Carinian's Seeker (21 page)

“Damn, boys, my woman has more balls than all three of you.” He laughed, took her by the waist and led her onto the dance floor.

The music was hip and loud, just the way she liked it. And tonight was for getting her groove on. Carin hadn’t had this much fun in ages, but she was a new woman—energized, sexy, full of passion. A new zest for life, rather than fear of death, expressed itself in her movements to the funky beat of the music. She placed her hand on Bix’s chest and traced a line about his body as she danced around him. Finally, she settled with her back to his and bent her knees to the beat, sliding her body up and down and back and forth against his. She danced with Bix until a light sheen of sweat covered her arms and put a shine on the skin underneath her sapphire jewels at the vee of her breasts, tempting her lover’s eyes to stray to the tease of cleavage.

Oh, this was soooo much fun. Then the lights dimmed and a slow song began. The words were sensual, the beat sultry. Bix moved in close. She looked up into his beautiful gray eyes and gulped. A heady combination of love and lust stared back at her. The pit of her belly danced wildly. Oh goodness. She was in trouble.

It started tame enough when Bix pulled her close and placed a chaste kiss on the side of her temple, which barely reached his shoulder. But then he dipped his head again, this time blatantly inhaling the scent of her hair. His arms tightened around her body and one strong hand dipped low to graze the globe of her left cheek, sending a sizzle down her ass. The other hand discreetly played with the side of her breast. She couldn’t keep her breathing even.

“Kiss me, Bix,” she whispered fiercely, tilting her head up with eyes closed. She knew he’d give her what she asked for. No need to look. Just feel. Bix would take care of her. She felt his mouth move towards her, but he didn’t meet her lips. Instead he tipped her chin up more and licked the side of her neck, from her pulse point up to her ear.

The intense answering ripple in her womb almost made her forget to erect a psychic shield.

“Oh damn, that was nasty. Do it again.”

Bix gave her another hot swipe of his wet tongue along her sensitive skin. She shivered as her head fell back. Her skin felt much too tight and her body grew hotter by the second. She barely registered the crooning of the music in the background as she reached into his tailored jacket, grabbed two fists full of his shirt and held on under a sensual assault that almost bent her over backward. Moisture gathered at the entrance of her channel and even
she
could smell her arousal waft up from between her thighs. Finally, he captured her lips. Bix started growling again, but for a whole new set of reasons, all of which she agreed with wholeheartedly.

“I can smell you, baby. Makes me want to go down on my knees and bury my head under your dress right here in the middle of this dance floor.”

Lord knows she wanted nothing more than to find a dark corner, flip up her skirt and let him have at it. A primal need rose up in her, a need for him to take her. To make her his in every way. Forever. Her kneecaps quivered and she spoke to them.
Don’t you dare dump me on my ass. Stand firm, girl, stand firm.

“Firm? I’ve got something firm for you, baby,”
Bix whispered into her head and pressed his long, swollen ridge of flesh firmly against her belly.

Her shield dropped like a stone. Bix, along with a horde of other horny vamps, heard her telepathic scream.
“Oh, Bix, I’m yours, baby. Please… Oh God, bite me.”

He looked directly into her eyes, fangs clearly visible. “Are you sure, Carin? There’s no going back if we do this.”

She rubbed feverishly against him, trying to do her best to look like she was still dancing rather than humping against his leg. “Yes, I’m sure, Bix. I’m yours, and you’re mine. I can’t imagine being with anyone else or sharing you with anyone else. Ever.”

“The mating is to bind you to me, not the other way around,” Bix said firmly, all smug Seeker confidence.

Alpha to the bone, arrogant and self-assured. And right now, she didn’t give a rat’s ass. “So you say, damn it. You’re mine.”

She knew she could be a stubborn bitch on wheels, but this man was going to be wholly and completely hers and love it. Even if she had to kill him. Her breathing hitched with anticipation as he lowered his head to the sweet pulse on her neck. She could feel his fangs aching fiercely, his need to bite so strong,
her
gums tingled. So powerful it burned from where his mouth touched her down to the little hairs on her toes. He rubbed his incisors against her tender skin.

A sharp voice cut through the fog of lust and need.

“Bix and Carin, please join me on the dais.” Alaana Serati stood there, calling to them. “And no necking on the dance floor for you two. We will do this according to tradition.” Then she smiled at Bix’s grimace at having his love play interrupted.

“Damn, her timing sucks,” Carin growled into his chest.

Bix unwrapped his arms from around Carin’s lush, ready body and chuckled. He didn’t bother mentioning there hadn’t been a formal, traditional mating in front of the whole V.C.O.E. and all the Clans in…hell, he couldn’t remember how long.

Hand in hand, they followed the Matriarch to the raised dais and up the steps onto the platform, leaving the throng of bodies, some dancing, some necking, below. The second the Council rose from their seats the music stopped. Bix bowed low and Carin curtseyed to show their respect to the Elders, then turned to face the crowd as the lights came up to reveal a number of vamps in various stages of undress.

Alaana’s voice rang clear over the hushed mass. “Jon Bixler, Seeker of the Vampire Council of Ethics, son of Clan Vanett, and adopted son of Clan Serati. While this gathering is to show the clan’s solidarity in eliminating the threat to our species by the rogue Aleth Sidheon, we also wish to acknowledge the finding of your mate and bondmate, Dr. Carinian Derrickson.”

After a short round of applause, whistles and well wishes, Alaana continued. “Do the Elders of Clans Serati, Vigee, Li and Sewelle recognize the mating of Seeker Bixler and Carinian?” Each Elder named called out in the affirmative with a vocal “We do” as did each Elder for Clans Akicit, Hatsept, Rolle, Vanett, Bourek and Kraig. All ten clan Elders agreed, which was a miracle in and of itself.

Bix smiled down at Carin’s radiant face as the crowd clapped and hooted again. All except the bad boys of Clan Hatsept. It took those white-haired players a minute to clap along with the rest of the clan body since it was apparent that Carin wasn’t available for ravishing.

“Seeker Jon Bixler, Dr. Carinian Derrickson, we the Elders of the vampire clans recognize not only your mating, but your bonding as well. We wish you goodly success. Bix, you may now take your bondmate.”

His fangs lengthened and gleamed under the bright lights. Carin already had some of his blood in her, but to complete the bond he needed to feed from her. To take care of her part of the ancient ceremony, he bit into the fleshy part of his forearm and held it up to her. He smiled when she didn’t hesitate to take his blood. He could feel the pull of her lips down to his throbbing cock, which he didn’t bother trying to hide.

Turned on by taking his blood, she slid her tongue over her lips to capture every precious drop when she was through. His gaze followed the little pink organ from one side of her beautiful mouth to the other. Her expression was downright dreamy when she looked up at him, deliberately projecting her love—not just to him, but to everyone within psychic hearing distance. She let her head fall sideways and gave him as much room as he needed to lay it on her.

He gathered her close and positioned her so every vampire on the ballroom floor below could see what he was about. When the first drop of her sweet blood touched his tongue, his knees almost buckled from the concentration of energy flashing through his body. It was like drinking fire laced with lightning. Addicting. Arousing. When she moaned and clawed at his arms, he pulled back, thinking she was in pain.

“Oh Lord, don’t stop. More,” she cried, trying to pull him back to the column of her throat.

Instead he licked the wound to capture the slowly oozing trail of blood, swung her up into his arms and strode out of the ballroom. He didn’t stop until they were in his apartments.

He stormed into the apartment and kicked the door shut behind them. They made it as far as the living room.

Carin landed in the middle of the plush cushions with a bounce. Her thighs fell open to reveal a slip of a thong. The little piece of enticement was his favorite color and his favorite flavor lay just underneath it. Carin. She raised one leg and let it drape over the back of the couch. Her hands traveled over sheer thigh-high stockings, over the soft chiffon bunched at her waist and up to silk-covered breasts.

The heady scent of her arousal filled the room. Bix licked his lips, stepped away from her luscious body and stripped faster than even he thought possible. His jaw tightened along with the rest of his body, as he avidly tracked the movement of his woman’s fingers as she stroked swollen, heavy breasts with one hand. She lifted the other hand and her firm, full lips wrapped around a finger, then two.

Bix’s skin felt stretched too tight over muscle and bone when her pink tongue came out to play. No tentative display of just the tip, but the entire length of Carin’s hot, wet tongue stroked up and down her fingers as if she were trying to swallow them.

His fingers encircled his erection and stroked it in rhythm with her fierce sucking. He closed his eyes a moment and let his head fall back on a groan, imagining her taking him just like that, deep in her mouth until he touched the back of her throat.

When he looked at her again, her eyes were hard and hungry. But she wasn’t watching his face. Her focus was riveted on his hand stroking the length of his cock, up and down, then smoothing up and over the deep purple head, down along the pulsing shaft, and back again.

She moaned his name and his feet moved as if the very strings of her sultry voice wrapped around and pulled him, spirit, soul and body.

He approached slowly, all sinewy grace, muscles rippling and tensing as they rolled underneath his skin. God, would she ever get used to seeing this magnificent man in all his naked glory? Her pussy wept at the sight of his proud cock bobbing, reaching for her with every step. The heat in her veins skyrocketed until her skin sizzled and melted like caramel syrup tossed into a hot pan. Just the sight of him made her mouth water, her breath heave in and out of her chest. She wanted, needed to taste him so badly, she trembled. Even her lips quivered as her tongue snaked out and left a wet trail over them. She sat up and waited. Waited for him to bring her what she desperately needed.

He stood in front of her now, his delicious cock mere inches from her face. Just as she opened her mouth to take him deep, out of nowhere defiance rose up. While she wanted him to take her, it was the “taking” part that called to her blood, the need to make him prove he was strong enough to handle her. Instinctively, she went with it. She snapped her mouth closed, looked up and waited.

“You. Naked. Now.” Bix’s voice was raspy and his speech halting, as if he had trouble stringing the words together. Carin knew exactly how he felt.

Tearing her gaze away from his rock-hard length, she rose from the couch and stared up at his towering, tense frame. “No, don’t think so,” she purred, then turned away from him. A low, menacing snarl sounded behind her. It was all the warning she received.

Strong hands grabbed her by both arms and whirled her around. Her womb throbbed in cadence with her heart and sent a gush of silky need trailing down her thighs.

“Wrong answer, Carin.”

She looked up into the eyes of the deadly predator Bix always kept under such tight control. Yes, this was what she wanted—his control in shreds, just like hers. The tick in his jaw said his passion was barely leashed. He wanted her desperately. Did she dare push him any further? A half-smile quirked up at the edges of her lips. Of course she dared.

“I’ve changed my mind.” Surprised her voice was somewhat steady, she braced herself for what would come next. She’d always gone to him willingly, but something about this, about their bonding, made her want to defy him. Made her want to be taken, won and subdued.

His head tilted to the side and a single raven-black brow winged its way upward. “I don’t think so, baby.”

Bix’s large hand held both of hers over her head. She was strong, but he was stronger and her struggles gained her nothing. The fingers of his free hand wrapped around the spaghetti straps of her dress and in a single yank, they landed across the room. Sequins and beads flew everywhere as the lovely royal blue silk was torn from her body in shreds. A delicious tremor snaked down her sides as her bra, thong and stockings followed, leaving her with only ankle-strap high heels and the sparkle of beautiful sapphires and gold against her skin.

The heated skin of his powerful chest scorched her breasts as he pulled her roughly to him, grinding his engorged cock against her trembling belly and the smooth mound of her pussy. Opening his mouth wide as if he were going to bite her sent a new rush of wetness glazing down the inside of her thighs, and she knew he could smell it when he let out a deep, hungry groan. His fangs, and the cock pressed into her stomach, grew and stretched beyond anything she would have thought possible.

Her knees threatened to buckle when he lowered his head and played with her like a lion toying with his prey. The tips of his incisors trailed along the sensitive skin of her neck, around the front of her collarbone. By the time he nipped her just above her right breast, the shivers racing along her nerve endings shot up through her pores, peppering her body with glowing sparks, burning every inch of her body. It was exactly what she wanted.

He released his grip and her hands fell uselessly to his shoulders. Bix filled his hands with her breasts, wrapped his lips around the crown and pulled roughly. Her very soul vibrated as if a dozen bungee cords wove a path from her aching nipple to her navel, down through her body, and tied off at the base of her spine. The urgent draw of his demanding mouth and the scrape of his fangs strummed over the connection, and each cord vibrated endlessly. He worked her breasts, from one to the other, until she whimpered helplessly, her body a wanting, restless knot of tense muscles.