Waiting.
“I came here for this,” she heard herself say. Her gaze locked with his. “For you.”
She wasn’t sure why she told him the truth. Except that she’d already put herself out there by stripping naked, so there seemed no point in denying it anymore. That, and she wanted him to know that he wasn’t just any man to her.
Not then and not now.
He didn’t move for a long moment, as if letting her words sink in. Disbelief flashed in his gaze, followed by a strange glimmer that burned up any and everything else. He dropped his PDA to the riverbank and reached for the hem of his T-shirt. Pulling the soft cotton over his head, he tossed it to the side.
He was every bit as rough and rugged as she remembered.
Muscles carved his torso, from his bulging biceps and shoulders to the rippled plane of his abdomen. Dark, silky hair sprinkled his chest and narrowed to a tiny funnel of silk that disappeared beneath the button fly of his faded jeans.
Her gaze swept down to the prominent bulge beneath his zipper, and her pulse quickened.
His boots barely made a ripple as he strode across the water and ate up the distance that separated them. He stopped just inches shy.
Close, but not close enough.
“I’m not the man you remember.” She wasn’t sure if it was an admission or a warning.
Her doubts stirred and suddenly, she couldn’t help but wonder if maybe, just maybe, she’d come to Skull Creek for nothing.
He was different now.
And there was a very real possibility that her reaction to him would be different, as well.
Maybe sex with him would be as uneventful as it had been with every other male in her past.
Maybe.
Probably.
“I’m not a man at all,” he added.
She clung to a small ripple of hope and fingered her sensitive nipple. “Neither am I.”
A grin tugged at his lips, followed by a fierce, hungry look as he watched her play with herself. She plucked the ripe tip, rubbed and stirred until a gasp worked its way up her throat.
“I’ve pictured you like this, you know.” He reached out to replace her hand with his own. The rough pad of his thumb flicked her, and the tip hardened even more. Her areola tightened and puckered. A growl vibrated up his throat. “Standing in the moonlight with your eyes bright and your body trembling.” His gaze flashed and his mouth opened just enough for her to see the gleaming white tips of his fangs. “In my dreams. My fantasies.”
Excitement stirred deep inside of her, along with her own hunger. Her gut clenched, and her legs quivered. “I’ve fantasized about you, too.” She wasn’t sure why she told him, except he spoke so freely and suddenly she wanted to, as well.
She wanted to talk to him the way she had back then. And she wanted him to listen.
To care.
The notion struck, and she stiffened. Caring? This wasn’t about caring. It was about passion. Fast, furious, blazing passion.
He thumbed her nipple again before dipping his head. His tongue flicked out, and he licked her. Once, twice.
Slowly. Meticulously.
Because he wasn’t turned on enough. Not yet.
Dangling, she could almost hear Winona say.
“Geez, it’s getting hot,” she commented as he slid his hands under her breasts.
“Not nearly hot enough.” He kneaded the soft, round globes.
Excitement flared in the pit of her stomach, and she closed her eyes for a long, nerve-wracking moment. She couldn’t…She wouldn’t…
She opened her eyes and stared at her feet, focusing on the quickest means of escape from the delicious sensation wreaking havoc on her control.
“I—I think maybe it’s time to cool off.” She willed herself to drop, plunging straight down into the water and out of his grasp.
The cool liquid closed over her head, and she relished the sudden change of temperature. She needed to calm down, to douse the inferno that raged deep inside and threatened to seize control.
She wasn’t taking the lead and killing her chances for a bona fide orgasm.
She wasn’t.
She stayed under for several long moments, until her heart calmed enough for her to actually think again.
Finally, she moved her arms and legs, swimming back toward the shimmering moonlight overhead. She broke the surface with a soft plunk and opened her eyes to find him nowhere in sight.
She wiped a hand over her face. Other than the two motorcycles, the bank sat empty, the trees shrouding everything else in darkness.
Surely, he wouldn’t leave his motorcycle?
Then again, if he’d changed his mind…
Instead of upping the challenge, maybe her retreat had given him time to come to his senses.
To run.
The truth echoed in her head as she did a complete three-sixty in the water, her gaze searching every inch of the surrounding bank. A faint rustle thundered through her head, and her gaze snapped to the stretch of lush vegetation to her right. A rabbit darted across the ground before disappearing into the trees. A cricket buzzed, hopping from one distant branch to the other. A firefly sparked, bobbing through the trees.
She glanced down at the water, her gaze pushing into the dark depths, but she saw only the steady kick of her own legs, the flap of her arms. On the surface, her reflection stared back at her.
Her hair was plastered to her head. Water dripped from the tip of her nose. Black circles rimmed her eyes and made streaks down her cheeks—
What the hell?
She peered closer, and a sinking feeling gripped the pit of her stomach. She hadn’t used waterproof mascara. She hadn’t even thought about it.
But then, she hadn’t had a clue she’d be going for a swim. No, she’d pictured herself having sex tonight, not playing cat and mouse in the river.
She wiped frantically at her face, but that only smeared the black even more. She’d just splashed a handful of water onto her face to try to wash some of it off when she felt the soft brush against the inside of one ankle.
She jumped, kicking her legs and flailing around. While she might be up to a game with Garret, she wasn’t going one on one with a fish. Or a snake.
Not that she was vulnerable to snakes. It was just the thought of something she couldn’t see slithering around her ankles that sent goose bumps dancing up and down her arms. She definitely didn’t do snakes.
Just as the notion struck, something brushed her other ankle, and she kicked out.
To hell with this.
She focused, gathering her strength and energy, and started to lift herself out of the water. But then the faint brush turned to a steel-like grip as fingers wrapped around her ankle and jerked her back down.
The water closed over her and she went completely under. Deeper and deeper. She flailed, fighting for a split-second until she felt the strong arms close around her, and she knew it wasn’t a snake.
Her eyes opened and through the shimmering water, she saw Garret, his face only inches from her. His eyes blazed with a hunger so bright and intense that she felt like she’d go up in flames.
She had the sudden thought that she should definitely give Winona a great, big fat bonus for her advice, but then his lips touched hers, and she stopped thinking altogether.
Shazam!
16
HE’D FANTASIZED ABOUT kissing her so many times over the years. But nothing, not even the most decadent dream, prepared him for the real thing.
Her lips were soft and full beneath his plundering mouth and an electrical current ran from his lips, straight to his growing erection. He pushed his tongue deep, stroking and delving. He was through denying himself. He meant to sample every inch of her, savor her essence on his lips, make her writhe and moan until she knew without a doubt that he was her equal—a seductive, mesmerizing vampire with pure sex on his mind.
He pulled her flush against his body as they hung suspended in the sparkling depths of the water. He let his h
ands roam over her naked body and marveled at the feel. She was softer than he remembered. More voluptuous.
Impossible, he knew.
She was a vampire. The same yesterday, today, tomorrow. He knew that, yet he found himself slowing down and re-learning every inch of her anyway.
The dip at the base of her spine, the soft hollow just beneath her rib cage, the roundness of her ass, the smooth, sensitive inside of each thigh.
He drew her closer, pulling her legs around him and locking her ankles at the small of his back. Then he settled her firmly against the rock-hard length barely contained by his zipper.
She wrapped her arms around his neck and hung on as he rocked her. The coarse material of his jeans rasped against her clitoris, and he felt her tremble.
The water stirred around them, bubbling from the heat rolling off their bodies. At the rate they were going, it wouldn’t be long until the entire river started to steam.
He focused his thoughts and willed them to move toward the surface and higher…until they cleared the river completely and levitated a few feet above. Water dripped off of them, sprinkling down as he moved them toward the opposite river bank and the soft patch of thick grass.
When his bare feet touched the lush growth, he kissed her again, exploring and tasting for the next few frantic moments before he loosened his grip. Easing her to the ground, he slid her down his hard length, letting her feel every inch of how badly he wanted her.
A gasp parted her lips. He caught the sound as he kissed her again, hard and insistent. His hands were everywhere, touching, branding, reminding her of the past and how much he’d changed.
That was the goal here. To prove that he wasn’t the same man any more than she was the same woman.
He’d been as charged up sexually, of course, but he’d had a far different goal in mind.
Back then, he’d been concerned with both giving and receiving pleasure. But now…Now it wasn’t about having his own orgasm. It was about sustaining himself, growing stronger, feeding.
It was about giving her an orgasm and soaking up the energy he so desperately needed.
Ditto for her. Or so he thought. But she made no move to turn him on and push him toward the edge. Rather, she seemed content to be on the receiving end. As if her goal had nothing to do with the beast that lived and breathed inside of her and everything to do with the woman who stood before him.
As if.
He had to give her credit. She was one hell of an actress. Then and now.
Desperate sounds worked their way past her luscious lips as he touched her. Her breasts plumped beneath his fingertips. Her nipples hardened.
He moved lower, stroking the heat between her legs, plunging, mimicking what he was going to do to her. He slipped his hands between her legs to find her warm and slick and oh, so ready.
She managed to tear her lips away. “No,” she gasped the minute his fingertip pushed a delicious inch into her steamy heat. “Not like this…I…” She licked her lips, her eyes bright with desire. “I—I want you inside of me.”
He wanted it, too.
He wanted to bury himself deep and forget the rest of the world and explode.
A realization that made him all the more determined to hold back.
The way he would with any woman.
That’s all she was to him.
Any woman.
Every woman.
He ignored the last thought and slid a finger deep inside of her. She moaned, the sound vibrating up her throat, feeding the excitement that coiled inside of him.
“No,” she said again when he plunged a second finger inside, but the word was softer, weaker.
He withdrew and pushed back in. Her muscles quivered around him, and a drop of wetness slid across his palm. Her lips trembled as he took her mouth in another kiss. Deeper than the last. Hotter. Wetter.
He pleasured her with his hand and his mouth for the next several moments until she clung to him. A soft cry bubbled from her lips. A tremor went through her, and energy rushed into him from every point of contact.
He fixated on the empowering buzz and let it feed his strength. His senses sharpened and magnified and the fog in his head seemed to clear.
But it wasn’t enough, he realized when her climax subsided and the buzz faded to a distant hum. The beast stirred, restless and demanding and not the least bit satisfied, and a growl worked its way up his throat.
The deep rumbling pushed past the ringing in Viv’s ears and drew her gaze to his. She pulled away to stare up at him.
His eyes fired with a predatory light. A hiss slid past his lips and he opened his mouth. His fangs flashed, gleaming in the moonlight, and a crazy excitement welled inside of her.
Crazy because she couldn’t let him actually bite her. She wouldn’t. If he drank from her, or vice versa, it would forge a nearly unbreakable bond between them. They would be one.
He would know her darkest fears and her deepest secrets.
He would know the truth.
She stumbled back, but he refused to let her retreat. He matched her step for step until she came up against one of the massive trees that circled the clearing.
Gone was the passionate man who’d pleasured her for hours on end. Instead, he’d turned into a raw primitive savage.
A vampire.
The truth stirred a wave of guilt, but then he reached for her.
One hand dove into the hair at the base of her skull while the other pressed into the small of her back. He tugged her head back until her neck was fully exposed. The sharp edge of his fangs grazed the tender flesh, rasping and prickling just enough to draw one sweet drop.
She hissed, warning him away, but he wasn’t about to be put off.
He followed the crimson trail with his seductive mouth and licked his way over her clavicle, down the slope of her breast until it reached her nipple.
He sucked her into his mouth, and a burst of pleasure sliced through her from her head clear to her toes.
But while he rasped her with his fangs, he didn’t sink them deep. She realized then that he didn’t want the bond between them any more than she did.
Relief swept through her, followed by a surge of disappointment.
He didn’t give her a chance to analyze the strange reaction. He urged her down to the soft grass and straddled her.
The faded material of his wet jeans hugged his hard thighs, showing every ripple of muscle. His bare torso gleamed with a fine sheen of water that caught flickers of moonlight.
She reached up and trailed her hands along his slick muscled flesh. His shoulders rippled and bulged beneath her palms. She splayed her fingers in the hair covering his chest, her touch tentative, restrained as she followed the whorl of silk as it narrowed and descended to his abdomen. She stopped just shy of the waistband to his jeans.
Her hunger raged, urging her on. She balled her fingers against the need. Her body stiffened. She forced her gaze away, up over his rock-hard abdomen, his broad chest, his corded neck, to his face.
His eyes burned, reflecting the pure, ravaging hunger that she felt inside.
“Please,” she heard herself beg. Because she’d gone without the sweet, drenching heat for so long.
Without him.
As if he read her mind, he leaned down. His tongue flicked a ripe nipple, and she gasped. His mouth was hot and wet as he drew her in, tonguing and laving the stiff peak until she arched against him.
“Unzip me,” he said when he finally drew away. He caught her hand and pressed it to his crotch.
Her fingers fluttered over the zipper, the metal hot beneath her touch. Because he was hot, his skin on fire. The air around them shimmered, and she could practically see the sparks in the translucent depths of his eyes.
“I can’t…” Because if she reached out this time, she wouldn’t be able to stop. She would unzip him, roll him over and straddle him, and that would be the kiss of death. He had to be the leader.
“You can,” he said. “A
nd you will.” He leaned down and flicked her nipple again, teasing and torturing even longer this time until she couldn’t not touch him.
The zipper hissed, and he sprang hot and eager into her hands. Her attention riveted on his heated, pulsing flesh. He was as smooth as satin and rock-hard.
She trailed her fingers over him, touching the ripe head of his desire. He jumped in her hands, and she barely resisted the urge to dip her head, to taste him.
Instead, she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him down for a kiss that surprised them both. It was a bold move, but not half as aggressive as what she wanted to do to him.
Her passion seemed to feed his, and soon he was back in the driver’s seat. He kissed her harder, faster, deeper. He pulled away long enough to peel off the wet jeans and then he joined her on the soft grass.
He parted her legs and settled himself between them. He rasped his erection up and down her slick folds before entering her in one powerful surge.
The sudden sense of fullness deep inside sent shock-waves pulsing through her body. Her inner muscles contracted, sucking him in. Pressure erupted in her belly.
He started to move, plunging and withdrawing, over and over, and the pressure mounted. His movements picked up and he pumped harder, faster, pushing her closer to the edge just the way he had so many times in the past.
But the heat felt sweeter this time, sharper, more intense than anything in her memory.
The pinnacle was steeper this time, the crest higher. When she finally reached the top and plunged over the edge into orgasmic bliss, it was much more powerful than anything she remembered.
Sensation crashed over her and sucked her under for several long moments. Her heart pounded, and her blood rushed. Her body clenched around his and held on. Pleasure drenched her, all-consuming for the next few moments as her heart stopped and her body clenched.
She stared up at him, into him, waiting for the rush of warmth as he followed her over the edge.
But instead of pushing even deeper and letting himself go, he pulled out a few inches until only the very tip of his erection stayed inside. His muscles bunched as he held himself back and loomed over her. His eyes grew even brighter and a growl rumbled from deep in his chest. He trembled as he drank in the sweet sexual energy of her climax.
Love at First Bite Bundle Page 50