Claws and Effect

by Jessica Sims

  "There's nothing for you to be sorry about," he told me gently. His fingers curled around my wrist and he lifted my arm, holding it out straight and stared at the healed bites along my arm.

  My wrist was covered with red puncture marks, along with my biceps, all the way to my neck. I flushed with shame, knowing that the interior of my thighs - where the femoral artery was - had the exact same pattern.

  "I look all used up," I said, ashamed. It wasn't pretty. I knew it wasn't. The marks were stacked all over each other and deeply gouged in some spots where Andre had fed over and over again. "I think he liked to leave big ugly bites on me because it was some sort of possessive thing with him. Like marking me up was going to ruin me as a vampire lunch for anyone else." Plus, he knew it fucked with my head, though I didn't admit that to Ellis.

  He leaned in and gently kissed my wrist, right over one of the worst-looking bites. "I don't think they're ugly, Lily." His voice was so gentle that my eyes filled with tears just from the aching emotion in my heart. "They don't tell me that you're used up. They tell me that you're a survivor. That you've been through hell and came out the other side." He pressed another kiss to my skin, sending shivers up my arm. "And I love them because they're part of you. I love every inch of you."

  "Thank you."

  Ellis lifted his head. "That being said, it does make me jealous that you staked Andre, because I'd love to drive a big wooden peg through his ball sack a few times."

  I giggled tearfully. "You'd have to stand in line for that one. I have dibs on torturing vampires."

  "I'll give you dibs on that," he said with a grin, and continued to kiss up my lower arm, then dropped one final kiss in the crook of my elbow. "Is my biting bothering you so far?"

  I shook my head.

  "Can I keep biting other parts of you?"

  "What other parts?" I asked softly, more curious than afraid now. There was so much adoration and love in every touch of Ellis's mouth and hands that I wasn't scared but intrigued. "My neck?"

  "Not yet," he told me, and leaned in to kiss my mouth again. I made a sound of delight and began to kiss him back eagerly, moaning when his tongue brushed against my own. It felt as if he were raking it right over my core, and I shivered at that mental image. Then he pulled away, whispering, "I love the way you taste, Lily."

  "I love you, Ellis."

  "I'm going to keep biting now," he told me softly, his gaze locked to mine.

  "Where?" I asked, feeling breathless and a little squirmy picturing all the places he could bite me with that delicious, talented mouth of his.

  His hand reached up and cupped one of my small breasts. "Here."

  I moaned, my hands clinging to his neck as he kissed and licked at my mouth again. His hand on my breast felt incredible. My breasts were so tiny I was practically flat chested, but I was ultra-sensitive, and the feel of his fingers grazing over my nipple was making me wild.

  "I've been trying not to stare at these pretty little breasts for a while now," he murmured in my ear. "Figured if I ogled you while you were all freaked out, that'd make me an asshole. But I have to admit that I can't stop thinking about them ever since you took your shirt off in front of me." His thumb continued to stroke back and forth over my nipple, teasing it with slow circling motions. "Been wondering if they're as sensitive as I hope. Wondering if you'd like it if I sucked on them or if you prefer them petted instead."

  His constant stream of description was driving me utterly wild. Having him touch me while describing to me everything he wanted to do? It only made things that much more intense. I loved it. My hands moved all over him, wanting to touch every inch of his skin and give him pleasure like he was giving me.

  Ellis's fingers tweaked both of my nipples in tandem, and a shiver racked through my body. "Let me bite these, Lily," he said in a low voice, then leaned in to kiss my hungry mouth. "I'll make it so good for you."

  "Please," I whispered.

  His head bent and his hair skimmed against the bare skin on my neck and shoulder a moment before I felt him lift my tiny breast and aimed it for his mouth. His lips brushed over the tip once, twice, and then he popped the nipple into his mouth and sucked hard.

  A whimper of need escaped me, dragging out into a moan. Oh god, that felt incredible.

  Ellis's tongue flicked against my nipple, teasing it back and forth, and then he gently bit down with his teeth. "How does that feel, Lily?"

  I moaned in response. It felt good. So good.

  "You like that?"

  "Y-yes," I breathed.

  "What if I kiss the sweet little slope here?" He nuzzled against the tiny mound of my breast, licking at the skin and then giving it a playful nip. "Does that bother you?"

  "No. I like it. I like everything you're doing." My voice was shy and I caressed his body with my hands, strumming over his skin. "I'm not scared. Not with you. I know you'll keep me safe."

  He gave a low groan and pushed me backward, down onto the bed. "God, I love you, Lily. You're everything to me." His mouth pressed kisses to my breasts and valley between them. "I never knew why the others went so crazy over their mates, but now I know. All I can think about is your scent, your taste, the way your lips plump up when I kiss them...what it'd feel like to sink between your thighs and bury myself there." The tip of his nose skimmed lightly across my skin. "I think it'd be sheer heaven itself."

  His words were driving me into a fever pitch, and I squirmed with anticipation as he settled between my legs. "I want that," I panted. "I want all of that. I want you to take me for yours."

  Ellis growled at my words and his mouth trailed up to my neck. His fingers twined in my wet hair and he tilted my head back, exposing my neck. "You sure you want me to do this? Because I want to claim you right here." His tongue licked along one of the chords of my neck, exactly where Andre had left a mark. "I'd cover you with my claim here, so everyone would know I'd taken you for mine."

  The possessiveness in his voice made me tremble. "I want to be yours."

  "Then tell me if you get scared, and I'll stop." Ellis leaned in and licked at the spot again, then a third time.

  I bit my lip, waiting. I wasn't scared. This man loved me. I loved him. There was nothing of the past in his gentle, loving touch. "I'm ready."

  Immediately, I felt teeth clamp down on the skin on my neck, sharp and piercing. A barrage of memories shot through me, all of them bad. Andre, sucking hard. Andre, laughing at my pain. Andre's clammy hands and disgusting mouth as he took my blood and then discarded me on the dirt floor like I was nothing. I stiffened, all pleasure disappearing, and a frightened sound escaped my throat.

  Then, a hot tongue slicked over the bite. "Shhh," Ellis said. "I've got you, Lily. It's done. You're mine now." The aggressive pride in his voice made me relax, and his arms continued to hold me close, his warm body pressing mine into the mattress. The feel of his big form over mine was reassuring, oddly enough, all that warm skin reminding me that this was different than before. This was Ellis. He'd never hurt me just to be cruel.

  His mouth continued to lick gently over the bite, soothing it with flicks of his tongue. It felt a little rough and raspy, a bit like a cat's, and I wondered at the sharpness of his teeth. "Did you...did you transform a bit to bite me?"

  "Just a bit," he admitted. His hand slid to my breast and began to play with my nipple again, almost as if I couldn't help himself. "Did I scare you?"

  "Only at first," I admitted, and my hands moved to his biceps, tattooed with brilliant colors and so firm they made my mouth water. I squeezed them, admiring his body. "But then I remembered who it was and I was fine."

  His lips trailed over my collarbone and down to the curves of my breasts again. "I'm going to bite you again, Lily," he murmured, then flicked his tongue over one of my nipples. It still felt rough, almost catlike, and when he looked up at me, his eyes were gleaming with that green feralness I'd come to associate with Ellis being close to losing control. "I need to bite you more if I want to tu
rn you. But I'll make it good. I promise."

  I quivered a little at the thought. "I trust you, Ellis. I'm yours."

  He groaned. "God, you're sweet." His mouth moved over the tip of my breast again, licking it and teasing it with that oddly rough tongue until I was arching on the bed and moaning with need.

  This time, when he bit me, there was nothing but a sweet, piercing pleasure. I writhed under him as he sank his teeth into the tiny hillock of my breast, his rough tongue flicking against my nipple so rapidly it was practically fluttering -- and my pulse seemed to be moving in time with it.

  "Oh, Ellis," I panted, and my nails dug into his shoulders, even as I wrapped my legs around his hips and dug my heels into those taut white buttocks I'd been admiring for days now. "Oh, god, that's good."

  A low growl emerged from his throat, and I wriggled underneath him, loving the sound.

  Eventually, he lifted his mouth and looked up at me. He was sexy with need, his lips full and slick, his hair falling over his forehead, eyes gleaming like beacons. "I'm going to bite you even lower, Lily."

  I moaned and my hips rose, bucking in response to the mental image. "Do it. God, do it."

  He slid down my belly and my legs fell open. Ellis kissed and licked at every inch of flesh he passed, until he got to the curls nestled at the juncture of my thighs. My legs twitched and flexed helplessly, until one of his big hands grasped my scarred thigh and pushed it back against the bed, spreading me wide.

  He stared down at the string of bites along both of my inner thighs for so long that I started to prickle with discomfort. "Ellis?"

  "I want to fucking kill that bastard," he said, voice thick with emotion.

  "I beat you to it."

  His gaze slid back to me, startled. Then he laughed, the sound rumbling in his throat as an almost-purr. "So you did, love. So you did." Very gently, he leaned in and kissed the bite marks along the soft flesh of my inner thigh. "I'm not going to bite you here, though. I don't need your vein. I need you." The look he shot my way was wicked. "And I have a far more intimate claiming in mind."

  My breath caught in my throat, my mind filling with mental images. "W-what kind of claiming?"

  Ellis moved forward, adjusting his big body between my legs until his face hovered inches from the curls of my pussy. "I'm going to take all this sweetness for myself." And he leaned in and nuzzled at my sex, inhaling deeply. "God, your smell is incredible."

  I'd never been scented so intimately. I began to pant with excitement, my chest rising and falling rapidly. I propped up on my elbows, eager to watch his mouth as he gently parted the lips of my pussy and inhaled again.

  Then, he dipped his head low and licked me, long, slow and deep.

  I nearly came off the bed. "Oh god, your tongue--"

  It was still rough, and I felt every inch of it stroking over my sensitive flesh, sending shockwaves through my body. Normal oral sex was great. Oral sex with a textured tongue? Blew my mind. My thighs quivered as he licked slowly up my folds again, his tongue flicking once against my clit. "Ellis," I groaned. "Oh god, Ellis, please."

  "I'm going to bite this sweet pussy," he told me, voice low and husky. "I'm going to sink my teeth in to this delicious flesh and claim you right here for my own."

  I trembled. "Please."

  But instead of doing as he promised, he only licked at my folds again, lapping at the slickness between my legs. I squirmed, my hips trying to raise up in response, but his hand gripped my lower belly and pressed me against the bed, holding me still so he could attend to me with his mouth.

  And he continued to kiss and suck and nibble and lick at my flesh. Over and over again, endlessly patient, Ellis licked my sex from my core to my clit, dragging that sensitizing tongue over every inch. Normally I came with a lot of clitoral stimulation, but Ellis was seemingly determined to just drive me mad with need instead; his mouth never remained in one place for long, and the more I tried to steer him toward my clit, the more he seemed to drag out his make out session with my pussy.

  Not that I minded, of course. He was eating me out with gusto, and I loved it. I loved it, and yet, I wanted more. I needed that bite he'd promised.

  "Ellis," I begged. "Take me like you promised."

  "I think I'm addicted to this sweet flavor," he told me, swiping his tongue over the lips of my pussy again. "You're so wet with need that I can't help myself. Love every taste of you."

  "Please," I wheezed, flopping back on the bed. Watching him eat me out was driving me twice as wild as I'd imagined and I couldn't take much more of it. I reached for him, dragging my fingers into his short, silky hair and tugging, trying to steer him toward my throbbing clit. "Please."

  "You want me to claim you?" He asked, looking up at me. His mouth was gleaming with my juices, and that sent another bolt of lust slamming through my body.

  "God, yes," I moaned.

  "You want me to sink my teeth right into this sweet pussy and claim it for my own?"

  I threw my head back and panted, his words bringing on a fresh round of slickness between my legs.

  One of his fingers brushed the lips of my sex, and then he began to slide it back and forth, dragging it through the wetness I was producing. "You need me to take you as mine?"

  "Yes!" The word broke on a sob of need.

  I tensed when I felt his mouth press against the curls of my sex, kissing it. I wanted to twist against him - I didn't want a kiss, I wanted to be devoured - when I felt his upper teeth sink into the plump flesh of my mound. I gasped in shock...

  ...And shrieked when his tongue pushed through the lips of my sex and rubbed against my clit.

  My entire body jolted, and I felt Ellis growl low against my skin. I was oblivious -- his tongue kept lashing against my clit, rubbing and rubbing over and over again just how I'd wanted it. I felt his fingers press against my core, felt two of them slide deep, and then felt his teeth sink into my mound again.

  And I came. God, I came. I came so hard and so wild that my entire body seemed to tremble and quiver, and I cried out from the sheer relief of my release. It barreled through me like a freight train, almost violent in its intensity, and my heels dug into the mattress, my hips lifting even as he continued to work my clit, his fingers thrusting deep into my core. And I just kept coming and coming, the tidal wave rocking through me.

  With a groan, the endless orgasm finally began to subside, and my stiff body collapsed back under him. I panted, dazed by what I'd just experienced. "Oh god," I murmured. "That was so good."

  Ellis chuckled and swiped his tongue against my clit one more time, sending a little aftershock through my body. His fingers slid from inside me and I made a small sound of protest. In the next moment, though, his weight pressed down on me over the bed, and his mouth was on mine again, and I could taste both him and my orgasm on his mouth, and I moaned against his lips.

  "You're so sexy," he murmured against my mouth, then slicked his tongue against my parted lips. "I'm tempted to do that all over again just to watch you come again."

  "Oh god, I think I'd dissolve into a puddle if you did," I said, dragging my nails up his back. His hips settled against the cradle of mine, and I felt his cock straining against my pussy. I rocked my hips a little, rubbing against his flesh. He felt so good over me. I loved the weight of him. "Mmm. But what about you?"

  "What about me?" he asked, swiveling his hips against mine so his cock dragged against my sensitive pussy. His braced arms were riots of tattooed color and I loved watching them flex as he caged my body under his. The feel of his cock dragging against my slick flesh was making me a little mad, and I felt need building up through my body again. "You think I don't get any pleasure from that, Lily? You think I hated claiming you with my mouth?"

  I shuddered, his words sending delicious visuals through me that sparked need even as the drag of his cock rekindled the fires he'd just quenched. "I think you're far too good at this," I panted. I leaned over and bit at one of those delicious biceps, una
ble to help myself. His skin was lightly damp with sweat, and the smell of him was incredible.

  He growled low. "I'm inches away from taking you. Just sinking deep and fucking the hell out of you until you're screaming my name."

  "Oh god, that sounds good," I breathed. "But...condoms."

  He shook his head. "I can't give you anything. Including a baby."

  I frowned up at him. "What? You're sterile?"

  "No. We're only fertile if you're in heat. The rest of the time, we shoot blanks." He leaned down and kissed me again. "And we can't catch diseases. That's why Josh turned Marie. Shifter metabolism destroys any sort of disease. We're ridiculously healthy."

  "This...sounds like a line just so you can go bareback," I told him skeptically.

  To my surprise, Ellis threw back his head and laughed. "It's not. I promise." He leaned in and nuzzled my neck, his entire body pressing against my skin. "I'd love nothing more than to fill you with my babies."

  "Whoa, whoa--"

  He laughed again. "Not right now. But maybe in the future."

  I relaxed. "Maybe in the future."

  "I have bother things on my mind right now," he said, and leaned down and bit on my lower lip, sucking it gently into his mouth.

  And just like that, my need turned back into a full-blown inferno. "I need you, Ellis," I murmured when he released my mouth. "Less talking, more doing."

  He groaned and buried his face against my neck. "God, I love you."

  "I love you too," I murmured as he shifted his weight between my thighs. "I--"

  Then my words died in a surprised choke as he pushed his way deep inside me. With one smooth move, Ellis seated himself to the hilt. My breath hissed; I could feel every vein in his cock, felt the heat of his skin against my own. "Oh god, that's so good."

  My normally vocal Ellis didn't say anything. He simply groaned again and swiveled his hips, pushing deeper into me. Then he pulled back and plunged into me once more.

  Gasping, I locked my legs around his hips, my fingers sliding down his back and digging into his buttocks so I could push him harder into me. He felt so incredibly good, and I was so full. "I think I like this shifter thing," I panted. "I can feel everything--"