by Unknown
His body shook in anticipation.
First, she rid him of the shirt, and then moved to his leather pants. When she slowly unlaced them, Jolie stared into his eyes to make sure to touch him as much as possible and make him crazy.
Jacques’s body was completely taut as he waited for her to continue her seductive exploration.
As Jolie slid her hands into the front of his pants, it pleased her to watch his head fall back. The low growl that emanated from deep within his body called to her. When her fingers stroked him, caressing his flesh, the hiss of arousal and his teeth peeking from behind his lips drove her wild.
This was her mate!
Jolie still couldn’t fathom it.
Dropping to her knees, she continued the slide of leather down his hips, until he was focused on her with his predator’s gaze. It was the look Jacques always had in his eyes during their lovemaking.
“You undo me, Jolie,” he whispered, trying to focus on the woman and not the hands which were stroking him.
His words urged her on, and after she had him stripped of his clothing, Jolie ran her tongue up the inside of his leg.
He shook as she licked and nipped him, teasing just enough to drive him wild, but not break the skin. As he moaned Jolie’s name, her teeth slid into her mouth.
“I want you, Jacques,” she purred seductively.
His masculine laughter filled the room as his hand slid into her hair. “I need you, Jolie,” he replied, knowing that he would sell his soul, if he had one, to feel her mouth on his heated flesh.
Jolie wanted to taste him in the worst way.
It was as if he was in her mind, urging her on by pulling her head closer to the prize. When Jolie delicately took him into her mouth, she was filled with euphoria.
“Mon Dieu!” he moaned, as she began to work him into a violent frenzy.
There was nothing more perfect than this moment.
When his body was screaming for her, he tightened his hold on her silky hair and dragged her to her feet. “Come here,” he ordered, pulling her against him roughly. Then, he remembered that this was essentially their wedding night of sorts.
It helped him calm down.
Jacques lifted her into his arms before carrying her to the bed, so he could begin the evening’s festivities. As he laid her amidst the red rose petals, he began his exploration of her body. True, he’d conquered it many times before, but this was completely different.
Now, she was his and his alone.
First, he teased the inside of her thighs with his tongue and teeth, mimicking her previous assault on his body. Jacques continued tormenting her, until she was squirming beneath his hands and tongue. He slowly slid upward until he could enjoy the treasure he loved most.
“Jacques!” she gasped, as he devoured her.
She writhed, begging him to take her, but he continued to ignore her pleas. Tonight would be about them, and nothing more.
When he had only just begun to get his fill of her, Jacques forced himself to move even further up her body, so he could feast on her pale voluptuous breasts. He teased and nipped at them until she shook in desire.
“Yes!” she hissed, as he tormented her aroused flesh.
As he finally moved to her neck, he lapped at her from her shoulder blade to ear. In that moment, all he wanted was to taste her as her blood began beckoning to him.
“Please, Jacques,” she begged, as he braced himself over her waiting body.
“Are you ready, Jolie?” he asked, rubbing against her enticingly.
She growled, needing to feel him buried in her. “YES!”
As his teeth pierced her flesh, sinking down into her waiting neck, Jacques plunged into her body. There was that instant of complete and total joy as she wrapped around him snugly.
Jolie moaned in ecstasy as both his erection and teeth plunged into her at the same time. It almost sent her into sensory overload.
He greedily moved into her, feeding from the woman beneath him.
She was his.
That alone almost pushed him over into the abyss. Then, he knew what he wanted even more. Releasing her throat, he stared down into her eyes. “Taste me,” he whispered, offering Jolie his neck. It was like the words weren’t his own, since his voice sounded rough and foreign. “I need my mate to devour me.”
Jolie wanted that more than anything. She craved the taste of him across her tongue. As she thrust her fangs into his throat, he eagerly began burying himself in her body.
It was bliss.
As she gulped him down, he rode her body hard. In seconds, the room began to waver, and it was evident what was next.
Energy mingled as it left her and met him.
Blood flowed into her mouth.
Then, the explosion happened.
Both were flung into the chasm as the light, energy, and need overwhelmed them.
It was the most delicious feeling. The ecstasy overtook Jolie and Jacques, pulling them in deeper and deeper. It was hard to focus on the feeding as pleasure was overwhelming both of them. Slowly, Jolie released his throat and Jacques collapsed onto the bed of rose petals as they both tried to fully catch their breaths.
Finally, Jolie broke the silence. “Someone’s going to get hurt one of these days,” she teased.
“I don’t mind a little pain,” he replied, licking the drop of blood still on her neck.
“Me either.”
“Now, we need to relax in the bath,” he said, picking her up. “We have rose petals stuck all over us.”
“Mmmmm. Whatever you say, my love,” she said sleepily, relaxing against his body. At that moment, Jolie was lost in the afterglow of mating. For all she cared, he could carry her out to the front yard, placing her in the shrubbery.
In the bath, Jacques stepped into the scented warmth and lowered them both into the water. It felt heavenly to have her sitting between his legs, cradled against his chest. With delicate strokes, he used the giant sponge and scented bath oils to begin washing away all the rose petals from her body. When she was completely free from them, they both sunk into the water’s warmth to enjoy the moment.
“I definitely could get use to this,” she murmured, as she slid her hand up and down his leg, drawing intricate patterns across his flesh.
He needed to know something. “Why did you decide to claim me as your mate?” he asked out of the blue, shattering the serenity of the moment.
“Why?” she asked, pausing to think about how to answer that. “Part of it’s because I feel safe when you’re near me. I’m happy when we’re together. It feels like we fit, and I really can’t imagine not being with you like this for the rest of our lives.”
“But why now?” he asked, twirling wet hair around his fingers.
“It just felt right all of the sudden. It’s like I woke up and saw you for the first time in six hundred years. I suddenly noticed all the things that you do for me, and how you were always there when I needed you. I realized that I had come to need you more than just as a guardian. I wanted you in my bed and holding my hand as I face the council. I’ve come to rely on you, and you made me fall in love.”
He said nothing out loud but sent into her all his emotions that her words had stirred in his own heart. They ranged from love to desire.
When she began to shake in his arms, it made him panic. “What’s wrong, mon amour?” he asked, glancing down at her face in alarm.
Tears were streaming down her cheeks.
“I’m sorry! Did I hurt you?” he asked, kissing her tears away. “Bébé, forgive me. I didn’t mean to cause you grief,” he reassured, cradling her lovingly against him.
She sobbed in his arms as he lifted her from the water to wrap her in a soft towel. He continually murmured terms of affection and love, trying to ease her sadness. “I’m so sorry,” he whispered, as he placed her in bed. He pulled her close and lavishly kissed her face. “Mistress, I’m sorry. Please stop! You’re breaking my heart. I can’t bear your tears.”
<
br /> She looked up at him and couldn’t believe her fortune. “I’ve never felt anything so wonderful,” she whispered, wrapping herself around him. “What you feel inside humbles me, Jacques. I’m only sad because I waited so long to feel this with you. I feel bad that I didn't see you as clearly as I do now.”
“Jolie, I only wanted you to see what I felt for you in my heart. I didn’t know that the emotions would be that intense from us sharing our powers.”
Jolie didn't care. It was amazing to feel an iota of what was living in him, for her. “Jacques, thank you for sharing that with me. It was absolutely beautiful and I love you,” she murmured before yawning.
As much as she wanted to stay like that all day, Jolie knew the truth. “It is dawn, mon amour. We must rest and go to death. We’ll be having another visit from the detectives today sometime.”
“He’s going to wonder why we were home when he was told we were away.”
“I’ll think of something,” she said, closing her eyes. Before succumbing to the call of death, Jolie sent a message to Louisa to wake them if the detectives returned. There was a snick of locks as Jacques secured their quarters.
“I’m glad that I’ll never wake alone again,” he said into her hair, as he continued breathing in her scent. In his mind, he squirrelled it away as a precious memory.
Jolie murmured something, and it made him smile.
“Rest my love. I’ll be here when you wake,” he promised, as he let out his last breath. Together, they invited death to claim their bodies, knowing they were no longer doing it alone.
In the darkness of death, they could try and seek each other out.
∞ ∞ ∞
Detective Brogan sat at his desk looking for information on a Doctor Jolie Harcourte. Nothing was adding up once you scratched the surface to the garbage buried beneath.
He found all her real estate through her company, ‘The Dark Eternity’, which she owned with her named partner, J. Degaul. It wasn’t hard to trace it back over a hundred years to the previous owner, her aunt, Jolie Ann Harcourte, and then past that, to a J.A Harcourte, another aunt.
Yet, it wasn’t adding up, and to make it worse, there was nothing on Jacques Degaul, except for his newly added partnership status.
He was indeed an American citizen, but the odd part was that he couldn’t locate any family to where exactly the citizenship started. It was blatantly obvious that he wasn’t born here. His speech was tinged distinctively with a French accent, and not the type you gained from world travel.
Doctor Harcourte was also French, and she too had American citizenship. In fact, the further he dug beneath the fluff he actually found dual citizenship on both of them.
It was confusing. Brogan traced back as far as he could with the paper trail, and then went online to see what he could find in the French archives.
Something had to pop.
It wasn’t adding up if you dug deeper than the surface. These two were an enigma and on paper didn't seem plausible.
Now, the money was a whole different story. That traced back to the eighteen hundreds in Paris, France, and it was all controlled by Countess Jolie Harcourte.
The sickest part? There was more money than what God had access to. When he thought that Jolie was wealthy or rich, he had been wrong.
She was loaded.
As in tycoon wealthy.
Sitting there, as he searched the internet, he found something interesting. Out of all his research, he had only managed to locate one picture in an old French archive.
That alone piqued his curiosity.
When he opened up the link, the grainy scanned photo slowly filled the screen, and he watched in fascination.
Suddenly, gone was the need to find more, and in its place was a sick feeling brewing deep in his stomach. It was the kind of sensation which warned you that the answers you sought weren’t going to be what you expected.
When the picture opened, he sat there with his mouth agape as he stared at it.
There was no freaking way.
It couldn’t be real.
Someone was yanking his chain.
There was a picture of Doctor Jolie Harcourte with her escort at a society ball in eighteen forty one. The escort looked exactly like Jacques Degaul, her security expert, and they were both dressed in correct era clothing.
It had to be an error.
Flynn checked the date again and slowly did the math meticulously in his head.
He began to feel ill.
It was almost two centuries ago.
How was that possible?
“Shit! None of this adds up,” he muttered, shoving roughly from his desk chair to head to his car. It appeared that they had some explaining to do and this time, he wasn’t taking bullshit answers from them.
He wanted the truth.
The grim determination etched deeply into his troubled face, spoke clearly of his anger. If there was one thing in life he despised, it was lying, and these two were neck deep in it.
Now, the truth was going to come out, or he was going to make sure everyone in the world knew that Doctor Jolie Harcourte wasn’t who she said she was.
It was time to lay it all on the table.
He was done screwing around.
It was time.
∞ Chapter Ten ∞
Jolie could feel the death receding from her cold, lifeless shell as one of their donors was pushing energy into her body. That only meant one thing.
Someone needed them.
Already, she suspected who that ‘someone’ would be. The detective had obviously arrived, and early.
As she opened her eyes, Jolie didn't need an explanation. Deep down, she knew it was only a matter of time before the detective was on their trail.
“Louisa, is he here?”
“Yes, Mistress, and he was adamant about seeing you and Jacques. He was quite hostile and agitated when he arrived. I placed him in your study until you’re dressed and ready. I think he’s pacing a hole through your favorite rug, so you might want to hurry.”
“Thank you, Louisa. I’ll wake Jacques, and we’ll handle it. Please inform the detective that we’ll be down shortly.” Jolie waited until their donor left before she rolled over and stared down at her mate. Even held by death, he was beautiful. She ran her hands over pale muscled flesh and toyed with his silky black hair clinging to his neck and shoulders.
Well, that was enough fun for now. They had more pressing issues to handle. Straddling his body, Jolie placed her lips against his and called for him.
Death loved energy, and just the tease of some allowed Jolie to barter her mate away from its vicious, cold grip.
With her hand resting over his heart, she could tell when he was back with the living. There was the telltale thump once, and then again, until the beats became steady. When he opened his eyes, they shone with nothing but adoration and love.
“I could really get used to this,” he said, stretching. “I’m going to assume that you didn't wake me up to roll around early.”
Jolie wished.
“So, that means he’s here, right? I can feel his hostility, confusion, and fear from the family.”
“We need to go down soon, my love,” she said, climbing off his body before heading toward her closet.
They were about to meet with the man who held their fate in his hands. Her kind didn’t trust the police so willingly, but she had a feeling that their paths had crossed for some unknown reason.
“Do you need help?” Jacques asked, pulling on his pants.
That was a lie. Jolie was well aware of what fate had in mind.
“No, I’m good, love.” Jolie decided on a floor length black silk dress. It would be comfortable and required little thought on her behalf.
“Wonderful choice, Jolie,” he said, grinning at her.
When she glanced over at him, her heart began pounding. Her mate had opted for black dress pants and a silk shirt. Apparently, he planned on leaving it unbuttoned.
<
br /> Jolie wasn’t quite sure if that was to torment her, or the detective waiting downstairs.
When he could feel her eyes on him, he grinned devilishly.
“Would you like me to feed your hunger, mon amour?” he asked, gliding toward her, silk shirt flowing around him like the caressing fingers of a lover.
“No. We’ll feed for the detective. I have a feeling that it’s the only thing that’s going to prove to him what we are, my love.”
“I do believe that you’re correct.”
“Come, Jacques, let’s see what the hand of fate has dealt us now,” she said.
“I wish we had time, mon amour,” he said, walking toward his mate. “You’re so incredibly lovely today,” he murmured, leaning down to kiss her lips and taste the sweetness of his mate. The way he craved Jolie was growing more and more, but then, that was how it was with mates.
“Me too, Jacques, but let’s see Detective Brogan soon. He’s getting more agitated and disturbed by what he has found out about us.”
“I have news for him. He hasn’t seen anything yet.”
Jolie didn't disagree. She only hoped he didn't lose his mind when he found out the truth.
Jolie and Jacques headed to the massive, elaborately decorated study filled with their treasures. When they glided into the room, they were faced with Detective Brogan pacing erratically back and forth across the study.
If anything, it appeared that he was ready to begin climbing the walls at any second.
“Hello, Detective. What a pleasant surprise to see you this afternoon,” said Jolie, filling her voice with as much peace and comfort that she could muster prior to feeding. “What is it that we can do for you?” she asked, as she sat on the leather settee.
Protectively, Jacques stood behind her with a hand possessively on the side of her throat, stroking it with gentle fingers.
“I have quite a few questions for you, Doctor Harcourte. It seems that I have nothing but loose ends when it comes to you and Mr. Degaul. You don’t check out, lady. Now, who the hell are you?”
It wasn’t like they didn't see this coming. Jolie knew the second she met him what kind of man he was, and this intense desire to find the truth was expected.
