by Unknown
“Jacques, stop it right now!”
Immediately, he complied.
When he was calming down, only then did she let go and step back from his body. Obviously, she would need to tackle this from another angle. Forcing him to accept them wasn’t going to work.
“So, this is your room,” Jolie said, walking around as she took it all in. Her fingertips slid across the gleaming surfaces, and it reminded her of him. It was the same size as her quarters, but decorated quite differently. It was all chrome and black leather. A warrior definitely lived here. Yes, it suited him perfectly. “May I please sit down?” she asked, as she gazed up into his eyes. They were the windows to his heart, giving him away.
“Oh yes, please, Mistress. Forgive me for not asking you sooner,” he replied, heading toward the leather couch.
He sat only after she did.
The old world manners still prevailed with Jacques. They were embedded deep into his actions and were a big part of him.
The distance he placed between them was very telling. Jolie honestly feared that she would be unable to close the gap, physically and emotionally. When she slid next to him, placing her hand gently on his knee, he tensed again. “Jacques, we need to discuss this.”
Silence.
Okay, she could see she would need to take the first step. It was funny that she was going to have to seduce her companion. Their roles were suddenly reversed, and she almost laughed.
Somehow, she doubted that he would find it nearly as entertaining as she did. Turning toward him, Jolie placed one delicately boned hand on his extraordinarily beautiful face. “Do you know what one of my favorite things to do in the world is?”
“No, Mistress.” It was said without emotion.
“I love it when we sit in the library during the winter, reading books together. You always choose ones on history and wars, while I pick the ones on the great romances of the past.”
There was a flicker in his eyes, even as his face retained the blank look. She could read his thoughts and knew that wasn’t what he expected her to say. “I also treasure the times when you sit on the floor in front of the fire, and you let me put my head on your lap. It’s one of my most treasured moments. It’s one that I’ll take with me forever.”
“Mine too.” A small smile flittered across his lips, and then was gone again.
“I also like when it’s early in the morning as everyone is just starting to go rest, and we have tea together in the kitchen.” She smiled over at him, playing with a piece of his hair. Winding it around her finger, Jolie reveled in the texture of it brushing her skin. “I know how hard you’re fighting the death and staying up with me, just to keep me company. It’s these moments that I think of when I look at you.”
This time he did allow the smile to curl on his lips.
Jolie took a chance and leaned into his body. When her lips touched his, there was a gentle kiss shared between them as she tried to mend his heart.
“What do you think of when you think of me, Jacques?” she asked, needing to know as she pulled away.
He paused, licking his lips. “That right there,” he answered. “When you kiss me, I can taste you for hours after, and it gets me through the loneliness.”
Her heart ached.
“When I’m working or patrolling the house, and I hear your voice in my head, it’s like music to my ears.”
Gently, she ran the pad of her thumb over his lower lip.
“What else?”
“When I can pick up your perfume, even hours after you’ve left, it reminds me that I’ll be seeing you soon.”
Now that he was relaxed, it was time. “Please let me make up for all the times that I didn’t show how much you meant to me.”
“Mistress,” he said, his voice filled with confusion. He was torn between duty and desire.
“Come back to my quarters with me.” Jolie kissed him again, but this time it was all tongue, teeth, and passion. She scraped her fangs across her own lip, breaking the surface momentarily, so he could taste her blood. Immediately, his fangs broke free and brushed against her tongue. “Please?”
He couldn’t say no, even if he wanted to. The taste of her blood was the siren’s song, and he was lost.
“Yes, Mistress.”
“Jolie. Please call me by my name. It means something more.”
“Yes, Jolie,” he replied, trusting her as she held her hand out to him.
For the first time in centuries, he took a risk.
In that moment, Jolie knew that she would give him anything to never see that look leave his face. Walking side by side with him back to her room, she slowly allowed her heart to open for the first time in eight hundred years. It was liberating, and she wondered what took her so long to make this move.
When Jolie closed the door to her room, she turned toward him and dropped her robe. “Come to bed, Jacques. I need you tonight. Come be with me.”
Momentarily, he paused and licked his lower lip to regain the taste of her on his taste buds. It only took a moment for him to make up his mind.
Going to her was a huge decision, but he would take the risk. All that Jacques could do was pray that the reward would still be there tomorrow
Jolie offered him a warm smile, thanking him for his trust. He moved quickly. The next thing she knew, they were kneeling in the center of the bed together, and she was helping him out of his robe.
He ran his hands up her lean body and reveled in the silkiness of her skin. His pulse began to pound in response. It was always like this with Jolie. She was like nectar to his senses. He put his lips against the pulse in her neck and tasted the sweetness of her essence. His fangs ached to break her skin to just indulge this one time. He had to force himself to move away from the temptation, because he was weak.
Laying her back against the bed, so that she was beneath his large frame, he trapped her there. When she writhed against him, it nearly drove him mad.
Control.
He needed to remain focused. The words echoed through his head and into Jolie’s.
“Jacques, let go and let’s have fun tonight.”
“But Jolie,” he began.
“I don’t want control. I want you to let go and be yourself. Let’s both forget everything else but this one moment, and let it take us wherever it leads. We can worry later.”
He studied her face for the briefest of seconds as if searching for the truth. His gaze travelled back down her body, lying on the black silk sheets beneath them. Suddenly, she was in his mind and sharing the feelings that she wanted to experience with him.
Jolie wanted it fast.
Sweaty.
The storm began to break through him, and Jacques couldn’t hold back any longer. His control snapped, like lightening from the clouds as it shot through him. Grabbing her wrists, he held them above her head and began scraping his fangs down her body. She moaned and twisted beneath him. He forced her thighs apart, so that he could put himself between them as if worshiping her on an altar.
When her legs went around his hips, pulling him closer, Jacques was lost. His lips went to the mound of her breast and he teased the nipple with tongue and teeth.
Jolie responded with a moan as she arched more into his eager mouth.
The harder he tugged at them, the more vocal she became for him. It was empowering, and he refused to stop. If he was only going to get one night, and it were to all end, he would make it count.
When she was begging and pleading, only then did he move to her other breast. He teased it without mercy, nearly driving them both mad in the process.
It was absolutely perfect.
“Jacques, please,” she begged, writhing between the sheets and his hot, slick flesh. “Please, I need you in me now. I can’t wait.”
He glanced up her body and into her eyes. They had gone from violet to a darker shade of purple-nearly black. Her pupils were dilating and she squirmed beneath him.
“Jacques, NOW!”
He drove himself into her until he could go no further. When Jolie screamed and her claws went into his arms, he had to fight to not lose it. As he brought them both to ecstasy, the pictures that she had shared earlier returned to his mind.
They urged him on.
It added fuel to his fire.
They made him wild and out of control.
As he quickened his pace, trying to give them both so much pleasure, he could feel her body tighten around his.
“More,” she begged, hoping that he wouldn’t hold anything back from her.
As her pulse jumped in her neck, Jacques couldn’t resist it any longer. When the quake began in the pit of his stomach, he crossed the line and buried his fangs into her neck.
Jolie screamed in response as her guardian fed from her body, giving her so much pleasure.
This was exactly what she craved.
Jacques was lost in the bliss of it all, and with each suck, he could feel the tremors of orgasm explode in her body. It called to him, and when he couldn’t hold back any longer, he let himself join in the euphoria. His body shattered apart, and he poured into her with one final thrust.
Silence surrounded them as their hearts pounded against each other. When they collapsed on the pillows together, Jacques removed his fangs from her neck to watch the pinprick heal. The tiny holes disappeared but the fear didn't.
Sanity returned as panic began to overwhelm him once more. What he had done was break a cardinal rule.
Her hand brushed his face lovingly, and she looked completely peaceful. Here beneath him was his mistress, and she looked so angelic, lovely, and fragile.
Now, he would pay dearly for his sins.
His heart broke. That one moment of weakness, after hundreds of years of control, was going to cost him everything.
“Mistress, I’m sorry that I took blood. I couldn’t help it. Please forgive me,” he said, as he started to get out of her bed, so he could return to his own quarters.
Deep down, he knew it was forbidden to take blood from the primus without an invitation, and he had done just that. By morning, he would know his fate. Punishment would come, and he would pay.
Jacques knew the likelihood of his crime. He could be sent away or destroyed for such a deed. It was one of the greatest sins among their kind, and if the family found out, he was going to be destroyed. Balzac would petition for his death at her feet. Jolie’s blood was of the ancients, and never shared with anyone. It most certainly wasn’t taken without permission during some sweaty romp. The dread began to wash over him in thick waves.
Oh, what had he done?
Jolie opened her eyes, only to see him trying to leave her bed. “Stop, Jacques!” she ordered, as his fear filled the room. When he didn't move, it saddened her that he honestly thought that he was about to be punished. What had she done to him, to condition him this way?
“Where are you going?”
“Back to my quarters, Mistress, that is if you will permit it.”
“Why?”
“You will be dying soon, and I don’t belong here. This is your sanctuary and yours alone.”
His words caused her heart to ache. She wanted him to belong here with her. The truth finally made itself crystal clear. Jolie was in love. Never before had she felt this way, and it had to be the reason.
“I want you to stay with me, Jacques. Please,” she whispered.
He looked astounded that she would offer such a miraculous thing.
“Please stay with me, Jacques,” she pleaded again.
A smile slid across his face as he climbed back into the bed, drawing the silk around them both. “I’ll watch over you, Mistress.”
Jolie pulled him down for a kiss, despite not being pleased by the use of her title. It was going to take baby steps, but they were immortal and had plenty of time. “Good night, Jacques,” she added, before calling to death.
He watched as the last breath shuddered out of her body as she died in his arms. Brushing the hair from her face, he tucked it behind her ear, possessively.
This was going to be a mess, and he knew it.
Already, he was more than attached to his primus. Where he should be able to please her in bed, and then walk away, he couldn’t.
Jacques wanted her as his own.
Tonight didn't help.
Now, he was forced to wonder what would happen next. His only salvation was the woman beside him. He believed in her and trusted Jolie with his life. They had battled many enemies in their existence and never once did she fail him.
Now, he needed to trust her.
Resting the palm of his hand against her neck, Jacques waited to feel for any sign of life.
She was completely empty.
Jolie was gone.
All that was left of her was a hollow shell.
“Rest well, Jolie,” he said, as he rubbed his lips across hers, remembering how sweet her blood had tasted. When his fangs erupted back into his mouth, nicking her lip, he lapped at the deliciousness.
Yes, he was in serious trouble.
One taste, and he was now breaking even more rules. Before tonight, he wouldn’t dare to be so brash.
His stomach tightened at the memories as the lust rolled back through his body in unquenchable waves. Jacques leaned back and closed his eyes to rest.
He wouldn’t go to death, since it was far too early. Instead, he would watch over her until she fought to return to him at dawn.
The rest of the night, he needed to keep his hands to himself, and his mind focused.
If that was possible…
∞ Chapter Four ∞
Friday Early Morning
A few hours had passed when Jolie’s cell phone began ringing from the pocket of her suit jacket. Jacques slid out of the bed to answer it, careful not to jostle her body in the process. Granted, she wouldn’t feel anything, but it was all about the principle behind it.
She was his to protect.
When Jacques reached the phone, he answered it on the fourth ring, right before it went to voicemail. “Bonsoir,” he said in greeting.
There was a pause.
“I’m looking for Doctor Harcourte,” the voice replied, not expecting a man to answer the phone.
“Oui, I assumed. She’s sleeping, but if it’s an emergency, I can wake her for you.” He glanced over at her death shrouded body. It wouldn’t be easy, but he could reach her.
“This is Detective Brogan. Who is this?”
“My name is Jacques Degaul.”
Brogan had just about enough. “Yes, this is an emergency. We need her to come with us. It seems that we have another crime scene,” he answered, not wanting to give out too much information to whomever this Jacques character was.
“I’ll wake her for you, Detective. Can she call you back?”
“We don’t have time. I’m leaving my apartment right now. Please tell her that I’ll swing by and pick her up to transport her to the scene,” he snapped into the phone, irritated by the man’s calm voice.
“Very well, Detective Brogan. How long until you’ll be arriving?” he asked with his French lilted speech. He could feel the animosity, and it caused his accent to get thicker in response.
“Tell the doctor that I’ll be there in thirty minutes.”
“That’ll be fine.” Jacques hung up the phone before heading toward the bed.
Now came the hard part of waking the dead.
Climbing up onto the mattress, Jacques straddled her lifeless body. When he was in position, he placed his lips on hers and forced his energy into her body. It leached from him and pulsed into Jolie, filling her. When he felt his power no longer seeping into her, he used the threads of his mind to find her.
“Jolie, I need you. Wake for me please,” he called, as he watched her face for any kind of reaction. If this didn't work, he could always get Chloe. She had far more energy that could be used to bargain with death.
As her eyes popped open, and she sucked in her first breath, Jacques
couldn’t help himself. Leaning into her, he once more took the opportunity to kiss her awake. When she didn't protest and fell into the kiss with him, his heart soared.
So, this was what he’d been missing all these years.
Regretfully, he released her mouth.
“Jacques, what’s wrong? It isn’t like you to wake me unless it’s dire.” Then, she paused before continuing. “Although, you can wake me up this way anytime,” she added, licking her lips to take in the taste of the man siting above her.
His laughter filled the room. “I wouldn’t wake you just to kiss you. While you were with death, a Detective Brogan called, and he insisted on picking you up in thirty minutes. There’s another crime scene that you need to see. They want your expertise. I wouldn’t have bothered you, but he sounded adamant and hostile when I answered your phone.”
Since Jolie knew that the detective was sexually attracted to her, it was obvious why he was angry. There were two dogs in the yard, and only one juicy French bone.
“It’s fine, Jacques,” she reassured, as she rested her cold hand on his face. “Thank you for taking care of me,” she purred, pulling his mouth back down to hers to return the kiss.
Joy flooded his body at how easily she offered affection.
This, he could get used to.
“What time is it, and how long was I gone?”
“It’s almost two in the morning. You were dead just under three hours.”
“I’ll need to feed. Please find Chloe for me.”
“I’ll feed you. Do you wish to have energy or blood?”
“Jacques, my love, you’ll be too drained.”
“Mistress, I’ve fed well today, and I also took blood from you. Anything you need, I’ll supply,” he said, his eyes filled with affection. What he didn't let show was how possessive he was beginning to feel about her. Jacques didn't want her feeding from anyone but him, and he couldn’t help it.
Deep inside, it was like everything was changing.
“Okay, then I’ll take energy, Jacques, but promise me that you’ll allow Chloe to replenish you.”