by E. M. Moore
He gave my hand a quick squeeze. “I do want to tell you one thing before we get too involved in our night.”
“Yeah?” I asked, quickly checking him for any of the worry lines to appear, or a frown. If that was the case, I’d have to think of something quick to turn this night back around.
His lips thinned, but they didn’t turn down. “My dad wants you and a few others to go out on a scouting mission tomorrow. I picked you up because I promised I would, but I don’t know how long you should stay out. You need warrior rest.”
I chuckled. “Warrior rest?” I was ecstatic about being chosen to go out on a scouting venture, but just the way Christian described my need for sleep…he was something else.
He shrugged, still staring out into the dark roads. “Sounded appropriate.”
We were at the Ravanas’ second house within the next five minutes. As soon as we stepped in the door, Christian helped me over to the sofa before retreating into the kitchen. I heard him on the phone ordering our pizza. He knew what I wanted without even asking. Then again, we’d ordered pizza together before so he knew what I liked. I watched as he came back into the room and sat next to me. His hand snaked its way around my shoulders and he moved closer. When he took a breath, I felt it in my side. “I have one question about this night,” he said, his gray blue eyes staring down at me. “Well, maybe not a question, a suggestion. I think we should treat it like a date. No guard talk. No vampire talk. Let’s pretend we’re two normal people…”
“Boyfriend, girlfriend?” I asked, snuggling into the crook of his arm. Even as I said it, it sounded like a ridiculous notion. With intense as Christian was, he didn’t seem like the boyfriend type. With him, it seemed like all or nothing. Boyfriend wasn’t a strong enough a word, yet it was the only word I had in my vocabulary to even remotely describe what we were, yet it failed in actual specifics.
“Something like that,” he said, his hand rubbing my shoulder.
“Good, because…” I trailed off before throwing my leg over his thighs and straddling him. “…I want to start where we left off earlier.”
Catching Christian by surprise wasn’t easy, but I’d managed to do it. I pulled him close and sealed our lips together before the recognition of what I was about to do even flickered in his eyes. I closed my own, reveling in the act of passing my lips over his smooth, hard mouth.
In a million years, I’d never thought I’d be here. I was no one back home. I worked my way through life with nothing but the fire within me to get me through. Now, here I was. I had a purpose. I had four incredible men around me to get me through, to make the lonely nights feel that much more complete. There was Connor and his surprise phone call. Stephan’s daily texts about my eating habits, and Nicolai’s calls to let me know what was really going on. The old me was gone. She lived a quiet existence, but not this girl. This girl had power. This girl was wanted. Needed.
Christian broke the kiss, the hint of a tease to his eyes. “So this was your evil plan in escaping with me?”
I chuckled down at him, then pushed his shoulders back against the couch. His body was coming to life underneath mine, only emboldening me further. Before answering, I undid the buttons on his shirt starting with the one right below the collar. Unless he wore a tie, he always wore the very top button undone in some attempt to look less Prince-like and more everyday vampire. Honestly, it didn’t matter to me whether it was buttoned or unbuttoned, I was still as attracted to him as ever.
Christan clasped my hands, halting my progress. “What are you doing?”
He looked more intrigued than wary, but there was still a hint of hesitation in his gaze. “Picking up where we left off on your desk, Mr. Ravana.”
“Don’t call me that,” he scolded, though one side of his lip turned up and he let go of my hands.
I carefully pushed each button through their individual holes and then pulled his shirt open when I was done. With Christian, he was the biggest surprise. Nothing about him hinted at what was underneath his clothing. Some would call his daily attire stuffy. With his usual button-up or polo shirts paired with khakis, he might’ve been your typical business type in the real world. He kept his physique safely hidden so when I finally let it out, I let my hands explore the hard planes of his chest and every dip and indentation to his stomach.
He looked at me in awe as I kissed a trail down his neck to the center of his chest. His skin was perfectly smooth, not mottled by blemishes or chest hair. There was one particular scar my fingertips found over his heart and I kissed him there, letting my lips linger with the memory of what had almost happened to him.
Christian stilled. “Jesus Christ.” Then, I was on my back on the sofa, Christian nestled between my legs. His chest heaved as his hand gripped my hip. I clenched my teeth as I watched him unravel in front of me. Perfectly calm, perfectly put together Christian was trying and failing to regain his composure. I slipped my hands down and grabbed the hem of my shirt before pulling it over my head and dropping it on the floor next to us. His eyes hardened. “The delivery guy…”
I put my finger to his lips. “It’s our night. No stresses, remember?”
He closed his eyes and kissed the tips of my fingers before claiming my mouth again. Slow and easy, he worshipped me. He teased my lips, my chin, my ears, even the sensitive skin on my neck with his sharp teeth all the while his hands roamed over my exposed skin. Everywhere he touched, blooms of heat erupted like tiny volcanoes just under the surface of my skin. I helped him remove his shirt and then his perfect body was nestled against mine in a sweet abrasion. My nipples hardened, and they must have called out to him because he immediately reached behind my back to unclasp my bra. My heart caught in my throat as I helped him take it off. I hadn’t been bare-chested in front of anyone yet. The fresh air teased my already hardened peaks while Christian just sat back and stared at me. He took his time, his gaze wandering over my skin in perfect caresses that even though weren’t physical, felt almost just as good. “You are unbelievably beautiful, Ariana.” His face softened as his stare finally caught mine. “Gorgeous.”
He dipped his head low to tease my breasts, but I wanted more. My body was already responding to him, much like it had to Connor over the phone. I reached down between us to slip the button on his khakis through its hole and then slowly pulled his zipper down. Christian’s kisses deepened as he helped me take his pants off. Mine were next, ending up next to his somewhere on the floor next to the sofa. He settled between my legs, his boxer briefs doing nothing to hide his arousal from me, neither were my silky lace underwear which may as well serve no purpose other than to look pretty. The way that Christian moaned when he saw them made me think they’d done their job.
I wrapped my legs around his hips, pulling him down to my center. When he landed there, we both tensed. He felt like marble between us, thankfully, because the heat pooling between my legs would’ve melted anything less. I rocked into him and he responded, stroking upward until I felt his restrained tip at my clothed entrance. Despite the barriers, the movement felt too good. I did it again and we fell into an easy rhythm, garnering as much pleasure as we could. For minutes we lay there, our bodies straining, stretching, always seeking more, more, more.
Christian pulled away, his forehead coming to rest on mine. “This is so much harder than I thought.” Confused, I tried to look at him, but he held me there. “We can’t go any further.” He sighed as if he wasn’t happy with that response. “We can’t do what I want to, Ariana. What I think you want to, too.”
I swallowed the thickness in my throat. I felt beautifully mussed, not caring that my hair was probably all over the place or that there were tiny circles of perspiration on me. All I thought of was him. Him gliding inside me over and over again so he could bring us both into oblivion. “What do you mean?”
“Sex,” he said, pulling away. “I can’t make love to you.” I reached down between us. He was still rock hard, waiting, almost poised to do exactly what he sa
id he couldn’t. Exactly what I wanted him to do more than anything. There was something I wasn’t understanding. “Not like that,” he said. “I just can’t. It’s not worth the risk.”
“That’s what condoms are for.”
He kissed my forehead before separating our hips. “Condoms don’t work for us. They have a tendency to break.”
Despite the cold douse of water that should’ve brought on, all I could picture was the force of what would be needed to break a condom and I was overheated. “Christian,” I said, half moaning his name. I angled my hips toward him and closed my eyes when his tip nestled into my sweet spot again. His careful control shook again. In unison, we brought our hips together over and over until it felt almost as if he would slide inside—except for our stupid underwear.
As if he’d read my mind, he pulled away and tore my panties down. This time, he didn’t take the time to wonder down at me. He scooted back, his head falling lower and lower down my body until I felt his hot breath between my legs. My breathing stilled, shocked at the sudden turn of events. I stared down, watching as his beautiful blue gray eyes glittered before moving down, his tongue reaching out to glide across my center.
Oh. My. God. We were doing this? Okay. We were doing this.
He kept his eyes on me the whole time. I cried out. The intensity of the pleasure had me closing my legs, but Christian held them open, his tongue working on me just as his hips had except this time, there was no barrier. The slick glide of Christian’s tongue drove me higher and higher. I’d almost forgotten how to breathe until he made me cry out again, then my breaths came out in hungry gasps.
His teeth slid out to sharpened points. They teased the sides of my folds as he kissed and suckled me. My whole body shook. I started to raise my hips to meet his mouth, loving the way his teeth brought me quick shots of pain while his tongue was there to make it all better. He groaned, digging his fingers into my hips as he pulled me closer, curling his tongue around my nub. I ran my hands through his hair, urging him on. From center to front, he lapped at me as if I was a goddess and his only mission was to make me complete. “So sweet,” he murmured, the vibration of his lips sending a tantalizing spark of arousal through me.
I whimpered as my orgasm grew near. “Please,” I said, begging him to finish me off like this. There was nothing better than this complete skin-on-skin contact. His hot mouth had my insides tensing. His fangs scraped my sensitive skin sending a delicious spasm through me. I clenched the fabric of the sofa in my fists as Christian delivered me home. “Yes,” I said, his strokes quickening, ending with a scream-worthy swirl at my nub. “More.” He did just that, driving me higher and higher with quick flicks of his tongue until the world broke apart in front of me, a blinding intensity obliterating every other thought except for how good he’d made me feel.
I laid there suspended in a dream-like state until Christian sat back. Little by little, my fingers released their hold on the sofa, my eyes opened, my body relaxed, and my breaths returned to something that could be considered semi-normal. He kneeled in front of me, his expression lust itself, but it was more than that. A lot more.
A circle of wetness spread over his boxer briefs. I sat up, my singular attention on one thing. With my palm to his chest, I pushed him over and slid his underwear to his knees. Unrestrained, he beckoned me. I’d never even thought of doing this before, wouldn’t even know if I’d be good at it, but I was willing to try. I licked him first and Christian’s head fell back on the couch. His jaw clenched, he said, “If I was a better man, I’d tell you to stop.”
Curious, I bent over him and took him in my mouth. Christian helped, moving his hips up ever so slightly. I did it again and again until he wrapped my fingers around his base and then tangled his fingers in my hair. Sweet, wonderful murmurs passed his lips, only encouraging me. Long, languid strokes turned quicker as his hands remained steady on my head. I had only one goal, wanting to make him feel as good as he made me. When I looked up into his eyes, there was nothing left of the serious, brooding Christian. His eyes were like silvery blue fire, burning up from the inside. When his gaze met mine, a tremor tore through his body and he pulled my head up, his own hand surrounding the tip of his penis as he groaned into the empty room, the sound echoing off the walls and filling me with a deep-seated contentedness. I sat back, watching him come back down to Earth just as I had minutes ago.
He reached for me, his arm outstretched like a lifeline, but the doorbell rang at that moment. He paused, peeking down at his lower half. “I can go,” I offered.
He gave me a hard look. “Definitely not,” he said, making a show of raking his eyes over my body. In a flash, he was off the couch and I thought I heard something in the kitchen. Then, he was next to me again, but only briefly as he stopped by to pick his clothes off the floor before disappearing again. A few seconds later, he was at the front door and I had no doubt that he was completely dressed, his hair back into place as if nothing had happened in here. As if my world hadn’t irrevocably changed.
I pulled my clothes on as I heard him chat with the pizza delivery guy. I was just tugging my shirt over my head when I heard his footsteps in the hall. “You got dressed?” I could hear the pout in his voice, but I didn’t see it until I smoothed my shirt the rest of the way on.
“Did you not want me to?” I asked, eyebrows raised. Maybe it would be like this with Christian. It would be hard to get him to lose control, but once he did, all bets were off. A muscle pulled in my stomach.
He raced next to me, his lips on mine within an instant. A short, quick kiss that took my breath away. “I don’t ever want to be dressed around you again.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
We must’ve fell asleep because we awakened in a tangle of limbs on the couch. The half-eaten pizza still out on the coffee table, the lid flipped open as if we were in the middle of dinner when sleep had overtaken us. That wasn’t exactly the case. We were done, but being lazy in one another’s arms. I couldn’t remember who fell asleep first, but Christian was definitely the one who woke up first. He stilled, his arms around me on the couch. I was still waking, eyes blinking at the sudden intrusion of sound when Christian pulled away, his hand searching the coffee table for his phone. “It’s Nicolai,” he said, his voice riddled with sleep. When he answered though, his voice was alert. I needed to ask him how he did that. “Hello?”
I stretched out as Christian sat up, one hand still on my hip. His fingertips brushing my bare skin where my shirt lifted.
“Yes, she’s right here.” He paused, that look of concentration back on his face that I’d been able to worm myself past. I interlaced my fingers with his, suddenly sorry it was gone. That wasn’t what tonight was about. I’d have to tell Nicolai Christian needed some time just like he did. Christian’s eyebrows rose. “What?”
His fingers tightened around mine and I immediately sat up next to him, my hand coming to rest on his shoulder. “What’s going on?”
“Yes, that was her.” Christian leaned into me. Then, he pulled the phone away from his ear and held it up to my mouth. I looked at him questioningly. “Just say hi to Nicolai so we can talk about what’s really important,” he told me, his voice filling with tense displeasure.
“Hi?” I said, my voice wavering.
Christian pulled the phone back to his ear, then, thought better of it and held it out in front of us, pushing the spot on the screen to put Nicolai on speaker. “She can hear you now.”
“Thank God you’re okay,” came Nic’s gruff voice. “None of us could get ahold of you. Is your phone off?”
I didn’t even know where my phone was. I couldn’t remember if I’d brought it with me from my room or not. “What’s going on?” I asked again, feeling a little like a scratched CD that repeats the same line over and over and over again. There was always something wrong.
“The rogue vampires. They breeched The Fort.”
My breath caught in my throat, and already I was shaking my head,
completely refusing the very thought. How could that happen? A full breech? That just couldn’t happen.
“We started calling you right away, and when we couldn’t get ahold of you, we either thought you’d been rounded up like everyone else even though we couldn’t see you, or you were with Christian.” He took a deep breath, then yelled out, “She’s with Christian. They’re both safe.” A split second later, his voice was earnest again. “You are both safe, aren’t you?”
Christian ran a hand through his hair. It was spikey and disheveled from sleep. “Yes. We’re at the house. Are you in contact with Samuel? How do you know everyone’s been rounded up?”
“Hold on. Dad’s talking to me.” Muffled words filtered through the speaker and then Nic was back on the phone again. “Get to the meeting room. We’ll open up a video conference with you guys so we can figure out what to do. Right now, you guys are the closest, the quickest to act if something needs to be done.”
Christian ended the call, grabbed my hand, and led me into a room in the back of the house. It was outfitted with a large conference table, fancy leather chairs, and a pull-down screen in front attached to a projector and a computer. While Christian powered everything on, I sat in the closest seat to the door, my mind whirring. Were Shannon, Liv, and Evan okay? Damn Samuel and his stupid reaction. Why wouldn’t he want to tell the guards what was going on? Now look at the predicament we were in.
Strong hands pulled my chair around and a pair of gray blue eyes stepped in front of me. “This is not your fault.”
“We should’ve told them. If they’d known, they would’ve been better prepared. Dammit Christian, we left them there like sitting ducks,” I said, mimicking T.J.’s words as they finally hit home on what he meant.
“None of the information we gathered led to the inevitability of them actually breeching The Fort. It doesn’t make any sense. No one knew this would happen.”