Blood Entangled (20 page)

He mirrored her expression, concerned. “What’s wrong?”

Stepping close, she wrapped her arms around his neck and brushed his lips with hers. He stiffened, so she let her tongue slip along his closed mouth. He groaned.

“Lena…”

Oh God. What if he said no?

She deepened the kiss to head off a rejection. He grew hard against her belly—a good sign.

Then he pulled back. “Sweetheart, I love kissing you, but you said you didn’t want this.”

“I changed my mind.”

He looked at her expectantly. Darn. She would have to say more, even if she couldn’t tell him everything. Hoping for some privacy, she pulled him into the kitchen.

“I want it to be you.”

“What?”

“My first time sharing sex and blood.”

“Lena, Mason will—”

“I want it to be you.”

He smoothed hair off her forehead and then cupped her cheek in his palm. “Won’t that make it harder for you?
Krist
, Lena, it will make it harder for me.”

His eyes were sad and gray, his mouth stretched into a tight grimace. She hadn’t expected him to be conflicted.

“Yes, it will make it harder for me. But, it also means I’m giving myself to you for the first time, not a stranger.”

His eyes dilated and he pulled her closer. She’d hit the right note. He was nothing if not protective.

He whispered in her ear. “How can I argue with that?”

Unadulterated joy barreled through her, followed by a wave of grief. But when the bliss passed, she held the smile on her face. He mirrored it, like he had her frown. He was radiantly beautiful, eyes crinkling at the edges, full lips stretching wide, and sexy dimples deepening. To have him look at her like that, even for just a little while, was worth almost anything.

“Let me go upstairs and clean up. Give me fifteen minutes?”

“I’m not letting you out of my sight. I’ll clean you up.”

She should have been embarrassed, but his offer sent tingles up her legs.

He picked her up and cradled her to him, carrying her to his room. Inside the door, he pressed the lock and slid into the bathroom. Moments later, the shower pounded water into the tub. She flipped on a lamp beside the bed, and its warm light glowed like a flame on the crimson quilt. Back at her side in no time, he pulled her tank top over her head and lowered his eyes to her chest. She wore a functional pink bra, and under his electric blue gaze her nipples hardened.

He stroked the side of her breast. “You are too beautiful for words. If I undress you and bathe you, this will be over in the bathtub in two minutes flat.” He licked his lips. “You deserve better.”

Her skin heated with a blush. This was why she loved him—with Kos, she could believe she was special.

He handed her the fluffy pink bathrobe she’d left on the bed. “I’ll wait out here.”

She tiptoed into the bathroom and undressed. Her hair wasn’t too bad, so she swept it into a twist—taking time with the blow dryer would probably kill them both. Under the hot water, she rinsed off the kitchen grime. Beginning with her feet, she lathered herself and imagined what was coming. Would he bite her first? Could she take him in her mouth again? That had been an unexpected pleasure. But, for this to work the way she wanted it to, she would have to time everything just right.

She soaped between her legs and remembered his mouth on her. And like that she was ready for him. Her soapy hands raced across the rest of her body. She rinsed and dried off in a flurry of motion, into the bathrobe and out of the bathroom in seconds. She was breathless when she came to stand in front of him.

He was in the armchair.
The Brothers Karamazov
was open and face down on his knee. If her time in the shower had increased her urgency, he’d used it to get his under control. His stare was not exactly predatory, but it left no doubt he intended to devour her. Desire flooded her body.

His nostrils flared. “I can smell you.”

“I know.” And knowing made her even wetter.

“Come here.”

She took a step toward him, and he untied the sash of her robe. It fell open and slid off her shoulders, then dropped to the floor.

Pulse racing, she asked, “Aren’t you—” Her throat hitched, and she had to swallow twice to moisten it. “Aren’t you going to take your clothes off?”

“Soon. I just want to look at you.”

And he did. After long minutes, he stood up and walked behind her. She wanted to turn around so that she could keep him in her sight, but when she shifted her weight, he said, “Stay where you are, beautiful. I want to see all of you.”

Occasionally, the sole of his shoe quietly rubbed on the hardwood floor, signaling his movement. In that stretch of time under his gaze, she realized most men would have asked her to turn around, but he circled her like she was a fine sculpture to be admired.

The sound of rustling fabric hinted he was undressing. She swallowed and clenched her fists, summoning a hefty dose of will power to keep from turning around. He stepped against her, and all at once, his hands were lightly gripping her shoulders, his erection bumped against the small of her back, and he ran his lips along the nape of her neck. In her haste, she’d left her hair up, and now she was glad.

With one arm around her waist, he pulled her flush against him and whispered. “I promise to savor you slowly, even if it takes every ounce of self control I possess. I’ll do this right.”

Kos was going bite her and make love to her. It was really happening—after all those years of longing.

She turned and laced her arms around his neck, pressing her body into him. He sucked in his breath and she seized the moment to kiss him, trying to communicate her gratitude and her desire.

Then the urge to see him won, and she broke the kiss, stepping back. He grunted at the separation. The sound gave her goose bumps. To be wanted—even if only for a little while—meant everything.

Smiling, she straightened her spine. “I’m going to look at you now.”

He clasped his hands behind his back and flashed her a wicked smile.

Her gaze moved down his body quickly. His erect penis jumped like it could feel her gaze, and she laughed. She’d never seen anything like that. More slowly, she took in his appearance from the bottom up. Muscular calves and thighs, dusted with dark gold hair. That impressive erection centered between lean hips. His abdomen was a feast of rippling muscle, and without thinking she reached out to feather her fingers along his stomach.

“You look like you do sit-ups all night instead of reading.”

He turned his palms up. “It’s the Blood Vine. It’s turning me into a beefcake.”

“You weren’t exactly chopped liver before,” she scolded.

“I’m lucky that being a vampire makes it easy for bookworms to maintain our muscle tone.”

“Uh huh, and the work you do in the vineyards has nothing to do with it?”

He shrugged, clearly uncomfortable with the praise.

What could a woman say to admire a man as beautiful as him? She would have to show him instead. Her fingers itched to touch, so she placed her palms open on his chest and drew her hips against him. She kissed his collarbone and when she darted her tongue out to trail it along his skin, his cock leaped again where it was pressed between them.

It demanded attention, and she giggled, reaching for it. When she took him in her hand, she tilted her face to find him watching her with a curious expression. “What?”

“Sweetheart, you know how to make a man feel special.”

“What do you mean?”

He hooked a finger under her chin. “It’s hard to describe…but there’s something innocent about you. You make me feel like it’s my first time.”

From her cheeks to the tips of her breasts, she heated, blushing at the compliment. But it was a little too close to home. She had to act quickly. “Kos, will you bite me?”

Kos’s fangs responded to her request, dropping rapidly. Damn, she was killing him with her wide eyes and giggles.

Some animal voice inside him said,
Oh yeah, give her what she wants
.

Her vulnerability spoke directly to that hungry animal, and the way she’d put herself in his hands stirred his primal instincts. He wanted to growl out a promise to protect her and please her.

Under the fair skin of her neck, a blue vein pulsed. Saliva filled his mouth, and he imagined biting her. Her first time sharing her blood during sex—he felt like he was claiming her, marking her as his. Of course, he wasn’t and he couldn’t. But his fangs were ready to go.

Oh fuck. His fangs.

Was he hungry for her? He knew the smell of her blood, if not the taste. Was this desire intense enough to bind her to him? He ran his tongue over his long canines, smelling the salt of her blood and the honey of her arousal.

It was a heady scent, but it wasn’t making him hungry for her blood so much as her body. At least he didn’t think so. He wanted to be certain, so he bought himself some time.

“No biting yet, sweetheart. I’m just getting started.”

He lowered his head to her chest. When her robe fell open, he knew that he’d never seen a more beautiful pair of breasts in all one hundred and eighty years of his life, but to say so would have been…well, she wouldn’t have believed him. He determined to show her instead. Lightly, he licked every inch of her, tasting the shape of her curves.

She shivered. “Kos, stop, that tickles.”

Then he suckled at her breasts, drawing hard on them like a hungry baby. She moaned and pushed her hips toward him.

“Like that, do you?”

She whimpered. “More.”

He’d never heard a sweeter word, and a laugh welled up in his gut. “Gladly.” First he picked her up and laid her down on the bed. Stretching himself alongside her, he returned his attention to her other breast, mouth open wide, his fangs grazing her nipple. No urge to bite—good, he wouldn’t bond to her.

He slipped his open palm down her belly, and her legs fell open at the barest hint of a caress. He ignored the hint and, teasing her, stroked up from her knee. Her thighs were slick with arousal, and she squirmed, trying to find more contact. What had he done to deserve her desire? She was more than any male could ask for. He ran his fingers through her slick folds.

“Remember, no fingers inside me. I want all of you at once.”

Krist
. She was wanton and wide-eyed at the same time—one of a kind. “Then let me bite you, get you good and ready.”

What position would she like best? He could kneel over her, spoon behind her. But he was nervous to push into her without testing the waters. Usually, his lovers appreciated his efforts to get them open and ready. Since she didn’t want that, he would give her all the control.

“Lena, climb on top of me.” He rolled onto his back and pulled one of her legs over him. “Like this.”

She followed his instructions, straddling his torso, her core hot and wet against his belly. He closed his eyes, savoring the contact, then gazed at her. She’d been watching him with a sad look, but smiled when he caught her.

“Hey. What’s the matter?”

“I was just thinking this is our good-bye.”

The words reached right into his lungs and stole his breath. Without thinking, he said, “I’ll miss you.”

Tears shimmered in her eyes.

Why couldn’t he keep his mouth shut? He didn’t want her asking to stay again. Not now, when he might just decide to keep her.

But she didn’t. She simply smiled at him with a heartbreaking mixture of affection and longing. He should have known; she’d done her begging already. She wouldn’t humiliate herself again. Especially not now.

“Lena, I want you on top of me like this. So when you’re ready, you can control things—how fast, how hard, how deep.”

She nodded, cupping his face with her palm. The tenderness pierced him, and he had to look away.

He ran his hands up her arms and pulled her shoulders close to him so they were nearly chest to chest. On the side of her neck, he found that small blue vein under her skin. To drag things out for her pleasure, he didn’t need a main line but a low flow he could sip from for hours. He licked and then sucked her skin into his mouth, drawing the vein closer to the surface and finding its exact location with his tongue. Carefully, his aim true, he slid his fangs through her flesh into the narrow vein.