The Lunar Secret (The Ayla St. John Chronicles Book 3)

by C. J. Pinard

  He lifted his hand to my face and cupped my jaw. “A little after three, love.”

  “Three a.m.?”

  He nodded. “Yes. I became quite worried when you wouldn’t wake.”

  “Damn.” I sighed. “Where is my cell phone and keys and stuff?” I hadn’t taken a purse into the building, but I did have my car key and cell in my pocket. My wallet and purse were still inside my car, undoubtedly still parked at the vampire office building.

  “I powered it off and set it on the dresser.”

  My eyes moved to where Jeffrey had left the blood bag and could see the phone and my single car key sat. “I was supposed to meet Evan and Karina at midnight. They’re probably freaking out.”

  I tried to move to get out of bed, but Kellan blitzed to the dresser and returned with the phone, handing it to me. “Then call them.”

  While waiting for the phone to power on, I said, “My car and purse are at the office building. I’ll need a ride to get it.”

  Kellan began playing with the top button of my nightgown. “Jeffrey will take you tomorrow to retrieve it. If you locked it, I’m sure your handbag is safe inside. Did you park it in the building’s garage?”

  I giggled at how he pronounced garage like it rhymed with carriage. “No.”

  He looked up from where he’d already popped open the top button. “What?”

  I shook my head. “Nothing. You’re cute. I love your accent.”

  “And I love yours.”

  I narrowed my eyes. “I don’t have an accent.”

  “You would in any other country but this one.”

  He had a point. “Well, I guess so.”

  He had only one button left until I would be showing a lot more than cleavage. “What are you doing?” I asked him, looking down.

  “Getting you out of this dreadful thing. It looks like a dressing gown my grandmother would wear,” he said, lightly chuckling.

  I smiled. “I’m glad you agree. It’s comfy, but ugly as hell.”

  It only buttoned down so far, and when he reached the last one, he looked up at me, a mischievous glint in his eye. “Now what?”

  I could play, too, so I winked at him and slithered down on the bed, pulling the covers over my head. I quickly wiggled out of the gown and tossed it out of the covers. I grinned at the fact that nobody had bothered to find panties for me to wear under the gown. Kellan’s decision, I’m sure. I lay still for a few seconds to see what he would do. I was being immature, I knew, but he was usually all serious, so it was fun to play with him.

  Kellan chuckled, which caused me to giggle. Then he asked, “What are you doing under there?” He was still sitting on the edge of the bed, so I didn’t have much room under there.

  “I’m not coming out. You’re gonna have to come in and get me.” I giggled again.

  Oh, my God! Stop giggling, you moron!

  He lifted himself off the bed, and I heard the lock click on the door. Then, in what seemed like less than a second, he had reached down and thrown the covers back, exposing me. I looked up at him, wide-eyed, as I saw he was completely naked too—and quite ready for me.

  My laughter died in my throat, and was replaced with a very appreciative gasp.

  I lifted my arms out for him to come to me, but he instead, just put one knee on the bed and began trailing his fingers down my face, then my throat, then to my collarbone. He never broke eye contact until he reached my breast, which elicited another gasp from me. His touch was feather-light and goosebumps broke out over my entire body. My nipple pebbled under his touch as he continued to run his finger down to my belly. His finger was then replaced by the flat of his hand. It roamed over my stomach, and then barely rubbed my bikini line before he reached my most intimate spot. Using the finger again, he trailed it over the tiny patch of hair there, before running it down my wet slit.

  “Kellan,” I gasped, so completely aroused and just wanting him close to me.

  He grinned at me, and then looked down at his finger, which he slowly stroked over my very swollen parts. Once he pushed it inside me, I almost came apart.

  “Please,” I whimpered.

  He pulled out his finger, and then slowly speared in two this time, rolling them in circles, which caused my eyes to roll back in my head. “Yes…”

  Once again, he pulled fingers out, which made my eyes slide open. I watched with hooded eyelids as he put the digits into his mouth, licked them clean, and grinned wickedly. “Delicious.”

  He then used those fingers to run them down the inside of my right thigh, and then the left. He was going so slow, it was making me crazy—which I was sure was the point.

  My legs were open wide now, and I reached down and touched myself. I broke eye contact because my eyes rolled back into my head at how sensitive I was.

  Kellan made a tsking sound and snatched up my wrist, which made my eyes snap open. “No, no, little wolf. Mine,” he whispered.

  I sucked in a breath and winced a little at the pain from my healing wrist, but quickly recovered with a nod. “Yes… sir,” I whispered.

  My life has turned into an erotic novel…

  With a sexy grin, he positioned the rest of his perfect body into the V of my legs. My breath caught in my throat when he grasped onto his thick, heavy manhood and began to stroke it slowly as I watched. I couldn’t believe how badly I wanted this man. It was like nothing I’d ever experienced.

  Not that I had much to compare to…

  “Please, Kellan,” I whimpered as reached up to touch him.

  “No touching me, love. I will be doing all the touching.”

  Well, he sure proved that to be true as he had one hand on himself, and the other on my body. With the back of his fingers, he grazed the flat of my belly, then worked it slowly down until he reached the apex of my core. I watched as he flipped his hand around and cupped my mound, then slid his fingers in again.

  I was panting hard now, like a dog in heat.

  I guess I am.

  He gazed down at his fingers, and then his eyes lazily moved up to mine. With a grin, he moved both hands to my knees, pushing them further apart. It only took a single thrust of his hips to elicit a scream from my throat, which was followed by a string of curses ending with his name.

  When his body slowly lowered onto mine, I arched my head back and gasped at how he filled me up. Instinctively, my hips rose to meet his thrusts, and when his hand trailed up my arm and he eventually threaded his fingers in mine, I wanted nothing more than for his mouth to be on mine.

  I looked into his eyes, which were supernaturally flashing between ice-blue and jet-black as he rode out his arousal and held nothing back from me. The feeling was mutual, and I knew my eyes must be flashing something fierce and frightening as they stared into his.

  “Ayla,” he whispered against my lips before he claimed them in a searing kiss that had my toes curling.

  He kissed me hard and desperate, stealing my breath and causing raw pleasure to burn and unfurl in my very core. I groaned hard and frenzied into his mouth as a wave of pure lust shot through my body like an electric current, triggering a crescendo of pleasure to release itself onto him. My pelvis thrusted up to meet his as I clenched around him, wishing he could be even further inside of me.

  “Kellan, I…” I whined on a throaty breath as words failed me. Waves of hot desire continued to pulse through me, every nerve ending on fire and tingling as I arched my back against his hard chest, loving the feeling of my rock-hard nipples rubbing against him.

  He was panting hard in my ear now, and just the thought of how I was making him crazy made my arousal to rise again. I collapsed my legs out wide to take him in further and ran my long fingernails up and down his back.

  “Yes, more, give me more…” I demanded into his ear as he stroked the bundle of nerves between my legs, chasing his own release.

  His breaths were ragged and frantic now, and when his thrusts became more harried and dire, I grew more excited. My nails dug into hi
s back so hard, I was sure I probably drew blood.

  I didn’t care.

  My next orgasm was just within reach, and when he suddenly felt even more engorged and rigid inside me, I cried out as my next release rushed through me, blinding me with white spots behind my eyelids.

  He stilled, releasing himself inside me. I panted hard, trying to catch my breath, as he did the same with his choppy gasps near my ear.

  Kellan’s heavy body lay on top me of me, and I smiled, despite the fact that he was cutting off my air.

  “Daaammn, you’re… an animal,” I whispered into his ear.

  He laughed lightly and kissed my neck. “I would say the same, but I fear you would take offense.”

  I laughed, because it really was funny, and scraped my fingernails through his hair. “Touché, baby.”

  Chapter 10

  The house was like a museum—or maybe a castle in Europe somewhere. I never dreamed something like this even existed in Colorado.

  But what did I expect from a 200-year-old vampire? Antique art pieces, floors made from marble imported from Italy, thick white molding along the tops of the walls that connected to ceilings with intricate Thirteenth Century murals that would make the Sistine Chapel envious.

  “How long have you lived here?” I asked, wrapping my arms around myself as I looked around Kellan’s amazing home.

  He led me through the gorgeous dining room. “Only about thirty years.”

  I shot him a sideways glance, resisting the urge to remind him that was “only” longer than I had been alive. I laughed a little. “Wow.”

  “I’ve had a lot of work done over the years on the place, trying to keep the balance between modern and classic. I have a thing for thirteenth century art, so I like to keep that type of theme.”

  I peered up at the ceiling and wrinkled my nose at an image depicting a head being lobbed off by a guillotine. “Well, if sick, twisted, and bloody is your thing.”

  He followed my gaze and then looked at me with an amused expression. “This from the girl who tore a vampire’s head off and laughed while doing it.”

  “That wasn’t me,” I defended.

  He made a scoffing noise as we walked into a kitchen that made my jaw drop. Jeffrey was standing at the sink, washing his hands, and I could see rivulets of red mixed in with the water as it washed down the white porcelain sink.

  “Hello,” he said, smiling as he reached for a dish towel that hung on the handle of one of the three ovens stacked vertically into the wall. They were black with stainless accents. A stainless hood stretched over the gas stove, and I walked over to the intricate brick and shiny stone backsplash, the red and orange stones gleaming in contrast to the dull brick.

  “Can I make you something, Miss Ayla?” Jeffrey asked, distracting me from my gawking.

  I glanced around the kitchen for a refrigerator, but didn’t see one. “Uh, sure. I’d like something to drink. I’m really thirsty.”

  “Absolutely,” he returned with a smile. I watched as he made his way to what I thought was floor-to-ceiling cabinet and open it. To my surprise, a light came on and I could see that it was, in fact, a fridge built into the wall.

  “Cool,” I breathed, making my way over to it.

  I heard Kellan chuckle from behind me.

  “We have juice, milk, coconut water, or if you prefer…” He held up a large clear pitcher of what I assume was blood.

  “The juice will be great,” I said, pointing to a carton of pineapple-cranberry juice.

  It wasn’t hard to see that the rest of the refrigerator was mostly empty, except for a few bottles of white wine, a carton of eggs, a loaf of bread, and a few other small staples.

  Jeffrey poured the juice into a glass and I thanked him before lifting it to my lips. I stared at him, wondering if he was a vampire or not. If he wasn’t, he was sure good at not being freaked out by them. I resisted the urge to sniff him.

  “Better?” Kellan asked as he took the glass from me.

  I nodded. “Got anything to eat? Or”—I looked at the fridge—“maybe we can order pizza?”

  Jeffrey opened a drawer set into the kitchen island, a large monstrosity with barstools opposite the side where the drawers were. The countertop was white marble with sparkly black swirls in it. Jeffrey produced a pile of takeout menus and said, “What are you in the mood for?”

  I eyed his pale skin and platinum hair and couldn’t figure him out. His eyes were an unusual shade of blue in this light, but his skin had no flaws, and his fingernails and hands were manicured nicely. He was also pretty small for a guy.

  “What are you hungry for, Jeff?” I asked, biting back a smile.

  He grinned. “Oh, no. I’ve already eaten. You choose, and I will place the order for you, miss.”

  Darn it… was hoping to see if he could eat food or not.

  I looked down at the menus and thought Chinese sounded good.

  “Wait. It’s like three a.m. Are they even open?”

  “Vampires,” Kellan said with a smile.

  I looked confused and then shrugged. “Cool.” I then prattled off what I wanted, and without writing it down, Jeffrey smiled and neatly placed the menus back into the drawer, pulled his cell phone from his pants pocket, hit a few buttons, and then started reciting my order.

  Did he have the Chinese restaurant on speed-dial?

  “C’mon, curious little wolf, let me show you the rest of the house,” Kellan whispered in my ear.

  He took my hand in his, and it sent a shiver up my arm. Any time he touched me, my body reacted in some sort of spine-tingling way.

  My eyes widened as we reached the library. Floor-to-ceiling bookshelves took up three walls, as the fourth was a gigantic window that took up the entire space. Four red velvet Victorian sofas with mahogany legs were set randomly throughout the room. My bare feet made a whispering sound over the high polished wood floors until I reached the colorful Persian rug set under the sofas. It felt soft under my feet, but I barely noticed it as I made my way to the bookshelves. Every classic imaginable from the last four centuries graced the shelves. Along with those were medical books ranging from early 1800s right down to the most current version of the Gray’s Anatomy medical guide. Legal books and mythical books about vampires and other creatures were lined up in their own places on the shelves.

  I ran my fingers gently along their spines and pulled in a big breath so I could smell them all. “This is amazing, Kellan.”

  He stood near the doorway with his arms behind his back, amusement dancing in his eyes. “I love how easy it is to make you look like that.”

  I turned my head to look at him. “Like what?”

  Before I could blink, he was standing mere inches from me. “Like you think a library full of books is amazing. Like you are in awe over a mural painted on a ceiling.” He brushed a stray hair from my forehead with the tips of his fingers and stared into my eyes. “Like your next breath is dependent upon my touch.”

  I quite literally had no response to that. I knew he was talking about what we had just spent hours doing in his—or whoever’s—bedroom that was.

  He rubbed his thumb along my jaw and then dragged it along my bottom lip. I couldn’t break my gaze away from this man. He was disarming me minute by minute with his words, his touch, and… his very impressive digs.

  I cleared my throat and managed to tear my gaze away from his. “Tell me where you got all these books.”

  He laughed as he dropped his hand from my face. He didn’t break contact with me, though, as that hand wound its way around my waist and pulled me close. “That, love, would take hours. Let’s just say I’ve traveled to lots of places, and I always pick up a book or two when I go.”

  My eyes widened. I never pegged him as a reader, but I supposed when someone lived as long as he had, they would run out of things to pass the downtime.

  “Do you like to read, sweet Ayla?”

  I nodded. “Yes, I always have.”

  “Don
’t tell me,” he said, a mischievous glint in his eye. “Romance?”

  I snorted and broke out of his embrace, as much as I didn’t want to. But… I had a point to make. “Sometimes. I get on kicks. Right now I’m into the forensic mysteries. Have any of those?”

  He chuckled and walked to the bookshelf and pulled down Sherlock Holmes and handed it to me.

  I chuckled and turned over Sir Conan Arthur Doyle’s classic in my hands. “Okay, very early forensic mysteries. Nice.” I ran my fingers over the gold-embossed title and looked up at Kellan. “Think they’ll ever solve the Jack the Ripper murders?”

  He laughed and took the book from me, brushed his own fingers over it, and put it back on the shelf. “No, they will not.”

  I took a seat on one of the ornate red Victorian chaise lounges. “Why not?”

  “You cannot possibly think those murders were committed by a human, do you?”

  I looked at him curiously and chewed my lip. Racking my brain to remember what I had read about the infamous murderer, the facts began to click together in my brain. The blood, the prostitutes, the lack of evidence, the murders committed only at night…

  “Oh, my God! A vampire!”

  He tapped his temple. “Smart girl.”

  My brain began to bubble with questions, and just as I was about to fire one off to him, he reached into his pocket and pulled out his smartphone and looked at the screen. “Your supper is here.”

  My stomach grumbled in time with his announcement, and he winked while extending a hand to me. “Let’s get you fed.”

  I sat at the heavy wooden dining room table and tried to remind myself that I didn’t need to feel uncomfortable eating in front of Kellan. He didn’t need food, nor could he even digest what I was eating.

  With a sauce-coated pile of shrimp and noodles on my plate, I looked at Kellan. “When was the last time you ate food?”

  He glanced at my food, then my mouth, and then into my eyes. “It’s been… a while.”

  I resisted an eye roll as I shoveled the flavorful food into my mouth and mumbled, “That’s not an answer.”