Gabriel's Mate (27 page)

“I love you,” he confessed, laying his heart bare just like he’d bared his body. Then the beast in him took over, and he thrust into her with a ferocity he’d never known. And at that moment he was thankful for the fact that she was a vampire, for the passion he unleashed on her would have torn a human apart. But Maya met his thrusts with as much power and determination as he dealt them.

Her tight channel was slick, and the scent of it whipped his desire into overdrive. This woman was all he’d ever wanted and all he would ever want for the rest of his long life. As her legs wrapped around his hips, he threw his head back and roared. This was the woman he wanted to claim as his mate at any cost.

He felt Maya’s claws dig into his back and realized that her vampire side was emerging. His own body hardened. When he looked at her face, he saw her fangs push out between her lips, evidence that she was losing control. He greeted the knowledge with a growl. “Mine.”

At the possessive word, her gaze collided with his. He saw his sentiment echoed in the depth of her eyes. She panted heavily, her chest rising and falling in quick succession. Her parted lips showed her fangs clearly now. They reminded him of the pleasure he’d felt when she’d fed from him.

“I want you, Gabriel.”

“Then take me. Feed from me,” he commanded.

“Now?” Her eyes widened.

“Now.” He pulled back and plunged deep back into her, punctuating his point. Her muscles contracted around him, squeezing him like a tight fist. Gabriel tried to ignore the flesh that slapped against her mound with every thrust, but it became more difficult with every stroke. It felt as if the darn thing was lengthening. But before he could look down to investigate, he felt Maya’s fangs in his neck.

Everything was forgotten with the first pull on his vein. His heart pumped vigorously to bring the blood to the vein she was suckling from. He could sense her hunger now, physically sense it. Her heart beat against his in a tantalizing staccato, and his own heartbeat matched hers beat for beat.

Gabriel slowed his thrusts as a sense of utter bliss built in his chest. In his many decades as a vampire, he’d never felt the kind of high he felt now as the woman he loved took his blood inside her at the same time as he impaled her over and over again with his hard shaft. It didn’t matter that this was not the way he’d imagined making love to her.

He’d dreamed of laying her on a soft bed, with candles illuminating the room, soft music playing in the background. Worshipping her, loving her. This was different. The intensity of their lovemaking shocked him to the core. He’d never expected her to be this wild and primal.

But here she was, allowing him to fuck her in the living room of his boss’ house where at any time somebody could interrupt them. Yet, he couldn’t stop. All he wanted was for her to come apart in his arms, to feel the love he held in his heart, to understand that he would do anything for her.

His pistoning cock knew no end—relentlessly it drove into her to feel the tightness of her sheath, the slickness of her quivering pussy. It had found its home. He felt the pressure in his balls build.

“Baby, I can’t hold back any longer.” But he wanted her to come with him. He didn’t want to be selfish.

Maya let go of his neck and licked over the incisions. Then she looked at him, her lips glistening with his blood. “Then come.”

Gabriel clenched his jaw, trying to hold back. “Not before you do.”

A little smile curved around her lips. “Please, come.”

He could feel her muscles clench around his cock, and he knew she’d deliberately done it. His release was inevitable. He felt the onslaught of sensations as his seed shot through his cock and filled her. “
Fuck!
”

He pulled back and plunged deep once more, letting his orgasm engulf him. As he collapsed against her, regret followed bliss. She hadn’t come. He’d failed.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered.

Her hands in his hair, she pulled his head back from where he’d buried it against the crook of her neck. She smiled at him. “Sorry for what?”

“You didn’t come.”

“My body doesn’t quite work that way.”

Gabriel cringed. “I was too rough with you. I didn’t do it right. Baby, I’m so sorry.” He’d let his baser instincts take over.

She put her finger on his lips. “No. That’s not it. I loved it, every single second of it. But I don’t come from penetration. No man has ever made me come like that.”

“You came when I licked you.”

“Because the only way I can come is if my clitoris is stimulated.”

He wished he knew more about a woman’s body than the limited experience he had. He’d have to learn—fast. “We’ll try again. I’ll promise you, you’ll come when I’m inside you.”

He’d just been handed a challenge, and by God, he’d meet that challenge even if it cost him his last breath. He needed her to come with him so they could share that ultimate ecstasy and experience that closeness that would only come when they were both soaring, letting their bodies fall and catch each other.

Twenty-five

Gabriel laid Maya in front of him on the couch, her body completely naked now. He’d ravished her like an animal, yet she smiled at him. His body still hummed from the amazing experience of being inside her and pounding his cock into her. But he felt regret, regret at not having given her the same pleasure she’d given him.

He promised himself that he wouldn’t lose control again until she was sated. A man who couldn’t satisfy his woman had everything to lose. If he couldn’t give her what she needed, she’d find it somewhere else—and there was no way in hell he’d allow that to happen.

He still couldn’t believe that she hadn’t recoiled from him at the sight of the flesh about his cock. Why was she so different from other women?

When all this was over, he would make certain she understood what he wanted from her: a blood-bond, an irrevocable bond stronger than any marriage in the human world. While he would have to continue drinking human blood, he would partake of hers mostly during sex, first to establish the bond, then later to renew and sustain it.

And Maya would only ever feed from him. The bond would allow them to know each other’s thoughts and be aware of each other even if they were apart. Everything that belonged to him would also belong to her. And he’d always be true to her. Already now, no other woman interested him, and the blood-bond would make their love for each other even stronger.

She hadn’t told him that she loved him, but he was almost sure she did—only a woman in love would be able to see past his deformity and allow him to touch her. And the way she’d caressed the ugly piece of flesh … it had been with such tenderness that he was certain she wasn’t disgusted. She cared for him, he knew that much. And even if she didn’t love him yet, he would do anything in his power to make her fall in love with him.

“Teach me,” he whispered to her.

There was a curious look on Maya’s face. “Teach you what?”

“How to satisfy you. I want to know how your body works.”

She chuckled. “Gabriel, I think you know very well how my body works. Have you already forgotten what you did yesterday?”

He hadn’t forgotten—not a single second of it. But this was different. “I’ll never forget that, trust me.” He let his fingers trail to the juncture of her thighs. She opened for him without coaxing. “But I want you to feel the same way when I’m inside you.”

She was wet when he slipped a finger inside her. Her lids closed halfway at his action. “Mmm,” she hummed.

Gabriel’s cell phone rang. “Damn!” Letting his finger slip from her tight sheath, he reached for it and looked at the number. It was a number he’d memorized over the last few days. “Sorry, baby, I’ve got to take that.” He noticed Maya’s disappointed look.

He flipped the phone open. “Francine.”

“Hey vamp— Gabriel,” she corrected herself. “We need to meet.”

“Now?” He swept a long look over Maya’s naked body.

“Now. I’ve found it. So if you want to know what ails you, you’d better come now before I change my mind.”

Excitement coursed through him. She knew what was wrong with him? “Where are you?”

“At the lab.” She gave him an address in Laurel Heights, only minutes from Samson’s house.

“I’ll be there shortly.”

As he flipped the phone shut, he looked at Maya. She didn’t look at him, and he sensed her frustration. In fact, now that he thought of it, he could sense a lot of things about her, not quite as strong as what he knew a blood-bond would do, but a strong connection nevertheless. He wondered whether the fact that she’d only recently fed from him did that and his own blood created that connection, or whether it was the fact that they’d had sex.

“The witch knows what’s wrong with me and wants to see me.”

A quiet sigh came from Maya. “Maybe there’s nothing wrong with you. Gabriel, I really don’t mind it.”

“But I do. I don’t want to be a monster anymore.”

***

“You don’t look like a monster to me.” She wanted to keep him, deformity or not. She knew not every woman would be this welcoming, especially not a human. But if he had his deformity removed, what would stop him from going out there and looking for a human woman? Maya closed her eyes, hating herself for her selfish thoughts. How could she even contemplate stopping him from finding a cure? Had she lost all good in her? Was she prepared to do anything just so he’d stay with her and wouldn’t find another lover?

“What’s wrong?”

She opened her eyes and looked into his confused face. Sure, he’d told her he loved her, but that was in the heat of passion. It didn’t count. Men said a lot of things when their dick took over. Vampire surely weren’t any different from other men.

“Listen, Gabriel, I want you to know that it’s okay. You don’t have to get it removed on my account. I’m okay with it, really. It doesn’t bother me. In fact, I’d rather you didn’t do anything about it.”

A stunned look traveled over his features. “Maya,” he urged her. “Why would you not want this for me? I thought you and I had something here.”

She swallowed hard, but couldn’t stop her next words from passing over her lips. “Once you’re normal, you can have any woman you want. You could have a human woman, not an infertile vampire. So you can have children.”

Gabriel cursed. “God damn it! Who’s been planting those ideas in your head?”

Maya averted her eyes. She’d made him angry. “Yvette.”

“I wish Yvette would keep her big trap shut and not talk of things she knows nothing about.” He ran his hand through his long hair and sighed. “God, Maya, Yvette doesn’t know what I want. Do I want a child?  Of course, but … I mean, you …”  He shook his head.  “This is a talk that’ll take a lot longer than one minute. There’s so much I have to explain to you. But I have to go now. I promise you, as soon as I’m back, we’ll talk about this. About you and me. About us.  Will you give me the time I need to see the witch before we talk?”

“Okay,” she said quickly.  “Go.”  She wanted to believe that he loved and wanted her, but he’d said he wanted a child.  A child she could never give him. 

He pressed a hard kiss on her lips before he pulled away. “I’ll have Yvette come to protect you while I’m gone. Carl is here. He’ll take care of you while you’re waiting for Yvette. You can trust her, despite the things she says.” Then he dressed faster than she’d ever seen any man dress and was gone just as quickly.

***

Thomas’ fingers flew over the keyboard as he entered commands into the computer. Hacking into any company’s systems was second nature to him. He and Eddie had gotten interrupted earlier by the search for Maya, but now he was back at the computer, finally hacking into the telephone company’s systems. The delay had cost them.

“Can you teach me that?” Eddie asked from behind him, standing entirely too close. Over the last few weeks, Eddie’s habit of sticking close to him had started to rattle his nerves.

Thomas was sure Eddie wasn’t even aware of it, for all Eddie seemed to do was look up to him. After Eddie had been turned only a short few months ago, Thomas had been assigned to become his mentor. Out of practicality, he’d allowed the kid to move in with him.

“I’ll give you a crash course later, but I think Gabriel wants this data quickly.”

A list popped up on the screen. “That’s Maya’s phone records. Gabriel thinks that the rogue might have called her, or that she called him.”

Eddie’s arm reached over his shoulder and pointed at the screen. His scent drifted into Thomas’ nose. “But that’s just phone numbers. How are we going to find out who these people are?”

“I’m cross-referencing the list with phone books and listings by the cell phone companies.” Thomas typed in a command and hit the enter button. The screen flashed in response and split into two halves. Names started running along on the right side of the screen, too fast to read. “Whenever it finds a match, it’ll slot the name into the list.”

“Wow, that’s cool. But how are we gonna find who’s the guy? Looks like she got a hell lot of calls.”

Thomas turned back toward Eddie. “We’re not. Maya is. As soon as the search is done in about half an hour, we’ll fax it over to her. She’ll flag any name that’s not familiar. Since he wiped her memory she won’t have any recollection of his name. He’ll be among the people Maya doesn’t recognize. Then, we’ll do our work and check them out.”

Eddie smiled and patted Thomas’ shoulder. “Excellent plan.”

Thomas gave a weary smile back. His other friends often did the same: pat him on the back, squeeze his shoulder in a show of friendship, but when Eddie did it, Thomas felt something he shouldn’t allow himself to feel. Because Eddie was straight, and nothing would come of it.

Twenty-six

Yvette looked at the gruesome scene in Paulette’s bedroom. The bloody message on the wall gave her the creeps and the scent of dried human blood stung her nostrils. She glanced at Ricky, who rummaged through the nightstand.

“That guy’s a psychopath,” she declared.

Ricky didn’t look up when he responded, “Who the hell knows what he is?”

“Definitely infatuated with her. Just like everybody else,” she grumbled. She still felt a twinge of pain when she recalled how Gabriel had kissed Maya at the hospital. There was no doubt in her mind now that he loved her. Well, she’d get over it—at least Gabriel would finally be happy. One day, she’d find the right man too.