“Do not forget to breathe, little pet,” he said softly. His thumb circled her nipple.
She did as she was told. Her breasts rose and fell under his hand. He listened carefully to her breaths, judging how close she was to her pleasure by the way she forced her breaths to come more and more evenly. He teased her nipple between his thumb and forefinger until it pebbled under his touch.
Zachariah lowered his lips to her breast. She arched her back the merest fraction more, offering the sensitive nub of nerve endings into his mouth. He swirled his tongue around the tight peak, wetting it, and then blowing across the taut skin.
A shiver ran through Charlotte.
Cold.
He smiled, more than happy to warm her up. He sucked her nipple into his mouth, heating it with his caressing tongue.
A tiny moan escaped her tightly closed lips. Zachariah relished each bit of pleasure rushing across the bond, eager to tell him the truth about how his pet felt.
As he trailed his lips against her skin, his teeth brushed against her nipple.
Teeth!
The thought threw itself into his mind, but outside the bond, only a slight tension creeping into Charlotte’s spine warned him she was nervous.
He kissed her breast very gently and ran his teeth over the kiss. “I won’t bite you unless I am feeding, not unless you like it.” He’d taught himself better manners years before.
Eyes lowered, she looked like the perfect submissive. “My master can always do as he pleases with his pet,” she said.
Zachariah was quickly coming to hate that statement. Those words made it impossible to trust Charlotte to tell him the truth about what she wanted. Those words had prevented him from feeding from her for so long.
He stroked her hair back from her shoulder. She immediately tilted her head back, offering him her neck.
How much?
For a horrible moment he thought she was talking about money—he’d taken too many hurried feedings in that manner when he’d first ventured into the world of humans. He wouldn’t go back to that now he had Charlotte. Then Zachariah realised what she really wanted to know.
He stroked his fingers over her jugular. “Your master would never take any more blood than you can safely spare,” he reassured her.
She nodded. “Yes, master.”
Safe.
“Yes, you are always safe with me, my pet.” He brushed their lips together and slipped his tongue into her mouth to deepen the kiss and taste her properly.
She gave him access without hesitation.
He trailed kiss after kiss against her mouth. More and more of her blood rushed to Charlotte’s lips, eager to share the pleasure of gentle touches. It was easier to kiss her now. He could better appreciate the brush of lips against lips when he wasn’t quite so desperate for the blood beneath them.
Like.
It wasn’t news to Zachariah. Charlotte loved being kissed. He’d even realised that much without the aid of the bond. Still, she didn’t try to gain another kiss when his lips left hers.
She looked quickly down, her lashes fanning out on her cheeks, like she was ashamed of taking so much pleasure from the contact.
“What does my pet want?” he asked her, more to elicit the thought than in hope of a useful verbal answer.
My master.
He closed his eyes as the thought came through loud and clear, laced with naked want. She said the rote response, too—she only wanted what would please her master. Zachariah pulled the honest thought close into him, holding onto it while it faded away from his mind, leaving only its outline behind to show it existed.
Zachariah stroked her cheek. “Come to bed, pet.”
He patted her gently on the bottom as she stood. There was no force to the action, just a brief contact between the flat of his palm with the curve of her buttock—just the way he would pat her on the head if she was kneeling in front of him rather than standing.
Like.
Zachariah paused half way out of his chair. Now that really was new information. He watched her damp down the fire and set everything safe for the night. The rooms in the old house went unpleasantly cool the moment flames were extinguished.
Cold.
He slipped his arm around her as they walked out into the high hallway letting the warmth of his body protect her on the way up to their room.
She leaned into him, just a fraction, as if even she couldn’t control her body well enough to prevent the response.
Warm.
Zachariah smiled at the pleasure in the thought. In the bedroom, where the heating warmed the room to a more comfortable temperature, he let her step away from the heat of his body. He sent Charlotte off to the en-suite with another tap on the bottom.
Like.
So he hadn’t been mistaken. That was certainly something to think about.
He paced across to the dressing table. Slipping out of his clothes, he draped them over the back of the chair and sat down, waiting for Charlotte to return.
His erection curved back towards his stomach, revelling in the extra blood pressure suddenly available. He stroked his fingers absently over his shaft. Everything always felt different after a feeding. Every sensation was stronger, more vibrant. It was like feeling every touch for the first time all over again. He could just imagine what it would feel like when he was sheathed in Charlotte’s body, feeling every inch of her skin rubbing against him while her pleasure poured across the bond. It would feel perfect.
Zachariah gave a mental sigh. After he’d been this long without a feeding it would also probably feel embarrassingly quick too. He closed his eyes and dropped his head back onto the tall back of the chair. Still trailing the tips of his fingers up and down the length of his penis, he lost himself in thoughts of the new bond and what it meant for him and his pet.
Lips closed over the tip of his cock.
Zachariah opened his eyes. Charlotte dropped her gaze the moment his eyes met hers.
Wrong?
Worry flashed across the bond. Charlotte couldn’t really think he would be angry. He frowned and concentrated. No, that wasn’t it. She wasn’t worried about angering him, she was far more concerned with disappointing him.
He stroked her hair back from her face with as gentle a touch as he knew how. “It’s a beautiful way to wake someone from a day dream, pet.”
A slight blush crossed her cheeks. It was so slight he needed a vampire’s superior sight to notice it.
Pleased.
Zachariah smiled. He wasn’t sure if she was pleased with the gentle compliment or if she realised he was pleased with her, but she took a little more of his shaft into her mouth and he stopped caring.
Like.
She lapped at the head, pushing back his foreskin with her tongue, eager to catch every scrap of taste onto her tongue. He stroked her hair again, pleased she obviously enjoyed fellatio, but more than anything, pleased with the knowledge he’d never have received waiting for her to speak to him.
Warm wetness around his shaft called more and more blood to his erection. His pet traced the vein on the underside of his shaft from base to tip, as if she was as fascinated by his blood as he was with hers. She bobbed her head further down into his lap. Her lips thinned into a narrow pink line. Her cheeks hollowed out, providing a perfect vacuum for his enjoyment.
Zachariah watched his cock disappear into her mouth again and again. It was tempting to let her work him to completion, but talented though her mouth was, right then it wasn’t enough. He touched her cheek.
Wrong?
“No, little pet, you haven’t done anything wrong, but your master has other plans for you tonight.” Zachariah stood up and held out a hand, helping Charlotte to her feet.
Leading her across to the bed, he tried to read her thoughts, but couldn’t catch the fleeting mental sighs. Determined to hear the pleasure in her silent whispers, he laid her carefully in the centre of the bed.
With gentle kisses, and teasing caresses, h
is hands and lips roamed over her body. He felt tension build very slowly in her muscles. He sensed the pleasure building, oh so slowly in her body. He forced himself to be patient. Human women could not be expected to have the same speed of reactions as a vampire man.
He ran his hands up her arms, intending to wind his fingers through hers. With his hands around her wrists, Zachariah leaned forward a little bit too far. His erection brushed against the soft skin on the inside of Charlotte’s thigh and slid higher. He felt the slick moisture gathering along her slit ready to welcome him.
With the extra sensitivity of the recent feeding, it was almost impossible to not to plunge forward, to bury his shaft inside her with one smooth stroke. His grip tightened around her wrists as he fought his body for control.
She caught her breath.
With a silent curse, Zachariah immediately softened his touch.
He looked to her wrists, but it was too soon to know if his grip had been too harsh, if he would leave a mark on her skin.
Charlotte shifted underneath him. He desperately tried to concentrate on her thoughts—on his only chance of discovering if he really hurt her—because he was damn sure she wouldn’t tell him.
Harder!
Obviously the bond wasn’t reliable right from the start. He would have to practise reading his pet before he could rely on the bond to report accurately to him. He had no choice but to resort to more traditional means of communication.
“Did I hurt you, pet?”
“No, master.”
Yes.
He stared into her eyes, trying to read her expression. How could a woman hide pain from him so easily? Not even the tiniest flash of fear showed in her eyes. Before he could retreat, before he could explain to her such carelessness would never happen again, another thought came through to him.
Want more.
More? He frowned down at Charlotte. He was so sure the bond would be the solution to every problem between him and his pet. He’d been so eager for it to be a magic pill.
Want more!
The thought rammed into his mind, hard and certain.
Zachariah stopped trying to think about anything logically. He stopped trying to think at all. It was impossible to argue with the bond when every single part of his brain told him to trust it.
Aware he might be about to make the biggest mistake of his life, he replaced his hands around Charlotte’s wrists and slowly tightened his grip.
Yes!
She liked it. Even if he’d mistaken the words, the bond whispered into his mind, unequivocal hot pleasure flowed in a steaming torrent across the bond.
Zachariah tested his theory. He cautiously tightened his grip again.
Like.
He pinned her wrists firmly to the mattress. “Do you like this, pet?”
“I like whatever my master wishes to do with me.”
He hated those words so much.
Suddenly he had to get truth from her lips. He kissed her—not the usual gentle brush of mouths he was so used to employing with human women. It was a harsh demanding kiss, all about making her show a response—any response.
A soft whimper escaped from the back of Charlotte’s throat.
Zachariah felt the pleasure course through her and pushed her harder, letting more of his weight rest on top of her so he pinned her firmly against the bed at every point of contact. He made the kiss even rougher. Keeping his teeth to himself be dammed. Nipping at her lips, he thrust his tongue into her mouth.
The kiss became a simple statement of dominance. She was his. He could touch her however he wanted, kiss her however he wanted.
Yes! Want! Master! Please!
Raw desire poured across the bond, pushing him further and further to demand more and more from his pet. Charlotte gasped and whimpered against his lips, unable to catch a breath between kisses. She tried to spread her legs for him, but she couldn’t gain any movement he chose not to permit.
Zachariah changed his grip so both her wrists lay under the span of one of his hands. Everything he knew about human women told him he had to be gentle. The bond yelled at him not to give Charlotte time to think let alone say yes because when the pleasure flowed hot and heavy over the bond, there was no chance she would want to say no. He pushed her legs roughly apart and thrust into her body.
Charlotte tried to free her hands. She pulled at his grip but he kept both wrists pinned firmly to the bed. She moaned her pleasure against his lips, no longer able to keep her responses to herself. Zachariah drove into her again, settling into a harsh, punishing rhythm.
Yes!
Charlotte Milroy forced another gasp of air into her lungs. She tried to rock her hips up to meet Zachariah’s thrusts but it was impossible for her to match her master’s pace.
Her G-spot sung out. Her clit purred its pleasure. Every movement increased the delicious friction of his body against hers.
She desperately tried to hold back, to push her own arousal from her mind and concentrate on doing whatever she could to make everything perfect for her master.
“Don’t hold back, pet. Your master wants to see your pleasure too.”
“Yes, master,” she said automatically.
Heat flooded through her body, increasing with every thrust. It’s just a higher body temperature, Charlotte told herself. Vampires naturally run with a human fever—there was nothing erotic about that.
Perhaps if she tilted her hips like this and arched her back as much as she was able then she could press their bodies closer together which would…
“Charlotte! Your master gave you a command. Obey!” His tone dropped becoming harsher than she had ever heard from her master. His words shot through her spine, hit her clit and radiated through her body in a burst of white light.
For several long, blank moments, she wasn’t aware of anything but her own pleasure and Zachariah’s thrusts inside her. Each movement of his hips drew out her pleasure into a rapid series of peaks and troughs. Her head spun and her breath stalled.
She wanted to obey. That was as far as her thought process went. She forgot to think about all the little things a submissive should do to help her master take the maximum amount of pleasure from her body. Her brain dissolved into a perfect mix of adrenaline and endorphins.
When Charlotte’s mind came back into focus she was hazily aware that Zachariah must have reached his climax at the same time as her. It was impossible for her to calculate how long she’d lain there with her eyes closed, but when she opened them she found her master watching her.
That was bad. There was no way he should have recovered more quickly than her. By the time he opened his eyes she should have pulled herself together and been ready to ask what she could do to serve him further.
She finally caught her breath. She cleared her throat. It was a bit late now, but even so… “How can I serve you, master?”
He shook his head. “Just rest.”
His finger tips stroked over her wrists. A frown creased the smooth expanse of skin over his forehead.
She tried to lift her wrists, so she could see what displeased him so much.
“Stay still.”
She left her hands where they were. “Yes, master.”
“You are injured,” he observed.
Her wrists were sore. Charlotte had played rough with enough men to know there would be vivid bruises around the joints by morning. Beautiful dark rings around her wrists to mark her as Zachariah’s lover.
She looked up at her master, and tried to read his expression.
“Marks are acceptable,” he decided. “Rough play is acceptable if you take pleasure from it. Serious injuries are not acceptable. Pain you do not enjoy is not acceptable. Understand?”
“Yes, master,” she said automatically.
He continued to frown at her for several long seconds as if he could read everything she thought right out of her mind.
“Very well,” he said eventually. He released her hands.
Charlotte
started to move them. He watched her very carefully. She froze. He’d moved but he hadn’t given her permission to do the same.
Her master appeared to approve of her stillness. He trailed his fingers over her wrists, down her arms, and along her sides, exploring her body as if, for the first time, he understood it was his to explore how he wished. Trailing his fingers back up to her hands he twined their fingers together.
He smiled as if the sight pleased him a great deal.
“It does please me,” he said.
Charlotte blinked up at him, suddenly unsure if she’d spoken her thought out loud. He met her eyes for a moment. There was something important hidden in his expression, but she couldn’t read what it was.
Zachariah looked back to her wrists. Bringing her hands forward, he carefully examined the reddened skin. He pressed his lips briefly to them, as if he wanted to kiss them better. She pushed the thought away. Such soppiness had no place in the games she chose to play with men—a submissive had no right to expect such things. Zachariah brushed their lips together and led her to curl more closely into his arms.
Her master didn’t need her to serve him right then. That left her free to attend to the next mental chore on her list. Charlotte ran everything they’d done over in her mind, cataloguing the things she did wrong, those which she should have done better.
That was the problem when she really enjoyed sex, it made everything she felt all about her rather than her master. That was not the way submission worked. She gave a silent sigh. She would have to do better. She was not going to be the type of submissive who was only in it for her own pleasure.
“Hush.” He put his finger to her lips, although she was sure she hadn’t spoken a word. “Go to sleep, little pet. Do not worry about things which do not matter.”
He kissed her very softly. It was a brief chaste little contact—not the true kiss she craved. Charlotte looked down. Her master was morphing into the dominant she’d hoped he would be from the beginning. She shouldn’t wish for more.
Zachariah chuckled and kissed her properly—exactly the way she loved to be kissed. His tongue made a leisurely exploration of her mouth. Slowly tasting her and occasionally allowing her to contribute to the kiss, but never allowing her to take control of it.
Night of the Senses Page 31
