“I had lost my precious children. There was nothing I could do about that. But you were alive, Colin. Your life had been spared, and I wasn’t going to ruin the chance I’d been given, that you’d been given, by dragging you into the drama of my life. I was a vagabond, traveling from place to place. I couldn’t go back to the United States with you. The U.S. vampire lords would never have tolerated my presence. And we were never going to have that white picket fence you’d talked about. There would be no children, no picnics on the beach in the sunshine. I had nothing to offer you but blood and darkness. So I let you walk away, and I told myself it was what the Fates wanted, that I’d done the right thing.”
Colin reached out at last, his arms tightening around her, his breath brushing against her hair when he asked, “And what do you think now, Soph?”
She sighed and spoke without lifting her head, afraid of what she’d see in his face. “I think I might have been wrong about what the Fates were telling me back then. Or maybe I just don’t care anymore. You’re the only man I’ve ever loved, Colin Murphy, and I’m tired of living without you.”
Chapter Thirty-Two
Colin swore softly under his breath, cursing himself for every kind of fool as his body reacted to Sophie’s words. If what Leighton had told him about vampiric senses was true, Sophie probably already knew that his heart was thudding and his breathing was so fast he was almost hyperventilating. And she sure as hell couldn’t miss the erection trying to bury itself in her soft belly.
“Sophie,” he murmured.
She lifted her head to look up at him, her beautiful, brown eyes full of questions.
“I probably should have told you this earlier,” he began. Her eyes grew wider and a little fearful, and he hurriedly added, “I love you, darlin’.” He stroked the fingers of one hand down her soft cheek. “I loved you then, and I’ve never stopped.”
He lowered his head, intending to kiss her gently, soulfully. Something appropriate to this special moment. But his body had its own ideas. His mouth touched her lips and raw desire swept over him, tightening his gut and hardening his cock like a steel rod. He’d missed this for nearly ten years, missed Sophie, with her lush curves and tender mouth, her gorgeous breasts . . .
She moaned softly, her fingers tugging his hair and forcing him closer. He grinned against her lips. And, yeah, he’d missed that, too.
His mouth never leaving hers, he swept her up into his arms, carried her into the bedroom and lowered her to the bed. Her fingers were scrabbling fitfully at his shirt and he shrugged out of it. She switched to his jeans, undoing the button and tugging at the zipper. He reached to unzip it himself, but paused to appreciate his Sophie, as she shimmied out of her tight jeans and tugged her sweater over her head.
He knew the fashion these days was for thin women with narrow hips and tiny asses. But that wasn’t for him. He loved the feel of soft hips and a rounded belly beneath his fingertips, of succulent breasts crushed against his chest as he sank into a woman’s warmth. In short, what he liked in a woman was Sophie.
She stretched out on his bed, preening beneath the heat in his eyes, proud of her curves and wearing nothing but lace, a matching set of panties and bra in warm pink that made her skin look flushed with health in the light of his single bedside lamp.
“Take them off,” Colin growled, his hands on the zipper of his jeans.
Sophie gave him a wicked grin. “I will if you will,” she purred, climbing up onto all fours and crawling across the bed toward him.
Colin watched her come, her large breasts threatening to spill out of their fragile confinement, her hips shifting enticingly with every movement. When she reached for his zipper, he grabbed her fingers, his eyes flashing up to meet hers.
She laughed, a low, sultry sound that took his breath away. “I’ll be careful,” she promised and bent over to kiss his cock through the denim, giving him a tantalizing view of her perfect ass.
Colin fisted his fingers in the thick strands of her long hair as she slowly lowered his zipper. He groaned out loud when his cock was free at last, when Sophie’s delicate hands brushed against his hips as she pushed his pants down to his thighs.
He twisted her hair in his hands, holding it back from her face so he could watch as she began licking him slowly, twining her tongue around his cock, her fingers reaching beneath him to cradle his balls. He sucked in a hard, fast breath when she took him in her mouth, when she tilted her gaze upward to watch his reaction as she began to move up and down, his cock sliding in and out between her plump lips. He began to move his hips slowly, going deeper into her mouth and throat with each thrust.
His cock touched the back of her throat and Sophie moaned hungrily, the sound vibrating along his shaft like a tuning fork. Colin closed his eyes and began thrusting harder, his sac tightening beneath the caress of her fingers, her tongue stroking him as her mouth sucked harder and faster.
Colin groaned. He wanted to fuck her, wanted to be inside her and he’d never—
Jesus Christ!
Sophie ran a fingernail along the taut skin of his sac, a sharp, intense pain that sent every one of his senses into overdrive. He gave a hoarse shout as all thought disappeared, as every nerve ending suddenly centered on his cock and the need to come now. His orgasm roared through his body, boiling out of his balls and down his cock in a rush of pure, heated pleasure. Sophie drank it all in, her fingernails digging into his ass as she held onto him, as she kept him from flying apart.
* * * *
Sophie twirled her tongue around Colin’s softening cock, smiling as he shuddered one more time. His fingers were still wrapped in her hair, but they were massaging gently now as his big body relaxed one muscle at a time.
She pulled back with a final lick, coming up onto her knees. He wrapped his arms around her, burying his face against her neck, kissing gently, moving up her jaw to her mouth. His hands dropped to her bottom, squeezing softly.
“You have the most perfect ass,” he murmured.
She laughed. “So do you.” She kissed him lightly, biting playfully at his lips. “If you show me yours, I’ll show you mine.”
He lifted his head sharply, blue eyes hot and intent. “You first.”
Sophie trailed her fingers across his broad, muscled shoulders and down his arms, loving the hard feel of him. She moved back a few inches and sank down onto her heels, caressing herself, her hands moving slowly over her lace-covered breasts, down past her narrow waist to the fullness of her hips, along the outside of her thighs. Colin’s gaze followed every movement, narrowing as she dipped her fingers to the inside of her thighs and spread her knees wide, smoothing her hands sensuously along her tender skin and over the pretty triangle of lace covering her sex.
His eyes lingered between her legs, suddenly snapping up to meet hers. “I want you naked, Sophie.”
She smiled lazily, gliding her tongue along her upper lip as she lowered first one bra strap and then the other, feeling the heat of Colin’s rapt attention as he watched her breasts slowly begin to overflow the lacey cups. She reached behind her and unfastened the clasp, letting it fall forward, feeling the accustomed rush of pleasure as her breasts were freed, glancing up and gasping as the hunger in Colin’s eyes tightened her nipples and left her aching with need.
Her hands were trembling slightly when she tossed the bra to one side, shaken by what she saw when Colin looked at her. He wanted her. She knew that. But the strength of his lust, the sheer intensity of it . . . that rattled her. She had grown accustomed to her young men in Rio, the human toys she played with for a while and then cast aside, lovers who were completely dominated by her needs and wants. And she realized abruptly that Colin was not that kind of man. He was alpha down to his core, and he was eyeing her the way a lion eyes a particularly tasty gazelle.
“Colin,” she started, but he interrupted her.
“The rest of it, Sophie,” he growled. “Take it all off.”
She swallowed hard and hooked he
r fingers into her panties, tugging them down her hips. But Colin didn’t wait. He shoved his jeans and underwear down his legs, stepping out of them and onto the bed in a single movement. She fell backwards as he stripped her panties down her legs and over her feet, his big hands stroking up her calves and between her thighs, spreading her wide. But he didn’t stop there. He ran his fingers over the silky bare skin of her mound, humming to himself with a pleased smile as he slipped two fingers between her swollen folds and, tormenting her with her own slick heat, bared her completely beneath his gaze. He looked up then with a wicked glint in his eye.
“My turn,” he said.
Sophia bucked as his mouth fastened on her clit, sucking until it throbbed hungrily, every stroke of his tongue sending a jolt of unbelievable desire through her body—a shock of electricity that left her trembling perpetually on the edge of climax. Had any man ever pleasured her so? Had she let them? She shrieked out loud as he drove the same two fingers he’d been stroking her with deep inside her at the exact moment his teeth grazed her tingling clit. His fingers began to thrust in and out slowly and she pushed against them, desperate for the orgasm she could feel building in every inch of her body, in her breasts which were full and aching, in her womb which seemed to throb with the need to orgasm. She grabbed Colin’s hair, pressing his mouth against her more tightly, afraid she would die the true death if he didn’t release her soon.
“Colin,” she gasped, then groaned wordlessly.
His tongue swept lazily along her slit, teasing her with quick brushes against her pulsing clit. He slid his fingers out from inside her and sucked them noisily, drinking in her wetness and watching her the entire time. “You taste good, Soph.”
“Colin!” she practically shrieked at him.
He laughed! But then he sobered almost immediately, becoming preternaturally intent as he raised himself up over her body, his hips spreading her legs even wider, his big, hard cock sliding back and forth in the aching wetness between her thighs. “Is this what you want, darlin’?”
“Yes.” Sophia nodded, nearly sobbing with relief. “Yes.”
She wrapped her legs tightly around his hips, her fingers digging into his arms, holding him close lest he think to torment her further.
Colin drew back slightly and reached down, positioning his cock at her entrance. He looked up and met her eyes, holding her gaze while he slammed his full, hard, wonderful length deep inside her.
Sophia screamed as she came hard, her vaginal walls convulsing around his shaft, the orgasm rippling up to her womb and into her breasts, tightening her nipples and sending ripples of exquisite eroticism throughout her body. She thrust against him almost violently, unable to control her need to feel more—the rough scrape of his chest hair against her sensitive breasts, the thickness of his cock as he stretched her wider with every thrust, the tautness of his arms as he held himself over her, his powerful thighs and ass pumping his hard shaft deep inside her like a piston.
Sophia wrapped her arms around him, raking her nails down his back, feeling the warm blood beneath her fingertips. Colin threw his head back, groaning as he thrust harder. She pulled him closer, wanting the touch of his mouth, his kiss.
Their lips met in a hard, hungry kiss, teeth clashing, tongues battling each other in a frenzy of mating. She bit his lip, drawing her first taste of his blood. Heat zinged through her veins, that tiny sip like molten lava, racing to her heart and sealing her fate. Colin Murphy was hers and she would kill anyone who tried to take him from her.
“Come for me, Sophie,” he murmured against her mouth, his blood still fresh on his lips. “Let me feel you come all over my cock.”
As if his words were a psychic trigger, Sophia’s entire body shook with orgasm, every muscle, every nerve responding to his demand. She moaned, overwhelmed with sensation, crying out as ripples of pleasure rolled over her like a tidal wave, tossing her back and forth as she hung on to him for dear life. Her thighs squeezed his hips as she bucked beneath him, her inner walls caressing his cock, trapping him inside her until he surrendered, throwing his head back and roaring as he joined her in ecstasy, his climax a heated rush against her trembling womb.
* * * *
Colin collapsed against Sophie, her soft, full breasts a sweet cushion against his chest. The image of those breasts with their large swollen nipples, plump and straining for his mouth, sent a pulse of fresh desire straight to his groin, taunting his drained cock with impossible ideas. He groaned and shifted sideways, taking his weight off Sophie and pulling her against his side. She responded limply, one arm falling over his chest as if she didn’t have the strength to lift it.
He smiled in what he recognized as pure, male satisfaction and dropped his arm down her back to cup that spectacular ass. Another shock of desire stabbed his groin, this one causing his cock to twitch weakly. The guy might be drained, but he was recovering.
“I can hear you gloating,” Sophie murmured around a yawn.
“I’m not gloating,” Colin responded. “I’m planning for the future.”
“Oh my God,” Sophie protested dramatically. “Is there no satisfying you?”
He laughed. “Eventually.”
Sophie lifted her head to smile at him, kissing her way down his chest. He rolled slightly, wrapping her in both arms. Her hands slid around his back and she gasped.
“You’re bleeding,” she said tightly.
“Scratches, I think,” he said, suddenly aware of the distant pain. “They’ll heal.”
Sophie sat up, staring intently at the blood on her hand. She shifted her gaze to meet his. “I can make them heal faster.”
Colin swallowed hard. Her eyes had taken on that weird amber glow again, and his sex-addled brain finally clicked on what it meant. She was a vampire. And he was bleeding. “You mean—”
“My blood can heal you,” she said, completely calm. “Not just the scratches, but all of these as well.” She touched the nicks and cuts he’d acquired in the gun battle that had nearly taken Leighton’s life. She met his gaze again. “And anything else, Colin. If you take my blood, you’ll feel ten years younger.”
Colin blinked. “Is that what you were talking about back at the compound? About Raphael healing Leighton? You mean he can literally heal her?”
“Yes.”
“But . . . you didn’t see how bad she was, Soph. She was gut shot. There was blood everywhere. I didn’t really expect her to make it back to the compound alive. Can vampires heal something that bad?”
“If the vampire is powerful enough, yes.”
“But if that’s true, why isn’t vampire blood the new wonder drug? Every researcher in the country could use something like that.”
“And what would happen to us? To the vampires?” Sophie asked gently. “I’ve seen what humans are capable of. What do you think your leaders would do if they learned about our blood? They’d lock us away in a heartbeat. Or they’d try.” She brushed back his sweat-dampened hair. “No, Colin. This is one secret every vampire alive respects. Or they die. Simple as that.”
“Then why are you telling me?”
“There are exceptions, meu querido. People we trust.” She shifted, pushing him over onto his back and going up onto all fours as she bent to lick at the sweat on his chest, biting his flat nipples gently. He wound his fingers through her long hair and tugged her head back, meeting her eyes.
“Do you want to take my blood, Sophie?”
She stilled, studying him in that intense way a predator watches its prey. Her tongue swept out and across her upper lip and he saw the first hint of her fangs, white tips barely visible below her gums. Her eyes changed, their color once again a brilliant amber that left humanity behind. She drew a long, slow breath, her nostrils flaring as they took in his scent.
“I can smell it,” she said in a low, sensuous purr. “The scent of your blood is intoxicating. Think of the most delicious aroma you’ve ever encountered, baking bread, chocolate, a bubbling stew—all of tha
t and more. It’s not just blood, Colin, it’s your blood. And, oh, yes, I want it.”
Colin drew in a deep, hard breath. Adrenaline spiked, but it wasn’t fear. Or not only fear. He’d have to be nuts not to be a little intimidated by the idea of someone biting into him and drinking his blood. But it was more than that. It was lust, pure and simple. Damn if he wasn’t turned on by the idea. And if that made him a sick fuck, then so be it.
“Okay,” he said. “Let’s do it.”
The amber glow of Sophie’s eyes amped up, like turning on a flood lamp. She opened her mouth and her fangs slid into full view, white and gleaming. “Are you certain?” she asked.
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