He gripped her wrists between them, holding her against the door, using his body to cage her in.
The strong heavy beat of his heart matched her own, and his muscles flexed as he leant against her.
Her mind fought to regain control, while her body heated and readied for him. Never had she felt such a need to touch a man’s skin. Lifting her hands within his grasp she splayed her fingers, loving the feel of corded muscle beneath her palms.
He stilled, slowly drawing his head back a fraction. His black eyes focused on her face, her eyes, her lips, studying her, before leaning forward. He touched his tongue to her bottom lip, mouthing across her jaw before offering the tip of his tongue to the delicate skin behind her ear.
This time, she arched her neck without thought.
His lips were hot against the skin at her hairline, while his stubbled jaw scraped her neck. The heat of his breath forced her skin to shiver as his cuffed hands embraced her jaw, the chain linking them together resting low against her throat.
His fingers teased into her hair. She knew he was angling her for better access to her neck, and she felt a confusing compulsion to urge him on, instead of what should be a natural urge to fight him off; she relaxed in his grasp, releasing a whimper as she pushed up and against him.
His lengthened fangs trailed over her skin, and she could stand it no longer.
Grasping handfuls of his hair, her nails scraped his scalp pulling him closer, as she turned her jaw to offer him better access.
He waited, suspended for a moment in time, each panted breath a promise against her skin, before placing his fangs against her.
His long, heavy moan reverberated through her. But as her nails grazed his neck, he pulled back from her fingertips, the warmth of his body and pressure of his weight gone as he yanked away, backing across the room, stumbling to his knees on the carpeted floor.
He pulled in heaving, ragged breaths, his eyes clenched shut as his body shook.
Fisting his hands on the carpet, his head dropped forward. His dark hair hung into his eyes and the mass of chest and shoulder that was visible through the tattered shirt glistened.
She clenched her thighs involuntarily against the ache, stunning herself by calculating how hard it would be to wrestle him from his jeans, all the while wondering what the hell she was playing at. He was a vampire. She should not be encouraging him to bite her!
***
“What the hell were you doing?”
His coarse words had her frowning. “Me?” She spread her palms in question before sliding her gaze guiltily away on a mutter. “I’d have thought that was obvious.”
“Obvious? Christ, Jess, I’m sorry—I was going to bite you! And then you weren’t there anymore. Then it was her, and—”
“Her? Are you kidding me? I offer…and you’re thinking of someone else?!”
He watched as her hair undulated away from her body as her temper rose, her eyes eclipsed, glowing lavender, the mesmeric swirl drawing him in. Her fist and eyes clenched, as she breathed heavily, her feet leaving the floor.
Coming to his knees, exhaustion swept through him in a rush, Jess was levitating and he was a vampire. His head fell forward, and he rapidly blinked in confusion. “Jess, what’s happening?”
***
For the second time that hour she found herself torn between his pain and her anger.
What had happened to her? Her usual humor and sense of what-will-be had been broken, by him. A man. Now a vampire.
Her booted feet hit the floor with a bump, and she took a shuddering step back as her mind tried to process how quickly this had become so screwed up.
Jess felt the chill fall through her as she stared down at him, and he stared up at her, his eyes confused, his hands cuffed and his body covered in bites.
What had she been thinking?
“Jess?”
The creature within him waged a war that was clearly visible in his still interchanging eyes, and once again Jess questioned how his heart still beat and breath filled his lungs.
The pack vampire had bitten him, and he’d clearly turned. Surely, he should be enraged, fighting to return to his Sire? The thought of the female rewarding him crawled through her, and the image of her slim arms encased in slave bangles wrapped around him would be forever stamped in her memory.
“Jess, say something…anything!”
He rose before her, his scent rushed through her senses. What was happening? She let out a shuddering release of breath, and wished for a scrap of control over her own body—just a moment to clearly focus.
She held her silence and willed herself to process a logical response. Logic was always her fail-safe; she needed to assess the situation to be able to move forward, and for that she needed information; as much as she could gather.
“Seb, step back. Space… I think we need space between us—physical space. We need to think.”
***
He moved back, watching warily as her features set with each step, her eyes cleared back to brown, revealing nothing. His ability to read and judge the emotions and reactions of others had always been strong, but he could literally feel her withdrawal.
The connection between them that had brought such heat, chilled. Would this be the same with everyone? Would he be able to detect base emotion—or was it just her? The physical distance between them lifted a portion of the haze, allowing him to focus his thoughts, and to process, for the first time, the difference. To feel and hear the changes within him.
***
She looked at the four feet of distance they had put between them, then at him as he stood framed by the window, the sun encircling him. The sun?
She stared past him, out of the window, and he turned to follow her gaze.
Do I know nothing about vampires? Never, before last night, had she knowingly seen one.
Now she’d seen six. She’d killed two of them, and had one in her living room, who stood at the window, as weak sunlight reflected off and prismed across the walls and ceiling around him.
For what seemed like the hundredth time in the last twenty-four hours, she lifted her eyes skyward. What the hell is going on?
“Jess, how am I standing in the sunlight?”
Her little voice was screaming long-practiced warnings to hold back, until she could figure out what was going on, while her gut was telling her to trust him.
She’d been keeping her magic a secret for a decade.
A decade of finely honed skills outweighed a newly awakened libido, didn’t it?
“Why am I not bursting into flames?”
Good question. She shrugged, casting her hand out before her, as if she could pluck the answers from thin air. But she also didn’t want him to panic either. “I don’t know. Maybe different hives have different traits? The movies are just…movies. Throw in a cup of human fear, and you’ve got hundreds of myths and old wives tales.” She struggled to remain completely passive, rapidly flicking through everything she could rationalize that might make sense.
Yet, as she returned his stare, his head nodded ever so briefly, and he folded his arms across his chest—he’d clearly made a decision. “And this…this between us. Why does it feel so much stronger now?”
Starting to pace, Jess watched him watching her as she roamed around her living room. “I’m not sure, exactly, but I have heard that physical attraction between people—people who are other—is stronger.” Heard? Reading gossip on the Facebook pages of the O’Leary girls, you mean. Nice one, Jess.
Promising vile retribution if her little voice didn’t shut-up, Jess longed for patience. Although she had to admit her little voice had a point; her family did such a good job of protecting themselves, that they all knew about their magic was what their Nana had told them growing up. And there’d been a lot more fancy and a lot less fact in those stories.
“Have you ever experienced anything this strong before?” He stood stock-still. She could see him processing everything around him. Taking
it in, storing it.
“No. But then I’ve never…with someone who was…” Her words trailed off as she watched him. A predatory glint shadowed his gaze. The slight smile that touched his lips had a feral edge that made her heart pound in her ears and her breath falter.
“Good.” His voice was low. As he turned away, he took a step closer to the window. “Do you think I’d be alright to go outside?”
Nerves bloomed to life inside her. “You’re newly turned, it’s trial and error—with a big margin for error.” She looked pointedly at him. “I don’t think it’s a good idea just yet.”
All she knew for sure was that the shackles she’d put on him were charmed, and any creature held by them wouldn’t be able to go more than a few feet from their captor. A fact she wouldn’t be revealing until she had this all figured out.
She couldn’t risk that he’d do something stupid, like leave, not until they understood what was happening. The vampire blood in his veins was as clear as a GPS signal, a bounty on his head.
And Jason would hunt them forever.
Them. Somehow all this had changed things to them.
Thea’s reading of the tea leaves came back to her again. Never could she have imagined standing on opposite sides to Jason. But she couldn’t let him hurt Seb. Not only would he never forgive himself, neither would she.
What was she supposed to do now—go on the run with a vampire of indeterminate species? And what about when he needed to feed…?
“Seb? Are you hungry?” Her voice cracked as she spoke. She knew this could take them to a bad place, but they had to know what they dealing with.
Scraping his hand back through his hair he leant back against the windowsill, a confused look on his face. “Hungry? Jess, I don’t think this is the time to worry about food.”
She waited a beat, holding his gaze, waiting for him to process what she’d meant.
His jaw slackened as realization hit. Something akin to horror flashed across his features. “No! Jess, I won’t be doing that—not to anyone. I just…” His voice broke as the words died in his throat and, unable to stay away, she rushed to him.
Feeling his hand tremble in hers, and seeing his frame begin to shudder, she pulled him down, to sit on the floor.
His breaths came in heaving gasps, and beads of sweat sat on his forehead.
“Hey now.” Cupping his jaw, his skin was burning hot, another confusion to add the list; she’d always assumed vampires would be cold to the touch. “Calm down. Seb, what’s going on?”
He’d closed his eyes tight as he shook his head, as if to clear it. “When she…” He swallowed, struggling to form the words. “…when she bit me, I felt it.”
Softly stroking his arm, Jess waited, unsure she was going to like what he was telling her.
“She wanted my fear, that’s what they need.” His unconsciously palmed the marks that littered his chest. “That’s why the other one bit me too, but I was so fucking angry. At you…at Jason, that I wasn’t afraid. It’s not just the blood that feeds them, Jess, it’s the fear. The horror of their victims.”
As his chin touched his chest, shuddering breaths left his body, and she could barely hear his final words. “I’d rather die than become that.”
Panic bloomed to life within her; she’d have to watch him. And they’d have to get some answers, but the cuffs wouldn’t be coming off until they did. Not unless she could get him to accept a binding spell that would keep him near her, and to do that she’d have to tell him what the cuffs did.
She was going round in circles.
Maybe Jason was the only one would who could help, but as it was, she wasn’t strong enough to face an enraged werewolf; her magic needed time to recoup, and she didn’t know how much time they had.
Still slowly stroking his cheek, his breathing had deepened while she’d been lost in her thoughts, but as she lifted her eyes the heat of his gaze had focused on her breasts.
His speed was breath-taking as he grabbed her, pushing her flat onto the carpet, his cuffed wrists holding her hands above her head.
She knew something crazy was seriously affecting her judgment, but the heat of him was searing, and she was so tired of trying to fight the attraction between them.
He nuzzled her jaw, his whiskers scraping her skin as if he was rubbing her scent into his. The weight of his hips pressed heavily between her spread thighs, and she fought back a moan as he rolled against her.
The constant ache she felt from his nearness was only growing stronger, and the urge to wrap her legs around him was almost undeniable.
His head lifted, and he gazed at their wrists; his bound by her shackles, hers bound by his hands.
His chest tanned and barely covered, was just out of reach, the layered muscles shifted beneath torn cotton as his grip shifted, lacing their fingers together.
Could she do this? Could she take what was on offer? Slake her lust with him?
She had no idea how this would end, but she’d chosen her path, couldn’t she at least enjoy all of him, while there was still time?
Bloody right I can.
He clearly wasn’t going to hurt her, or anyone for that matter.
“Seb, you’re filthy.” She looked down at his tattered shirt and further, down the length of his jeans. She swept her eyes closed as heat and longing filled her face, and she arched her hips to his. With her voice barely a whisper, she said, “Wouldn’t you like a shower?”
His eyes pooled black as he watched her, the soft rise and fall of her breasts against his chest seemed to mesmerize him.
“A shower?” The dazed tone of his voice pleased her, she wanted to keep him off balance, to stop him thinking about anything else, to enjoy this like it could actually be real.
Chapter Ten
“Jess? You want me to take a shower? Heaven help me, I can’t think straight.”
Her smile had a wicked edge as she looked at him. “Heaven can’t help us, Seb, and I’m tired of thinking.” She eased her wrists from his grasp, looping them around his neck, taking soft teasing kisses from his lips.
The gentle scent of honeysuckle surrounded him as her fingers teased the hair at the nape of his neck, making him shiver. Any hope he had of rational thought fled as she lifted her hips, the warm heat of her pressed against his shaft, and he groaned low in his throat.
Her soft palms came to rest on his chest, as she pushed out from under him, rising. She took his hand in both of hers, tugging him to his feet, as she backed away, pulling him with her.
The darkness of the hallway leant her lavender irises an unearthly glow, and the thought struck him that he would follow those eyes into any hell.
His mind whispered nonsensical words; words that went unnoticed when faced with Jess, and the silky warmth of her hands enclosing his.
He felt no desire to fight the hypnotic pull he felt for her. Since he’d woken, the rage, panic and confusion had welled up, continually threatening a spiral of despair and madness. Only her closeness blocked it out, burned all thoughts from his mind, leaving nothing but the heavy weight of his sack, the rigid shaft that he was desperate to slide into her.
Images flickered behind his eyes of gripping her hips, palming her soft skin while her violet eyes watched.
Enough.
Jerking her to a stop a few inches from the door, he looped his cuffed wrists over her head, traveling the length of her body, gripping the cheeks of her buttocks.
Lifting her from the floor, he crushed her between his body and the wall, cupping her, grinding his hips against her softness to show her how badly he ached.
Her hands braced against his chest, as she lifted briefly startled eyes to his face, before they drifted shut.
He went still as he watched her; the flush on her cheekbones, her full lips slightly parted. Finally bringing his lips a breath away from hers, he pressed heavily against her, reveling in the undulations of her hips. But it wasn’t enough, he had to see her.
“Open your eyes.
”
***
Opening her eyes, she stared up into his. They were black, but now a lighter ring circled his irises, glowing. That same feral smile greeted her as she looked at him.
Circling his hips, he forced his shaft across the seam of her jeans, the heavy ridge pressing too briefly against the perfect spot, causing her ass to jerk in his grip in a desperate attempt to get closer.
But he had thoroughly wedged her in, his breath hot as he gazed at her. She felt the unfamiliar squirm of embarrassment; he was turning her on, watching her while he did. She’d never felt so exposed. He was learning her, and she was losing the upper hand…
Another slow roll of his hips and thoughts of keeping her wits about her were lost.
Clutching his shoulders, she wrapped her legs around his lean hips, linking her ankles together as her head tipped back against the wall, eyes closing on a sigh as she brought him that fraction closer to the empty, aching heart of her.
“Uh-uh, look at me.”
The low whisper of his words sent a shiver across her skin, but the rolling of his hips had stopped, and she couldn’t bear that.
He laid his lips on the skin just below her ear, and sucked hard enough to leave a slight mark, resuming the roll of his hips as he caught her gaze.
“If you don’t look at me, how do I know if you like it?”
Her hips ached to thrust up, but she was trapped by the wall and his weight, and she was becoming increasingly frustrated by his game. She released a pent up breath, her voice scratchy as it came out. “Seb, I do. But I want…” Her voice trailed off.
“What do you want, Jess?”
She frowned as he continued to smile down at her.
“I…” She unclasped her legs, and he eased back a fraction of an inch to allow her feet to touch the floor, before softly saying, “I want these clothes off.”
He gave her ass another heavy squeeze, as if in reward. “Okay.”
Gripping the tattered fabric of his shirt, she began pushing it over his shoulders, she’d worry about the cuffs when she got to them—but before she could, he released her, lifting his arms over her head, stepping back to lean against the opposite wall, facing her.
Hunter Moon: A Spellbinding Tale of Love, Loyalty and Magic (Langston Bay Trilogy Book 2) Page 12
