Poking the Vamp (Knight Protectors #3) (14 page)

It was what she’d begun calling him. That new part of her was very literal and brisk with its thoughts. Joce had become simply mate and that was that.

Thankfully she didn’t look at him and think
food
. Burning him alive would have been awkward.

“
Fire
.”

That one word heated her with pleasure and need. She was fire in more than one way. “How are you?”

“Good,” he lowered to the ground beside her. “Missed you.”

Kate flopped to her belly. “It sounds like you like me a little bit.”

“Maybe.”

She quirked a single brow. “Maybe? I think I remember a certain someone pleading with me—”

It was the same game they’d played since she awoke. Once Joce got over her near death, the true courting began. The teasing, tempting, and time spent getting to know one another. They’d tied themselves, but they hadn’t known the first thing about their new other halves.

They were changing that.

Baddies temporarily beaten—or at least chased off—meant they could take time for them as a couple. That included discovering the good and bad that lived in their hearts. They’d found a bit of both in each other. Though, admittedly, Kate’s was new and mainly revolved around her aforementioned need to feel vampire hearts while… still inside the vampires.

Joce’s was no less bloody. His just happened to be hundreds of years old.

“C’mon,” he pushed to his feet. “Got something to show ya.”

She met his gaze, flicked her attention to his groin and then back again. “Really?”

He waggled his eyebrows. “That too, but something else first.”

“But the sun is so warm.” She didn’t care if she sounded like a baby.

“Come on.” He wiggled his fingers. “You’ll love it, I promise.”

With a heavy sigh, she climbed to her feet as well, brushing the grass and dirt from her shorts and legs. “Fine,” she grumbled. “Let’s go.”

He grasped her hand and twined their fingers together before giving her a gentle tug. “It’s not far.”

And it wasn’t, surprisingly. Joce pulled her away from the house and into the trees that lined the trimmed grass until they were out of sight.

“Uh, is this safe?” Because the One was still out there, and after Kate offed Jemshir, he couldn’t be happy.

“Yup. The entire Order came to the mansion, remember?”

Right. The Order. They were the ones who’d stared at her for two hours, examining her like a bug until she threatened to burn the nearest witch’s hairy mole off.

The witch in question seemed open to the idea. The others, not so much.

But when all was said and done, they had more salt lining the estate’s borders and a gazillion more charms than they’d ever need.

Kate thought they should add another dozen, but who was she to whine? She was only the vampire who’d been lit up like a—

“Ta da.” Joce’s excitement snared her attention and she focused on him just as he nudged an old wooden gate open. That’s when she took a look at her surroundings. She’d been so consumed with her bullshit that she’d missed it all.

Oh, she saw it now, the tendrils of heat that curled around the space, the way it reached to her, calling her forward. That warmth was nestled in the stonewalled, thatch-roofed cottage before her. It looked old, as if it’d sat in that spot for hundreds of years. It beckoned her forward, the old drawing the new near.

But the flowers, the grass, the sun dappling the small, enclosed yard had her slowing. The garden was well tended, the pathway clear of weeds, but that didn’t stop the flowers and vines from reaching for her.

“What…” She scooted out of the way of a particularly determined vine.

“You’re an elemental now.” He pulled her against him and she snuggled beneath his arm. “The witches helped create a space where that power can be used without accidentally scorching someone. We can’t always come out here, but in this place, you should be able to control the urges.”

Oh. She hadn’t realized… She lifted her hand, staring at the glow that always accompanied her and watched it dim, but not because she was drained. “I don’t understand.”

“Come inside,” he urged her and there was no missing the droop from the flowers.

“Are you sure?” She stared down at a particularly sad looking daisy.

“They get enough from the sun. You’re like a nibble of chocolate.” He chuckled. “Inside. I have more to show you.”

She padded beside him, eyes taking it all in. “You realize this is some freaky stuff, right?”

“Being made a vamp isn’t freaky enough?”

“I knew about vamps. Elemental beings, half-gods, and witches are new.” Along with being
turned into
one of those elemental beings.

“Fair enough.” Joce nudged the front door and it opened on silent hinges to reveal the cottage.

What had looked old and dilapidated on the outside was clean and fresh on the inside. The walls were still aged stone, but the floor was scrubbed within an inch of its life. Antique furniture was scattered throughout the space, making it feel like a comforting home instead of a crumbling museum.

The thing that drew her forward was the heat. There was heat within the small home and it purred its interest.

But it didn’t tug. It didn’t yank or jerk her toward it.
Weird.

“I don’t get it.”

“You’re an elemental. You needed a place to find your center. The witches gave you that. The spring is all natural, just brought to the surface a little.”

“The flowers?”

“Get plants away from the buzz of humanity and they realize you’re a source of life for them. Just like they’d lean toward the sun, they lean toward you.” He gestured at the room. “All this is built around the idea of calming your inner fire. You don’t feel the need to covet warmth because you have enough and it’s a natural flow.”

He sighed. “Being in the mansion made you a junkie looking for his fix, except nothing could satisfy you,” he growled. “It’s like a vamp trying to live on forest animals instead of human blood. It’ll keep us alive, but we’re essentially humans with a little something extra. The second we find a more natural source—natural to us, I mean—then we go a little overboard.”

She wrinkled her nose and bypassed the
junkie
comparison. “Ew, animals?”

“Yeah, well, desperate times.” He shrugged, but she knew there had to be a time in his past that he’d fallen upon very, very desperate times.

Kate snuggled close. “Thank you. For this. For everything.”

“You’re my
fire
.” He pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “I would do anything for you.”

She nodded. She knew he would. Just as she’d do anything for him. “How long can we stay out here?”

“At least a few hours. As long as we have time and it’s safe, we can come out as often as we like.”

“I thought you said the witches…”

He squeezed her a hint harder. “I have confidence in them, but I still worry over what the One is up to, what he could be dabbling in next.”

Kate felt the same. Wondering and waiting to see when the other shoe would drop, when they’d suddenly be faced with yet another attack, another twist or turn in the future.

She tilted her head back and met his stare. “Then let’s make the best of what we have now.”

A grin teased his lips. “And how do we do that?”

“I’m pretty sure you mentioned a hot spring?” And it called to her, beckoning her to come play in the waters.

“That I did.” The grin turned into a sensual smile. “That I did.”

Joce stepped away and snared her hand, twining their fingers, and led her to the back of the cottage, around the massive fireplace. It wasn’t pretty to look at, but the tendrils of steam rising from the placid surface beckoned her. He released her and tore at his shirt, tugging it up and over his head. He kicked off his boots and his shorts soon followed, revealing inch after inch of her pale-skinned mate. His muscles and lightness made him look as if he was carved from marble, a perfect image of man that put Michelangelo’s
David
to shame.

And he was hers. All hers.

He strolled forward, not stopping until she was in his arms once more. “I think someone is a little overdressed.”

“Yeah?” she murmured. “What should I do about that?”

“You? Nothing.” He leaned down and nuzzled her neck, nipping the column of her throat with his sharpened fangs. “Me? Everything. I want to unwrap my pretty package,” he whispered against her skin. “I want to explore every inch of you.”

“You’ve seen all of me.” They’d danced around making love—not taking that final step—since she woke, but he had seen all of her.

“And now I want to know all of you. Touch all of you. Tie you to me even tighter until you can’t breathe without me.”

Kate squeezed his shoulders, holding him close. There wasn’t much to say to that. Not when she wanted the same. “Yes.”

Joce’s hands shook as he uncovered his glorious mate. He peeled her clothing away piece by piece, exposing more and more of her pale skin. It was perfect, unmarred by her time locked in a room with Jemshir. Between her vampiric nature and her new elemental powers, she remained unblemished by that experience.

When the last scrap of fabric dropped away, he was once more presented with a swath of utter perfection. From her heavy breasts and rounded hips to her shapely legs, she was flawless. She had a core of steel, but outside, she was pure softness. A softness that beckoned every primal urge.

“You are so beautiful. So mine,” he murmured and grasped her hand, leading her toward the small pool. He wanted nothing more than to drop to his knees and feast on her pussy, but he was anxious to be inside her, to fill her as he drank from her neck. His cock hardened fully and his balls hung heavy and full, aching to bathe her in his scent.

Soon. Very soon.

Joce slowly entered the pool, holding her hand firmly as he helped her sink into the heated water. His skin flushed red with the heat, but it was nothing like the warmth of his
fire
. Her touch consumed him while this was nothing more than a tepid wind.

He moved across the pool, heading toward the shelf that he’d had installed just for this purpose. True, the seat could be used by one person alone, but everything was always better in twos.

Kate’s moans followed him and he paused, glancing over his shoulder. His breath caught at the sight before him, at her flushed face and the glow of her skin.

“So good,” she whispered and trailed her fingers through the water. “So perfect.” She cupped her hand and dipped it beneath the surface before tossing that handful of water in the air with a laugh. One filled with joy and excitement and held none of the constant strain that’d consumed her for the past week.

“You did this for me.” Her gaze grew serious and she closed what little distance remained.

Joce shook his head. “No, I did this for us.” He lifted their twined fingers to his mouth and brushed a kiss across her knuckles. “I live for you, I breathe for you. Everything I do from the moment I wake until the second I sleep is for you, Katherine.”

Her breath caught, sucking in a soft gasp. “Joce…”

He released her hand and cupped her cheeks, drawing her forward. “You don’t have to say anything.”

With infinite care, he brushed a soft kiss across her lips. His cock still throbbed and ached to be inside her, but it was tempered by the sweetness stretching between them, the emotions that swirled in the air.

“Just know that my feelings are deep and never ending.”

Kate pushed to her tiptoes and treated him to the same gentle caress of lips. “So are mine. That’s why it hurt so much when…”

When he’d pushed her away.

“I’m—”

She pressed her fingertips to his mouth to silence him and a wide smile graced her lips as she removed her touch. “No more apologies. Just tell me you won’t ever shut me out like that again.”

“Never.” He would never again deny himself his
fire
.

“Good,” she whispered, and then he found her mouth on his once more, this time with an added passion that he was happy to embrace.

She lapped at the seam of his lips, his
fire
being the aggressor, and he met her desire with his own. Taking advantage of her ardor, he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close, moaning when the softness of her belly pressed against his cock. Kate trembled with the connection and then rolled her hips in a blatant caress.

Moving slowly, he eased backward, shuffling them across the pool until the back of his knees met the edge of the stone seat. He carefully lowered himself to the hard surface, drawing Kate along with him.

“Sit astride me,
chéri
,” he murmured and tugged, encouraging her to straddle him.

And then she did. She placed her knees on either side of his hips and lowered her heated wetness to press intimately against the hard line of his dick.

That slick heat scorched him, the temperature and his body’s reaction so different than the natural pool that surrounded him. It held the pulse of life, the connection that lingered between a vampire and his
fire
.

“Katherine,” he rasped and sucked in a harsh breath when she wiggled against his aching cock.

“Joce,” she whispered back, the soft sound ending with a low moan and she twitched above him.

Unwilling to remain still, he stroked her and caressed every inch of her body that he could reach. He ran his hands over her outer thighs to her hips, giving them a soft squeeze and then encouraged her to rock against his aching dick. She slid along his length, front and back, rubbing against him in a sensuous wave that was just enough to drive him mad, but not enough to make him come.

He slid his palms around her, following the curve of her hip until he cupped her ass, the plump mounds overflowing his hands. He loved her ass, the abundance of her curves and the way it shook when she walked in front of him. He ached to nibble and bite every inch, explore every curve and find its hidden secrets.

Another day…

Today was for the connection between them, to tighten the tie they’d started weeks ago. He was ready. Ready to open himself to her. Ready to trust, to lov—