by Michele Hauf
“People change.”
“Yes, and she probably has.”
“Tell me this. Do you still love her?”
“I did. As I said, in my own way. It was appreciation and admiration. And we were physically attracted to one another. And then the love faded. I don’t hate her, but I’m indifferent to her. She would be like a stranger to me now.” He placed a hand over his heart. “She’s just another vampiress to me.”
Tuesday nodded. The hand over his heart had been an unconscious move. He might think that was what he believed, but if she meant nothing to him then why hadn’t he walked up to Gazariel and grabbed him? It shouldn’t have mattered what the woman meant to him.
“So what’s the plan now?” she asked.
“I followed them out of the restaurant. The demon dropped Anyx off on the rue de Rivoli. I then followed him to a parking garage and he joined her in shopping. It looked to be a long day of retail adventure that I wasn’t up for. I’ll go out again. And next time, I’ll take the demon in hand, no matter what. But I’ll have to take measures to contain Anyx as well.”
“You need me.”
“I don’t see how that will work if your sigil tips off the demon we’re after him.”
“I’ll figure this one out.” She pressed a hand between her breasts. “But admit you might need an uninvolved party to keep you on point.”
“Uninvolved?” He leaned forward, close enough to kiss her. “I thought we were involved?”
“You know what I mean.” She tapped his mouth. “I have no ties to the vampiress. You need me to keep you steady.”
“You do have a manner about you that challenges me, yet also, stills me. Not sure what that is, but I don’t mind it. In fact, I might even say you make me better.”
“I’ll take that. And I’ll raise you with this.”
She kissed his chin, nipping the stubble and then rubbing her lips over the rough hair. The brush of it tickled across her skin delightfully. So she played at a few more nips to his chin, along his jaw, and then landed on his lower lip and tugged it with a gentle, biting hold.
“You’re feisty this afternoon,” he said, and pulled her tight against his body. He still wore the coolness from outside on him, and it shivered into her being and ruched her nipples. “Mmm, I like that.” He thumbed one of her nipples through the T-shirt, then pinched it, but not as softly as she had been with the nips.
Tuesday squirmed, yet arched her back to lift her breasts, and he took the hint. Bowing to her, he pushed up her blousy shirt and sucked in a nipple. His mouth was hot and his tongue firmly traced and lashed and teased her to a whimpering, clutching, wanting witch.
She shoved at his shirt, but realized it was a button-up. Wasn’t going to come off without some pause to make it happen. And she needed to press her bare breasts against his hard pecs.
“Take this off,” she pouted, and tugged at the shirt.
“We’re going to do this right now?” he asked, plucking slowly at each button down the front of the shirt. He stepped back and pulled it off, exposing a feast to her eyes.
“Oh, yeah.” Tuesday veered toward the bed, but Ethan grabbed her wrist and spun her around. She almost walked into the leather chair in the process, and suddenly, he spun her to face away from him, and pushed her forward.
She caught her hands on the back of the chair, and with a grin, leaned forward onto her elbows. A wiggle of her ass received a hard smack from his palm. He pulled down her leggings and gave her another smack that stung yet made her instantly wet.
Behind her she heard him unzip, and seconds later his heavy cock fell against her buttocks. Ethan grinded against her, fitting himself between her legs. She reached down and gripped the head of him, squeezing the length between her thighs.
“Fuck yes,” he said tightly, as he cupped a hand over her breast and leaned down to kiss her nape. His hot breath caused erotic sensations that traveled her skin from neck to toe, and danced everywhere in between with the giddy madness of frenzied desire. Turning his head, his cheek hugged her spine. He clutched her breast as an inhale drew in her scent. “Put me inside you.” He rocked his hips, pleading for entrance.
Tuesday guided him inside, and he slid in forcefully, pushing her stomach against the back of the chair and pulling her shoulders against him with a hand across her breasts. He kissed her hard again on her nape and bit, but not with his fangs. Just a soft, clinging, feral bite.
He rapidly thrust in and out of her, seeking his pleasure. Yet when his hand slid around to finger her clit, she cried out at the surprising attention. He pushed into her hard while she rocked forward, meeting his finger to adjust the pressure there. Inside her and outside, the man fit her perfectly and knew how to play her to the edge.
“Now,” she gasped, hoping he was close to climax. Because she was. And then she decided she didn’t need to wait. So she slapped a hand over his finger, moving it a bit to the left, and that was what released her to orgasm. She shouted and gripped the leather.
And behind her Ethan swore again and hilted himself as her orgasm tightened her about him, and with a few more thrusts, he came, too.
Chapter 15
“That was good.” Tuesday sat up on the bed and looked over Ethan’s bare chest. The soft beige sheet barely covered his cock, yet exposed those gorgeous muscles that pointed to all the action. The window shades had darkened by half to subdue the setting sunlight, and a hazy pale light softened the air.
“Good?” Ethan whistled lowly. “What does it take to rate a great?”
“Are you competing for a better grade?”
“No. Just not sure I can live with a mere good.”
“Well...” She trailed a finger along the muscle that led to his crotch.
The sex had been amazing, and it had given her an idea. Together, they could do wondrous things. And if he thought she made him better now, he might be blown away at what a little bloodsexmagic could do for them. She’d already given him some of her magic. With the bite, he could become that much more capable of utilizing that magic. But...
“What would take this to great might offend you.”
“There’s nothing you can do that would offend me. Of course, I wouldn’t mind you trying. Over and over.” He winked at her.
“Very well. I’m going to ask for something. Something I’ve never done before but have been curious about.”
“Ask away. If it leads to great I don’t know how I can say no.”
She crawled on top of him and stroked the dark hairs that trailed up from his cock to his belly button. Leaning down to kiss his chest, Tuesday lingered there and licked his skin, which had cooled considerably. Sculpted from steel, he was a new plaything that she wanted to learn more about. And she would. In every way possible.
She pushed her hair over one shoulder. “Bite me,” she said. “Drink my soul, vampire. And in turn, let me feel yours in the thunder of your heartbeats as we climax together.”
Ethan pushed up onto his elbows. His eyes, colored like a rainy sky, held her gaze, searing into her irises so she could feel his thoughts. No fear, yet something made him pause.
“I thought we’d already discussed my nixing the blood-giving stuff.”
“I don’t need your blood. Heck, I don’t want it. Unless it’s for a spell. But now that you bring it up, you never did tell me what was up with that. You stopped talking after saying you killed someone. What happened that you’re such a freak about giving blood?”
“I’m not a freak.” He laid his head back on the pillow and closed his eyes. Still, he winced. “I killed someone I loved, Tuesday, by giving her a blood transfusion. And I won’t ever be responsible for another innocent’s death by doing the same. No blood from these veins for any reason. Ever.”
It was a heavy confession, and she wanted to honor it. Even if a few drops would never harm anyone. Bu
t who was she to judge him for something that obviously had hurt him deeply?
She stroked a fingertip over the faint spot below his left pec where she’d stabbed him with the alicorn. No scar, only a slight discoloration in the skin remained.
“This blood transfusion,” she said quietly. “I thought you said you weren’t trying to transform her?”
“I wasn’t. I will never make another vampire. Not unless it is my own child. The woman—she was human. I loved her, but...” He sighed and stroked a hand down her hair. Still, he kept his eyes closed. “It was in the nineteenth century in a little seaside village in Scotland. We were on holiday there, and she’d gone out for a walk in the sunlight, knowing that I was back at the inn buried under the covers, still sleeping. It had rained through the night and the grass was wet and slippery. She fell down a cliff and landed on the boulders fronting the sea. It was hours before I found her and was able to get her to the hospital. So many broken bones. And she’d lost so much blood. And yet, I’d read about blood transfusions, and the medical science behind the operation. I knew there was a possibility of saving her, so I offered my blood.”
“Was she your blood type?” Tuesday asked with surprise.
Ethan shook his head. “At that time, the doctors and surgeons weren’t aware of blood types. They performed the operation unknowing that the type of blood was important. Unfortunately, we were not a match, and after pumping four pints of my blood into her, she seized and went into a coma. She died an hour later.”
Oh, the poor man. “I’m sorry, Ethan.”
“I’d been with her for a year. We never fooled ourselves that we’d marry and have children. She knew I was vampire. Had no desire for the lifestyle, either. I did have a moment of thinking I could save her if only I transformed her. But I did not. I respected her choice not to become vampire. And yet, I killed her by giving her my blood.”
“That wasn’t your fault. Medical science wasn’t advanced enough at the time. You could never have known.”
“I never should have offered in the first place. I should have let her be. She may have recovered.”
“You don’t know that. She’d fallen off a cliff? And you said she’d broken bones. It sounds like she would have died no matter what.”
“Do we have to talk about this?”
“Of course not. But I have one more question.”
“Shoot.”
“Did you love her like you loved your wife?”
He wobbled his head. “Love comes in many different forms. You know?”
“Not really.”
“Right. Sorry. There are many kinds of love. At least, from my perspective. I loved Anyx because it was something we learned and it grew between us over the years. A certain respect, and yes, sexual desire developed the love between us. But I would never call what we experienced a soul love.”
“Even after sixty years?”
“Even after. As for the woman who died, I did love her passionately, but again, it wasn’t soul-deep. And I’m okay with that. Whether we are human or creature or other, we love. It’s what we do. And I wish you could know love.”
“Well, I can love. I just can’t receive love. Not for long, anyway. And always to the detriment of the guy who might think he loves me.” She shrugged. “I’m fine.”
“I don’t think you are.”
“Do we have to talk about this?” she said, repeating his question.
“Not right now, no.”
“Good. And I’m glad you trust me to tell me about the blood thing.” She kissed his collarbone and laid her head on his shoulder. “I won’t ever ask you for blood. Promise. But...”
“You know when a person tosses in a but that means disregard everything I said before that word and only pay attention to what follows?”
Tuesday propped herself up over him. “There’s nothing stopping you from biting me. And it could enhance the magic I’ve already given you. Bloodsexmagic, you know.”
“I thought that was what vampires used to steal a witch’s magic?”
“It is, but if given freely, and if I control the hex...”
“I don’t want to get hexed.”
“You’ve already been thoroughly hexed by me, lover.”
He snickered. “Your use of the word has too many meanings to keep straight. I do like hexing you. But I’m not keen on bloodsexmagic.”
“Fine. I can deal. But that doesn’t mean you still can’t bite me. You know you want a taste. You’ve thought about it. Don’t deny it.”
“I have.” He stroked the hair along her cheek, and traced her neck where her carotid pumped in anticipation, but then dashed downward to tickle the ends of her hair across her breast.
“I dare you,” she whispered, unwilling to back down from the challenge.
Because it was a challenge between the two of them. She’d mentioned to him that fangs got her off, but he had initially been offended by her being a witch. It was an old and innate vampire hang-up. He’d lived through the Great Protection Spell when one drop of witch’s blood could destroy a vampire.
“I’m not poisonous,” she whispered. “Promise.”
“I know that. But you have to know I’ve never bitten a witch.”
“Understandable. But you don’t strike me as the type who would carry a centuries-old fear within you.”
“I don’t fear your blood. But I do think you’re a fang junkie.”
That was a term vamps reserved for humans desperate for more of the fang. But Tuesday didn’t take it as an offense. She shrugged. “Not quite a junkie, but I do love the bite. The orgasm is incredible. Much better than good.”
He smirked and humor danced in his eyes. He might buckle...
“You are cute,” he said.
She nodded, agreeing.
“And your blood smells different than most.”
“How so?”
“Old. Luxurious. Aged, like a fine wine.”
“You are not winning points by calling me old, buddy.”
“It’s the aged vintages that are always best.”
Ethan parted his lips and she watched as his fangs lowered. Beautiful weapons. Pearly white. Sharper than most animal incisors. Made for piercing. She tapped one, and then stroked it until the man’s hips rocked beneath her thighs. It was a unique way to jack him off.
“Taste me, vampire. Dive deeper into my world.”
Ethan dashed out his tongue to lick her finger and she leaned forward, putting her breasts level with his mouth. Offering herself, waiting...wishing for the ultimate connection between the two of them. Because, she’d had it all thus far in life. Sex with so many different species. Bites, blood-sharing and even magic-sharing. But never had she had the bite at the same time as sex. It was a sacred act, and could actually enhance her blood bond with another.
He licked her nipple. And even after making love and having him touch and taste her for hours, she felt it as a new and exciting tingle that shivered through her system. She arched her back, then lifted her breast, putting it in his mouth.
And then the painful pierce of his fangs entered her body. Tuesday gasped at the sharp and intense intrusion. But she didn’t flinch or pull away as his tongue lashed after the blood that spilled over the curve of her breast and toward her nipple.
Cleaning it off, he then suckled at the twin pierce marks, drawing out her blood. The sensation was sweet, and wicked. Delicious and deadly. And when his fangs grazed her skin they raised shiver bumps in the wake of his formidable weapons.
“The other,” he whispered, and she shifted on her hands, tilting her chest so he could get a firm hold on her other breast.
The second piercing felt as painfully exquisite, and she shuddered, and put a hand to the back of his head to hold him there as he fed from her. Sensation soared through her body, coiling at her pussy and making
her instantly wet again. He had penetrated her in a different way, but the feeling was beyond that of simple insert-tab-A-into-slot-B intercourse.
All of a sudden he flipped her onto her back. His strong hand clutched behind her head and lifted her neck to his fangs. With an animal fierceness, Ethan growled and sank his fangs into her carotid. One hand clutched at her breast while he fed ravenously from her pumping life. She could bleed out if he let the blood flow too long, and he might tease at that, but the vampire’s saliva was healing and wouldn’t allow such to happen.
“Oh, Ethan...” She twined a leg around one of his and let her head fall back, unsupported as he followed her down. “Fuck me now. With your teeth and your cock.”
As he shoved into her with his hard-on, Tuesday gasped because she felt that sensation as if...she was the one entering him. Ethan’s pleasurable groan ceased his sucking at her neck only momentarily as their gazes met. “You feel that?” he asked.
“I feel...what you feel?”
“Yeah, and...damn.” He slapped his chest. “That’s amazing.”
“We’re sharing the blood pleasures. Don’t stop. More!”
He dropped his mouth to her neck again and the tug at the wound ached as he touched a fang to it and allowed the blood to flow. And as he greedily took from her, he pumped his hips against hers, gliding in and out. One hand thumbed her nipple, pinching, squeezing, demanding.
Everything was different, and the same, and new, and familiar. The intense squeeze of her insides about his cock...she could feel that as if his steely hard rod was her own. The taste of her blood in his mouth—she experienced that sweet delicacy trickle at the back of her throat. And the coil of orgasm that mastered her core seemed to triple in intensity as it enveloped them together.
“I can feel what you feel,” he gasped. “Tuesday... This is... I’ve never known this before.” He hilted himself inside her and then reached down to thumb her clit. “Oh, Christ, that’s...wow.”
“Invoking a Christian deity’s name? You’re telling me.” She held him at her neck, and rocked her hips upward, meeting his thumb strokes with exacting movements to keep him right where she wanted him. “Give it all to me, Ethan. With my blood you’ve entered me. And I have entered you.”