by Dee Carney
Startled, she shook her head. “No. It’s nothing, really.”
“I’m your friend, Alice. You can tell me any—”
Her mouth met his in a furious rush to stop whatever else he might say. Alice kissed him hard, her blood simmering at the realization that they were just friends. Anything more was asking for too much.
Unpleasant thoughts fell away as Sebastian’s mouth opened over hers. He moved with languid ease, taking control.
Sebastian elevated himself above her with the same casual ease, lending just enough of his weight that she could not forget a very virile, very male body draped over hers. His cock, so hot and so hard, pressed against her abdomen. She stretched her hand between them to grasp its length. And despite every bit of knowledge about him and his desire for her, grasping it sent a shiver of ultimate delight skipping down her spine. As if he couldn’t help himself, he began to slowly pump his hips, resulting in a cascade of warm velvety skin sliding against her palm.
“I don’t know what I want more,” he said, voice whiskey-rough. “To see myself spill into your hands or to feel your cunt wrapped around me.”
Alice squeezed him. “Why choose? Do both.”
His stomach jerked as he laughed. “Tempting.”
Instead though, Sebastian pulled back and she lost her hold. A bittersweet loss. There was much power to be had in holding a man so intimately.
But when Sebastian nudged her thighs apart, lowering himself so that his cock rested at the entrance to her body, she almost shuddered from the decadence of it.
She exhaled slowly as he pushed inside her, the delicious stretch a hedonistic twist of pleasure and pain, one she would gladly endure for him again and again. His head was down, focusing on where he impaled her, and Alice fought to keep her eyes open, to watch the wash of pleasure overcome his features. She soon lost though, too wrapped up in the way Sebastian felt as he filled her to completion.
A low moan rumbled from her throat, nothing on earth strong enough to hold it back. Her fingers seized the cushions beneath her, needing something to hold on to lest she lose herself to the blinding pleasure. Mouth dry, she panted out breaths as he moved so, so slowly. Still he kept filling her.
Alice’s hips tilted toward Sebastian, sexual instinct craving and demanding more. Her chest hurt from the way her heart kicked, a slave to the excitement of joining with him, her lover.
“Look at me,” he murmured.
Her eyes fluttered open, meeting his heated gaze. There was a tenderness in the way his attention stayed on her, no matter what she wanted to tell herself. Vampire or not, he wasn’t immune to the swell of emotions moving between them. She knew her heart. She knew his as well.
“Sebastian...” Her breath caught, sensation overwhelming her as he seated himself fully.
“Don’t stop me this time. Don’t run away from me. You and me...this. For whatever reason, we’re meant to be together, Alice, and I like it. I want it.”
Oh, God, so did she, but it didn’t matter, did it? This—all of it—was out of her control. Yet she couldn’t bring herself to tell him. Not now. “Me too,” she said instead.
“Good.” A new serenity spelled on his face, Sebastian lowered his mouth to hers and kissed her as tenderly as a butterfly’s touch.
Neither of them said the word, but when he began to move inside her, Alice knew it was love that drove him. Resigned, unable to ignore it, she let it reign.
She listened to her own uneven breathing as he rode her body. To the way blood rushed through her ears, a sound of waves against a shore. Moans fell from her lips, encouragement for the things he made her feel and want.
Sebastian made love to her with a skillful touch. His mouth met and caressed hers. Trailed heat across her chin and neck. Lower.
Rough fingers stroked casually over sensitive nipples, his lips soon nibbling on their peaks moments later. He was everywhere. Touching. Kissing. Arousing. He filled her both inside and out, covering her in a blanket of warmth and gentleness.
She squeezed her eyes shut, such wonderful sensation leaving her drowsy-drunk. And she was an addict to the way he made her feel. She wanted more. Needed it. Would have done anything asked of her for more. Yet it was all she could do to endure it now. To not shatter into a million replete fragments.
Soon the first ripple eased out from her belly, warming her extremities and heating her face. A whimper spilled out as a second ripple formed. Sebastian drove into her still so very, very slowly, but he seemed to swell inside of her at the sound. Ragged breathing turned to panting gasps as more ripples formed, each one more powerful than the last.
So much sensation. Pleasure.
The ripples were no longer distinguishable, each one coming behind the other so quickly that she could scarcely catch her breath in time before being bombarded. With each ripple, goose bumps stroked along her skin. Alice’s hands flew to his forearms, holding onto him for strength. She needed the tether.
“Oh God,” she cried. It would soon be too much.
Sebastian nuzzled the skin of her neck. “I’ve got you.”
He increased his pace, his cock filling her so completely she wasn’t sure that they hadn’t always been one. He was a part of her and perhaps forever would be. He touched her not only physically, but had grasped a hold of her heart. She could deny it all she wanted, fight the pull that kept them together, balk that the universe would make them see heaven only to eventually yank it away. None of that mattered as she began to soar. What did matter was knowing that it was so very right. That nothing could ever take away this moment from her. That she would remember and cherish it for always.
“That’s my girl,” Sebastian whispered.
Her cunt began to flutter, rhythmic pulls signaling the loss of control. She stroked over her neck with fingers that didn’t seem her own. “Please.” It came out desperate. Needy.
Sebastian visually traced the pulse of her neck before lowering his mouth. She barely felt the puncture, but the first draw of her blood made the world crash in around her. Alice screamed as she came, everything going shiny-bright before her muscles locked. Her entire being stiffened, useless to do anything beyond feel such intense, amazing bliss.
Sebastian’s low groans were far away and disembodied. He was close too, pushing himself into her with increasing speed. With an urgency to beat some sort of race against time.
Alice soared, knowing the way her life seemed to pour out of the two new wounds in her neck. The rest of her exploded outward, leaving her helpless to his sexual onslaught. She lived in her moment. Propelled there by an amazing man.
He growled against her neck before his tongue swiped at the bite. Her grip on him tightened with the first pulse of his release. Sebastian called out her name, his teeth scraping against her flesh as he clenched his eyes shut. He was pulled under, his body’s demands more than he had the ability to fight.
It was over too quickly. His hips stopped moving. Damp heat filled her between her legs. But she held on to him.
For long moments they lay together, joined where he still remained erect inside of her. Alice’s sweat-moistened skin craved cool air. Her lungs burned with the need for oxygen. The way her heart pumped hard and fast, she wondered dazedly if it would recover.
Too soon though, Alice felt the lull of fatigue pulling at her. She was just plain dog tired, from being loved and probably from the stress of the night before. There was a gorgeous man draped across her body, his warmth as s
oothing as any comforter. If he wasn’t careful, she’d fall asleep beneath him. Not that doing so would hurt his ego any.
“That was...amazing,” she said softly. Finding the strength to stroke his hair bordered on miraculous.
He lifted his head, perspiration cooling on her skin as soon as he did. After a quick kiss on the lips, Sebastian frowned. “You’re exhausted.”
“I’d love to deny it, but I am,” she replied.
“I forget that you’re still new to this lifestyle. You should have said something to me before...”
Before they’d had sex. “And miss out on that? No way, buddy. That was definitely worth getting up early for.”
He chuckled, grimacing a moment later when Alice groaned. He slowly extricated himself. The area between her thighs pulsed from overuse, a sure sign she’d be feeling their actions even hours from now.
She went airborne seconds after Sebastian stood. “Hey!” She squealed, then wrapped an arm around his neck. Being carried by him, the ground seemed ominously far away. “I can walk, you know.”
But hell, it felt good to be held and pampered like this.
He snorted.
“What’s that mean?”
“It means you don’t just look tired, you sound it too. Your words are starting to slur.” His stride was smooth and even as they left behind the kitchen and crossed through a second living room. “Don’t allow me to take advantage of you like this again.”
“If by taking advantage, you mean having crazy good sex, you most certainly will take advantage of me. And often.”
“You stubborn woman. I can do so much more than you’ll ever be able to. Seriously, don’t let me forget how fragile you are. When I’m holding you like this, it’s easy to remember, but when I’m lost inside you, I’m truly lost.” He shook his head, as if the memory of their coupling was too much for him to process.
He pushed open the door to his bedroom with a foot before Alice realized where they were. His bedroom. It couldn’t belong to anyone else.
A large king-sized bed rested in the middle of the room, perfectly made with crisp white sheets that were covered with a pale green comforter, which was also draped with a brown decorative throw. The latter item perfectly matched the leather headboard, dotted with bronze rivets. There couldn’t have been less than six pillows on the bed, four of them probably for show, based on the way their colors went along splendidly. The leather footrest seemed big enough to hold the extras when they weren’t in use.
Next to the bed, a wide band of earth-toned bricks went from floor to ceiling in precise patterns, only broken in the very middle to house a fireplace. Before its maw, a cream-colored rug stretched across the floor. At its edge, a leather recliner and ottoman guarded more decorative pillows. A stack of books had been piled next to the plush seating area.
Effortlessly, Bast walked to the bed and rested her in the middle of it, right between all those fluffy pillows. His clean coconut scent immediately wafted up, and she had to wonder what kind of detergent he used. The bed itself though felt like heaven stitched together. She almost moaned but bit it back when he pulled the comforter up over her body.
“Sleep now,” he said. That same tenderness from before came back and with an embracing coziness.
“What about youu?” This time she heard the slur he’d accused her of before. Also, a new slowness to her speech.
“I have the Council to deal with. Gray and I will be working up a strategy for making sure things don’t completely fall to shit. Get some rest for now. I’ll be in as soon as I’m able.”
“You’ve had...one hell...of a...night.” Even saying that took some effort. She’d never been this fatigued from an hour of loving before, but it was a small sacrifice.
“Yeah, I’m tired, but I need to sort this out. It won’t take longer than an hour or so. I’ll be in to join you before you know it. Promise.”
“Okay, but—”
Sebastian suddenly blurred then became two distinct persons sitting next to her. Alice blinked the apparition away, startled when it dissipated only to form again. She blinked harder, putting more effort into squeezing her eyes shut.
“Alice?”
She focused on his frown, but even that seemed to happen in slow motion. She moved through invisible molasses as she opened her mouth to tell him she was okay, but just tired. The room went brilliant in those moments, right behind Bast’s head. It lit him up in the sweetest ray of sunshine.
“Yyyourrgglowwing,” she managed to drag out. Worse slurring than before.
Sebastian’s face became deadly serious. He leaned closer to clasp her hands. “Alice, what’s wrong? Talk to me.”
“Glowww...”
He called her name again, she thought. Couldn’t tell. His voice floated away before her ears managed to grasp the sound. It didn’t matter anyway.
All she knew was the brilliant light, a beautiful glow, filling the room.
And then she knew nothing at all.
Chapter Twenty-Five
A very distinct beat, rhythmic in its evenness, aroused her first. The sound was annoyingly loud, as if it beeped next to her ear, and Alice had a hard time figuring why anyone in his right mind would use it as an alarm.
She’d fallen asleep, but God, it was hard to think straight coming out of it. Must have been one hell of a nap.
The sheets had been pulled high up on her chest, tucked in with a firm hand. The cotton was clean but lacked a distinct smell. No. That wasn’t quite right. Obviously clean, the sheets smelled bland. Kind of disappointing, really. And the pillow beneath her head? Not nearly comfortable. In fact, she could use another one to stop being so damned flat.
“Awake?”
Sebastian’s gentle voice made her smile. “Yeah, but still tired,” she replied before his tone made her replay the one-word question. He said it with care, but there was a simmering anger beneath it. Or was that her imagination? Alice pushed open her eyelids to look at him. “Oh God!”
Her heart hammered as she took in Sebastian first, and then their surroundings. The stark walls. The crucifix with a white board beneath announcing, Hello, Your nurse today is Cathy. A tall metal pole loomed over the bed, holding a clear bag filled with fluid. Tubing ran from the bag, snaking over the bed to abruptly end at a mish-mash of tape bunched on the back of her hand.
“I’m in a hospital?” she asked, tamping down the rising panic.
“Hope Haven.”
“Why? What happened?”
“How many times did I watch you stare off into space? How many times were you having an absence seizure, and I didn’t know it? I watched you deteriorate and had no idea.” He glanced toward the closed door, as if hoping to be rescued from this conversation. But her warrior, true to form, tackled the problem with aplomb. “You had another seizure. This one was grand mal.”
Oh God. Her breathing picked up as panic pushed past a barrier and began to squeeze her lungs, holding them within an iron grip. All of her seizures to date had been very minor in the scheme of things. Absence seizures that made her lose usually only up to a minute of time. Not one that fully wracked her entire body such that she had the potential to accidentally hurt herself.
“Why didn’t you tell me you were sick?” he asked. It was back—the low simmer of anger and, more so, disappointment.
“I...it...” She struggled to find the right answer. One that wouldn’t hurt him more than he appeared to have been
. “They don’t know why I have seizures. I’ve never had a grand mal before, I swear.”
“Never mind,” he said sharply. Sebastian visibly went still, as if collecting himself, then tried again. “Your doctor says you haven’t kept your appointments.”
“I couldn’t afford to go. I kept taking my meds and hoped for the best.”
“Hoped for the best? Did you think that would be enough? Why didn’t you tell me you needed to see a doctor? I would have given you whatever money you needed.” He began to pace the small room as his anger hit full, rolling boil. “If you’d been keeping your appointments, you would have continued to have MRIs and whatever other tests you’d needed.”
“When should have I asked you for a few hundred dollars? The day I found you sick and barely hanging on? The day I tried to steal from you? When?”
“Fuck, Alice! I can’t believe you kept something like this from me. Did you think I wouldn’t understand? I would have helped you.”
“You can’t help me,” she cried. “Didn’t the doctor tell you? No amount of doctor’s visits or money or anything can help! It is what it is. I didn’t think it would get worse.” Hoped it wouldn’t.
“You didn’t trust me enough to tell me. After everything we’ve been through, you couldn’t tell me.” He sat on the bed’s edge, head tilted toward his chest, dejection weighing him down. “Is this why you wanted to be turned? To escape this?”
Tears almost blinded her from seeing his face, but Alice nodded.
“Damn it, I’m so angry with you I can’t think straight. You didn’t trust to tell me anything at all. If I had known...” His voice lowered again, the words coming from him almost strangled. “The hospital staff trusted me more than you though. They say you have a tumor. Not previously detected. That’s what’s been causing the seizures.” A thunderous heartbeat passed. “One MRI. That’s all that it would have taken. Now, it’s too late.”