Love Bites (Bitten Book 4) (11 page)

I leaned over the counter, my eyes level with his. I refused to break eye contact even though being this close to him made me jumpy as hell. “It seemed
exactly
like that to me.”

He stilled at my words, his gaze searching mine for something. Suddenly, he looked down and growled.

A glance downward revealed that my robe was gaping open over the low scoop neck of my tank top. Considering the size of my chest, I was putting on quite a show.

Scowling at Calder, I straightened and pulled the robe tighter around my body. “I can see you’re not taking this conversation seriously. Obviously I did the right thing by refusing to stay with you.”

Before I had a chance to grab my coffee and stalk out of the room, Calder vaulted over the counter. I gasped and stumbled backward until I came up hard against the wall. Looming over me, he didn’t stop until our bodies were almost touching. He placed one hand on the wall on each side of my body, caging me in.

My heart started pumping hard and fast with both anger and awareness. Whenever he was this close, I couldn’t think straight.

Calder leaned forward, his face brushing mine, until his lips rested against my ear. “Haven’t you ever made mistakes, Ricki?” Then he nipped my earlobe.

I gasped, my entire body tensing at the sensation of his mouth on me.

“Answer me,” he prompted.

“Y-y-yes, I’ve made mistakes.”

“Don’t you think that people deserve a second chance when they fuck up?” This time he punctuated the words by running his nose up the side of my throat.

Goose bumps exploded all over my body. “Yes.”

He used his nose to nudge aside the collar of my robe, running his lips over the scar he’d left on my neck. “Please give me another chance.”

Though my legs felt like jelly, I stiffened my spine and jerked my head away. “Fine, but you have to ease up, Calder. No telling me what to do or taking over things that should be my decision.”

“I can’t promise to be perfect,” he answered, “but I will do my best. Plus, I’m sure you’ll tell me when I’m overstepping.”

I lifted my hands and pushed at his chest. “Oh yeah, I’ll let you know. Like now, for instance.” Pulling my robe further away, his teeth closed over my bare shoulder and my nails dug into his pectorals reflexively.

Calder growled against my skin. “But you like me where I am now.”

His hands dropped to the belt of my robe, tugging at the ends. When the cool air hit my skin, it was like a slap in the face. My hands moved up to his shoulders, shoving hard. “Stop, Calder.”

His head hit the wall next to mine with a little thud and he groaned. I flinched when his hands slid under the robe to clasp my waist.

“I think we need to take this slowly,” I insisted, breathing heavily.

His head jerked back and he stared at me in disbelief. “What?”

I bit back a smile. “I think that sex will cloud the issues we’re having. It’s better if we don’t rush into it.”

“But we’ve already had sex!” he exploded.

“I thought it would just be one night, Calder. You’re telling me you want something a lot more permanent than that and I’m not willing to jump into a relationship that could end badly. I need to know more about you first.” I paused. “And didn’t you just say this same thing to me last night?” I asked pointedly.

I could practically hear his molars grinding as he stared down at me. It was only fair that I frustrated him as much as he irritated me. “Okay, you’re right.”

As though it pained him greatly, Calder pushed away from me, running his hands through his hair. The frown on his face faded quickly as he studied me.

Feeling uncomfortable, I asked, “What?”

“Well, if we’re going to get to know each other, it only makes sense that I stay here and spend as much time with you as possible. You’ll learn everything about me by the end of the week.”

I froze as I realized that my chances of withstanding Calder’s sex appeal were slim to none if we were practically living together. I’d be lucky if I lasted until his end of the week deadline.

Calder

One Week Later

N
ow I knew
what Hell would be like. If I believed in it, that is.

That’s what the past week had been, sheer hell. At least for me. Ricki seemed fine, almost happy, since the day after she insisted on being moved to Conner’s house.

That day was great. After we talked and she opened up to me a little, I knew that storming her defenses was the last damn thing I needed to do. If I came on too strong, she would bolt like a rabbit, which would only bring out my instinct to chase. Chasing her when she was running scared wouldn’t be the most effective way of gaining her trust, especially since I wanted her unconditional surrender.

Now that we were living in the same house and she wasn’t fighting me every step of the way, the urge to be close to my mate had faded slightly, making it easier for me to think about my plan logically, which was good. However, it created another problem. The longer I was around her, the stronger my instinct to fuck her. Newly mated shifters possessed almost unlimited sexual appetites the first few months. Frequent sex and biting strengthened the bond between them. With another shifter, our mating would have been accepted as a done deal already, but Ricki was another story.

Though she listened to me that first night, she was still holding back. She let me kiss her a few times and touch her breasts, but that was it. I felt like a human high school boy whose girlfriend would hold his hands every time she kissed him goodnight to keep him from copping a feel. It was frustrating as hell. Probably because I was in Hell.

The day Ricki insisted on leaving my house in the pack compound, Kerry told me to figure out what she liked and give it to her. It wasn’t a new concept to me. Shifter males would go out of their way to please their mates, but Ricki was human and I’d assumed things were different between human men and women. Apparently they were, but not because of the females’ desires, but in the males’ willingness to fulfill them.

At first, she seemed surprised by my efforts, but after a few days she began to open up. A little at a time I was getting back to the woman I’d met our first night together.

Nine days after the move, Ricki had become comfortable enough with me to throw things at my head every time I startled her. It didn’t bother me because she had horrible aim. I never realized exactly how vulnerable humans were to us before. Another shifter or vampire would hear me walking around the house or smell me when I entered a room, but Ricki couldn’t do either. Of course, I forgot to make noise almost every time I walked into a room, so I’d dodged three pillows, two shoes, and even a book.

I got her a burner phone and she’d been calling Shannon, Ivie and Kerry every day. Which was a good thing, because being trapped in Conner’s mansion without a lot to do was making her stir crazy. Donna was working from home, so she didn’t have much time to spend with Ricki during the day and the isolation was beginning to take its toll on her.

After two days of watching movies and cooking, Ricki started getting restless. I tried to spend as much time with her as possible, but I had things to do with Lach and couldn’t be there all the time. Three days in a row, I came home from meetings with Lach to find Ricki sitting in the library, staring blankly into space and looking miserable.

Finally, I suggested we take a walk or jog around the property every day. She loved the idea and some of her moodiness seemed to lift.

Now, if only I could get her to open up to me, to let me touch her. I’d been horny before, hell, shifter males were perpetually horny, but this was different. It was sharper and stronger than any desire I’d felt before. Holding myself back physically hurt. Sometimes, when I looked at her, my fingertips literally burned because I wanted to touch her so badly.

Tonight was the worst so far. Donna and Conner were out of town, meeting with another vampire leader in Houston about the Faction and planned to be gone for at least three days. The two of us had the house to ourselves, if you didn’t count the vampire guards roaming the grounds.

We were in the kitchen, getting dinner ready, and I felt like I was losing my mind. She was wearing a thin t-shirt that hugged her breasts and dipped low enough in the front to reveal a hint of cleavage, and a pair of what she called yoga pants. If that’s what she wore to practice yoga, I was never letting her attend a class again. No way would another man get to see her high, tight ass in those clingy black pants.

Every time I turned around, her body brushed mine. Her arm, her hip, her breasts. The heat from the stove warmed her skin and caused her scent to intensify until it filled the room. My jeans felt three sizes too small in the groin and every part of my body ached for her.

My control lasted the entire forty-five minutes we spent cooking. I didn’t stand a chance when I turned to grab something out of the fridge and Ricki’s body collided with mine. Her hands latched on to my shoulders to help her stay upright.

“Whoa. Sorry,” she murmured. She swayed against me, her hips pressing into mine, and I knew when she felt how hard I was because her eyes widened. “Calder.”

I gritted my teeth at the way she said my name. I doubted she meant it as an invitation. What shattered my control was the change in her scent. She wanted me too.

“Aw, hell.”

I wrapped my hand around the back of her neck and lifted her face to mine. I knew I was being rough, but I couldn’t control myself. My mouth crashed down on hers and I wrapped my arms around her until she was plastered against me completely. She tasted as she smelled, sweet and tangy simultaneously. I wanted to devour her, to put my mouth and teeth on every inch of her skin until she had no doubts about me and how much I needed her. Until my scent was so deeply imprinted on her that she craved it as much as I craved hers.

Ricki didn’t hesitate. She buried her hands in my hair, fisting them tightly, and tugged. I fucking loved it when she did that, as though she couldn’t stop herself, and she did it almost every time I kissed her.

Groaning, I nearly ripped her t-shirt in half as I tugged it over her head. The bra she wore beneath it was history before the shirt even hit the floor. I was beyond thinking, beyond speaking. I tore my mouth from hers and dropped to my knees. I closed my lips around one of her nipples and tugged it lightly with my teeth.

She gasped, arching her back and yanking my hair harder. My fingers curved into the waistband of her pants. When I jerked them down, she lost her balance with a cry. I caught her by the hips and shoulders and lowered her onto the floor. All that she wore was a lacy blue thong, but not for long because I shredded it.

Ricki started to unbutton my shirt, but I was too impatient to wait. I grabbed her wrists. “Don’t.” Her face filled with hurt and I realized how harsh I sounded. I was so turned on I could barely think straight, much less form a coherent sentence, but I forced myself to focus. “Please, Ricki. If you touch me, I’ll lose it and I’m afraid I’ll hurt you. Understand?”

She nodded.

I placed her palms flat on the floor next to her hips. “Don’t move your hands,” I instructed.

A growl rose in my throat when she licked her lips and nodded again. I took a deep breath, struggling to control the desire surging in my blood. She wasn’t a she-wolf. I could hurt her if I jumped her the way I wanted to.

My eyes on hers, I slowly lowered my head, watching her as she watched me. Then I slid the flat of my tongue across her nipple in a single long stroke. She moaned, her back arching, as I did the same to her other breast. Then I latched on to the delicate skin on the inner curve and sucked hard. I was going to leave my marks all over her. The ones I’d left weeks ago had faded and I wanted to replace them. When these began to disappear, I’d do it again and again, so that she was never without reminders of what I could do to her body.

My teeth scraped the silky skin of her belly and she gasped, shivering beneath me. Our eyes locked once again as I worked my way down her torso. I knew she would be wet for me. Wet and sweet, and my mouth watered at the thought of tasting her again. I cupped her smooth thighs and spread them wide. Without breaking eye contact, I lowered my mouth and licked her clit as I’d licked her nipples.

Ricki cried out, her hips bucking as I did it again and again. When her head fell back, I closed my eyes and focused on driving her as out of her mind as I felt. I sealed my lips around her clit and suckled as I tormented it with my tongue. After her first orgasm, I didn’t ease up. I wanted more. I wanted everything. She was mine and I wanted her to have no doubts about that.

She was drenched when I thrust two fingers into the tight clasp of her body. Her hips moved against my mouth as I pressed them against the front wall of her pussy, searching for the angle that I knew would drive her up to that peak again. Ricki moaned my name as I ruthlessly used my hands and mouth to wring another orgasm out of her. And another.

It wasn’t until she was begging me to stop that I relented. She cried out when I released her clit and sank my teeth into her inner thigh just hard enough to leave a mark.