The Thorndykes 1: Dispossessed (6 page)

Eyes so intense without the mask, black brows snapping over them, frowning in concern for her. A bad boy with a conscience. His lips, so full, tempting, and dark, crisp hair, cropped into an expensive, short style that begged for someone to ruffle it a little. Shocking she could want him so badly after her near brush with death. She wasn’t fooled. That kind of close contact with silver could have killed her if he hadn’t acted so promptly.

He’d handled her so gently, so carefully, he’d melted her. They’d been in this bath for around twenty minutes, and he’d shown no sign of subsiding. Got harder if anything. And that ring—intriguing. “Can you—”

“What?”

“Do everything?”

“Pee, you mean?” His bluntness seemed a part of him. “I manage. Have sex? That too. I’m told it can enhance the experience. I usually wear a curved bar, but tonight I needed the ring. I use platinum and gold, not silver.” He read the question in her mind. “Protection? I can use a condom if I have to, if it’s expected.” When she would have turned her attention back to his cock, he touched her chin, keeping her attention on his face. “You’re still weak. You need to replenish what you’ve lost.”

Awareness sparked between them. He knew what she was going to say, but she said it anyway. “Sex will make it work better.”

At first when he brought her here, she’d concentrated on recovering. She’d suffered injuries before. Doing her job, living where she did, it’d be hard to avoid it. She’d broken her leg in a fall from a horse. That had taken two nights to heal. She fully expected as long from these wounds, and she’d need tomorrow night to get over the weakness, but if she fed, that would speed the process.

He watched her as she turned around to face him. His gaze was intense; his presence rested in the outer fringes of her mind. She needed him deeper, mind and body—an impulse that came from somewhere in the primitive heart of her, the unthinking part. Resolution like she’d never felt before took hold, urging her instincts to the fore. Not the reasoning woman, but the powerful vampire, the part of her she’d never trusted enough to act on what it told her before tonight.

This would be the first time, because he stirred everything in her. Before he’d bound her, when he touched her breasts, a flash of something stark and true had shot across her thoughts before he masked it. Desire. Well, it went both ways. Now he’d done what he’d come to do, he’d be moving on. A few days, maybe. He’d never stayed longer, to her knowledge. That was why she hadn’t met him before. That, and her parents’ insistence on the family keeping a low profile.

“If you want me to feed, then let’s do it properly.”

Shock shot through her mind. His. “Have you ever done it this way before?” he asked her.

She shook her head, knowing his meaning. Vampires who fucked while feeding could generate a huge hit, like the best, purest drugs known to man, the finest wine, the rarest Scotch. “I know the risk.” She did, but she didn’t care.

“All of it? What’s certain is we won’t be able to stay apart, at least in our minds. It could take years to sever the connection.”

“We might not want to.” They’d remain connected at a deeper level than telepathy normally allowed. Not as permanent as bonding, which lasted for life, but it would mean they could never lie to each other, would always feel what the other was feeling. If she stayed in Taken. Vampires this old, this powerful didn’t come her way often.

He caught her chin in his hand, more firm than his earlier touch, forced her to meet his gaze straight on. Alarm filtered through to her. “I travel alone.”

“Any reason for that, a woman in your past, maybe?”

“I’m old,
mignonne
. Old enough to know relationships don’t stick with me. I enjoy my solitude. There have been women, of course there have, but none that stuck around too long. I prefer to retain my independence.”

A shadow passed over his eyes; something made his lids drop a fraction before he lifted his chin to meet her stare. Something else, something he was keeping to himself. That would change if they linked. Or it might not. They might not be able to lie, but they would still have the power to conceal, to lie by omission.

Intriguing. He probably thought her too inexperienced to spot any inconsistencies, but she’d had to learn.

Cautiously she rolled her shoulders, flexing the muscles of her back. No resistance, only a slight itch. Time to take this a stage further. He wanted to care for her, felt guilty about her being hurt while in his charge, so she’d use that to get what she wanted.

Lifting one leg, she raised up on her other knee and straddled him, resting her ass on his upper thighs. His cock stood between them, the now lukewarm water covering his balls and the lower part of his shaft, the silvery ring gleaming, making her mouth water. “Here?”

“The temperature’s getting cold.” He stretched one long arm to touch a button, and hot water poured in from the central faucet.

“We’ll warm it up on our own.” With a sultry smile, she leaned forward and kissed him.

He opened up immediately, curled his hand around her neck to hold her in place as he thrust his tongue into her mouth, aggressive, needy.
“Too right we will,”
he murmured into the depths of her mind.

She pulled away, finishing the kiss before he was ready. He stared at her, dark eyes pure want, his lips wet from their harsh embrace. “You want to see my fangs? Then fuck me, big boy.”

A slow, devastating grin deepened the creases at each corner of his mouth. “My pleasure.” He switched off the hot water. They were plenty hot.

She’d ride him. He took his cock and guided it to where she hovered above him, waiting. His breathing grew ragged.

First sex could be awkward. It could also be wildly exciting. Lucille got the feeling this would be both. For a start, that ring. How would it feel?

While he held his shaft steady, she pushed down. She appreciated being in control of this. The smooth metal, warm from the water and his body heat, touched her. Different, that was all. It didn’t hurt, no rough edges, and then it was in her.

Wow. It added bulk, and the small bead on the ring that must be where it fastened rubbed against her sweet spot. Underneath, he stretched her opening.

“Oh, yes.” She half closed her eyes. “That feels good.”

She nudged her pussy, exposing her wet slit to him, making it easier for him to touch her. Then he thrust.

Lucille had discovered the pleasure of a man filling her when she was eighteen, but nobody did it as completely as Jay Trevino. No protection needed here, since vampires were immune to disease. She used it with her mortal lovers for their peace of mind. But not now. She sank down until he was fully inside her. Then took a deep breath. “Fuck.”

“You said it.”

And that accent, melting her ears with rich-as-chocolate goodness. Mellow and rich, amusement lacing through it like whipped cream. “Now for the fangs.”

His irises flashed red, and he opened his mouth. Long, wickedly sharp white fangs erupted from the tooth buds where they resided. A shot of extra excitement like turning a single espresso into a double lanced through her.

With a gulp, she did the same, her reveal not as dramatic. As a teenager she’d enjoyed teasing the boys with the sight. She’d always explained it away, or simply removed the memory, or distorted it to a taunting reference rather than the real thing. When her father caught her, he gave her hell, so she’d stopped doing it. These days when she fed, she did it quietly and discreetly, taking what she needed before fuzzing the mind and moving on. Keep hidden; keep down.

Not with this man. She’d never found the mere act of dropping her fangs a turn-on before, but then she hadn’t done it with another vampire. Families didn’t ordinarily share blood unless they had to, so she’d never fed from Drew or he from her. The act was too intimate, too close to passion for most relations to enjoy. Hers included.

Leaning forward, she allowed Jay’s cock to slide out of her a little. She brought her fangs to the side of his neck where the pulse throbbed enticingly, and drove her body down on to him. He gasped and stiffened, his cock hardening still more, a shot of his pleasure arcing into her brain.

She pierced deep. Blood gushed into her mouth, then where it should go—up the hollow center of the fangs to the organ every vampire possessed, the extra one that processed the nourishment they needed, the
sanguinius
. She gulped the excess blood and swallowed again, the feeding process triggering the reflex action.

Then he grazed her throat, enticing, teasing.
“Do it.”
She wanted to feel him in her, fangs and cock, taking her to new places as she instinctively knew he would.

“Fuck.”
Not the most eloquent she’d heard from him, but that in itself told her he was moving out of control. Exactly where she needed him. While she could take him on, he was stronger, more powerful, and could probably defeat her without much effort. That he chose not to, instead letting her lead, drove her wild.

She slammed her body onto his, an action designed to send her to the heights, and fast. Blood pumped into her, filling her with life and vigor as he held his body rigid for her pleasure. He returned her downward drives with upward thrusts, sliding past her G-spot, that maddening loop barely grazing it.

Then she learned something about vampire sex, something she knew intellectually but had never experienced before. He stilled in her mind and then grasped her hips and moved her. It didn’t dislodge her from his neck, but it changed his angle of entry so he hit the G-spot, ring and cock, every thrust on target. He’d intuited her response, knew what she needed from what he’d read in her.

Now her breath turned shallow, gusting over his cheek as she fought to stay sane. With a cry she tried to pull out her fangs so she could concentrate on the wonderful sensations he was giving her. He gripped the back of her neck as he had when he’d first kissed her, and urged her to stay where she was.

“Come while you’re feeding,” he growled, his voice gravel. “Don’t let go.”

He bit down, holding her steady while he tasted her, his fangs the kind of agony she’d never experienced before. Her pain changed into sheer ecstasy even as she registered her reaction.

The hurt sliced into her growing orgasm, the blossoming of her nerve endings a vulnerable target. Instead of halting the process, the snap of pain enhanced it, the comparison a delicious edge. She didn’t realize she’d screamed until the sound echoed around the marble-tiled room, filling it as he filled her with absolute pleasure. Her pussy pulsed, the sharp, intense contractions forcing him higher until he released into her body.

They collapsed against each other. She gently withdrew her fangs and retracted them so she could lick his wounds and aid the healing of the small punctures. They’d be gone in half an hour. He did the same for her, lapping her neck, smoothing his tongue over the sore spots until nothing but delight suffused her.

After rinsing her, not allowing her to help herself, he pulled the plug and lifted her to her feet while the soapy water drained away. He grabbed two fluffy blue towels from a rack to one side of the bath and wrapped her warmly. “No more thinking tonight. I’m going to take you to bed, and you’ll sleep until you’re better.” He gave her a caress of a kiss. “That’s the second time tonight you’ve made me do something despite my better judgment. I’ll to have to watch you, won’t I?”

Chapter Four

Jay woke just before dawn. He knew it before he opened his eyes, because he could feel his powers draining away. Unlike most vampires, he enjoyed the change, enjoyed having two states. He’d tried hard to reduce the vulnerabilities he had during the day—worked out, learned to shoot and to use other weapons, and honed his senses.

He reached out with his mind, grazed that of the woman next to him before he allowed himself the luxury of opening his eyes. They’d drifted apart in slumber, although that didn’t say much, because her warmth close by caressed him, though he wasn’t touching her. He found her healthy, her wounds healed. He gave a small smile.

She’d given and opened to him as few Talents ever did, devastating him. She was young and sheltered; she hadn’t met many Talents before, and her freshness fascinated him.

Get a grip
. Despite being the same species, she was as different to him as she could be. She deserved better.

That didn’t mean he couldn’t teach her some tricks before he moved on, and learn from her in return. He just couldn’t get too close. He never did.

Enough
. He lay back, relaxed, and decided to do a little meditation.

Opening his body, preparing to unwind, he became aware of a disturbance in the atmosphere. A sharp note of distress, faint at first, and then stronger.

He brought himself back, sat up. To his horror, the woman next to him was in tears. Still with her eyes closed, but tears trickled from the corners, seeping down to lose themselves in her hair. He felt her suffering, but only from the outside. She’d slammed her barriers closed, which relieved him somewhat. A basic defensive move in sleep, and even though they’d fucked, she didn’t know him. Was she regretting her decision?

God, he hoped not.

“You’re awake,” he murmured. He didn’t reach out although he longed to. If he were the cause, he’d make matters worse.

Shit.

LUCILLE DIDN’T WANT to open her eyes and face possible derision or lack of understanding or embarrassment. She’d seen all three in her time. Why the fuck had she stayed the night? She should have gone home a couple of hours ago. Better to be brave. His voice purred over her senses as she made her choice.

When she opened her eyes, a few tears trapped under her lids escaped to join the others. One slipped into her ear, uncomfortably passing around the outside. On her own she’d have wiped it away, but now she didn’t want to appear more stupid than she felt already. She swallowed and forced a smile. “Sorry. It happens sometimes. It’s dawn, isn’t it?”

No ridicule, no awkwardness shaded his velvety brown irises. Only puzzlement. Understanding and sympathy replaced the expression at his words. “It goes away,” he said.