She should stop, but didn’t want to stop. As the bloodlust raged inside her, she lost the battle and surrendered, not caring if she ever stopped or if he died; only wanting to quench the thirst that burned in her.
The orgasm washed over her as she emptied the man.
•
“Goddamn it.” Ivan pulled her away from the man’s throat. He’d let her go too far, hoping she could control herself. With a whimper, Annie released the man and slipped off the couch onto her knees.
Ivan knelt down and pulled her to him. Panting, she turned to look at her victim, his blood still on her lips.
“What did I do?” she wailed. “Is he dead?”
Ivan touched the man’s throat. A pulse beat feebly.
“No, he’s not dead, just unconscious,” Ivan whispered into her hair.
“I couldn’t stop, Ivan. I swear! I couldn’t!” She clutched his shirt. “It felt so good. I was
so
hungry. Jesus, I don’t want to
be
this way! I
hate
being like this!” She pushed away from Ivan, lurched to her feet, and ran to the sleeping alcove. She threw herself onto the bed, sobbing.
Ivan looked at the young man and sighed. He walked over to her.
“Look, he’ll just be out for a while, sleep it off, and wake up tired. No real harm done, Annie.”
She nodded, her face buried in the pillows.
He felt helpless, unable to make it better for her. He didn’t even know where to start. Of course, Annie would never take the easy way. Draco had truly been a fool if he’d thought he could break her by starving her or keeping her naked. Right now, she struggled to find her way, but deep down, Ivan knew she was tough enough to survive.
He wasn’t quite sure he understood what she was going through. Couldn’t even remember if he’d felt the same way some four hundred and fifty years ago. To tell the truth, he never thought about it, especially when he fed and satisfied his own bloodlust.
He returned to the couch, easily slung the man over his shoulder, and headed up the stairs.
— • —
“Baby.” After returning from putting the delivery guy back in his car, Ivan sat on the edge of the bed and stroked Annie’s hair. “It’ll get easier. You’ll learn control. You’ll be a vampire on your own terms in time.”
She turned to face him, tears streaked down her now-reddened cheeks, her eyes puffy from crying. The look of guilt, embarrassment, and failure dimmed her once-bright eyes.
Damn, it made his chest hurt. If anyone had failed, it had been him. He’d promised to help her keep control, and he hadn’t. Silently, he swore he’d never let her down again.
“You understand how I feel, don’t you?” She begged him.
He understood she hated what she’d become and therefore hated what he was—a vampire. A killer. A monster. Damned. Abandoned by God.
He had no illusions about what
he’d
become and had accepted it long ago. Seeing the truth of it in her eyes felt like a blade driven into his chest, only there was no merciful death. He would live on, knowing in her eyes he was hideous, an aberration, an undead creature, not a man.
And worse, Annie would become just like him some day. She might hold out five years or fifty, but eventually her soul would succumb to the corruption of the bloodlust. The longer she lived as a vampire, the further she’d grow from her humanity, until there was nothing left of it.
Ivan didn’t want to live to see that day. He wanted her as she was right now, young, determined, uncorrupted. If she stayed with him too long, his corruption and decayed soul would spill over onto hers, tainting her with his stench.
I won’t let that happen.
“Sure, I understand,” he lied, and stretched out next to her on the bed. She lay apart from him, facing away, curled in a small ball around her belly.
His gut felt her rejection, fire-hot, burning.
"Promise me, Ivan. Promise you won't kill anyone again. You don't need to kill to feed."
Ivan closed his eyes. She didn't know what she asked of him. He didn't know if he could keep that promise. To be something he wasn't.
"I need to know you understand. That you'll help me with this. I can't kill, can't bear the thought of it or of you killing. Promise me."
Fuck. Choices. He hated making them. Annie's way or the way he'd been for hundreds of years?
She started to drift off. Aware it was almost morning, the pull of the end of the night slowed his breathing and the beating of his heart. At dawn, they’d fall into a dreamless, suspended sleep, barely breathing, barely alive. Completely vulnerable.
"I promise."
“Don’t leave me,” she whispered.
“Never.”
Her breathing slowed. He held on to consciousness as he watched the last rise and fall of her shoulders.
Ivan leaned over her, touched her cheek with his lips, and inhaled her scent. He pulled her to him, cradled her in his arms, closed his eyes, and slipped away.
— • —
Fiona felt a light pressure on her stomach. She opened her eyes. Sunlight streamed into the room and smacked her in the face.
God, did last night really happen?
She felt the pressure again as it moved up her belly. She looked down.
I guess it did.
A small, dull green face with shiny black eyes stared back at her, head cocked slightly to the side as if contemplating some question. Nic’s lizard registered in her sleep-fogged brain. She yawned and rubbed her eyes.
“Hello there. What’s your name?” She didn’t expect an answer.
“I’m Cho.”
She blinked. Her mouth dropped open. After a long moment, she narrowed her eyes and spoke.
“You were the voice I was hearing.”
“Got it in one. Beautiful and smart.”
“You can talk?” Disbelief tinged her voice.
“Do you see my lips move?”
“Nooo.” She sounded unsure.
“You hear my thoughts.”
Her eyebrows furrowed. “So, you can hear mine?”
“Right again.”
She tried to think her questions.
“Like now? Do you hear me now?”
“Yep.”
“Cool. Can Nic hear you too?”
“Of course.”
“Does he know you can talk to me?”
“Yeah, sort of. He knows you can hear me sometimes.”
“Bet he’s not happy about it.”
She snorted.
“Why do you say that?”
“Well, if I had a lizard that talked only to me, I’d be upset if some stranger came along and started talking to it too.”
“I’m not an ‘it.’”
The lizard came closer and nestled between her breasts.
“You’re male, then.”
“That’s right. All male. Hey, I have this spot I need to have scratched.”
“
I’ll just bet you do. You’re right, all male
.” Fiona rolled her eyes and chuckled.
“Where is it?”
“My tummy.”
“Okay. Roll over and I’ll see what I can do.”
Cho’s tongue flicked out and touched her chin, stuck to it for a split second, and then disappeared back into his mouth. He turned over, exposing his white underbelly to her.
“You’re just a charmer, aren’t you?”
She reached out a fingertip and stroked him from the underside of his jaw to the base of his tail.
She felt a psychic shudder go through the lizard.
“Hey, is this some sort of lizard sex thing?”
“Absolutely. Do it again, baby. Make me yours.”
She stroked him again. His toes curled, and his long body writhed with saurian pleasure.
“I think I’d better stop. Nic might not like this. Does he touch you this way?”
“Hell no, I don’t go in for that. All male, remember?”
“Right. You need to get laid, Cho.”
“I was hoping you’d say that.”
“By a
female
lizard, not me.”
He rolled back onto his feet and flicked her with his tongue again. It tickled her.
“You taste good.”
“Shut up, Cho.”
Fiona rolled her eyes, laughed, and sat up in bed. Cho skittered off to slink under the door and back to his tree. She walked into the bath, turned on the shower, and stripped off the T-shirt. Taking a shower had never felt so good, but slipping back into her old clothes took the clean feeling away.
Her tummy rumbling, she headed to the kitchen.
•
Nic sat at the counter eating a bowl of cereal.
“Wheaties?” She picked up the box and laughed.
“Breakfast of champions.” He winked at her. Damn, she looked good. All wet from the shower, still glowing from the hot water. He could smell her clean soap scent and the shampoo from where he sat. His mind flashed to what he’d like to do to her in the shower.
“Sounds good.” She hunted for a bowl and spoon, and then fixed the cereal.
“Listen,” she began. “Thanks for all the hospitality, but I want to go home now. So, are you taking me, or do I have to call a cab?” she said between bites.
“I’ll take you. But I don’t think you should stay there tonight, Fiona.” He poured a large glass of milk and downed half of it.
She shrugged. “I need some fresh clothes.”
“We’re safe during the day, so that shouldn’t be a problem.”
“And I have to call work and let them know I’m taking some time off. That sort of stuff.” She put a spoonful of cereal into her mouth and chewed.
“Fine. Let’s go.” He stood and chugged down the rest of the milk in his glass. Rinsing out his bowl, he placed his dishes in the dishwasher. Fiona gobbled down the last of her cereal and put her bowl and spoon in the dishwasher too.
Nic walked to the tree and looked at the lizard.
“Stay here, Cho, we won’t be gone long.”
“All right. ’Bye, Fiona.”
“’Bye, Cho.”
Nic turned slowly to Fiona. She wore a lopsided smirk on her face. Her hand rested on her cocked hip, just daring him to say something.
“That’s just great.” Nic snatched up his keys, threw open the front door, and headed to the Jag, Fiona right behind him.
— • —
They pulled into her driveway behind her car.
“Thank God!” Fiona exclaimed as she opened the door and ran to the car. Unbelievably, her purse lay on the ground where she’d dropped it.
Nic whistled in appreciation. “Must be a really good neighborhood.”
“It is. My grandmother used to live here. When she died, I inherited the house.” She paused at the front door with her keys in her hand. Taking a deep breath, she unlocked the front door and let Nic in.
Looking around, Nic said, “I like it.”
Minimal furniture, but well-done and comfortable, with neutral colors on the walls and grass mats under foot, she’d worked hard to make it nice, so of course it pleased her when he complimented the room, like she’d feel if anyone said something nice about it.
“Have a seat. I’ll be out in a minute.” She headed to her bedroom. Nic followed. When she opened the door and stepped inside, Nic stood behind her.
“I thought I said have a seat. Not follow me to my bedroom.” She eyed him and then walked to her closet.
“I wanted to see your room,” Nic said as he leaned against the door frame and watched her pack a duffel bag. She stole glimpses of him while she stuffed panties, bras, jeans, shirts, one black knit dress, and several pairs of shoes into the bag. How did he manage to look so good in just a pair of worn jeans and a black T-shirt? She headed to the bathroom.
“What’s the dress for?” Nic called.
“In case you want to take me to dinner somewhere nice,” Fiona answered from the bathroom.
She put her cosmetic bag in the duffel and pulled it shut. Dragging it out of the bathroom and into her room, she looked around.
Nic came into the room to take it from her.
“Let me.” He grabbed the strap.
“That’s okay, I can handle it.” Fiona pulled back.
“Really, I want to.” He pulled harder.
“No, I’ve got it.” She yanked it back.
He let the strap go and she stumbled. He caught her arms and pulled her to him. Looking down into her eyes, he focused on her lips.
“What do you think you’re doing?” She looked back into those dark eyes of his. Her heart beat hard in her chest.
“I’m going to kiss you, Fiona.” He lowered his mouth and softly pressed his lips against hers. She tensed; his lips were insistent, yet tender. Fiona locked her knees to keep from falling into him
. Wow.
When he pulled away, she wavered, chin tilted upward, eyes still closed. She found it hard to open and focus her eyes, much less pull a rational thought from her muddled mind.
“Nic, I’m not sure this is a good…” Fiona started, but his lips were on hers again.
For once, she shut up. The duffel bag slipped from her hand. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders as he pulled her tight to him, lifting her off the ground. Her legs, with a mind of their own, wrapped around his waist and pulled him so close the roughness of his jeans rubbed against her inner thighs.
His tongue insisted she open her mouth, and she gave in. He tasted incredible, unlike any of the men she’d ever kissed. The urge to taste every inch of him overwhelmed her, to find out if he tasted that way all over or if it was only his mouth.
That had never happened before.
Somehow, they found their way to the bed. His body lowered on top of hers, his arms wrapped around her. She arched into him as her tongue explored his mouth. He responded, pushing back at her with his hips. His hard cock, hidden beneath those glorious, tight blue jeans of his, pressed into her belly. Her heart skipped a beat. She focused all her senses on the spot where he pressed, feeding information into her brain.
God, he was so damn big and so damn hard, and it felt so damn good. Her eyelids fluttered just thinking of him inside her.
Oh, shit
. Swallowing hard, she opened her eyes. She knew where this was leading, and she was sure she didn’t want to go there right now.