Trueblood 01-The-Consolation-Prize (22 page)

“Constantine may have friends.”

It was possible, but Luka didn’t like the way he’d made her shudder. Perhaps he should have made sure Constantine couldn’t survive, not just left him. Luka decided to call Dan and ask him to send Jason to Chloe’s apartment to check for a pile of ashes by the window.

“Why did you let him into your apartment? Why did you try to tackle him on your own?”

“I was hoping you’d come first only you didn’t.”

If guilt could kill him, he’d have dropped dead on the spot.

“How did you get in? I thought you had to be invited over the threshold.”

“But you
did
invite me.”

“I didn’t know you were there. I was too busy trying to trick Constantine so I could grab the bottle.”

“I heard you invite me in.” Had she called to him in his head? He hadn’t known that would work.

“Why did you come?” she asked.

“Because I found out the truth and I realized how badly I’d misjudged you. I’ve got no excuses, Chloe, I should have listened to my heart and I didn’t. I’ve spent so long on my own, not trusting anyone that I forgot how to believe in goodness and truth. I’ll never let you down again.”

“Promise?” she whispered.

“I’d die rather than hurt you. I’m ashamed of the way I treated you. I don’t deserve another chance. I don’t deserve you. Don’t forgive me too quickly.”

“I should wait for a few more minutes then?”

“I mean it, Chloe.”

“I know you’re sorry. If you want to make it up to me, I’d like tea in bed in the morning, the newspaper and croissants on Sunday, you can do all the ironing and clean the bathroom while I supervise.”

“Anything. I’ll do anything. Give you anything.”

When her hand crept onto his thigh and stayed there, Luka felt as if she’d wrapped him in a blanket and cuddled him to her chest. He would not lose her. He drove fast, heedless of speed cameras. She made no sound for the rest of the journey. Her eyes had closed and her head rested against the window.

Luka wanted to roar with rage and grief. She was too ill for mortal medicine. He had no idea how long it would be before she realized it. She would die without his intervention. Maybe die with it. The choice was impossible. Let her die or try to turn her so she lived as he did without the sun. He knew what he wanted, what he was desperate for, but it had to be her decision. He couldn’t make it for her.

* * * * *

His house was an ultra modern construction, with curling walls and darkened windows. It was a near fortress, controlled by a sophisticated electronic system. After the builders had finished, no one but Luka had ever set foot inside. He wiped the minds of those who knew the details of his security system. He hired no one to look after him. When cleaning needed to be done, he did it himself. The same with any repairs.

The gates opened at the car’s approach and closed after it passed through. The same with the garage. Once the door had rolled down, Luka scooped a sleeping Chloe into his arms, looped her bag over his shoulder, and carried her to his bedroom. She stirred as he laid her on the bed. When she opened her eyes, she panicked; her eyes widened and her breath quickened.

“Chloe, be calm. You’re safe. Nothing can happen to you here.”

She focused on his face and then relaxed, reaching up to put her arms around his neck. “Never let me go,” she whispered and pulled him down.

Oh God, how could he keep that promise? “As long as you want me to hold you, I will.”

Luka lay at her side and held her in his arms. Chloe pressed her lips against his and he groaned into her mouth. He should be looking after her, explaining things to her that he never wanted to have to say, and all he could think about was making love to her. Was it wrong to want one more time while her mind remained free of the truth? When he’d told her everything and destroyed her world, she might never let him touch her again.

Her soft tongue slipped inside his mouth, hot wet silk teasing him, tempting him to respond. He should tell her, but she eased her tongue deeper and he countered it with a tease of his own, catching her lower lip between his teeth.

Luka’s mind swirled. Chloe’s taste and scent overpowered him as strongly as he’d imagine drugs did a mortal. She was his addiction, his only reason for existing. When he felt her desire, scented her arousal, Luka lost his head and forgot his worries. She kissed him as though she was dragging life out of him and yet it couldn’t have been further from the truth. Every kiss, every touch gave him life, warmed his heart, made him appreciate the depth of his stupidity. He wanted to spend the rest of his life making it up to her, but he might not have the chance.

His tongue plunged deeper and his hands slid down to wrap around her body, pulling her against him. His cock was on fire with need. She was his, only his. He would not let death claim her.

Chloe’s fingers fumbled with the buttons on his shirt, but Luka couldn’t wait. He ripped it open to give her access to his chest and caught her laugh with his mouth. Their lips loosely connected; they stripped each other until they lay naked side by side. His eyes scanned the length of her body from her feet to her eyes and the knowledge of how much she’d been hurt clamped his heart in an iron fist, squeezing until the pain reverberated all over his body. All of this -- his fault. He circled one of the worst marks with his finger, a dark purple oval on her beautiful breast.

“I’m s --” he began and a small finger stopped his lips.

“I know I’m not pretty but --”

Now his finger stopped her words. “You are the most beautiful woman in the world.”

He’d never said words he meant more. Chloe opened her mouth and sucked his finger inside, then two fingers, wrapping her tongue around them before Luka pulled them free. He reached for her breast and she grabbed his hand, kissed his palm, nibbled the fleshy pad below his thumb, and swept her tongue over his wrist. Desire rushed through him like a flash flood. Luka wanted to impale her with one deep thrust, sink his teeth into her neck; instead he throttled back his need.

“I love your hands,” she said and kissed his knuckles. “I love these broad, strong fingers that can be as gentle and soft as feathers. I love your eyes all dark and mysterious. I love your lips that --”

“Not as much as I love your lips.”

He lowered his mouth to hers, running his tongue along the seam of her mouth, sucking, nibbling, caressing until Chloe caught hold of the back of his head and pulled him closer. Luka choked with the thought of losing her. Raw emotion rushed from his throat and he buried his face in her hair, stroking his cheek against her soft locks while he brought himself back under control.

She bent her head to kiss his nipple and Luka’s cock swelled enough to burst. He would not rush this, but his balls had other ideas, tightening and separating in their sac.
Don’t you dare
. Luka clamped down on his desire and his body tensed.

“Oh, Luka,” Chloe said with a sigh and his control blipped out like a spent bulb.

He seriously considered a swift trip to the bathroom to relieve the pressure, but he couldn’t bring himself to stop touching her. Luka cupped her breast, sighing at the soft weight of her, stroking her nipple with his thumb as she caressed his shoulders. His cock might be weeping tears of desperation, yet he refused to rush. He wanted to make love to every part of her body, but he let her set the pace, let her touch him. He put her wellbeing before everything, even his own life.

Yet Luka knew sacrificing himself couldn’t save Chloe from her fate.

Her lips and teeth traced a delicate path down his chest, her hardened nipples brushing his skin along the way, sending tremors through his body. Then her breasts encased his cock with their velvety warmth and he moaned. His hands swept over her back, weaving patterns on her skin.

When her mouth reached his navel, Luka arched off the bed, lifting her too and she laughed against his belly.

“Whoa, horsey,” she whispered.

His balls screwed themselves into a frenzied knot of tension as arousal began to overpower reason. Her tongue bypassed his eager cock and ran down the taut skin of his groin. Luka’s hands dropped from her head to grasp the sheets. He’d rather rip those than hurt Chloe. He could feel her breath hitting his balls and then with one long slow sweep of her tongue up the length of his cock, the pressure of his climax began to build towards detonation.

“Oh, Chloe,” he whispered. “I wanted to do this to you. You have to stop.”

“Let me.”

In a sweet, slow gulp she enveloped his cock with the wet heat of her mouth. Watching her face as she made love to him with her lips mesmerized Luka. The sensitive blood-engorged head of his dick brushed the top of her mouth, and as she let him slide between the hard and soft palate Luka knew what torture really meant. The sensation had his fingers clawing the sheets, his hips arching from the bed, his pulse pounding in his head. She explored every inch of him with her tongue, lips, and teeth. Luka focused on every soft touch, firm pull, and teasing nip until his balls issued a final warning. He was seconds from spilling between her beautiful lips before a fragment of sense returned to the broken jigsaw of his brain. He was supposed to be loving her, bringing her pleasure.

Ignoring his infuriated cock, Luka reached down and pulled her away, letting his dick slide from between her lips.

“What?” she gasped, looking up at him through heavy lids.

“You.” Luka wasn’t sure if he could manage a whole sentence. Better not to try. Better to show.

He lifted her by the waist and settled her over his straining shaft. Her hands slid to his shoulders as he pulled her down and at the same time drove himself up in one desperate, frantic thrust.

Mistake, mistake, mistake
. How had he thought this could be better for her? His control disintegrated. The feeling of her wet, tight flesh gripping his cock sent contractions racing up and down his spine.
Do not come
. As if he had a choice. The only consolation -- that he could watch her pleasure build with every thrust of his hips, every plunge of his cock. The need to make her happy was the key to keeping him in check. This was for her, not him. All that mattered was Chloe.

Although Chloe was on top it was Luka who did all the work. His firm hands gripped her bottom as he thrust into her with long, forceful strokes, each one sending a pulse of bliss through her body. Chloe was on the wildest ride of her life and every muscle knew it. Luka changed the angle of her hips so that each drive of his cock rubbed her clit. He pulled her down for a kiss, the movement of his tongue echoing that of his hips as he drove into her. Her arms looped around his shoulders to hold him tight, she squeezed him with her thighs and he groaned into her mouth.

The sensation of his breath rumbling into her throat triggered her climax. Chloe felt as though a lightning bolt flashed through her to grind on her clit. Her muscles clamped down around him and she shuddered and convulsed as her body flooded with sweet waves of delight.

She loved him. The words moved from her brain to her mouth but she didn’t allow them out.

This time she had to make him love her.

The moment the contractions began to fade and Chloe began to reclaim her body, Luka spun her over, sheltering her beneath him as he pulsed into her with short, ruthless thrusts.

“Chloe, Chloe, Chloe,” he gasped. “My angel.”

Chloe found herself coming again, twists of pleasure bursting in an accelerating rhythm until stars exploded behind her eyes. Luka’s cock made one hard lunge and then his seed burst from him, warm jets spurting from the end of his cock as he groaned and gyrated his hips against hers.

She bucked and heaved with a strength she didn’t know she had, her body swallowing his, wanting him to lose himself inside her.

Luka’s eyes were jet black, his fangs out as he held himself above her, his body tense and vibrating as the last spasms trickled away. Chloe pushed aside the thought that this might be the last time he made love to her. If this was all she got, then at least it had been with the man she loved. She could be happy now that Luka finally understood that she hadn’t, would never betray him. She threaded her fingers in the black satin of his hair and ran her hands down to cup his cheeks.

He rolled to his side and kept her tight against him, staring into her eyes as if she was the only thing that mattered in his world. No one had ever looked at her like that before and Chloe gulped under the intensity of his gaze. She lifted her hand to his mouth and ran her finger under the tip of one of his fangs.

“Why didn’t you bite me?” she whispered.

“You can’t spare the blood.”

“I want you to bite me.”

He closed his eyes and groaned. “Christ, Chloe. Don’t tempt me.”

“It…it isn’t because Constantine --?”

He didn’t let her finish. His lips sealed her mouth, his hands pulled her close. He kissed her until she felt safe, until she forgot what she’d been going to say, until she fell asleep.

* * * * *

Luka picked up the note he’d left on the pillow by Chloe’s head. He’d not wanted to leave her, even for a second but he had no food in the house, nothing to give her. He’d driven to the nearest grocery store and snatched items from shelves -- just a few things until she could tell him what she wanted. When he got back, she lay as he’d left her, deeply asleep, curled up with her arms tucked in tight to her body. Three soft toys lay beside her: a green dragon, a white unicorn with a horn that needed sewing in places, and a fairy princess with long, curly brown hair. Luka wondered how the dragon had ended up back in her possession. The last time he’d seen it was on the floor of his office.

He stripped off to his boxers. When he lay down on the side away from the toys, she turned and moved into his embrace, her face nuzzling his shoulder. Luka had been hard the moment he saw her; now he thickened even more. The mark on his arm had stopped hurting as soon as he’d brought her to his home. He wondered about the twin marking on hers. It had to be significant, but how?

“Where’ve you been?” she asked. “I was cold.”