Dark Ghost (37 page)

She found herself crouched beside him, no clothes, because she’d forgotten them. Shivering, she tried to think how to do the clothes, but he waved his hand and she was dressed in the same attire she’d worn all evening – minus her shirt.

Andre caught her wrists and pulled her up and to him. He had already removed the vampire’s blood from his arms and chest. Her heart began thudding when she heard the sizzle of the whip. Her entire body began to shake. The sound of that white-hot energy bolt was worse than the black acid burning through the skin of her back and shoulders. Instinctively she tried to struggle, to get out of Andre’s hold.

“Quiet,
sivamet
. This will not harm you. I will hold the necessary temperature in your mind for you. Trust me. You do not want that blood in or on your body.”

“I don’t want any of this,” she replied, trying not to cry. She was not about to be a crybaby in front of him, not when he was angry with her. Still, his voice had gentled and she didn’t want that either because then she really might cry, so no matter what, she was in trouble. “I just want to go home.”

“I am your home, as you are mine. Hold still. Close your eyes.”

She swallowed hard and did as he instructed. She heard the crack of lightning and behind her eyes was a terrible, blinding flash. Her back felt hot. Really, really hot. Not burning. The sensation was strange. She didn’t like it at all. Then it was gone and with it the pain boiling through her flesh down to her bones. It still hurt, but not in the same way. The moment it was done, she donned a shirt to cover the damage to her body.

Andre put her from him. Again his touch was gentle. She opened her eyes. His chest was a mess. He had a hole in it and his face had a few deep scratches, but there were far worse lacerations on his shoulder and arms, not to mention the two bullet wounds that seemed the least of his worries. He was bleeding profusely from the chest wound and some of the deeper lacerations.

Teagan looked down at her midriff. Andre bunched her shirt in his fist and lifted it so he could see the laceration that went all the way across her front, from rib to rib. Blood dripped steadily and ran down her belly.

Csitri.
 

There it was. Silk and velvet. Rough. Tender. Turning her stomach upside down. Even her heart did a little strange tremor.

“You are killing me, Teagan. I cannot have my woman in battle.” He sighed softly, caught her hips with both hands and bent his head to the slash.

Teagan closed her eyes as his tongue slid so very gently along the wound.

I cannot. I am not the kind of man that can have his lifemate in danger.
 

Her heart stuttered again. It felt… delicious. Amazing. More, his soft confession, a mixture of tenderness, regret and steely determination, took her breath. Went all the way through her to her soul. She heard him. She knew his anger was all about the laceration on her body, the vampire’s blood dripping onto her, the undead touching her. In his mind was the specter of his human family, their bodies lying broken all around him, the vampire’s hands on his adopted little sister and mother. She heard him. She got him. She knew what that moment had cost him when he saw her in danger.

Teagan pushed at his wild hair with gentle fingers. A caress. “I’m sorry, Andre. I can’t stand seeing you in danger. I was so afraid for you. I didn’t think you saw Keith creeping up behind you.”

He continued to lap at the long, angry line on her midriff. His fingers tightened on her hips.
I see everything in battle, Teagan. I have been fighting vampires for centuries. These were easy. The humans I could have stopped even easier. You cannot put yourself in danger. Promise me.

She closed her eyes, her fingers moving in his hair. She couldn’t promise him. She couldn’t. She wanted to give him that reassurance, but she knew if she saw him in danger again, she would rush to help. That was part of who she was and it wasn’t going to change.

“I want to give you everything, Andre. I hate that I brought that memory so close to the surface again, but I can’t be anyone but who I am.”

With one last swipe of his tongue he straightened and looked down at her with his blue eyes. His palms went to the wound. Both of them. Pressing into her skin, spanning her midriff, taking in every inch. She felt the warmth. The healing. He was good. No, he was better than good, and deep inside, the healer in her watched and remembered his every move.

He turned her around, lifting her shirt so he could examine her back. She felt the slide of his hair. All that silk against her skin. The velvet rasp of his tongue followed. She closed her eyes. The action was sensual. Primitive, but still very sensuous. Her body grew hot and wet.

When he lifted his head and turned her back around to face him, his expression was gentle, not at all angry. “I do not know what I am going to do with you when I must go into battle. Chain you inside a cave perhaps. To the bed. So you will be waiting for me when I get back.”

“Um. No. Just no to that one. I wouldn’t be waiting with open arms. You try that one and you’ll find out how much damage a modern woman can do when she’s really annoyed with her man.”

Her gaze fastened on his chest. The hole in his flesh. The lacerations. She couldn’t tear her eyes from the damage. Everything in her, every cell in her body pushed her to heal those terrible wounds. How he was standing, she didn’t know. More, he had taken the time to heal her.

Her hand smoothed over the worst wound. Her body swayed toward him. “I’m fully Carpathian, right?”

His gaze burned over her. She felt it, even though she didn’t lift her eyes to his. Hot. He was so hot. Her fingers caressed the edges of the hole there. She instantly felt the reaction in her own body, her cells rushing to the surface to build flesh and take away pain. As if she could share her own skin.

She leaned into him and used her tongue as he had, closing her eyes so she wouldn’t see what she was doing, so much as feel. He tasted like she remembered in her dreams. Hot. Masculine. Addictive. More, she knew she had that same healing agent in her saliva and she could do what he had done. She could heal his terrible wounds. She loved being a healer. It was her purpose. It had always been the one thing that made her feel she was worth something.

She’d chosen to study geology because she wanted to study rocks, gems and crystals, know their origins and feel how each could be used. This method was just as instinctive, a tuning of her body to his, just as she had done all her life, but closer. More intimate. She loved this.

Andre’s hands came up to her hair. She felt the bite as he fisted bunches of silk in his large hands, but nothing could stop her. She lapped at the wound, taking every care to make certain the healing agent spread and did its work. Her fingers smoothed over the edges, as if she could push her own cells into his skin to build a bridge of tissue. She took her time, even when she heard him groan.

You have to stop. I am as hard as a rock.
 

I can’t stop. Not until I have every single scratch on you healed.
 

He lifted her into his arms. She didn’t stop, not even when she felt the wind in her hair, flowing across her body, and heard it whistling in her ears. She knew he was taking them back to their cave.

Teagan slipped her arms around his neck, using her tongue along his now bare chest, following the worst of the lacerations. Then they were in the dark of the cave and her body was as bare as his. His fingers were between her legs doing all sorts of distracting and delicious things to her body.

She decided she might like being Carpathian after all.

T
eagan knew she was caught in the middle of a nightmare. The terrible dream couldn’t be anything else, because Andre’s human family surrounded her. They lay broken and dying all around her. The ground beneath her feet was saturated with blood. A vampire gripped her with bony claws, digging his talons into the side of her neck all the while turning his head to one side, looking away from her, laughing hideously.

She followed his gaze and saw Andre. The look on his face broke her heart. He was on the wall, his body bloody from the four stakes holding him pinned there. No matter how hard he struggled, there was no way for him to gain his freedom. He looked so young, so broken. She couldn’t stand that look on his face, the mixture of sorrow, agony, guilt and hatred for the undead. She had to do something.

Teagan reached up with both hands and ripped at the vampire’s face. He screamed and screamed. She heard the echo of it resounding through her mind. She realized it was Andre’s scream, not the vampire, because Ciprian, Andre’s uncle, had twisted his head and sunk his teeth deep into her neck.

She gasped and for one horrible moment realized she had no air. She was buried alive. Panic rushed over her and she dug at the heavy soil, trying not to suffocate, her heart pounding so hard she was afraid it would explode. She kept her eyes closed, terrified of seeing the dirt surrounding her, knowing she had only moments to figure out what to do to save herself.

She was aware of her every frantic heartbeat. Of Andre’s body lying still and lifeless, wrapped around her own. Of the feeling of the soil on her skin and the tiny hairs of roots brushing over her. She thought about the open air. How it felt. How she could breathe it in. She wanted the soil gone and both of them out of the earth and onto the bed, totally clean. She built the picture in her mind, putting every ounce of fear, determination, will and strength she had into it.

Just like that, the weight was gone from her and she felt the blessed fresh air on her face and body. Gasping with relief, she dragged air into her lungs, still keeping her eyes closed tightly. She actually felt the refreshing wash on her skin, much like the sensation of a shower, yet without the water. Even her mouth felt clean.

She became aware of the mattress on her back and Andre’s body curled tightly around hers. Her lashes lifted and she stared at the ceiling of the cave, triumph rushing through her. She’d done it. She’d managed to open the earth and get not only herself out, but Andre as well.

Instantly she became aware of hunger beating at her. Dark hunger clawing at her insides until every cell in her body was desperate. At the same time, the burning between her legs started. Not gentle. Not a little. Desperate. Needy. That same dark hunger but in an entirely different way.

Teagan turned her head and looked at the man lying curled around her. In his sleep, he didn’t look any younger. If anything, he showed the many battles in the lines of his face. That didn’t make him any less attractive. In fact, she thought he was all the more handsome. Her gaze drifted possessively over his long, thick lashes, the hair spilling around him, his straight nose and strong jaw to his wide shoulders.

Andre was a big man physically. Everything about him was big. He seemed to take up an entire room when he walked into it. His chest was thick and heavily muscled. She smoothed her hand over the places where he had been injured. She didn’t see so much as a line there. Still, she sent healing warmth along the spots where each wound had been.

She came up on her knees so she could really look at him, this man who was her other half. This man who was beautiful to her. A handful for a modern woman, but still, her man. Her lifemate. Looking down at him, there wasn’t a doubt in her mind that she loved him. She wasn’t going to have any regrets.

The one thing she’d worried about most was that she’d lose her family again and again over the centuries. Of course she could look at it that way, but she would choose to look at it as a great privilege. She would see future generations of her sisters’ children’s children. She would learn to accept the circle of life just as Andre had done. Learning that acceptance would take a while, but she would have him to see her through. Andre. Her gorgeous, beautiful man.

She pressed a kiss to his chest and continued to study his body, committing it to her memory. He had a narrow waist, narrow hips, and he was gifted in the male department, which, truthfully, she found a little intimidating. Still, he was beautiful and he was hers.

She bent over him, licking along his flat belly, following the lines of his muscles there.
Wake up, Andre. Come to me. I need you. I want you to wake up and let me taste you. Let me feel you inside of me. I have this burning need and only you can do something about it.

She hadn’t been the one dreaming, that had been Andre and she somehow had shared his terrible nightmare. If she could do that, she might eventually find a way into the dream to at least comfort him.

She wished she was sexy and knew everything there was to know about sex. She wanted to wake him and push the nightmare far from his consciousness, to replace that memory with something incredible. She made a silent vow to find a way to ease his nightmare, even if she could never fully get rid of it for him.

She ran her hands over his body, feeling him warm. She pressed her lips to the spot directly over his heart and caught his first breath, his first beat. Strong. So strong. His hands came up, fingers settling in her hair. She watched his lashes lift and she caught the amazing glacier blue before his eyes warmed and set her own heart pounding.

“I have needs, honey,” she murmured, and bent to lap at the spot just over his heart. The blood ebbed and flowed there. The taste of him was already in her mouth. Perfect. Andre. All male and all hers.

His hands tightened until she felt that familiar, arousing bite on her scalp. “The best way to wake up, my woman’s hands and mouth on me.”

“Glad you like it, because you can expect it a lot,” she said, her attention on his hard, warm body.

Teagan lapped at the spot several times and felt his cock stir against her thighs. She nipped him with her teeth and his cock jerked. Hard. She smiled. “You like this.”

One hand smoothed down her back, over her buttocks to the junction between her legs. He found a warm welcome. Hot liquid met his fingers. She squirmed over those, clever, pressing fingers, wanting them deeper. He moved his thumb in lazy circles, never really penetrating. Not enough.

“I like this very much. Apparently so do you.”

“Touch me.”

“I am touching you.”

“Inside me.” It was an order.

“Take my blood.” That was a soft command.

Her heart jumped. She knew she was going to do it, all on her own, just as she’d healed him on her own. She craved the taste of him, but healing him was different than feeding. She had been totally concentrating on curative measures. This was…

“Sensual,” he supplied.

“Erotic,” she breathed, and felt her teeth slide into place, sharp incisors, not the canines like the vampire had, but still, sharp. She nipped him again and felt his body shudder. His thumb slipped inside, just the tip.

Teagan bit down, sinking her teeth deep and the exotic, masculine flavor of him burst through her senses like champagne bubbles. He sank his thumb into her and her body clasped greedily at him. It felt… wonderful.

“Ride my hand,
sivamet
. I want you to give it to me, your orgasm. Come for me while you feed.”

That was hot, too. His taste. His hand. Those magic fingers. Her body tightening and his hard, hard cock like a steel spike pressed tightly against her inner thigh. She couldn’t do anything but ride his hand. She was helpless with need. With urgency. She fed at his chest, drawing that unbelievable taste that was only his into every cell while her body rode his fingers, coiling tighter and tighter.

“So beautiful,” he breathed. “So absolutely exquisite. Harder,
csitri
. Give it to me. Let me have that beautiful gift right now.”

At his command, she felt her body tense. Tighten. Unleash. A storm of quakes, hard and hot and unexpected. She pulled her mouth away from him, followed the little ruby beads down his muscles with her tongue and then lapped at the twin pinpricks until they closed.

She waited a moment, breathing deep as her body subsided. His fingers moved, which was delicious, but she was fixated on the pearly drops she felt on her thigh. “I’m not finished,” she whispered, and kissed her way down his belly.

“Are you sure?” he asked softly.

She hadn’t been sure. She’d been intimidated, but then she heard the husky note in his voice. That near groan. That made her more than certain. That made her determined.

“You might have to give me a little instruction, but I’m very sure. I want to know every single inch of you, Andre.” Her tongue lapped at his belly and then she kissed her way through rough hair.

His gasp was very satisfactory. He didn’t say anything. He didn’t tell her what to do, so she slipped into his mind and found… anticipation. Pleasure. It didn’t seem to matter to him how good she was at this, only that she wanted to give him pleasure, and that alone, the want in her, was all he needed to be hard and ready for her.

“I do wish I knew more,” she murmured as she wrapped her hand around the base of his heavy erection. And it was heavy. She lifted the steely spike from his stomach. Velvet soft yet definitely steel.

“I am grateful that I am the one to be your teacher, Teagan,” he admitted. “You belong only to me and that is a gift. A rare and precious gift. As far as I am concerned, you cannot do anything wrong as long as you are enjoying what you do for me. Do what you wish and if you want more guidance, look into my mind. You will feel what I am feeling.”

She liked that. She liked that he gave her the time and opportunity to explore on her own. She bent her head again and lapped at the crown of his cock, swirling her tongue over the sensitive head, licking up those pearly drops. He tasted the same as when she fed at his chest, only more exotic. More erotic. There was no resisting him.

“I like that you’re all for me,” she murmured, breathing warm air over him.

She shaped him with her fist. “You really are gorgeous, Andre. Gorgeous, hot and sweet…” Her eyes met his for one moment, filled with amusement. “Most of the time.”

“I am very thankful you feel that way.”

She dipped her head and licked him like an ice-cream cone and then swirled her tongue under the crown. That got another shudder, his hips jerking and a swift indrawn breath. She liked that because he liked it. She did that a few more times and then used her tongue on the thick shaft, curling around and over it, lapping at the thick, long flesh.

His fingers curled around hers, tightening so that her hand curled into a fist. He used an up and down motion, keeping her fist wrapped around him. The hand in her hair urged her head down over him. She took the hint instantly, opening her mouth and drawing him in even as she touched his mind to feel what he was feeling.

She shivered and the blood rushed through her, hot and wild. Her sex spasmed. The sensations she was creating in Andre were
glorious
. Perfect. She loved it. Her confidence grew. As long as she could feel what he was feeling, she knew she was giving him pleasure. So much pleasure, and she was excited that she could. She wanted this for him. Her mouth tightened and she suckled strongly, her tongue dancing while her fist moved under the instruction of his hand. She liked that, too. She liked that he was so willing to teach her, that he had patience and even enjoyed the fact that she’d been with no one else.

“Not enjoy,
sivamet
.
Love.
I didn’t have parents, not even when I was born. Neither of them. I had the Borois for a brief time and they were taken. I counted them mine, but really they were not mine, in spite of the fact that I loved them. I had the family that raised me, loosely had them. I ran wild, and the triplets followed me so I was not always welcome. You are mine alone. Really mine. You belong to me.”

She was glad she was busy loving on him, using her energy in a very good way that sent so much pleasure streaking through his body he could barely get the words out, barely think straight.

I love belonging to you, but, Andre, you had them. The Borois, they were yours.
 

She used her tongue again under the crown and he groaned and tugged at her hair. “You need to come up here now, Teagan. I want you on your hands and knees.”

That sounded intriguing. She gave his cock one last lick and did what he said, going to her hands and knees there on the mattress. Instantly he knelt up behind her, one hand going to the nape of her neck to push her head down. A streak of fire rushed through her body. She didn’t know why the position and the way his hand on her nape and the arm sliding around her waist to drag her back to him felt so erotic to her, but it did.

“Stay like that,” he instructed softly, and his hand moved down over her back to her buttocks and then he grasped both hips.

She closed her eyes as she felt that burning crest lodge at her entrance. Then he slammed inside. Hard. Jolting her body with every stroke. She thought she knew fire until that moment. He began a fierce, brutal rhythm, surging into her over and over. Heaven. She didn’t know anyone could feel that good.

At the bite of his fingers on her hips, she moved back into him, just as hard. “More,” she breathed. “I love this, Andre. I want more.” Her tone was breathy. Pleading even. Eager. She didn’t care. She knew he shared her mind, he could feel what he was doing to her, and what he was doing was more than good.

“My woman,” he said softly between his teeth.

She loved the way he said it. Possessively, just like the hands on her hips. He gripped her harder and lifted her off the mattress so only her head and forearms were down with her legs curled tight under her. His strokes increased in strength. She had no choice but to reach out and hold on to the headboard to keep from being thrown off the bed. Each thrust sent storms of fire bursting through her body to radiate outward to every cell.