A Vampire's Salvation
Page 5
Right now he had more pressing matters on his mind. A certain chancellor to hunt.
Hmmm. No sign of Livi in the kitchen. He tried the back porch, closing his eyes and reaching out with his other senses. No, she wasn’t in the woods, either. Odd.
He finally caught the faintest trace of her scent near the staircase. It was too early for bed.
Or was it? He grinned.
He’d made her a promise that once he was free of his past he’d be coming after her with everything he had. It was hard to chase a woman if she didn’t hide.
Smiling around his fangs, he started up the steps. By the time he made it to the top, all worries that certain parts of his body might have forgotten what they were designed for after years of doing without had totally disappeared.
Even so, this would be different. It had to be because he’d never done this before. Yeah, he’d had sex. But he’d never truly mated with a woman who felt like the other half of his soul.
Livi stood at the window, staring out at the stars. She glanced his way, looking far calmer than he felt, but the pulse point at the base of her throat gave her away. Her emotions were running full bore, even if she was trying to hide it.
He was glad. He didn’t want to be the only one in the room who feared he might disappoint.
“Olivia McCabe, if you don’t tell me to leave now, there’ll be no turning back, not for either of us.”
He prowled forward, unbuttoning his shirt and flashing his fangs. Her smile was all woman and temptation and her eyes followed his every move.
“Last chance, Chancellor McCabe. Once I touch you this time, you’re mine and I’m yours. Period. Got that?”
She nodded, and her tongue darted out to lick the corner of her mouth, the tips of her fangs flirting with him.
“I’m going to strip you down, Livi my love, and taste every inch of you.”
She backed up a step, clearly gauging if she should try to run, not that she’d get far. While she mulled it over, he tossed his shirt over the chair in the corner. After toeing off his shoes, he reached for the buckle on his belt. A quick jerk left it unfastened. Next, he undid the snap of his jeans. Her gaze tracked the slow slide of his zipper, her breathing speeding up when she saw that he’d gone commando. Soon there would be nothing between them except for her clothes.
That wouldn’t last long.
Finally, Livi broke and ran. He caught his lover before she’d gone more than a handful of steps. That small skirmish was over, but the major battle was yet to come.
He swept her up in his arms and tossed her into the middle of the four-poster that dominated the room. It felt so damned right to tumble into a tangle of arms and legs with his Livi in the big bed where he’d been conceived and born. It was only a matter of time before the next generation got its start there, as well. Or maybe on that old couch downstairs. He wasn’t picky as long as he got to spend as much time as possible locked in his lover’s arms.
“You have too many clothes on, Livi.”
She yanked him down for one of her bone-melting kisses. “You didn’t give me much of a chance to take them off.”
“If I had, this might have been all over before we actually reached the bed. The only way I’ve made it through today was imagining you naked—” he kissed her forehead “—and how well we were going to fit together—and in how many different ways.”
His mate blushed, but looked pleased. She arched an eyebrow as she studied the part of him that made it all too obvious how badly he wanted her. “Looks like it will be a tight fit, big guy.”
Okay, now he was blushing. He tugged her uniform shirt up and spread his fingers over her soft, warm skin. “I’m sorry my hands are so rough.”
She caught his hand in hers, brought it up to her mouth and pressed a soft kiss on his palm, a healing benediction. “No apologies necessary.”
Then she traced a line of callus with the tip of her tongue. “These are just a sign of how incredibly strong you are. Fifteen years would have broken a lesser man.”
He closed his eyes and soaked up the warmth of her breath against his skin. Time to do some more touching of his own. Seconds later her shirt hit the floor and her lacy bra decorated the lamp on the bedside table.
Her pretty breasts deserved odes of praise, but they struck him speechless. He offered homage with his teeth and tongue. From the way she writhed beneath him, she clearly understood what he was saying.
While he savored the peach-sweet taste of her nipples, he unsnapped her uniform pants. The zipper cooperated. It was a good thing because otherwise he’d have used every ounce of his vampire strength to rip the cloth out of his way. He loved the sound she made as he slid his fingers down and down and down.
Ah, yes, finally, he found the damp heat he sought, slipping deep to test her readiness for him. This was going to be so damn good. As much as he loved her breasts, he needed so much more right now. He kissed each one in apology, a promise that he’d get back to them and soon. Then, he stared down at the woman who’d been his touchstone of sanity for fifteen years.
“Livi, you have no idea how long I’ve dreamed of this very moment.”
Yes, she did because she’d been having those same dreams herself. With any other man, she might have been self-conscious as he looked his fill. But right now it was all she could do to make sense of the all the sensations flooding through her. Cord’s mouth was so hot as he’d kissed her breasts. The cool of the quilt on her back. The rough but gentle touch of his hands. All of it building and building until all she could do was whimper.
“Cord, please, I need you on me.” She captured his erection with a gentle squeeze. “I need you in me. Take me now.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
He sat up and stripped away the rest of Livi’s defenses right along with her clothes. He settled between her knees, running his fingertips up her legs, starting at the arch of her feet and straight up to the hungry center of her need. She was on fire.
His dark eyes glittered, and she was pretty sure his hands were trembling. That was good because hers were, too.
“Honey, I can’t be gentle about this. It’s been too long, and I need you too much.”
She flashed her fangs at him in invitation. “I want you to take me hard, Cord. I’ve been waiting too long for this to want it any other way.”
Then he covered her, crushing her down into the mattress. With a near growl, he pushed hard to settle deep inside of her. She’d been right. Oh, yeah, he was a big man all over. The fit was tight, but absolutely perfect. The first thrusts skated the sharp edge of pain and pleasure, but her body quickly adjusted as she held on with every ounce of her strength.
The pounding rhythm intensified until nothing existed beyond the sweat-slick slide of skin against skin. He rose up, supporting his weight on his arms, his face contorted with pleasure as he rode them both hard. She wrapped her legs around his, holding him tighter, claiming him for her own.
Finally, he focused on her throat, his gaze a caress in itself. She arched her head back and to the side, offering him her throat, her life’s blood.
A vampire’s primitive nature was never more obvious than in bed. Cord struck fast and hard, his fangs finding and penetrating her pulse. His mouth closed over the wound, pulling hard on her vein in counterpoint to his cock’s thrusts deep within her. Just that quickly, it was too much. She couldn’t hold back another second as the combined assaults on her senses drove her over the edge.
But at least she took Cord racing along with her, shuddering as he pulsed deep within her.
As he licked the wound closed on her neck, she knew nothing would ever be the same again.
For the first time in a decade and a half, or maybe in his whole life, Cord was at peace. Staring down at the woman tucked in at his side, her long legs still tangled with his, he toyed with her hair. He finally knew its texture, and it was every bit as soft as he’d imagined.
“I thought you were there to kill me.”
; Livi rose to look him straight in the face, a taste of temper in her eyes. “You thought I’d do that? After everything, you thought I’d execute you right there on that dirt road?”
He smiled at her outrage. “No, I hoped you would, Livi. You were the only bright spot in my life for a long, long time. I know I never acted grateful for your visits, yet I was. But I had become so damned lost in that hell. When I saw you, all I could feel was relief that it was going to finally be over. That you were going to show me mercy and end it all.”
A hot tear dripped off her chin onto his chest. Damn it, he hadn’t meant to make her cry.
“I’m screwing this all up, Livi. I’m trying to thank you.”
She frowned and rolled on top of him, straddling his hips. That little move almost derailed the whole conversation, but he managed to keep his focus.
She poked his chest with her finger. “It’s not your gratitude I want, Cord.”
He caught her hand and kissed it. “Well, you’ve got it, not to mention my heart, my love, my life.”
He’d finally found the right words because her pretty face lit up. “I love you, too, Cord.”
“Show me.”
He flexed his hips to suggest exactly how that could be done. And bless this woman who saved him, she took the hint.
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ISBN: 978-1-4268-8554-9
A Vampire’s Salvation
Copyright © 2011 by Patricia L. Pritchard
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Table of Contents
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Copyright