Gabriel's Mate

by Tina Folsom

  “Gabriel. If it’s something physical, you can tell me. I’m a urologist; I deal with men’s reproductive organs all the time.”

  Gabriel cringed, but still couldn’t open his mouth.

  Maya put her hand on the front of his jeans and jerked at the button. “Well, if you can’t tell me about it, then I’ll have to examine you.”

  That jolted him. He imprisoned her hand with his, preventing her from opening his pants. “I don’t want you to see it.”

  She pulled her hand out of his and stepped back. “Okay, Gabriel. Here’s the deal: if you can’t tell me what the problem is, I’m just going to have to believe my first assumption is right, and that you cheated on me. In any case, I’ll remain hopping mad at you, and as soon as all this is over, I’ll be out of your life. Is that what you want?”

  “No!” The word came out so fast and furious, he surprised himself. He wouldn’t allow her to leave him. He needed her. She was his mate. And besides, had she already forgotten that all she drank was his blood? She would starve without him.

  “Fine.” With shaking hands, he opened the button of his jeans. “It’s tormented me. Caused women to recoil from me my whole life. I’ve had this even before I became a vampire. Nothing I’ve tried to get rid of it has worked.”

  Gabriel searched her eyes before he continued, “Maya, I want you to know no matter what happens or what you might think of me when you see this, I love you. I had hoped the witch would be able to do something about this, so you wouldn’t have to see it.”

  So you wouldn’t leave me like the others.

  Slowly, he lowered the zipper and pushed his pants down. As always when in Maya’s presence, his cock was hard, and it tented his boxers. The mass above it felt swollen too. Closing his eyes, he pulled down his underwear and showed himself to her in all his vulnerability.

  ***

  Maya sucked in a gulp of air. For a moment she felt as if time stood still. Gabriel stood in front of her, his naked groin exposed to her. She knew immediately what it had cost him to do this. Without a doubt, he felt horrified right now. She looked back at his face and noticed that his eyes were still closed.

  “I’m going to touch you,” she announced calmly. “I won’t hurt you.”

  She dropped down to her knees. When she looked at what lay before her eyes, she knew he’d spoken the truth. The witch had been there to help him with his problem. She now also understood why he hadn’t wanted to have sex with her. Even though he could have quite … impressively.

  Her gaze fell onto his cock. Proud and erect, it curved slightly upwards, eight inches of hard maleness, perfect and flawless. Its head was almost purple; just further evidence that it was pumped full with blood. Maya reached out and slid her hand along the underside, caressing the velvety skin.

  A hiss left Gabriel’s lips.

  “I won’t hurt you,” she whispered.

  “That’s not what I’m worried about right now. Haven’t you seen enough? Can I get dressed now?”

  Maya let a smile curve her lips. “Shh. I’m just examining you, and if you stop me, I will have to shut you up. And I’ll let you imagine how I’m going to accomplish that.” She gave his cock a firm squeeze, making a fist around his hard length. She was sure he could figure out her meaning.

  Now that she knew how to control him, she moved her gaze to the area about one inch above the root of his cock. “Don’t move.” She let go of his cock.

  The mass of flesh attached to his pelvis just at the edge of his thick thatch of black pubic hair looked red and angry. At first sight, it looked like an oversized mole – a five-inch-long one. Maya estimated the diameter of it to be about one-and-a-half inches. Those-one-and-a-half inches were attached to Gabriel’s lower belly, just the way his cock was.

  No wonder he was afraid of rejection: she’d had patients who’d worried about a lot less than what he was dealing with. She’d treated a man who’d had a peanut-size wart on his penis—and the thought of a woman looking at him naked had shaken him so much, he’d started suffering from erectile dysfunction. It had taken him months and the professional help of a psychiatrist to find his confidence again. She could only imagine how this deformity affected Gabriel. Her heart was aching for him.

  “I’m going to touch it.”

  “Maya, please. You don’t have to do that. It’s—”

  But Maya’s fingers were already connecting with the fleshy mass. Then she flinched. Had it moved on its own? “I said don’t move.”

  “I didn’t.”

  She stared back at the protrusion and ran her fingers along it. The skin appeared wrinkled with folds upon folds, but it also felt smooth and soft. In fact, the texture was similar to that of his cock, except his cock was still fully erect and therefore not wrinkled.

  “Does it ever change shape?” she asked him and looked up.

  Gabriel’s eyes were open, watching her during her examination. “No. Only, it’s …”

  She waited, but he looked away. “It’s what?”

  “It’s grown in the last week. It’s getting bigger. Even now it looks bigger than two nights ago.” Their gazes collided.

  “Are you sure?”

  He nodded.

  “Do you know what’s causing it to grow? Have you done anything different in the last week? Anything?”

  He shook his head. “No. There’s nothing different in my life. I wake up, I feed, I work, I sleep. That’s all.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yes, everything is as always, except that you’re here, and you’re feeding from me.”

  Maya swallowed. Now that he’d reminded her, she felt her hunger push to the forefront again. “Do you think the change could have something to do with me drinking your blood?”

  She sensed him shrug, but didn’t take her eyes off his groin. Something about the growth felt odd. But she couldn’t put her finger on it.

  “I’m not sure, but the first time I noticed that it had grown was after you fed from me the first time. You remember, in the study?”

  Of course she remembered. How could she forget the way he’d kissed her and pressed himself against her? “Did you also have an erection at the same time?”

  She looked up at him and saw a shy smile play around his mouth. “Maya, I have a hard-on whenever I’m around you.”

  She tried not to feel too happy about his statement, but couldn’t avoid it. What woman didn’t want to have that kind of effect on the man she wanted? “Maybe it has something to do with you being aroused.”

  “No. When I was with other women, it never happened.” He stared at her as if he’d said something wrong. “Long before I met you. I haven’t been with anybody in a long time. And I wouldn’t look at anybody else but you,” he scrambled to add.

  She pressed her palm onto his chest and stopped him. “Gabriel, we all have a past. You haven’t been with anyone since you and I … since we …” Now she was the one who couldn’t say the words.

  “Made love?” he helped and placed his palm over her hand.

  Maya locked eyes with him. “Yes. I know that now. That there was nothing going on with the witch. I’m sorry I couldn’t trust you before.” She rose. “Now you can get dressed. Unless …” She paused. “…you don’t want to.”

  She needed to affirm life, to forget the things she’d seen tonight. Life was so short, and sometimes the only thing one could do was grab onto what was right in front. Take what was there while it was there. What would happen in a few hours, a few days? She realized that nothing should ever be postponed, because there might never be another chance.

  Gabriel looked at her and touched her cheek with his palm. “As much as I would love for both of us to get naked right now, it wouldn’t be right. You’re kind not to have run away screaming, but no woman wants to be fucked by me, not while I have this.”

  Maya clamped her hand onto the back of his neck and pulled him closer until their lips were only a fraction of an inch from each other. “You listen to
me now, Gabriel. I will decide who fucks me, and I won’t let your misplaced sense of shame get in the way of that. Whatever this is, we’ll deal with it.”

  “You don’t understand. It can’t be removed. I’ve tried surgery. It grows back.”

  She brushed her lips against his and felt his erection poke her stomach. “Do you want me?”

  “Of course I want you.”

  “Then we’ll figure it out. If you want to wait, that’s fine, but watch your back, because one day you’ll find yourself in a prone position and I’ll be right there taking what I want. I figure as a vampire I’m strong enough to rip your clothes off and ride you until you come. And frankly, I won’t care if you sprouted a tail as long as you have a hard-on to impale me with.”

  Her last words were just a whisper against his lips. She felt his breath rush out of him before he took her mouth and kissed her. A moment later, she found herself without ground under her feet, suspended in Gabriel’s strong arms, pressed flush against his still half-naked body. She could only hope that nobody would enter the living room or they would get an eyeful of Gabriel’s naked backside.

  Maya slid her hands down toward said backside. When she dug her fingers into his firm flesh, he moaned into her mouth and intensified his kiss. She’d never seen him this passionate, not even when he’d satisfied her after she’d been in heat. It was almost as if some restraint in him had burst and he was finally allowing himself to do what he wanted.

  She tore her mouth away from his to breathe. “I want you now. I don’t want to wait.”

  His eyes were dark, staring back at her with disbelief. “Maya, please don’t toy with me.”

  She freed herself, but only to open her own pants and pull them down. “I’m not toying with you.” As soon as she’d stepped out of her jeans—and it was fast, given her vampire speed—she pulled him close again. “Fuck me, now.” She knew if she waited any longer she’d burn up. She needed him inside her now, and she didn’t care about anything else.

  “Baby,” Gabriel whispered against her lips and shifted them. A moment later, he pressed her against the wall. “Next time, we’ll do it like civilized people. But right now—” His hand went to her panties and with one swift move, he ripped them off her. “—right now, I want you fast and hard.”

  ***

  Gabriel gave her no time to let his words sink in, but pinned her with his body and spread her legs apart. For a second, he held himself completely still and looked at Maya’s expressive eyes where he saw desire glow back at him. Even after what she’d seen, she still wanted him. She hadn’t rejected him, she hadn’t run, and most of all, she trusted him.

  How this was possible, he didn’t know. He recognized her need to forget the pain she felt, but that couldn’t be everything. It couldn’t be the reason she allowed him to take her. No, when he looked into her eyes he saw more than just desire and passion. He saw affection.

  “I love you,” he confessed, laying his heart bare just like he’d bared his body. Then the beast in him took over, and he thrust into her with a ferocity he’d never known. And at that moment he was thankful for the fact that she was a vampire, for the passion he unleashed on her would have torn a human apart. But Maya met his thrusts with as much power and determination as he dealt them.

  Her tight channel was slick, and the scent of it whipped his desire into overdrive. This woman was all he’d ever wanted and all he would ever want for the rest of his long life. As her legs wrapped around his hips, he threw his head back and roared. This was the woman he wanted to claim as his mate at any cost.

  He felt Maya’s claws dig into his back and realized that her vampire side was emerging. His own body hardened. When he looked at her face, he saw her fangs push out between her lips, evidence that she was losing control. He greeted the knowledge with a growl. “Mine.”

  At the possessive word, her gaze collided with his. He saw his sentiment echoed in the depth of her eyes. She panted heavily, her chest rising and falling in quick succession. Her parted lips showed her fangs clearly now. They reminded him of the pleasure he’d felt when she’d fed from him.

  “I want you, Gabriel.”

  “Then take me. Feed from me,” he commanded.

  “Now?” Her eyes widened.

  “Now.” He pulled back and plunged deep back into her, punctuating his point. Her muscles contracted around him, squeezing him like a tight fist. Gabriel tried to ignore the flesh that slapped against her mound with every thrust, but it became more difficult with every stroke. It felt as if the darn thing was lengthening. But before he could look down to investigate, he felt Maya’s fangs in his neck.

  Everything was forgotten with the first pull on his vein. His heart pumped vigorously to bring the blood to the vein she was suckling from. He could sense her hunger now, physically sense it. Her heart beat against his in a tantalizing staccato, and his own heartbeat matched hers beat for beat.

  Gabriel slowed his thrusts as a sense of utter bliss built in his chest. In his many decades as a vampire, he’d never felt the kind of high he felt now as the woman he loved took his blood inside her at the same time as he impaled her over and over again with his hard shaft. It didn’t matter that this was not the way he’d imagined making love to her.

  He’d dreamed of laying her on a soft bed, with candles illuminating the room, soft music playing in the background. Worshipping her, loving her. This was different. The intensity of their lovemaking shocked him to the core. He’d never expected her to be this wild and primal.

  But here she was, allowing him to fuck her in the living room of his boss’ house where at any time somebody could interrupt them. Yet, he couldn’t stop. All he wanted was for her to come apart in his arms, to feel the love he held in his heart, to understand that he would do anything for her.

  His pistoning cock knew no end—relentlessly it drove into her to feel the tightness of her sheath, the slickness of her quivering pussy. It had found its home. He felt the pressure in his balls build.

  “Baby, I can’t hold back any longer.” But he wanted her to come with him. He didn’t want to be selfish.

  Maya let go of his neck and licked over the incisions. Then she looked at him, her lips glistening with his blood. “Then come.”

  Gabriel clenched his jaw, trying to hold back. “Not before you do.”

  A little smile curved around her lips. “Please, come.”

  He could feel her muscles clench around his cock, and he knew she’d deliberately done it. His release was inevitable. He felt the onslaught of sensations as his seed shot through his cock and filled her. “Fuck!”

  He pulled back and plunged deep once more, letting his orgasm engulf him. As he collapsed against her, regret followed bliss. She hadn’t come. He’d failed.

  “I’m sorry,” he whispered.

  Her hands in his hair, she pulled his head back from where he’d buried it against the crook of her neck. She smiled at him. “Sorry for what?”

  “You didn’t come.”

  “My body doesn’t quite work that way.”

  Gabriel cringed. “I was too rough with you. I didn’t do it right. Baby, I’m so sorry.” He’d let his baser instincts take over.

  She put her finger on his lips. “No. That’s not it. I loved it, every single second of it. But I don’t come from penetration. No man has ever made me come like that.”

  “You came when I licked you.”

  “Because the only way I can come is if my clitoris is stimulated.”

  He wished he knew more about a woman’s body than the limited experience he had. He’d have to learn—fast. “We’ll try again. I’ll promise you, you’ll come when I’m inside you.”

  He’d just been handed a challenge, and by God, he’d meet that challenge even if it cost him his last breath. He needed her to come with him so they could share that ultimate ecstasy and experience that closeness that would only come when they were both soaring, letting their bodies fall and catch each other.

&nbs
p; Twenty-five

  Gabriel laid Maya in front of him on the couch, her body completely naked now. He’d ravished her like an animal, yet she smiled at him. His body still hummed from the amazing experience of being inside her and pounding his cock into her. But he felt regret, regret at not having given her the same pleasure she’d given him.

  He promised himself that he wouldn’t lose control again until she was sated. A man who couldn’t satisfy his woman had everything to lose. If he couldn’t give her what she needed, she’d find it somewhere else—and there was no way in hell he’d allow that to happen.

  He still couldn’t believe that she hadn’t recoiled from him at the sight of the flesh about his cock. Why was she so different from other women?

  When all this was over, he would make certain she understood what he wanted from her: a blood-bond, an irrevocable bond stronger than any marriage in the human world. While he would have to continue drinking human blood, he would partake of hers mostly during sex, first to establish the bond, then later to renew and sustain it.

  And Maya would only ever feed from him. The bond would allow them to know each other’s thoughts and be aware of each other even if they were apart. Everything that belonged to him would also belong to her. And he’d always be true to her. Already now, no other woman interested him, and the blood-bond would make their love for each other even stronger.

  She hadn’t told him that she loved him, but he was almost sure she did—only a woman in love would be able to see past his deformity and allow him to touch her. And the way she’d caressed the ugly piece of flesh … it had been with such tenderness that he was certain she wasn’t disgusted. She cared for him, he knew that much. And even if she didn’t love him yet, he would do anything in his power to make her fall in love with him.

  “Teach me,” he whispered to her.

  There was a curious look on Maya’s face. “Teach you what?”