Catch Me: Time After Time

by Reese Rivers

  Luca

  When I release her wrist and lick the puncture wounds to seal them Eden makes a small mewling sound like she’s disappointed I’ve stopped. She’s crumpled against my chest and her green cat eyes stare up at me with her pupils completely blown and hazy from the pleasure she just experienced. Conflicting emotions war inside of me as I feel the deepest of my wounds begin to knit closed. I hate this woman who pushed herself on me and gave me the same orgasmic pleasure she just had. It’s been forever since I’ve taken another’s blood offered willingly. The pleasure is so extreme that I will ache for it for decades before it finally fades again. I pull her closer and revel in the feel of another’s, her body close to mine. It makes me want to weep at the love I have surging inside of me for her. I want her to be mine so badly but it will kill me to see her age and wither away as the cruel years finally take her from me.

  Her arm moves slowly up her body and flops beside my head. She uses clumsy fingers to brush across my lips as a soft smile forms on her lips.

  “My monster. Mine.” She slurs, causing me to frown. She shouldn’t be this affected by the amount of blood I took from her. I sit up quickly as I hear her heart start to slow and she tumbles down into my lap.

  “Eden? Eden!”

  I give her a soft shake but she’s gone, sliding closer and closer to death as her heartbeat slows. This doesn’t make sense. I didn’t come close to draining her. Her skin is so pale it’s almost translucent and her lips have a hint of blue to them. All of my strength is back thanks to the blood she fed me so I pull her up quickly, strip the bloody shirt from her body and search for a wound I didn’t see before. My hand comes away wet from her upper arm where I’ve been holding her and I see just how deep the sword sliced into her. If she’s been bleeding this whole time and add the blood I took from her, then it’s not a surprise that she’s close to death from blood loss.

  I curse the fools that we are. Me for being too weak to refuse her and her for not tending to herself before she worked on my wounds. I lay her back down on my lap and use my fangs to cut open the skin on my wrist. I use my other hand on her jaw to force her mouth open and let the blood trickle down over her lips and into her throat. It seems to take an eternity before I hear her heartbeat pick up into a faster rhythm. Seconds later her eyes fly open and she gasps before pulling my wrist closer so she can suck at the punctures. When her eyes begin to tinge red, I gently force her mouth off my wrist and lick the holes to seal them. My nerves are strung tight as I wait to see if I was in time. If she had died before my blood entered her system then she will be transitioning into one of my kind but if she was still alive then my tainted blood will replicate and spread as it works to heal her in minutes and she will only feel its intoxicating effects that will wear off eventually. If I was in time, Eden will be on a high for a few days but will eventually go back to being human but with a slightly prolonged life.

  I closed the door on believing in any God while I was being tortured on the Inquisitor’s rack but for this woman, I throw the door open and pray that I haven’t sentenced her to an eternity of the hell I live with.

  Her soft, cold fingers bring me out of my trance of pleading with God to spare her when she gently rubs them across my lips. A moan of thanks and relief leaves me when I see her clear green eyes without a hint of red in them. My lips kiss her fingertips causing her to smile a soft dreamy smile and her voice is a thick whisper when she asks,

  “You’re ok? You’re going to be ok?”

  This woman, this reckless, beautiful woman who was just moments from dying’s first thought when coming back is for me and my welfare. How did I ever think I could be strong enough to resist her? I’m not and I won’t. I need her in so many ways. I pull her up from my lap and crush her lips to mine. The first kiss I’ve had in two hundred years sends an explosion of fire through my veins and it feels like all the love, care, and kindness I’ve denied myself for so long fill every aching part of my heart when she moans sweetly and opens her soft lips to me and kisses me back. My hands slide down her smooth back reveling at the feel of her bare skin against my fingers and land on her hips to pull her even closer. Our lips never part as my tongue duels with hers as she wiggles and squirms until she’s straddled me. Her fingers slide up into my hair and thread through it until she can use her grip to angle my head to deepen the kiss further with a whimper of need.

  With her skirt and blouse gone, Eden clings and grinds against me in nothing but the thin scraps of lace that cover her mound and breasts. Her hips rock against mine, pressing her heated core against my engorged cock and sending a shudder through me. I want to consume every inch of her as she grinds us together and makes small mewling noises against my mouth. A saner piece of my brain tells me her actions are a result of the blood intoxication and that I’m taking advantage of her but I can’t will myself to care when she nips at my bottom lip. With a choked snarl of lust, I thrust her to her feet so she’s standing with her feet on either side of my thighs and peel the lace down her legs exposing her wet glistening Venus mound. My teeth bare at the sight and smell of her arousal and my cock throbs painfully against my breeches. When she tries to lower herself back down onto my lap I hold her thighs in a steely grip so that I can dart my face against her and swipe my tongue against her slit parting her pouty lips and across the heated core of her. She tastes like heaven as I lick up her cream. Her fingers are buried in my hair in a tight grip as she rocks her hips to grind against my mouth while making the sexiest little whimpers filled with pleasure. I could live thousands of years and nothing will ever taste as sweet as her arousal on my tongue. I trace swirls around the swollen nub of her clit and slide one of my hands up between her thighs until my fingers find her entrance. She’s so wet that I easily thrust two fingers deep inside of her causing her to yell my name as her heated inside walls clench tightly around them in orgasm.

  I can’t wait anymore, I need to be inside of her, to feel her clamp down around my cock the way she’s doing to my fingers. Keeping my tongue moving over her quivering flesh I use my free hand to open my breaches and prepare myself for her. I slide my fingers from the depths of her body causing her to gasp a sad moan of need and I smile against her core at how responsive she is to my touch. My hands on her hips guide her back down and as her knees land on either side of my thighs I thrust my throbbing cock up into her to the hilt. Her back arches as the hot, wet velvet of her channel clamps around me like a vise. The sound that rips from me and echoes through the woods could be mistaken for an animal’s it’s so primal. The pleasure is so exquisite that my sight dims and my monster surges to the surface. When she rolls her hips searching for more movement, more friction my fangs elongate, eyes flare red and I thrust into her again and again. Her hands clutch at my shoulders with her nails digging into my skin as she pants my name over and over again begging me to push her over the edge of the pleasure wave she’s riding. As my cock slides out of her only to slam back in my head dips down to her breasts that I’ve freed from the lace that was covering them. I capture one of her taut rosebud nipples between my lips and suck hard feeling her womb spasm against my cock as it feels the pull. It’s so goddamn delicious that I bite down into her soft flesh with my fangs to taste her sweet blood again. It sets off an instant orgasm for her and the way her heat squeezes and milks my cock as she comes apart around me in pleasure has me tumbling over the edge with her and my hot seed fills her.

  Night descends over us as I hold her tightly against me and just marvel at this incredible woman that I never want to let go of. Her sweet lips trail small kisses over my chest and up my neck until she finds my mouth. As she nibbles and sucks delicately on my lips I pray that when the drugging effects of my blood in her system wear off she’ll still want me. Her green eyes slowly open and are filled with the soft haze of pleasure we shared as she stares into my eyes.

  “You are so fucking beautiful.” She whispers against my mouth causing me to groan in wonder at her sweetness as my cock begins
to swell inside her again. I want to flip her onto her back and drive deep inside her over and over again but I won’t risk her tender bare flesh against the cold rough ground of the forest. I would kill for a blanket or even a cloak to wrap her in. Our clothes are mostly shredded or saturated in blood and when she shivers in my arms I know it’s not just from the hard cock inside of her. I have to get her back to the manor. Even fortified with my blood running through her veins she’s susceptible to the elements and with night now fallen, the temperature will only continue to drop.

  I wish with all my being that we could stay right here just the two of us alone in this perfect moment. I know once we return to the manor I will have to explain my actions to my brothers and Finn and Cade will be furious at how I put her in jeopardy and brought harm to her. I can only hope they will forgive me and allow me a small part of her attention in the future. I rub my thumbs gently over the bite marks they’ve left on her shoulders that claim her as their mate and feel a pang of guilt and sorrow that my actions this day might sever the bond we have.

  As if she can read my mind, Eden dips her head down, places a hot kiss between my thumb and forefinger and murmurs huskily, “It will be fine.”

  Her head lifts so she can meet my gaze and she rolls her hips slightly to send me deeper inside her.

  “They said they would share me with you.”

  My hands drop to her hips to hold her steady against me knowing we need to leave as her words penetrate my brain. Another overwhelming wave of love crashes through me that my brothers would gift me such a priceless treasure. One arm wraps around her hips and the other slides up her back so I can anchor my fingers through her hair to cup the back of her head and devour her mouth. My tongue slides between her lips and tangles with hers as she wiggles in my lap. When she breaks the kiss with a gasp it’s to plead with me.

  “Please, please Luca! I need you. I need you to move inside of me!” She begs.

  A small smile lifts my lips at her pretty begging. “You will be insatiable for days. It’s the effects of my blood in you.” I tell her as a whine escapes her mouth when I hold her still.

  “No! It’s you, I’m insatiable for you. Please, please come with me again? I can feel your need just as much as mine.” She arches her back to give herself the tiniest bit of friction against my cock buried so deep inside of her and makes a pained noise when it’s not enough. I can’t resist her for another moment. My hand comes around from the back of her head to tighten around her throat with my thumb brushing over the thrumming of her pulse before I drag it down between her heavy, heaving breasts, over her flat stomach and slip one of my fingers between her slit to find the swollen bundle of nerves that aches for my touch. I flick it lightly and she thrashes against the hold I have on her hips desperate for more. I’m helpless to deny her anything so I release my hold on her and lower my back to the ground not even feeling the cold seep into me as her searing heat clamps around me when she rolls her hips to a steady rhythm, riding my cock with her head thrown back. Little whimpers stutter out of her as she tries to move harder against me and as much as I’m drunk on the slower, sweeter thrill her ride gives me I can’t stop myself from thrusting up hard into her. The long, drawn-out “ahhhh” she makes tells me this is exactly what she wants so I do it again and again until I feel her clamp down on me as she explodes in completion for the third time. She drops down onto my chest as she comes down from the high, making it easier for me to lock her hips in place and pinion into her until I feel my own release fill her.

  As much as I don’t want to let her go I know she’ll be begging me to take her again in minutes so I force myself to ignore the pitiful, sexy whine she makes when I slip out of her and take us to our feet. I quickly find her blood-stained blouse from where I tossed it and her lace undergarments. I slip the bloody garment over her head and clench my teeth as the scent of her drying blood on the sleeve wafts up to me and I stuff her undergarments in my breaches so as not to lose them. The temptress is rubbing herself against me like a cat wanting to be petted as I scoop her up into my arms and carry her to my waiting horse. Once I’m settled on the saddle behind her I gather her back onto my lap sideways and guide the mount through the trees and back to the track, turning its head in the direction of home.

  Eden squirms on my lap and nuzzles against my neck dragging her teeth against my skin and I’m rock hard again before we’ve even made it halfway back to the manor. Her mouth trails against my jaw as she takes one of my hands from the reins and presses it between her thighs.

  “Luca, I need you so bad. It feels like a piece of me is missing when you aren’t touching me. I’ve never wanted anyone as much as I want you.” That devious mouth of hers slides back along my jaw and licks the sensitive skin behind my ear before nipping at my earlobe. It takes all my control not to take her for a third time right here on the back of the horse.

  “I hated how you would flinch from me before. The sadness I saw in your eyes every time you looked at me broke my heart. The rare smile you would give me filled me with so much happiness.” She tells me with sincerity as she presses my hand harder against her slick folds and I choose to believe she truly means her words and it’s not just the intoxication speaking because I need her. I need her to love me and I don’t think I can ever let her go. I pull her face to mine and kiss her with all the love that’s awakened inside of me, feeling the connection and bond through our blood. When she pushes my hand even harder against her wet heat, I slip my fingers inside of her and stroke her slow and gently curving them slightly to rub against her slick walls with each slow slide. When I add my thumb to press against her clit I have to capture her mouth with mine to swallow her cries of pleasure. Thank goodness for my well-trained mount who continues home without my guidance because I’m lost to her once again.

  My horse is so steady in battle and so accustomed to my brothers in their other forms that it doesn’t react when the first huge wolf steps onto the track to walk beside it down the lane that leads to the manor. I’m so lost to the scents of her sweet blood and pleasure that I don’t sense them until the second wolf on the other side of my horse nips at my boot. Tearing my lips from Eden’s I glance down and meet the glowing gold eyes of Cade in his shifted form. A low growl rumbles from his throat and I give him a curt nod in reply before I remove my hand from between her thighs to grasp the reins once again and nudge my horse up to a trot for the last few hundred feet to the house. Eden spots one of the wolves and grins a silly smile as she reaches out towards it.

  “Pretty puppy! I want to pet it!”

  The wolves peel off on both sides and race ahead disappearing into the darkness but I know they will be back to deal with me shortly.

  When we come to a stop in front of the doors, Sebastian is waiting for us on the steps. His eyes narrow as he takes in the bloody state of us both and when he sniffs at the air his eyes flare red at catching the scent of her blood causing me to drop my own in shame.

  Sebastian

  None of the villagers will speak to us about the missing or the bodies that have been discovered. We waste a frustrating hour getting nowhere when they all claim to not know anything of what we speak of. The underlying scent of fear that hovers over the squalid village tells me that they’ve been warned to silence or that someone or thing has compelled them all to silence on the matter. The sheer amount of poverty and despair I see tells me that the Marquis du Corbeil is either incompetent as an overseer or a selfish uncaring one. I make a note to speak to Pierre about the state of things in this area so he may pass on the information to those who will right it. The King is well aware that taxes cannot be collected from those who have nothing to give. For all of Louis’s faults, he is at least somewhat in tune with the commoners.

  Giving up on learning anything from these pitiful peasants, we enter the forest and once we are far enough from prying eyes, Finn and Cade shift into their wolf forms and disappear in different directions in search of a scent trail to follow. I pack away the
ir clothing and lead our horses to a sun-lit opening between the trees and tether them in the center far enough from the shadows that they will be safe from any newly turned vampires that can’t control their bloodlust. I leave them there and begin searching the woods in a grid pattern using my supernatural speed looking for a hovel, cave, or any place a nest might be. While the sun has no danger for me and Luca due to the strength of our bloodline being so close to an Original, newly turned vampires with diluted blood will burn easily under its rays. Prolonged exposure will kill them but the pain of short exposure keeps most in the shadows during daylight hours.

  Three hours later my ears pick up the excited yips of a wolf on the hunt and I turn to the west to streak in between trees until I find them. Both wolves are standing still but quivering with teeth bared towards a badly constructed hut that is made more from mud than wood. Tall trees arch over it leaving it in deep shadows that the sun can’t penetrate. It’s the ideal spot for a nest of newly turned vampires.

  Finn shifts and gets to his feet beside me. “We picked up at least eight different scents leading here and also found four more headless bodies drained of blood. They didn’t even bother trying to hide them.” His eyes flare gold and a snarl comes from Cade, still in his wolf form. “Two of the bodies were children. A little boy and girl, siblings based on their resemblance.” Cade’s wolf whimpers as Finn tells me, “They…played with them first before they killed them. There will be no quick death for these fiends today, Bas. We will make them beg for death by the time we’re done.”