Pick Your Poison

by Jeanette Lynn

  “You don’t?” That had the man stilling. “Then what was all that about?”

  Adjusting my grip on his shirt, I hoisted myself back to my feet, tucking my body flush into his side to bury my face against his chest. “No demands, no bullshit, no cold feet. I’m in it for the long haul too, contrary as I may have been acting to the fact.” Though muffled slightly, my mate could make out my words perfectly.

  A small, incredulous laugh shook his chest and I felt his arm slip around my waist to grip my hip. “Then I don’t understand... Clue me in here, sweetheart, what was that all about, then?”

  Nuzzling against the hard muscle my cheek rested against, I made a happy noise in my throat. “We’re doing this hitched shit, but we do it our way. I say, we go back to the beginning, where it all began.” Peeking up to see how well my idea was received, I smiled at the look on my mate’s face.

  “You mean you want to...”

  “Uh-huh.”

  Divit eyed me for the longest time. “You can’t possibly mean-”

  Making a humming sound in my throat, fingers plucking at his shirt as he cupped one of his hands over mine, I nodded. “Mmm-hmm.”

  “Norma Gene...”

  “Yes, my love?”

  What followed was a series of fish-mouthed gapes, and a soft pinkening spreading across his cheekbones until I thought they faintly glowed.

  “I thought vampires were supposed to sparkle and shit? I think I read that somewhere...” I held back a laugh, but barely as Divit made a strangled noise, but I went on. “We really do kinda glow, huh? Awesome.” Stepping back to smooth out the front of his shirt, I was all beguiling smiles and sweetness. “Look at you, corpse groom, you’re already blushing like a new bride, my grumpy diamond in the rough, with your luminous, glowstick self, you.”

  Divit’s lips thinned as I cooed in the face of his irritation, patting his chest to shove off. “Norma Gene...”

  “All you need now is a set of bedazzled stretch pants and a snazzy vest to match, a transport spell from Callie or Asshole, and we’re all set to get the ball rolling.” Walking to the small junk closet off the bathroom as I talked, I retrieved the two black duffels I’d stashed in there the other day, in my idea’s infancy, to saunter back to my annoyed, glowering companion. Holding one out by its thick straps, I gave it a wiggle, offering him one to chuckle and wink as he eyed it like a bag of poisonous snakes.

  “What are you really planning?” he muttered suspiciously, snatching the bag to unzip it and rifle through its contents.

  A few printed papers popped up, a mound of gauzy white fabric popping free. Divit recognized it instantly, stuffing the veil back in to stare after me.

  “You kept it,” he said finally, examining the hotel brochures I’d taken the liberty to print up.

  My turn to blush, I laughed nervously. “Ah... that Callie got for me. Found it when she got nosy and had a poke around the sex bathroom camping out in her living room, she said. I guess you could call me a trash digger about the dress though, or whatever.” Biting at my lip with the tip of my fang, my shoulders gave a short shrug. “I, uh, actually had crammed everything in the bathroom trash, but later couldn’t bring myself to throw it out. Call me silly, sentimental, or just plain mental, but I had it repaired.” My fingers brushed the veil as I reached out to touch it, pulling back when he grunted, catching my attention.

  Barking out a laugh, his eyes looked to me sharply. “Admit it. I’m probably going to regret this somehow, but just say it and I’ll do it.”

  “Admit what?” Frowning up at him uncertainly, he barked out another laugh, and then another, dropping the duffle at our feet to take mine and toss it down, too.

  Staring after him like he’d lost his mind, I yelped as he swooped in, scooping me up to swing me around, ignoring my banshee like shrieks of protest as he let out a deep belly laugh. “Woman, you are positively mad! Daft, and damned mad!”

  “I’m mad?” I spluttered, smacking at his chest, though I couldn’t help but chuckle at the grin that spread across his face. “You swing me around like a rag doll, hooting and shouting, and I’m mad?”

  “Bat shit crazy, certifiably mad.”

  “Hah!”

  His lips took mine then, warm and inviting but unyielding, a stamp of ownership in the simple yet meaningful gesture as I readily accepted the terms.

  “Divit?” My head spun as he pulled back, dizzy from it all. As my gaze met his I found myself blurting that one simple truth I’d been holding back from him and myself. No teasing, no bullshit, sincerity in every word. “I love you.”

  “Yes.” Nostrils flaring, his chest expanded with the weight of my admission and he muttered, his lips pressing to mine, “Yes.” Without any preamble, Divit took my lips again, his tongue swooping in to tangle with mine. Gripping my hips, urging me to wrap my legs around his torso, his fingers snaked up beneath my skirt to cup my ass.

  I squirmed, eager not to break the intimate contact but wanting more than anything to press closer. Wiggling my fingers between us to reach down and unzip his pants, I reached in and gripped his cock. Growling low in my throat, I nipped his lips when he hissed and it jerked at my touch.

  Divit cursed, hitching me up higher, groaning as he adjusted his grip and slowly lowered me down, the head of his shaft bumping my clit.

  “I kept mine too,” he muttered, a pained note in his voice as his hips gave a small thrust, wedging the head of his cock into my entrance. Two more thrusts and he was in almost all the way, and I felt rational enough then to speak.

  Fingers gripping at his back and neck, heels digging into his taut ass as I held on for dear life, determined to wiggle down on that monster jabbing at me, I let out an annoyed huff. “You want to talk about this now?”

  Divit stopped mid thrust, his thick shaft having pulled out almost all the way to tunnel back into my wet heat. We both groaned as he stilled. “What better time than now, hmm?”

  “Huh. I don’t know...” I muttered, curling my fingers around a few strands of hair at his nape absently, tightening at the last moment to give a short, sharp tug. “When we aren’t having sex?”

  A hiss rattling his chest, muffled through sealed lips, I did it again and his jaw snapped audibly, fire flashing in his eyes. As if to soothe the hurt, my fingers smoothed over his scalp in apology, my sex clamping down around his shaft as I ground myself onto his length.

  “In the heat of the moment,” Divit’s eyes did a half roll, his fangs digging into his bottom lip, “and you’ve just said you love me, and I’ve just agreed to elope with your neurotic ass, and we both have the straitjackets befitting such an event to match.” Eyes flashing red, he smiled devilishly as my chest hitched, my gaze fastening to the spots of crimson dotting his full lower lip. “No. I think this is the perfect time.”

  Pressing a kiss to my mate’s lip, moaning at the spicy, rich flavor that’s his and his alone, I lapped at the small droplets he’d thought to tempt me with, my tongue swiping along his thick lower lip for a taste.

  “Did you really keep the outfit?” Nibbling biting kisses along his jawline, I smiled against his skin, my fangs tickling his flesh until I reached the column of his throat.

  Divit’s throat worked as my tongue rasped over the spot I’d decided I liked best and I pumped my hips, our bodies rocking together in time as he quickly picked up the rhythm.

  “Would I lie about something like that?” he rasped out, his voice hoarse as his hands clenched, sliding up my hips to dig in hard enough to bruise, and his knees wobbled.

  Warmth filled my chest, mixing with the fire he’d ignited deep in my belly. From the top of my head to the tips of my toes I felt it, the delicious sense of fulfilling contentment, rushing over me. “No, I suppose you wouldn’t,” I fairly purred.

  “Damn right I- Ah!” Before he could even blink I struck, my fangs digging deep. Mine. All mine.

  My nails gouged his skin, leaving little furrows behind as he hissed low in his throat. A deep snar
l welled in mine to match as I claimed my mate roughly. That’s exactly what this was—staking my claim.

  Divit’s legs gave out then and we went tumbling towards the ground. We would have crashed right then and there if he hadn’t caught himself, his knees slamming the floor as his arms shot out. Our intimate connection broke, his cock slipping free, but I held tight to his neck, my arms still digging into his back, loath to give up my prize.

  Pressing me down into the carpet until the weight of his chest rested heavily atop me, he propped himself up on an elbow, fisting his hand in the short strands at the back of my skull with the other.

  “What say we take turns on this one, hmm, sweetheart?” Divit tried to dislodge me, his fingers tightening in my hair when I snarled and the sound of my nails pricking the flesh of his back filled the room.

  Sucking greedily, my tongue rasping over his torn flesh, I drank to my dead heart’s content, refusing to relent.

  “Fine,” I heard him mutter. “We’ll do it your way, then.” His hand left my hair to trail down my nape, blazing a trail that left my skin tingling as it dipped between the swells of my breasts.

  Fingers smoothing over my nipple through my shirt, he circled the tip to stroke the quickly hardening nub and move lower, cupping a mound in his hand. Giving my breast a gentle squeeze, he aligned our hips, his thick member nudging the lips of my sex. As he sought entry, I felt an answering tension building deep in my belly as his staff jerked and he trembled slightly.

  My lips paused then and my back arched, just as the tip of him found its way in, and he groaned, releasing my breast to grip my hip. With a quick, hard thrust, he was halfway sheathed. Throwing my ahead back, I cried out, meeting him on the next one to join us fully.

  Settling his lower body down over mine, melding us chest to hip, pressing into me until I’d accepted all of his weight, pinning me to the floor, he controlled the show, taking and giving until I was almost half mad with want.

  “Divit. Divit!” I was hissing my words without realizing it, a trail of blood dribbling down his back as I pried my hands free.

  Sticky and wet with that coppery rich good stuff, smeared along my fingertips like finger paint, I lifted my hands to stare numbly at the wet crimson trail extending down past the tips to my wrists. Tucking them in towards my sides, the action bringing them that much closer to my mouth, my nostrils flared as I fought the urge to have a taste. Swallowing hard past the burning ache filling my throat, I moaned aloud as my fingers shook.

  Slipping free from my depths, my vampire lover trailed nipping, open-mouthed kisses along my neck. “I was going to bite you, right... here.” His tongue lashed the spot. “But I think I have a better idea.”

  Sliding back, his gaze darkening as it swept over me, he stood up, divesting himself of his shirt with a quick tug and a jerk. His pants, along with everything else, soon followed.

  I watched him, anticipation thrumming through me at what was to come, but my eyes kept straying to my fingers. Catching on the bright smears of red and dark droplets tickling my flesh as they trickled down my arms, teasing me, I took in a deep breath, everything in me shuddering as a shiver wracked me.

  “Do it,” he crooned softly, his deep voice even deeper as he knelt down before me.

  Small, pink tongue peeking out, I brought my index finger to my lips. Sucking the digit into my mouth slowly, I moaned aloud as the taste of him hit my tongue. My body tingled with awareness—a flash of our connection—a sharp sense of him rushing through me as if we truly were one. I reveled in it—didn’t think I’d ever get enough of him.

  Without bothering to help me out of anything, my mate lifted my skirt, exposing my sex, his lips tipping up in a naughty smile as he cupped my knee, opening me up to him fully. He trailed a finger down my inner thigh, drawing lazy circles down my heated flesh until he reached my center. Stroking his thumb softly over my clit, he dipped lower, slipping in two fingers deep.

  “Now the other one, and the next, until you’re finished,” he instructed, glancing up to watch as my finger popped free and I gave the next one the same treatment.

  He made a sexy noise in the back of his throat that had me clenching around his fingers, a fresh wave of wetness washing over me as he pumped them in and out, mimicking the act itself.

  My skin pebbled with gooseflesh as he moved closer, his head dipping low to nip my hip as his free hand slid beneath my shirt. Yanking the cups of my bra back, a sharp snap and a harsh tug letting me know he had ruined yet another one, he muttered something I couldn’t make out as his fingers plucked at my distended nipple.

  Releasing the throbbing peak to brush over it with his thumb, the fingers buried deep in my channel slowing, he paused just as I felt myself sliding over that sweet precipice. “Only warning I’m going to give, love. This is how it’s going to work: you touch me, I stop. Understand?”

  “What? Yes! Whatever! Don’t stop!” Slapping my open palms on the carpet, I jerked and gasped. “Yes! Sure! That! Just... Why the hell did you- Ah!”

  Smug at how riled he could make me, how crazed with want, he quickly got back to the task at hand. A deep, masculine chuckle filled my ears as his fingers slipped almost all the way out to tunnel back in, a small mewl escaping my parted lips.

  Ignoring my breast momentarily in favor of my clit, he teased, circling the small, plump bud, but made sure never to get too close. Hips wiggling something fierce as I tried to chase the quick tingles the action produced, eager for more, his fingers in my sheath slowed whenever I started to pulse around them, until I was about ready to scream and brain him.

  “You like that, baby?”

  A hiss slipped past my gritted teeth and my hips bucked. “No.”

  Raising a brow, he glanced up at me, his thumb slowly running over my clit. “Better?” Strumming the hidden pearl with gentle, steady pressure, studying my expression intently, he changed the angle of his fingers in my sex, stroking me just right.

  “Ung.” Words weren’t possible at the moment.

  “Mmm.” Divit made a pleased sound in his throat.

  Muffling shrieks through clenched teeth, I soon found myself clawing at the floor, gripping the carpet fibers as my fangs dug into my lip, anything to keep me from touching him, lest he make good on his word.

  Just about to say screw it and yank him to me, take exactly what I wanted and assuage both of our needs, his mouth closed over my breast to suckle.

  “Divit!” A loud screech left my stunned lips and my hands flew to his hair.

  Shaking me off and pulling back, he stopped and shook his head. “No touching, remember?”

  “Remember? How can I remember anything when you’re doing that?” Jaw clenching so tight I thought I heard a molar crack, I growled as he made to put more space between us, the loss of him leaving me instantly bereft.

  He can’t be serious!

  Oh, but he was. The look on his face said as much.

  I hissed, slamming my hands at my sides to scowl up at him fiercely, lips drawn back in a teeth baring snarl. “There,”—the asshole was silently tacked on, but I was sure he heard it, just the same—“happy now?”

  “Immensely.”

  Another hiss worked in my throat but then I was off again, Divit jumping right back in where he’d left off as if he’d never stopped, and I was left to catch up.

  His fingers fucked me in time to the hand at my breast, working in tandem to bring me to the brink, and then his tongue rasped across my clit and I let off a short scream. Sucking the bud gently between his teeth, his fangs pricked the sides of my sex, easing along my folds before sinking deep.

  His fingers thrust three deep then and he cupped my ass with his other hand to keep a firm hold. My orgasm rocketed through me as I shot up, screaming for all I was worth, jerking and bellowing out as he feasted on my flesh.

  It was pain and pleasure, white, hot heat and pure ecstasy slamming through me, my ears ringing as every drop of blood I’d just taken from my mate pounded through
my head.

  He didn’t stop there, wringing every last bit my body had to offer, releasing me only after I fell back limply to crawl up my length. Licking his red tinted lips hungrily as he growled my name, he hooked his forearm on the crook of my knee, hitching it up as he fisted a handful of skirt.

  Gaze catching on the proof of my desire, he sucked in a deep breath, shuddering as his blood flushed eyes slowly met mine. Releasing the fabric to take my hand in his, he guided it to his thick erection, curling my fingers around the tip to slowly glide it down. Cum leaked from the slit, a single drop pearling as I watched. Divit’s eyes closed briefly as he guided my hand again and another drop formed to join the first. “I want you to feel me, feel everything.” His thumb ran over the tip and he leaned forward. “Do it.”

  Fingers smoothing over the thick vein that ran along his length, his cock jerked in my hand as I eased it towards my entrance.

  Biting back a groan, he ran his glistening thumb over my lips, clenching his jaw as my lips parted and I nipped his finger. My tongue automatically came out to swipe across my lips as he watched, captivated, the salty taste of him tipping my tongue as I brought the head of his shaft to my core and his hips pressed.

  Eyes locked, he dipped in slowly at first, about an inch or so, easing his way in as he tested his welcome. “Ready for me?” Without waiting for an answer, his cock glistening with my juices, he glanced down between us, pulling out enough to watch as he pressed back in.

  It felt good, so good, slowly filling me so fully, and I moaned aloud.

  “Been wanting to do this for a while,” he muttered. Before I could ask what, he adjusted his grip on my leg, hips pulling back, and rammed all the way in to the hilt. As his hips pulled back to plow back in, his intense gaze studied the look on my face as I took every last inch of him.