His thick brows suddenly furrowed with concern. “You're cold,” he declared.
His sight shifted to the billowing curtains. With just a wave of his hand, the doors drew shut and the fluttering drapes became still. Then he swung his gaze to the fireplace, and with a snap of his fingers, a roaring fire instantly sprang to life.
Laura was speechless. Were she not so overwhelmed with everything going on, she'd certainly be questioning her sanity. It all seemed so magnificent, so magical, and she feared she'd soon wake to find it had only been a dream.
Heat filled the air around her, warming her chilled flesh. It licked her bottom, tantalizing the hollow in her lower back like a skilled lover. She closed her eyes as a soft moan swelled in her throat.
"Are you ready for me, my love?"
Laura felt a lurch of excitement within. “Yes."
His eyes glowed with a savage inner fire, gleaming in the flickering firelight like dancing flames. In a blur of motion, he'd risen from the bed and moved to stand before her. Only now, he was as naked as she.
Laura exhaled in one big gush. She wasn't sure which startled her more, the speed of his actions, or the splendor of his unclothed form. Just looking at him made her pulse quicken.
His muscular chest and lean torso were covered with coarse, auburn hair, starting just below his collarbones. While sparse across his taut pectorals, it thickened as it spread downward, blanketing his abs with mahogany fur, then darkening even more as it joined the chocolate mass of curls surrounding his erect penis.
Laura tentatively ran a hand along the chiseled planes of his stomach, loving the tickle of hair against her fingertips. Wanting to feel the warmth of him beneath her palms, she curled them along his chest. So entranced by the currents of electricity flowing from his skin to hers, it took several moments before she noticed the one thing that was missing.
As realization settled in, Laura quickly withdrew her hands with a startled gasp. Her fingers flew to cover her mouth. She stumbled back a few steps, moving away from him.
"You're really dead,” she murmured, not sure why this came as a surprise. She already knew that. Didn't she?
"No, Laura. I'm not dead,” he said, reaching a hand outward. “But I'm not alive either. I'm ... in between states."
Barnabas moved toward her, walking as any normal, living, breathing man would. But he wasn't normal. He wasn't living. Was he even a man? Laura wasn't so sure.
CHAPTER 9
"Just ... stay there,” Laura commanded, darting back a few more feet.
The heat from the fireplace beat against her backside. Another inch or two and she'd practically be in the flames. But she preferred the reality of the fire's burn on her butt cheeks to the uncertainty of what the approaching apparition had to offer.
While it would be so easy to ignore her common sense, let this gorgeous man pull her into his implausible world of the undead, her sanity screamed at her to run. “What are you?” she demanded, stepping a little to the side when the skin on her backside began to smart. “A ghost?"
Barnabas chuckled. “If that's what you wish to call me. Then yes."
Suddenly feeling exhausted, Laura rubbed her palms over both eyes. “But I don't believe in ghosts,” she murmured. “They're not real. You can't be—"
Before she could finish her lame protest, Barnabas had closed the distance between. “I'll explain it later,” he said, pulling her roughly, almost violently against him. “Right now, I want to use my energy to feel you. To touch you. To love you. It's been so long, Laura."
Unable to deny the pleading in his eyes or the need in his voice, Laura subtly nodded her head. It was obvious their joining was inevitable. Why delay the longing in her heart?
His mouth came down over hers in a shockingly possessive kiss. Frightened and elated at the same time, Laura merely clung to his broad shoulders while his lips worked magic over hers. Her mind began the whirl, and she felt as though she were floating on clouds, her feet hovering above the floor.
Breaking away from his mesmerizing kiss, she chanced to look down. Sure enough, Barnabas and she were suspended several feet above the cushy carpet below. With a gentle nudge, he pushed her body slightly away from his.
Feeling as though she would fall, Laura let out a yelp of terror and clutched frantically at his arms. Barnabas smiled. “Don't be afraid. You're safe with me. I promise."
Relaxing a bit, Laura let herself drift freely. The air around her was strange, heavy. And yet, she felt weightless. While the sensation was certainly bizarre, it was, at the same time, surprisingly exhilarating.
When she tried to stop her backward glide, Laura lost her balance and tumbled forward awkwardly. With just a wave of his hand, Barnabas righted her stance. “It takes some getting used to,” he said softly. “Just relax, let me guide you."
He slowly twirled his index finger, and her body began to turn in response. Laura giggled. “I feel like I'm on display."
"Only for me,” he purred. “Only for me.” The husky rumble in his voice made her insides shudder with expectancy.
Laura closed her eyes, letting her head fall back slightly. Her long curls brushed against her waistline, tickling her skin. Never had someone's scrutiny made her feel so alive, so invigorated, so—
"Beautiful. You've not changed a bit."
Laura met his heated stare with a shy smile. “Thank you,” she whispered, feeling warmth stain her cheeks.
Another wave of his hand and she was suddenly moving forward. Her body stopped only inches from his. Her breath caught in her throat when fiery sparks danced in his eyes like the undulating flames of a roaring fire.
His hands shot out to grasp her upper arms in an almost painful hold. Then he pulled her against him, their bodies colliding with a tantalizing smack as his mouth came down once again to possess hers. “I can't delay any longer,” he breathed heavily against her lips. His hands transversed the planes of her back, then moved lower to her hips and thighs.
Laura sensed there was more to the urgency in his voice than merely carnal need. He'd mentioned the constraint of time twice now, leading her to believe he would soon have to leave. Shoving aside her ambiguity of the circumstances involved, she wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed herself more firmly against him.
"I'm ready."
His fingers curled around the cheeks of her ass in a firm grip. Then he hoisted her upward, bringing her breasts to his eager lips. While his palms caressed her outer thighs, his tongue laved around one rosy bud, making it harden into a taut bead.
A deep moan escaped Laura's lips when he nipped at her throbbing peak. Eagerly wrapping her legs around his waist, she arched her spine, forcing her breast more fully into his surprisingly warm mouth. Barnabas responded with almost feral hunger.
With their bodies floating weightlessly about the room, his hands were free to explore. Cupping one breast within his palm, he alternated between sucking her nipple and twirling his tongue about it in a tantalizing swirl, before lavishing an equal amount of attention on the other.
Ever so slowly, he moved downward, gently lifting her buoyant frame higher into the air until she could nearly touch the ceiling. His mouth left a tingling trail along her flesh, from the crevice between her breasts, across the flat plane of her stomach, and finally to the sensitive skin of her inner thighs.
At the first brush of his tongue against her feminine lips, Laura shuddered. She gasped as electrical sparks of pleasure shot through her apex, radiating to her belly. Her fingers reached for his hair as she spread her legs, encouraging him to taste her core.
Wrapping his hands around her outer thighs, he coaxed her body to lie flat, nearly parallel to the floor several feet below. No longer afraid of falling, Laura relaxed backward, letting her weightless frame float freely. Carefully slipping one knee and then the other over his shoulders, Barnabas began a pleasure-evoking stimulation of her clit that made her head feel as light as the rest of her.
Laura moaned and writhe
d against his face as he sucked at her swollen nub, gently drawing it in and out of his mouth. Then he flicked his tongue against it in an up and down motion, sending bolts of pleasure coursing through her insides. When he slipped in a finger and started caressing the sensitive spot just inside her sheath, she began to tremble.
"Barnabas...” she breathed heavily, feeling her feminine juices slip down the crack of her ass as her body tensed.
But Barnabas ignored her. The tip of his finger moved in circles over that tingling spot inside, while he continued to stroke her clit with his tongue. He obviously knew exactly what to do to bring her to culmination.
Laura's stomach clenched. The muscles in her arms and legs tightened as her whole frame started to vibrate. Energy pulled to her pelvis, preparing for release.
She tried to hold off, to prolong the pleasure as long as she could. But her mind whirled and she felt as though she were spinning in circles. In the next instant, her insides convulsed; there was no stopping it.
"Oh, God!"
Violent shudders wracked Laura's frame as wave after wave of glorious ecstasy crashed through her core. She thrashed about, knowing to prolong such bliss would surely bring about her death. But Barnabas held her tightly, not allowing her escape until he had fully satisfied both her need and his.
Her breaths came in short gasps of sweet agony as he stilled his ministrations to a gentle caress of his tongue against her throbbing clit. Laura's legs trembled as he licked along her folds, catching each drop of her feminine juice that slid from her opening. When he'd finished, she merely lay there, her weakened body floating in the air like a listless balloon, her mind savoring the feeling of satisfaction he'd left within her.
Barnabas allowed her a few moments of silence before touching her leg. She jerked when electricity shot through her thigh. Knowing his own need had to be great, Laura struggled to straighten herself before him.
Grasping her hips, he pulled her firmly against him. Laura inhaled sharply at the contact as another shiver of awareness coursed through her veins. Desire, fierce and strong, blazed in his eyes, and she was suddenly reminded this was more than a mere man that held her within his grasp.
He took her mouth almost savagely, the kiss far from gentle. Forcing her lips open with his impatient tongue, he deftly explored the deep recesses inside. The intensity of his possession was frightening. Suddenly afraid, Laura tried to pull away.
His palms pressed against her bottom, holding her even closer. Laura gasped as she felt his hardened shaft touch the mouth of her womb. She knew there was no going back now.
"Don't be scared, my love,” he whispered, his breath hot against her ear.
He was so compelling, his magnetism so potent, she felt her reservations beginning to melt. While her mind screamed at her to resist, pinch herself, wake up from the dream before it went too far, her body refused, her heart bent on one course of action. She relaxed against him, her uncertainly overruled by her passion and rekindled need.
In a flash of motion, they sped across the room. Laura barely registered the firm wall against her backside before she felt Barnabas's full length push inside her. A yelp of surprise tore from her lips at the hasty intrusion; memories of his passionate lovemaking came flooding back—he'd always been a little aggressive, but more than eager to please.
His strong fingers gripped her outer thighs, holding her in place while his hips drove forward, sinking his hard cock deep into her sheath. Laura locked her ankles behind his waist, spreading herself open as far as she could. Her pelvis rocked forward in unison with his, meeting each of his powerful thrusts with one of her own.
Freed of the constraints of balance by Barnabas's telekinetic powers, Laura's hands wasted no time in exploring the chiseled planes of his chest. The muscles rippled and flexed beneath her palms, straining with each vigorous plunge of his shaft. Strangely, the action pleased her.
Barnabas grunted when her fingertips found his pink nipples and proceeded to circle around them, teasing the soft disks until their centers puckered into little BB's. Knowing stimulation to his taut peaks would only increase his arousal, she set about torturing them with her mouth.
While she rolled one hardened bud between her thumb and forefinger, she sucked at the other, playfully nipping at it with her teeth. When she flicked the tip of her tongue across the flaming tip, his broad shoulders began to tremble and his breaths became choppy pants. She knew he was nearing completion.
His palms cupped her ass, angling her pelvis forward. Soft mews of delight escaped Laura's throat as the slight change of position allowed for even deeper penetration. No longer preoccupied with his pleasure, she felt her own begin to grow.
"Oh, God! Don't stop!” she cried, feeling the telltale throb begin in her center. Her head fell back against the wall and she arched her spine. Digging her nails into his shoulders, she bucked against him, grinding her already pulsating clit against his groin.
But Barnabas needed little encouragement. He angled his thrusts upward, precisely hitting the little spot inside her vaginal wall that would soon send her into orbit. His fingertips clenched her hips as his body began to tremble, obviously racing toward not only her release, but his as well.
Laura squeezed her eyes shut as sparks of pleasure radiated from her pelvis, sending tremors shooting through her groin and belly like a starburst. Pressing her heels into his lower back, she rotated her hips in a circular motion. The sensations intensified; only seconds separated her from coming.
The muscles inside her sheath began to tighten. Glancing down, Laura watched as his thick rod slid freely in and out of her opening. His cock glistened with a slick layer of her juices.
"Yes! Yes! Oh! Ooo...” Her pussy began to spasm. Seeing his flesh penetrate her own was like a heady aphrodisiac, and within the next instant, Laura let out a lusty scream of release.
Lost in her own bliss as wave after wave of glorious pleasure crashed through her insides, she vaguely heard the deep rumble starting within Barnabas's chest. It moved to the back of his throat, like the growl of some untamed animal in the midst of mating. Their eyes locked for a brief instant; fiery shards of amber blazed in his unearthly stare before he squeezed his lids shut and let out a hearty cry.
Cold fluid, like liquid metal, shot through the core of her womanhood, pierced her heart with the slice of a steely dagger, then raced through her veins as though her blood had turned to ice water. Terrified, Laura screamed—she hadn't anticipated his semen to stab her insides with such an artic chill. Seeing her breath escape her lips in a puff of white smoke, she immediately began pushing away from him.
Suddenly, the realization of his inhuman existence settled in her mind like a lead weight and she feared her own demise. Surely what she'd just allowed wasn't acceptable, wasn't right. But would the penalty for such forbidden pleasure be death?
Barnabas's strong arms wrapped about her back, pinning her arms to her sides and holding her in place while he continued to pump his ethereal seed deep into her womb. Violent shudders wracked his frame, as though it were more than just his come leaving his body. Not knowing what else to do, Laura ceased her struggles.
The iciness in her insides had begun to fade, replaced by growing warmth. Heat crept beneath her skin, sending shivers of responsiveness along her limbs. Each muscle, each nerve, each cell within her body began to tingle, separately at first, then together, like some silent concerto reaching a new harmony.
While Barnabas's strength seemed to be waning, Laura had never felt more alive. Their bodies remained intimately joined for several long moments. Ever so slowly, they drifted back down to the floor.
Laura sought Barnabas's gaze, wanting some sort of explanation as to what had just happened. He'd given her something, she was sure of it. But at what cost to himself?
The fiery light had left his eyes. Now they merely stared back out at her, dull and lifeless, like tarnished coins. A new fear clenched at her heart.
She cupped his cheek within h
er hand. Cold skin stung her palm. Something was wrong. Very wrong.
"Barnabas? What's happening to you? Why are you..."
He was fading. There was no other way to describe it. Already, his features had begun to blur. As though reinforcing the idea, her hand suddenly passed through his cheek.
Laura's body pitched forward, falling through his chest as though she'd leaned on air. A strangled cry tore from her lips as she watched the floor rushing toward her face. Then she stopped, mere inches from smacking against the carpet. She hovered a few seconds before gently touching down, belly first, onto the rug.
"I've expended my energy,” Barnabas said, his voice barely a whisper. “I must go for now."
Laura rolled over and onto her butt. “Wait!” She jumped to her feet. “I don't understand. When will you be back?"
Barnabas's image was no more than a mass of sparkling particles loosely vibrating in the air before her, hardly a comparison to the strapping man who'd just made passionate love to her before. No face, no broad chest, no muscular thighs, just a blob of gyrating specs.
"Tomorrow. Now go to sleep Laura, you need your rest as well.” His voice projected from the center of the churning speckles.
"But—"
"Please, Laura. I must go."
The plea in his voice felt like a fist to her stomach and she nearly gasped for air. She nodded in silent surrender. Her questions would have to wait until tomorrow.
"Lie down, so I may look upon your serene beauty when you close your eyes."
Laura glanced toward the bed. The coverlet suddenly peeled back upon itself, as though pulled by a magical hand. But it wasn't magic, it was Barnabas's silent invitation for her to climb beneath the welcoming sheets and drift into slumber land.
Wouldn't it be wonderful if he'd be there waiting for her when she did? Somehow though, she knew that was impossible. Something inside told her he had somewhere to be, and it was far from the realm of pleasant dreams.
A chill crept up her spine. Knowing his time quickly faded, she quietly walked to the bed, then slipped beneath the blankets. As her head settled against the down-filled pillow, her lids drifted shut.
Greenwood Manor Page 5
