I found myself groaning and calling out with each touch of that very clever tongue and then he started sucking, nipping and thrusting his tongue in as far as it could go and that was it, I was gone. On a wave of desire that had me clawing at his back, digging my nails into his flesh and scratching his shoulders as he devoured me, tasted me and pleased me. After what seemed like a lifetime of unadulterated bliss I broke the crest of all that delectable heat and screamed out in pleasure, letting the tidal wave of shudders rack my body and cover me with shivers.
Michel held me close, whispering to me, kissing me, comforting me and helping me come down from that impossible high and then before my breath could steady, or my heartbeat slow at all, he positioned himself above me, stroking the length of me with his hard sex and with a look of strained control pushed inside in a delicious thrust of desire.
His movements weren't steady, the rhythm a staccato of hard and short motions, he was so close to the edge it was obviously taking every effort to hold on. His eyes met mine and I didn't want to ever look away. The need to be here with him so strong it stole my breath, so different from anything I had ever felt before in my life, it consumed me, it ruled me, it warmed and welcomed me, but most of all it shouted that this was right, so very, very right.
I could see he was having a similar experience, the look in his eyes intense, the violet flecks now mixing with amethyst, his groans and whispers fervent demands for more, yes, and mine. He became more frantic, moaning in amongst a ragged murmur of words. The sight of him sending me on another rising wave of delight, so much more intense than before, the fire building to a delicious roar, the shockwaves starting to come in such short succession I couldn't breathe.
I wanted to keep my eyes open and savour every second, every thrust, every feature of his fiercely hungry look and I even managed it for a while, but as Michel's rhythm faltered even further and he let a cry of pure joy out, I crushed myself to him and rode the wave of rapture he had created to the very end, savouring the white noise and bright light of our coupling.
We collapsed in a tangled pile of limbs on the bed. The look Michel gave me one of utter surprise and delight.
“That, was remarkable.”
I was still breathless, I couldn't answer him straight away, but I knew what he meant. Sex with him had always been good, hell, way better than good, but what we had just experienced then, was in a whole different league.
When I finally recovered, my heart slowing from its desperate tattoo inside my chest and my breath had settled to a slightly more healthy rasp, I managed, “OK. You win. You can heal me now.”
It was met with a low chuckle and warm arms pulling me close.
“Ma douce, I am already lost. I have the feeling I shall never win a battle with you, ever again.”
Chapter 27
Something Missing
It was still only about midday when we finally emerged from the confines of our arms, Michel had healed me immediately, my heart rate only rising slightly at the moment of lowering my shields. All I felt now was bliss and an afterglow of warmth and comfort and hunger. I hadn't eaten since lunch time yesterday, so Michel picked up the phone beside the bed and asked for a tray of food to be brought to his chambers. His vampires would all be out for the count, so mind-talking his request was not possible, he had to resort to the old human standby and actually talk to his servants. I'd said I would be happy to go out and grab something for myself, I felt so alive and healthy, like I could have run a million miles and swum right across the Pacific Ocean, but he wouldn't let me out of his embrace.
“You are not going anywhere today, or for a long time, my dear. I am not letting you out of my sight.” He said it in a low growl, but it held a lightness to it, a challenge.
I could have bristled at what had sounded very much like a fait accompli, but something in me just seemed to purr, to acknowledge that I too had absolutely no desire to be anywhere else other than with him. My tray of food arrived and Michel sat back on the bed with a lazy smile and watched me nibble on a bit of this and that from the assortment his staff had provided. Sensations has a small kitchen, not a full restaurant, but providing a nice selection of nibble-style foods for its patrons. The chefs had provided a selection across the menu, there was more here than I could have possibly managed to consume, but I was loving tasting a little of everything.
I glanced up with the realisation that Michel had not slept, being daylight most vampires do need to rest, only venturing out on sunless days and only if absolutely necessary, but I wasn't sure if rest meant sleep and if he was weakening himself or not.
“Do you need to sleep? Am I keeping you awake?”
He gave me one of his sensual smiles, full lips and knowing eyes. “You can keep me awake whenever you like, my dear, as long as it involves such sweet activities like this morning's.”
I flashed him a look that said, whatever. He laughed. “I do not need to sleep, Lucinda, I am a level one Sanguis Vitam Master, but resting is good for the soul, is it not? And this,” he indicated the bed and then me, “is resting.”
“What about feeding?”
He sobered slightly, recognising the tone of my question. I wasn't sure I wanted to know the answer to this, but I needed to. He sat forward and took one of my hands in both of his.
“I shall need to feed, ma douce, when the sun sets. A vampyre does not do well to pass a night without sustenance.”
I bit my lip and let a breath out. OK. I could accept this, it hadn't really been something I had thought about too much before. Well, I had kind of pushed it to the back of mind and ignored the issue altogether actually, but it wasn't like I hadn't expected it. I've been around vampires a lot now, they don't hide their feeding when it's just them and willing donors, no uninformed Norms about, and lately I had been at Sensations quite a bit out of public hours.
Michel had been watching me intently, finally he said, “We have two options available to us, ma douce. I could feed whenever you are not here, or out of your sight and not advise you, if you so wish to remain in the dark. Or, I could feed from you. I do not require much at my age and with our Bond it would not weaken you should I feed daily.” When I didn't say anything, he went on. “If it's any reassurance to you, ma belle, my choice is unequivocal. I could never desire to taste of another again.”
Well, this was an interesting sensation, wasn't it? I was a little disconcerted, scared of having a vampire, even Michel whom I was only now realising I loved, feed from me. So long now I have hunted vampires who have fed indiscriminately on humans, without consent, without care. I have associated vampire feeding with the evil that lurks in my city.
But, then part of me was excited, excited by the prospect of being so close to Michel on a regular basis. Vampire feeding is very personal, very intimate. Of course it can be horrible, torture, should the vampire choose, but for Michel I could only imagine it would be the bliss of emotions he had instilled in me when he fed from me at our joining. The intensity of closeness thrumming right through to my soul.
And then, finally, there was the jealousy, unable to accept that another human could possibly feel any of that delicious closeness with my vampire, with my Michel. The jealousy was a living thing inside me, rearing up and shouting through my mind, no!
I realised belatedly, that I hadn't tried to hide these emotions at all and that Michel had sat absorbing them all quietly, waiting for me to come to the end of the roller coaster I had created. I looked up at him, he smiled ruefully at me, a little paler than normal, but hiding it well.
I licked my lips, his eyes homing in on that movement with a sudden look of desire. Which made me feel yet another emotion, one equally as heated as that now evident in his gaze.
“Would feeding from me daily result in us jumping each other's bones?” His eyebrows raised at that, I went on hurriedly, “I mean, not that I'm complaining, but, you know daily, that's like every day and I'm not exactly built like you, I mean, I know I'm stronger and all than a
regular human, but I'm still human and every day is quite a lot and well...” I kind of ran out of steam then and felt a heated flush rise up my face.
Michel was fighting it, but I could see his chest rise in delicate chuckles until he could contain it no longer and burst out into delicious peals of laughter. He stopped when he saw the mortified look on my face, or maybe it was the emotion hitting him, in any case he tried to school his features into a much more sober expression and said, “I would be delighted if it did, my dear, but it does not have to. I am not able to influence your mind, but I am able to control the endorphins that are secreted when I feed. To a certain extent in any case. It would be impossible for me not to relay the joy I would be feeling in being so close to you, but it would be your choice whether you should take that further and reciprocate. The experience however, will always be enjoyable to us both, on more than one level”
I didn't know what to say to that. Getting turned on, on a daily basis, surely wasn't such a bad thing, was it? It wasn't like I hadn't realised what it would be like to be around Michel. Even without the feeding, it's an electric pot-pourri of heat and desire, lust and hunger. Why not throw that impossible closeness into the mix too? Oh boy.
Before I had chance to answer Michel added, “You would have to be aware that I would still feed when in a battle. Should I find myself in one against human or a shape shifter. It would be an impulse I could not ignore. It would be nothing other than a vampyre reflex, no other connotation than the means to an end. You understand?”
That, I could completely understand. That was a vampire through and through. To a certain extent, that's what the vampires did when I hunted them. They considered the hunt of a human and the feeding and sometimes killing of that human, a battle and once on that path, unable to stop themselves. Vampires suck blood. We all know it. It's what they are. They may feed for pleasure and sustenance in the modern day, but their basic nature is still so deeply rooted that not to feed when faced with an enemy was an impossibility. Somehow, I had no problem separating that type of feeding from what Michel does every evening to stay alive.
So, what did I want? Easy. I don't share what's mine. Michel knew the answer before I even opened my mouth, the wave of emotion so strong. He reached out and pulled me to him, kissing my neck, my jaw, my mouth.
“How is it that you can simply melt me with an emotion, ma douce? You have captured my heart, do you know that? You hold it your hand. I am at your mercy.”
Then he simply pushed the tray of food off the bed and threw me on my back and suddenly, I had a very amorous vampire climbing up my body.
His kisses were so sweet, so warm, so simply delicious. But he didn't want this to get carried away, he wanted to prove to me he could control himself, that I didn't need to fear his desire for me would rule his actions, no matter when. The kisses slowed, his touch more languid, until he brought both of us back to just the warmth and a welcoming sense of safety.
However, Michel had not been joking when he said he did not want me out of his sight and when sunset came and duties called, his every move was with me in tow. Rather than carry out his meetings with members of his line in his office, as he usually would, he sat himself in the bar, in one of the private booths, but in a position where he could continue to watch me at one of the tables.
There was a jazz band playing tonight, entertaining the large crowd that had gathered at Sensations and the woman singing had a sultry, dusky voice, the music making me bob my foot up and down as it sat crossed over my leg. Whenever Michel was busy, Bruno would be at my side. Sitting himself down in a chair opposite me, having a drink and keeping up a string of jokes about the patrons, the new vampires to join the line and even the jazz band. I don't think I'd had a more enjoyable evening with someone other than Michel. Why had I not noticed just how normal Bruno could be?
The moment Michel had finished with a vampire, he was back, lavishing me with his attention, touching me with his hands. I wasn't opposed to reaching out and touching him either, the need to be close so strong. I have no idea whether the groupies were there, the young women who flock to his side when he's in the bar, as Michel's attention did not waver, it was only for me.
By early morning I was waning however, tired from a long day and the terrible injuries from the fight with Nero. Despite Michel having healed me, my body refused to believe it was so and wanted sleep. Michel noticed my head drooping, from where he was sitting with Jett in deep conversation and rose immediately to come to my side. He said something to Bruno, I didn't hear and led me to his chamber.
Once he had me settled in bed, I said, “You need to go back out there, I'll be fine, I just need some sleep.”
He smiled at me indulgently. “I will not be leaving your side, ma douce, today, or even tomorrow, the Bond requires us to be together. It is a desire that cannot be denied even if we wanted to. The establishment of a Bond is an important part of our joining. There is nowhere else I wish to be. I will however, conduct my business from in here.” He waved his hand over to a comfortable armchair and low table in the corner which had not been there earlier, a laptop already sitting out waiting for him. “No one will enter, I can communicate with my line, silently and from a distance.”
I yawned and just nodded, having no desire for him to leave me at all. “There is however one thing you could do for me, ma belle.”
I looked up at him questioningly.
“I am hungry, would you mind?”
Suddenly I was awake.
He smiled and chuckled. “Oh dear, you will get used to it, Lucinda, it will become as much a part of you as it is me, please believe me.”
My eyes felt wide, my heart suddenly in my throat, my pulse beating at an altogether most alarming rate. Michel reached up and brushed his fingers against my throat, just over my pulse point.
“You do not make it easy, do you?” he murmured.
I swallowed the lump which had suddenly formed in my throat. Michel lowered his head and sighed. “I can feed elsewhere, but it would require me leaving you, as I cannot believe you would wish to watch.” He looked up at me. “Is that what you would prefer, ma douce?”
I didn't hesitate, just shook my head, not breaking eye contact at all.
“As I thought, so I shall make this quick. Forgive me for the speed in which this happens, my dear, normally I would prefer to take my time and savour the moment, especially with you, but it might be best if we just - how do they say? - get this over with.”
I bit my lip, I couldn't help it, I just couldn't stop my response to this; pure terror but also a need so strong it ached. My mind was telling me to calm down, this is quite normal, a quite acceptable part of being joined to a vampire, but my inner monologue was shouting get the fuck out of here! I struggled to tell it to shut up.
Michel took my hand in his, turned it over and rubbed the wrist lightly, so softly with his thumb, right above the veins and arteries there. His voice was low and even. “I do not normally bother with the wrist, it is somewhat impersonal, but perhaps tonight it would be better.”
He slowly lifted my arm up to his mouth, his fangs sliding out and down in a swift, smooth and quick movement. He didn't pull his lips back exposing teeth, as so many vampires do when about to go in for a bite, his mouth remaining so full and lush, his eyes met mine. And then before I could help myself, I reached up and grabbed his shirt with one hand, surprising him enough to loosen his grip on my wrist and then used the now free hand to pull his head down towards my neck.
He groaned and I felt his fangs take hold above my pulse, his lips mould against my skin. His hands were gripping my shoulders, I could feel the warmth of his chest against my body, the firmness of his hip against my side. Then the slide of fang into flesh, creating a sense of sharp pain, which was instantly replaced with a sensation of acute ecstasy and an intimacy so pure it rocked my soul. My eyes closed, even as tears slipped out past my lids and down my cheeks and all I could hear was Michel's voice in my mind saying mine, mi
ne, mine, mine.
He fed for no more than 30 seconds, but it felt like the world no longer existed. I was weightless, drifting on a cloud of euphoria, swaying gently in a breeze of exhilaration, floating softly on a wave of pure joy. He did not let it become more, I felt no heat rise within me, no tightening of muscles that could send me over the edge, but only the reassuring sense of beauty and safety and... home.
He pulled his fangs out slowly, licking the blood that had pooled at his mark, kissing my neck, stroking my hand, brushing his fingers through my hair.
“Um.” I don't think I had ever heard Michel say um before.
I looked into his face searching for something there. He was looking down not making eye contact, his face flushed, his pulse racing, his breathing rapid. He swallowed and I watched his Adam's apple at the base of his throat, rise and fall.
Then deep amethyst and violet eyes met mine and he said a little huskily, “Extraordinary. I have never felt anything like that before in all my years.” And then his eyes lit up with the smile that had suddenly appeared on his beautiful face. “How is it that you continue to surprise me? I have lived a long time, Lucinda, it takes an awful lot to surprise me now, yet you,” he paused to lick his lips, “you amaze me, you bewilder me, you enthral me, on a daily basis. Tu es la raison de mon existence, ma petite lumière.”
Wow. What could I say? Thanks just seemed inadequate somehow, so I opted for a kiss instead. Soft and wet and with everything I couldn't put into words but hoped he would understand anyway.
By the time he pulled away from my embrace he was well and truly dishevelled. His eyes glinting with sparks of amethyst light. He just looked down at me, in what I can only call, awe. What was with this man? He seemed so much more human than he had ever appeared to me in the past.
We stared at each other for a moment and then I said, “I know I should be tired, but...”
He chuckled, that delightful deep rumble in his chest. “You need to sleep, Lucinda, would you allow me to help you, ma douce?”
Kindred (Kindred, Book 1) Page 28
