Authors: Margaret L. Carter
HeatintheNight (2 page)
She couldn’t help squirming. A fresh trickle of wetness
seeped from her slit. “Yes, I guess that’s what you’d call it.”
“My wish is your command.” He leaned over her, almost caging
her with an arm on each side. “What shall we do first?”
“How about kissing?” Aside from a few pecks on the cheek
from her foster grandparents, she had never experienced that.
“Intriguing notion. All this will be new to me too. You must
bear with my amateur efforts.”
A laugh bubbled from her. He silenced it with the kiss she’d
demanded. With a gasp, she parted her lips and clutched his shoulders. His
tongue teased the edges of her mouth. Her tongue darted to meet it. Lust made
all parts of her body as sensitive as thirst did, making her lips tingle as he
sampled them from every angle. His lips felt like fire and ice in dizzying
alternation and tasted like ruby port. The tingle radiated along her nerves.
When she stroked the silken pelt on his chest, the tiny hairs in her palm
bristled. She arched her back to press her mound against his growing erection.
Breaking off the kiss, he nipped her neck with a growl that
vibrated through her, scraping but not piercing the skin. “Are you sure we need
more foreplay? I have another cockstand already.”
“Just a little more.” She could hardly speak for panting.
“It’s very—interesting.”
“That it is. What next?”
“My breasts. Touch, lick.”
“Very well, touch first.” Leaning on one elbow, he skimmed
his fingertips over both taut nipples.
They pebbled up even firmer. “More.”
Cupping one breast, he swirled his thumb around the nipple.
“Like this, perhaps?”
“Exactly,” she breathed.
He shifted to the opposite side. At the same time, he
flicked his tongue over the other nipple. His fingers and tongue seared her,
while his legs on either side of her thighs felt cool. No wonder, since her
flesh felt ready to go up in flames.
Her hips undulated as her nails dug into his shoulders in a
desperate attempt to anchor herself.
“Shall I touch you somewhere else? Lower, maybe?”
She gasped out a wordless reply that he took for agreement.
His fingers trailed down the front of her body to her mound. A fiery track
seemed to follow in their wake. When her legs involuntarily spread wide, he slipped
his hand between them.
“My clitoris,” she whispered. “It needs rubbing.”
He swirled around her clit. It tightened and her inner
muscles rippled. He flicked that burning spot with torturously light touches,
wrenching a groan from her. He dipped into her channel, only to withdraw and
return to fondling the swollen bud. Sparks ignited deep inside her, half
delight and half torture.
Unlike a human female, she wasn’t wired to reach orgasm that
way. She needed penetration. “Enough,” she whimpered. “Come in.”
“Not quite yet. I like driving you into a frenzy, even if my
cock does feel about to burst.”
Snarling, she lunged upward to bite his arm. The metallic
tang of his blood sizzled in her mouth.
She pulled back and froze. “I’m sorry,” she whispered. No
vampire drank from another without permission, for that act amounted to
treating one of their own kind like prey.
He stopped caressing her to stroke her hair instead. His
eyes glowed as red as his aura. “Don’t be, little tigress. I rather like the
feel of your teeth. Sip all you want. In fact, I admit I’m also curious about
how you would taste.”
Her heart raced at the thought. Yes, she had to admit
similar curiosity. She wondered whether another vampire’s blood would enhance
sex the same way a victim’s passion enhanced feeding. She lapped the wound
she’d made while his hand wandered back to the aching cavity between her legs.
His blood burned down her throat and warmed her core.
The tip of his cock eased into her channel but paused in
spite of her eager writhing. “May I drink from you also?” he prompted. “It’s
only fair.”
She would agree to anything if only he would thrust deep
into her and quench her need. But she grasped at a shred of sanity and
protested, “Then we’d be bonded.” She had bonded with her adviser, of course,
trading sips of blood in a mere formality for teaching purposes. Forging the
same tie with Bron would be much more intimate, far beyond one night of sexual
frolic.
“Well, yes, friends sometimes do that.” He glided into her
and slowly pulled almost completely out.
She hooked her legs around his to force him deeper. Mutual
blood-sharing would let them read each other’s thoughts, not just emotions. Her
mind would lie bare to his except when she purposely blocked him.
He’ll find
out I’m in love with him.
What was she thinking? Vampires didn’t fall in love. That
was a sentimental human illusion. Granted, she knew of a few members of her
species who’d taken human lovers in exclusive relationships but she’d never
heard of two vampires entering such a union.
“What’s wrong?” Bron’s voice turned gentle as he smoothed
her hair back from her forehead and rocked his pelvis against hers.
Waves of excitement rushed through her, almost drowning her
dismay at her own bizarre thoughts. “Nothing. Bonding is a serious choice.
Should we make it at a time like this?”
His arousal surged along with hers, pouring over her like a
tsunami. “Maybe not right this second.”
Her hips lifted from the bed as he pounded into her. Her
sheath contracted around his shaft and she soared to the peak, carrying him
with her.
When her vision cleared, his head was resting on her
shoulder, their bodies still joined. “Now we can decide,” he said. “I want to
bond with you. Here, you go first.” He slashed his wrist with his own teeth and
pressed it to her mouth.
His blood sparkled on her tongue. His lips grazed her throat
above the pulse point. “Your heart is still racing,” he murmured. “I’m going to
drink from you now unless you stop me.”
She almost spoke up. How could she reject him, though? Their
friendship would never be the same. Still, it wouldn’t be the same if he
learned her feelings, either.
Then let me enjoy this moment while we have
it.
His teeth pierced her skin. She breathed a long sigh as
electricity zapped from that spot to every nerve in her body. While still
savoring the taste of his blood, she caught the flavor of hers on his tongue as
well. Along with the fullness of his cock inside her, she also felt his
pleasure in being sheathed there. Her skin prickled with his sensations and hers
mingled in delirious confusion.
This is incredible.
His voice reverberated in her
head.
So much more intense than I imagined.
Echoing his thoughts, she wrapped her arms and legs tighter
around him and rocked her hips for the thrill of feeling each movement and
contraction from both sides.
Your mind feels so soft and welcoming. I wish I could
nestle in it forever.
The joy in his mental voice would have brought tears
to her eyes if vampires could cry.
So do I. But our kind don’t do that, do we?
She
suppressed the next thought. She couldn’t form the words “I love you”. That
human sentiment would surely repel him.
Do what?
The tone of his question held apprehension
as well as curiosity.
Stay together permanently.
Would you want that?
When she recoiled, he probed more sharply.
Why are you withdrawing from me?
Too late to hide her weakness.
Because I don’t want to
ruin our friendship. I have feelings you’d find distasteful. That’s why I
didn’t want you in my mind.
He lifted his head from
her throat, eased his wrist away from her mouth and gazed into her eyes.
“Nothing you could feel would be distasteful to me.”
“
All
right, you might as well hear it now as later. I wouldn’t be able to hide it
forever anyway. I’m in love with you.”
She
pushed
him off and rolled on her side, hugging her knees to her chest. “Like a
starry-eyed human female.”
“Oh.” Stunned, he didn’t broadcast any other emotion she
could read. Instead, he infiltrated her brain and sifted her thoughts as if
shuffling through an old-fashioned card file. She had to steel herself to keep
from slamming her mind shut. “You didn’t want to mate with me because you
wanted it too much? What kind of logic is that, for hell’s sake?”
“
Do you
blame me? It’s changed things already. We’re fighting over it.”
“
We’re
fighting because you’re acting like an idiot—and I don’t mean by talking about
love.” He placed a hand on her shoulder.
She flinched. “Love is a
human illusion.”
“
More of
the wisdom of the elders?” Scorn laced the words. “Don’t swallow it whole. Are
the way Doris and Allen took care of you or the love you’ve seen them share all
these years illusions?”
“
It’s
different for them. They’re human, not solitary predators.”
“
Exactly,
so why should we submit to the party line? If I want to make a long-term
commitment with you, I’ll damn well do it.” He draped an arm and leg over her,
his half-erect organ nudging her bottom.
“
I’m in an
abnormal condition and my pheromones are clouding your mind. How can we trust
anything we think or feel at this moment?”
His hand roamed over her
flanks, then wandered up to her breasts, making her shiver. “I hated the
thought of any other male touching you long before your pheromones confused me.
And now I can’t imagine wanting any other female. Who else would let me indulge
in all that kissing and caressing?”
Surprise distracted her
from her anxiety. “You liked the kissing and caressing?”
With a soft laugh, he
fondled her nipples before trailing his fingers lower. “Remember, this is my
first mating too. I’ve already imprinted on that style of dalliance. Nothing
else would fully satisfy me.” The warmth emanating from him left no doubt of
his sincerity. His arm tightened around her waist. “I already feel you belong
to me and I can’t stand the idea of sharing you.”
As much as she wanted to
believe that claim, Ingrid couldn’t shake the fear that they were both deluded
by lust. “Again, pheromones talking.” She undulated against his erection.
He sighed and cupped her
mound, grazing her clit and making her insides quiver. “Stubborn, aren’t you?
Where’s the logic in arguing against what you want? Yes, I’m hard again. That’s
easy to fix.” Without warning, he parted her slick folds and thrust in.
She arched her back with
a cry of startled pleasure while he plunged to the hilt. Their minds merging in
the whirlwind of passion, she felt pressure mounting in his loins at the same
time her own need built to its peak and she sensed him immersed in her
sensations. Within seconds they spiraled upward together and lost themselves in
ecstasy.
Long minutes later,
their pulses calmed and their nerves stopped vibrating. “Now that we’re both
sated for the moment,” he said, “will you listen to me? I think I love you.”
She wiggled against him
and dug her nails into the arm wrapped around her. “Some romantic declaration!
You think?”
“
The
evidence points that way.” His lips skimmed her hair. “I’ve cared for you ever
since I found you and restored you to our world. I don’t want any other mate
and can’t accept the idea of any other male having you. I want us to spend our
lives together, no more of this intermittent friendship thing.”
“
They’ll
be awfully long lives.” As Bron had mentioned, he was still considered young at
a century and a half.
“
Even
ephemerals, with all their vast experience in romance and marriage, can’t
guarantee how long their unions will last. Each hour, night and year is the
same length no matter what our lifespans.”
She turned toward him
and snuggled into his embrace. “Now you’re spouting wisdom of the elders?”
He laughed. “Wisdom of
some members of our species who’ve fallen in love with ephemerals. If they can
form permanent ties across species, the two of us should be able to forge a
lasting bond.”
“
You realize
there won’t be any more sex for years after tonight. Not like this, anyhow.”
“
We can
still share touching and tasting. With luck, we’ll discover pleasures we never
suspected were possible. Considering how sensual feeding from human prey can
be, think how intense two of our kind could make it for each other. I look
forward to the experiment.”
“
What if I
get pregnant?” Very unlikely at her first estrus, but possible.
“
Then we’ll
shatter convention and raise the child together until he or she transfers into
the care of a mentor. If we’re going to shock Morella and our entire race, let’s
do it thoroughly.”
She stretched, rubbing
against him. “Now what?”
“
Now we
take a quick shower—very quick, I’m stiffening again—and I resume ravishing
you. Tomorrow night we begin our life together.”
Enveloped in the
swirling crimson cloud of his aura blended with hers, she sealed the pact with
a kiss.
Marked for life by reading
Dracula
at the age of
twelve, Margaret L. Carter specializes in the literature of fantasy and the
supernatural, particularly vampires. She’s received degrees in English from the
College of William and Mary, the University of Hawaii and the University of
California. She is a 2000 Eppie Award winner in horror and, with her husband,
retired Navy Captain Leslie Roy Carter, she coauthored a fantasy novel.
Margaret welcomes comments from readers. You can find her
website and email addresses on her
author
bio page
at
www.ellorascave.com
.
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Ellora’s Cave Publishing
Heat in the Night
ISBN 9781419949197
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Heat in the Night Copyright © 2014 Margaret L. Carter
Edited by Shannon Combs
Cover design by Syneca
Cover photography by shutterstock.com
Electronic book publication January 2014
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