by Amira Rain
"Please, Nick. I need you inside of me.”
I suddenly couldn't speak anymore because Nick’s warm, firm, hungry mouth was on mine, kissing me with such intensity that I saw stars on the inside of my silky blindfold. The fact that he was kissing me didn't seem to impair the coordination of what he was doing with his fingers in the least. He continued on with his stroking and tickling, further increasing my desperate need.
He soon broke our kiss, removed his fingers from me, and began repositioning himself on the bed. However, instead of moving up near my face, he moved between my legs, gently spreading them even farther with a low growl. Wanting to grab his hips and pull him toward me, I instinctively went to move my hands, but of course, I found that I couldn't. My silky restraints were still holding. I was so desperate to be filled by his hard cock at this point, though, that I felt like I could shred the restraints with just a few good tugs, so I tried.
"Just let me grab on to you, Nick. I can't wait any longer."
Not only did my tugs not shred the restraints, but I actually only seemed to tighten them somehow. But it didn't even matter. I didn't need my hands to grab Nick's hips to try to pull him toward me in an attempt to hasten him entering me. No sooner than I'd said I couldn't wait any longer, I felt him slide his long, thick pole inside of me, which he did with a long, low groan from someplace so deep inside his chest that I felt the vibrations from it beneath me on the bed.
I groaned myself, the sound tapering off into a whimper of gratitude at my desperation finally being met. "Yes. Yes, Nick."
Feeling to me as if he were on his knees, he began thrusting into my slickness, grunting, with his hands on my bent legs. Soon, I told him in a breathy whisper how good he felt, and a low growl was his immediate response. I then felt him shift his position slightly in order to penetrate me more deeply, and the act seemed to suddenly intensify the pleasure I was feeling at his powerful thrusts.
Or maybe my pleasure had intensified because he had suddenly increased the pace of his thrusts; I wasn't even sure. All I knew was that with one large, beyond-stiffened shaft sliding in and out of my slick depths, I was experiencing erotic pleasure like I'd never dreamed was possible before.
The fact that I was still restrained, essentially powerless, only added to this extreme pleasure, as did the fact that I couldn't even see because of the dark, silky blindfold still covering my eyes. This temporary blindness seemed like it had intensified all my other senses, from my hearing, to my touch, my taste, and my sense of smell. And it was that last sense that seemed to be the most intensified.
With him so close to me, Nick’s masculine scent wafted into my nostrils the strongest I'd ever smelled it before. It probably helped that he was perspiring a bit, which I sensed that he was, just based on the fact that his scent held the faint tang of salt. But what it smelled like most was woodsy, mossy earth, which smelled heavenly to me. In fact, it was a scent that I thought I might be able to get used to smelling daily for the rest of my life.
Nick continued on with the faster pace of his thrusts, clutching my bent legs to his hardened chest now. And in the end, that was what sent me over the edge. Just me picturing how he looked doing what he was doing to me, and that he could see and hear how much I was enjoying what he was doing even though I couldn’t see it. It also crossed my mind that he could see me eagerly lift my hips a degree or two each and every time he drove his considerable length into me.
I announced my climax with a cry so loud that it startled even me. Nick began thrusting into me the deepest he had yet, bringing me a new wave of mind-bending bliss with each powerful stroke. Thrashing against my restraints, I cried out several more times, my cries eventually just becoming the word yes, yelled at practically the top of my lungs.
By my third or fourth yes, Nick was spilling his masculine essence inside of me with a growl, and my face had gone tingly like it had when I'd hyperventilated at a rock concert once during my teen years. This time, though, I barely even noticed my tingly face. And by the time Nick rolled off of me, my facial tingles had turned into an intense-though-not-at-all-unpleasant rush of warmth that seemed to flow from my cheeks down to the rest of my body.
It was the kind of warmth that made me think a round-two climax was soon in store for me, and I wasn't wrong. Within twenty minutes, Nick was thrusting into me once again with loud growls and groans, and it wasn't long before I reached a blissful peak once more. Little did I know that all this early morning sexual satisfaction was going to have to last me for a long, long time.
CHAPTER 14
Nick and I had only been resting in my bed for all of a minute when his cellular phone began ringing. He had taken my blindfold off, and in the pale early morning sunshine streaming through the crack in the curtains, I saw him grimace in response to the shrill noise coming from his phone.
He then sighed, giving his eyes a slight roll. "Probably something having to do with the Dormios. Probably more of their spies getting caught. They seem to be awfully bold for some reason lately. They seem cocky, even. Like they think they're about to own this city or something, and they're just getting impatient to move right on in.
“What they don’t seem to get, and what they haven’t seemed to get for decades, is that I’ll never give this city up in a thousand years. I’ll never let it fall, no matter what. I’ve worked too hard to build it, and now it’s the home of my people…and now it’s your home, too, Tiffany. I’m determined to keep you and all my people safe, and I will.”
I said I knew that, and he answered the phone call, listened for a few moments, and then said that he’d be there soon, wherever “there” was. I could only guess it was the outskirts of the city, where Dormio spies had been frequently spotted. Although Nick and I hadn’t yet discussed it, I had a feeling that the spies were my fault, in a way. Nick had said that the Dormios and the government were now working together to bring Everglen down, and I assumed that Nick taking me to the city had only intensified their efforts.
After all, now they not only had the problem of taking down Everglen but reclaiming me as well, so that I could never have a child with a vampire and produce a hybrid were-vampire. I was starting to feel like the were-gene I possessed was something more like a curse, even though it was what had gotten Nick to rescue me in the first place. It wasn’t lost on me that I never would have even met him otherwise.
After putting his phone on the nightstand, he surprised me by stretching out next to me in bed again and taking me into his arms. “I wish that things could be easier for us, for your sake. I wish we could continue our new relationship in peace, with no fear of the Dormios or the government. They will never stop trying to end us. So, what else can we do but continue to fight them?
“Last night at the council meeting, everyone agreed with me on this. It’s best to just continue on with our current defense strategy until I can get you pregnant and gain the increased strength that will come with that. Then, I'll be able to take on John and all his fighters, and we'll be able to get rid of them all for good."
Thinking, I didn’t answer right away, wondering if I should even say anything. Maybe I’m just being paranoid, I thought. However, after a few moments, I just had to speak.
“Nick? Are you with me because you truly want to be with me, or is there some part of you that just wants me because of the increased strength you gain when I get pregnant? Are you really in love with me?”
When he answered, his eyes held unmistakable sincerity. “I wasn’t just telling you a line when I said that I’m falling in love with you, Tiffany. I truly am. I can’t deny that when we first met, my main goal was just to have a child with you, because you possess the were-gene.
“That’s what I was thinking when I first read your government file at the prison, anyway. But then, like I’ve told you before, I saw a certain fire in your eyes that captivated me completely. I think right then, maybe at that very moment, I started falling in love with you. It almost felt inevitable. I really hope you
believe me about all this.”
I decided that I did, and I told him so. “I guess I just wanted to be sure.”
“Well, you can be sure. You can trust me, always. Maybe I don’t even need to say this, but I’m also not using you just for the increased strength I’ll get when you become pregnant. That’s going to be a very nice bonus, yes, in our fight against the Dormios, and like with you possessing the were-gene, it was one of my initial thoughts when I was considering breaking you out of the jail with me.
“Now, it’s so much more. I want to have a child with you because I want to share a life with you. The fact that our child will be a hybrid, and possibly the strongest supernatural creature the world has ever seen before, is just a bonus. The increased strength I’ll gain by you becoming pregnant is just a bonus. But they’re not the main things. They’re not the things that matter most to me. The new love that we’re developing together is. That’s why I’ll protect you with everything in me if and when the Dormios attack the city.”
“Well, what if I can also protect myself at the same time? What if I’m able to get my powers back by then? I don’t know exactly how I might be able to--”
“No, Tiffany. I’d never want you to fight. It’s far too dangerous. I wouldn’t want you to fight, even if you were to get your powers back full-strength.”
“But--”
“You’re a human woman…which means it’s just too dangerous.”
“But just listen. Avenging what was done to my coven is important to me. Now that I know the truth about what happened, I want to get revenge on the Dormios, if I can.”
“You don’t have to, though. I’ll take revenge on the Dormios.”
“But it was my coven…my family. I should be the one to do it, if I can. I should at least try to help.”
Nick sighed. “I could never let you. It’s far too dangerous, and I’d never forgive myself if something happened to you. Not to mention that none of this even matters. The fact of the matter is that you don’t have your powers back, and without them, there would be nothing you could really do against the Dormios. It would be pointless for you to even try.”
I knew he was right, but at the same time, I couldn’t help but feel a little stung by what he’d said. I at least wished that he’d take my offer of help more seriously. After all, there was still a chance that my powers could return. And if they did, I didn’t see any reason why I shouldn’t be allowed to participate in a fight, if a fight ever occurred in Everglen. It was my home now. I felt I had a right to defend it, even beyond just getting revenge for what had happened to my coven.
I wanted to discuss things further with Nick, but at present, it seemed that my best course of action was to just remain silent. I knew I wasn’t going to get anywhere with him for the time being. This didn’t mean that I wanted to just drop things, though, and I told him this.
“I want to talk about this again sometime…maybe after we’ve both had the chance to think things over a little more.”
Once again, he sighed. "Well...fine, but as for right now, I really do need to get going."
As if to make his point, he got up and began throwing on his clothes.
A little miffed, I turned my face away from him. “Fine.”
A short while later, when he was fully dressed, he asked if I was upset, and I didn’t answer. I really didn’t know what to say. On one hand, I could see that maybe I was being a little unreasonable. But on the other hand, I couldn’t help but wish that he wouldn’t act like my request to help was nothing more than an annoyance.
Probably sensing that he’d truly upset me, or at least had put me in a foul mood, Nick asked if he could show me something to “cheer me up.” When I again didn’t respond, he walked over to my windows, pulled the curtains open, and gestured to something outside. "Have you seen that thick piece of steel that connects this building to the next one over? And can you see it now?"
I had and I could, so I nodded.
"Okay, good. This steel beam is just for structural support until construction on the next building over gets finished, but right now, it's going to serve a different purpose for us. It's going to help me show you something that I think will make you smile, and it'll just take a few seconds. I’ll be right back. Just watch."
Even before I could blink, Nick had opened the window and screen and had leaped out onto the steel beam beyond. Extending from just below my window all the way to the roof of the unfinished twelve story steel-and-glass building just across the way, a distance of maybe fifty feet or so, the massive beam was about a foot thick, though only wide enough for a person's foot with maybe just an inch or two to spare.
Against a backdrop of clear blue sky, Nick waved at me from the beam, with his dark hair throwing auburn-toned sparks in the bright sun. "Be back in a flash."
I didn't even see him jump, or fall, or anything. One second he was there, and then I'd blinked, and he was just gone. I just stared out the window for several seconds. Then, just when I was wondering what on earth he was doing and if he was ever going to return, he came rocketing up through the air from somewhere, from wherever he'd been, although I wasn't even absolutely positive what I was seeing was him.
What I was seeing was just some dark, streaking blur that had soared up and beyond the steel beam. However, within a moment, this blur came to a dead stop in mid-air, and then began to descend slowly, and I could see that it was clearly Nick.
Not too far outside my window, he landed on the steel beam on one foot, with the other foot kind of dangling off of it, as if he wanted to show me that his landings didn't even require two feet. "What was that? Ten seconds? Twenty? I think it was something like that, and that was all the way down to the street and back up again. It’s just a little vampire show-off move, but I hope it was at least enough to make you smile, even for just a second.”
It had made me smile, and now I couldn’t help but smile a little again, just thinking about how Nick had just wanted to do something unexpected to make me happy.
Before I could even tell him that I’d liked his “vampire show-off trick,” he'd leaped back into my bedroom, where his phone was now ringing again.
Heaving a sigh, Nick answered the call, soon told the caller he was on his way, and then ended the call before leaning over to give me a quick kiss on the mouth. "I'm afraid we've got some real trouble with the Dormios today. But I'll be back to see you as soon as I can."
I nodded, full well knowing that that might not be for a long while.
After giving me another quick kiss, he began striding out of my bedroom; however, me suddenly shrieking stopped him dead in his tracks.
"Hey! What about the naked girl tied up to the bed? I realize the problem with the Dormios may be urgent, but could you take just five seconds to untie me before you go?"
Nick was at my side, unfastening one of the scarves restraining me, long before I'd finished speaking. "Jesus. Sorry, Tiffany. I'm so sorry. All this talk about the Dormios this morning has got me a bit...."
Untying a tight knot, he didn't seem like he was going to finish the thought.
I smiled, finding his flustered state somehow charming. "It's fine. You're untying me now."
Once I was free, Nick began heading to the door by walking backward, curving his lips in a sly half-grin that was absolutely devastating in its sexiness. "When we next meet, Miss Abbott, maybe I'll bundle you up and take you outside on the steel beam for a spring picnic with a full view of the city."
I wasn't sure I'd ever be able to eat eleven stories above the ground. I honestly wasn't sure that I'd even be able to breathe. However, if Nick would promise to stick by my side like glue, maybe I’d consider some sort of picnic on the steel beam at some point. I’d at least consider stepping a single foot out on it.
To my extreme disappointment, I didn't see him for the rest of the day. My anxiety about a fight with the Dormios grew, as did my desire to participate in any fight with them. I began to wonder what, exactly, Nick was so
afraid of in regards to the scenario of me fighting with my powers, if I ever did get them back. I needed answers, and the longer I went without getting them, the more my anxiety began to feel like some breathing, living thing hell-bent on strangling the life out of me.
CHAPTER 15
After pacing around the apartment for most of the afternoon with a tightness in my chest and throat that I knew wasn't from asthma or any other medical condition, I called Dana to see what she was up to. "Think you might want to go out for a walk or maybe a bite to eat? We could bring Stephanie, too, if you have her right now. Maybe show her those pretty new daffodil planters they have in front of the cafe."
Clara hadn't been kidding when she'd told me that the cafe directly across the street was the primary hangout for human women in the city. Serving almost every comfort food imaginable, as well as just about every coffee drink that had ever been invented, it was almost like a second home for women who hadn’t been turned into vampires yet and still needed three square meals a day.
I was definitely up for a little comfort food given my state of mind, but unfortunately, Dana said that Stephanie was cutting a new tooth and had been fussy all day.
"I feel like she should really stay in, and I should stay with her. I'm going to see if I can get her to take a little nap before dinner and bath-time here in a bit because I think even just ten or twenty minutes of rest might calm her nerves. Mine, too. But if you want to stop by and see us-"
The sound of Dana’s voice had been cut off by a high-pitch wail.
"Oh boy. She just bonked herself in the face with a toy. Gotta go."
I decided to go to the cafe by myself, have dinner, and bring Dana back some dessert or something.
When I left the apartment building, the late-afternoon sky was a dark slate-gray, and a light rain was falling. The weather seemed to match my current mood perfectly.