by Melody Raven
“But putting myself in a locked room with something that wants to eat me is really edging the line on stupid. And the fact that I like you pushes me into fully stupid territory. And I do like you. I know I said those mean, terrible, horrible things outside my apartment, but I do like you. You’re disgustingly beautiful and you’re so nice. It’s so hard for me to think straight when you’re around, and I’m not sure if you’ve noticed but I’m in a dire situation here. I need to think straight. I can’t like you. I sure as hell can’t love you.
“But every second of every day, you’re in the back of my mind. What is John doing? What would he think about what I’m doing? What the hell am I going to do when all this is over and I can’t see him anymore because one of us will be dead? I should care more about the dead part. But somehow the idea of not being with you keeps on tripping me up. And I should want to get out of this. I should want this whole fucking invasion to collapse in on itself and to get out of the stupid cage you built up around us, but once again I keep on thinking the same stupid thought. That when the invasion is over, we’re over. I can’t have you messing with my head like that.
“So you understand why I was mean to you, right? Like, I know this is a shady apology because I just keep on making excuses for myself, but you have to see things from my point of view. I’m not crazy—I’m desperate. So you’re asking what you can do to help, but I don’t know what to tell you. Half of me wants to rip your clothes off and take advantage of the little time we have together, and the other half is just screaming at me that I’m so stupid for even letting myself come here, and I don’t know which half is right and I don’t know which half is wrong and I don’t know how much I care anymore.”
There was so much to digest in her rant that he didn’t know where to start. So he picked the part that was most intriguing. “You want to rip my clothes off?”
She sighed in exasperation. “Yes, if we’re being honest. Sometimes when I’m around you, I feel the overwhelming urge to rip off all of your clothes, and then mine. I’m not sure in what order.”
“Then do it.”
Her jaw fell open. Then she snapped it shut. “You know that’s not a good idea.”
“Oh, I’m aware. I also know it was a bad idea for you to come here. It’s a bad idea for you to think about me as much as you do. It’s a bad idea for you to put yourself in danger just so you can see me. But you’re here, and I’m not about to let you go anytime soon. So take. Off. Your. Clothes.”
He didn’t know where this side of him came from, but he meant everything he said. If she turned and walked out the door right now, he wouldn’t chase her. At least, he didn’t think he would. She still had enough sunlight to get herself home easily enough.
But that wasn’t what he wanted. She was obviously conflicted between what she thought was right and what her body was telling her, and he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t facing those same complications.
But unlike her, he wasn’t afraid to pick a side. If he sent her away right now, that wouldn’t fix anything. He’d still think about her constantly and lose his head whenever she was around. So why not be just as distracted, but also take what he wanted? What she so obviously wanted to give him?
But she didn’t leave. Instead, she reached up and pulled the zipper of her sweatshirt down, the buzz of metal on metal oddly loud in the apartment. Once the zipper was down, she shrugged her shoulders out of it and it dropped to the floor. “I thought you don’t do this much,” she said as she stood there awkwardly.
“Physically, maybe.” He stepped around her. He circled her slowly, like a predator, as he studied her up and down. She was still fully dressed, but in his mind, she was naked. “But I’ve already taken you a hundred different times. A thousand different ways. Heard you scream a million times. When I touch you, it’s not going to feel like a stranger touching you. It’s going to feel like you belong to me.”
She took a nervous gulp. “Because you bought and paid for me?”
He tsked with his tongue. “Oh no. You belong to me because you’re giving yourself to me. Of your own free will. Now, I believe I told you to take off all your clothes.”
He thought she would hesitate more, but instead, her hands reached down, grabbed the hem of her T-shirt, and she pulled it over her head in one quick motion. Then she was kicking off her tennis shoes and shimmying her hips as she pushed her loose jeans over her curves, and they pooled on the floor. When she was in her bra and panties, he couldn’t hold himself back anymore.
He used his vampire speed to come up behind her and press his body to hers. She let out a gasp as he let her feel his hard erection through his soft pajama pants, and he wrapped his arms around her body. She seemed so tiny and frail next to him, but he knew that if anybody could bring him to his knees, it was this woman. “Do you have any idea what you do to me?” he asked, allowing just his breath to caress her ear.
He felt her shiver in response and heard her heartbeat kick up. She was like an instrument that he couldn’t wait to learn how to play. Even though every primal instinct inside him urged him to throw her over his shoulder and carry her off to his room—where he was sure she was already wet enough for him to slide easily into her heat—he forced himself to take it easy.
She was strong, but she was also fragile. If he wasn’t careful, he could bruise her—or worse. So he reached up and, ever so lightly, brought his fingertips to the top of her shoulder before running his hand down her arm. She shivered, and he could feel the little bumps rise up on her arm. She was so sensitive to him....
He couldn’t wait to taste her fully.
“Why did you really come here?” He ran the tip of his nose along her neck. He knew there were things she still wasn’t telling him. Considering the odd nature of their relationship, he could hardly blame her. But the idea that she was keeping part of herself hidden from him still drove him crazy. He wanted to know all of her secrets.
“I didn’t want to never see you again,” she said breathlessly.
It was the first thing he truly understood. “Why do you think you’ll never see me again?” His hands skimmed over her hips and along the curve of her waist.
“You left. I said mean things and you left, and I can’t call you or get a hold of you or—”
His hand traveled up farther and curled around her neck. Not applying any pressure, just holding her there. “I’d find you. Somewhere. Some day.”
“Is that a threat?” she asked softly.
“It’s a fact.”
He leaned down and nipped at her neck. Not hard enough to draw blood, but enough to tease them both. His cock was rock hard now, and for the first time he allowed himself to actually believe he was going to get what he wanted.
The idea that had seemed so alien to him a few days—weeks, hours—ago, the idea that he could truly be inside of Tela, was now at his fingertips. Literally.
He moved one hand over her collarbone, over the light, barely there material of her bra that he could tear into pieces with hardly any effort, over the soft skin of her stomach and into the lace of her panties.
She drew in a deep breath as she pushed her ass against him. Once again, he had to grip his control tightly as he forced his patience to win out. His fingers slid into her intoxicating warmth and into the very wet heat.
He could tell her knees were getting weak because she went from rubbing against him to falling back, all of her weight on him. He pushed two fingers deep inside as he used his palm to rub her clit with each stroke. He was worried he’d forget what to do, but her body writhed against him, showing him exactly how she wanted to be touched. He had a feeling she didn’t even know she was doing it, but he soaked in every little motion and squirm as she directed him with her body language.
And as she came for him, she reached down, grabbing his wrist with her hand. He wasn’t sure whether she was trying to stop him or encourage him, so he kept up his fast pace; she tensed and threw her head back, letting out a moan that would
’ve been a scream if she weren’t clenching her teeth.
As the orgasm passed over her, John gladly took all of her weight as he stared down at her, not wanting to miss a second.
After a few moments, Tela’s eyes slowly opened and she met his gaze. “I thought you were bad at this,” she breathed.
He frowned. “Why would you think that?”
“I don’t know.... Lack of experience?”
His mouth curled up. It was hard to be offended when he had just showed her how experienced he could be. “If I can’t do it often, I might as well do it best.”
She let out a laugh and reached up, touching his face. “Why doesn’t this feel like a mistake?”
“Because it’s meant to be.”
He said the words with such conviction. As though he actually believed it. She didn’t know whether she should tell him how wrong he was or not, but then he was bending down and picking her up, one hand behind her shoulders and one behind her knees. It was so similar to the way he’d carried her when they’d first met.
Except now she was mostly naked and he was taking her to his bedroom....
He was so strong and warm, and even as her mind shot back and forth like a ping pong ball, she wasn’t scared at all. What on earth would she have done if she never had this? If she had to just imagine him for the rest of her life, when the truth was so much more intense than anything her mind could’ve come up with?
His room was big and bare, like the rest of the apartment. The floor-to-ceiling windows were covered with blackout curtains to block out the sun. Only the light from the hallway illuminated the dark space.
He set her gently on the bed, and she leaned up on her elbows and looked up expectantly at him. She’d imagined him undressing for her a thousand times, and now she was finally going to get her wish. He started with his shirt, muscles rippling at the simple motion. She wished the lights were on higher for her to truly appreciate the sight, but she was already drooling at the thought of touching him again.
Then he went to his pants, undoing the buttons and pushing the pants down to the floor, along with any underwear—if he was wearing any. Because now he was naked, proud, and very, very erect. God, she had a feeling he’d be big, but he was even more proportional than she expected.
She hadn’t been with anyone since she came to live with her family, and suddenly she wasn’t as sure as she’d been a second ago.
John, the stupidly perceptive man who could obviously see in the dark much better than her, picked up on it. “What’s wrong?”
She blinked and tore her gaze from his hard cock. “Um, nothing. Just... you’re, um, big.”
He smiled. “Isn’t that a good thing?”
“Yeah. I mean, it’s a good thing if....”
He tilted his head in that adorable/infuriating way she was getting used to. “You’re worried I won’t fit.”
Her mouth fell open, but no words came out.
Leaning down, he put his hands on the bed on either side of her. “I promise when I’m inside you, you’ll have no doubt that we fit perfectly together.”
She took a nervous gulp. “How can you be so sure?”
He continued climbing up her body, looking more like a predator than she’d ever seen him. “How can you not be?” he asked as he was right above her.
Her breath was coming fast, and now that he was on top of her, she felt so small in comparison. But she knew there was no turning back now. Even if she wanted to leave, and she really didn’t, she’d never physically be able to. Mainly because her legs were still jelly from the orgasm he just gave her in the living room.
She reached out, setting a hand on his bare shoulder. He was so rock-hard solid and warm and smooth at the same time. A perfect being. Maybe this was a mistake. No one else could ever compare to the perfection above her.
How she wished things were different. This might be perfect, but she also knew there was no happy ending for them. This wasn’t a fairy tale. This was war, and they were just pawns hoping to make it through alive.
Her hand slid over his shoulder and down his stomach, following a similar path he had taken earlier on her own body.
She met his eyes as she touched him. And when her hand reached lower to wrap around him, he let out a gasp. There was so much hunger in his eyes as he stared at her. How much of that was hunger for her body versus hunger for her blood? Was there even a line between the two, or were they one and the same?
She brought her head up and pressed her forehead against his as she continued stroking him, from the thick base to the ridge around the head of his cock. Her breaths mixed with his, and she played with the pressure.
And then he was kissing her, and damn it, she apparently wasn’t capable of multitasking right now. Her hand fell away from him as he devoured her mouth. Her free fingers gripped his hair as she kissed him back. She kissed him frantically, deeply, slowly. If this was their only time together, she wanted to make it last. To experience it all.
She ran her tongue along the tip of his fully extended fangs, which somehow managed to not get in the way, and teased him by biting his lip and pulling.
“You’re a biter then?” he murmured during a brief break from the kiss.
“Apparently I’ve been spending too much time with you.” God, he smelled good. Why did he smell so good?
“Then I guess I’ll have to teach you everything I know....”
Before she could wonder what he meant by that, he reached between their bodies and ripped off her panties in one fierce move. And just like that, her last barrier of protection between them was gone. She should be terrified, but she just wanted him more. There was no patience left in her. All that she had was need and desire and lust, and she needed him now.
One of his big hands hooked under her knee and parted her thighs wide for him. His other hand braced him on the bed, and she stared up at him. He was so damn pretty and terrifying. This wasn’t the time for second thoughts. For all the reasons this was a bad idea.
But when his cock started to nudge at her entrance, she couldn’t think anything. Her fingers tightened on his shoulders in anticipation, but he didn’t enter right away. First he bent forward, giving her a deep, soul-searing kiss. The kind of kiss that made the room spin and her vision go fuzzy.
“You feel perfect,” he murmured.
“You feel perfect.” As soon as she said the words, she knew she should take them back, but it was true. At that moment, his strength, his heat were all perfection.
But he seemed to let her slide as he kissed his way along her jaw and neck. Her neck? Was he going to—
His fangs sunk in as he thrust inside, and it was unlike anything she’d ever experienced. The pain and pleasure mixed together in an exhilarating rush.
She gripped him tighter as her eyes squeezed shut. All she could do was hold on desperately as she tried to reconcile the sensations. It was so much, so fast, and she was still so sensitive from her earlier orgasm. It was embarrassingly easy for that crescendo to hit again, and she didn’t fight it. She just tucked into John as much as possible and held him tight as she savored every moment.
It was only a few moments later when John tensed above her. He pulled his fangs from her as he let out a groan.
She held him for a long time after that. Part of her wanted to worry about the fact that they’d passed some barrier they could never come back from.
But she knew that they’d passed the point of no return a long time ago.
Tela snuggled closer to John. She didn’t want to leave. She never wanted to leave. But she supposed that Angelique wasn’t going to make her move until Wednesday. That would give them a whole week to be together. To do whatever they wanted.
Well, as long as it didn’t interfere with his normal duties. And as long as she still was able to take care of Dani. Okay, so they would have a little time to do whatever they wanted.
“You’re thinking again.” John ran a hand up and down her back.
The so
ft motion felt so soothing, it made her want to purr like a cat.
“Does that bother you? Do you want your women to sit still and be pretty?”
He toyed with the ends of her hair where they fell along her back. She rested her chin on his chest so she could get a better view of his face.
“You’re always pretty. Loud, quiet—it doesn’t matter.”
“Then I’m allowed to think.”
“I have no problem with a woman who thinks. I was asking because when you think too much, you tense up and I can sense when the bad thoughts are taking over.”
“You can’t expect to protect me from bad thoughts.”
“I can expect to protect you from anything. Try to stop me.”
She sighed and set the side of her face along his chest. She didn’t want to lie to him while looking into his eyes. She supposed any new relationship had its share of lies and secrets. But what she knew could lead to John dying. And as impossible as that idea seemed to her, she kept thinking of Dani. Even if she was in a happy situation for the moment, she couldn’t depend on that lasting. And Dani would never be happy, sitting back and letting someone take care of her.
John, as much as she’d grown to care about him, was just another invader on her land. She couldn’t betray everything important to her for him. No matter how much she—
A dull roar sounded from outside, pulling Tela from her thoughts. Glancing to the window, she saw that the sun had finally gone down. “Are you people always this loud when the sun goes down?”
She knew the answer before he said anything. He had gone tense beneath her and was pushing her aside as he climbed up and walked to the window. “No.” He pulled the curtain back a few inches and glanced outside.