Tooth And Nailed Part 14

"Vampire's have traditionally been predators, you know. All predators evolve to survive."

"Uh-huh. Can we not talk about the teeth anymore?"

He rolled his eyes. "Coward."

"Bet your a.s.s," she said.

He grinned. "That's what I like about you, darling. You never pretend something you don't feel."

"I'm a teacher, not an actress," she said, and shrugged. "I can't pull it off anyway, so why try?"

"Well, it's one of your most charming qualities."

"Thank you." She waved a hand impatiently. "Can we get back to Cedric's story, please? You said a bite is normally the easiest way."

"Right. But Cedric was already bleeding so badly, there wasn't any need for the bite. The servant simply drank from one of his wounds then sliced open his own wrist and fed Cedric from the wound."

"Ick."

He grinned at the face she made. "It's not as bad as you'd think, actually. It doesn't taste to me like it does to you. When you cut your finger and you bring it to your lips to ease the hurt, the blood tastes sharp. Coppery and tangy. But to me," he drew her hand to his mouth and grazed the soft pads of her fingertips with his lips. "To me it's heavy and sweet, like the finest cognac and goes to the head twice as fast."

Rowan shuddered with desire despite the instinctive fear she felt and struggled to keep the conversation on track. "So then what happened?"

Jack retained his gentle grip on her fingers, keeping them close to his lips as he spoke. "Cedric was unconscious, so he didn't feel the change happen. I was delirious when it happened to me so the details are fuzzy. But your senses become heightened so you can feel your bones shift, your cells change and reform from the inside out. It's not a painful sensation, but if you don't know it's coming, it can be fairly frightening."

"No kidding."

"Anyway," Jack continued. "Cedric woke fully the next night and immediately went looking for the viscount's daughter. He found her in her bedroom, just as she was slitting her wrists."

"Oh my G.o.d!" Rowan's eyes went round with shock. "What the h.e.l.l?"

"Well, she loved him. Since she thought he was dead, the only thing she wanted to do was follow him to the afterlife."

Rowan rolled her eyes. "Jesus, these people are so dramatic."

"Hey, most women would find this story very romantic," he protested.

"Most women a hundred years ago maybe," she muttered. "But anytime after nineteen fifty-four it's just stupid." She yelped, yanking her hand out of his grip. "Hey, you bit me!"

He sent her an innocent look. "What?"

She scowled at him and examined her fingertips. The skin was tingling where his teeth had nipped but the skin was intact.

"As I was saying," he continued. "Cedric found his lady love bleeding out from her wounds and tried to save her the only way he could think of."

"He tried to turn her into a vampire too?"

"Exactly. But he didn't quite know what he was doing being a novice and nearly botched the whole thing by giving her so much of his own blood that he nearly died himself. Thankfully his new mentor was close by and was able to set things to right with an impromptu transfusion.

"When his lady love awoke, they set off for London where Cedric collected what money he could. Then they essentially disappeared. Cedric's family believed him killed by the viscount's hand and all they ever found of the girl was a blood-soaked nightgown."

He stacked his hands behind his head, watching her face. "They traveled the world together, eventually settling back in London. After sufficient time had pa.s.sed of course and anyone who might've recognized them was long gone. And that's where he took me when he found me on the battlefield."

"They're still together, after all this time? Penelope was the viscount's daughter?" Rowan sighed when he nodded. "Now that is romantic."

"Told you," he said smugly.

She swatted him lightly on the chest. "So after Cedric told you this story, you felt better?"

"h.e.l.l no," he scoffed. "I was still alone, with no family and no friends. Everyone thought I'd died, you see, so I couldn't go home. And no idea what the h.e.l.l I was going to do with the rest of my existence. But he got my attention and made it pretty clear he wasn't going to put up with any bulls.h.i.t."

"I'll say."

"So I pulled it together and started to figure it out." He reclaimed her hand, idly toying with her fingers as he talked. "Cedric kept me busy, teaching me how to survive in my new world. And Penelope, who'd never been able to bear a child because she wasayou knowa"

"Technically dead?" Rowan supplied.

"Right. Anyway, she treated me like the son she'd never had. Which was disconcerting, considering she was only sixteen when she'd been changed. Being scolded by someone who looked as though she should still be in the school room was odd, to say the least."

"It's sweet though," she said.

"It was great," he admitted. "I loved being with them, but after a time I grew restless. I needed to be out in the world. It's not in my nature to be idle. So I said my goodbyes and headed out."

He shrugged broad shoulders. "And that's how it happened."

Rowan slid down in the bed to snuggle against his side, tilting her head up to look at his face. "You miss them, don't you?"

He frowned at her. "What makes you say that?"

"They're your family," she said, as if it made all the sense in the world. "They are still alive, aren't they?"

"Alive's relative," he said, "but yes, they're still around. They're living in Budapest now."

"When's the last time you saw them?" she asked around a yawn.

"It's been about five years, I guess."

"You should plan a trip when all this is over," she suggested, settling her head in the curve of his arm and closing her eyes. "Go to Budapest and see them. You shouldn't neglect family."

She felt him brush a kiss over her forehead. "You're right."

She yawned again. "Of course I am," she said, and drifted off to sleep with his chuckles ringing in her ears.

"Hmmm," Rowan sighed. Her eyes fluttered open to find Jack watching her. Unsurprised, she smiled. "h.e.l.lo."

"Hi," he said, smiling back. "What were you dreaming about?"

"Oh just a dream," she said, reaching her arms over her head to stretch. "One of those lovely, hazy dreams you don't really remember the details of, just the feeling."

He trailed a finger down the soft underside of her outstretched arm. "And what were you feeling?"

"Happy." She smiled.

He raised one eyebrow and she stifled a giggle. "Just happy?"

She sighed in mock exasperation. "Jeez, it wasn't that kind of dream. Get your mind out of the gutter."

His eyes went wide. "Out of the gutter? Out of the gutter? Whatever for when it's so happy there? In facta"" he reached up and locked his hands over hers, grinning wickedly when her eyes went wide and shocked "a"why don't you join me there?"

He set his mouth to hers, nudging her lips apart and sliding his tongue past her teeth. His tongue tangled with hers in a playful tango, the thrust and parry delighting them both. She nipped at his lip, eliciting a m.u.f.fled yelp. He pulled his head up and grinned wickedly at her. "None of that now, unless you're willing to invite the same."

She licked her lips, tasting his musky flavor with the lingering tang of salt, and sent him a sultry smile. "Sorry."

He lowered his head, once again taking her mouth and she bit his lip again. This time his head reared back and he pinned her with the intensity of his stare.

"Rowan, be sure," he said, his voice quiet and firm. "If you keep that up, I'm not going to be able to keep from biting you."

"I'm counting on it," she said, and smiled into his shocked eyes.

"You're sure?" he rasped, and Rowan felt her heart clutch at the cautious excitement in his voice. "I don't want to scare you, baby."

She shook her head. "I'm not scared. I'm not," she insisted when he looked skeptical. "I mean, I was at first. But I know you now. I know you won't hurt me." She licked her lips. "Besides, the idea of you biting meait's kind of hot."

His eyes smoldered down at her. "It's not kind of hot, it's very hot."

Rowan felt her pulse quicken at the predatory gleam in his eye and let out a slow breath. "Yeah," she whispered. "Very hot."

"As long as you're sure," he rumbled.

She flexed her hands in his grip, smiling when he immediately turned her loose. She slid her arms up around his neck, twining her fingers in his hair. She tugged his mouth down until it was a breath away from hers. "I'm very sure," she whispered, flicking her tongue out to tease his bottom lip. "Now, are you going to talk all night or f.u.c.k me?"

She got a brief view of gleaming white teeth as his grin flashed then suddenly the room was spinning and she found herself flipped over onto her stomach with two hundred plus pounds of h.o.r.n.y vampire on top of her.

"I'm confused," she managed, barely swallowing a moan as his hands came up to once more trap hers above her head. "Does that mean *talk' or *f.u.c.k'?"

His chuckle rumbled in her ear, sending shivers racing down her spine. "Oh I think if you pay close enough attention, the answer to that will come to you." He pressed her hands briefly into the mattress. "Keep your hands up there, love. Can you do that for me?"

Rowan's throat had closed off, making speech an impossibility, but she nodded her head in agreement and apparently that was good enough. He slid his hands from hers, dragging his rough palms along the smooth skin of her arms, up over her shoulders and down her back. She felt him move hair to the side, stiffening slightly despite her excitement when he nuzzled into her neck.

"Mmmm," he growled. "I can smell the blood flowing under your skin." His tongue flicked out, teasing the delicate skin under her ear and drawing a whimper from her lips. "It smells so sweet, so rich." He lowered his voice to a rough whisper. "I can't wait to taste it. But first," she felt him slide away from her neck and down her body, "I need to taste this."

She nearly screamed into the pillow when he delved his tongue into the soaked folds between her legs. For the next ten minutes she panted and whimpered and bit holes into the thousand thread count Irish linen pillowcase as he drove her crazy. He licked and sucked and nibbled every square inch of her p.u.s.s.y, taking his sweet time doing it and she thought she'd go insane if he didn't do it faster, harder, deeper. Nothing made him go fastera"not threats or pleas for mercy or outright begging. He just kept on, savoring her at his own leisurely pace, a pace that conveniently seemed to slow considerably whenever she felt herself approaching o.r.g.a.s.m.

After what seemed like hours of hovering on the ragged edge of release with her vision dimming at the edges and her pulse drumming a beat in her ears, she licked dry lips and rasped, "Are you tying to kill me?"

He chuckled against her damp flesh, the vibration bringing her agonizingly close to climax once again. He had her c.l.i.t clamped between his teeth and he gave it a flick and a tug before letting go. "I don't want you dead, darling. But I need you turned on, as hot for me as I am for you. I want this to be so good for you."

She twisted her head on the pillow, restless energy building to a fever pitch in her body so that she thought she'd burst with it. "Trust me, if I get any hotter, I'll burst into flames!" She moaned and picked up her head, turning to look where he was crouched between her spread thighs. She could barely see him through the haze of l.u.s.t and the tangle of hair in her way. "If you don't f.u.c.k me in the next thirty seconds, I'm going to go insane."

"I don't know, are you ready?" He slid one finger deep into her p.u.s.s.y, hissing in approval when her desperate muscles clamped down on him. "You are so wet, darling. And hot and tight. Maybe you are ready for me."

Rowan squealed when he added a second finger to her c.u.n.t, tossing her head back and staring with blind eyes at the bed canopy overhead. "Oh G.o.d, I'm so ready I'm about to get there without you. Please oh please hurry up and f.u.c.k me. I want you deep inside me when I come."

She felt the bed shift as he moved then he was looming over her, his elbows braced next to her shoulders. He slid one hand into her hair, turning her face to the side. He pressed his cheek to hers as he spoke. "I'll be so deep inside you, you won't be able to tell where you end and I begin."

He shifted his weight, sliding his free hand down her spine. She couldn't help the involuntary shiver as his fingertips trailed through the crease of her b.u.t.tocks. They lingered there for a moment, exerting gentle pressure against the puckered, sensitive flesh there. The pressure increased, his fingertip seeking access to that forbidden entrance and she felt a flash of heat at the thought he might take her there.

He held the pressure a moment longer, chuckling as she grew tense and held her breath. "No, I think we'll save that for another time," he murmured, and with a last flick against her a.n.u.s, trailed his fingers down to her p.u.s.s.y.

Rowan barely had time to wonder if it was relief or disappointment she felt that he wasn't going to take her a.s.s. He pulled his hand from her hair and slid his thumbs into her c.u.n.t from behind, prying her lips apart and opening her to his gaze. Even though it was dark in the room, she knew his superior night vision would allow him to see her as though the room were fully lit. She felt her belly clutch, knowing he was looking at her, flesh spread and eager for him to fill it. Keeping her hands where he'd put them, she drew up her knees slightly and tilted her a.s.s in the air. She felt the wash of cool air over her heated flesh as she raised her hips to him. She heard his hissing intake of breath and shivered.

She licked her lips. "f.u.c.k me."

The words had no sooner left her lips when she felt him spear into her, driving her forward on the bed so hard she missed banging her head on the headboard by inches. She braced her hands on the headboard and dropped her face into the pillow as he began thrusting hard and fast. She felt him curl his fingers into her hips as he pounded into her, the bite of his grip only adding to the fire in the pit of her stomach.

Jack draped himself over her back, pressing her into the mattress until her knees slid out from under her. He immediately wedged his knees between hers, holding her wide open and unable limit the depth or strength of his thrusts. He began moving faster, slamming his hips into hers from behind, jolting her against her braced hands with every thrust. She was moaning constantly now, crying out as every push of his hips drove his c.o.c.k deeper into her p.u.s.s.y. She could feel the spasms starting, the delicate flutters of her inner muscles as the o.r.g.a.s.m built. He felt it too and redoubled his thrusts.

"Ah G.o.d!" she wailed, throwing her head back, eyes open and blind as the pressure built and built, threatening to tear her apart. She pushed her hips back, desperate for the o.r.g.a.s.m she could almost taste, but he tightened his grip on her hips and held her down.

"What's the matter, baby?" he growled, his lips so close to her ear she could feel his breath. "You want to come?"

She turned her head to the side, his face so close she could see the sweat beaded on his brow. His eyes were glowing at her as if lit from within, the pupil's dilated so almost all the color was swallowed by bright black. She felt pinned by that look, like a bug on a board, and somehow more turned on than ever.

"Do you want to come?" he repeated.

"Yes, d.a.m.n you!" she hissed, and tried to push her hips back. He countered with a heavy thrust, pressing her deep into the mattress. He held her there, pinned under his heavy weight.

Frustrated and unbearably aroused, she pulled her hands from the headboard, intending to push herself up and gain some leverage. But quick as lightning, he caught her hands before she could wedge them under herself and yanked her flat again, holding her arms out to the sides. She cursed, hissing and bucking, and he laughed as he effortlessly controlled her struggles.

"Now, that's not a nice thing to say," he admonished when she paused for breath. "You don't even know my mother."

"You miserable piece of s.h.i.t," she snarled, glaring at him from behind a tangle of hair. She tried to close her legs to gain just a little bit of friction, but he settled his weight more firmly on top of her and held her legs apart with his knees.

"Ah, ah, ah," he chided. "Name-calling, Rowan? So immature."

She bucked again. "I'll stake you in your sleep if you don't let me come, you blood-sucking jacka.s.s!"

"That's not the magic word," he said, and still holding her motionless, pushed his hips hard into hers.

"Jesus!" Rowan's head flew back at the sensation, her body bucking mindlessly as sparks went off in her vision. She was wound so tight she thought she might explode if she couldn't get relief.

"That's not the magic word either," he said, laughter and strain evident in his voice. He lowered his mouth to her ear. "Say please, darling," he whispered, and had to move quickly out of the way when she tried to head-b.u.t.t him. He let go of one of her hands and tangled it in her hair, pulling her head back so her neck arched. "That was not nice," he growled, giving her hair a sharp tug that made her eyes flare. "Let's try that again, shall we?" He put his mouth on her ear, flicking the lobe with the tip of his tongue. "Say please."

She had to swallow twice and lick her lips before she could speak. "Please don't make me kill you," she hissed, and bucked her hips hard.

He laughed, the sound darkly erotic. "You just can't give in, can you? That's fine," he said, shifting to his knees. "I'll just take what I want anyway." He let go of her other hand and slid his arm under her hips. Tucking his hand into the notch of her thighs, he scissored his fingers around her c.l.i.t and began thrusting again, driving into her with pummeling force and she screamed.