Love Of A Lifetime

by Murphy, Riley

  “No,” she cried and his gaze shot up. The tears that he saw gathering in her eyes cut him deep, but then her words slayed him because he knew she truly believed she was going to die. “My heart is going to explode.”

  He shook his head and slid his hand up her rib cage, fitting it just beneath her left breast and gently pressed in. “Your heart is in my hands. It’s a blessing that I would not squander. Breathe mia lei. Forget everything you knew before. Your life starts today. Right now. Right here, with me.”

  “Promise me. P-promise m-m-me it will b-be okay.”

  “I swear it will be better than okay. An open mind leads to an open heart. Let me—”

  Just then a deep breath escaped her and her whole body went pliant as she relaxed. No, Jesus, God, she surrendered. Everything—all her will to him. This is what he loved best about her. She was strong enough to forfeit control. This wasn’t her giving in. This was her giving up everything to him.

  He felt her heart beat ease beneath his hand and he wanted to kiss her for the trust she’d placed in him. “It’s time to face our truth.” He trailed his hand down to her mound and did no more than rest it there, so near her blazing heat when he added, “No matter how hard this reality is for you, it’s the only one you will ever know from now on.”

  Finley concentrated on breathing as hot sensations pulsed to life from the weight of his hand on her. The heady beat thrummed through her skin and stroked her right between the legs as if he were intimately playing with her, but he wasn’t. He just rested his hand there, waiting and watching for something to happen and when that occurred to her, she looked up. Her eyes sought his as she repeated the silent mantra. Trust him. Trust this. But when their eyes collided, she stiffened. Trust him? The look in those dark depths was positively feral. God, what was he going to do to her?

  The voice of reason silently screamed, look away from him, but she couldn’t. Nor did she have the will to react when his hand left her, going right to the sole of her foot he still had hold of. She watched, transfixed, as he slowly dragged his thumbnail down the center and applied a light pressure that was both steady and fine. It was such a pleasurable feeling that it wasn’t until she saw a spot of crimson appear that she panicked.

  “Are you crazy?”

  “Stop,” he ordered, but it was too late as she managed to get her foot loose for just a second, yet it was long enough for several fat drops of blood to land on the crisp white sheets, staining them like the pages of an inkblot.

  She let go of the headboard and came up on elbows, staring at the proof before she looked back up at him. “You-you cut me!”

  He took hold of her leg and pulled it toward him. “Yes, I did. I think I told you to hold onto the rails tight. Why did you let go of them?”

  “I,” she kicked him with her other foot, “think,” she tried to kick him again, but he stopped her even as she attempted to get both her legs free of him. It was no use. She was exhausting herself for nothing. The guy had a grip of steel. “Oooh, I think I let go of the fucking rails because some demented asshole is into cutting me up.” She twisted so her back was to him as she reached for the side of the bed to get some leverage.

  “Easy there, sweetheart. Easy,” he whispered, as he steadily pulled her toward him. “Turn over and look at me.”

  The most Finley could do was scowl as a yard of white linen passed under her. When she got to an area on the mattress that was marred by her blood she gasped. This was really happening. Really and truly happening. Well, she wasn’t going down without a fight.

  “Let. Me. Go!”

  “Turn over,” he repeated, only this time his voice sounded soft and inviting. Sexy. She wasn’t actually considering doing it, was she?

  “Look at me.”

  Why did that command sound so tempting to her? Don’t do it. There is no good kind of bad. Bad is bad. That little voice whispered and she had to strain to hear it.

  “Ah, mia lei,” he held both her ankles, but tightly squeezed her left one, probably to staunch the flow of her blood, “that voice inside your head that says no is a liar. You can’t deny me now. You won’t.”

  Oh God! He dragged his tongue slowly from her heel, over the blood slickened skin, licking the sensitive dip of her instep and she turned to jelly. Every part of her became languid except for the spot right between her legs. There an ache so intense zinged through her, while her muscles contracted in strong pulsating waves as hot desire spilled out of her. If she weren’t fully focused on breathing through the erotic tremors that shook her, she would have been utterly mortified as her musky scent permeated the air around them.

  “Roll over, blue eyes, don’t be frightened. Not of me.”

  His firm voice stirred her basic instincts. Each syllable strummed on them, right down deep to the bone and she capitulated. Shifting. Turning and sliding over the soft cotton sheets, once more like a cat in heat.

  He caught her gaze and held it, never breaking eye contact with her. The possessive fire in those depths tamed her fear and the deep timber of his voice was mesmerizing as he whispered, “I’ve waited so very long for you.”

  She shivered when he bent down low, only this time there was no talking. No bold strokes of his tongue when he opened his mouth over the cut he’d made on her and sensually drew out blood. Hotly sucking as he made a husky noise deep in his throat as he drank and drank some more.

  Finley was lost in the thrilling sensations that had her heart beating with quick-firing adrenaline. She should have been anxious or restless and yet, her body felt at peace as if it were only her blood flow that danced, and when her eyelids got heavy she didn’t fight it. She let them close as she shifted her head back and forth against the mattress, sinking further until she found herself arching up. Stretching to expose the full column of her neck, while a primal yearning flooded and touched every molecule inside, filling each particle with a hungry lust that devoured. She strained against the excruciating force, while her fingers dug into the sheets, seeking and clenching, crumpling the soft threads of linen in the grasp of her brutal surrender. A desire, both hot and fierce, concentrated almost painfully, sweetly, between her legs and she panted, “I can’t—I can’t…”

  “You can breathe, babe. I’m here. I’ve always been here to catch you when you fall for me like this.”

  She shivered so hard her teeth chattered. It was as if she could feel every fiber of her being, every inch of her skin—every detail of what it was to be human in this suspended moment in time. As though this act had put her in dire jeopardy somehow. It seemed this man, her fantasy come to life, was stealing more from her than just her blood. And she wanted him to. To have it, to take it - whatever that elusive thing was.

  Oh yes, she knew she should protest, but she had no will to stop him. It felt too good, playing with this dark and dangerous fire. She took a deep breath and willed herself to relax, quaking when he groaned against her foot. The raw and deep sound was so incredibly sexy, its lingering hum reached out, vibrating and teasing her nerve endings, stealing her will and reason. Until a comforting thought arose from somewhere in her consciousness. She was no longer alone. Soon he’d be a part of her and the sting this thought brought to her eyes was sharp and very welcomed, as belonging to someone was all she’d ever wanted.

  By the time he broke suction and brought her foot back down to the bed, she was prepared to be his everything. She opened her eyes and barely trembled as she lay there, breathless and shamelessly wanting so much more of his irresistible attention.

  And he gave it when his palms traveled to skim up the length of her calves, touching the bend behind each knee before he wrapped his big hands around her there and slowly spread her legs apart. She couldn’t help it when she closed her eyes and bit her lip to hold back the scream of pleasure that lingered on the last edge of her sanity. But then he had her opened wide and was curling down, descending to the very heart of her with his hands sliding to her hips as his fingers dug into bone to anchor her m
ore fully, making the most intimate part of her completely available to him, and she lost it.

  “Oh God!”

  The building anticipation, the wanting and needing burst in a series of euphoric rushes that raced through her at lightning speed. From her toes to temples, fingertips to her knees, she burned for him. Ached, and when the hard surface of his bent knuckles met the liquid steaminess between her thighs to intimately circle the swollen bundle of nerve ends there, she sucked in a breath and moved to flex against them, but they were gone. Replaced instead by the hot velvet of his tongue as he greedily tasted her. He sucked and nipped, trapping that sensitive flesh between his lips before moving in a clockwise motion. Again and again he circled, pulling and pressing until she fell apart as wave after wave of delicious contractions cascaded from her womb to thighs.

  She shivered and bucked against his mouth. It was dirty and raw and, somewhere in the back of her mind, she recalled him saying vile and that’s what it was as she rubbed her drenched flesh against the stubble-roughened skin of his jaw. She’d never been so bold. She’d never had the nerve, but with him, it was as if he was commanding her to do it. He wanted her and the dirtier the better.

  “That’s my girl. So wet,” he shoved his tongue right up inside her and groaned as she started grinding on it. With every lick his balls tightened and he welcomed the exquisite torture. She tasted so good, inside and out, that he was loathe to pull back, but he had to. His upper jawbone felt like it was fractured as his need for her grew. “So fucking hot,” he growled as he moved and came over her. Almost roughly, he crushed his pelvis into hers, “and so beautiful. I’ll try to go slow. I don’t want to hurt you, but it’s been a lifetime since I’ve been inside you. I’m starved for a feel and I’m dying for a taste. Open your mouth, sweetheart, let me breathe for you,” he murmured against her cheek. Loving how she did all that he asked and more, when she shifted beneath him, he couldn’t help encouraging her.

  “That’s it, babe,” he spoke, slow and seductively in her ear. “Make me welcome. Yes, spread your thighs for me.” He softly bit her earlobe, expelling a heavy breath against it before he silkily ordered, “Wider, honey. Come on, a little wider. I want all your heat. Let me have it all.”

  Jack kissed her so deeply then that she nearly lost consciousness. All coherent thought left while her mind spun in a kaleidoscope of mist-shrouded memories. Disjointed thoughts of him loving her through the ages, snippets of feeling that he wanted her, protected her through the darkest times imaginable, giving her such joy, and comforting her through her every sorrow. She may not have been able to grasp an image, but the feelings of loyalty were enough. He was her mate, her soul, her wickedest desire come to life.

  This reality could not be changed.

  Suddenly, she was hungry for the unknown and ready to feel his power upon her—in her. Her flesh tingled with the excitement of being claimed and she wanted him to own it. Taste it. To feel it being freely given to him so that he’d come to need so much more once it was.

  “Jack.” Her blood pulsed to life in her veins, begging for him. Couldn’t he feel it? It was like a hypnotic yearning that went beyond her body...it was in her soul. “Yes. Yes,” she breathed, louder and more sure as she let go of the rails sank her hands in his hair. With one sharp tug she pulled him back, so she could search his face. There were so many thoughts, ideas and words that warred within her to be spoken aloud, but they got lost behind a single truth. “I need you here.”

  Gently she drew him down until she felt his lips rest against the thrumming pulse at the base of her neck. Where she somehow knew her delicate skin teased and taunted his every sense to hunt, to claim, and devour.

  She was the aggressor now as she bucked against the lower half of him that had settled between her legs. Sighing in unadulterated pleasure as the blunt head of his cock penetrated her. She’d thought he’d be swift so when his thickness slowly eased into her, the experience so different than the way he’d used his tongue on her, she moaned in frustration and pulled on his hair again. “I want…”

  She forgot what she wanted when she saw the jade-green glass of his eyes. She’d never really thought a guy could be breathtaking but he was in this moment as they stared at one another. His dark and chiseled features held her hostage, yet it was his husky words that set her free. “I know what you want and I’m going to give it to you.”

  Jack dipped his head down and used his chin to nudge and adjust her neck into a better angle. Once she was positioned to his liking, on a slant that gave him free access to the vulnerable flesh of her throat, he growled, “Mine.”

  There was nothing soft or romantic about what came next. He punctured the distended vein in her throat as swiftly as he entered her. Sinking his teeth into her neck as surely as he buried his cock into the warmth of her pussy. Right in deep as both parts of him were generously absorbed by her body and he found a steady rhythm, rocking and swaying with her in the curve of the mattress as he fucked her while he sucked deeply, drew heavily, and drank in the very essence of all that was her.

  Her blood rushed to him as did her desire when she lifted her hips and crashed into him. She met everyone one of his brutal thrusts with a passion that taunted him to take things further. Pound harder. Claim more fully.

  “Oh God.” She sighed.

  His nose dug into the soft flesh just beneath her ear as he drove into her. Again and again and when her breath caught in her throat and her legs shook as she exploded pouring hot, wet silk over him, instinct raged. He sucked harder and pushed the lower half of himself into her so deep his balls were crushed against her ass. That’s the way he stayed. Grinding and feeding until she screamed and came again. This second time he went with her, easing off his hold on her throat, he arched away from her with his head pulled back, straining in that punishing position while he held himself deep inside her, letting her inner muscles jerk him off. It didn’t take long. “Fuck.” His heat blasted into her. “So hot and tight.” He collapsed to one side of her, careful not to hurt her, and once his heart rate settled he hauled her up against him, possessively rubbing his chin across her slick forehead while she recovered.

  It took Finley some time to come back down to earth, but when she did, she opened her eyes and blinked up at the man who was tenderly staring down at her. “Is this real?” She didn’t know anymore. Was she dreaming? No sane person would accept all this, and yet she felt more content, more at peace with herself now, than she’d ever felt in her life before. A connection had somehow been made between them that gave her an understanding of the world she’d never thought possible. An understanding of herself she’d never known. A sense of rightness so profound, it made everything else that came prior insignificant in comparison. “Are you real?”

  “Yes.”

  “And yet I’m not afraid of any of this, or of you? I should be.” His brows arched as if to say he didn’t think so and that made her smile. “Well, are you a vampire or not? I mean —” she hadn’t intended to blurt out her question. It popped out of her mouth so fast, it sounded offhanded and flippant, which was probably why he was irritated now. At least she thought he was. His eyes darkened and there was a tic in his cheek, furiously working like he was biting down hard on rawhide. “—you can’t really be a...a—?”

  “A vampire?” He provided. It was his turn to smile. “In a manner of speaking, yes, I am.”

  She wasn’t smiling now. “You’re a…a…”

  “You can say it, babe. There is nothing to fear in that word.”

  “Nothing to fear?” Every image she’d ever seen of the ‘undead’ came back to haunt her. Bats and capes and bloody fangs. She didn’t waste any time pushing against him even as she tried to recall the words to Hail Mary. Maybe she’d have better luck with Our Father? But no luck there. Nope, she knew she was screwed when she silently intoned, Hollywood be thy name… She was just about ready to panic when she spotted him shaking his head. He looked…? Was he disgusted? With her? She opened
her mouth to say something, but he beat her to it.

  “Well, this certainly takes the cake.”

  “What. Do. You. Mean?”

  “I didn’t expect you to behave like this.”

  “Excuse me?” She was totally flabbergasted. He was acting as though they were talking about Sunday night dinner and a show.

  “I’m still inside you.”

  Forget flabbergasted, this called for something European. Gob smacked. Yeah, she was. The gob was smacked right out of her. “Come again.”

  “I might.” He waggled his brows and gave her a smile that made her damn toes curl.

  She shouldn’t be crushing on him at a time like this and yet she was. Wait, didn’t vamps glamor a person? She’d read the books. “You are a...a…oh my God, I don’t want to say it.”

  This time when he shook his head he kind of looked sad. “Tsk, tsk, tsk. You give me half of your soul without a thought, and yet this one word has you panicked?”

  Panicked? She was so much more than that when she jammed the heel of her palm in his solar plexus. “What?”

  This couldn’t be happening. It couldn’t.

  Chapter Five

  “Half my soul?”

  Understandably, she was upset, but that didn’t give her the right to be physically violent. She was bound to hurt herself if she kept that up. He hadn’t missed her wince when she knocked her palm against his abdomen.

  “Easy there, blue eyes.”

  “My name is Finley,” she growled, attempting to push him off her, which was no easy feat. Well, truthfully, it was downright impossible so he relented and gave her the distance she was after. As soon as he did, she scooted over to the far side of the bed, grabbed up the sheet as cover, and pushed her rumpled hair out of her eyes. “I never said —I never agreed to—You can’t just go around taking someone’s —a person’s... my soul,” this last word, she sat forward and conspiratorially whispered, like she didn’t want anyone, but especially God, to hear.