Taming the Vampire: A Paranormal Romance Novella (5 page)

“Enough talk,” he said suddenly. “The sooner
we get this over with the sooner you can go after the Kraken. That
is what tonight’s about, right?”

“Of course!”

“Well, then. Instead of standing there
staring, why don’t you get down here and help?”

She stared at him blankly. “Help?”

He grabbed her wrist, jerking her off her
feet. She fell on her knees beside him, their faces inches apart,
her hand still gripped in his.

“Go on,” he said softly. Moving slowly now,
his eyes never leaving hers, he guided her hand until her
fingertips brushed against the bulge she’d seen pushing against his
jeans.

It was pure instinct that made her mold her
palm against him and grip hard. He gasped, a sound she’d never
heard him make before.

“Sorry,” she said quickly, starting to pull
her hand away. He grabbed her wrist and drew her back again.

“Don’t be sorry,” he said. “That felt good.
Now keep going.”

She glanced up at him again, searching his
face for the disgust or contempt she had seen there so often.

It wasn’t there. He was looking at her with a
kind of focused intensity, but without any hatred that she could
see. She looked down at the fly on his jeans, and her fingers
fumbled just a little as she began to undo it.

He was balanced on the edge of a knife.
Christ, she was beautiful. Her witch black hair shone like silk in
the candlelight as she worked the button loose and then, thank God,
the zipper was down and her cheeks went pink when she realized he
wasn’t wearing anything under his jeans.

He had to force his hands to stay at his
sides.

He knew then he’d wanted Liz Marlowe from the
moment he’d laid eyes on her. He’d been lying to himself for the
last year and a half. Now as she lowered his zipper and freed his
cock, the force of his desire wiped everything else away. He’d
never again be able to hide the truth from himself, but he prayed
he could still hide it from her.

She looked up at him for...permission? Hoping
that was it he nodded yes, anything you want, especially if it
meant touching him again.

And then she was touching him, her hand
hotter than a fever against his cool skin, and he forced himself to
stay still so she wouldn’t startle away again. She was so close, so
close, her scent sweeter than flowers, cleaner than rain.

“I guess you’re ready,” she said suddenly,
looking up at him.

Was she kidding? He’d never been more ready
for anything in his life.

“Yeah,” was all he managed, hoping she’d make
the next move, because he was hanging on to his self-control by a
thread and if he made a move it would be to throw her down on her
back and—

She cleared her throat. “Okay, then. Here we
go.”

He waited.

“Uh...Liz?”

“What?” she whispered, still frozen in
place.

“Sweetheart, you have to...do something here.
Make a move. Unless you want me to—”

“No!” she said quickly, and he knew that the
warrior in her feared giving up control more than anything else.
She would have to do this on her terms.

“All right, then, but this isn’t going to
happen without—”

“I know that! I’m not an idiot!”

He sensed her heart racing, but that was
fear, not desire. She felt nothing of what he felt. He was a fool
to think she might.

Still, he didn’t want her to be afraid of
him. Of this.

“There’s nothing to be scared of,” he said
softly. He reached a hand towards the side of her face, just
wanting to soothe her, to reassure her, to—

“Don’t touch me,” she cried, slapping his
hand away. She was trembling all over. “I’m not afraid of you,” she
said. “I
hate
you. I don’t want you touching me, you—you
thing
. I hate you!”

For one second they stared at each other.
Then Jack reached down and pulled up his zipper.

He stumbled to his feet and went for the
door. He had to get out of here before he started another fight
with this bitch—one that wouldn’t end in a stalemate.

It took Liz a split second to realize what
she’d done—and what the consequences could be.

She sprang up and ran in front of Jack,
standing facing him with her back to the door. He stared at her in
disbelief. “What do you think you’re doing? Do you want me to hurt
you? What you said back there—it’s what we call an exit line. So
get the hell out of my way before I go right through you.”

She couldn’t let him leave. The knowledge
that he was about two seconds away from doing just that made her
words tumble over each other. “We have to finish the ritual. We
have to! I’m sorry I said what I did. Neither of us wants to do
this but we have to, Jack! It’s our best chance to kill the
Kraken!”

Cold rage was in his eyes. “I’d rather let
the Kraken slaughter this entire city than stay here with you one
more second.”

She winced. “Okay, I deserve that. I’ll say
I’m sorry again if you want but please, Jack, you can’t leave!”

“Was it a lie?”

She stared at him. “What?”

He stepped closer to her. “Was it a lie?”

“I...”

“You said you were sorry. Why should you be
sorry if it was the truth? Do you hate me or don’t you?”

She laughed a little shakily. “It’s not the
kind of thing you say to someone you’re about to have sex with. I
shouldn’t have said it. Not then, anyway.”

His eyes were boring into hers. “I see. So
you’re sorry because it was bad manners, not because it was a
lie?”

“Jack, I don’t know what you want me to say.
We’ve always hated each other. Haven’t we? But we have to go
through with this. We have to.”

He came even closer, only inches away now,
and she wanted to get away, to run, except that she was the one
keeping him here.

“I’ll stay on one condition,” he said.

Her heart thumped against her ribs.
“What?”

“We’ll do the ritual, but on my terms.”

She wished he wasn’t so tall. It gave him an
unfair advantage, being able to tower over her like this. It was
hard to breathe, hard to—

“What do you mean, your terms?”

“Do you want to know a secret?”

Her blood was rushing in her ears. She
couldn’t speak.

He slid an arm around her waist and pulled
her hard against him. She gasped, as shocked as if she’d stepped
into icy water. She felt his erection, she felt his strength, and
for a second her own power seemed to desert her. He bent his head
close to hers. “I want you,” he whispered.

Her face flamed, like a teenager’s.

“I’ve wanted you since the first time I saw
you,” he went on, still whispering, but now his cool lips were on
her throat, at her pulse point, against her collar bone.

She opened her mouth but no words came out.
Her eyes closed and her head went back, and he was kissing his way
back up her throat, to her ear, and then he was whispering to her
again.

“I can make you feel good, Liz. Better than
anyone’s ever made you feel.”

Her hands clutched at his shoulders, but
whether to push him away or pull him closer she had no idea.

Then his hands, deliciously cold, were
sliding under her tee shirt, under her cotton bra, and she couldn’t
stop herself from moaning and pushing herself into him.

He pushed her bra out of the way and laid his
hands on her breasts. His touch was soft, hypnotic, and all her
consciousness was focused there, on his thumbs brushing over her
again and again, until suddenly he pinched her nipples hard and her
knees gave way as she let out a strangled cry of pleasure.

He caught her under the arms and lifted her
up again, but before he could start another assault on her senses
Liz put her hands against his chest. “Wait!” she panted. “Please,
Jack...it’s not a fair fight.”

He watched her with a crooked smile as she
tugged her bra back into place. “I hate to break it to you, Liz,
but we’re not actually fighting. I know it’s been a while since
that night in the alley, but you don’t remember it being like this,
do you?”

Her knees still felt weak, so she fisted her
hands in his shirt for something to hang on to. “All I know is
fighting,” she said. “Especially with you. When it was just hate I
knew where I stood. I knew what to do. But now, this...it’s like
you’re using a weapon I can’t defend against.”

Her back was against the door, and now he put
his hands on either side of her, leaning in close.

“Look at me, Liz.” As if she could have
looked anywhere else. “You don’t have to be a warrior all the
time,” he said. “Just lay down your arms for this one hour. Both of
us will. When tomorrow comes, things can go back exactly the way
they were, if that’s what you want.”

Lay down her arms. She was frightened at how
much she wanted to do that. To stop being a warrior, just for a
little while.

It was hard to focus with him so near. “I
don’t know if we have an hour. I mean...the spell only lasts for
one night. If we’re going to finish the ritual we should do it
fast.”

He brought his mouth to her ear again. “I can
make you come in five minutes.”

And then she felt his hand on her thigh, just
under the hem of her skirt.

She froze into stillness, holding her breath.
His hand slid up her bare leg, under the skirt, and her body felt
hollow, insubstantial, held to the earth by the touch of his hand
alone, moving slowly along her fevered skin, cold vampire flesh
moving towards the core of her heat. He paused for the barest
second, and then covered her mound with his palm.

Her body spasmed. He massaged her firmly, and
Liz bit her lips to keep from moaning.

“Please, sweetheart...let me in...”

Never in her life had Liz given up on a
fight, but she gave up on that one almost before it began.
“Yes...anything...God, Jack, anything you want...”

He kissed her neck and smiled against her
skin. His fingers were moving now, stroking her curls. She was wet
already but now she felt a flood of moisture from her core, and she
knew he could feel it too.

He traced her outer folds with his
fingertips. “You want this, don’t you?” he whispered.

“Yes...” she breathed, eyes closed. His
fingers dipped a little deeper, teasing at the sensitive skin until
she felt dizzy. She’d never wanted anything like she wanted those
cold fingers inside of her.

“So hot, so wet...you’re drenching me, Liz.
What am I going to do with you? What is it you need?”

“You,” she gasped, starting to writhe against
him, trying to get him to—

“Where do you need me?”

“Inside! Please, Jack...need you
inside...”

His mouth had been at her ear, making her
quiver with his whispered words. Now he kissed her on the mouth for
the first time, roughly, and thrust two icy fingers deep into her
channel.

His kiss muffled the cry that escaped her.
The feel of him was better than she’d imagined—like nothing she’d
imagined. His thumb settled over her throbbing clitoris as he
pumped his fingers slowly, making her spiral higher and higher but
not giving her enough to send her over the edge.

Any semblance of self-control was gone. Her
tongue tangled frantically with his. Her body was thrusting against
his fingers, her back arching as she tried to urge him deeper.

He broke the kiss. “Look at me,” he ordered,
and her eyes snapped open to meet his. “I’ve got two fingers inside
you, kitten. You want another?”

“Yes!” Her whole body was aching, desperate
for more.

“But you’re so tight...” he murmured, his
thumb rubbing lazy, agonizing circles. “I don’t think you can take
any more.”

“I can...God, Jack, please...”

His voice turned rough. “Has anyone else made
you feel like this?”

Liz stared at him, panting. No one had ever
come close to making her feel like this. Her whole body burned,
vibrated, hummed with desire. But to say that out loud...to
him...

He pulled his fingers out of her and pinched
her clitoris, and she gasped.

“Tell me,” he ordered.

“No! No one...not like this...”

He added a third finger and buried them as
deep as they would go.

She cried out and thrashed wildly, throwing
her head back as she hung on to his shoulders for dear life. He was
twisting his fingers inside her now, curling them, hitting a little
bundle of nerves she hadn’t known existed. And now his thumb was
moving fast and hard, bringing her a pleasure so intense it was
close to pain. She was almost maddened with sensation, spinning so
high off the ground she was afraid the crash would kill her.

Then he pulled out to deliver a quick, sharp
slap to her clitoris before thrusting inside her one more time.

“Oh God...oh
God
!” Her head fell
forward and she bit down, hard, to keep from screaming as the
explosion came, shattering her into a thousand pieces.

From far, far away she heard Jack calling her
name as she bit deeper, tasting cotton but feeling his flesh
beneath. She was falling, falling, but he was there to catch her,
his strong arms helping her sink gently to the ground, wrapping her
up tightly as she came down from an orgasm she thought deserved to
have another name, to distinguish it from other, lesser
orgasms.

Hours might have gone by, or days. His
fingers were still buried inside Liz’s heat, feeling every
aftershock that pulsed through her body, and her teeth were buried
in his shoulder. The pleasure of that pain called to his most
primal instincts, but it was surprisingly easy to hold the demon at
bay.

He would have stayed like that forever if it
was up to him. He buried his nose in her hair, inhaling deeply. She
used a shampoo that smelled like strawberries.

Her body stilled, and very gently he pulled
his fingers out of her and stroked her softly instead. She gave a
little murmur of pleasure, and then froze.