Ziggy held Randy’s mouth open as René covered it with his wrist. After a feeble attempt to break away, requiring Ziggy to move his hand from his mouth to hold his head with both hands to stop him from thrashing from side to side, Randy relaxed, his throat working to indicate he was then sucking on his own. After a moment, René withdrew his wrist, licking the wound to seal it. It was only at that moment Crissy realized she had been holding her breath.
“It is done,” René said as he stood. “In a few moments he will come to. Some weakness may persist, but the damage will heal. A few days from now he shouldn’t even have a mark to show for it.”
“You guys should bottle that stuff. You could make a fortune,” Georgie joked weakly.
“Now there’s an idea,” grinned Chad. “Unfortunately, someone would have to replace the supply from the…ah…source, and personally—nothing against you guys, of course,” he said, nodding at René and Marcus, “but I prefer anyone sucking on my neck to be of the female variety—non-fanged if possible.” He grunted as Georgie’s elbow dug into his ribs.
“Such a shame, my friend,” said Marcus. “One or two lady friends of mine have indicated quite a fascination with your neck. Amongst certain other body parts.”
“Hey, no offense, but no thanks. I like my blood. Every single drop of it.” Chad shuddered.
“You shouldn’t knock what you haven’t tried,” teased Marcus. “I’m told it’s quite…pleasurable for the man.”
“Yeah, well, I’ll pass. Thanks all the same.”
René walked over to Crissy and took her hands in his. “And now I must leave. I doubt your mate would be too thrilled to see me here when he comes to.”
She freed her hands and wrapped them around him, hugging him tight, tears in her eyes as relief flooded through her. “Thank you. This means so much to me.”
“I know.” His eyes locked on hers, he lowered his head as if he was going to kiss her. So close, she could feel the warmth of his breath against her lips. “Be happy, Sunshine. That’s all I ever wanted.”
“I know. And you. I’m sorry, René. For everything.”
“Take your fucking hands off my mate!”
Crissy’s heart pounded in her chest, and she turned to see Randy panting and struggling to rise before Ziggy leaned on his shoulders, forcing him back down.
“Stay still, you damned idiot.”
“But, hell! That’s my mate he’s got his big mitts on!”
“I think that’s my cue to leave, sweet.” He smiled, an affectionate, gentle quirk of his lips before he turned to Randy. “Trust me, you have nothing to fear, friend. I was merely saying goodbye to your mate. And now,” he turned and nodded to them all, “I really must go.”
“You’re not staying in New Orleans?” asked Crissy.
“No. I have a life now elsewhere. I’ve…done what I came here to do. Now I must get back. Adieu.” He saluted them, a cavalier flick of his fingers off his forehead. One more squeeze of her hand, and he was gone, swallowed up in the night.
“Will somebody tell me what the hell is going on?” Randy glared around at the circle of people surrounding him.
Crissy hurried to kneel beside him and nibbled her bottom lip as she debated how best to tell Randy what had transpired while he was unconscious.
“What’s with you and René, babe? You better not be thinking about leaving—”
She leaned over to kiss him, intending a quick brush of her lips against his, just to reassure them both, but was surprised when a pair of strong hands grabbed her head and deepened the kiss, taking long moments to send her a very definite message. When Randy finally released her, she gasped and blushed.
“I think we can take that as a good sign,” teased Chad, draping his arm over Georgie’s shoulder. “Next he’ll have her naked on the floor. Hey, anybody ever tell you two to get a room?”
She glared briefly at Chad before turning back to Randy. “You’re a goose, Randy Trudeau, you know that?”
“So what happened? What’s with you and René?”
“Ziggy didn’t want to move you, honey. And…well, Marcus offered his blood to heal the wound.”
“Yeah. And…?”
“René… René asked to be allowed to do it, for me…for us…you and me,” she added quickly. “The vampire blood—”
“Yeah, it’s okay—I know all about that. I watched Marcus once…”
“And…” She turned to the others. “Give us a moment, guys? Please?”
“Chad?” Marcus caught Chad’s eye. “How about you giving me a hand with Luisa. Somehow I suspect that the New Orleans police department won’t be terribly understanding with a body showing up with her kind of injuries.”
“Sure, man.”
Georgie moved to hold the door open while the two men struggled with the limp body, waving to Crissy as she followed them out the door.
As Ziggy stood, he squeezed her shoulder. “Nothing too energetic, okay?” he said with a twinkle in his eye. “Don’t want to bust open those wounds.
“Tell that to your brother,” she said with a smile as she looked down at her mate.
She waited until they were alone before she nestled on the cold floor alongside Randy, careful not to hurt him. But at that moment she needed the closeness, needed to convince herself that Randy was going to be okay. More than anything she needed to be held by him.
“Did you mean it?” she asked as Randy’s arm came around her, holding her to him. “What you said before about…about…”
“About what? God, babe, it’s all a blur—I have no idea what I said earlier. I think I was delirious.”
“Oh.” She sat up and looked away, a little pain tearing at her heart.
“Hey.” He turned her back to him, his voice softening. “But if you’re referring to me telling you I love you…I remember that bit real well.” He pulled her against him, her head on his chest listening to the steady thump of his heart.
“I don’t know how else to tell you, to make you realize what you mean to me. I don’t want to live without you, Crissy. I love you so much that at times it nearly drives me insane.”
She lifted her head and rested it on his chest so she could look at him.
“And I love you, Randy.” She reached over and touched her lips to his, feeling a heady mix of relief, joy, happiness fill her.
“So,” he said, as they broke apart, “does this mean you’ll marry me?”
She laughed. “But you told me we’re already mated. Isn’t that the same thing? Until death us do part, and all that?”
“True.” He traced a finger along her face, down her jaw. “But I want to make sure we have all the bases covered. You’re never getting away from me, Cris.”
“I don’t want to, Randy.”
“Hey, that looks cozy,” said Chad, his head peeking around the door. “Room for one more?”
“Chad, you’re a fucking nuisance. Go get your own woman.” Randy looked back at Crissy and smiled. “Like I told you before, this one is most definitely taken.”
“Yeah, I kinda got that. Look, we’re all heading back. You want a lift, or are you two lovebirds gonna snuggle up here ‘til you run out of food.”
“Snuggling sounds good,” he winked at Crissy, “but I’d rather do it in my own bed. Give me a hand, man, and let’s get the hell outta here.”
Chapter Fifteen
Swinging his legs onto the floor, Randy stood and stretched.
Nothing, not even a twinge to indicate the trauma his body had gone through. That vamp blood—even if it was René’s—was good stuff.
But he was determined this was the last day he’d wake up to an empty bed. Crissy was just worried, he knew that. Worried she’d somehow hurt him, open a wound or something. But he was fine. More than fine. He was goddamn horny. And if he had to chase her down to prove he was up to the task, he was prepared to do just that.
Although he was tempted to walk downstairs naked and cut right to the chase, he wasn’t in a hurr
y to repeat yesterday’s experience when he’d wandered downstairs hoping to throw Crissy over the nearest piece of furniture and make a rather strong point, only to find his mother in the kitchen swapping recipes with his mate. He grimaced. Hopefully she swapped a few cooking tips while she was at it. His appreciation for carbon à la carte was running on empty—kinda like his stomach.
Walking over to the dresser, he pulled open his underwear drawer and grinned. Instead of neatly folded Jockeys and boxers, a selection of Victoria’s Secret stared him in the face. A warm feeling filled him at the sight of Crissy’s things looking so permanent in his home. Then he shook his head and laughed. A rainbow of colors, all tossed in willy-nilly, like most of her things. The woman had absolutely no concept of “neat”. It was one four-letter word she certainly didn’t embrace with any degree of enthusiasm.
A quick glance around his room showed her presence in more places than just this drawer. His normally plain bedroom, done in shades of white and blue—pristine, spartan—now looked like the inside of a gypsy’s caravan. Dresses draped over the couch, hanging off doorknobs, shoes tossed on the floor where she’d stepped out of them, God knew what else, were scattered around the room in a wild carnival of colors. It was like living in the middle of a whirlwind. But far from being pissed off, he found he actually liked it. Liked the feel of permanence to it. Like she’d burrowed in for good.
Returning to the drawer, his eyebrow rose as he held up a red bit of silk and lace that looked like it would hardly cover a goose bump. Oh yeah, this whole “mate” thing was great! He pulled out another scrap of satin, this time in electric blue that brought back memories of the dress she’d had on that night at Baby Blues. His cock sprang to attention just thinking about his mate in that dress. It was a shame it had burned in the house that night. No, on second thought, it was just as well. He knew there wasn’t much that could provoke him to murder, but seeing the looks on other guys’ faces when she swished that luscious butt past them in that dress was definitely one of them.
Curious now, he rummaged further and stopped when his hand touched something hard. Wrapping his hand around it, he pulled it out. And frowned. Pushing bras and thongs to the side, he uncovered a veritable stash and his frown deepened.
He slammed the drawer shut. “Crissy!!”
Uh-oh. Crissy glanced in the direction of their bedroom where the bullroar emanated from and smiled. Now that was more like it. She’d tiptoed around Randy for days, waiting until he was back to normal. And from the sounds of that bellow, he must be feeling fighting fit and raring to go.
Taking one look at her latest disastrous cooking effort—little burnt rocks that were supposed to be like Randy’s scrumptious cinnamon cookies, but better resembled barbeque briquettes—she tossed them in the trash, brushed off her hands, and flew up the stairs. She rushed in the room, but was surprised to find the bed empty.
“Randy?”
With a loud bang, the door slammed shut behind her. She spun around, seeing Randy standing there with his hands behind his back, a dark scowl on his face.
“Randy? What’s wrong? Are you—”
“What are these?” His voice was deep, the words clipped and measured. His “no nonsense” voice. A shiver of delight went through her. She bit the inside of her mouth to stop the chuckle that would have escaped when she saw what he was holding up.
She looked at him innocently. “Ah, vibrators. What do they look like?”
“I realize that,” he replied testily. “More to the point, what are they doing here?”
If only he knew how damn hot he looked standing there totally naked with his hands full of sex toys and a raging hard-on that pulsed against his abdomen… Her mouth watered just looking at him.
But he looked so indignant, she couldn’t resist playing with him a little. “You want to tell me why you’re snooping in my undies drawer, Randy? You don’t have a…ah…” she pursed her lips, “confession you want to tell me about, do you?” she teased.
“What? What the hell are you talking about?”
“You know, like a fetish. Some guys like to wear women’s underw—”
“No! God, woman!” His frown deepened as her smile widened. “You mind telling me why your underwear drawer is full of sex toys?”
Hot. So totally darn hot. She shivered with delight. Every inch of him was bristling, one bit in particular that just made her want to drop to her knees. “Easy. I didn’t know how long you were going to be out of action—”
He cut her off, the warning in his eyes and the deep, slow rumble of his voice making her pussy flood in anticipation. “You mean you’ve already used them?”
“Only once…”
“Once is one time too many,” he bit out.
“But, honey, you were hurt…”
He stalked toward her, making her step back until the back of her knees hit the bed. She licked her lips at the look on his face. So determined, so damn sexy… It was hard to keep a straight face. She felt like cheering. Her man was back! Yay!
He leaned over her, amber eyes flashing fire. “Let’s get one thing straight. I am never, ever, going to be too hurt to make love to you, babe. So trust me, you won’t be needing these.” He tossed the dildo and the vibrating butt plug on the bed, the rest of them he turned and threw back in the drawer. “You just let me know when the urge hits, and I’m there. Now, strip off like a good girl.”
God, she loved Randy when he got like this—all alpha and dominating. Every cell in her body was primed and ready. Her mind raced at a hundred miles an hour trying to decide what she could use next time to provoke him. “Why? Have I been a bad girl? You going to punish me, Randy?”
He tried hard to remain stony-faced, but his eyes flared just the same. “Let’s just call it positive reinforcement.”
It took all her control to tamp down on the chuckle that was busting to break free. He was so damn transparent—he was looking forward to this as much as she was. And it took some doing, but she had to force herself not to get naked in two seconds. She’d waited three days—he could wait a few minutes more…
Taking her time, she reached behind her and slowly freed each button on the back of her sundress, taking special delight in the change that came over him—the subtle flare of his nostrils, the chest rising and falling with his deeper breaths, the golden highlights in his eyes becoming darker—as she thrust her breasts out while she strained to release the tiny buttons.
His eyes narrowed. “You teasing me, Crissy?”
“Nope. Wouldn’t dream of it.” She wriggled as she shimmied the straps down over her shoulders, making her breasts jiggle under the silky fabric. “It’s just that some of those buttons are a bit hard to reach.”
She thought she caught a whisper of a smile, a glint in his eyes. Finally, the dress dropped to the floor with a silken sigh.
“No underwear, huh? You always walk around the house nearly naked?”
“Always.” Yep, and there was a damn good reason for that. Nothing like being ready at the drop of a hat…
A scowl appeared on his face, furrowing his brow. “What about if company comes calling?”
She blew him a pouty kiss and winked. “I guess it’ll just be our little secret then, won’t it?” she said, and fluttered her eyelashes at him.
He laughed, finally. “Sure will, babe. Okay, now come here.”
“Where?”
He grabbed her arm and pulled her toward him, pulling her up tight against his chest. “Right here.” He lowered his head and kissed her then, bruising his mouth over hers, nipping at her lips until she opened them and then pushing his tongue inside, insistently stroking against hers until he got a response. When she would have reached her arms up to wrap around his neck, he grabbed them and pulled them away, breaking the connection of their lips, leaving her gasping for breath.
“Oh, no, Crissy. We still have one or two things we need to…discuss…yet.” A wolfish grin spread over his face as he sat on the bed and pulled h
er over his lap, facedown, his hand on her back holding her in place. “Now, just open those legs a little bit…that’s the way.”
A moan bubbled up when he positioned his steel-hard erection between her thighs, the heated rod rubbing along her already damp labia.
“Perfect.” He made a few test thrusts, the silkiness of her juices allowing him to slide easily. “Oh yeah.” He leaned over her to lick a path along the line of her neck to her ear. “Comfy?” he whispered, his voice taking on a familiar husky tone.
Comfy? Comfy didn’t even come close to what she was feeling. All she could do was close her eyes in bliss and nod as she relished the feeling of him sliding up and down through the swollen lips. Each upthrust pulled slightly on the sensitive nub at the top of the folds. God, at this rate, she’d come before they even got to the spanking.
Crissy shivered as he ran a hand over the rounded curve, allowing a finger to slide down the crease, tickling her folds, then teasing the tight bud of her anus. Hmmm…more…
Lost in the sensations, a sharp slap across a buttock caught her by surprise and caused her to flinch. A delicious, stinging warmth bloomed over her skin. A smack on the other cheek followed by a sensuous caress of the well-rounded cheeks made her wriggle on his lap. Which was one hell of a distraction with his cock still rubbing against the soaked lips of her pussy.
Randy chuckled low in his throat, but tried to sound firm. “This is meant to be punishment, Crissy. Stop enjoying it so much.”
Oh sure, dream on, big guy. “Bite me, Randy.”
“Oh, don’t worry, sweetheart, we’re getting to that bit. Just a little more reinforcement…”
She arched her cheeks up, trying to spread her legs further when he dropped his legs, nudging the bulbous head of his cock at her vagina. Squirming on his lap to try to position the flared crown more firmly over her labia just brought another slap. “Here’s a thought… How about you reinforce that cock of yours somewhere where we can both feel a bit more positive about it?”
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