Cursed (The Brookehaven Vampires #4) (6 page)

I added the lavender bubble bath that I’d gotten from the store. I liked the way it smelled. It was mellow and relaxing. I could definitely stand to relax.

Once he was done brushing his teeth, Oliver trailed his hand along my spine while I was checking the water temperature once again. My body tingled at his touch. He then kissed me on the forehead before leaving the bathroom and closing the door behind him.

He had gotten me all worked up out on the hammock. Much like earlier in the morning before we had headed down to the beach. This made me wonder… Was he testing me, seeing if I would take things to the next level? Was he waiting for me to make that move? No pressure if he was… (Total sarcasm there if you didn’t catch that.) However, I was afraid I might keep chickening out. I wanted
it
to happen, I just didn’t want to
make
it happen. I just wanted it to happen. On its own. Spontaneously.

When t
he tub was full, I shut off the water. I pulled all of my hair up into a high ponytail, and I wrapped it into a messy bun around the band and added another to hold it in place. Then I stripped out of my clothes and carefully climbed into the large, claw-footed tub.

I slowly sank low in the tub
. The hot water and mound of bubbles covered my body, and the temperature of the water quickly eased the chill from my bones while the smell of the bubbles eased my tension.

However, I did not relax for long. Thoughts of being bonded with Oliver were quick to fill my mind. I knew what was going to happen, and I knew it would happen soon. At least I thought I knew
… How could it not happen?
He does want it to happen now, too, doesn’t he?
How could he not? He definitely wasn’t acting like he didn’t want it to happen.

Although…maybe that’s why he wasn’t taking anything any further. Maybe that’s why he kept stopping us when we would get to that point. Maybe Oliver wasn’t ready
…

Or, maybe seeing his ex-girlfriend, his high school sweetheart, had put a damper on things…
But the kisses in the hammock would suggest otherwise…

Or maybe I was making excuses because I wasn’t ready…

I sighed heavily.
Tomorrow is another day.
I would make it my mission to complete our bond.
Tomorrow, it will happen tomorrow.
Real spontaneous, huh?

Closing my eyes and resting my head back, I let my thoughts get caught up in the act of completing our bond, and how it might change us and our relationship
…how others would know we had… But mostly, I thought about how amazing it was going to be, and how incredible it would feel to be connected to Oliver in more ways than one.

A light knock on the bathroom door pulled me out of my fantasy. “Are you okay?” Oliver asked through the closed door.

“Yeah,” I called back, my voice squeaking slightly. I wondered if he could feel the emotions I’d just been having. Did he know what I was thinking about? Could he feel it? Did he think I was doing something else in the tub if he could feel my emotions… Yeah, slightly embarrassing if that was the case.

I tried to relax again, but the water was cooling fast, and I didn’t want to refresh it. I wanted to be snuggled in Oliver’s arms.

I pulled the plug and quickly dried myself once I was out of the water. I pulled my hair free from its makeshift bun, then I put on my jammies.

As I brushed my teeth, I felt the warmth of the bath fading and the chill of the night creeping its way back in.

Opening the bathroom door, I found the room almost dark. Only the fire burning in the fireplace lit the room. Oliver was already in bed. He had an arm rested behind his head and he flashed me a faint smile.

Barefoot, and in nothing but thin pajama bottoms and a tank top, I hurry across the room and jumped into bed.

Oliver chuckled softly as I burrowed under the covers and cuddled next to him, trying to get warm.

“How are you already cold again?” he asked
.

“I don’t know,” I said as I snuggled even closer, tightly wrapping my arms around his chest.

He hugged me to him; his strong arms making me feel so safe. I pressed my cheek against his hard chest; the fabric of his tee was soft against my skin. I closed my eyes, breathing deeply and enjoying the way he felt and smelled.

The house was already locked down, but a small breeze snuck in through
the few inches of window that had been left open once again. I shivered.

“Would you like me to close the window?” Oliver asked.

I shook my head. I would warm soon enough. I held him tighter.

He kissed the top of my head
, and I felt his fingers playing with strands of my hair as we lay there in the silence, only the faint crashing of waves and the crackle of the fire filling the quiet.

“I love you,” I whispered. He squeezed me tighter and told me the same.

I looked up at him, my head still on his chest, and his deep-green eyes met mine.

Screw waiting ‘til tomorrow
.

I lifted my head and softly pressed my lips to his. His hand slipped from my hair and pulled me closer, dragging me up his chest. He kissed me harder, deeper.

Without removing my lips from his, I climbed on top of him, straddling him. His hands quickly found my bum and pressed me to him, showing me what I had already done to him— letting me know he was ready.

My heart raced. I needed him too.

I tugged at his shirt. Breaking the connection of our kiss as I sat up, I smiled ever so slightly and ever so wickedly. He followed me, pushing himself up from the mattress, trying to return his lips to mine. I tugged at his shirt again. My body hummed, it felt electrified as his gorgeous pools of emerald searched my eyes. With another tug, he pulled his T-shirt over his head and tossed it to the floor.

His eyes stayed on mine, and I saw the
same hunger in them that I felt. I leaned forward to kiss him, to press my lips to his perfect, soft, kissable lips, and in doing so, I was reminded, down low, how ready he was.

Every part of my body ached for him. I crushed my lips to his, ready to complete our bond.

Still straddling him while we both sat up in the bed, I pressed myself against him, anxious to know what it would feel like to have him inside of me, and desperate to be his forever.

I lightly bit down the side of his neck. He growled low and sexy. I moved my hips, just a little, giving him a hint, a preview of what I wanted. Another low growl escaped him.

I dug my fingers into the back of his hair while his mouth traveled along my jawline and up to my ear where his cool breath sent uncontrolled shivers through me.

With one hand holding my hip while I slowly rotated against the hardness of him, his other hand was up my tank
top. His lips moved back to mine. I felt lightheaded. His bonding scent was strong, but my breathing had gotten rather shallow, as had his.

With his mouth on mine, he whispered, ever so quietly, a desperate, “Please.”

My lips stilled on his. Was he serious? I felt something inside of me sink. My heart, maybe? No doubt, I felt sheer disappointment. He wasn’t going to let this happen. Just like always, Oliver was stopping us from going any further. I had kind of expected this, or expected something to interrupt us, like always, but I was still hurt, and angry.

I removed my mouth from his, tears already starting to pool when my eyes met his.

He eyed me curiously. “What is it?” he asked, his voice ragged and barely above a whisper.

My eyes held his, and I let out my frustration. “This,” I breathlessly snapped. “I want to be with you.
Really
be with you. But something always stops us. And if it’s not something or someone else, it’s you.” I poked him in the chest. Probably a little harder than necessary. It didn’t seem to faze him.

The hint of a smile broke at the corner of his mouth. I felt a glare coming on. “Laney, I wasn’t asking you to stop,” he said very softly as he brushed my hair away from my face, his voice was a little unsteady. “I was asking for more. I was asking you to give yourself to me.”

Oh…
Heat rose in my cheeks, and everywhere else.

“The only thing stopping us right now, is you,” he said. He brushed the backs of his fingers against my cheek. His eyes focused on my lips.

Excitement coursed through me. My heart rate picked up, racing with anticipation. He hadn’t wanted to stop. He was begging me for more, the way I always begged him.

His lips, soft, wet, and hungry, met mine. I ran my fingers up into his wavy curls, holding him to me.
He wants this now. He wants me now.
My breath caught at that thought. It was finally going to happen!

He grabbed my hips and moved me against him, a reminder of how ready he was. A faint moan escaped me and he growled low and deep in response. His lips parted from mine and made their way to my neck, little pricks from his fangs exciting me even more.

His lips then traveled down to my chest, and with one hand gently cupping my breast, the other tightly gripped my hip. His fingers then slid down my side to the hem of my tank top. Without hesitation, he pulled it over my head and tossed it to the floor. His cool hands ran up my back, pressing my bare skin to his.

He held me tight against him
, and with his lips on mine, he gently eased me down onto the soft mattress.

I shivered with anticipation.

His lips traveled down my neck to my chest. His mouth reacquainted itself with my breasts while I tried to control the amount of noise escaping me.

I could not take much more.

My fingers slipped from his hair as he traveled farther south, lightly kissing down my stomach until his lips reached the band of my pajama pants. His fingers trailed along the bare skin over the band, and I trembled under his touch. Then his gentle fingers slipped under the bands of both my jammie bottoms and my panties, and he slowly removed them together before kissing his way back up to my mouth. I was naked. Fully freaking naked, and so ready for this.

My own fingers found their way to his waistband. He wasted little time removing his own bottoms and underpants.

With my knees raised, he gently parted them and moved between my legs, resting his body over mine and supporting himself on his arms. I waited in breathless anticipation as he gazed down at me, only the glow from the fire lighting the room.

Ever so gently, he pressed his lips to mine. Now, this is usually where we would stop
, or when we would normally be prevented from completing our bond. But there was nothing. Just the fire, the ocean, and the two of us. Nothing but air separating us. I must admit, part of me figured the fire would break loose and burn the place down. We’d be left standing, naked and unbonded, outside while the fire department paid us a visit. That, or a tsunami. Thankfully, neither happened.

Oliver lowered his completely naked body onto mine. I was nervous and excited. My heart was pounding so hard I could feel it against my chest.

His eyes were intense and very hungry. I imagined mine looked just the same.

Then idiot me opened my mouth. He was just about to kiss me, and probably more, when I asked, very quietly and breathlessly, “Should we use something?”

He held himself over me, looking down at me. He shook his head ever so lightly. “We can’t, not the first time.”

“Why?” I questioned even though a little voice way in the back of my mind was screaming at me to shut the hell up and get on with it. “Stop stalling!” the voice shrieked.

“I can’t bond with you if I’m…well, contained.” He smiled a beautiful and slightly uneasy half-smile. The fire made his eyes appear as if they were glowing.

“But what about—”

He cut me off before I could really spoil the mood and bring up pregnancy. “It’s okay, Laney. You’re not ovulating.”

My forehead scrunched. You
didn’t need to be a mind reader to understand what I was thinking.

“You smell different when you ovulate,” he said.

I went from a scrunched face to a raised eyebrow in a split second.

He chuckled. “Like with any
race, females give off a specific pheromone when they ovulate. This includes humans.”

Alrighty then.

“But, if you want me to, you know, use something, I will. I understand. I just thought—”

I cut him off, pulling him down to me, pressing my lips to his so hard I thought they might bleed. I didn’t need to hear more. I got it. Moving on. We didn’t speak again, not then, anyway.

With his lips on mine, he lowered himself on me once more. He was heavy, but it felt so good to have the weight of him on top of me.

My body was buzzing, covered in chills of anticipation and excitement. I dug my fingers into the back of his hair as his lips began traveling across my jaw and lower.

While his lips kissed along my neck, another part of his body was making its way to its destination. His fingers trailed down my side and along one of my thighs. A shudder ran through me and Oliver laughed softly. I smiled, relaxing, a little.