So lost in him, she didn't realize the hand pulling her dress up had moved away until it covered her hand holding the keys. She relinquished the keys to him; he held her against him while he unlocked the door. The harshness of his breathing sounded in her ears as he opened the door and carried her inside.
Ethan wanted her with an intensity bordering on obsession. He should leave here; in the state he was in he could be a threat to her, but the thought of leaving made him feel even more unstable. He wouldn't hurt her, he didn't know where the certainty accompanying the thought came from, but he knew it was true. He would cut off his hands, tear out his fangs, and kill himself before he ever harmed her.
The dim illumination from the light left on in the kitchen spilled over her face and wet hair. She'd never looked more desirable, he realized as he stepped closer to her. Seeming to sense something within him, she hesitated for a second before sliding her arms around his shoulders. She stood on tiptoe to press a kiss against his lips. His cock jumped in his jeans at the feel of her breasts pressing against his soaked shirt. He forgot all about the water dripping from them as he lifted her off the floor.
Her legs wrapped around his waist, a small breath escaped her as he settled her onto the undeniable evidence of his arousal. They should go to her room, but he couldn't bring himself to take one step away from her to walk down the hall. Desire clamored through his veins; it took everything he had not to rip the dress from her body and leave it shredded on the floor. He would scare her if he did. She was a human; he kept reminding himself as he braced her against the wall. A human with blood he would give anything to have in his mouth, a human who was driving him nearly mad with desire.
And he had never been with a human before. Easy, he counseled himself, just take it slow.
His last relationship was based on nothing but violence, sexual gratification, and pain. He would never allow Emma to know such depravity, and he didn't want that kind of a relationship with her. She would never know that kind of brutality; she would only know the immense pleasure he planned to give them both.
His hands ran over her smooth thighs as he pushed the dripping dress higher up her waist. Excitement pulsed through his veins as his fingers brushed against the edge of her underwear. He waited for her to pull back, to tell him no again, but she only pressed closer to him. A low groan escaped him as his fingers stroked her clit through her panties. Even through the material, he could feel her heat and a wetness he knew had nothing to do with the rain.
The blood clamoring in his ears made it nearly impossible to think as a muffled cry escaped her, and her fingers curled into his shoulders. He tore his mouth away from hers to leave a trail of kisses across her cheek before taking her earlobe in his mouth and lightly sucking on it.
Emma almost screamed; she was possessed with the wild urge to tear her nails across his flesh as her body begged to be filled by him. She'd never experienced anything like this overwhelming need before as his hands and mouth teased her to even higher levels. A part of her wanted to beg him to end her torment, but the other part hoped it never ended.
Pushing aside the edge of her panties, his fingers brushed against the trimmed hair of her bikini line before finding her moist center and slipping inside of her. Emma jerked as he finally filled her in some way, and his fingers began to stroke the blaze within her toward a raging inferno.
A groan of satisfaction escaped him as Emma's cry sounded in his ear. She was so hot and wet just the feel of her muscles around his finger almost caused him to come. He kept her pressed against the wall as he slid his fingers in and out of her at a leisurely pace. Her rapid breaths sounded in his ear as she began to rise and fall with his increasingly demanding movements.
"Ethan."
His name on her lips was his undoing. He slid his fingers from her and grabbed the lacy edge of her panties. The thin material gave with a small tearing sound, her eyes widened, but she didn't tell him to stop, and she didn't appear fearful.
Adjusting his hold on her, he clasped her ass with one hand as he grabbed for the button of his jeans with the other. This was not the way he had planned to do this his first time with her. He'd planned to savor every inch of her body, intended to relish every second he was inside her, but that would have to wait until a later time. He couldn't stop to take the time to do those things; he had to have her now.
He felt like a wild animal as he unbuttoned his jeans and pushed them and his underwear down. There wasn't time to take them off completely, but his dick was finally freed from its constraints.
Easy, he told himself, but there was no going easy here, there was no holding back. His skin felt as if it would blister and burn off if he didn't possess her soon. He was throbbing with his need and half-crazed with it.
He was half-afraid she would stop him as he pressed the tip of his throbbing cock against her wet center. She didn't tell him no though; instead, she pushed more firmly against him and thrust her hips toward him. Adjusting his feet, he lifted her up and drove himself into her. A cry of ecstasy escaped her as she pulled him even closer.
The savage urgency driving him vanished the second her tight sheath enveloped him. The burning of his skin eased as a feeling he'd never experienced before enshrouded him. This was where he was supposed to be, inside of her, with her. He finally understood what it was like to come home, and though he suspected he knew what it meant for him, the realization didn't frighten him.
Emma couldn't tear her gaze away from his beautiful eyes as he stretched and filled her. Having him deep within her was the most incredible sensation she'd ever experienced. Her fingers slid over the handsome planes of his face as she fought the ridiculous urge to cry from the wonder of it all. She didn't move against him but took this moment to savor in the feel of him within her.
Complete, that was what she felt in a way she never knew she could or ever thought possible. She understood now why everything felt so forced with Tristan; this was where she belonged. It made no sense to her, but she couldn't shake the certainty, or the awe, that came with the realization.
Ethan watched her face as he lifted her up and deliberately lowered her onto him again. Her gold-flecked eyes were clouded with passion as they held his, but he also saw the wonder within her gaze. He kept his hands on her hips as he lifted her up and slid himself into her again. He was finding it far easier than he’d expected to be gentle with her as her body somehow managed to cage the beast within him.
"You feel amazing," he whispered against her mouth.
A shiver of contentment slid through her at his words; her hands grasped his cheeks as she kissed him. Bracing her against the wall, he moved one of his hands off her ass. He grabbed the front of her dress and pulled it down to free one of her breasts. It filled his hand as he cupped and kneaded it until her nipple was a hardened bud against his palm. Bending down, he took it into his mouth and sucked before circling it with his tongue. She held him closer as the caress of his tongue drove her even crazier.
Her cries became more fevered as she started to ride him faster. Releasing her breast, he grabbed her waist once more. The calm he'd experienced upon first entering her vanished as he drove himself more forcefully into her body. His eyes fastened on her neck as she tilted her head back, but he was too lost in the feel of her body to think about her blood.
She cried out in delight as her muscles contracted around him. The force of her orgasm pushed him to ever-higher levels as he thrust into her again. With a loud groan, he finally found his much-needed release.
His head dropped into the hollow of her neck and shoulder. The sweet scent of her blood engulfed him, and though it pricked his hunger, he felt her comforting presence calming him once again. She had the most astonishing effect on him, an effect he didn't think he would ever get used to. He wrapped his arms around her back and pulled her closer as she leaned against him.
"You make me forget myself," she whispered in his ear.
A strange sensation pricked in his chest as he
cradled her against him. "You do the same to me."
She pulled back to look at him, and her eyes searched his face. The smile curling her lips did odd things to his heart. Then, the cloud of satisfaction faded away, her mouth parted as reality seemed to crash over her. Ethan found himself unable to breathe as he waited for her to tell him this was a mistake. He didn't think he could take that right now, not after what had transpired between them, not when she was the only one who brought him peace.
She didn't want anything to ruin what they’d shared, but dread crept through her as she realized what she'd done. Unfortunately, she couldn't deny she'd just had unprotected sex with a man that, though she'd spent a lot of time with this week, she still barely knew him. Not to mention, all she could think about was what he'd said earlier about his past relationships. Maybe he hadn't made it clear earlier, but would he now tell her he wasn't looking for anything serious?
She didn't know how she would take that. On one hand, she couldn't expect him to want anything more than a summer fling with her, they were both on vacation, and they lived on opposite sides of the country. On the other, it was the best sex she'd ever had; she was still basking in the afterglow of the ecstasy having him inside her had given her.
She cared for him; she didn't want to hear the words this would end within the next three weeks, that he already knew she wasn't the one. He wasn't into one-night stands but three weeks together wouldn't be considered a one-night stand. And that was if he even intended to continue seeing her after this. There'd been no promises between them; there were no guarantees. Emma shook her head to clear it of her rambling thoughts before she became a bumbling, clingy mess who drove him out the door right now.
"We didn't use protection," she muttered.
He almost laughed out loud but managed to stifle it before he upset her. Unfortunately, he couldn't tell her no diseases could survive in his system. "I've been tested, I'm clean," he assured her instead.
"I'm on the pill, but we still should have used something more." She'd considered going off it after Tristan, but it helped with her acne, so she'd chose to stay on it.
He nuzzled the side of her neck and kissed her. "It's okay, Emma."
"Ethan—"
"It's too late to worry about it now, we got carried away, but we will deal with it if the time comes."
She leaned back to look apprehensively at him again, but he kissed her nose before she could offer further protest. Though it was the last thing he wanted to do, he lifted her up and reluctantly pulled himself from her. He placed her on her feet and helped adjust the straps on her dress. Clasping her cheeks in his hands, he tilted her face up and kissed her.
"Why don't you get out of these wet clothes," he suggested. "Where are the towels?"
"There's some in the hall closet; I'll get them."
"I'll grab them, clean up out here, and join you in a few minutes." She looked as if she was going to say more, but he turned her toward the hall. "Go on," he urged.
She glanced back at him as she stopped outside her bedroom door, but he waved her onward. She hesitated before slipping through the doorway to her room. Ethan pulled his jeans up and buttoned them before grabbing the towels from the closet and using them to wipe up the water. He grabbed her ruined panties from the floor and hurried down to the room she'd disappeared into.
She was already lying in bed; she watched him as he entered the room. Her damp hair spread out around her, the white t-shirt she wore was baggy on her small frame and made her appear extremely vulnerable. The thought he would enjoy seeing her like this forever hit him, and he stopped to savor the sight of her.
"There's a towel on the chair for you," she informed him.
He stripped out of his wet clothes and toweled off before crawling into bed beside her.
"Ethan, what does this mean?" She hated asking the question, hated the desperation she felt by saying the words, but she couldn't go to sleep tonight without at least some sort of resolution.
"I don't know," he admitted.
"You said with the other girls you told them in the beginning—"
"You're not like them, Emma. This isn't like those other times. I don't know what any of this means, not yet, but nothing that has happened between us is anything like what I've experienced with any other woman. I wouldn't be here right now if it were, I would have already walked out of here and gone home."
Emma couldn't help but smile as her finger slid over his chest and entwined in the curly hairs running across the top of it. She wasn't expecting forever, but at least he wasn't telling her there was no hope for them. The chances of this lasting past the end of the month were slim, but she would take those chances if they could have the next three weeks together. She stifled a yawn as she rested her head on his chest.
Taking her into his arms, he held her close against him as he breathed in her scent. Yes, he could spend every night like this, he decided as she relaxed against him. He was aware the thought and the certainty following it could spell doom for them both.
Chapter Nine
Emma's eyes were sluggish to open the next morning as sleep clung to her. The powerful body pressed against her back swept away the last dregs of sleep. The rhythmic sound of his breathing caused a smile to curve her mouth before she rolled over to look at him. He was stunning in the early morning sunshine filtering through the blinds. His arm was thrown over his head; his black hair was in disarray as it curled around his forehead and cheeks. Her heart melted at the sight of him and memories of what they had shared flooded her.
She'd never experienced anything like what she experienced with him last night. Sex with Tristan was pleasant, but she'd never really understood what the big deal about sex was. She'd never lost such complete control of herself with him, never known such a feeling of rightness and reckless abandon before. She'd thought she'd had an orgasm before, but she was wrong. The time she'd spent with Ethan was far shorter than her time with Tristan, yet she'd given herself more freely to him than she ever had to Tristan.
From the kitchen, she could smell coffee brewing, and the scent of bacon frying caused her stomach to rumble. She brushed back a strand of his hair before placing a kiss on his cheek. The stubble lining his jaw tickled her lips, but she found the sensation enjoyable.
His emerald eyes were on her when she pulled back. Heat crept into her cheeks as his eyes ran over her face. "Good morning," he greeted in a tone of voice that caused her stomach to do a strange little flip.
"I didn't mean to wake you."
He chuckled as he wrapped his hand around the back of her head and pulled her toward him. "The rumbling of your stomach woke me," he said against her mouth.
She laughed, but she was already losing herself to him as his lips slid over her mouth and his tongue brushed against hers. A quickening of her pulse spread through her when he pulled away and kissed the tip of her nose.
"Let's get you something to eat before your stomach wakes the dead," he teased.
"Ugh," she groaned in protest.
He grinned at her before rolling away. Propping her head on her hand, she admired his chiseled ass and the carved muscles of his back and thighs as he walked away from her. The tattoo on his arm flexed as he stretched out his shoulders and back. She admired the black flames on his wrist licking upward toward the black phoenix on his upper bicep.
"Does the tattoo mean anything?" she inquired.
Ethan glanced absently down at his arm. He'd gotten it because he'd relished in feeling the pain from the needle. He'd been determined to punish himself for his endless thirst for blood and to drown out the insanity begging to be heard within him. It had taken almost three days to complete, but he'd sat patiently in the chair as the vampire tattoo artist repeatedly went over the lines until his body stopped healing itself and rejecting the ink.
The tattoo artist assured him after a few hours the ink would begin to stay in, but it had taken days longer than the tattooist expected, probably due to his purebred heritage.
Even though it had taken much longer than anticipated to be completed, it hadn't been enough pain for him, and it had done nothing to drown his incessant bloodlust.
"Eternal life," he said to her over his shoulder. "Rebirth. A new start."
She frowned at him, and he could understand her confusion, but he didn't know how to explain he'd hoped the pain would somehow cleanse what was inside him. He should have known it would never work. Looking at her, he felt cleansed and free.
He walked over to her, and brushing the hair back from her face, he bent to kiss her. He fought against the blood flowing into his dick. All he wanted was to climb into bed with her and lose himself again, but she was hungry. Anyone within a hundred feet would know that, and her needs came first.
He reluctantly pulled back and walked away before he couldn't anymore. "It was something to do," he said as he pulled on his underwear.
"I like it," she murmured.
He lifted his jeans to examine them before pulling them on. They were still wet but not soaking, and he didn't have another choice unless he was going to walk around in his boxers. He buttoned them before turning and holding his hand out to her. She took his hand and he helped her rise. He drew her against him.
This man could do the most amazing things she'd ever experienced; he could also make her feel like a child, especially since he was so much larger than she was. She had to tilt her head back to look at anything above mid-chest. The spread of his shoulders was almost three times the size of hers. The thought he could kill her in a second hit her, but even with that realization, she felt immeasurably safe in his arms.
His fingers brushed over her neck as he pushed the hair back from her shoulder. She detested her stomach as it grumbled loudly again. He chuckled, took a step back, and grabbed his shirt from the floor. He flicked his shirt at her, hitting her lightly on the butt with the tip of it.
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