by R. E. Butler
“I thought you came over to me to feed.”
“I want to do that too, but in a more intimate setting.” He traced her lips with his fingertip, and then drew an invisible line down her jaw to her neck, pausing at her pulse. “I want you, Selma. I’m not trying to play games; I’m trying to be honest. I feel remarkably drawn to you and I don’t want our time together to end.” He exhaled and rolled his neck. “Come sit with me until your shift is over. We can get to know each other. And at the end of the night, if you feel comfortable, you can come to my apartment. It’s across the street.”
“Am I... allowed to sit at a table? I thought I had to stay out on the floor.”
“You were hiding in the shadows,” he reminded her.
“Not hiding.”
He snorted and took a step back, reaching for her hands and linking their fingers. “I’m a coven member. I’m hoping you’ll feed me when your shift is over. If anyone asks, that’s what we’ll say.”
“Okay. I’d like that.”
He nodded and smiled at her. He led her to a table where a woman sat, who he introduced as Leighanna, a coven member. She was a stunning woman, and when she smiled curiously, her dark gaze flitting between the two of them, Kelly wondered if she knew what Selma looked like and would call her out for her fraud.
Speaking of, what the heck was she going to do if she went home with Bellamin? She already liked him, and she hated that they were starting things off with the wrong name. Deciding she’d tell him the truth after her shift was over and hope that he didn’t go to the manager and rat her out, she turned her attention to the pretty vampire and sat on a high stool next to Bellamin.
“You know what? I’m going to find Merrix and get something to eat. See you later.” Leighanna smiled at them and slipped from the tall stool.
Kelly looked after her curiously, then turned to face Bellamin. “She said eat.”
“Yeah?”
“But you don’t eat real food, right? Just blood.”
He nodded with a snort. “It’s an old habit, I guess. We can’t eat real food, but we do need blood to survive so we tend to refer to getting a drink as eating. I take it you haven’t had many long conversations with vampires since you’ve been working here?”
“No.”
“Well, I’ll happily fill you in, but I don’t want to talk about myself the whole time, I want to get to know you too. So just keep in mind that sharing goes both ways.”
“Okay.”
While he explained vampire eating habits, involving daily synthetic blood and weekly real blood, as well as the effects of sunlight and being a day sleeper, he held her hand, his thumb making small circles and slow strokes along her skin. She could hardly concentrate on his words with the way he touched her. On the surface it looked innocent—he was just holding her hand after all—but it made her insides feel all warm and melty. Even in the crowded club, with music pounding through the speakers and strobe lights and lasers flashing everywhere, she felt like they were alone in a room. And she liked how that felt. She didn’t understand how she could feel so connected to him so quickly, and she supposed it was due to him being a vampire. He wasn’t human, not anymore.
“So I’m all alone now,” he said. “The coven is like a big family, but it’s not quite the same as having parents or siblings. My best friend is Dylan, he’s in the coven. He and I are guards for the family.”
“Family?”
“Mishka’s inner circle. They work in the offices here at the club. You know Cella?”
She froze, knowing she’d heard the name before. It clicked quickly and she managed a half smile as she answered yes.
“She’s part of the family. When I joined the coven fifteen years ago, there weren’t any mates in the family. Now, five of the family members have found their mates.
“You’re so beautiful,” he said, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear. “I want the night to go faster so you can clock out and we can talk.”
“Me too.”
They took a turn on the dance floor when a slow song came over the speakers, and he held her close, making her feel once more like she was the only person in the universe. He stopped moving and stared down at her, his eyes darkening and his fangs peeking from his parted lips. Time seemed to stand still, and while she was peripherally aware of people dancing around them, he held all her attention.
“I think the best choice I ever made was to come in here tonight,” he said, leaning down and talking into her ear. She shivered as his breath cascaded over her skin. “It’s nearly four. Let me take you home, sweetheart. Spend the day with me. I have so much I need to tell you.”
He kissed her, the full press of his lips sending little tingles racing through her. They’d kissed a dozen times since he’d found her in the shadows, and each time was as surprising as the first one. She’d never been kissed so spectacularly before. He kissed her like he could climb down inside her, like he’d been waiting the last two hundred years to be with her alone. The knowledge was heady. She was only twenty-five, but it felt like she’d been waiting her whole life for him too.
When the kiss ended, far too soon for her, they returned to the room where she’d checked in. Bellamin left her at the door and spoke to the man behind the computer who’d given her a hard time when she checked in late. She couldn’t hear what Bellamin said but judging by the way the man’s eyes narrowed as he glanced in her direction, she hoped she wouldn’t lose the job for her sister. It was only twenty minutes before four, but since she was already on thin ice who knew how the man would react.
The man sighed visibly and nodded, turning to the computer and typing rapidly. Bellamin clapped him on the shoulder and joined her.
“You’re all set.”
“I’m not going to lose my job for leaving early?”
“No, I promise. Are you ready to go?”
She looked up at him, studying his features. He was sexy as hell, with dark brown eyes, tousled dark brown hair, and lips made for kissing. She’d felt his muscles under his shirt as they’d danced, and she was anxious to see what he looked like without anything on. Even though she’d never done something so impulsive in her life, she wanted to do this. She wanted to spend the night with Bellamin and see where things went with them. She wasn’t sure why, but she didn’t think she could walk away from him.
“I’m ready,” she said.
He lifted her hand to his lips and kissed her knuckles, an old-fashioned gesture that warmed her to the core. As they left the club, she smiled to herself. The girl who never did anything exciting was about to go to a vampire’s apartment.
Chapter Four
Bellamin couldn’t believe his luck. He’d gone to the club for a drink and found his mate. Selma was gorgeous and made his fangs throb. Sitting in the club, he’d thought of nothing but getting her to his apartment and making her his in truth. Even though she worked as food for the club, after sitting and chatting with her a while he realized she clearly didn’t know much about vampires. So he couldn’t just take her as his mate without ensuring she understood what it signified.
Which brought him back to the reason he was walking to the food check-in with his beautiful mate on his arm. Leaving her at the door, he strode toward the desk and greeted Denny.
“What’s doing?” Denny asked.
“See that female?” Bell asked, nodding toward Selma.
Denny nodded. “Selma something. She was late today.”
“She had car trouble. But that’s not why I’m here. She’s my mate, and I want you to make it so she can leave her shift early without getting in trouble.” It wasn’t that Bell particularly liked her job, because he sure as hell didn’t, but it was important to her and he didn’t want to get her fired. He’d like her to quit immediately, but he also reasoned she wouldn’t necessarily want to make the decision right now after they’d only spent a few hours together.
Denny glanced at his phone. “The shift’s over in twenty minutes. You can’t wait?”
/>
“I don’t want to.”
Denny’s eyes narrowed and then he sighed. “I’ll handle it, no worries.”
“Thanks.” Bell clapped him on the shoulder and joined Selma. “You’re all set.”
“I’m not going to lose my job for leaving early?”
“No, I promise. Are you ready to go?”
He took her hand and walked with her through the club and out the employee entrance. “Is your place far?” she asked.
“Nope, right across the street.”
He glanced back at the club, seeing that the front was empty of the large crowd that had been waiting to get inside earlier in the night. Because it was so late, the club no longer served alcohol, so while many humans didn’t mind staying and hanging out, a lot of them would leave after last call. The street was empty, and they crossed quickly then walked to the apartment building.
“How long have you lived here?” she asked.
“I moved into this apartment five years ago.”
“Could you live away from the club?”
“Sure, if I wanted to. It would have to be a place that was light-tight, since I can’t be exposed to sunlight.”
He entered the code to unlock the door and held it open for her. The lobby was luxuriously outfitted with gleaming marble floors, a seating area with leather couches, and two elevators. He led her to one of the elevators and pressed the up button after he entered a code to unlock it, hearing the whine of the machinery as it engaged and lowered. “Wow, this place is amazing.”
“Yeah, it’s pretty nice. Mishka doesn’t do anything without flair.”
“The whole coven lives here?”
“No. The coven’s the biggest in the Midwest so we’re spread out all over northern Ohio. Some live here, some live in the club, and some live outside of the club in their own homes. I heard a rumor that Mishka was going to buy some property near downtown and build a private community for the coven, small homes within a gated area complete with daytime guards and patrols.”
“That sounds nice.”
The elevator doors slid open and they walked inside. He entered another code and then pressed the button for his floor before the doors slid shut. “There are a lot of codes for this building.”
“It’s for everyone’s safety. One code for the front door, one to open the elevator, and then each floor has their own code as well.”
“Better safe than sorry, I guess.”
“Absolutely.”
He wanted to ask her about her life. He knew he was being a lousy male and just letting her ask all the questions, and he didn’t want her to think he wasn’t interested in her. But all he could think about at the moment was getting her into his apartment. Privacy first, then they could really talk.
Once he’d unlocked his apartment door and ushered her inside, he closed and locked it, then turned on the lamp in the corner of the living room.
She hummed as she looked around the room. The room had a flat-screen TV hung over an electric fireplace, a couch and matching chair, and a coffee table with different colored stone tiles on top.
“What?” he asked, moving close to her and inhaling her scent. It was warm and sweet, like the sugar cookies he could smell the coven’s personal chef baking sometimes for the non-vampire mates.
“No windows,” she said, gesturing to one wall that had a large framed painting of a mountain hanging in the center. “Oh, right.” She let out a light laugh and shook her head. “You must think I’m a total ditz.”
“Not at all.” He brushed his fingers down her arm, smiling when she shivered and tipped her head up to look at him.
“Bellamin?” she whispered.
“You can call me Bell. My friends do.”
She blinked slowly, her gaze darkening to a deep chocolate, and the sweet scent of her arousal reached his nose. “Is that what we’re doing here? Becoming friends?”
He chuckled, bringing her hand to his lips and kissing her knuckles. “I want everything with you, Selma. I want us to be friends and lovers, and I want to spend time with you. I want to know everything about you, and for you to know everything about me. If all we do today is talk and fall asleep in each other’s arms, then I’ll be the happiest male on the planet.”
She rose onto her toes and linked her hands behind his neck, drawing him down to her. Their lips hovered close but not touching. “I want all of that too, but I don’t want to talk right now.”
Her lips brushed his, and all thought fled. He opened his mouth and kissed her, slipping his arms around her waist and pulling her against him. Her shoes thudded to the floor as she brought her legs around his waist and crossed her ankles at his back. He carried her to the bedroom, navigating by memory because he couldn’t bring himself to end the kiss once she started to suck on his tongue. He felt the edge of the bed, and he laid her down, snarling as she pulled from the kiss and let out a gusty groan.
She scooted into the center of the bed, crooking her finger at him. She bent her knees, and spread her legs, and his gaze snapped to the white laced covered apex of her thighs. He toed off his shoes and climbed onto the bed, resting his hands on her knees for a moment and then slowly sliding his hands up the outside of her thighs. She shivered, her nipples tightening under the thin material of her white tank.
He moved his hands up to the hem of her top and pushed it up, baring her belly. He lowered his head and kissed her navel, inhaling her sweet scent, and then he followed the material up her body as he lifted the tank over her breasts and bared her. Her hands sank into his hair and he lifted his head and kissed her lips, his hips pressing against hers as their bodies connected. He could feel the heat of her against his erection, his entire body throbbing as he moved from her lips and kissed across her jaw. He tugged on her ear gently, chuckling as she shivered again, and then he nipped a line down her throat, moving past the bunched-up material of her top and finding her lush breasts topped with tight nipples. He cupped one, rubbing the tip with his thumb as he kissed the other, licking around the little bud and then sucking on it, careful not to puncture her skin with his fangs.
She moaned softly, her hands tightening in his hair. She dropped one hand to his neck, pushing it inside the collar of his shirt. He let go of her nipple and lifted from her, jerking the shirt open, sending buttons flying. He rose onto his knees and hurriedly removed the shirt, smiling when she pulled her tank over her head and tossed it aside as well.
He kissed her, their tongues sliding together as the kiss deepened, his fingers rubbing and plucking her nipples as she writhed under him. Her hands smoothed down his sides as she explored him, her fingers tracing every inch of his skin until she reached the waistband of his jeans. He slid down her body, slipping his fingers into her skirt’s waistband and pushing down. The skirt and her panties moved slowly down her body, and she lifted her hips so he could slide them out from under her. When he dropped the rest of her clothes to the floor, he climbed from the bed and straightened, resting his hands on the waistband of his jeans.
Her whole body was flushed, her eyes bright with passion, her lips swollen from their kisses. Everything about her called to him, from her scent to her beauty to her killer smile. He undid his belt and unfastened his jeans, catching his boxers with his thumbs and shoving both down his legs. Stepping free of his clothes, he climbed back onto the bed, his cock bobbing against his stomach as he slowly pushed her legs apart and made room for himself between her thighs. She bent her knees and reached for him, cupping the back of his head, her fingers digging into his neck as he inhaled the sweet scent of her arousal.
Her pussy was bare and glistening and he spread her open with his fingers and licked a slow line up the center of her body. She tilted her hips and dropped her head back to the mattress with a groan. He explored her with his lips and tongue, slipping a finger into her heat and pumping lightly as he laved his tongue over her clit. Twisting his hand, he added a second finger, curling them along her silky walls and rubbing as he suckled her cli
t. He knew he’d found the right spot when her pussy clenched his fingers, and he flicked his tongue rapidly over her clit and played with that place, rubbing swiftly until she cried out his name and jerked in his hold, her fingers twisting in his hair.
He kissed his way up her trembling body, the sweet taste of her on his tongue. He pushed into her slowly, groaning at how perfectly she fit around him, how tightly her body gripped him. He gritted his teeth to stop himself from coming on the spot. She felt too good. Too perfect. It was then he realized that she wasn’t just his truemate—she was his beloved. He could share his immortality with her without turning her into a vampire.
Elation filled him and he surged forward, her head kicking back as her hands dropped to grasp his shoulders and flexed. He pushed his hands underneath her and drew her close as he flexed his hips, sliding out of her heat and pressing back in. She opened her eyes and lifted her head for a kiss, their tongues tangling together until she hooked her ankles behind his back and drew him into her. He dropped his head to the crux of her neck and began to take her hard and fast. His hands curled around her shoulders and pulled her into his thrusts, their bodies moving in sync as her mounting cries of pleasure filled the air. She chanted his name, her body pulsing around him as she came a second time and he followed her into bliss.
As his cock spasmed within her, he closed his eyes and gritted his teeth, his fangs digging into his gums. He was overwhelmed with the urge to bite her and to slash his own wrist to feed her at the same time. But he knew he couldn’t, not right now. Not until his beautiful sweetheart knew much more about vampires, and what being a beloved mate truly meant.
He was thrilled to the center of his being. To think he’d gone to have a drink at the club and walked out with his beloved. He rolled to his back and she followed, straddling his waist, his cock still lodged within her. Sprawling over him, she let out a groan. “That was amazing.”
He cupped her face and lifted her head until she was gazing at him with eyes bright with passion. “You are.”