“I’m sorry.” The words were breathed against my ear, and the tickle of it made me shudder.
“For what?” I played with the curls of his chest hair.
“I should have been more careful with you. I should have taken my time—”
“Uh, you just gave me multiple orgasms that were so strong I don’t think I could move right now if I tried. There is nothing to apologize for.”
He shook his head. “I will be more careful with you from now on. It was just, now that I can have you…I lost control.”
“I may not be able to walk, but if you are ‘more careful with me,’ I’ll be furious with you.” I slid up his body until I could kiss his lips with slow nibbles and licks. His cock hardened against my leg.
He crushed me in a hug before standing up while holding me with my legs wrapped around his waist. “Are you sure you love me?”
“Yes. Why else would I say it? You can look in my head and get the answer.” I kissed his neck. “Are you sure you love me? That’s the real question. It’s not like we’ve know each other long.”
He slammed my back into the wall in answer and shoved all that deliciously rigid flesh into me.
“Uh—” I dug my nails into his shoulders hard enough to draw blood.
I looked into his eyes. They blazed blue, lit up with power that swirled around the iris. His aura flowed around us, through us, and though I couldn’t see it, I knew that mine did the same. They were blending together, rubbing against each other, changing us both into something new.
“Beautiful…lovely…so funny…sweet…forever mine…till death…”
Daniel’s thoughts invaded me, and I knew I would never have this connection with anyone else. If I’d doubted the depth of his feelings before, those doubts were erased.
The scent of a tropical beach reached me, his scent and the honey and flowers that permeated mine mingling together with the overpowering smell of sex and arousal. A combination that could only be us, our bodies joined and connected in the physical manifestation of our feelings.
A slow withdrawal followed by a quick, hard burst of forward motion carried his shaft deep within my body. Again. Again. I fought to keep my eyes open, but the pleasure overtook me, so intense and fierce that I allowed them to flutter closed. The sensations were overwhelming; electricity ran over and under my skin. When his fingers closed over my nipple, twisted it to the edge of pain, I came again, throwing myself wildly against him. Daniel hadn’t come yet, and he paused to lay a kiss against my neck, still hard inside me.
“Miri, open your eyes. Look at me.” He picked my head up from his shoulder, and I smiled drowsily at him. He began to move again, slow and gentle until I picked up the pace.
“Miranda Thibodeaux, Vessel of Clan Thibodeaux, I hereby claim you as my own. I offer my life for yours, my soul for yours. In this life and the next I belong to you; my life is forfeit should yours ever be taken while in my care. I offer you my love and devote my soul to your happiness and safekeeping. Do you accept this gift as it is freely given?”
Love welled in my chest. I’d never heard the words before, didn’t know if they were ritual or ones he chose himself. I focused on his face, gasping when he twisted his hips. He lowered his head to my neck and began to lick and kiss his way up one side and down the other.
“Is this it? You mean those words? Only for me?” I groaned when he changed the angle and moved more quickly. He was breathtaking with his aura swirling in multi-colored lights around him, skin gleaming gold, and his tattoo pulsing with dark light of its own.
“Yes, yes, of course. You hold my heart and my soul.” He captured my lips in a breath-stealing kiss and dragged his cock out until only the very tip of the head remained inside, gliding back until our bodies touched once more.
My heart swelled. This powerful, wonderful being chose to bind himself to me. Terror that I would lose him one day swamped me. I didn’t comprehend completely what the words he’d spoken meant. I looked into his eyes and felt him moving inside me, our bodies and auras joined until it was as if we were one entity. I knew exactly what I wanted and what he wanted too. I could read it there in his eyes and the line of his body, the feelings and thoughts that swamped me with love and acceptance.
“Yes. Yes, I accept.” Tears spilled down my cheeks, and he kissed them away.
A brilliant flash of light nearly blinded me. Before I regained sight he began to slam into me over and over, his teeth buried in my neck at the moment he came. It was as though he wanted to get even closer than he was, meld our flesh through heat and friction. My Hunger rose fully and spread over the both of us. It was perfect. As his orgasm washed over me something from deep within me resounded that demanded I mark him as my own, so that any female who saw him would know exactly who he belonged to. I didn’t have fangs, but I could bite him hard enough to break the skin. I grabbed his wrist and sank my teeth in until I felt the pop when his skin broke and blood welled into my mouth. I suck hard at the veins there, felt his savage smile on the skin of my neck. His satisfaction and joy flooded me.
I didn’t say the words out loud, but I claimed him as surely as he claimed me. The ritual words he’d spoken to me resonated through my head, and the intention broiled in my body as my pussy gripped him tight and wrung every last drop of cum from him. A sense of love and belonging flooded me, of being claimed and bound to the man inside me. The Hunger fed on him and the life force of his orgasm, and we fed on each other’s blood.
Finally, he licked the wound in my neck one last time and pressed his forehead to mine.
“You’ve bitten me a lot today.” I licked a stray drop of blood from the corner of my mouth when I released him.
“Sorry. I can’t seem to help myself.” He panted, and I felt the sweat beaded at his hairline.
I pushed my own wet hair off my forehead. “No worries. I enjoy the hell out of it.”
He gave me a quick kiss and peeled my back from the wall. He headed down the hall to the bathroom with his semi-hard cock buried inside me. I wondered if he would try round three in the shower.
He laughed. “Be careful what you wish for. You wanted me, well now you have me. And I still have some things to show you.”
“Forever?” Insecurity still lived in the depth of my gut.
“Yes. Forever.” He gave me a long, lingering kiss full of tongue, and I held onto it as reassurance. “Remind me never to hang anything in that spot. I’d like to use it again.”
Now there was a request I could get behind. Being Bloodsworn to Daniel, all I could focus on for the moment was the joy that filled me.
When Gregory returned, I’d jump into my Blooding with both feet. I had to, because Adrian and the Council would be knocking at the door any time now to ruin the party.
Chapter Seventeen
I was in the middle of casting a protection spell when Gregory came back. He stayed out of my circle, but made sure to stare at me with obvious appreciation. I was naked, the way I preferred to cast. I wanted to make sure this was as perfect as I could make it, even though I lacked a real altar. All the good vibes from my recent sex marathon with Daniel would make up for it. He’d been more than happy to show me all the things a creative lover could do with a multi-head shower stall and preternatural strength. Somehow I was up and even walking in a straight line. I figured it had to do with feeding my magic.
When I finished with the spell, I finally gave Gregory a smile. He chuckled and walked into the center of the living room with a brown paper bag and handed it to me.
“You look like a very satisfied woman.” He glanced down at my breasts, raised one eyebrow—presumably when he noticed the tiny marks that hadn’t healed yet from Daniel’s fangs—and handed me the bag. “Here, the lady at the store told me to give this to you. She also said to use the blade she had given you and to ‘let your gift be your guide.’ Does she always talk in riddles?”
“I don’t know. What lady? Where did you go to get this stuff?” I sat down on th
e floor on my knees and started fishing things out of the bag. It held some new candles, herbs, salts, and five crystals.
“Shop over near your apartment.” I frowned in confusion. “The Council has been watching you for some time. I just accessed their files to see where you lived. Wanted to check up on things, see if anyone else has been lurking about.”
“A file huh? Awesome. Was it Lane? Lane was back?” Now he looked confused. “Short, overweight, dark hair, has a thing for wearing gypsy skirts. At the shop.”
“Aye. That would be the one.”
I snorted and laid everything out around me. Funny, here I was gearing up for a ceremony I’d been terrified of for years, jumping into it with both feet and no safety net. I’d been adamant that I was not a vampire, determined to separate myself from that aspect of my heritage. It seemed stupid now, and debilitating. Not knowing how to use my power was much scarier than making an effort to control it. The incident with Adrian had been the icing on the cake. As I was now, I was a loaded gun with no safety for anyone who came along with a rudimentary knowledge of how to tap my magic.
He crouched down next to me and picked up a bundle of herbs tied with string. “Did you know you have a were-creature living next door?”
“Daniel told me.” I took the dried plants back from him and set them carefully aside. “Why? I hadn’t even known they existed.”
“I’m just surprised he didn’t take you for a midnight snack is all. They don’t take kindly to ones such as ourselves living in close proximity. Like damned dogs pissing all over their territory, they are.” He picked up a crystal and held it up to the light before setting it back down again.
“Well, he never made an effort to make me feel welcome, that’s for sure. I wonder if he killed Red.”
“Red?” He picked up a different crystal and tossed it into the air.
I caught it and gave him a stern look. He grinned, unrepentant. “Vampire I had sex with earlier this month. Someone left his head and hands on my doorstep the other night.”
“Oh, yes. The extra package I helped our boy get rid of.” He shrugged. “Could have been.”
I took the bag of salt into the kitchen and poured it into three small juice glasses and handed one to him. He’d followed me in, and the weight of his stare never left my ass. I sighed and cocked my hip out.
“What?” He knew exactly what I meant.
“Just because my ass is there, you don’t have to stare at it.”
“Aww, now, that’s just not right. Can’t wave a delectable thing like that in a man’s face and expect him not to notice.” He gestured with the juice glass. “You’re an attractive, naked woman. What do you expect? Not like I grabbed at you.”
“True. OK, OK, fine. You’re forgiven.” I backed up until I hit the counter. “You’re much too easy for me to be around. I shouldn’t be so comfortable with you. It’s nothing new for me to be naked around virtual strangers, but this is weird.”
“Could be the bond with Daniel.” His massive shoulders lifted in a shrug. “Or your power. Maybe we knew each other in a past life. Or perhaps, I’m just that bloody charming. I’ve heard I’m rather easy on the eyes too. Just a bit.”
I laughed. “Anything is possible I guess. You’re pretty damned cute. We all need to shower with this.” I indicated the juice glass. “Scrub down really well head to toe.”
“Salt?”
“Yeah. You can mix it with some body wash if you want. Normally a bath would do it, but we don’t have the time. It’s a purifying witchy thing.”
“Are you going to come help me do my back?”
Daniel emerged from the doorway of his room and called down the hallway. “No, she’s going to do mine. You get the guest bathroom. I’m not in a sharing kind of mood right now. Besides, we have to complete the ceremony between midnight and three, so there isn’t any time for goofing around.” He covered the ground between us with fast strides.
“Congratulations, Daniel.” Gregory gripped Daniel’s forearm before pulling him into a quick hug. “Felt the bond form.”
“Thank you, Gregory. I appreciate your blessing.”
“With a morsel like that, how could I object?” Gregory stared openly with a lecherous grin.
I rolled my eyes. “Well, then maybe I should use the guest bath and let you two share the shower down here. Since you’re both feeling all lovey-dovey.”
Daniel kissed me and gave my ass a playful squeeze. “Bet you’d like to see that wouldn’t you, cara?”
Now that I thought about it, yeah, I would. My face turned that lovely shade of magenta I liked so much, and I took off for the bathroom with them laughing behind me. Damned hot men all around me, and all I could do was blush like an idiot. Who is the Vessel of sex and fertility again? ‘Cause this chick ain’t her.
Daniel was all business in the shower. Well, mostly. He spent an inordinate amount of time making sure my breasts were scrubbed and then made me stand facing the wall while he ran his hands all over my back and legs. I tried to let him see the merit of letting me wash him too, but he wouldn’t let me touch much more than his chest and shoulders. I hummed with sexual energy by the time we exited. If I closed my eyes, I bet on seeing that other part of myself, my Hunger, on the backs of my eyelids. At least she didn’t look scary any more.
Butterflies swarmed in my stomach when I thought of the coming ceremony. Part of me wanted to ask what to expect, and part didn’t. Lane had sent me the message to let my gift be my guide. She was worse than that fortune-telling machine in Big.
“Daniel, have you ever done this before? With an Incubi vamp, I mean?” I studied the floor.
“No, but it should not be that different from any other Blooding.” He dried his arms off.
“My father told me it would involve sex. I guess I wouldn’t be concerned if it was just me and you, but with Gregory here—I guess I’m just wondering if you’re OK with it if things get personal.”
“All Bloodings involve sex. It’s an ancient ritual that requires a sacrifice.” He took my towel and scrubbed it over my hair. I grabbed it back to stop him before he reduced my hair to a snarled mess. “Much more enjoyable than killing a goat. There’s nothing to worry about.”
“Yeah, men say stuff like that all the time, and then when the time comes…”
He kissed me and smiled. “I’ll just have to show you then.”
The swell of his growing erection did little to dispel my fears. “Even though we’re, like, married now?”
“We are more than married. We are bound together by our very souls. You are not only an Incubi vampire, but a Vessel.” He gathered me up close to his chest, and I relaxed in increments. “How could I be angry with you for doing what is in your nature to do? When I took you as my mate that meant I took all of you, including your Hunger. I will keep you safe and happy. And that means not trying to stifle the very thing that drew me to you in the first place.”
His words reassured, but nervous energy continued to turn my stomach into a knot.
I stayed still for a few minutes and then decided it was time to put on my big girl panties. I kissed his cheek. “Maybe after my Blooding, I’ll have better control.”
“Perhaps.”
“Don’t want to have sex with me lass? You do give out some confusing signals to a man.” Gregory’s tone held laughter. I bit my lip when I walked into the living room and saw him standing there naked. Guess he was ready, even if I wasn’t.
He’d set all the crystals around the room in a circle and used the herbs to lay out a rough pentacle on the floor. A ring of salt connected the crystals, and candles representing the elements stood beside each to construct a huge protection symbol. Gregory knew about witchcraft.
He was a large man. In every way. His shaft thickened and grew when he noticed my regard, and I thought my eyes might pop out of my head. Daniel was no slouch, he was bigger than anyone I’d ever been with, but somehow Gregory surpassed that by a few inches. The only thing that kept
him from scaring the pants off me was how affable and sweet he seemed.
I sucked in a quick breath. Scars crisscrossed his chest, legs, arms, and back. It shouldn’t have been possible for a vampire to be injured that many times and survive. For a vampire to scar, the injury must be grievous. Someone or something had really done horrible things to this man.
“Ah, um, well, not exactly…I just don’t know.” I fell back to staring. He folded his arms over his chest and let me look. His cock continued to grow. It should have been impossible—at least, in my experience it should have been. Guess I was wrong, wrong, wrong. What a time to find out.
A choking sound behind me caught my attention, and I glanced over my shoulder to see Daniel smothering a laugh behind his hand and twitching. I smacked him on the arm and walked into the pentacle, being careful not to step on any of the lines of the outer circle. There was a decent sized area right in the middle where we would all fit without trouble.
“I have a confession to make.” I managed to look at Gregory’s face and not his groin.
“What’s that lass?”
“I’ve never done something like this before. And, ah, I’m nervous. I don’t know what the rules or whatever are…and I’m not even sure I’m going to need you in, ah, that way.” I looked at the wall to the right of Gregory’s shoulder.
“I am here in whatever capacity you need. Whatever we need to do to make sure your Blooding goes off without a hitch.” He brushed his thumb over my cheek before tweaking a strand of my hair so I had to meet his eyes. “You worry too much.”
Warm hands settled on my shoulders and caressed my biceps. My aura hummed in response, and I wondered if it would always be like this between Daniel and me or if it was only because our bond was so new. I hoped for permanent.
“Only what you ask for, nothing more, cara.” He wrapped his arms around me from behind in a quick hug.
“Thank you.”
Hunger Embraced (The Hunger Series) Page 22