by Calista Fox
A soft smile touched her lips. “I never imagined feeling this swept away. This lost. This uninhibited. I never wanted it,” she admitted. Their gazes locked and she said, “Now I can’t imagine how I lived without experiencing this.”
The truth of her words brought tears to her eyes that she blinked back. “I don’t care what happens tomorrow, Cane.” That was a huge lie, but an inevitability she couldn’t escape. “All that matters to me is this night. This moment. I’ve never wanted anything more. I’ve never wanted anyone more. I never will.”
He swallowed hard. His Adam’s apple bobbed and his eyes ignited with more heat. “I don’t know that I can give you everything you deserve, Bev,” he said, honesty reflected in his onyx irises.
She shook her head. “I’m not asking for anything. Just this.” Her inner walls clenched his thick cock again, making him groan and thrust into her. Bev gasped. “I don’t need anything traditional. Don’t think you have to fill a specific role. Just…give me what you can. Give me this. You. All of you.”
His gaze held hers. She saw confusion and relief and so many other things she couldn’t even begin to identify. It didn’t matter. All she cared about was that the swirling in his eyes seemed to hint at acceptance. Understanding.
Perhaps Cane was as in need of as wide a berth as she was.
Willing and able to give physically, but guarded enough to understand the need for an arm’s length between them emotionally.
And yet…even as the idea presented itself in her mind, she realized she didn’t like the implication. To keep him at bay—like all the others—was painful to consider.
Especially since he’d already claimed her heart. As no other man ever had.
They were sharing real intimacy tonight. She had but to look into his dark eyes to see the extent of emotion reflective of her own. The words hadn’t been expressed aloud, but the feelings lingered between them. And the way they’d made love, with no inhibitions to mar the intimacy, to hold them back…
Bev knew a bond now existed between them that time and distance and death wouldn’t break. His death, of course.
She was now forever connected to him in her heart.
Cane moved inside her again, pulling her from her reverie. Bev was hopelessly lost all over again, her emotional dilemma slipping from her mind.
“I’ve never wanted anyone the way I want you,” she whispered, feeling all the erotic sensations well within her again. She tightened her grip on his hips and his cock. He groaned and she smiled. “Stop teasing me.”
But his head dropped to her chest and his tongue swiped over one still-taut nipple. Bev felt as though she’d jump right out of her own skin.
“You’ve proven your point,” she reminded him, thinking of that fire extinguisher in the kitchen.
“Not yet,” he said in a dark tone. “I’m still not done with you.”
“Seriously,” she whispered. “I’m about to start begging for more.”
He grinned. Half-assed and so damn sexy. “I can hold out for that.”
“Oh really?” She squeezed him tight and he growled.
“Goddamn…” he grunted. His eyes flashed with heat and longing and something dangerously erotic.
“You were saying?” she prompted.
Cane pressed into her again, pushing his cock in to the hilt, making her gasp.
Touché.
In a breathless voice, she suggested, “Perhaps if you let me take charge…”
His jaw clenched. She laughed softly.
He said, “Exactly how much trouble are you looking for tonight?”
“I already told you what I want. Straightforward. No holds barred. Make love to me again. Come inside me.” She held his steely gaze, challenging him. Wondering why he held back when she was the one with the most to lose.
When Cane moved away from her, Bev’s body bemoaned the loss of hard muscle and thick fulfillment.
“What are you…?”
He swept her up in his arms and she knew there was so much more to come. His eyes bore deep into hers and they seemed to rage with passion like the storm outside.
She didn’t have to finish her question. He didn’t have to answer it.
He was taking her to bed.
Chapter Six
Cane carried her up the first flight of stairs. This was insanity personified, but that was moot at this point, really. He’d experienced paradise and was now shooting for the stars. Heaven, even.
Bev smelled sweet. Tasted tangy and delicious. Fucked passionately and with no inhibition.
He couldn’t imagine being inside another woman and feeling this complete, this sensational. He wanted all of her. Knew he couldn’t have all of her, but still… There was an unspoken understanding between them. And somehow he was managing to keep the beast out of the equation. He could ravish her. Devour her. Make love to her. Make her come repeatedly.
And not kill her.
For once he felt as though he actually might be able to have it all.
And that was the most amazing feeling he’d experienced in longer than he could remember. Maybe his cursed existence had a slight chance at salvation after all.
To possess Bev physically and emotionally—as a man, not a demon… That would change everything for him.
He reached the first landing and sank to his knees. He couldn’t even make it to her bedroom. Wanted desperately to be inside her hot, slick body again.
They shifted at the same time and suddenly he was sitting on the polished hardwood floor and she was straddling his lap. Her fingers plowed through his hair and her mouth covered his just as his hands gripped her waist. She came down on him, taking him fully into her body in one fell swoop. He fought back the lustful, primal, territorial growl that rose within him.
Their hips rocked in time with each other as her tongue pushed deep into his mouth, twisting and tangling with his. He needed to touch her, to pleasure her. His hands moved up to her breasts and he palmed them, squeezing roughly, toying with the tight nipples until she ripped her mouth from his and gulped for air.
“Christ,” she whispered in a low, husky voice. “This is like being plugged into an electrical outlet.”
He would’ve grinned, but the need to taste her overwhelmed him and his head dipped to her breast. Flicking his tongue over the taut bud, he made it even harder and then sucked it into his mouth, careful not to scrape her with his teeth. He was still on dangerous ground.
Her body melded to his. Her lips pressed to the top of his head before she drew in a full breath, as though inhaling his scent. He sucked harder and she bucked against him. As he continued to lick and suckle her nipple, one hand moved down to her ass. He cupped a cheek and again gave a not-so-gentle squeeze. And then he guided her into a quicker pace, forcing her hips to move with his.
Raspy, breathy moans fell from her parted lips. He wanted to kiss her again, but it was hard to do so and not lose himself completely. Instead, he leaned back until he was sprawled on the floor with her on top of him, riding him hard. He gripped her hips again as he thrust up into her. Their gazes locked and her green irises shimmered in the dim lighting from the chandelier above them and the lightning that continued to pierce the night sky and illuminate the inside of the house.
When she planted her hands on either side of his head and lifted off him slightly, Cane thought he’d go half out of his mind with his need to make her come again. He held her tightly as he pistoned into her, making her entire body quake.
“Oh yes,” she whispered roughly. “Just like that.”
Long strands of hair clung to her damp neck and she finally closed her eyes and seemed to give herself over to all of the sensations building with her again.
He had no idea how he was keeping his own orgasm at bay. The need for release was strong. Painful. Torturous. But he didn’t want to stop. Being inside her was too sensational. Too perfect. He wanted to fuck her all night long. Intended to do just that, actually.
One of his hand
s shifted to the front of her and he rubbed two fingers over her clit, quickly, steadily, making her whimper and gasp for air. The other hand moved to her ass, the pads of his fingers stroking along the cleft before targeting that forbidden spot.
“Cane!”
She exploded all around him. He felt her orgasm as though it was his own. Shattering, breathtaking. So powerful it made her entire body shake. His too.
“Oh god,” she cried.
Her inner walls were like a vise grip around his cock, so tight and wet and wonderful it was a miracle he didn’t come right then and there. His hands returned to her hips and he forced her down onto him, pushing up into her until he was fully sheathed inside her body. She cried out again, trembling and squeezing and gasping until he was just about certifiable from wanting more of this. More of her. All of her.
When her forehead hit his chest and her harsh breaths teased his flesh, he fought for sanity.
The rational side of his brain told him to give her body a brief respite. Let her catch her breath at the very least. He couldn’t. The irrational part of his clouded mind urged him to continue. To keep her aroused, keep her in desperate need of him.
Rolling onto his side and then further so that she was stretched out beneath him, he started that quick, unrelenting rhythm again, hammering into her, making all those erotic noises fall from her lips again.
He couldn’t stop himself. Couldn’t fight back the fervor of emotions and sensations that consumed him, drove him to push deeper, rock faster.
Desire was a powerful emotion, yet no match for the possessiveness that came with claiming a woman as his own. His feelings went beyond passion. He’d never experienced love in human or vampire form, but there was no mistaking it when it happened.
For Cane, it had most definitely happened.
He couldn’t say if the feeling was reciprocal, though it was difficult to deny the glow in her eye that hinted at a deep emotion. One that rivaled what he felt.
Perhaps that was why there were no inhibitions between them. No holding back. Her fingertips pressed into his bunched shoulder muscles, the nails biting. He didn’t care. She could claw at him all she wanted. Scratch the hell out of him. He’d barely notice, so lost was he. Drowning in the depths of her glimmering green eyes, disappearing in a passionate abyss.
“Bev,” he grunted. “So close.”
Her fingernails scraped their way down to his ass, sending shivers of excitement rocketing through him. Making him fuck her even harder. It still didn’t seem to be enough for her. She gripped his ass firmly and lifted her hips off the floor, taking all he had to offer.
“I told you what I wanted,” she said. “Give it to me.”
He wasn’t sure he could let go. Was terrified to do so. What if he lost his sanity completely and sank his teeth into her? What if he couldn’t stop himself? Could no longer keep the beast contained within him?
“Jesus.” He shook his head. His cock was ready to explode inside her. And goddamn was he in need of release! Like never before.
When her legs wrapped around his hips and her hands moved up to his shoulder blades, it seemed that every single inch of her was sealed to him. They were moving together as one. Even their short breaths were in time with each other.
And that’s when he truly understood how lost he was. He was no longer himself. He was a part of her. And vice versa.
“Bev.” He was overwrought with emotion. Lust, passion, desire, need…love. He felt it all. The need to protect her. To keep her safe, even from himself. He wanted to give her everything he possessed. Including his unbeating heart.
“Please,” she whispered as she continued to move with him. “Come with me. Now, Cane. I want to feel you. All of you. Please!”
His eyes locked with hers. She kept him focused there, holding him spellbound as everything inside him converged and erupted in a fiery, frenzied climax that seemed to shake the rafters, though he knew that was the storm’s doing.
“Oh yes!” she screamed as she came too, squeezing him even tighter, her body vibrating and convulsing with his. “Oh god, yes!” Her back arched. Her eyelids dipped.
“No, Bev,” he managed to grind out. “Don’t close your eyes. I need to see your eyes.”
He’d lose that last thin strand of control if she looked away from him, diverted his attention. He’d sink his teeth into her throat. Taste her intoxicating blood.
And damn his soul all over again.
Thankfully, she responded to his desperate plea. Kept her gaze on his, transfixed, as her own emotions flickered in the pale pools. He saw so much. And that’s what he focused on. As his body continued to tremble from the massive release of an eternity’s worth of pent-up passion, he searched the windows to her soul and found that the intensity of her feelings mirrored his own. She didn’t hide them or hold them back. She let him see how aroused and satisfied and…happy…she was.
One corner of his mouth lifted. Yeah, happy was a weird concept for him, but damn it. He felt thrilled to the core of his undead body.
Her hands shifted to his chest, her fingertips grazing his skin as they made their way up to his shoulders, his neck, his jaw. Which was clenched tight. She massaged it gently, on both sides.
He realized his entire body was rigid. Not limp the way it should be after the colossal climax he’d just experienced. He was still holding himself in check. Still terrified of the vampire he was.
Yet he was also wholly accepting of the man he was. The man Bev had made him tonight.
“You can’t even begin to imagine…” She started to say, then gave a slight shake of her head, still holding his gaze.
“Oh yeah, I can.” Christ. Even as his orgasm ebbed, he still felt on fire from head to toe. Still trembled from the overwhelming sensations that had consumed him. That continued to rage within him. “Just like you said.” He grinned at her. “It’s like being plugged into an electrical outlet.”
She smiled back. Warm and inviting. “Feels damn good.”
“Better than that.”
Whisking away a wayward lock of hair from his forehead, she said, “Thank you for not holding back any longer. I thought I was going to die from wanting you.”
They stared at each other, her words hanging on the sexually charged air. Wanting him could have been the death of her.
But no. He’d won. He’d kept the demon out of this.
“Sorry we didn’t make it to the bed.”
“I’m not.”
He chuckled. The sparkle in her eyes made him lighthearted. His personal victory made him less tense. His muscles loosened and he dipped his head to hers, brushing his lips across her soft ones before kissing her. Slowly. Deeply.
Her arms circled his neck, her body conforming to his again. He could stay here forever in this sexual bliss. Right here. Inside her mouth. Inside her body. Inside her heart.
When she finally broke the kiss, he groaned. She laughed softly. “Sorry, but I can hear that it’s starting to rain and I left the veranda doors open.”
She stilled in his arms, stared up at him as though something had just occurred to her. And it was a hell of a lot more dire than leaving the patio doors open.
“Shit.” The word seemed to fall from her lips, unbidden. Then her mouth snapped shut. She shook her head. Her eyes clouded with an emotion he couldn’t decipher. It all happened so suddenly. In a heartbeat, she was the one to turn rigid and guarded.
“Bev?” He watched the change in her, perplexed by it. “What’s wrong?”
Her eyes squeezed shut for a brief moment and she shook her head again. Then said, “Nothing I just…it’s…nothing.”
But that was a lie. He could see it. He hauled himself off her and lifted her back into his arms.
“The doors,” she reminded him. “The…rain.” Her voice cracked on that last word.
“I’ll take care of them.”
Reaching the third floor, she pointed to the room on the right. He already knew that was her bedroom.
It smelled of flowers and rain and all things fresh and fragrant.
It smelled of Bev.
Earthy yet rich and aromatic. Tempting. Tantalizing.
He set her gently in the middle of the king-size bed, covered with a lavender-colored satin duvet. Then he shut the French doors that led to her balcony. He left the room to close the rest of the doors. All the while he wondered what the hell had just happened. What had she just thought about that had made her go stiff in his arms when she’d been so damned soft and pliable all night?
What had freaked her out or alarmed her or—
Shit.
It hit him like an anvil on the head.
What a colossal idiot he was.
No condom!
Chapter Seven
Bev sat on the edge of her bed, staring out into the dark night as fat raindrops pelted the wood-encased glass panes of the French doors. The thunder and lightning had retreated, becoming a distant rumble and a faint ripple through the clouds. She imagined the last hour or so had probably scared the crap out of the people in town. She had no doubt the thunderstorm had raged severely when she and Cane had unleashed their own storm. Of the erotic variety. She’d missed what was happening outside, so caught in the throes of passion that she’d eventually tuned out everything except the man that had made her feel more alive in one night than she had in over six hundred years.
The way he touched her, made love to her. The things he said to her. The way he made her feel…
She closed her eyes and sighed. A smile touched her lips, despite her dilemma. Despite her precarious predicament.
She was so very fucked. In more ways than one.
And yet…
“You’re okay, then?”
His deep, intimate voice filled her quiet room. She hadn’t even heard him enter, so stealthy was he. Nodding, she opened her eyes and said, “Just a moment of panic over…” She waved a hand dismissively in the air.