Chosen by Sin (29 page)

His gaze flickered to her arm. “Jesus, they cut you. Repeatedly. And
you let them?”

She sighed. “They did what they thought was needed and what I agreed
to. It hurt but I was always glad to give what I could for them. I still am.
The Draci are my family. I love them and I will always fight to help them.
Please, I don’t want to talk about it anymore. It’s part of who I am, but it’s
not my present. Not my future.”

He didn’t look ready to let the matter drop but he seemed to calm. “And
I called you selfish? Damn, you’re so selfless it scares me. But despite what
an ass I’ve been, despite thinking the worst about you concerning Ella, I want
you to know this, Jes. I know you’re going to make a wonderful mother to our
baby.”

He lowered his hand and cupped her belly. There was no mistaking it
now; her belly had thickened with her pregnancy. Given the way his brows
lifted, she could tell he’d noticed the change.

“The baby’s growing much faster than normal.” She covered his hand with
hers and, despite everything, let herself feel hope again. “You’re not angry
about the baby anymore?”

“I’m in awe of the baby’s mother. How can I be angry? I’m going to stay
with you, Jes. I—I want to be part of the baby’s life. And your life,
too. I don’t know what that’ll look like, but I’d like to explore it with you.
If you want the same thing. Do you?”

She could hardly believe what he was saying. At first she thought this
must be some kind of trick. But as she looked at him she saw his sincerity, as
well as the hint of fear that edged it. Fear that she would reject him.

How could he think she’d reject him? He’d given her everything. He’d
given her even more by wanting to share it with her. She pulled him into her
embrace.

Whispered, “Yes.”

And kissed him.

***

There was something sacred about the way Dex returned Jes’s kiss.
Nothing about it resembled the way he’d kissed his other lovers. It was also
nothing like the way he’d previously kissed her. He noticed the difference
immediately. He was more tentative, less focused on the clamoring demands of
his body and more concerned with the foreign emotions that were swirling
through him. And what was more astonishing was that he wasn’t even bothering to
deny or fend off those emotions.

Not anymore.

He loved her, he finally admitted to himself.

In the private recesses of his mind, he could say it. He loved this
female.

That’s why this kiss was so different. He’d never kissed a female he
was in love with before. Never been so scared.

What terrified him most wasn’t what he was feeling, but that Jes would
guess. She already influenced him, more than he’d ever thought possible. He
could imagine the power she’d wield if she actually knew how much he wanted to
be inside her, but also how much he longed for her to be inside him. Her fangs,
her body, her heart. He wanted to absorb all there was of her so he could keep
her safe and carry her with him always. For an eternity.

With a sigh, she wrapped her arms around his neck. He reveled in her
embrace and locked his hands together at the small of her back. Her breasts
pushed against the hard planes of his chest, her nipples drilling into him,
prodding him into action.

He swept her up in arms, breaking their kiss despite the way her mouth
chased his. “I want a bed this time. Your bed. Where is it?”

“On the top floor.”

She directed
him to her room, apparently not caring that someone might see them. When he
reached her bedroom door and walked through it, he was eerily reminded of how a
groom traditionally carried his bride over the threshold. The gesture gained
even more significance given he’d never actually been in a woman’s bedroom
before. All the others—including Lucy and even Jes in L.A—he’d
always fucked in hotels rooms. It felt strange being granted access to Jes’s
intimate space but only after he’d been given the same access to her body.
Strange but good.

The shadowed room was decorated in cream and rose and sage. It was more
feminine than he’d expected it to be, with romantic iron candelabras bolted to
the stone wall, the burned-down candles telling him she liked the ambience they
provided. Wall-to-wall bookshelves were filled with the same kinds of bound
books he’d seen in the library. Another chaise had been strategically placed in
front of a large fireplace, but he ignored it for the bed.

It was a queen, smaller than he would have liked. Plush pillows were
propped against the iron scroll headboard, virtually covering the top half.
Holding her to him with one arm, he shoved at the pillows, sending them tumbling
off the other side of the bed. Only when the linens were clear did he lower her
to the mattress.

She gazed at him with a serious expression, her brow furrowed.

“What is it?” he asked, praying she hadn’t changed her mind about
wanting him. Now, here in her bed, or later, in her life.

“I—” She shook her head. “Nothing. It’s just… You were so angry
with me. And now you’re being so gentle.”

“Yeah,” he sighed as he smoothed her hair away from her face. “I’m a
bundle of contradictions. I don’t know what the hell I’m doing here. I’m
just—I’m just glad I’m here.”

“Me, too, Dex. Me, too.”

She opened her arms wide, beckoning him to her, and with a groan he
lowered himself until his body covered hers. Pressed against her, he couldn’t
help noticing once again that she’d gained weight in her middle. Earlier in the
lab, when he’d flattened his palm against her and felt the outward
manifestation of her pregnancy, an electric current had zipped up his arm,
connecting the three of them—him, Jes, and their baby. For the first
time, he’d felt the evidence of his child within her, and along with it, an
inescapable awareness of its growing vitality.

The irrefutable evidence of the baby’s existence had shocked him enough
to eradicate all hesitation and doubt. He’d flirted with the idea of giving up
his quest for revenge for Jes and the baby, but as he’d cradled the life in
Jes’s belly, he’d committed himself to it. He’d never felt more sure about
anything and that had given him the strength to voice what he wanted. He’d allowed
himself to be vulnerable because the chance of getting what he wanted—in
this case, Jes and the baby—had seemed well worth the risk of rejection.

Electricity once again coursed through his body and he wondered if she
felt the same thing, for she trembled, as well. She hugged his hips with her
thighs and lifted her hands to frame his face. Her gaze wandered over him, as
if she was searching for an answer to some unknown question. When she smiled,
he breathed a sigh of relief, overcome with the knowledge that whatever she’d
been looking for, she’d found.

“
S'il te plait
. Kiss me,” she
urged.

She didn’t have to ask twice. He pressed his mouth against hers and his
control slipped. His dick throbbed, urging him to celebrate their newfound
connection in the most primal way possible. But he was suddenly afraid of
making the wrong move. Of breaking the fragile almost holy bond that had seemed
to form between them.

Uncertain in bed for the first time in his life, he broke away from her
and rolled until she was on top of him, her eyes rounded, her fingers digging
into his shoulders. He planted his feet on the mattress and raised his knees,
then gently pressed on her shoulders until she leaned back. He’d never let a
lover top him before, so this would be another first, and his anticipation was
enough to make him dizzy.

She recovered fast. With a saucy smile, she moved her hips, rubbing her
bottom against his painfully aching shaft until he wanted to howl in
frustration. But he had invited this. Needed it. And now he’d let her play all
she wanted to.

As she undressed him, her hands shook with need. She kissed every patch
of skin she revealed, pausing a particularly long time to suck at his flat
brown nipples. He buried his hands in her hair and held her head close. Then,
without even knowing he was doing it, he pushed her head downward, directing
her to his dick. As he peered down at her, he could see she was smiling and
that her hands were steadier as she unsnapped and unzipped his pants.

She licked her lips as if her mouth was watering for him. She tugged
him out of his pants and enveloped the tip of his dick in her mouth. He groaned
and fell back as she sucked hungrily. As if she couldn’t get enough of him. Her
hands joined her lips, firmly clasping the base of his shaft even as her mouth
took him deeper. She kept going until her lips met her own fingers and then she
slowly pulled back. She did it again and again, sucking harder, moving faster
until the sounds of her sucking combined with the tight clasp of her mouth and
shoved him over the edge.

Greedily, without hesitation, she swallowed his seed. When she finally
raised her head and licked her lips, he cupped her beneath her arms and dragged
her up his body. Not bothering with the rest of her clothes, he shoved down her
pants and underwear, and plunged two fingers inside her. She screamed with
pleasure as her muscles clenched and fluttered around him. He withdrew his
fingers, stirring them around her cleft, then parted her flesh and positioned
her over him.

As a were, he had greater sexual stamina than most, but even he was
amazed at how hard he still was. He ached for her. He couldn’t imagine a time
when he wouldn’t.

“Take me,” Dex growled. “Take all—” She impaled herself on him,
taking every rock-hard inch. Before he could catch his breath, she lifted
herself up then slammed down on him again. She flew into motion, riding him for
all she was worth.

“Oh Goddess,” Dex gasped, grasping her hips but determinedly not
guiding her. It was exactly what she was in his mind. A goddess. He wanted all
of her. He wanted to know that every move she made was hers alone, spurred on
by her sheer desire for him.

Her hands lifted to cup her own breasts and she tweaked her nipples,
harder than he would have expected. She mewled and flung her head back. “Dex,
it feels so good. Soooo….goooood.”

“Oh yeah,” he growled as she began shaking with her release. She ground
against him, keeping him lodged deep as he reared up to kiss her. He swallowed
her moans as she came. When she collapsed on top of him, he rolled until she
was once more beneath him.

His dick, as heavy as a metal pipe, couldn’t hold still. It slid out of
her and then back inside again, the movements as smooth as pistons. He butted
against a special spot inside her that made her gasp, and in seconds she once
again hovered on the edge of orgasm.

“Yes. Come again, Jes. Come with me.” His gaze held hers so she
couldn’t look away. As her hips rolled, searching for the pleasure that only he
could give her, he slipped his hand between them and pressed against her clit.
She went bow-tight, then exploded.

“Yes,” she sobbed. “Dex,
Jes t’aime
.
I love you so much.”

He jerked and squeezed his eyes shut as her words set off his release.

Jes, he thought. His body shook and shuddered. She was the only female
to ever take his seed inside her body, and that knowledge kept him pouring into
her, one stream of come following the other until he was sure she’d suck him
dry. She was pinned beneath him, his cock shoved up inside her, his heavy weight
making it impossible for her to escape even if she’d wanted to, but he was the
one who felt helpless. Powerless.

And at the same time, he felt more powerful than he ever had.

Jes struggled to breathe in enough air. She was on the verge of tears,
overwhelmed not only by the pleasure Dex had drawn from her, but also by the
emotions. For some reason, when she was in his arms, she was able to forget her
research and her experiments. Forget he was a legend who could gift another
with immortality. Her heart and soul didn’t think of Dex that way. She saw him
only as an honorable male who could be a wonderful father and partner if he’d
only let go of the horrors of his past.

She knew it wasn’t an easy task. Her own past had driven her too far
for far too long. But perhaps they could help each other with that. He’d
confessed that’s what he wanted. That he wanted to make a life with her and the
baby. He’d trusted her, and now she had to trust him.

Sweeping her hands over his muscular back, Jes decided it was time to
tell him about his grandfather. Dex deserved to know Bodin wasn’t the monster
Dex thought him to be. After all, Dex had been wrong about her and Ella’s skin
grafts; because of that, maybe it would be easier for him to accept he’d been
wrong about his grandfather, too. She couldn’t endanger Bodin by alerting Dex
to his presence on the grounds, but she could at least try to pave the way for
peace between them. “Dex,” she said. “Do you remember when I told you someone
brought me to the Draci? After my parents were killed?”

“Hmmm,” he said, even as he lifted his head to kiss her. He groaned as
he rolled to his side, then propped himself on one elbow and drew lazy circles
on her belly with his fingertips. Instinctively, her stomach muscles clenched,
her desire renewed far faster than she would have thought possible.

She inhaled, trying to memorize his scent. His touch. “Dex—”

“Has it been hard for you? Adjusting to life here?”

“Not really,” she murmured. “I was so young when I came to live with
them. It wasn’t long before I barely remembered living with other vampires.”

His fingers moved to her arm, first the unmarred one, then the other.
His fingertips traced her scars the way they often did and she knew his frown
wasn’t because the scars were ugly, but because they evidenced the pain she’d
gone through getting them. “Your parents were killed?” he asked. “As in
murdered?”

“Yes,” she answered, even as she tried to block the rash of awful
images his question brought to her mind. Images of her mother and father,
staked down beside her, trying to comfort her as the sun rose.