by Juniper Hart
“You’re insane,” Killian said as they waded into the water. By the time they were at Killian’s waist, they were at Charlotte’s chest. She shivered at the cold, but didn’t look entirely miserable. “What’s so appealing about this?” he questioned, wrapping his arms around her, pulling her against him.
“I don’t know. I like how refreshing the water is.”
“This isn’t what I’d call refreshing.”
Charlotte responded by sticking her tongue out at him. Killian shook his head, “Why aren’t you bothered by the cold?”
Charlotte looked at him with smitten eyes. “I happen to love the cold.”
Killian couldn’t stop the smile from spreading on his lips, knowing she meant him and his touch. Bowing his head down, he stole a kiss from her lips. Her hands were on each side of his face as she returned his affection. But then, Charlotte suddenly pulled him down, underneath the water in one tug. The frigid water surrounded them from just a moment before they both moved to the surface. They were both laughing as Killian wrapped her into his arms.
He dared to steal another kiss from her, uncaring if she pulled him back under. But she didn’t, instead, she met his kiss with fervor. Killian couldn’t keep his hands off her body as they made their way to her perky bottom. He could feel her shivering from the cold even there, almost making him laugh. But he suppressed it, not wanting to upset her when she was kissing him so deeply. His tongue parted her lips and grazed her tongue with his in a loving kiss. One hand trailed from her bottom, up her back, and then around to the front. Charlotte wasn’t voluptuous, but her breasts complimented her body type well. His fingers brushed over her breasts, taking in their supple shape before pinching her nipple lightly.
When an airy moan escaped her lips, Killian’s eyes darkened. Taking her by the shoulders, he turned her so her back was to his chest. Both of his hands started from her shoulders slowly rubbed their way down her body. One hand stopped at a breast, palming it gently as his fingers lightly tweaked the nipple. His other continued on its path down her front, gliding over her stomach and then between her legs, rolling her panties down her legs.
Oh my. Killian’s tender lips began to kiss and suck at a spot on her neck, unable to stop the moans that erupted from her. His fingertips traced her sex, then rubbed her slowly and deeply to wind her up. It didn’t take him but a moment to get her to the point where she was whimpering for his touch. He inserted a finger into her sex, his erection pressing into her back. She was aching for him, her inner walls swollen and slick. It made him smug knowing his touch turned her on. He added in another finger, slowly drawing his finger in and out. Her breathing almost matched the speed of his hand, each breath slow and heavy. Killian moved his hand in a hook shape, hitting a sensitive spot within her walls. Her pelvis began to grind down against his hand, which was incredibly hot, but he wanted to be the one to satisfy her, not her acting through him.
He stepped her forward a few steps, going into water that was a bit shallower. His hands then helped her bend over from the hips, making sure her torso was above the water. Then from behind, he dipped his fingers back into her swollen flesh. The new angle gave him a better range, able to press his fingers all the way into her. Killian could see her bare bum through the running water. He was certain her limbs were numb by then, wondering how she was even tolerating it anymore, but Charlotte didn’t appear bothered in the slightest, lost in the pleasure he was providing. She didn’t start to squirm until Killian picked up the speed of his hand.
“Killian, please stop teasing me,” she whimpered, making him bite his lip with anticipation.
Killian’s immediate thought was to shrug down his swim trunks and take her from behind, but he needed to get her out of that water; it was too cold. Quickly pulling her upright, Killian picked her up with her legs around his waist. Rushing to the shore, Killian sat down in a tall grassy null next to their packs. Placing her down in his lap with her legs on each side of him, Killian reached over, pulled a towel from one of the bags, and draped it over her shoulders.
Charlotte’s lips were on his in a flash, dominating the kiss. Without hesitating his movements, he swiftly tugged down his swimsuit and pulled her down onto his member. A loud groan escaped her from instant gratification. It hadn’t even been twenty-four hours since their first encounter, and yet Charlotte already felt addicted.
His hands guided her hips in long but brisk movements until she moved on her own. As soon as his hands left her hips to go to her back, Charlotte began to move roughly with dramatic motions on his erection. Killian was panting, trying his best not to be overpowered by the pleasure. Leaning his face forward, he caught one of her nipples in his mouth. His tongue flicked over the tip of the bud as he sucked on the sensitive skin, his other hand lightly pinching her other nipple.
“God, Killian,” Charlotte moaned, her pace quickening as she rode him. Her sex was becoming snugger as she began to build to her climax.
He was lost in the ecstasy of her movements—too lost. Within an instant, he lost his self-control, and as soon as it was gone, elongated canines appeared from his gums. His fangs sank into the flesh of her breast.
There was a moment of pain, but then it was replaced with pleasure in the rawest form. She could feel his fangs baring into her and his mouth suckling her skin. Charlotte couldn’t think of how weird it was or even register what was going on.
Killian’s hands regained control of her hips, sucking at the wound, moving her pelvis rapidly up and down as pleasure filled him. Within moments of the all-consuming pleasure, Charlotte nearly screamed out as she released. Her body experienced wave after wave of ecstasy from the fiery exchange. Killian continued to move her hips in rough motions until he climaxed. Her head laid against his shoulder as he continued to suck at the spot on her breast. It wasn’t until his lips finally pulled away from her breast that she started to come out of the lustful daze she had been in.
Wait. What in the hell just happened?
“Charlotte…” he breathed in a hesitant tone.
Charlotte peeled back from him, looking down to her chest to see two puncture wounds on her breast with little droplets of blood streaming from each of the small holes.
She scrambled to her feet, wrapping the towel around her that had been on her shoulders. “Wh..what… What did you just do?” she stammered.
Killian stood, a look of panic plastered on his handsome face. “I can explain… Just let me explain, okay? Come back to the house with me, and we will talk about it there…” he pleaded with her, stepping to her and placing his hands on her arms.
Charlotte wasn’t sure, feeling uneasy about the situation. Had he been drinking her blood?
She backed away from him, pain swimming in his green eyes when she did. Her heart was pounding in her chest, unsure of what to think or feel. She had known something was off about Killian, but she didn’t think much of it. Killian was pale, cold to the touch, faster than any person she had ever met, and was a recluse in his own forest fortress. Charlotte’s brain rejected the possibility he was something other than human—before that very moment, she would have called herself absurd for even playing with the idea he could be anything else. She couldn’t bring herself to accept the facts before her, or how the most logical thing was that he was a vampire. Vampires weren’t real though, they couldn’t be real. But if they weren’t, then why had Killian drank her blood?
“Charlotte, dove, please. I’m going to hurt you. I would never do that… Just trust me, please? I’m begging you… And if you don’t want to be around me after I explain, then I’ll call a driver to take you back to the city.”
Charlotte’s stomach was in knots, but she nodded in agreement. Even if she was confused and kind of terrified, Charlotte didn’t want to just bolt away from him. To do that would be to deny she had harbored any feelings for him during their time together. He let out a breath of relief and nodded.
She stood away from him as she took the clothes from her pack a
nd dressed. When they were done getting ready, the two of them headed back toward his house in silence, both trapped in their own thoughts.
When they stepped through the back door, Killian finally mustered up the courage to take her hand in his. He guided her into the den and sat her down on the couch. Charlotte watched as he sat down next to her. Killian turned towards her, grasping both of her hands and cradling them in his.
There was a thick air of silence as he tried to find his words. His green eyes stayed focused on their hands, not having the courage to look her in the eye. “I know you must be thinking the worst of me… and some of it may not be wrong. But believe me when I say I would never hurt you, Charlotte. I never want to cause you pain. And I’m sorry that it came out this way. I got lost in the moment and lost my willpower.” He swallowed a lump in his throat. “I’m sure you have figured it out, so…yes…I’m a vampire. Feels weird to even say that out loud, honestly… I don’t think I’ve ever willingly told anyone. Only a handful of executives at my company know, but their silence is paid for. But just because I have this… this… condition, doesn’t mean I’m a monster. Before today, it’s been a decade or two since I’ve fed off a live human. My company is responsible for a wide variety of medical research, so I’m able to gain access to blood donations to satisfy my hunger. I’m not a killer.”
Charlotte tried to take in everything he was saying, but the logical side of her brain tried to convince her it was all lies, that there was no such thing as vampires. However, she had the bite mark and his words to prove otherwise. It was hard to process. And could she trust him when he said he wasn’t a killer? He hadn’t lied to her about anything else that she was aware of. Even if it were true, her mind slowly registered that he said a decade or two. Her brow furrowed, looking to him. “Two decades? How old are you?” she asked meekly, her big eyes staring up at him.
His posture stiffened, eyes going to hers before looking away. “Honestly, I don’t remember. Old,” he said dryly. “Several hundreds of years, at least. I don’t remember the early years very well, but I came to America at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution to start anew and start a business so that I could live out my eternity in luxury. I picked medicine because it’s an industry that will never die out since humans are always getting sick. Of course, for the first couple of decades, I had to work my ass off to get the company started and expanding. But soon my investments and time paid off, and I could withdraw myself from most of the day-to-day operations before people really started to question why I wasn’t aging. I then doctored some paperwork and made a fictitious son, and passed it down to myself. And do so periodically to keep up the façade so that no one tries to investigate me.”
Honestly, that was kind of brilliant, but Charlotte wasn’t about to compliment him on it. “Is Killian really your name?” she asked.
“Aye, it is. I went back to it for this generation,” Killian shrugged. “I missed being called by my name, rather than having to answer to whichever name I had picked for my descendant.”
Charlotte nodded, glad she at least knew him by his real name. “What made you stop hunting humans?”
“At first I only hunted vile humans, such as mass murderers and rapists. You know, the types of people the world wouldn’t miss. Then technology made it more difficult to get away with hunting people, and to be honest, I harbored a lot of guilt over it—even though I was ridding the world of evil. Like I mentioned, I have access to human blood through my company. Nobody gets hurt, and I get to feed.”
Charlotte asked, “What does my blood taste like?”
Killian’s eyes darkened at the question, and a devious grin appeared on his face. “Delicious would be the best word for it. Sweet and rich with iron. I could hardly pull myself away. Not to mention how hot it was… Feeding during sex is called bloodletting. The venom in my saliva mixes in your bloodstream, making it pleasurable for you, too.” His expression turned into a frown. “I really didn’t mean to bite you… It’s why I had stopped myself the first time we made love. I didn’t want to do that to you. I didn’t want you to be afraid of me… and yet here we are,” he sighed.
Charlotte’s heart swelled knowing he had tried to protect her this entire time, denying himself his primal instincts just to be around her. Her mind began to think over their entire time together, lots of things starting to make sense. “So… with you being a vampire… is that why you didn’t like me taking your picture?” she asked, curious to know if that part of vampires’ urban legend was true. She realized she hadn’t actually looked at his pictures on the camera yet.
“Aye,” Killian sighed. “I mean, I still show up on film. But for some reason, my face is always blurred. Who knows why it does that to vampires… I asked a priest once. He said it was because even though my body may be here, my soul is in purgatory. I don’t know if I believe that, though. I feel very much alive and soulful.”
A sudden realization clicked, and her eyes were wild, standing up from the couch. “It was you, wasn’t it?” she questioned in a gasp.
“What are you talking about?” Killian questioned, brow furrowed.
“The white figure that saved me from the mountain lion… It was you,” she breathed.
She relived the scene in her mind, knowing for certain it was him. And the reason her crisp picture had a blurry figure in it was because he was a vampire. But before he could answer, her heart sank. Killian had to have known that picture was of him before they formally met and bought it just to cover his tracks. “You didn’t buy my photos because you liked them… you bought them because you were in them. How did you even find me? There are dozens of galleries in the city.”
Killian’s eyes filled with shame and pain, looking away from her as he admitted, “I had someone put the word out that I was looking for something like the scene you photographed. The gallery you were showcased in knew I was looking for it before you even submitted to them.”
Hurt and anger boiled her blood and cramped her stomach. She hadn’t been good enough to be featured in a gallery? They only placed her because they knew they would get a large commission off her photographs since a billionaire was buying them.
Killian stood and reached for her, “But I didn’t want them because I was in one of them. I don’t care about that. I bought them because I wanted to meet you.”
Charlotte turned her head, not wanting to listen to his lies.
“It’s true, Char, you have to believe me,” he pressed. Killian’s arm looped around her, bringing her against his body as his hand held her chin to make her look at him. “I saw you that night before the mountain lion got to you. I was out on a walk, and I spotted you along the river. Even then, I was in awe of you. In awe of your beauty and those big brown eyes of yours. Then I saw that cat stalking you. And for the first time in decades, I worried for another person. It hurt my stomach, I worried so much over you, and I hadn’t even met you. So, I searched you out after the attack, wanting to make sure you were okay. Also, I had to meet the beautiful woman that had made this old heart feel alive again. I’ve been alone, and content with being alone, for a couple centuries. But when I saw you in that gallery, I never wanted to be alone again if a woman like you walked this earth.”
Charlotte’s anger melted away, her heart thumping in her chest at the news of his story. He had spent over twenty grand just for the chance to meet her? While she still wasn’t over the fact that the gallery had likely only accepted her art because of Killian, could she really be mad about it? It had led her to him and the most wonderful whirlwind romance of her life. No matter how much her pride wanted her to be angry with him, Charlotte wasn’t. She was overwhelmed with his notions of deep emotions for her. He could have hurt her at any time or let that mountain lion do her in, but he didn’t. Killian really did just want to protect her, to get to know her. She was at a loss for words. He stared at her with pleading eyes; it was clear on his face that he was terrified of her walking away from him.
She thr
ew her arms around his shoulders and pressed a deep kiss to his lips. His hold on her tightened as though he were afraid she would slip through his fingers. They shared an impassioned, amorous kiss, each of them expressing the emotions that their words couldn’t. It was all so much for Charlotte to take in, but she would process it in time. She knew in her heart that she couldn’t walk away from the man holding her.
5
Their kiss was interrupted by a sudden knock at the front door. Killian pulled back from her lips. “Who in the hell could be here?” Killian mused, not at all pleased that someone had shown up out of the blue.
He wasn’t expecting any deliveries that day. It had to be one of his executives. From time-to-time they forgot their place and would show up unannounced. Each time it pissed him off. Taking her hand in his, he walked through the house until they reached the front door.
Swinging open the door, prepared to scream in the face of his employee, Killian found his porch empty. He blinked, looking down to Charlotte. “I’m not losing it. You heard a knock too, right?” he asked.
Charlotte nodded in agreement, scanning outside. Her eyes then fell to the ground and noticed a large yellow envelope laying just outside the door. She bent down and picked it up for him. Killian took it and closed the door. As they walked to the living room, he surveyed the envelope. Strange… There was no sender, nor his address or name.
“Divorce papers?” Charlotte joked lightly.
“Definitely not,” Killian laughed, glad to see her in good spirits. “I have no clue what it could be.”
Once they sat down on the couch, Killian pulled Charlotte onto his lap with a big grin, kissing at the nape of her neck. With his arms around her, he opened the packet. Reaching into it, he pulled out the contents with a bewildered look. There was another envelope within it, a disc, and a folded piece of paper.
