by Michele Hauf
That meant a lot to Blu. That he was not rough. That her pleasure remained fore in his mind. That he loved her.
This man actually loved her. How incredible was that?
The intrusion of his fingers between her legs prompted her up on her tiptoes. She clung to his wet shoulders, not wanting to slip. Wanting to give him the best access to her.
“Hold the bar on the wall,” he said.
So that was why that bar was so high. There were a few other bars, at varying levels on each of the three shower walls.
“You’re quite the Casanova,” she said as he knelt before her. She put one foot up on his shoulder. “How many women have those fingers explored? Anyone famous?”
He stroked her quickly, making it difficult to concentrate. But she was curious. “You’ve walked through history, Creed. I want a name. One name you’ve had sex with.”
And then she gasped as orgasm captured her. He’d mastered her body this night. He could bring her to orgasm with a few flicks of his fingers, or guide her through a long and lip-biting session that had her screaming for more.
Shivering with the rush of pleasure, she bent forward to grasp her husband’s back. Clawing softly over his flesh, she poked him with one nail. “One name.”
“Watch the claws. Okay, okay.” Holding her beneath the rain, he rose and stroked the slick hair from her face. “Marie Antoinette,” he said. “Famous enough for you?”
“No way. Seriously? That’s so cool.”
He smirked. “She was young, and her ineffectual husband ignored her for much of the early years in their marriage. She was surrounded by a lavish and doting court, and yet, she was so lonely.”
“You made her less lonely?”
“For a night.”
“Were you sad when she went to the guillotine?”
“I was out of the country. On to new things, new adventures. But yes, I’m always sad to see an innocent punished.”
“So she was the only famous one?”
He shrugged. “No. The only one worth remembering though, save a few vampiress lovers.”
“I bet the blood flies when you have sex with another vampire.”
“The mess is minimal. You don’t want to discuss my old lovers while we’ve this rain shower to share, do you?”
“You owed me one. I told you about mine.”
“Then we are even. No more talk of lovers. Mmm, that’s the perfect grip.”
She turned her fingers about the head of his cock and rubbed firmly on the underside where he was most sensitive. There, the thick vein pulsed. Blu knelt and took her lover into her mouth.
Above her head, he slapped his palms to the slick wall and growled. “Blu…” Her name whimpered out. Pleading her to control him as she wished.
She cupped his testicles and squeezed gently. It took only minutes to bring him to climax. The mighty vampire lord surrendered with a throaty cry.
He drew her into a hug. “I love it when you swallow me.”
“I love it when you love me.”
Chapter Twelve
BLU LEANED AGAINST the bathroom wall, naked, wet from the shower.
“You know, Bree was the only one who ever believed this could work.”
“The faery?” Creed kissed her stomach. A slick of his hot tongue licked the water droplets there.
“Yeah. That chick is so smart.”
It was two days until the full moon and Blu was already beginning to feel the changes within her. Changes that manifested as being majorly horny.
Sex was important to a werewolf. More so for the female. During the full moon was the only time the female could get pregnant. Blu’s body was preparing her for the event.
But she couldn’t get pregnant by a vampire. The werewolf was born a wolf, whereas vampires were created from humans; the two didn’t jibe. Sure there were some rare born vampires, but Creed had told her of his creation. So as a vampire’s wife, she could embrace the need for sex heartily, with little fear of consequences.
She wasn’t the motherly sort. Not yet, anyway. She had a few decades of partying to do first. Sex with no worry of getting pregnant? That so rocked.
Creed, slick and steamy from the hot shower, pressed his forehead to hers, their fingers entwined.
“What are we going to do?” he asked.
The question had nothing to do with the moon, and everything to do with the expectations of their mutual nations. Reality had a way of pulling the rug out from under all the fun.
“I don’t know. You tell me, husband.”
“I can’t be the one to tell you to do something that may have an effect on your family and pack.”
He was so kind that way. Any other man would have demanded she do this or that to make it all go his way.
Creed was as alpha as any wolf, and yet, he wielded power and strength much more humanely.
“What will you do?” she asked. “Inform on the werewolves?”
He smirked. “We’ve an incredible secret, don’t we? I’m not so keen on reporting back to Nava with this info. On the other hand, I’ve never betrayed them before. As tribe leader I owe them complete honesty. Blu, I must tell you straight out. I don’t want war. And yet part of me relishes the idea of drawing Wolfsbane against a pack of snarling werewolves.”
She shivered, but not because of his honesty. She’d come to understand Creed. He was a man of intention and integrity. No man was perfect, hence his inability to keep a vow about not using magic. And that he was split regarding this issue only meant he was not perfect, and that like anyone else, he could see two sides to everything. Even if one side was not in favor of her breed.
“I don’t understand my father,” she said. “I’ve heard him rant about vampires over the years, but that’s normal. Just his deal, you know? Never had I expected he’d want war. There’s something about him I’m missing. The reason behind his need to send me to the vanguard, to, well…to sacrifice me for some greater cause.”
He kissed her arm, his mouth lingering. The ends of his hair tickled her breasts. “Do you feel you’ve been sacrificed?”
“The night of our wedding I did. Oh, man, I felt like I was walking into hell to wed the devil Himself.”
“Please, don’t bring up his name. We don’t want any unwelcome visitors.”
“Sorry. But now, I find it hard to believe being forced into your arms was as terrible as I’d expected. Do you think we can change the minds of both the pack and the tribe? If they know we are in love? Do you even want to?”
“I do want to. For you. For us. The original plan—lie that it was—was to set the example everyone thought we were supposed to set, and both nations fall into hugs and kisses and sing peace, love and happiness.”
“That’ll never happen,” she said.
“Yeah, I don’t think so either. But love was never mentioned.”
“It could be the thing to unite us all.”
She stroked the side of his neck, knowing he loved any touch to his sensitive veins.
“But how do you think they’ll react to seeing us happy together?” she wondered aloud. “Should we go to the banquet and be ourselves? Stop playing the game and show them we do love one another?”
“It could be dangerous. But that’s what I want more than anything, Blu. For the world to know I love and honor you. Mon Dieu, I could never imagine doing harm to your family either. But this war exists no matter what we say or do.”
“It’s been going on for some time.”
“Yes, but unless we can stop it, it’s going to come to a bloody head.”
“That’s a lot on our shoulders.”
“No shit.” He turned and paced to the center of the bathroom.
The steamy room smelled like soap, heat and sex. His broad shoulders flexed and water glistened on his tight ass.
Blu licked her lips. Round four, anyone?
“Well, Mr. Tribal Leader, what do you suggest? You must have experience.”
“Experience with a coup l
ike this?” He wobbled his head side to side and made a face, a funny little motion Blu associated with Frenchmen. “Once only, in the twelfth century when I served Philippe Auguste in a battle against the Burgundians. We tracked the invasion along the Seine. After my war days I worked as a bounty hunter. Singular stuff that did not involve such a large tactical scale. It’s been so long, Blu. Now my tribal duties involve reprimanding strayed tribal members and rescuing independents from blood matches.”
“You rescue vampires from the blood sport? I didn’t know that.”
He splayed a hand before him. “Someone has to do it. Your breed is as bloodthirsty as mine. Only we do it for survival, not for sport.”
Blu clasped her arms across her chest. She’d been to one blood match, and only because Ryan had forced her to “have some fun with him,” as he’d put it. It had been the most despicable thing she had ever witnessed.
Creed really was the knight in shining armor she’d initially mocked.
Now? She would stand proudly in his shadow and watch him protect, as his mien demanded. She’d not known integrity before, and now it absolutely glowed at her.
“I’m proud of you,” she said. “What you do, rescuing the vampires. It takes courage.”
“Thank you. But you must know, when I told you I had not wielded Wolfsbane in vengeance for centuries, I meant just that.”
She shrugged.
“Self-defense is different from vengeance. I had to strike a wolf dead the other night to save one of my own.”
“I see.” Blu winced. One of her own had fallen. For some reason she couldn’t get as upset as she felt she should. If he had threatened Creed, then she was thankful the survivor was her husband. “You’re still very courageous.”
“I just hope to summon the courage to keep you in my arms forever. I could go before the tribe and talk to them,” he said. “Feel them out. Tribe Nava has been plotting with Zmaj against the werewolves for years. This was an opportunity we jumped on. I’m as much to blame as the wolves.”
“But you’ve changed your mind now. That’s what matters.”
“Yes. But, Blu, I’m not sure if I can change the minds of dozens of vampires, some with a blood debt for lost loved ones they believe the wolves must pay.”
And to change the wolves’ minds? They’d lost entire generations to the vampires. The very reason the females were so rare was due to the systematic hunt and destruction of wolves by vampires in the mid-twentieth century.
“Well, I’m no help. A female wolf could never tell the males what to do. It just isn’t done.” She sat on the vanity stool outside the shower and propped her elbows on her knees. “I wish my mother were still around. She’d know what to do.”
“Where is she? Was she at the wedding?”
Blu shrugged. “She left when I was little. Daddy said she ran off with a lover. I think it was a lie. But I miss her, no matter what. It hurts to think about her.”
Creed kissed her on the forehead. “Family is good.”
“Not if your family is plotting to kill your new husband’s family. Maybe if we moved to Russia and secluded ourselves away?”
Creed glowered.
“I know. I couldn’t do the snow thing for long. And I’d stick out like a sore thumb amongst the babushkas.”
“You and your purple hair. I think you should go purple here.” He knelt before her and kissed her mons. His hot breath traveled her flesh, tickling up to her breasts.
“Really? On the landing strip? It’d be too much work. Wigs are easy.”
“They did pubic wigs in the seventeenth or eighteenth century. I don’t recall which.”
“Wigs for the bush? Oh, that kills me. Besides, I like being natural for you. You like me this way?”
“I adore you this way. Here.” He kissed her short hairs. “And here.” He stroked the ends of her tresses spilled slickly over her breast. “This long black hair is magnificent. I like when it sweeps over my skin and sends tingles through me.” He parted her legs and lightly thumbed her.
“How did you get started rescuing vampires from the sporting warehouses?”
His motion stopped, but he didn’t remove his finger. “They captured a woman I felt very strongly about once.”
“You loved her?”
“I couldn’t say it was love, but probably if we’d had more time together it could have become so. I’d known her a few months. Her name was Rachel.”
“How was she captured?”
“Not sure. I thought she was away with family, when Alexandre called me after a rescue mission. They’d rescued Rachel, near death. By the time I made it to her side, she had but a few breaths left.” He pressed his cheek to her leg and met her eyes. “Rachel’s death only fanned the fire I have held toward the wolves and their damned sporting matches.”
“You did what was right.” Blu stroked his cheek, and he closed his eyes to her gentle touch. “What would you do for me?”
“I would kill for you.”
“I don’t want you to do that.”
“It is in my blood, Blu. I am a man who solves problems by the swing of a blade.”
“Yet you just said you wanted this to work. Us. The vampires and the werewolves. Can you…change? For me?”
“I want to. I have changed. I just need to stay on course.”
“You said you wanted to atone.”
“For the witches. That has nothing to do with the werewolves. Let’s play it by ear, shall we? We’ll go to the banquet, and let everyone see it’s possible to join the two nations. And then…”
“Don’t expect me to report to you with info from the enemy.”
“Nor will I give you details of whatever comes of it all. Though I hate to keep anything from you.” He slid his finger rhythmically in and out of her.
Blu tilted her head against the wall, relaxing her shoulders, devouring his lazy attention.
“Anything could happen. I don’t want to lose you,” she said. She bit her lower lip and her heartbeat increased as her body subtly shivered at his ministrations. “But I may yet. The full moon is in two nights.”
“And yet you haven’t told me what to expect. Should I leave you alone for the night? Do you need to be…?”
“Locked up?”
He offered a helpless shrug. “I want to know all of you, Blu.”
“I don’t want to explain things, because it’s too…odd. And truthfully? I’m not completely sure of it all. The wolf mind overwhelms the human mind, you know? Suffice it to say, I’m different from the males. During the full moon, they wolf out and become a beast that seeks to hunt and have sex. Me, well, I sort of go into heat.”
“You need sex?”
“Yes,” she gasped as the imminent orgasm crept slowly through her body. “And no. It’s like I want it, but I don’t either. It’s the only day during the month that a female can get pregnant. And yet, she doesn’t like to make it easy for any male.”
“I’ll be here for you. Unless you…need a wolf?”
“I don’t know. I’ve never had a vampire lover before. I suspect the werewolf part of me won’t be too thrilled with you. Ingrained aversion to longtooth, you know.”
“Do you change? Become something that isn’t like you now?”
“Not like the males. They get all stretched and muscled and hairy.”
“You said you liked hair.”
“I’ve had a change of heart.” She stroked his smooth jaw, and he kissed above where his finger still fondled her clitoris. “But it’s definitely a different part of me. I know what I am at that moment, and yet, the werewolf takes over and well…I’ve never gotten all the way.”
“You mean…?”
“I mean no werewolf has ever brought me to the edge during the full moon, so I’m not really sure what happens then. You’ll just have to see. And I want you to see. I need you to see.”
“I wouldn’t be anywhere else.”
“Promise me you won’t be offended by whatever I do or say. My
werewolf may not like you at all.”
He kissed her mons and resumed a steady pace. “Promise.”
“Oh, Creed.”
Blu succumbed to a quiet climax that wilted her and made her liquid like the steam dribbling down the walls.
ALEXANDRE AND CREED shared a beer and whisky as Blu sashayed down the stairs. She kissed her husband and wandered into the kitchen.
She easily heard Alexandre. “She’s so hot, man. Seriously? A werewolf?”
“You should try new things,” Creed said. “A change of breeds might surprise you.”
Wearing a proud smirk, Blu took the milk from the fridge and tilted the carton back, gulping the cold liquid.
“You know I love Veronica, man,” Alexandre said. “We’ve new information on the rescue the other night.”
She paused. Creed had mentioned rescuing vampires from blood matches, and that he had killed a wolf.
What pack was holding blood sport in the cities? Couldn’t be hers. Her father would flip.
“We got a name on the one who put the match together. Near as I can figure, he’s responsible for the last three matches we’ve rescued for.”
Blu crept to the swinging kitchen doors, milk carton tucked to her chest. Closing her eyes, she tilted her head to listen.
“You’re not going to like it,” Alexandre said. “It’s Eugene.”
Squeezing the plastic carton exploded milk from the spout. It splashed her leg and toes. Blu swore.
“Something wrong, Blu?” Creed called out.
“Yeah.” She fisted the door, stalked out and slammed the carton on the bar. “You two talking about Ryan?”
“Eugene Ryan,” Alexandre said. “He’s been organizing the blood matches around town.”
“No way. My father would never allow it. The Northern pack does not run blood sport, they just don’t.”
“We received trustworthy information on this guy.”
“He wouldn’t.” She looked to Creed for rescue from the other vampire’s insidious accusations. “You’ve got the wrong wolf. Ryan may be an uncouth behemoth, but he doesn’t do the blood sport.”
Alexandre thumbed his chin. “How many werewolves are named Eugene, Lady Saint-Pierre?”