves. He skillfully swirled his tongue around mine until my pulse pounded in symphony with my throbbing mound.
I pulled away to suck in gulps of air. “Way too many clothes.” My voice shook with desire.
“I couldn’t agree more.” His eyes gleamed as I wrenched the robe’s belt undone and shrugged the garment off my shoulders.
His hungry gaze traveled from my face, down my body and legs, and back up again.
I shrugged my shoulders. “I’m not much to look at—”
Another searing kiss cut off my words. He wound his hands into my hair then stroked slowly down my back until he cupped my buttocks in his hands. “The next negative comment about yourself will earn a spanking. Got it?”
The threat didn’t scare me like it should have. My skin heated and tingled as his fingertips worked their magic. The junction of my thighs clenched, the throbbing deep within almost painful. I dug my fingertips into his back and clutched him to me as I ground my pelvis against the thickening shaft straining his jeans and pulsing against my abdomen. Too many clothes separated his skin from mine. I wanted to touch all of him, stroke his chest, taste him, wanted him to fill me so deeply I drifted to another plane, screaming in pure pleasure.
A burst of indescribable lust pushed away all thoughts except yanking off his clothes and rubbing my naked body against his.
I groaned deep in my throat as I pulled his shirt from his jeans. “You too—too many clothes.”
He gave a low, decadent chuckle, and climbed off the bed. I lay on my side, elbow holding my head up, rather like a sultry renaissance nude, to watch him strip.
He removed his cuff links and set the square stones of deepest ruby red on the bedside table. Gazing into my eyes, he slowly undid each shirt button. Too slowly.
I collapsed onto the bed like a 1920’s silent movie star. “Do you want me to implode?”
He laughed his delicious laugh, kicked off his shoes, teased off his belt and unbuttoned his jeans. When he finally threw his shirt to the floor, I sucked in a breath. His clothing flaunted his lean, muscled physique, and I’d felt the tautness of his chest so I’d looked forward to a spectacular body. But my jaw almost hit the bed at the sight of him. He stood before me like a Greek God, his torso naked, his jeans hanging low on his hips, all of him stunningly masculine and full of raw sensuality.
I. Just. Stared.
He was chiseled and lightly covered with fine, dark hair that headed south, down his flat stomach, and disappeared into his jeans. The throbbing and tingling coursing through my body amplified. His trousers dropped a fraction and his swollen cock surged and leaned in my direction. A sudden flush of warmth spread through my body. No doubt at all about my readiness. No doubting his desire, either.
I’d never wanted anything more than this.
He kicked off his jeans and in one elegant step, settled his body next to mine.
I pushed my tingling nipples into his chest, practically begging him to get on with it.
“Patience, mon ange.” He nudged our bodies apart, caressed my breasts and pinched my nipples to throbbing tips. Ripples of desire flared under his skillful hands. Desperate for him to ease my aching need, I plunged my tongue into his mouth.
He nipped the tip of my tongue and sucked it until I ran out of breath and broke away from him.
“I cannot wait a moment longer.” I clutched his shoulders, my breathing fast and noisy. “I will explode—”
A low tone rumbled from his throat. “Open your legs.”
/> My heart thundered, but I didn't think twice. I was barely thinking at all.
He delved two fingers inside me and I let out a cry. Rhythmically, he slid in and out, building the tempo until I couldn’t control my spiraling gasps. I clutched his head to my breast, lifting my hips in time to his hand. With a wet finger and slow, rippling strokes, he circled my sweet spot. Pulsing with passion, I couldn't focus on anything but the tension soaring with every intimate touch. Fireworks erupted inside me and I scraped my nails down his back.
I floated in a delicious haze. Best orgasm ever.
He let out a low groan. “Beautiful. I could watch you orgasm all day.”
He took possession of my mouth again and gripped my hips. His shaft pressed at my center, so hot and hard, I groaned with anticipation. He lifted himself onto his elbows, our faces so close his hair hung like silk around my face. He smoothed a wayward tress from my cheek. His intense gaze—possessive, passionate, unrepentant—sent tremors rippling over my skin. He feathered my neck with the lightest kisses, and almost breathless, I turned my head and stretched my neck to give him free access. Logically I should be afraid of his bite, but instead I yearned for the scrape of his fangs on my skin.
“Not this time,” Nic whispered into my ear and continued flicking his tongue down my cleavage, to my abdomen.
My skin tightened under his expert touch. Aching with desire, I spread my legs wider, inviting him in, already slick with wetness, desperate for him to fill me.
His gorgeous body glistened with moisture. I pulled him into another breathless, sloppy kiss. When we pulled apart, I cradled his face in trembling hands. “Now. I’m ready now.”
“I know.” He flashed me one of his full-lipped, impish grins before kissing me again, crushing my lips against his.
He slid his hands down my hips and cupped my buttocks in his smooth hands. He caressed my inner thighs as he licked tiny circles at a tortuously slow pace across my pelvis. Currents of half searing torture and half pure pulsating pleasure shot to my curling toes and I shuddered out a long, low moan.
He moved lower and his mouth descended between my legs. He caressed his lips against me, his tongue hot and deliciously wet. Sweet heavens above. So wet. So hot. I lost control of my body and my back arched in a slow, sinuous curve. He swirled his tongue, alternately gentle and probing. My muscles clenched with every deep, spine-searing stroke. Spirals of bliss flowered from my crease. Pumping my hips, I writhed beneath his mouth until, from a fathomless place at my core, a kaleidoscope of shattering sensation saturated my entire being.
He pulled away and I choked out a noise of sheer frustration, but when he slid his body so our hips aligned, I let my knees drop to my sides.
He pushed his hips between my legs and delved his fingers into me. He circled and probed for only a few seconds, drew his fingertips to his mouth and licked off my moisture.
So hot. I hadn’t thought I could be more turned on than I was. Wrong.
He gripped my hips and speared into me. I moaned as he slowly pumped himself deeper, but more from pleasure than pain. I stretched to accommodate him, the fullness triggering a burst of passion and a whisper of pain. He swallowed my whimper with his lips as he sheathed himself inside me.
Intense pleasure gripped me and replaced all traces of pain. With each slow, sensual probe, I let out primal moans, sounds I had no idea I could make. Slivers of pain enhanced every other sensation. My muscles tightened, gripping every inch of him, urging him even deeper.
He tightened his grasp on my hips and thrust deep and fast. He swelled inside me, stretching my walls, the heat and friction between our bodies building. He gazed into my eyes, right into my eyes as if I were the most important thing in the world. At that moment, the only thing in the world that mattered to him.
I wrapped my legs around his waist, moving with him, our breaths mingling.
“Mon ange, mon Cœur, ma moitié.” His ragged yet tender voice spurred more pleasure.
We rocked together and as we neared the peak of pleasure, he claimed my mouth again in a torrid kiss. I curled my fingers into his hair and squeezed my legs around him. I convulsed beneath him, my back arching, my screams probably heard throughout the house. Shards of pure bliss filled my body until every part of me tingled and vibrated.
He sunk into me so forcefully I cried out, but that cry turned into moans at the new spasms. With one hand on the headboard, he cried out, his face twisted in ecstasy and he ground against me while his orgasm pulsed inside me.
My brain barely worked, but I knew what I heard. Mon ange, mon cœur, ma moitié. My angel, my heart, my other half.
Chapter Ten
After another kiss that emptied my lungs of breath, Nic rolled to his side, curling me against him.
“Guess what?” I whispered into his ear.
He brushed a soft kiss onto my lips. “Enlighten me.”
“I could watch you orgasm all day. As long as I’m the cause.”
“Minx.” He gave me a throaty laugh and pulled the duvet over us.
We snuggled like that for several precious moments. I couldn't remember ever feeling post-sex bliss like this. What did that say about my sex life up until now? My body seemed to fit perfectly against his. He was cool to the touch, but not enough to be a turn-off.
I wrapped my hand around his bicep. Not too big, not too small, just the right size. All of him was just the right size, I smirked.
“Are you laughing at my muscle?" He stroked his hands down my spine, sending tingles across my back.
“Just the opposite." I rolled my fingertips across his shoulder. So tempting. But as much as I wanted to stay curled against Nic, my weekend was full. I had responsibilities to attend to.
“I need to get home to Snuggles.” I palmed Nic’s pectoral muscle, perfectly sized and shaped for my hand. “He will be worried about me. I rarely stay out overnight.”
Nic stroked his fingertips from my shoulder to my wrist. “I don’t want to let you go.”
“Poor Snuggles is all by himself. Besides, you know where I live and have your own tunnel direct to my basement door.”
“Is that an invitation?” Nic quirked his eyebrow, then burst out laughing. “You should've seen the look on your face. It's not true—the myth that vampires can't enter without it an invitation is just that, another myth. But I appreciate it all the same."
And that convinced me. I was reading every word Aunt Tilly ever wrote to make sure I knew everything she did about them, about him.
“You’re welcome any time. I might even invite you in for coffee." I winked at him. “But I’m still going home to Snuggles." I ignored the thrumming between my legs and forced myself to focus on Snuggle’s sad and hungry face. If I didn't leave soon, it might be a while before I did.
“Last time I checked, that little monster is perfectly capable of looking after himself.”
I kissed Nic’s mouth. “Maybe, but Ben and I have lots of practicing and training scheduled this weekend. If I leave now, I’ll make it back in time for my Saturday afternoon knife lesson.”
Nic kissed my forehead and pulled me into a hug. “It’s Sunday lunchtime, mon ange. You slept for over thirty hours.”
“Sunday!” I leapt from Nic’s embrace and sat upright. “My baby boy, all alone since I left the house Friday evening.” My breaths came in short, painful gasps. “I promised him I wouldn’t be late home. It’s been almost two days. “I forced myself to swallow as my throat thickened and tears threatened. “He could be squashed by a car, eaten by a coyote, hurt somewhere and I’m not there to help him. Who fed him?”
Nic’s silence told me all I needed to know. He looked a little remorseful. I threw back the covers, jumped from the bed and grabbed the robe from the floor. “My clothes. Need my clothes.”
“You are panicking unnecessarily—”
“I’m not panicking.” I glowered at him as I tried to wrangle my arms into the robe. “I just have to get home fast.”
“E
milde arranged clothing and other items for you in the bathroom. She assured me it will all fit.” He lifted onto his elbow and lounged on his side. His turn, it seemed, to watch me hopping about naked like an uncoordinated puffin. He, however, looked every bit like a marbled Greek god.
Damn it, he was gorgeous. His bed hair looked like sexy beach waves rather than my bird’s nest. His lidded eyes hinted at carnal pleasures sated, while mine, I’m sure, would remind me that I hadn’t removed my make-up properly. I wanted to either slap him into next week or kiss him stupid, but both would lead to places I didn’t have time to go, not today at least. I didn’t dare risk the temptation.
I bolted to the bathroom intending to splash cold water on my face, throw on some clothes and make a run for it. But when I saw the designer jeans, a soft cashmere top in an elegant turquoise, and matching exquisite lingerie, I couldn't bear the thought of putting my dirty body into such lovely clothes. Emilde had excellent taste and had somehow rustled up my size in everything. Even the Gucci leopard loafers fit snugly. The whole outfit had probably cost a month of my pay. Maybe two months.
Small bottles of shampoo, conditioner and shower gel lined a shelf in the shower. I'd make it a quick one. I turned the temperature controlled tap on, dropped the robe and stepped under the perfectly hot water.
“Need any help in the shower?" Nic, as naked as the day he was born, leaned against the door frame.
“Definitely not.” I forced myself to stare at the tiles and chanted ‘Snuggles, Snuggles, Snuggles’ in my head.
I heard Nic’s low laugh as he retreated and grit my teeth. A shower together in the near future sounded like a very good idea. Hanging onto that thought, I ordered my hormones to behave themselves.
After the quickest shower in history, I toweled dry, scrunched my wet hair into a ponytail and pinned it up. The cashmere top draped luxuriously over my curves. The color emphasized my eyes and I felt like a million dollars even without make-up and loose hair to frame my face. When I left the bathroom, Nic was already dressed and on the phone.
