Blood Unleashed (Blood Stone)

by Tracy Cooper-Posey

  Sex had always been a tool she had been directed to use in order to further an agenda. Any pleasure she experienced was a rare bonus.

  Unbidden, Marcus and her four days with him entered her thoughts and she roughly pushed the guilt-inducing images away from her. Why did he keep straying into her thoughts like that?

  She turned her attention back to Rick and his mouth against hers. His lips were surprisingly soft, but there was a firmness just beneath that. He tasted…how did he taste? Spicy, she decided. The sort of spice that was subtle, with an effect that lingered. Nutmeg, perhaps.

  His tongue thrust into her mouth and she stroked it with her own. With a frisson of shock, she realized that she was responding to the kiss. There was a tingling between her thighs and a growing ache centered on her pussy.

  Her thoughts leapt ahead to what would happen next. An image of Rick’s mouth on her nipples made her groan under his lips.

  He broke the kiss, pulling her head far enough away from his to look her in the eye. “You liked that.” His voice was hoarse.

  “Mmm. Why did you stop?”

  He smiled. “You can do whatever you want. Whatever you like. You want to kiss me again, Ilaria?”

  She stood, breathing hard, trying to sort out her jumbled feelings. Her mind was sluggish. It was hard to think beyond the need… That was it, she realized. “Take off my clothes,” she told him. “Take off my sweater.”

  His smile grew hot and heat glowed in his eyes, too. He pushed the hem of her sweater up, revealing the fastenings of her jeans. With a flick of his fingers, he slipped the button undone. Then he picked up the tab on the zipper, and slid it down in infinitesimal increments, a tooth at a time. The anticipation whooshed through her, making her want to grab his wrist and yank the zipper down for him. But he stopped halfway, just where her panties peeped out.

  She heard his breath being expelled heavily. Startled, she realized that Rick was highly aroused, and she had done nothing to induce that state. They had only kissed, but he was reacting like a man might if she applied all her skills to bring him to a desperate state of need.

  Her jeans sagged open, revealing her lower abdomen. Rick pushed the sweater up higher, until the band was around her ribs, holding it there. He was studying her torso. His hands settled around her waist, and he pressed his thumbs together. The touch of his hands on her flesh made her shiver in delight. But as soon as that first sensation passed she wanted him to slide his hands lower…or higher.

  “I love this curve on a woman,” Rick said, sliding his hands down, over the swell of her hips. “But yours is the most intoxicating I have ever seen.” His thumbs stroked the flesh just next to her hipbones, and pleasure rippled through her in hot, sparkling waves. She swallowed.

  He pulled her closer and at the same time, bent and pressed his lips to her skin, where it was exposed between the open zipper, just above her panties. His tongue slid across it and her nerves all shifted and fizzled, making her hips jerk forward. A gasp pushed out of her and she found her hands were in his hair, clenching, encouraging him.

  She was reacting without thought. Without directing herself to choose the most effective techniques. All she could think about was the excitement building in her.

  Rick pulled the sweater over her head and threw it behind him. She heard something fall underneath it. He didn’t blink. Instead, he ran one long finger from her navel up the center of her torso to snag on the center part of her bra, where the little bow was. Then his finger moved upward and began to circle around on her flesh, over the upper slopes of her breasts.

  It was excruciatingly delicious, a slow tease that made her shudder and her pussy to squeeze. She knew what she wanted with absolute certainty. She wanted him to fuck her, hard and fast. She needed him inside her, filling her, and thrusting deep.

  “Rick…” she whispered.

  “You didn’t buy this bra today.” It wasn’t a question, but she shook her head anyway.

  His strong finger curled over the center, sliding between the lace and her chest. “Then it can be discarded,” he declared and pulled.

  The bra separated with a low ripping sound as the lace tore. He reached behind her and pulled it from her shoulders. The ruined bra landed on top of her sweater, but Ilaria hardly cared. The idea of his mouth on her nipples was taking all her attention. She shivered at the idea.

  For a moment his hands glided up her torso to settle under her breasts. He didn’t touch them. Instead he reached down and lowered the zipper on her jeans to its full extent. The jeans settled lower around her hips. Only because they were close fitting stretch denim did they cling to her thighs.

  He pushed his thumbs inside the waistband and slid her jeans down to her ankles. “Kick them aside,” he told her.

  She stepped out of them with one foot and with the other, threw the jeans toward the pile of discarded clothing.

  “Leave the stilettos on,” Rick said. “I like them.”

  She smiled. In this, Rick was a typical man.

  “The panties match the bra,” Rick observed, his finger sliding under the rim of them, and tickling her mons.

  “Yes.”

  He tore them from her and dropped them over his shoulder. “We’ll buy lingerie of your own choosing,” he said, his voice hard. Then he curved his hands over her hips. “You’re beautiful.” This time his voice was low and hard with pleasure, not anger. He picked her up and settled her on his lap, her thighs spread and pressing against his hips. He cupped her ass, his fingers moving restlessly, stroking in little movements that made her clench and her hips to thrust forward.

  “Mmm…,” he murmured appreciatively. Without warning, his mouth fastened around her nipple, his teeth nipping at the tip.

  Ilaria cried out and clutched at his shoulders as excitement flared and arrowed toward her clit, making it bloom and glow with arousal. She felt his heavy muscles working under her fingers, beneath the silky fabric of his shirt, but she only noticed it dimly. Most of her attention was upon her breasts and the gorgeous thing he was doing to her nipple, making her shudder and moan. Her whole body rippled as he scraped his teeth the length of her nipple.

  He moved to her other breast and Ilaria let her head fall back. This was so good. She could stay here in this moment forever, accepting any pleasure he gave her. Her arousal was so much more powerful because she was not directing anything. She didn’t have to think about what she was doing. She could let her mind idle in neutral and just enjoy herself.

  Like Marcus had made her do.

  She tried to bleach the thought before it stole her attention, but instead, she recalled that first explosive climax Marcus had given her. It had made her dizzy and faint. Just remembering it seemed to hike her arousal up to a fever pitch. She could feel her orgasm building swiftly in the inner core of her body, and pummeled her fist against Rick’s shoulder. “Fuck me,” she begged in a voice not her own.

  “Not yet,” he replied, lifting his lips from her breast just enough to speak. Then he sucked the tip back into his mouth. At the same time, he slid his fingers over her bare mound, the long middle finger pressing her nether lips apart, and rubbing against her clit.

  She sucked in a harsh breath in reaction, starting to shake with the power of the coming climax. “Please….” She begged.

  He thrust his fingers inside her, twisting and turning them, pushing deeper with each movement. Then his thumb pressed against her clit and stroked hard.

  Her climax exploded through her, stealing her breath, her vision. Her hearing dimmed, but she could hear her own voice, giving vent to a wailing, hoarse scream. It seemed like the climax gripped her for eons, making her shudder and her hips to thrust hard and convulsively. Waves of pleasure swept through her, pulsing one after another.

  She blinked, clearing her vision as the orgasm eased its hold on her. Her head was against Rick’s shoulder. He was stroking her back in gentle movements.

  Ilaria drew in a deep breath, recovering. Her body tingled
in a way it never had.

  Except with Marcus.

  She thrust the voice aside and turned her head to press her lips against Rick’s neck, right over the carotid. The animal in her shifted, but did not rouse. She did not need to feed just yet, but another climax like this one, and she just might.

  Rick stood up, bringing her with him. Ilaria wrapped her legs around his hips, encouraged by his hands. “Where are you going?” she asked.

  “I’m taking you to the bedroom, where I am going to finish what you started.”

  “The bedroom?” She smiled. “From what I’ve heard about you, Cyneric, the bedroom is just a little bit mundane for you, isn’t it?”

  He stopped in front of the doorway to the elaborately decorated room. “Do you want to be like the rest of them, Ilaria?” he asked softly, his gaze steady.

  It occurred to her that when Rick had been inscribed he, too, would have been required to use his body in similar ways to her assignments. Was that why it was rumored he took partners so liberally, now that he was free to choose?

  “No, I do not want to be like the others,” she told him and pressed her cheek against his. His hand tangled in her hair, cradling her head, as he carried her into the room, and laid her upon the big bed. Then he stripped, moving quickly, and laid down next to her, on his side. His long leg rested over her knee. His cock was pleasing – nicely thick and long enough.

  Ilaria reached for him, but he held her hand away. “Relax,” he told her. “For now, I don’t want you doing anything you’re used to doing.”

  “But what if I want to?”

  “Not yet,” he murmured, and kissed her. It was an astonishing kiss. There was fervor and emotion in it that she didn’t have the skill to read. It left her mind reeling, her limbs heavy like she was drunk.

  Because he was pressing up against her, his hip against hers, and his chest pressing against her shoulder, as well as his heavy thigh resting over hers, she quickly noticed something else. “You’re hot!” she whispered, when he released her mouth. “Your heart—”

  “I’m letting it run as it wants,” he murmured back. “I want to enjoy this. I want to extract every last dollop of pleasure from it.”

  The implied compliment made her smile. “I thought that was my assignment?”

  His smile matched hers. “Then let your heart beat as it will. Join me.”

  It took an extra degree of effort to release the practiced and automatic control she and all vampires exerted over their hearts in order to conserve energy and stretch out their feedings.

  Rick rested his fingertips over her heart. “I can hear you,” he said, and kissed her again.

  Wow! Ilaria thought. I have been depriving myself. The kiss was so much more powerful, with her heart thundering in her chest this way. Every limb seemed to throb with the power of the blood flowing through her, spreading the pleasure. Her clit throbbed hard, pulsing with an overwhelming demand for attention.

  Almost as if he had heard the demand, Rick pushed her thighs apart and settled between them. She could feel his cock pressing against her pussy. “Hard,” she begged.

  He spread her fingers and entwined his in them. “As you wish,” he told her and rammed his cock into her in a single thrust, burying himself to the hips.

  Ah, it was so good! Ilaria stretched, her hips lifting, her mons and her throbbing clit pressing against his pelvis as he held himself still. She squeezed around his shaft, shifting.

  “Gods,” he muttered. “You’ll make me come, doing that.”

  “I can’t help it,” she admitted. “I like you inside me.”

  His smile was warm and there was merriment in his eyes. “So do I.” He thrust, just once, and she caught her breath. Her heart was like a wild thing caged, beating against the inside of her chest.

  Rick gritted his teeth, hissing through them. “Ah,” he groaned and muttered something in a language she did not know. “Mia Bella,” he added in Italian.

  My beautiful one.

  He thrust hard and deep, just as she had wanted. It was perfect. She clung to him as his hips worked against her, his cock pushing deeper and deeper inside her. The heat generated between them was enormous.

  Ilaria realized she was on the brink of another orgasm. She had no room for surprise, for the peak of pleasure hit her even as she was marveling over the sensations flooding her body. She clawed at Rick’s shoulders, unable to vent her pleasure in any other way. Her voice was gone, along with her breath. She arched again, her head thrown back, as the climax ripped through her, snatching the rest of her senses.

  Rick held her hips steady with one hand, ramming into her in ever more swifter thrusts, his muscles in the arm he was using to prop himself up over her flexing as it worked. As her climax ebbed and she could finally draw breath, he thrust one last time and groaned as he came. She could feel his cum spilling in her for it was hot, just as his body was hot against hers. Ilaria closed her eyes and savored the sensation.

  Rick was still, above her, except for his breathing, which was harsh and fast. Ilaria opened her eyes to find him studying her. He wore a tiny smile, merely a lifting of one corner of his mouth.

  “More,” Ilaria said, her voice hoarse.

  His smile grew. “If you wish,” he said, picking her up, turning her and putting her on her hands and knees.

  Excitement spilled through her as he gripped her hips from behind. “Oh, I do wish!” she breathed.

  Chapter Eighteen

  They made love while the night waned and the sun rose in the sky. Ilaria couldn’t bring herself to calling it just sex, or worse, fucking. There was too much kindness, too much emotion boiling between them to do that. The self-centered act of sex that she was used to, where each partner worked to achieve their own pleasure as swiftly as possible, was missing here.

  The world woke up around them. Humans went about their daily routines, oblivious, as they pleasured each other endlessly, over and over again. Each time Ilaria climaxed, she could feel the delight stirring her hunger, which was huge. “Again,” she would beg and Rick would comply with a hungry growl of his own.

  Occasionally, one or both of them paused long enough to take a cold shower, to bring their internal body temperatures down. It was another reason vampires tended to choke their hearts to stillness most of the time. Vampires couldn’t sweat, which cooled a heated human body. Too much heat, with no cooling mechanism, could fry the brain inside the skull, causing damage that not even the self-healing abilities of vampires could overcome.

  But Rick did not seem to mind the risk and Ilaria loved how sensitive she was while her heart was free to react to touch and taste and more. She was happy to live with the compromise to enjoy the sensations it provided.

  As the day grew longer and the shadows stretched across the room, Ilaria could feel the tightness in her chest and the ache in her face bones that warned she was close to blood hunger.

  Rick brushed her hair from her face, leaning over her once more. “You’re very white. You need to feed.”

  She nodded.

  “So do I. The price you pay for enjoying yourself.” He grinned. “Would you like to hunt together?”

  She drew in a slow breath, stilling her first reaction, which was surprise. Only vampires who had known each other for centuries ever offered to hunt together. The predatory hunter’s instincts made having another vampire nearby sometimes risky. “I’m only a century old,” she said. “I’ll kill you, or something.”

  “I’ll chance it,” Rick told her, sitting up. “I’m not a century old, mia bella. You will not be a risk for me.”

  So, as the sun disappeared and the night shadows spilled across the cityscape, they flitted through the crisp night air, passing by human enclaves unnoticed, for they were hiding their presence with hunter skills. Rick knew of an area nearby that was usually good for hunting. It was further north, moving away from the more populated areas and into the heavily wooded hills.

  It was euphoric, running silently
along the roads and through the trails, with Rick by her side. He kept pace with her, but even so, their speed was such that they would be a blur to human eyes. The crisp air bathed her face and the silence of the wooded terrain was soothing.

  There was an upscale lounge bar deep in the rolling crevassed hills, a good thirty minutes away from the outskirts of L.A. for humans. Nevertheless, the parking lot was full and cars were circling, looking for spaces. They had arrived at the back of the bar, where the Dumpsters sat. There was very little light there, compared to the front end of the bar. Despite the dark and the narrow area of graveled parking available between the bar and where Ilaria and Rick stood at the edge of the woods, patrons’ cars sat in a row, nose out and facing them. Another car rounded the corner and eased along the row, clearly looking for space.

  “They’ll take that piece of verge on the end,” Rick predicted.

  Ilaria could feel the trembling, hot blood lust rising in her, anticipating the feast. Her teeth were trying to descend. She swallowed.

  The car eased onto the scrap of verge as he had predicted, very close to the car that had been on the end of the row. They were squeezing into the tiny patch of weeds that was left.

  “There’s two of them,” she whispered.

  “Man and woman. Which do you want?”

  She lifted her chin, breathing in the rich scents of humans with their endless supply of blood, mingled with the odors of the living – sweat, perfume, cosmetics…she wrinkled her nose. “The man,” she decided.

  “Good choice. He’ll be slow getting out, that close to the next car.”

  The driver’s door opened. Ilaria leapt into a full-speed sprint, down the short slope to the parking area, her gaze fixed upon her prey.

  She felt Rick behind her. He would have been startled by her quick take off, but she suddenly couldn’t wait. He didn’t stay behind her. With his long legs, he quickly out-paced her. It didn’t matter, she decided, the animal part of her mind dismissing him. He wasn’t after her prize.