“So you were married before?” she said, then immediately regretted the words. His body stiffened against hers as humiliation flooded her and she glanced away from him. Had she really brought up his marriage?
She’d needed to say something. To make sure this wasn’t all some sort of amazingly wonderful dream. And she wasn’t ready to discuss what had just happened. Not yet. Not in the dark, where it was too easy to be far too honest.
“I was. But not for long. And it was,” he hesitated, “a long time ago.”
She almost asked how long ago it could have been. Noah didn’t look a day over thirty. But she stopped herself before the moronic question passed her lips, continuing this inappropriate conversation. He was a vampire. It could have been decades, if not centuries, before. Alice inhaled and parted her lips to speak. Now that she’d already opened this door, she might as well see what was behind it.
“What was she like?”
Hesitation again, longer this time. “I don’t really think this is the best time—I mean, it’s kind of uncomfortable to talk about this right now.”
God, he was right. Why was she even asking about his ex right now? Her timing sucked. But after being with him in such an amazing way, it was hard not to wonder about the kind of woman who was able to make Noah Thorpe fall in love.
Her chest tightened. She must have been amazing, whoever she was.
“Sorry,” she murmured.
“It’s fine. We can talk about it some other time maybe.” He relaxed against her, but his tone left her little doubt of the chances of that happening. The ex was a sensitive subject. How could it not be? She hadn’t even married Brent and she was touchy talking about him.
But the silence was deafening. She had to say something. “I wish Andrew was here.”
Again he tensed. “Andrew?”
She grinned in the darkness. “My brother. And not here, here. That would be the awkwardest thing ever. At the wedding, on the cruise ship, here.”
“Oh,” he said, voice full of relief.
She chuckled. “What did you think I was talking about? Some dude I’d wished I’d called in for a threesome?”
He shifted his weight, and she could feel his smile against her scalp. “I never know what to expect from you. You’re constantly surprising me.”
“And you’re not used to people surprising you.” It wasn’t a question. She pushed down the urge to ask if that’s why he liked her, if that’s why he was attracted to her.
“No. I’m not.” He took a deep breath, face still buried in her hair. “So why isn’t Andrew coming to the wedding?”
The laughter died in her throat. She couldn’t explain all of it, even if Noah had confided his vampire heritage in her. Olivia warned them it would be her head—literally—if anyone found out she’d shared what she was with humans. “He was left at the altar.”
He squeezed her more tightly in his arms. “That’s terrible. How long ago?”
“About six months. Not long enough for him to be ready to come to a wedding yet, I guess. She—” Edited version, Alice. Edited. “I don’t know all of the details. But I guess the gist of it is she decided her lifestyle wasn’t something she wanted to drag him into. It hurt him. Badly.”
“I can imagine,” he said. Something in his voice made her want to ask about his ex again, but she suppressed the urge. “I’m sorry that happened to your brother.”
“Thanks,” she replied automatically. The mood was dimming, she could feel it slipping away, out of her grasp. This might be their only night together, and she’d decided to mention her brother? And ask about his ex-wife? She was practically shooting herself in the foot here, but couldn’t seem to help it. Talk about bringing the night to an abrupt end. Her throat was suddenly dry at the realization. She didn’t want it to end yet. Not like this.
“Since we’re broaching awkward subjects tonight, Brent said something I’ve been wondering about,” Noah said.
Great. Now they’d added her ex to the conversation. But fair was fair, she supposed. “What’s that?”
“He seemed to find it unlikely that you were moving into my house.”
Oh. “Well, you know I’m living in my grandma’s old house, right?”
“Yes.”
“Did you ever meet her?”
“We exchanged waves. But, I never spoke with her.”
“Mister Sociable,” she said, and he chuckled. “Well, I wish you’d had the chance to meet her. She was quite a lady.” Her grandmother’s warm smile and sturdy hugs flashed in her mind, and familiar sadness wormed its way into her heart. “I spent a lot of time in that house when I was growing up. We had a bond, you know?” She cleared her throat.
He didn’t speak, but his fingers slid along her arm, comforting her. “Anyway, she left me the house when she passed away. And I swore I’d never leave it after I moved in when I finished college. That was something Brent and I fought over.”
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay. I just didn’t get a lot of time with her the last couple of years,” she said. And that was the crux of it, her regret. She’d been young, too obsessed with her own life.
“I’m sure she knew how you felt.” Noah hugged her more tightly against him.
Alice knew she had, but that didn’t lessen her regret. And life was too short for regret.
She’d taken the giant leap to sleep with Noah. Maybe it wouldn’t last beyond the night. Their relationship certainly wouldn’t last beyond the cruise. She wasn’t ready to trust a man again for something long term, and Noah had shown every indication that he wasn’t looking for a relationship.
So she would be damned if she didn’t at least enjoy the night.
She squirmed around in his arms until they were face to face. The night, with the moonlight at his back, hid his expression. But she could feel his body react to her motion.
She kissed him and rubbed her body slowly against his. His erection pressed against her, fully interested. “I’m feeling grubby,” she announced when she broke the kiss. “And you’re definitely dirty.”
“Am I?” he asked mildly.
“Very. And I’m pretty sure that shower is big enough for two. In fact, I’m certain it was designed for two.”
“Well. It would be very rude of us to ignore the design of such a nice shower, wouldn’t it? That would be an insult to whoever crafted it.”
“Mmm,” she said as he kissed her. His tongue slipped between her lips, and she pulled her head back. “Catch me if you can.” The notion was silly, especially since she was still in his arms when she said it, but he allowed her to wriggle away and run for it.
He caught her as her hand touched the bathroom doorknob.
She squealed and he pulled her close for a kiss. They made their way into the bathroom, alternatively kissing and wrestling until they hit the shower. Then, under the water, steam swirling around them, she insisted on washing his back.
She ran her soap-slicked hands over his back. Muscles she’d only seen hints of beneath his clothing tensed under her hands. She’d known he was tall. The top of her head hit his shoulders when she wore low heels. But she hadn’t felt it so much as she did now, reaching up to slide her hands across his smooth skin.
She shifted her hands down to his lower back. Several ragged scars, white with age, ran over his skin. One particularly long one marred his shoulder. “Where did you get these?” she asked, then winced. Would he have to lie to her now? Every question that pertained to his past basically forced him to lie to her. But she couldn’t help her curiosity.
“Let’s just say I had a bad boy complex when I was young.”
She grinned. “When you were young, huh?” They looked like knife wounds. And nothing like a controlled surgery scar. Could he have brawled with knives? Heck, she had no idea how old he was, they could be from combat with swords for all she knew. The idea made her head hurt. She knew he was probably much older than he looked, but the actual idea of him living so long ago w
as hard for her to wrap her mind around.
“Yes,” his voice rumbled from low in his chest. He turned and captured her gaze with those stormy eyes. Her breath caught in her throat. “I’m an upstanding citizen these days.”
“Are you?” She couldn’t look away from his eyes. God, they were beautiful. Swirling with emotion and strength. She could live and die in those eyes.
He took the soap from her hands and then tugged her into his spot under the pouring water. Hot and soothing, it rushed over the skin on her back. She didn’t want to look away from him, but had to when he made a spinning motion with his finger.
“My turn.”
She obeyed, almost shivering in anticipation, despite the warmth of the water. His hands slid against her back. Slow and sultry, and with far too much soap. Then they moved over her shoulders, his slightly rough hands slid around her breasts, making her gasp. Then he glided them down to her stomach. Why were his hands rough?
“Your hands are rougher than I’d expect for someone in your line of work,” she murmured. His hands stilled. “It feels nice,” she added in a whisper.
He continued his half wash, half massage of her stomach and hips. “I do some woodworking in my garage. It’s cathartic.”
“That sun sculpture in your backyard?” God that was a beautiful woodcarving. She’d asked about it when she’d gone there to ask him on the cruise, and she’d wanted to know more. But he hadn’t exactly been thrilled to see her that day, so she hadn’t wanted to hang around and give him a chance to change his mind. “It’s gorgeous.”
“I carved it.” He sounded pleased.
He explored her hips, and her breath caught in her throat. How could she be this turned on so soon after they’d just had sex? Her breasts suddenly ached to be touched, teased by the water spraying against them. And her sex pulsed as his hands grew closer, caressing her thighs before moving back up to her bottom.
“What happened here?” he asked, mouth very close to her ear. His hand paused over a small scar on her hip.
“My first and only attempt at skateboarding.”
He chuckled against her ear as his fingers caressed the scar. How could such a simple thing, a massage of an old wound, be so erotic?
His soapy hands moved back up her body and she almost cried out in protest. But when he squeezed and caressed her breasts, she moaned.
One in each hand, he massaged her, then slid his thumbs over her nipples. Like a shock, the sensation shot from her breasts to her sex, and her stomach clenched in response.
“Noah,” she managed.
“I want to taste you, Alice.” His chest rumbled against her back as he spoke, and his hand slid down to her core. She almost jumped when he touched her. He stroked her confidently, and every thought she might have had flew away as a rush of sensation overwhelmed her. The hot water streaming over her while he touched her so possessively made her ache so badly for him that she writhed against his hand.
Before she even realized she was moving, she stood on the other side of the shower. Noah lifted her leg and set it on a large ledge, near her soaps and shampoos. His shampoo bottle was under the sink, full of blood. The thought almost startled some sense in her, but then he knelt between her legs and she couldn’t think anymore.
His tongue touched her, the gentlest of touches. And she suddenly felt very exposed—spread out in front of him, under the too bright lights of the bathroom. Painful shyness hit her. “Noah, I don’t know if I can—”
“Shh…” His hand held her hip firmly, and his eyes raged like a storm when they met hers. So intense, she couldn’t look away. “You’re so fucking beautiful, do you know that? Do you even realize—” He shook his head. “Of course you don’t. But you will.”
She couldn’t understand the words. He’d called her beautiful, and the emotion in his voice was so strong she couldn’t even summon an argument. Or a polite platitude. Or even a thank you.
He lowered his head, and his mouth touched her again. He held her hips firmly. To keep her upright, she was sure. His tongue stroked her. So intimately. The explosion of sensation as he explored her pushed any shyness out of her head. She sucked in a lungful of steam, listening to hypnotic sound of the shower water hitting the tile.
“God, you taste so good. So sweet. I knew you would.” He stroked her softly, then harder. Licking, sucking, and nibbling. God, his fangs. They didn’t touch her, but were so close. The idea of it should have horrified her, she knew that. But instead, it pushed her even further, closer to bliss.
She used one hand to balance herself on the wall and gripped his hair with the other. She didn’t mean to pull it, but when he growled against her, she realized how hard she clutched him. But she couldn’t stop. If she relaxed, she didn’t think she’d ever come down from it.
One of his hands moved from her hip, and then she felt him push into her. One finger, stroking her inside as his mouth sucked on the center of her desire. Then two. Pushing in and out. His mouth, no longer gentle. His other hand, digging into her hips.
The orgasm hit her like nothing she’d ever felt before. Her body convulsed, and then she was standing only because he held her. His mouth stayed on her, coaxing aftershock after aftershock from her. And when her body finally stilled, he was there. His mouth on hers, the taste of her still on his tongue.
He drove his cock into her without warning. And the sensation of being so suddenly full rocked another orgasm from her. Mercilessly, he drove into her, holding her leg up to his hip. He pushed her closer and closer to the brink again. The thought that she shouldn’t be able to come again so soon hit her a split second before the orgasm did. She tensed in his arms, her body rocking. Her name fell from his lips, low and guttural, almost unrecognizable. And she felt him shudder against her, his face buried against her neck as he found his own release.
Chapter Seven
Sunlight streaming through the balcony door woke him. They’d forgotten to shut the curtains. The light didn’t touch his skin, but it pained his eyes to look at it. Alice snuggled into the crook of his arm, asleep and wearing one of his T-shirts. He pressed a kiss onto her forehead, smelling her hair as he did. Fruity shampoo. He was starting to really love the smell of shampoo.
His cock stirred, but he ignored it. After last night, she needed her rest. They both did. How long had they slept? He glanced at the clock. They’d definitely missed brunch. Maybe they’d be able to catch the family for a late lunch. He didn’t want to keep Alice from seeing her family at this joyful time.
He slipped out of the bed and she made a small noise of protest. But by the time he got across the room to close the drapes, she was sleeping again. A small snore escaped her and he stifled a laugh. The ocean slid by them, bright and beautiful. Too bright for a vampire. He slid the drapes closed.
He locked the bathroom door behind him and turned on the water in the sink. A long drink of blood from the shampoo bottle perked him up. Treated blood—originating from the blood bank with added chemicals to keep it from going bad outside of refrigeration—wasn’t anywhere near as good as the real thing, especially straight from the vein.
But that form of feeding brought its own headaches. For one, you had to mess with the memory of your victim in most cases, and that felt far too close to immoral for him to indulge in it except when absolutely necessary. Not that he hadn’t lived differently before. But those were different times, and he was a different man. And there were rules about it. The Council had rules for everything these days. Modern technology demanded it. It was too easy to be videotaped on a cell phone camera and end up on YouTube. Careful rules kept them all safe.
Feeling the weight of the bottle, he frowned and shook it. Empty. He must have drunk a bit more than he’d thought the day before. But it was okay. He still had a bottle of blood disguised as conditioner and a small emergency supply in what looked like a cologne bottle.
He brushed his teeth and his mind wandered to the night before. What a night. Had he ever felt such fire wi
th a woman? No. Not even when he was still human. Not even with his wife—as brief as their marriage had been. He’d known her an even shorter amount of time than he’d known Alice.
His wife had been a woman of a different time. More reserved. Lovely and kind and giving. But she simply couldn’t deal with what he was. What she needed to become to be with him. But she hadn’t had Alice’s resilient character.
Alice was as passionate as he knew she’d be. Perfect in how she fit him, in how they both seemed to have an innate understanding of how the other liked to be touched. And her blood…a sharp stab of guilt hit him as he remembered the teasing taste of her blood on his tongue.
He hadn’t nicked her on purpose, but he certainly hadn’t pulled away when the sweet taste hit him. If anything, he’d milked her mouth for more. And despite the guilt, he hardened at the memory, and his fangs lengthened, pressing against his bottom lip.
Blood and sex weren’t always intertwined, but when they were, it was like nothing else in the world. He couldn’t help his desire for both, but he could control his actions.
With water from the sink, he wet his hair and smoothed it. She’d fulfilled his every need, except for his desire to plunge his fangs into her neck while he took her. He’d been able to stop himself. But never had he been so tempted. Sharing blood wasn’t something he could take lightly. There were laws that had to be upheld. Drinking blood from a living human was only permitted if the donor’s memory was fogged after. Sharing of blood was also allowed between vampires.
And of course, allowances were made for human mates—people who were transitioning into vampires.
He leaned against the counter, weight on his hands, and shook his head. No. He wasn’t going to bite her. No matter how much he ached to. Sex would have to be enough. And sex with Alice was better than blood and sex with anyone else, so he wasn’t exactly suffering.
Not that he had any intention of going back to their formerly platonic relationship. They couldn’t just be friends, not after last night. If that had ever been a real possibility. He hadn’t intended to sleep with her, and was more than a little irritated with his lack of control. But it had happened.
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