Which was exactly why I’d resisted doing it the night before.
“Would that be so bad?” Michael asked. “You know there’s something between us, Kate—something that draws us together. Would it be so bad to just…give in to it?”
“I guess not…” I ran a hand through my hair. “I guess I just feel like…”
“Like what?” he urged softly.
“Like it’s not fair to tie you to me. I’m such a hard, cold bitch and you’re so sweet and kind and understanding…”
“You’re not nearly as hard and cold as you want people to believe, Kate,” Michael murmured. “You’ve just had to act that way to survive. I can’t imagine living through some of the things you’ve had to experience.”
“The life of a slayer isn’t easy—it isn’t meant to be,” I said. “And I have to warn you, Michael, bonding with you—if that’s what we’re doing—won’t make me a whole different person. I’m not suddenly going to be all sunshine and rainbows and roses.”
“I don’t want sunshine and rainbows, baby,” he said simply. “I just want you.”
His words brought a lump to my throat for some reason and I had to look away and blink rapidly. God, was I going soft or what?
“Thanks,” I said. “I…I want you too.” I sighed. “Of course, this is all supposing that you actually are descended from Salvatore Moreno. If you’re not, I’m toast.”
“I must be,” Michael argued “Didn’t she say his entire line of descendants were healers?”
“Could be a coincidence,” I pointed out. “Anyway, I never heard of any group of people who were completely immune to vampire bites—other than slayers.”
“Well, I’m not completely immune or we wouldn’t be here,” Michael pointed out. “Look, we could debate the particulars all night but we can’t. We need to get started, Kate.”
I knew he was right and I was just procrastinating. Although if I didn’t know which I was more afraid of—the pain that was surely coming when he sucked the venom from my arm…or the commitment that followed.
“Here we go,” Michael said. Clearly, he wasn’t waiting any longer. He brought my wrist to his mouth and I made myself watch as he bit down, his fangs piercing into the tender flesh, and began to suck.
It hurt like hell, but not quite as badly as the holy water had for which I supposed I ought to be grateful. Only it’s hard to be grateful when you’re in a huge amount of pain.
It felt like someone had jabbed my arm full of long needles covered in hooks and Michael was pulling them out, one by one while the hooks caught at the insides of my veins and tore them mercilessly.
I gritted my teeth and watched as he sucked and spat over and over, doubtless putting the china rosebud pitcher to a use for which it had never been intended. But little by little, the awful dark lines on my arm began to recede. I told myself the agonizing pain was worth it but still, it was a long process and my forehead was beaded by sweat by the time Michael finally finished.
“There,” he said at last. He got up and took the pitcher into the B&B’s quaint bathroom which featured a huge, old fashioned claw-foot tub. I heard the toilet flush as he got rid of the awful black goop that had come out of me and then running water as he brushed his teeth and rinsed out his mouth.
When he came back, he had a cool, damp washcloth which he used to wipe my forehead and face gently. I was feeling so weak just then that I let him. Getting the Monsignor’s venom out of me was a good thing, I knew but its absence seemed to leave a hollow place inside me—a yawning chasm which needed to be filled if I was going to survive.
But filled with what?
“Kate? Kate, are you all right?”
I realized my eyes had fluttered closed and forced them open again, my eyelids feeling as heavy as lead. I looked up at Michael
“It’s gone,” I whispered, unable to make my voice go louder. “I…can feel it. But test to be for sure.”
I gestured weakly at the bottle of holy water which was sitting on the dresser.
Michael frowned but went to pick it up.
“Are you sure? You just went through so much pain—I hate to put you through any more, Kate.”
“Do it,” I rasped. “We have to be sure it’s all gone.”
He sighed. “All right. I have to disinfect the bite I made myself anyway.”
Uncapping the bottle, he took my arm again and poured a few drops over the spot where he had bitten.
It didn’t burn and, to my surprise, it barely even bubbled. In fact, it was the weakest reaction I’d ever seen holy water have to a vampire bite. What did that mean?
I couldn’t answer that question. Right then, I didn’t feel like answering any questions—I just wanted to rest. But the moment I closed my eyes again, I felt Michael shaking me.
“Don’t do that, Kate.” His voice sounded close to panic. “Don’t let yourself drift off. It’s not safe. You…you might not wake up.”
“I’ll be fine,” I tried to say but the words were so low I could barely hear them myself. The yawning void left by the absence of the Monsignor’s venom seemed to be growing inside me, swallowing everything up like a black hole.
“Kate…Kate!” Michael shook me and then, to my surprise, he kissed me.
That woke me up and I felt the black hole inside me receding just a little. My eyes flew open and suddenly I found I was kissing him back.
“That’s right, baby,” Michael murmured, breaking the kiss for a moment to look at me with half-lidded eyes. “That’s right, it’s time for the second part of this treatment. After the pain comes the pleasure. And I want to make you feel really good tonight.”
Chapter Twenty-nine
“Michael,” I started to protest as he put his arms around me. “I don’t know about this. We’ve been traveling for hours and I feel so grimy…”
“Which is why I’m running us a bath,” he said, smiling.
“A bath?” I realized that I could hear the soft rushing sound of water coming from the bathroom.
“Yup, we’re going to get clean and dirty at the same time, baby.” His grin widened. “What do you say?”
“I, um…” But before I could finish my thought he was already helping me off the bed and taking me into the bathroom. The old-fashioned claw-foot tub was already over halfway full of steaming water and there was a washcloth and a cake of pink, flowery-scented soap floating in it.
“Come on.” Michael was already pulling off his clothes and I had to admit, even though I was feeling woozy, the sight of his naked body had an effect on me. I couldn’t help thinking that I’d never seen him completely naked before—even the night before when we’d been intimate it had been dark in the room. Now I found the sight had certainly been worth waiting for.
As he stripped off his t-shirt and jeans I wanted to lick him all over from his broad shoulders to his muscular abs. And from the way he was looking at me, the feeling was mutual.
“So…we’re taking a bath together?” I asked uncertainly as he began tugging at my shirt.
“Seems like a good idea, don’t you think?” he murmured in my ear as he slid my t-shirt over my head. “Be a shame to let a tub like that go to waste.”
I had to agree it was a fabulous tub and it was certainly big enough for two. Still, once I was undressed, I was a little shy about being completely naked and wet with Michael. He caught me trying to cover my breasts and sex with my hands and shook his head as he pulled them gently away.
“No, Kate. Let me look at you—all of you.”
“All right.” I bit my lip and looked down at the floor until he lifted my chin.
“Look at me,” he commanded and his eyes were filled with need and tenderness. “You’re so beautiful. And you’re one of the bravest people I know. Why are you shy all of a sudden?”
“I…I don’t know.” How could I explain that I’d never made love before—not really. Oh, I’d had sex—enough to scratch my itch from time to time. But those had been sweaty, fumbl
ing, impersonal encounters in the dark. I’d never had a man tell me he wanted me in his life forever, that I was so beautiful to him he wanted to see all of me…had never had a man treat me so tenderly.
I just wasn’t used to it. And to be honest, I wasn’t sure I deserved it.
But the look in Michael’s eyes said I deserved it—all this and more.
“Come on,” he murmured, leading me to the tub. “Maybe the warm water will help you loosen up.”
He got himself settled in the tub and then held my hand to help me in. He put me between his spread legs and had me lean back against him.
I gave a trembling sigh as I relaxed with my back to his broad chest and felt the warm water lap around my cool, trembling flesh. At that moment I felt completely surrounded by him, completely safe and protected and cared for in a way I hadn’t felt since Uncle Harry died.
It was a wonderful feeling but a cynical little part of me kept whispering that I didn’t deserve it—that it wouldn’t last.
“Relax, Kate,” Michael murmured as he reached around me to grab the floating soap. He began to lather it between his large, strong hands. He had beautiful hands, I thought dreamily—surgeon’s hands. He should be somewhere operating right now, helping people who deserved it—who deserved him. I still wasn’t sure I fell into that category but somehow, here we were.
“I’m trying to relax,” I told him. “I’ve just…never taken a bath with anyone before.”
“First time for everything,” he rumbled in my ear. “Let’s get you all clean now, okay?”
And then his big, warm, soapy hands were stroking over my body from my shoulders down my arms and from the nape of my neck (where he paused to give me a gentle massage) down to my chest.
I moaned softly as he palmed my breasts and began lightly flicking my nipples, which were already hard, with his thumbs. The light, teasing motion sent bolts of pleasure though me. I arched my back, pressing my ass against his shaft, which was long and hard against me.
“Michael…” I protested breathlessly. “What…what are you doing?”
“Getting you all cleaned up, baby,” he murmured in my ear. “I thought you said you felt dirty and you wanted to be clean.”
“I…I did but…”
“Do you like this, Kate?” he asked, pinching my nipples and tugging lightly to make me squirm against him. “You like it when I wash your beautiful body, when I stroke your breasts and touch you all over?”
“God, Michael…”
But I couldn’t finish my sentence because one of his hands had disappeared under the water. I felt his fingers sliding between my thighs and the empty aching place inside me which had appeared when the last of the Monsignor’s venom was sucked out cried out to be filled.
“Michael,” I moaned as he parted the lips of my pussy, allowing the warm water to rush over my sensitive clit. “God, I don’t know how much of this I can stand.”
“Is it too much?” he asked softly. “Too fast, baby?”
“No—not fast enough.” I shifted restlessly against him. “I just…feel so empty inside. Ever since you got rid of the Monsignor’s poison it almost feels like…like there’s a hole inside me that needs to be filled.”
“Is that right?” Two long, strong fingers slid between my pussy lips and found my entrance as he spoke. “You feel like you need to be filled, Kate?”
I moaned as his fingers slid inside me, thrusting deep and making me arch my back again.
“God, yes,” I gasped. “But not just with your fingers.”
“What then?” Michael thrust into me again and I moaned. “Your soft little pussy is so hot and wet, Kate,” he growled softly. “Do you like this? You like it when I touch you and make you feel good?” As he spoke, he continued to tease my nipples with his left hand while his right was between my thighs, his fingers stroking inside me. “Does this feel good, baby?”
“Yes,” I gasped, writhing against him. “Yes, but I want more.”
“What do you want, Kate?” he asked as he withdrew slowly, leaving me feeling even more empty inside. “What is it you need?”
“You know what I need.”
Though I had been feeling weak ever since he drew out the Monsignor’s venom, I found I suddenly had strength to get what my body so desperately wanted—so desperately needed. I turned over in the tub, spilling water over the side and not giving a damn about it. All thoughts of whether I deserved Michael or whether it was smart to tie ourselves together in this way completely left me. All I could think of was having him in me—of finally giving in to the desire I’d been feeling for so long—of giving in to the attraction I’d been feeling from the first moment he touched me in the ER what felt like years ago now.
I straddled him and reached between us, taking his shaft in my hand. His cock was a work of art—long and thick, especially at the base. It was hard and hot in my hand and I knew I had to have it inside me.
“That’s right, baby,” Michael urged me as I rubbed the broad head over my inner folds, moaning in pleasure as it pressed against my throbbing clit. “That’s right, use me to make yourself feel good—use me to fill you up.”
Biting my lip, I took him up on his offer. He was thick and it had been a little while since I’d been with anyone, so at first it was a bit of a tight fit.
One thing about me though—I’m not a quitter. I had to have him inside me and I was determined to get what I needed.
Gritting my teeth, I lowered myself onto him, relishing the slow, stretching pleasure-pain as he slid into me.
“Careful Kate—don’t hurt yourself.” His deep voice was anxious. “Take it slow, baby.”
But I couldn’t take it slow. By that time, the emptiness inside me had grown so hard and fast it felt like it was going to eat me whole if I didn’t fill it—if I didn’t fill myself with Michael.
We both groaned as he slid home inside me, the head of his cock kissing the vulnerable mouth of my womb.
“God!” I began to rock my hips, loving the feeling of him so deep inside me. My motions made Michael groan, although he made no move to thrust himself.
“That’s right baby,” he growled in that soft, deep voice of his. “That’s right, ride me—take what you want. Take what you need.”
“I…I am,” I gasped, grinding against him. It occurred to me for the first time that we were doing this bare and I wasn’t on any kind of birth control.
“Michael,” I said, looking at him as he leaned back against the curve of the tub and let me ride him. “I…I should have said this earlier but, well…I’m not on the pill or anything. I mean if we do this the way we’re supposed to I might get…”
“Pregnant?” He raised an eyebrow at me. “How do you feel about that?”
“I don’t know,” I confessed. “How do you feel about it?”
“Kate…” He lifted a hand to cup my cheek and looked earnestly into my eyes. “Baby, anything the future holds it holds for both of us. I’ll be here for you no matter what happens.”
I felt something—some knot—loosen inside me. No matter what happened, Michael would be by my side. No matter what difficulties we faced, he wasn’t going to run away. It made me feel loved and cherished and safe to know that.
My doubts melted away and desire flooded me.
“Michael,” I said. “Make love to me.”
With a low groan, he gripped my hips and pulled nearly all the way out of me before thrusting back in. I gasped as I felt the head of his cock kiss the mouth of my womb and then I was moving with him, finding his rhythm and matching it with my own as I ground against him, trying to get him as deeply into me as I could.
I could feel something building between us—not just my orgasm which was hovering just over the horizon—but something else, something deeper. Maybe it was the bond the snake-lady had talked about, I don’t know. But I somehow understood that when Michael and I finished this, we would both be changed forever.
Michael must have felt it too because
his grip on my hips tightened and his eyes widened as he thrust inside me.
“Kate,” he groaned. “God, I feel so close to you. But I feel like I need to get closer.”
“Come in me, then,” I gasped. “God, Michael I’m so close but I feel…feel like I need to feel you coming in me to get there myself. Does that…make any sense?”
“Doesn’t matter if it makes sense. If that’s what you need, baby, I’ll give it to you.”
I felt like I’d been riding him for hours by that time, the warm water sloshing over the sides of the tub and his thickness stretching me wide as he thrust into me. I gripped his broad shoulders for balance and pressed down against him, taking him as deep as I could, wanting him all the way inside me when he came. I was close—so damn close I could feel it—but something told me I wouldn’t come until he did.
“Do it,” I urged him. “Please, Michael—now.”
“God, Kate—I’m coming—gonna fill you up, baby!” With a low groan, his fingers tightened on my hips and he pulled me down on him as he thrust up into me as hard as he could. His cock swelled inside me and then I felt it—the first short, hard spurts of his come filling me.
I could feel the empty place inside me being filled and at that moment, my own orgasm overtook me and I moaned and ground against him, trying to get as much of him inside me as I could. And then I felt it—the emptiness had been replaced by a feeling of permanence. Something inside me was now anchored to something inside of Michael. We had a tie—a bond—that could be broken by nothing but death.
We would never be parted.
With that knowledge my pleasure crested to a new height and I felt myself clenching around him, drawing his seed inside me, making us one.
“Kate,” he groaned, “I love you!”
And dragged me down for a kiss as he continued to pulse inside me, tying us together forever.
Chapter Thirty
I don’t know how many times we made love that night—enough that the people in the room beside us banged on the walls and complained. And enough that I was both sore and satisfied as we strolled, hand-in-hand, down the stone corridors of Cardiff Castle the next day.
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