The Girl & the Vampire (The Embassy #1)

by Kira Barker

  “If you’re hungry or thirsty, call room service. If you want to shower or take a bath, do so, but I’m impartial to all of that. I do intend to do things to you that make you hungry, thirsty, and in dire need of a shower, though, if you were wondering.”

  I didn’t know whether to blush or get irritated at that.

  “Is the reason why you use the Embassy the fact that you utterly rebuke women with comments like that?”

  He graced me with another smile, and I had to admit, I started to like drawing those out of him.

  “It might have come up in conversation that I’m a taste to be acquired, and many don’t take the time. I can tone it down if I actually make you uncomfortable, but judging from the fact that your heart rate has evened out over the past few minutes and you don’t look quite as ready to bolt as you did when Emily left, I think I’m on to something here.”

  This time I didn’t mind admitting that he was right.

  “Why don’t we take this somewhere more private?” he suggested when I didn’t come up with another inane question. “Unless, of course, you have a thing for fucking in conference rooms. I hear sex standing up against a window is a turn-on for some people.”

  “I’m afraid of heights, so I’d rather not,” I admitted, unable to hide neither my smile or blush. “I think that whole getting bitten during sex is thrill enough for me.”

  “There’s also having sex with a virtual stranger,” he pointed out. “Hot one-night stand without consequences—who’d balk at the idea of that?”

  “People with commitment requirements?” I proposed, but didn’t protest when he offered me his hand again and pulled me to my feet.

  “Right, that might get a little weird for them. Not an issue here, right?”

  I shook my head, not sure how to reply, seeing as my mind was so very aware of his skin still touching mine, the soft scent of cologne teasing my nose.

  We left the room and retraced the path the receptionist had led me along earlier to the elevator banks. While I waited, he called the elevator, then punched the button for the top floor. There was a certain concerted ease to his motions that made me want to ask just how many times he’d been here before, but I’d sworn to myself that this was one question I wouldn’t pose. Some answers I neither needed nor wanted to have.

  As the elevator cabin ascended, I studied our reflections on the burnished doors in front of me—and yes, he had one, too. We looked so normal, just two people riding up together. I was maybe a tad overdressed, but the tall, dark, and handsome thing he had going on negated some of the casualness of his outfit. I certainly couldn’t wait to see what he was like underneath, and the very idea of touching him sent shivers down my spine.

  With a light “ding” the elevator doors slid open at the top floor, spilling us out into a wide, plush carpeted hallway. There were nine doors leading into rooms, four left, four right, and one straight ahead. He led me toward the third on the left and opened it with a key card that he withdrew from his jeans pocket after giving me a lopsided grin.

  “It’s all very regulated,” he whispered, close enough to make the hair at the nape of my neck stand up straight. “They make it seem like a hotel, but they have more gimmicks installed than most maximum security prisons.”

  That made me frown, and I instinctively looked around for cameras. I couldn’t make out any, but that didn’t mean anything.

  “Inside the rooms, too?”

  He gave a noncommittal shrug as he slung his arm across my lower back and gave me a gentle push through the door. The position put his mouth right next to my ear, turning his next words intimate as hell.

  “Does the idea that anyone but me will see you thrill or intimidate you?” He paused just long enough to let that sink in, then went on, his voice a little less sultry. “Besides, they can’t protect you if they can’t see what’s going on, right?”

  I wanted to protest that I hadn’t signed up for this, but then I remembered that one weirdly phrased clause in the contract that made me realize that yes, in fact, I had. For a moment, insecurity spread throughout me, but then leveled out when reason kicked in. Safety first; I would worry about the rest if it ever became an issue. Considering how much the Embassy valued discretion, I doubted that day would come.

  Once he’d led me into the main room of the suite, Lewis stepped away from me so I could look around on my own. The decor matched the color theme from downstairs, although with the carpet, sofa, and comforter all cream-colored, it looked a lot more friendly and inviting. The amenities seemed to include everything I guessed a luxury hotel would have—not that I knew firsthand—and only the thick drapes currently pulled away from the windows hinted that the room was anything but that. To my right I could see another room that looked more like an office, and a hallway that must be leading on to the bathroom. One entire side of the suite was all glass, looking out over the lights of the city. The ambient illumination inside was the same as downstairs, just light enough to be comfortable, but likely dim enough not to hurt light-sensitive eyes.

  Inadvertently, my eyes kept zooming back to the bed. It was a grand affair, larger than any king-sized bed I’d ever seen. Black sheets peeked out from underneath the pillows and comforter, not quite breaking the color theme, but they kept drawing my gaze. The thought alone about why they were in a color that wouldn’t show blood made unease run up my spine.

  “Drink?” Lewis offered from over by the small mini-bar, pouring himself a glass of Scotch.

  “No, thank you,” I declined, although I really could have used the distraction right now. “I’ll go freshen up, if you don’t mind?”

  His lips quirked up in a slow smile.

  “As I said before, be my guest. I’ll be waiting here, right between you and the door, should you decide to bolt.”

  “No intention of that,” I assured him, wishing that may voice sounded a little less close to cracking.

  The thick carpet muffled the sounds of my steps completely, and I almost shrieked when I walked into the bathroom and my heels struck the marble floor overly loud. Groaning at my antics, I hurried to take care of business, then spent an extra minute washing my hands as I stared at myself in the mirror. I looked frazzled, a little like the deer caught in the headlights. For a second, I wondered if that was part of the appeal for vampires, but then shook the notion off. Lewis had been nothing but nice—if a little cocky—and could have spooked me on more than one occasion in the few minutes we’d spent together.

  Was Rachel right? Was this really the worst decision of my life?

  But the more I thought about it, the less likely that sounded. True, there were some aspects to letting myself be so vulnerable that frightened me, but they also excited me, so, so much.

  And if I was honest, I was more concerned about what Lewis, the sexually active male, would think of my, well, performance, than what Lewis, the vampire, might do. After all, my blood he’d already sampled and obviously enjoyed, or he wouldn’t have been here tonight. As for the other, I gave myself a visible shake, then straightened my spine and marched back out into the main suite, ready to leave the timid girl I’d once been behind forever.

  Two steps in I stopped abruptly, my breath catching in my throat.

  Lewis was lying—completely naked, completely at ease, and very much excited—in the middle of the bed, stretched out with his hands casually folded underneath his head. The smile he beamed at me was lazy with just a hint of fang, and grew larger as he watched me stare at him for several seconds straight.

  That he was pale had been obvious before, but not how pale, exactly. His light skin made the cream-colored pillows look dirty, and stood in stark relief to the black sheets underneath him. I only noticed it in passing, though, because other things drew my attention.

  His physique was as expected, muscles showing but nothing bulky about him, just sleek panes and well-defined valleys between. My eyes latched onto the strong muscles of his—invitingly spread—thighs, then skipped up to his
chest and followed the happy trail leading from below his abs to his cock. And once there, it was hard to tear my gaze away again.

  It wasn’t like I’d never seen a man naked before; I’d just never had one present himself to me on a silver platter like this. He was large, but not disproportionately so, and made the muscles all over my body tense in anticipation.

  Licking my lips was not a concerted gesture but an involuntary one, but it still made Lewis laugh, which—thankfully—broke the spell, making me blush as I forced my eyes up to his face.

  “See something you like?” he teased, then had the audacity of jerking his hips up very suggestively, which made his dick sway from side to side.

  A hint of irritation cut through my lust-induced haze, but I’d barely opened my mouth to give a snappy reply when adrenaline suddenly kicked in hard enough to make me jump. My brain was slow on the uptake, but my body already reacted; from one moment to the next, Lewis was suddenly standing behind me, his naked body pressed against my back, one hand casually touching my hip, the other nudging my head to the side so he could plant the softest of kisses onto my naked shoulder.

  For three heartbeats I felt like I was about to come out of my skin, but then I managed to calm down somewhat again. Swallowing thickly, I chided myself for not having expected this, but he’d still caught me unprepared. I’d known that they could move damn fast, but so far he’d acted completely human, which only heightened the impact of his speed now.

  “No need to be afraid,” he whispered, breathing against my neck, which caused need and lust to reclaim the territory that panic had momentarily wrenched away from them.

  “I’m not afraid of you,” I said, my shaking voice belying my words, but I forced myself to bring conviction back into my tone. “Just surprised.”

  “Uh-huh,” he murmured and brought his lips to my skin again, cool but oh, so enticing.

  “Really, I’m not,” I pressed out, irritation helping a lot.

  “So, what do you want to do first?” he asked, thankfully changing the topic. Before I could reply, he shut me up for the second time when he opened the zipper of my dress and slid it down my body, following the slithering fabric with his hands over every curve he could find. Not even lingering much, he hooked his fingers into the sides of my panties and let them follow the dress pooling around my ankles, and on the way up quickly unhooked my bra. I was breathing heavily by the time his hands ghosted down my arms, taking the straps with them, and suddenly I was standing in the middle of the room, naked except for my high heels.

  “Cat got your tongue?” Lewis teased as he turned me around, in so doing preventing me from instinctively covering myself. I stared up into his dark eyes, trying to find an answer, then forced myself to stop acting like a nitwit.

  “You remember that list I filled out? With the things I was willing to do?”

  He nodded, his eyes twinkling with mischief.

  “I do. You’re not exactly a timid mouse, now, are you?”

  I ignored that in favor of surging on.

  “Well, for me, that’s not just setting the boundaries of the playing field. I consider that more of a to-do list.”

  I felt vindicated when his face went slack for a moment, lust taking over. Then the look in his eyes became shrewd, considering, and I really liked how empowered and sexy that made me feel.

  “All of it? In just one night?”

  “If you’re up for it?” I asked

  Now it was me who was teasing him, and judging from his easy but wry smile, he definitely liked that.

  “I’m not sure I remember it all. You might have to give me pointers along the way.”

  “So sure you’re up to the general physical requirements, are you?”

  His grin widened, and I couldn’t help but hold my breath as he leaned closer, incidentally—or not, considering his behavior so far—rubbing his hard cock against my hip, his lips close enough to kiss.

  “There are benefits to screwing a vampire, and one of those is that we have insanely short recovery times,” he promised.

  “Prove it!” I laughed, then tried to turn around with the intention of swaying over to the bed, but he, with his super speed and, presumably, super strength, took me off guard. Instead, he picked me up and moved over to the bed, and before my breath had time to leave my lungs, I felt myself pressed into the lush pillows and mattress, with him perched over me.

  Then his lips were on my neck, kissing, licking, sucking a wet, cool trail down my body. He only strayed for a moment to take each of my nipples into his mouth, rolling them gently with his tongue before he continued his descent. His palms ran up my thighs, opening them for him.

  “Watch me,” he told me as he halted for a second, then dipped his head back to my skin. His tongue touched down on my clit, making me jump both because it had been ages since anyone had touched me there, and because, while a little warmer now, his mouth was still cool, creating a different set of wonderful sensations.

  I was a little embarrassed by the moan that escaped me, but he didn’t seem to mind at all. Instead, he gave another flick with his tongue, then took my clit between his lips and sucked on it. My eyes wanted to roll back into my head but I forced myself to keep watching him, then pushed myself up onto my elbows when he caught my gaze across my body.

  I mourned the loss of sensations when his mouth moved lower then, licking and teasing between my labia as he spread them with his fingers, down, down until he reached my entrance. His tongue dipped in, then ran up quickly back to my clit, while he eased one of his fingers into me instead.

  The sensation was just out of this world, both familiar and different. Maybe it was just the difference in temperature, or the fact that he clearly knew what he was doing, but no man before him had managed to get me so aroused in so short a time. I moaned again, this time a little less ashamed of my reaction, and shifted my hips a little to grant him better access.

  That made him smile, and he rewarded me by adding a second finger to the first while his tongue was busy circling my clit. Continuing like that, he had me writhing underneath him in no time, breathing heavy, need and lust singing in my veins. Any second thoughts I’d had so far fled my mind, followed closely by everything else that wasn’t centered around the wonderful sensations he was so adept at creating.

  I felt myself rocking ever so closer to that point of no return when he stilled, making me embarrass myself with a sound of protest. Lewis laughed and obediently thrust his fingers back into me, now using his thumb to keep stimulating my clit. Turning his head, he nuzzled my thigh, then planted light kisses over it, driving my desire higher with every additional touch.

  Then the thought occurred to me that somewhere down there had to be my femoral artery, but not even that could put a damper on my raging need.

  “You can, you know, if you want to,” I told him, in between two almost silent gasps.

  “I can do what?” he questioned, then replaced his thumb with his tongue for a few heavenly moments.

  “Taste me,” I moaned, hard pressed to find any suitable words at all.

  “I think I just did that in abundance,” he pointed out.

  “Not like that. Don’t play dumb. Doesn’t suit you.”

  His laugh sent a whoosh of air tickling over my swollen pussy lips, making me tighten around his fingers.

  “Are you sure? I don’t mind waiting a little longer. Or choosing a more conventional place.”

  I opened my mouth to reply but he went back to kissing and sucking directly on my clit, making speech very unnecessary for a couple of minutes. And then I felt the lightest scape of fang there, almost driving me insane instantly.

  “Do it!” I cried out, feeling my orgasm approaching, strong and oh, so welcome.

  For once, he didn’t tease, and I came the moment he sank both of his fangs into the puffy flesh of my outer pussy lips.

  “Intense” was the best term for the sensation exploding through me, radiating from my privates. There was a hin
t of pain, but a lot less than I’d expected, and somehow it merged with the maelstrom of lust that he was still bringing on with his fingers and tongue. My arms finally gave out and my eyes closed, and I lost myself in the most powerful climax that had ever rocked my body. Wave after wave crashed over me, through me, until it was almost—but never quite—too much.

  A small eternity later, I felt myself coming down from that high slowly, a little disoriented and confused. His fingers were gone from inside of me, resting on my thighs now, and he was back to licking my pussy with slow, deliberate strokes of his tongue. A light burning sensation told me that I hadn’t imagined this—whenever his mouth passed one of the puncture marks, I felt my flesh ache, but there was a lot of longing mixed with it.

  Letting out a harsh breath, I tried to clear my head, but then I felt him move, and quickly abandoned project “rational thinking” when he knelt down between my still spread thighs and rubbed his cock up and down my slit instead.

  “Up for round two?” he coaxed, letting his hands run up my legs to my knees, then up to my hips.

  It shouldn’t have been so difficult to focus on him, but the answer to that question was easy to find.

  “Very.”

  I got a grin for my single-minded reply, and he was only too happy to pull my lower body flush with his, then raised my legs until my calves rested on his shoulders.

  Getting a better grip on his cock, he continued driving me crazy by rubbing it along the path his tongue had taken before, paying particular attention to my clit. As great as that felt, it was not what I had in mind, and by now all reservation I’d harbored before was gone.

  “Stop teasing me!”

  Lewis cracked a smile at my part whining, part demanding tone.

  “I’m not teasing. I’m building anticipation.”

  “Same thing!” I accused, then groaned in frustration as he stopped at my entrance for just a moment before he went on slicking up his cock with my juices.