by Dara Nelson
She drifted off into a fitful sleep and at some point Colton fell asleep too because he woke to find her lightly suckling on his wrist in her sleep. He kissed the top of her ear and said, “Good girl, Tess.”
He closed his eyes again as he caressed her forehead and arms. Since he wasn’t paying attention, he was completely caught off guard when she suddenly threw herself onto her back, crying out and shoving him, ass first, onto the floor where he landed with a surprised thump. Hansen was out of his chair and helping Colton up faster than it took for shock to register on Colton’s face from the fall. “Thanks,” Colton mumbled as he reached for Tess. She was groaning and thrashing her legs around. Her eyes flew open and she screamed at Colton, “My veins are on fire! Oh God, make it stop, it hurts, it hurts!”
Colton caressed her forehead, “Shhhh. Tess, look into my eyes. Try to concentrate. Your pain is worse because you’re resisting. Relax and let it happen. See your blood vessels changing and know that it’s okay. They are becoming better, stronger. Just go with the change.”
Tess stared, wide eyed but determined at Colton. She finally nodded and Colton watched as she forced her muscles to relax, taking deep breaths as she did. “Good girl. That’s good, Tess. Are you thirsty? Feeding might help.”
“Feeding? You mean on blood?”
Colton grinned at her, “Yes, blood, my dear. Why? Is there something else that you are thirsting for?”
“Well, I guess not. But the idea of drinking blood gives me the willies still. Is that normal? Shouldn’t I be craving it or something?”
“The way that you’re eyes are latched on to the vein pulsing in my neck I’d say that maybe you are craving. You just don’t realize it yet.”
Her eyes flicked from his neck to his eyes and back again several times. His breath hitched as her tongue snaked out and licked her lips, stopping when it reached her transformed teeth. “Fangs, I have fangs!” she gasped.
Hansen took this moment to discreetly leave the room.
“You do. And what, pray tell, would you like to do with those beautiful fangs?”
“I, um, I,” she swallowed hard before continuing, “God, I want to taste you. But won’t it hurt?”
“Did it hurt when my fangs pierced your beautiful neck?” he whispered seductively as his thumb brushed over her carotid artery.
“Oh hell, no. But how do I, ummmm, where do I bite so that I don’t make a mess?”
“Do you see where the artery is pumping?”
Tess nodded her head as he continued.
“You don’t want to pierce the artery unless you’re trying to kill. You want to pierce the vein just above or below the artery. Once you feel the penetration of the skin, you pull out your fangs and start sucking, it’s that simple. Once you’ve had your fill, sweep your tongue over the wounds and they will close.”
“And how do I know when to stop? If I don’t want to hurt or kill somebody, how do I know that I won’t take too much.”
“Listen to and feel the heartbeat as you’re drinking. If the heartbeat begins to slow noticeably you need to stop.”
Colton smiled when he saw Tess’ hungry eyes flick to his neck again. He felt pride at being her teacher, her mentor.
Tess licked her lips again. Colton climbed over her body and sat on the bed with his back against the headboard. He reached out and clasped Tess’ arm then guided her to straddle his lap. Once she was settled, he placed both hands on either side of her head and guided her mouth to his neck. Her lips trembled as they rested against his throbbing vein. He felt his own anticipation and excitement grow as he waited for her to strike. His own breath hitched when he felt her lips part and the tips of her fangs press tentatively against his skin. They both moaned as the sharp points slid effortlessly through his skin and into his vein. Colton’s hands caressed down her arms then snaked around behind her back and pressed her tight. He could feel her hard nipples pressing into his chest and his cock grew, straining to get free from his sweatpants. Colton hissed as Tess’ hand reached down and freed him from his restraint, swirling her thumb over the wetness at the tip. She lifted up her body and guided him inside her wet, tight sheath. Her core squeezed him tight as she began moving up and down on his shaft. Her tongue quickly swept over the puncture wounds on his neck then her mouth crushed down on his – this was a woman possessed with a singular purpose and she was doing exactly what she needed to do to get there. Colton held back his own release as he felt the ripples that began inside Tess that signaled that her own release was imminent. Her mouth broke from his and she threw her head back, thrusting her throat towards his mouth. “Oh God, Colton. Huge, it’s going to be huge. Bite me, please bite me now!”
He obliged and he felt her orgasm both in her blood and as it spasmed and squeezed his ready-to-burst shaft. As her orgasm began to diminish, he finally allowed his own to break free – and the enormity of it not only surprised him but caused Tess to begin all over again. He released his fangs from her neck as he continued pulsing inside of her. She instinctually leaned down and pressed her fangs into his neck again and he cried out as his cock began spewing again with another orgasm causing her body to buck and shake with another wave of pleasure. He knew that they could exhaust themselves to the point of passing out if they didn’t stop and catch their breath, so he grasped her head, pulled it back then crushed his lips to hers as he slowed his thrusts inside her tight core. It was as he kissed her, eyes closed, that he felt something whiz past his head. Without breaking the kiss, his eyes popped open and took in the sight to his left – all the objects from his dresser and nightstands were flying around the room. Colton’s mouth broke away from Tess’ and he kissed her checks, her eyelids and her forehead as she moved to rest her head on his chest.
“Ummm, Tess? Are you doing a spell right now? In your head, are you thinking of a spell?”
“No, why?” she mumbled into his chest.
“Open your eyes and see for yourself,” Colton said.
Tess’ eyes opened and she gasped as she looked around the room, finally noticing all the flying objects – which promptly stopped and fell to the floor with a crash.
“How did I do that?” she whispered.
“What were you thinking during the last few minutes?”
“After those incredibly amazing orgasms that I just had? I was thinking that I felt so good that I felt like I was flying. Is that what it was? Is that what being a vampire witch is? I just have to think something and it happens? I don’t have to mix any special ingredients or say some incantations? I just think it? That would be incredible, Colton, possibly dangerous but also incredible. If this is true, I will really have to work hard at controlling it or some bad things could happen.”
Colton brushed a lock of hair from her face, “I’m sure you will handle it just fine. I know that you are strong enough for anything, Tess, including being the first vampire-witch.”
Tess closed her eyes and blew out a breath, “Wow. Being the first of something, that’s a little overwhelming to think about, you know?”
“You should try something else. You know, something relatively harmless to see what happens.”
Tess stared at Colton for a few seconds. He watched as the fear in her eyes turned to determination. She nodded her head, took a deep breath, closed her eyes and reached her hand out, as if she was trying to reach for the door. Colton was confused for a moment as he tried to figure out what spell she was doing but then there was a knock on the door, followed by Hansen’s head poking in, “You needed something, Sir?” he said.
Colton looked from Hansen to Tess, “Ummm,” he began before Tess cut in.
“That was me,” she said, “I did a small summoning spell. Well, not really even a spell. All I did was think in my head that we needed Hansen in here. Looks like it worked.”
“Wow,” Colton whispered then he turned to Hansen, “Just testing Tess’ new abilities. Thanks for the help, Hansen.”
Hansen’s grim expression said it all as he
shook his head and ducked back out of the room.
“What do I do with this, Colton?” she whispered.
“Well, what do you want to do with it?” he said as he tucked a lock of her hair behind her ears.
“I want to do something good, something meaningful. But first I want to find that asshole who hurt me and has my sister.”
Colton smiled at her, “Then let’s find him. Close your eyes, Tess.”
She squinted at him, “Close my eyes? Why?”
“Trust me, Tess. Close your eyes,” he said as he reached for her hands and held them gently in his.
She stared at him for a few seconds then took a deep breath, nodded her head and closed her eyes.
“You’ve done locator spells before, yes?” he said quietly.
She nodded her head, “Of course. Mostly to try to locate missing children and spouses.”
“Think of Shane right now. Think of him and how badly you need to find him.”
He watched her face as she concentrated. Several minutes passed before she gasped, “I see him. It’s dark. And he’s hurting. There’s blood on the floor and bloody rags around the room.”
“Can you look around the room? Is there a window?”
A few more seconds passed and then she nodded her head, “Yes there’s a window.”
“What do you see outside? Can you see anything that will help us to know where he is?”
He smiled as her brows furrowed while she concentrated. A few moments later a huge grin broke out on her face and she opened her eyes.
“So, where are we headed?” he said.
“Back home, to New Orleans. He’s at my sister’s house – not the one she lives in but an old, abandoned mansion that she bought years ago with the intention of fixing it up but she hasn’t yet.”
A half hour later she was pacing in the kitchen, her eyes burning with fury. They had left his bed as soon as she had located Shane and climbed into the shower, where the kissing and obvious desire to continue what they had been doing in bed came to a screeching halt the moment that he told her that it would be at least a week before they could leave France.
“Tess,” Colton began but stopped when Tess held up her hand and basically hissed at him. “No, don’t speak. I get it. I hear what you’re saying. I’m a brand new vampire. There are things that I need to learn before I go back into the human world. I know you’re right. But just because I know it doesn’t mean that I like it. I’m going to be impatient, so deal with it, okay?”
Colton chuckled slightly, “Okay, sweetheart. Whatever you say.”
“It’s not funny,” Tess said as she pouted.
“No, it’s not funny, but it sure is cute. Have I told you lately how incredibly beautiful you are?”
“Stop trying to butter me up, mister. I can tell you right now that I won’t be a good student,” she grumbled.
“Well, why don’t you go take a walk in the garden to cool off first then?” he said as he swept his hand towards the kitchen door.
“Maybe I will. I could use some fresh air,” she said as she moved towards the door.
Colton watched her with both sympathy and amusement in his gaze. This would hurt her, but she had to learn that she couldn’t just go waltzing into the sunlight. Tess’ hand turned the door knob, she pulled open the door and, “Son of a bitch,” she hissed as she slammed the door, “Why didn’t you stop me?”
“Lesson number one: stay out of the sunlight, it burns like a motherfucker.”
“God, for a teacher, you are a major douchebag,” Tess said as she rubbed her neck and arms.
“Here, this will help” Colton said as he held his wrist out to her.
Tess looked at him with a twinkle in her eye, “Why the wrist? I like the neck better.”
“I do too but we need to concentrate on studying right now and if you drink from my neck, studying will be the last thing that we’ll be thinking about.”
“Fine,” Tess said just before she clamped her mouth over Colton’s wrist. The bite sent shivers down both of their spines and straight to their cores, causing Tess to moisten and Colton’s erection to press against the fly of his jeans. Tess felt the sting of her burns disappear almost instantly. She retracted her fangs, licked the wounds closed and looked at Colton, “Son of a bitch that turns me on. Is it like that with everyone that I drink from or is it just you?”
“There is a degree of sexual arousal no matter who we drink from. There’s nothing we can do to stop that,” he said.
“So how do you keep from banging everyone that you drink from? How could you possibly remain faithful and how can I?” she groaned.
“That’s part of the training. You learn self-control. You learn that, even though there is arousal when you drink, the sex is, well, disappointing at best. But if you take that arousal, store it up and then release it when you can have sex with another vampire where you can feed from each other while you are having sex, well, that is amazing at the very least. And if that sex and feeding is with the one that your heart truly belongs to then, as I hope you now know, it’s off the charts, it’s epic, it’s better than anything you could ever dream of.”
Tess stared for a few seconds, “So, um, so the sex between us is that good because, well, because, are you saying that your heart belongs to me, Colton?”
Colton pulled her into his arms, looked deep into her eyes and said, “My heart, my body, my soul, my life belongs to you Tess. Do you belong to me?” His lips crushed down onto hers as he held her tight. Tess felt her heart open up to him in a way that it never had before with anyone else as his tongue swept into her mouth and joined with hers. She groaned and his mouth moved away from hers and kissed down her neck as his erection pressed into her throbbing core. “Give me your heart, Tess. Let me show you how good it can be,” he whispered into her neck as his hands moved down her back and cupped her round ass. Tess felt his teeth as he nipped lightly at her neck, making her inhale sharply, “Oh, yes, Colton. Everything I have, everything that I am belongs to you,” she groaned. Colton’s teeth sank into the vein in her neck. His tongue flicked over her skin as he suckled, pulling the blood from her vein into his body. Tess tensed against him and he smiled knowingly. “Colt, Oh God, Colton I’m going to, how is it possible, oh yes, Colton I’m coming.
Colton held her tight as her body shivered and squirmed in his arms. When she slowed and then went limp in his arms she mumbled, “Holy shit, you didn’t touch me other than to bite my neck. What the hell was that?” into his chest.
Colton smiled with pride and said, “That, my love, is just a small sampling of what sex can be like with the vampire that you’ve given your heart to.” He looked into her eyes and saw the love in them, the desire, but also the fear, “Don’t decide now, my love,” he whispered as he brushed a lock of hair from her eyes, “Let’s do what we have to do first. Let’s take out Shane, find your sister and give you time to adjust to being a vampire. Then you can decide, okay?”
“But I thought we were already bonded because you sired me,” she said.
“In a way, we are. But for vampires that are in love, truly in love, their hearts can be bonded as well. It’s a much stronger bond – I will feel everything you’re feeling, every emotion, everything and it’s a bond that is almost impossible to break, so you have to be sure, Tess, absolutely positive.”
“And this is something that you want with me, Colton? Are you sure?”
“I told you, Tess, I’ve been around a long time and time is irrelevant to me. I may have fallen fast to you but to me it’s not fast at all. Yes, I’m sure.”
She nodded and kissed him on the lips, “Thank you for being so patient with me,” she whispered when he stopped.
He smiled at her, “Darlin’, I’ve got all the time in the world. Now let’s go book our flight for New Orleans.”
Once the flight was booked, Colton pulled Hansen aside, “If Shane is still with Tess’ sister, and he’s injured then she might not be held against her will.
I think we might need some help getting her out of there because I have the feeling she’s going to fight us.”
“You want me to call in Stryker and the men?” Hansen said.
Colton nodded, “I think it’s time.”
Hansen pulled out his cell and pressed it to his ear. As he waited for the call to go through, Colton touched him on the shoulder to get his attention, “Tell him I’m sorry for staying away so long.”
Hansen nodded and began talking as he stepped out onto the porch.
Chapter 8
In the air, somewhere over the ocean, Tess tugged on Colton’s hand, pulling him to his feet, “I need to talk to you privately,” she said as she pulled him toward the bedroom at the back of the private plane. Once inside the room, she closed and locked the door then she turned to face him, “This heart bonding thing, is it something we can do right now?” she said.
“Here, now, on the plane? Jesus, Tess, I don’t know. Why? We can just wait until we’re at home, you know.”
“I know, but I don’t want to. I want to do it now, before we land.”
“Why?”
“It’s important to me, Colton. I know the timing is bad. But I’ve thought about it, I want this and it’s important to me to get it done now. We’re meeting up with friends of yours, right? Men that you have a history with, men that you’ve fought in battle with, Hansen told me, I want to meet them as your bonded mate.”
Colton’s arm reached out to the back of Tess’ neck and he pulled her close, “God, I love you so much,” he said just before his mouth crushed down onto hers.
He gently sat her on the bed then retrieved the first aid kit from the bathroom. He pulled out two syringes, “We both need to withdraw our heart’s blood as it pumps during sex then drink from the syringe during orgasm – that will complete the heart bond.”
Tess looked towards the door, “Everybody is going to hear us, aren’t they?”
Colton nodded, “Probably.”
Tess shrugged her shoulders then said, “Oh well, let’s do this. Show me exactly where I need to stab this thing to get it into your heart.
