by Shona Husk
If neither of them was lying, would there be anything to say?
She tried to remember what life had been like before she’d been given the news which had taken her dreams as well as her hope. There’d been something between them from the moment she’d seen him with the kitten in his hands. A spark of desire that had taken hold and become a love she couldn’t extinguish, even though she knew he wasn’t as human as she’d thought. He reminded her to live and laugh. With Aidan she was more alive. Falling for him would be an accident she wouldn’t live long enough to regret. She’d lived her daydream. Those few short months had been worth it. To bask in his smile and curl up against him at night. Vampire or not, she loved Aidan.
A jagged melody cut through her thoughts, snagging and tearing the air in the house. She grimaced. Aidan had retreated to the music room. She walked down the hallway to the noise. Her hand touched the door handle and the music stopped with a skin crawling screech. She hesitated, this was his space. He didn’t enter her operating theater and she stayed out of his music. They met around the edges in moments of white hot brilliance and until today it had worked. Today the rules were under review. Lilith pushed open the door.
“I wasn’t sure you’d be back.” He didn’t turn around as he plucked the strings of a beautiful cello. The graphite surface shimmered, blue over black. Midnight made music. The wretched melody began again.
She ground her teeth. This wasn’t music, it was torture. “Why did you tell me if you can’t turn me?”
His fingers stilled. “I’ve been wanting to tell you for a while. I just didn’t know how.”
“So you picked today? Of all the days, you wait until I tell you that I’m dying?” Lilith crossed her arms and shook her head. Men really were a different species, human or Vampire.
“You caught me off guard.” He got up and offered her the stool. “Sit with me.”
She hesitated; she was supposed to be angry at him for having a better secret and being all immortal at the same time. But her anger melted like snow in spring. Her gaze flickered over his mouth, searching for a hint of fang.
“I won’t bite unless you want me to.” He smiled and the tips of his long teeth were visible.
Her heart gave a flutter as the sight of his fangs made her blood ache to be spilled. She swallowed her rising pulse and sat.
Aidan adjusted the floor peg. “Open your knees.”
Her legs separated without thought and with the familiarity that only came with sharing a bed. His fingers brushed her inner knee as he rested the cello between them, but his touch was uncertain as if he was no longer sure they shared the same world. He moved behind her and she leaned against him as he leaned into her. His heartbeat was steady in her ear while hers raced in anticipation. He was letting her into his music. She was part of it, not an observer. This was a piece of him she hadn’t seen.
“Comfy?”
His breath on her skin brought the hairs on her neck to attention. She waited for the caress of his lips to follow. Liquid warmth took the place of blood flowing through her veins. She had a Vampire breathing down her neck and her knees spread by the cello. Her pussy dampened, the ache for his touch building, but she couldn’t close her legs. All she could do was give into the sensation of being in his arms. A look, a kiss, she’d always responded to Aidan too fast. It was why she liked being with him. He made everything easy.
She nodded, unable to find her voice.
Aidan kissed behind her ear and started to play. The music flowed around them and through them. It hummed in her muscles and caressed her skin. She didn’t recognize the song, but it didn’t matter. The tune was beautiful, soaring and crashing, like lovers finding each other only to be ripped apart.
A lump formed in her throat and she closed her eyes to concentrate on breathing. This was their song, his way of dealing with awful reality. Just as his secret had altered her world, her secret had fractured his world and he was grappling with the pieces that wouldn’t stay together. Had telling him been a mistake?
No. Now she knew who he really was and she wanted to know all of him while she still had the opportunity. She wanted to feel those Vampire fangs in her flesh.
She turned her head and he met her halfway. Aidan’s lips were soft, but unyielding. He rarely kissed with an open mouth and now she knew why. He was hiding fangs. Her tongue swept over his lower lip and she kissed the corner of his lips, but she couldn’t tempt him into letting her in and touching his concealed teeth.
“Lil…” He rested his cheek against hers and murmured in her ear. “Don’t tempt me with what I can’t have.”
“And if I said you could?” Her voice was soft as though if she spoke to loud the moment would break.
“I wouldn’t be able to say no. You need your strength.” He placed his lips on hers in a kiss that was meant to end the discussion. “I have a friend, a specialist.”
Lilith ran her hand along the golden stubble on his jaw. She couldn’t live on wishes, no matter how hard she tried. “Don’t give me false hope.”
“There is more out there than Vampires. If I call in the favor, will you see him?”
More than Vampires? She considered Aidan for a moment. He was sure she could be saved. And when his not-quite-human connections couldn’t save her, what then? When did he accept what they had was over? When would she accept it was over? Aidan waited for her answer. It would be easy to agree and make him happy. They deserved all the happiness they could get.
She traced one finger over his lip. “Will you let me feel you teeth?”
He turned his head away and forced out a breath as if he was trying to resist.
“Will my blood make you sick?”
He gave a choked laugh. “No. It’s just I’ve been waiting to hear you ask for so long.”
“Will it hurt me?” She spun on the stool so she faced him. As a vet she’d been bitten plenty of times by animals, but this was different. His teeth were different; made for piercing, not tearing.
“Not unless you want it to.” His eyes were dark, as if night had swallowed his golden irises.
He was trying to be honorable, so she gave him a reason to let go, give in and bite.
“I’ll see your friend if you give me this.”
“Why do you need me to bite you?”
“I want to know you.” She placed her hand over his. The bow was fisted in his grip. “All of you.”
“You do know me.”
“No. I know the Aidan pretending to be human.”
“I’m no different.”
“You have fangs. It’s why you’ve never kissed me with an open mouth.” She stood so her body pressed against his. He wanted her more than he was saying. She slid her hand over his jeans to stroke the hard length of his erection.
He swallowed a groan and the bow hit the floor.
“If I start…There would be no going back. You can’t offer and then change your mind. Well, you could, but it would—”
She silenced him with a kiss. This time he didn’t try to hide. His hand cupped her head and their tongues met, gliding safely between his fangs. But she didn’t want safe. She needed to feel the edge. Her tongue flicked against a pointed tooth. Heat traveled through her blood and lodged between her thighs as if he’d struck a new erogenous zone. One that pulsed through every inch of her body and demanded to be sated. She pulled back with the taste of metal in her mouth.
“They’re sharper than I thought.” Like little razors. It was amazing he didn’t injure himself with them.
Aidan licked his lip where a drop of her scarlet blood had fallen. “They have to be.” He touched her neck and let his fingertips glide down her throat as he traced her artery.
Beneath his touch her skin burned, her breathing becoming shallow as she willed him to show her how he used those wickedly pointed teeth. She wasn’t afraid. She wanted to live every second she had and being with Aidan made her feel more alive than she’d ever been before. Maybe on some level she’d always known h
e was different.
Lilith held his gaze, daring him to make a move, then she realized it wasn’t his pupils that had swollen and taken the color from his eyes. The color in his irises had faded.
“Your eyes have changed.” Her words were a whisper.
He closed them and looked away, his hand dropping to his side. “It happens. The color fades to white when we want blood.”
Lilith brought his hand back to her neck. “I won’t stop you.”
For a moment that was a lifetime compressed into a heartbeat, he didn’t move. It was as if he was having a silent battle with himself. When he lifted his head, his eyes were their usual golden-hazel.
“I know.” He laid the cello down, but didn’t waste time packing it away. As he stood back up, his hands tracked up her thighs and caressed her butt, then settled on her hips. “Are you sure this is what you want?”
Lilith nodded. She’d never been surer.
“Then let’s do this properly.” He picked her up as if she weighed no more than the cat.
“Properly?” Her eyes widened.
But he was already walking. “In bed.”
Aidan laid her down on the bed. Her eyes were bright and her cheeks pink from being out in the cold. Everything he’d ever dreamed of finding was now entwined with his greatest pain. Lil had accepted him, wanted him, but she was dying. He couldn’t breathe. He shouldn’t be biting her no matter what she wanted. Then she started unbuttoning her shirt, her eyes on him, her heart like the hammering of a thousand trapped butterflies in his ears.
Her pulse the sweetest echo of his desire.
She wanted this and in exchange she’d see the specialist.
It wasn’t too late for Lil. But it was too late for him. He needed her—all of her. He pulled his shirt off and shucked his jeans and underwear, toeing his boots off as he went. Lil’s eyes tracked down his body as if she were seeing him for the first time. His cock twitched under her scrutiny. In a way she was.
Lil lifted her gaze. “Is the myth about the bite of a Vampire true?”
“Which one?” There were so many, from becoming Vampire through to being enslaved. Many were false; some depended on who was doing the biting and with whom. He’d seen William entrance with just a glance. Aidan tugged off his socks.
“The erotic one.” She let her shirt fall on the floor. “Does it make everything more…intense?”
“Depends on how it’s done.” Aidan undid her shoes, then took them off and tossed them into the corner. He knew he was revealing his fangs with his smile, but he didn’t care. For the first time in decades he didn’t have to pretend. He could just be. He placed a kiss on her ankle.
“When you cut your tongue, that was technically your first bite as I tasted your blood.” That wasn’t how he’d planned for her to experience her first bite, but he’d make amends this time.
Her tongue glided over her lip as if she were remembering. “What do I taste like?”
“Like honey.” Sweet, untainted and full of life. He undid her pants and drew them down her legs.
“You can’t taste the…?”
His hands paused on her inner thighs. He couldn’t taste it as such, but he could feel it in the etheric of her blood. If he’d told her what he was months ago, he would’ve found the tumor before the human doctors. Calling in the favor was a last ditch attempt to steal back her life. There would be casualties. No battle was fought without them. But he was willing to pay the cost—would she be when she found out? He pushed aside the thought.
“No.” He hooked his fingers into her hot pink panties and pulled them off. They went sailing over his shoulder.
His smile widened into a grin as his gaze roamed over her almost naked body and ended on the darks curls of her mound. He wanted to taste more than her blood. Tonight she was his. All his. As long as he was careful to take no more than a few drops, enough to wet his fangs, she wouldn’t be weakened. She needed to be strong.
He lifted her leg and kissed her behind her knee, his tongue tracing the crease and tasting her skin the way he had many times before while dreaming of this moment. Lil shivered as if anticipating what was to come. He didn’t rush, instead he let her feel the pressure of his teeth against her flesh and nothing else. She wasn’t ready yet. Her breathing was tight and her pulse still had the heavy steps of fear in it. Even though she said this was what she wanted, she was still unsure. He kissed and licked his way along her leg to her pussy. The scent of her arousal was like a drug. It raced through his body, straight to his cock. He ran his tongue over her labia and nudged her legs wider to revel in her satiny-slick skin. She propped herself up on her elbows.
Aidan glanced up. “Relax, Lil.”
“I want to watch.” Spoken like a scientist studying something different.
He knew she didn’t want to watch him go down, she’d done that before. She wanted to watch him bite down.
“I’m not going to do it yet.” And he wasn’t sure he wanted her to watch, not the first time. Better to experience the thrill without seeing the teeth embedded in her skin and the white eyes of her lover.
He flicked his tongue over her clit until she began to melt and he tasted her cream. The sweetness went straight to his cock and he hardened further. He was sure he’d never been this hard. The promise of blood shimmered through him hotter than fire, an ancient desire that longed to be fed. But it was more than just blood. Lil was giving him part of herself. She was trusting him totally with her life. He took a breath designed to bring calm and failed. He’d wanted this moment with Lil for so long.
“Ohh.” She eased back. “You sure?”
“Yeah. I want to enjoy you without my jaw aching from holding back fangs.” He slid his fingers along her slit, slowing down even as he wanted to fuck her.
He knew what she liked, how to make her come. The teasing, and stroking, drawing her closer then pausing just long enough to make her wait, her heartbeat giving away her reaction before she even realized what it was she needed. Today he added something different. He pressed his fangs against the flesh of her pussy and sucked on her clit until she squirmed. Her fingers twisted in the sheets as her hips lifted, but he held back, listening to her pulse. She had to love more than just the touch of his teeth; she needed to long for the bite and the release it promised.
“I can feel them,” she said between pants.
So could he. There’d been nights when he’d been less than careful, when he’d let them drop just for the relief of not holding back. Now he used them to tease her, and himself, as he waited for the right moment to bite. He pushed two fingers into her slick core. She was wet and ready. His cock ached to take their place, but not yet. He kissed her thigh over the vein, his fangs scraping lightly over her skin. Not hard enough to draw blood—he was testing to see if she’d recoil and change her mind.
She gasped, but didn’t pull away. “Did you?”
“No.” He dragged his teeth over her thigh again, the hunger to taste and fuck pushing him closer. She trembled and her pussy tightened around his cream-coated fingers. His cock throbbed. The tight self-control he’d had over the past few months unraveled faster than he’d expected. Around Lil, he’d never had much. They’d fallen into bed fast.
“It’s kinda sexy.”
“Glad you like them.” Because forcing his fangs back and acting human now would’ve really dampened the mood. He glanced up at her half closed eyes and parted mouth. A picture of lust, repeated in the music of her pulse. If she were going to freak out, she would’ve already.
His thumb circled, moving over her slick clit as his fingers pumped in her core, drawing her closer to the edge. His tongue traced over the place he wanted to bite. Inner thigh, intimate without being dangerous or visible. He’s always liked Lil’s long legs. His teeth pressed into her soft skin. Her heartbeat rose, while her breathing almost stopped. He paused for a second.
Then bit. His fangs cut through her skin.
She came hard. A moan on her lips and a d
rop of blood in his mouth. The etheric of her body became part of him before he had time to truly taste her. There wasn’t enough blood to satisfy, just enough to tempt him with her coppery-honey. He resisted the urge to take more, even though he knew could safely, and licked the puncture closed, lingering over their first bite. It had been a long time since he’d had a lover he could truly share with.
Lil slapped him on the shoulder. “You did it.”
“Hmmm.” Aidan kissed her stomach, working his way higher to her breasts. He raked his teeth over the satin-covered peak of her tight nipple as his hands slid under her back to undo her last piece of clothing.
She lifted her arms so he could remove the bra. Then her hand went searching for the bite on her leg. He guided her hand to his shaft instead. Her grip tightened as she worked along his length, stroking across the head and smoothing the pre-come over his hot skin.
He groaned, his hips moving. “I’ll do it again.” He pushed his teeth against the soft pale skin of her breast in mock threat.
Her back arched in encouragement, but he didn’t bite. He wanted to be thrusting inside her tight pussy the next time. He lowered his hips until she was forced to release his cock. The wet heat of her sheath encased him as he entered slowly, drawing out the moment, hoping he could stay lost in it forever and forget about the future.
Lil had other ideas. She looped her legs over his, her hips bucking so he was forced to match her rhythm. Beneath him her heart raced. He heard each part of the beat as the chambers contracted. He could time the bite for between beats so the heart seemed to stop and time hung suspended around a climax that tore at the soul.
Her fingers threaded into his hair, drawing him to her throat, her head tipped to the side in open invitation. If she were healthy he would’ve answered unspoken request, but she didn’t know what she offering, not fully. Would she want this every time, like he would? Did it matter when they only had now?