“I know what I like. Anything wrong with that?”
“Nope.”
A flick of his finger across her wet heat worked like a tightened string, pulling her back to a curve. Daniel’s erection nudged her entrance and she moaned, hoping he’d understand her invitation. They needn’t pause because she was on the pill. And he needed to cross her threshold now because she was so close to losing it.
Skimming her fingers through his hair, she cried out as the swollen head of him entered her. Unreal heat radiated through her and her body bucked wildly as the orgasm took hold. At her breast, his lashing tongue was replaced by a certain sharpness, but she had surfed into the climax and took the sensation as another erotic foray toward the edge. He had entered her with bold assurance. No permission needed as she surrendered, sinking into the flight of pleasure.
A satisfied warmth loosened her muscles. The hiss of sheets sliding off the bed accompanied the hiss of Daniel’s breath as it moved down her stomach.
Olivia surfaced from the orgasmic high gasping, and her fingers fluttered down his hot back. She skimmed a finger over her breast. Two tender wounds sat upon the rise. “You bit me. Daniel. I didn’t want you to—”
He kissed the wounds and suckled at her probing fingers. “Never promised that, lover. That’s what you get when you crawl between the sheets with a vampire.”
She twisted a look over the side of the bed. “The sheets are on the floor.”
He chuckled. “So they are.” He dashed his tongue over the bite mark and licked it. “Don’t worry, saliva seals the wound. You’re not going to change into a monster like me.”
That relieved her, but she hated that he labeled himself a monster when he’d just shown her the real man he was. “You’re not so bad. It’s what’s inside that matters. I suspect the monster runs only as deep as your fangs.”
He nudged against her neck and the sharp prick of fangs alerted her. “Want to take a chance on that theory?” he asked in a surprisingly taunting tone.
“No. I’m deliciously exhausted, yet I’m already considering round two.”
“There she goes again, bossing me around.”
“Sorry, I tend to say what I feel. Got a problem with that?”
“Nope.” He sat on the edge of the bed and reached for his shirt. “Olivia, you are a goddess.”
“I try. But only when I’m not doing the big star thing, you understand. Goddessing takes so much out of me.”
He leaned in and kissed her deeply, and she felt as though she were entering him and getting lost, affixed to his being. And she never wanted it to end.
Daniel tugged on his shirt.
“You’re leaving? We’re just getting started.” She glanced at the LED clock on the nightstand—3:00 a.m. The bite on her breast ached tenderly. “Do you have to leave before the sun rises?”
“I can handle the sun in small doses. And winter sun is too weak, so I can be outdoors much longer.”
“Don’t go.” She trailed her fingers along his powerful thigh, higher and into the nest of curls clinging to his erection, which was still firm and possibly ready for round two. “I want to wake up lying next to you.”
With a heavy exhalation he looked her over. Was it so difficult to stay? The vampire had gotten what he’d wanted—her blood—and now he was off?
The last time she’d woken next to someone it had been on a tour bus next to a smelly drummer, and they hadn’t had sex; it was only because sleeping arrangements were so spare when on the road.
“How can I resist those pretty green eyes?” Daniel nodded and pulled off his shirt. “I’m going to pull the curtains, though. Just in case the sun decides to blast out a few powerful beams.”
CHAPTER THREE
OLIVIA WOKE WITH A SMILE. Her cheek nuzzled against a heat that felt like the sun, but it smelled better than any summer day. Masculine and freckled down his shoulders, Daniel’s flesh drew her in to sniff and then lick the tiny jewel of nipple beading his hard pectoral. She spread her hands over his abdomen and pressed her hips against his, blending their subtle heat differences in a cool-hot crush of soft and hard.
She lay next to a vampire. Who had bitten her. She could feel a subtle tingle at the place on her breast where his teeth had invaded her in a surprisingly sensual way. Lost in orgasm, she hadn’t noticed the bite until it was too late, but sensed it was what had increased her pleasure and sent her reeling.
A part of her flowed through him now. Strange to consider, but still, she hadn’t the sense to be frightened, only intrigued at her bold step into the unknown. And nervous, but dancing with him had quickly allayed that jittery tension and made her like him even more. She was going to have to download that Bublé song to her iPod later.
The room was dark, yet a pale illumination behind the curtains proved it was morning. Her lover roused with a satisfied groan, and his hand slid along her back, stirring her to instant arousal. She playfully nipped his nose.
“You think so?” he murmured in a sleepy voice.
“I do think so.” Sliding her hand down his rigid abs, she grasped his semihard shaft, and it reacted by thickening and growing harder. “And parts of you do, as well.”
Burrowing under the covers, she kissed down his taut abdomen and to the head of his erection, licking the smooth helmet of flesh and deciding he could return to sleep if he wanted to; she didn’t need his participation to do what she had in mind. Pushing down the sheets and straddling him, she glided her mons over the steely length of vampire hardness.
“You’re a little pushy in the mornings, you know that?”
“Let me guess. You’re not a morning person?”
“Not exactly,” he said with a wince. He blocked his eyes with a hand. “Those curtains don’t shut out much light.”
“Don’t worry.” She pulled the bedspread over her shoulders and tented it over the two of them, returning darkness to her vampire lover’s eyes. “How’s this?”
He grabbed her hips and nudged his way inside her. “Good morning, lover.”
IT WAS DIFFICULT to rise and get dressed, but Daniel wasn’t going to stick around for coffee and chatter. He didn’t do the lingering thing. Despite being compelled to lean in and kiss Olivia after putting on his shirt, and after pulling up his jeans, now he paced the room looking for his socks, but he wasn’t sure if returning to bed for a snuggle would be such a bad idea after all.
On the other hand, he’d missed an appointment last night. It had completely slipped his mind. His body had been eager to leave, but his mind and his skin had been lured back to Olivia’s side. He’d get hell for that. Or rather, hell may have emerged because he’d been too focused getting busy with the pretty singer. He had to get out of here and go make amends.
Nestled in the wrinkled purple sheets, Olivia asked, “Do you have a soul?”
Now she wanted to talk deep stuff? Best to nip this conversation in the bud, and fast. “Yes, but it’s dark as hell.”
He snagged a sock and pulled it on, but had to sit on the bed to do so. Claiming arms snaked around his waist and her cheek nuzzled against his back. He closed his eyes, taking in the sweetness of the touch. She hadn’t screamed last night when he’d bitten her. She could never know how much that meant to him.
“I don’t believe that,” she said.
“That I have a soul? I do, far as I know. Never got the course on Vampires 101, but I’ve learned a few things over the past year. Vampire souls are not bright and shiny. We do evil things to…”
“To survive. But you said you don’t kill.”
“Couldn’t fathom the act.”
“And you don’t create other vampires?”
His jaw tightened to think of the appointment he’d missed. A life was at stake. And he had let that life—and two others—down.
“Creating another bloodsucker would be worse than death.”
“Then your soul is as bright as I think it is.”
The woman had an optimistic streak that he di
dn’t want to get caught up in. It was like a sunbeam flashing across a dusty room. They’d known each other but a day, and now was no time for a deep conversation about life and whether or not vampire souls were dark or bright.
Bright? Hell. Olivia was naive, and he intended to walk out the door and never return. She didn’t deserve the corruption he could give her.
“You think you can’t have love,” she said.
Daniel shook his head, smirking. “Love is the last thing I worry about.”
“That’s too bad. Everyone needs love.”
He turned abruptly and grabbed her under the jaw. “You spent the night having sex with a vampire, Olivia. Not exactly a traditional way to spend the Christmas holiday. Think about that one, will you?”
He wandered out into the living room, but paused beside the couch, finding it difficult to move forward. He had to fist his fingers and think about bad things, dark things—himself—to resist the pull to return to her side. At Olivia’s side it was warm and bright and soft, and like nothing he’d ever had before. And her blood had tasted so damn good. Bright, unlike him.
Daniel gritted his jaw and forced out, “I’ll see you later!”
“Promise? Will you come back tonight?”
So hopeful. And for what? Another no-strings fuck? Fine with him. But if she expected love and a relationship and all the emotional baggage that accompanied it, she was going to get hurt.
Daniel palmed the front doorknob. It was probably best to hurt her sooner rather than later.
He didn’t reply to her question. Because he wasn’t sure if he could hurt her by not returning, or if he’d instead inflict that hurt on himself by returning for another kiss from the most intriguing thing that had ever happened to him.
THE GIRLS WERE ALL RIGHT, but upset he’d not shown last night, as promised. Daniel explained that he’d had something else to do and his apologies were taken with nods and heavy sighs. Their disappointment clawed at his heart. Deservedly so.
The Jones family was fine, if fine meant gritting teeth and clinging to an edge of oblivion that scared even Daniel.
He promised to show tonight, and it was imperative. The moon would be full on Christmas Eve, of all the bloody nights. The holiday wasn’t going to be merry for the Jones family. But he’d do what he could to ensure another monster did not walk the earth. He left the girls with promises and with a smile as encouraging as he could manage.
Now, if he could clear his mind of the soft, sweet-smelling Olivia. Maybe he needed to scare up a couple werewolves to keep his mind from distractions of the heart?
He didn’t have to walk far to find the dog he’d started to think of as Punch. His partner in crime was Judy—hey, the wolf wore pink tennis shoes—but he was nowhere in sight. Daniel veered across the street to avoid meeting the oncoming wolf, who hadn’t yet noticed him. Hands tucked in his jacket pockets, he doubled his pace, and only cringed when he heard the throaty chuckle and a fist smack into a palm.
Damn wolves could smell a vampire a mile away. Best thing to do? Run.
Daniel turned to face the werewolf lumbering toward him and planted his feet. A year ago his sorry-ass investment broker in crisp white shirt and gold cuff links would have run like a sissy from any threat larger than himself, despite his biweekly visits to the gym to work out. Now?
“Bring it,” Daniel muttered, and nodded to the right toward a narrow alley littered with cardboard boxes waiting garbage pickup.
The wolf veered and they strode down the alley side by side.
“You don’t have your girlfriend with you today,” Punch said. “But I can smell her on you. Tasty.”
“She’s not my girlfriend. And you lay one grimy paw on the woman and you’ll pull back a nub.”
The wolf shoved Daniel against a wall, and a garbage can clattered and rolled, spreading its packing peanut contents on the snowy tarmac. He reacted with a kick that landed on his opponent’s hip and sent him stumbling backward. His best defense was to move quickly, and he did so, pummeling the wolf with a fist to the chin, nose and ears. The ear shot had to do it, because the wolf let out a groan and balled forward in on himself.
“I’m not going to let you use me for your twisted games,” Daniel said. Hell, people depended on him. He wasn’t about to let the Jones girls down again. He delivered another punch to the wolf’s head, spinning the bruiser onto his back in a sprawl. “Haven’t you anything better to do?”
Punch spat blood to the side and grinned. “I can think of twenty better things involving your woman.”
“A nub, buddy. She’s not your plaything.”
A final punch to the temple succeeding in knocking the wolf out cold. Daniel eyed the perimeter and checked their tussle hadn’t been witnessed. The neighborhood was rough, but the weather kept most tucked in their snug homes. He strode away quickly, a brief smile curving his mouth at having defeated the wolf. But now he worried that Olivia would never be safe unless he could take the wolf out permanently.
He’d insinuated himself in her life, and by doing so, had brought along all his scary baggage, including werewolves.
WHEN THE DOORBELL RANG, Olivia set the hot pan of fresh-from-the-oven cookies on the stovetop and ran to answer it. It was early evening, and her manager had strict rules not to visit during her vacation, so it could only be one person.
Daniel leaned against the door frame, hands in his pockets and eyes set to smolder. Olivia’s heart pittered and her pulse pattered. Her lover sniffed the air. “Cookies?”
“I’ve been baking all day.”
“Smells great in here.” He closed the door but didn’t cross to the kitchen to follow her. “All day? That’s a lot of cookies.”
“Seven dozen so far.” She slid a spatula under a cookie and transferred it to the cooling rack. “I love Christmas and cooking. This is the only time of the year I get to myself so I try to do everything I used to do with my mother when I was younger. We used to make dozens of cookies and then take them around to the neighbors in brightly wrapped packages.”
“Sounds like a lot of work.”
“Sounds—” she slid another cookie off onto the rack “—normal, to me. This is what you’re supposed to do at Christmastime. Not traverse the country on a tour bus eating Doritos and washing your clothes in the sink. Come in, Daniel. What’s up? What are you hiding behind your back?”
The man’s sexy smile curled up into his eyes and it beamed a teasing smile onto her mouth. He walked closer but she could see he was concealing something. “A present for you.”
“Seriously? I love presents. It’s not a Christmas present, is it? Because it’s another few days until Christmas Eve. No presents until then.”
“So you don’t want it?”
“Are you kidding?” She tugged off the oven mitts and scampered over to him. Hands clasped behind her back, she closed her eyes. “Lay it on me.”
“For a kiss?”
“Of course!” She leaned forward, puckering her lips.
A warm, dreamy connection, mouth to mouth, breath to breath, curled her up onto her tiptoes and she wrapped her arms around Daniel’s shoulders. His jacket was cold, but his mouth was molten hot.
They’d known each other for such a short time, but she wanted this moment to go on forever, melting into his kiss. She could write a song about Daniel’s kisses. It would be filled with words like hot, demanding, magical, firm and wondrous good nummy.
“Mmm,” she murmured, eyes still closed. “That was the best present ever.”
“That wasn’t the actual present.”
“Too bad, ’cause I’d like to open that one every day. Again and again.”
He kissed her quickly and dashed his tongue along her lower lip, marking her, making her his own. After last night’s performance, he could have her in any way he desired. And she did not think that was attributable to the bite—or she hoped not.
He said, “Open your eyes.”
“Oh, Daniel!”
He
held a miniature pine tree, potted in a bright red basket. It was about a foot high and perfectly formed. “I love it!”
“You said you wanted a little Christmas tree.”
“I did! This is perfect, especially for my tiny apartment. And I bet it was much easier getting it up the stairs.” She took the tree and smelled the fragrant pine needles. Placing it on the coffee table, she knelt before it. “Now I need to find some miniature ornaments. It’s so cute.”
“Then maybe—” he knelt beside her and his warm breath tickled her ear so she tilted against him like a rose seeking the sun “—it’s a good thing I bought this, too.” He pulled something from his coat pocket and handed it to her.
The small silver star twinkled with rhinestones and had a tiny coil at the base to attach to a treetop. Olivia didn’t know what to say. That he’d thought to do something like this for her was incredible. People gave her gifts all the time. Big, flashy gifts that were always hung with an invisible expectations tag. This felt too genuine, from the heart. “I love it. Thank you.”
“It’s just a silly tree.”
“No. It’s the fact that you were listening to me when I mentioned I wanted a tree, but something small for my place. No one has ever given me such a thoughtful gift. For that, I’m going to let you have two cookies.” She pulled him into the kitchen and selected a warm candy cane cookie to hand him. “Can you eat food?”
“Yes, but I don’t need it for survival.” He took a bite and nodded his approval. “I think my mom used to make these. Did you have to twist the red dough with the white dough and then shape them like this?”
“Yes, making them always brings back memories of my mother.”
“She not around anymore?”
With a brave lift of her shoulders, Olivia nodded. “Died two years ago from a brain tumor. She was my biggest supporter and never got to see me hit the big time.”
It always strummed the broken chord in her heart to remember her mother’s brave last weeks fighting the tumor. Olivia had been on her own since, and missed having someone to confide in who wasn’t paid to listen and nod in agreement to everything she said.
A Vampire for Christmas Page 13