by TJ Michaels
“So, it wasn’t just a one-night stand?” she asked boldly, needing some closure once and for all. Sure, she was upset the man hadn’t called, but if she had any sense she would leave well enough alone. Hell, a single bang was the way to go with him, or anyone else. She had work to do and couldn’t afford to be distracted. But damn, she really wanted to be distracted by him. Badly.
“One-night stand? Not on your life. You’re addicting, baby, and there are some things I’d like you to consider, but we’ll talk about that later.”
“How did you find out where I live?”
“I have my ways,” he teased with a sheepish grin. She wasn’t buying it and her well-practiced “come again” glare must have gotten her point across. He threw up his hands in the universal “I give” salute.
“My organization always asks for the personal information of any person working on research for us. Besides”—he leaned forward to plant a silken kiss across her forehead—“do you really mind that I didn’t call first?”
Well, no, but it was the principle of the thing, though she hadn’t said as much. This psychic stuff would take some getting used to.
“I’m sorry, baby. I didn’t mean to disappoint you. Let me make it up to you?” At her subtle nod he pulled back the cardboard cover from one of the foil tins and revealed her favorite food in the whole world. Chile rellenos. And he’d even left off the cheese. Like many black women her age with lactose intolerance, she had a deep abiding love for dairy but couldn’t touch the stuff. How had he known? She guessed the same way he knew everything else about her—he was damned nosy. She wasn’t sure whether she should be pissed off at his intrusion into her personal information, or flattered because he’d paid attention to such small details.
She couldn’t resist eating just a little bit of the delicious food, considering she hadn’t actually eaten any of the hard, cold fare still sitting on the table. After a round of chile relleno, homemade tortilla chips, and a spicy cilantro salsa so hot it reminded her of Bix’s sizzling kisses, Carin sat stiffly on the couch next to him trying to keep her hands to herself.
Lord, it was the strangest sensation, this urge, this hunger. And for a man she didn’t really know, who’d banged her, and then disappeared? Not to mention his knowledge of her personal tastes bordered on creepy. So…why wasn’t she creeped out?
“Would you mind helping me clean up this stuff?” Bix asked, motioning to the aluminum trays and bowls, some of which she’d emptied in a hurry. Glad to have something to do other than search for unease where there wasn’t any, she agreed, snatched up a few of the containers and hustled out of the room.
Once in the kitchen he led her right into her element by bringing up a single, but in no way simple, subject.
“Tell me your solution for the drug you’re developing for Venture.”
While they washed dishes and filled Tupperware with leftovers, he gave his undivided attention as she explained her vision for the development of an effective cancer drug. The cancer treatment should take a two-step approach. One part of the therapy involved introducing a biological agent into the body to find and destroy cancer cells directly, almost like a reverse virus, or retrovirus. The second part would inject altered, perfected DNA to hopefully identify and change the pieces of the patient’s DNA strand, whether damaged or just predisposed to disease. It was all hypothetical at this point, with only a few small samples of an experimental solution to test with.
But if her serum worked, all this would be moot. If it worked on her, it would work on a cancer patient. However, she kept that bit of information to herself.
She’d royally impressed him with her knowledge of what affected the human body, both positive and negative. Warming quickly to the subject, she was completely relaxed now. An excellent time for bed.
Bix stepped up behind her as she rinsed the last fork and put it in the dishwasher. The second his hands touched the curve of her shoulders, her spine went rigid. Easing closer, he slid his fingers up to the tense muscles above her collarbone, and squeezed gently until she moaned. Only then did he dip his head and nibble on a spot where her neck sloped upward. A light scrape across her sensitive skin elicited a groan that wrapped around his dick and called his name.
“Feel good?” he asked, still nipping and massaging.
“Mmm-hmm, very.”
Peeking into her mind, he knew his fingers felt heavenly, but she thought his mouth was beyond divine. If he kept this up she’d be nothing but a puddle of aroused woman on the kitchen floor. He rather liked the image.
“For what I have in mind, the floor might be a bit uncomfortable,” he drawled in her head, working his way up to her ear with his lips and down to her smooth stomach with his hands. Her head fell back against his chest with a sigh.
“Bix, I’m supposed to be mad at you. How do you drive me crazy so fast?”
“Same way you do me, sweetness.” He weighed her beautiful breasts in his hands and loved feeling the transition of her berry nipples from compliant juicy areolas to firm suckable points as his thumbs grazed over them repeatedly. All her weight was back on her heels as she wriggled against his very hard cock nestled between her butt cheeks. She totally trusted him not to move. If he did, she’d hit the floor like a sack of flour.
“Carin, I need to feel you. No clothes, just you.”
She cried out and writhed against him when his entire palm closed over her swollen breasts and squeezed. No words came out of her mouth in response to his need, but her thoughts were unmistakably clear. She wanted him, but adamantly refused to have another one-night stand. But there was something deeper, so deep it made his heart ache as he empathized with her wild tangle of thoughts and emotions. On one hand, she could really get used to being touched like this. But then again, she had to hold a little bit of herself back, or at least try to. She couldn’t afford to lose herself in him, or anyone else.
He wasn’t sure what she meant by that, but he was sure he’d been an idiot. While he was secure in what was developing between them, Carin didn’t have a clue they were connected in ways beyond her experience or understanding. Bix could have kicked himself for being so focused on work he hadn’t taken two minutes to call and just say hello.
“Carin, I’m sorry I didn’t take the time to call you earlier this week.” No response, other than a barely perceivable stiffening of her spine. “Look up at me, baby.”
The second she turned her head enough for him to see her smoky brown eyes, he took her mouth with a kiss so open and hot, it dwarfed the one he’d laid on her earlier at the front door.
The woman was on fire and all he’d done was fondle her breasts and massage her neck. Well, he’d nibbled there a little bit, too. His blood pumped to the same cadence to which the muscles of her belly fluttered. Damn, the need to be naked rolled off her in waves, pushed at his mind and wrapped around him until he wanted to tear her clothes off and have at her right here in the kitchen.
Bix smiled as her thoughts hit him square in the chest. She wanted to have at him first, eh? He could live with that. Steadying her on her feet, he eased away from her warm body. She turned around to face him, eyes ablaze with a longing almost as raw as his.
He peeled his jeans down his long legs and kicked them off, then stood there and let her watch his dick bob underneath his black silk boxers. Her tongue flittered nervously across her top lip, then the bottom one. Knees gave way and she dropped to the floor, taking his boxers with her. Her gasp was audible as his rigid staff bounced up and tapped her on the chin.
She looked up in amazement as the thing seemed to take on a life of its own. He didn’t blame her one bit. His cock had never been this hard. Engorged to the point of bursting, it bobbed and jerked, completely out of his control.
Wanting nothing to impede her progress, Bix yanked his shirt off over his head and dropped it to the floor.
His eyes closed on a sigh when her warm, wet tongue snaked out and flicked the tip of the sensitive skin. He shuddered at
the contact. Damn, it felt beyond good. And was even better when he was abruptly surrounded by wet, mind-boggling suction. Oh God.
Carin wrapped her whole mouth around the crown with no further preliminaries. The pleasure of her assault was so intense he had to lock his knees to keep them from buckling. Obviously finished sampling the wares, she put her back into it as she sucked and pulled at him hungrily. Her mouth sank down until he felt himself butt against the back of her throat. Pulling back, she pressed her tongue underneath and took him with her, then relaxed her jaw and slid back down again. Damn, she gorged on his cock like he was her favorite dessert, swallowing him eagerly until he couldn’t help but pump his hips as she moved her lips over his hardness.
“Mmm, you taste so good.” Her thoughts slid over and surrounded his, caressing him, mind and body. “I think you’re now my favorite piece of candy.”
Hell, if she kept this up, he would explode down her lovely throat.
In the middle of a particularly long, loud moan, Carin pulled away. Bix’s eyes popped open. Her hands, once urgent and needy, now gently stroked his shaft and toyed delicately with his balls. What the hell? Damn it, he didn’t want soft and easy. Not after she’d built him up with such fierce play. The woman must totally be into torture. When she grinned up at him, her eyes filled with triumph at his obvious distress, he knew he was right. Yep, definitely into torture. Fine, because he sure as hell wasn’t too proud to beg—but only with her. If it had been anyone else trying his patience, he would have pulled his jeans on and stepped right out the door.
“Carin, baby…I can’t take the teasing. Not now,” he pleaded, grinding his back teeth together as he forced the words out past his tingling fangs. He spoke to those damned fangs, too close to losing it. Stay in there. Stay sheathed, damn it.
Her mouth covered him again, taking him deeply. He yelled to the ceiling, yanked the ponytail out of her hair and buried his fingers in the cottony softness. Touching her face, her neck and everywhere his fingers could reach, he loved the play of muscles in her mouth and throat, all hot, warm suction as she went down on him. Almost as exquisite as being inside her pussy. Almost.
Carin let out a startled yelp when it was Bix’s turn to play. He pulled her off her knees, swept her up in his arms and headed for the bedroom. He grinned at the deer-in-the-headlights widening of her eyes when she landed in the middle of the bed with a bounce. She may have been a bit surprised at his manhandling, but he knew she liked it. Carin didn’t want a wuss for a man. She wanted an alpha, like him. Stalking her slowly, he walked around the entire bed, growling low in his throat when her eyes went all misty and desperate. Then he was on her, stripping her T-shirt and sweats off, followed by a sheer piece of underwear that should have been illegal to wear, even under her clothes. With a single yank, it was history, along with her bra.
When she was naked, trembling and reaching for him, Bix pulled back the curtains and adjusted the blinds to allow the moonlight to stream in without anyone seeing into the house. The pale beams set her perfect skin aglow.
He climbed onto the bed next to Carin’s writhing body with one goal—to hear her say she wanted him always.
“Up on your knees, sweetheart.” Instead she lay on her back, rolled her hips and looked him dead in the eye as she stretched her arms up over her head. She wasn’t projecting any thoughts right now, her mind void of everything except the need to be challenged, taken. Mounted.
“Carin, up on your knees. Now.” His voice was hard with passion, not anger. When she didn’t comply, the prime male rose up in him. Bix flipped her over on her stomach and instinctively clamped his teeth down on her neck when she struggled. She immediately stilled. He licked the same spot to soothe away the sting and felt her arousal bloom again. But the firm slap on her bare ass made it skyrocket.
“Ooh! Do it again,” she hissed. “Yes, just like that, Bix.” Up on her knees now, she pushed back against him with an urgent swivel of her hips. Was she ready? Oh yeah, and it was not like him to keep a lady waiting. He positioned the head of his cock against her weeping slit and slid in slowly. After an inch, he stilled and clamped his lips together. Perhaps the danger of his fangs piercing through the flesh would give him some measure of control. Carin turned and snarled at him and he felt them pierce his lips. Damn, this wasn’t working.
He gave her another inch and she dropped her shoulders down on the bed, hiking her ass up in the air. Rubbing her breasts against the comforter, she slid her hands all over the soft bedding, mewling frantically until he gave her some more cock.
“Bix, stop playing with me, damn it. Fuck me already.” She didn’t care that she yelled at a man who towered over her, and was strong enough to pick her up and toss her around. Her pussy was on fire and only he could put it out. And he knew it.
“You want me, sweetheart?” He eased in and out, peppering her back and shoulders with hot but gentle kisses. Everywhere his lips touched went up in flames.
“Yes, I want you,” she cried.
“But that’s not enough. I want you to need me, Carin.” He slid out of her, slammed home and then stilled.
“Oh God, I do but…I-I can’t,” she screamed, but he sensed her mind fighting what her body and heart really wanted.
“You’re mine, Carin. Say it, baby.”
“Yes. I mean no. I can’t be yours, not yet.”
Bix was puzzled at the intensity of her fear. It was well-hidden, but there was very little she would be able to keep from him. She was genuinely, truly afraid of giving all of herself to him. Through the link he sensed something akin to terror snaking through her consciousness like a frantic disease. Eating away any chance for happiness or companionship. What was she afraid of? Sensing her near-panic warring with her arousal, he backed off. For now.
“But you are mine, Carin. I don’t plan on going away, sweetheart. We belong together and in time you’ll know it like I do. Until then, feel me, feel this.” He buried himself to the hilt and rocked against her ass with sure, solid strokes. Making sure she hit her peak at least three times, he reveled in her pleasure as each climax tore through her. Then he let himself join her in the delicious madness of orgasm. And even after they’d both regained their senses Bix touched, teased and tasted until she was a slumbering heap of warm, happy female.
Chapter Nine
One arm over his head and the other wrapped around Carin’s sleeping form, Bix listened to her quiet breathing. He idly stroked the dark curls on her head. He loved her hair, all naturally thick and soft, not chemically straightened or plastered against her head. Her rich, coffee skin reminded him of espresso with a measure of Irish Cream stirred in, deliciously beautiful, inside and out. Like chocolate filled with golden caramel. Mmm, he liked caramel. He could eat it for hours, just like the tips of her lovely breasts and sweet succulent pussy.
But Carin had a problem, and as her man he felt compelled to help her solve it. But at what cost? He’d filched several tablets of notes from her lab and read them in disbelief. The woman wanted to be a vampire and was trying desperately to find a way to turn herself. She didn’t know vampires really existed but had gathered enough research on the various attributes of his species and was pretty close to piecing together a genetic replica of their DNA. The woman was terrified of death, totally and completely preoccupied with it. At only thirty-six, she was more concerned with extending her life than people twice her age.
Of course, it was impossible to be turned into a vampire, but she could extend her life by mating with one. Correction, mating with him.
According to her notes, Carin had been using her own blood to experiment with skin cells introduced to the serum she’d created. It already had the ability to combat aging and introduced an incredible resistance to disease to the original cells. Unfortunately, the cells absorbed too much iron from her blood, resulting in a slight toxicity.
What she’d discovered and engineered so far was beyond amazing for someone who’d started from scratch with no firsthand
knowledge of vampires. Even if she was the most sought after and brilliant mind in her field, what she’d accomplished was unheard of, especially for a human.
If what she was doing ever leaked out, uproar in both vampire and human communities would follow. But V.C.O.E. could use Carin’s research to find a way to fight their enemies. She looked soft and submissive in her sleep, but her disposition wouldn’t last long when he broached the subject of her research. May as well get this over with.
Bix nudged the top of her head with his chin. She moaned softly and turned into his body, instinctively seeking his warmth. “Wake up, sweetheart,” he whispered against her hair. She groaned and nuzzled deeper under the covers, trying to bury her head underneath his body.
“Carin,” he spoke a bit more sternly, “wake up, baby.”
She stretched with a well-deserved yawn, her nipples and breasts deliciously sore, still swollen and heavy. Her body felt well used, the strong muscles of her legs protested her movements, fatigued after spending so much time wide open under Bix while he pushed into her, filled her. Her eyes fluttered open reluctantly, and she scrunched her eyebrows together in an attempt to focus on the face mere inches from hers.
“Bix, whaaaat?” she grumbled, trying to roll back underneath his arm. Bix’s calmly stated words snapped her out of any remaining slumber.
“I know about your vampire research, Carin. What do you think I should do about it?”
Her dark brown eyes met his silver streaked honey ones as she bolted straight up in the bed. She dragged the covers up and over her bare breasts while running a hand through the tangled mass on her head that was supposed to be hair. Her mouth fell open, but she recovered in a flash and painted on a mask of indifference while her emotions reeled.