Lord of the Vampires

CHAPTER TWELVE

WHEN JANE AWOKE, SHE was still in the cave. She wasn’t sure how much time had passed. All she knew was that she’d never felt so rested. She stretched like a contented kitten, warm despite her nakedness, her muscles liquid, and gazed around.

Startled by what she saw, she sat up. Enough time had passed for Nicolai to clean every speck of blood from the floor and walls. He’d also removed the bodies and subsequent body parts. If not for the lingering taint of evil, this could have been some kind of underground resort.

There was no reason for Nicolai to have done such a thing. They weren’t going to live here. Weren’t even going to spend the day. Unless he’d hoped to spare her any upset. Her eyes widened. That was exactly why he’d done it, she realized. The sweet, darling man.

Hello again, emotional roller coaster. She sniffled, her chin trembling.

“Don’t cry, sweetheart. Please don’t cry.” He was perched beside her, looking away from her, and holding out a bundle of wrinkled material. And God, his profile was gorgeous. Still streaked with blood, though some had been washed away, his cheeks were sharp, his lips lush and his expression relaxed. No ill effects from the fighting. “It kills me inside.”

After everything he’d done for her, she would do anything he asked. Besides, despite his relaxed expression, lines of tension branched from his eyes, as if permanently etched there. Something more was bothering him, and she wouldn’t add to his troubles.

“I won’t.” She used the hem of the offered fabric to clean her face.

The corners of his mouth twitched, his inner worries momentarily forgotten. What did he find so humorous? “Did you sleep well?” he asked.

“Yes, thank you.”

“Good. Now. Will you dress for me?” A question layered with apprehension.

She thought she knew why. Her nakedness aroused him—or at least, she hoped it did—but he didn’t want to do anything about it. Not after what had happened here. She was grateful.

She knew the old adage “replace the bad with the good.” She also knew there was nothing better than Nicolai’s touch. He could play her like a piano, stroking all the right keys and creating a symphony. But she didn’t want their first time to spring from any need but the one to be together.

“Jane?” he prompted.

Dress. Right. “With what?” Her robe was ruined beyond repair.

“Your tissue.”

“Oh.” She chewed on her bottom lip as she studied the “tissue.” A faded yellow cotton robe, clean, and free of rips. Perfect. “Where did you get this?”

He motioned behind him with a tilt of his head. “The only other females here were so grateful to be free of their ogre masters, they stayed long enough to help me clean this room and offered you all of their possessions.”

“That was thoughtful of them.”

“They also offered me the use of their bodies.”

“I will wipe the floor with their blood!” She jerked the robe over her head.

When Nicolai came back into view, she saw that he was grinning. That grin…decadent and shameless. Her blood heated. Blood that belonged to him, had once been a part of him.

“I sent them on their way,” he said. “Without accepting.”

“Like I care what you do,” she groused. This conversation, on the heels of her harem worries, brought out the fires of her temper.

That wiped away his amusement completely. “You had better care.”

She sighed. Honesty was needed if they were going to have any kind of relationship. And she wanted a relationship with him, however long they had left together. A day, a week, a month? Or would she remain here forever?

She wouldn’t worry about that now.

“Fine,” she said on a sigh. “I care.” Her stomach growled from hunger, and in the quiet of the cave, the sound echoed loudly. She blushed. “Do you?”

“More than I can say.”

“I just…don’t want you to be hurt if I leave.”

“You won’t leave. Now, come.” He stood and waved his fingers. “I’ll feed you.”

He cared! And how could he be so certain she would remain? “What time is it?” she asked, accepting his aid with a tender smile. A smile that quickly fled. Her bones creaked and ached as she straightened.

“Close to midnight.”

Back home, she would have been in her bed right now, tossing and turning and dreading the coming morning.

They made their way back to the river. Limping at first, but muscles relaxing with the exercise, she gathered mint leaves and twigs, and they brushed their teeth as they walked. Afterward, Nicolai foraged for fruits and nuts to tide her over. As she nibbled, she kind of expected creatures from childhood storybooks to jump out and grab her, or Laila to scream a curse and appear, but no. The thirty-minute journey was incident free.

Nicolai stepped into the water, dipped all the way in, came up wet and sputtering and motioned for her to do the same. “Bathe, and I’ll gather the fish you scare away.”

“Ha, ha. Shows what you know. Fish adore me. Don’t be surprised if they dance at my feet.”

“Are you trying to make me kill the fish in a jealous rage so you can have more to eat?” he teased.

“Maybe.” More than gorgeous, he was sexy. Amused, playful, all that wet dark hair plastered to his scalp and dripping down his face, crystalline droplets scorching a path down his mouthwatering pectorals, the ropes of his stomach—and, sweet heaven, there were a lot of ropes—and finally catching in the waist of his loincloth.

Without the taint of the cave, there was nothing to dilute her need. Jane hungered for her man more than anything else.

You’ve gotta clean up if you want to get dirty with him.

“Prepare to be awed,” he said, giving her his back.

I already am. She removed her new robe and jumped into the water—such cool, refreshing water—before he could turn and see her beaded nipples. She scrubbed up until her skin tingled. Well, tingled from more than desire.

All the while, she snuck secret glances at Nicolai. He caught several fish and tossed them ashore. As time ticked by, he became more and more apprehensive, his motions clipped. And he was utterly oblivious to her stare. Not once did he glance back at her.

Moonlight spotlighted him, golden and magical. He was so strong, so capable. She chewed her bottom lip as she treaded water. The water might be cool, but the liquid between her legs was warm.

Perhaps she should have been scared or experienced post-traumatic stress symptoms. Flashbacks at the very least. After all, she’d nearly been raped and had been beaten. But this was Nicolai. Her protector. Not even bad memories would dare attack her while he was nearby.

“Nicolai,” she said, a husky note in her voice. She hadn’t meant to call him, but his name had emerged unbidden, unstoppable.

Finally he turned to her. Her breath caught. His eyes were brighter than she’d ever seen them, the gold flecks out to play, mingling seductively with the silver. His cheeks were flushed, his fangs long and sharp.

“Awed yet?” he demanded.

“Yes.” Oh, yes. Was that why he was so distressed and distant? She hadn’t properly praised his skills? “You’re the best fisherman I’ve ever met. Granted, you’re the only one I’ve ever met, but…”

No hint of a smile. “I’ll feed you,” he said, adding darkly, “After.”

“After?”

“I smell your desire for me, little Jane, and I gave you time to grow used to the idea of being with me. Time is up. Come here.” He crooked his finger. “I want you.”

After wasn’t such a bad word anymore. “About time.” She didn’t hesitate. She swam the distance, the water caressing her skin. When she was only a whisper away, she let her feet drop to the bottom and stood. The waterline reached just under her breasts.

“I’m going to have you,” he said fiercely.

“Yes.”

“All of you.”

“Yes.” Please.

He stepped closer. Every time they inhaled, their chests rubbed together, creating the most dizzying friction.

“Nothing will stop me,” he said.

“Not even thoughts of another woman waiting for you?” She hated herself the moment the words left her, but she was still glad they had. Another woman was the reason he had resisted her before.

Shadows couched his features, turning him into the warrior of the night before. “There…is. A woman. Most likely.”

Oh, God. “Who?” A plug was lifted, and the desire drained from her, leaving her cold, hollow. “Do you…did you love her?”

“No. My father arranged the marriage. I do not remember my intended’s face or her name, or even my proposal. I know only that I promised my father I would wed her.”

Don’t cry. Don’t you dare cry. At least his heart did not belong to someone else. That should help.

That didn’t help. She wanted all of him. For herself.

“You’re remembering?” she croaked.

“Not everything, only bits and pieces at a time. I tell you this, not to upset you, Jane, but to warn you. No matter what happens, I’m keeping you. You are mine. That will not change.”

No matter what happens—as in, if he had to marry another woman. “No.”

The possibility of his involvement with another had been so easy to dismiss before. And she could very easily dismiss it now, when it was a reality. If he had decided to end the engagement.

She wouldn’t be the other woman. She wouldn’t! She had too much pride. Didn’t she? Oh, God. The fact that she’d even asked meant she already wanted to consider the option.

No. No, no, no. Her parents had loved each other, respected each other, and that’s what she wanted for herself. A deep, abiding love that placed her first. She didn’t want to spend her nights wondering if her man was in bed with his wife, giving her pleasure and babies. She didn’t want to find herself regulated to the fringes of his life. She didn’t want to be the one everyone blamed for their troubles.

She deserved better.

When she returned home and thought back on her time here—she knew she couldn’t stay now, because somehow, some way, she would find a path home—this was the night that would haunt her. Not those pain-filled hours with the ogres. Not even the humiliation of her whipping. This hurt the most.

She backed away from him. Not allowing the retreat, he reached out and gripped her shoulders, tugging her back to him. Closer this time, until not even a whisper separated them. They were flush against each other, his erection smashed against her belly.

“I know what you’re thinking, Jane.”

“What, you’re a mind reader as well as an engaged man?” She threw the words like weapons, needing to lash out even in the smallest way.

“No, but I know you. You are not leaving me.” The command didn’t come from the tender savior who had held her while she’d slept, but from the dangerous predator who had removed a man’s limbs just to hear him scream. “I told you these things, not to worry you, but to reassure you. Betrothals can be broken. And mine will be. I will have you, and no other.”

“I—I—” Was that a declaration? A proposal? Her emotions ran the gamut, and her mind didn’t know whether to release the despair and accept the sudden tide of joy, or wallow in both. “I know you said I wouldn’t, but what if I do, in fact, leave your world? You would…” Die. She shouldn’t know that, couldn’t yet admit that she did, but then, he hadn’t asked her to forever mate with him, had he?

If he did, mating could very well tie her to this world forever. Her eyes widened. Was that how he knew she would stay?

“You will not leave,” he said. “I will make sure of it, whatever I have to do. Now, we finish this, Jane. Here. Now.” He didn’t wait for her reply, but swooped down, thrusting his tongue deep inside her mouth. Joy won.

She couldn’t help herself. She welcomed him. He still tasted of mint, warm, wet mint, and she couldn’t get enough. And when he tilted her head, taking more, sampling deeper, her nerve endings erupted with sensation. This was what a kiss was meant to be, a possession, a claiming. An awakening of every sense.

Her hands wound around his neck, her fingers sinking into his hair. Later. She’d ask him what he’d meant by “whatever I have to do” later. Right now, she had the most important fact. He wasn’t pledging himself to someone else. Here, now, she would enjoy him.

They stood like that, kissing and rubbing against each other forever. And every second of that forever ramped up her desire, until she was trembling, needy, aching with a fever only he could assuage.

“Wrap your legs around me,” he commanded harshly.

“Yes.” Even the thought left her reeling. She jumped up and did as commanded, expecting him to possess her in the next instant. He didn’t enter her, though. No, he carried her to the shore, his hard length sliding against her. She moaned as he laid her down and stretched out on top of her. Still he didn’t enter her.

“Don’t stop,” she breathed.

“I won’t.” He placed his hands beside her temples, removed his loincloth and anchored his weight.

“So lovely, my female.”

“Prove it. Prove that I’m yours.”

His lips peeled back from his fangs. “When I’m done, you might regret such a request.”

“Promises, promises.”

Once again, he defied her expectations. He didn’t go in for the kill, didn’t deliver instant relief to her raging desires. Instead, he spent the next few minutes kneading her breasts and laving her nipples, his fingers tracing erotic patterns on her stomach, but he never quite reached where she needed him most.

When he began kissing the same white-hot path his fingers had taken, her legs fell open, a silent plea for contact.

He didn’t give it to her.

He licked her inner thighs, between her damp lips, even speared her core with his tongue, sinking inside for the briefest of seconds, teasing her with what could be, but he was always careful to bypass her clit.

She needed to come, damn it.

“Nicolai. Stop teasing.”

Warm breath trekked over her. “Who do you belong to, Jane?”

Well, well. Now she knew his game. Work her over, tease her with what he could give her, until she gave him what he wanted—what she’d demanded of him. Ownership.

“Look at me,” she said.

He rested his chin on her pubic bone. His lashes lifted, and his gaze met hers. Tension strained his features. He wanted to come as badly as she did. “Yes?” he said.

Who would break first? “My turn.”

She flattened her feet on his shoulders and pushed. A second later, he was the one flat on his back and she was looming over him.

“What are you doing, Jane?”

“Having my turn.” She laved her tongue over his nipples, loving how they speared her tongue. “If I do anything you don’t like, just say stop.”

“I’ll like.” His hands tangled in her hair. His claws must have regrown, because she could feel them biting into her scalp, and she loved it. “Anything you do, I’ll like.”

“Well, then, let’s see what you like most.” She licked her way to his navel and dipped inside. His muscles quivered with anticipation. Her breasts cradled his erection, and she rubbed up and down, up and down, fueling his passion. Soon the tip of him grew moist, allowing a smoother glide.

She wanted him out of control. Mindless. Desperate. Exactly as she was when she was with him. She may not have very much experience, but she wouldn’t let that stop or intimidate her, she decided. She would learn his body, his every secret desire.

“Jane,” he rasped.

“Yes, Nicolai.”

“I need… I want…”

“Me to taste you?”

“Oh, gods, Jane.” His voice was a croak. “Yes. Please.”

She crouched between his legs and peered down at his cock. He was so long, so thick and hard. Down, down she leaned…but she didn’t gobble up that delicious length. Not yet. She lavished attention on his testicles, teasing him as he had teased her, until his hips were lifting in supplication.

“Please,” he said again.

“Who do you belong to?” she asked as he’d asked her.

He didn’t even try to hold out. “You. Jane.”

The admission affected her as strongly as a caress, and she shivered. “I’m going to make you so happy you said that.” She fit her lips around the head of his penis. His flavor hit her taste buds, and she groaned in eagerness. More, she wanted more. She slid her mouth all the way down, until he reached the back of her throat.

A hoarse cry left him. Up she glided, lightly scraping him with her teeth. Another cry. She hovered there, unmoving, tormenting. Waiting.

“Jane, I like this most.”

Down she slid; up she glided, repeating the process over and over, slowly at first, then increasing her speed. Soon he could no longer speak, could only moan and groan as she had. Having him like this, at her mercy, his desire for her consuming him, directing all of his thoughts and actions, was a powerful aphrodisiac to her.

Just as his testicles tightened, signaling the start of his climax, she stilled, clamping her lips on the base of his cock, preventing him from going further. A little trick she’d read about but never tried. His roar of need blasted through the forest.

“Jane,” he panted. “Jane, please.”

He was trembling, moist with perspiration, but he didn’t come. And when the danger passed, she crawled up his body, trembling just as violently. His fangs were so long they’d cut into his lip, leaving trails of blood down his chin.

“Why didn’t you…”

“I want you inside me.” Her blood was molten in her veins, causing sweat to bead on her brow. “Need to be inside you, but not yet, not yet.” His hands returned to her hair, his fingers pulling at the strands. “Must control urge to bite you first.”

“Don’t control the urge.” She leaned down and flicked her tongue against one of his fangs, quickly cutting the soft tissue. “Give in to it. I’m fine.”

He groaned as if in pain. “Delicious.”

“More?”

The world suddenly spun. He’d tossed her on her back, and was looming over her. “More,” he slurred, his gaze locked on her hammering pulse. “No, can’t. Not yet, not yet,” he repeated. “Baby.”

“Yes?” Why not yet? Maybe she was greedy. Maybe she was selfish. She wanted now, now, now.

He chuckled, a broken sound. “No. Baby. I could give you a baby. Do you want a baby?”

Understanding dawned. Sadness and fear suddenly swamped her, dulling some of her desire. “I can’t have children.” Would he think less of her? No longer want her?

The woman his father had picked could probably have children.

Oh, ouch.

Jane had thought she’d come to terms with her lack. But now…the thought of starting a family with Nicolai… She wanted that, she realized. Not now, but later. When they were safe. To be with him, to have his child growing inside her… She would never know that joy.

The lack was another reason she’d dumped Spencer when she had. Once, they’d talked about getting married and starting a family, and she’d known how badly he had wanted that. With her, he would never have it. So she’d let him go, knowing he would thank her one day, when he was wed to another woman, his kids running around and laughing in their home.

“After the accident, my body is ruined,” she said, pushing the words past the lump in her throat. “So, you don’t have to worry about getting me pregnant. Ever. And if you want to stop and never take this thing between us any further, I’ll understand.”

He peered down at her, a dark warrior whose ire had been pricked. “Jane?”

“Yes?”

“I want you no matter what. Need you. Never think otherwise.” With that, he gripped her thighs, spread them and surged up, hitting her deep inside with that one powerful thrust.

She forgot her sadness as instant, necessary, all-consuming desire flooded her. He was so big he stretched her; she was so wet, her once-neglected body gave him only minimal resistance.

“Nicolai!” His name, oh, how she loved his name.

“I like this, too,” he said. In and out he moved. “Changed my mind. Like this most.”

Her mind clouded, her nerve endings razed to the point of pleasure-pain, and she screamed. She’d been so turned on, the slightest stroke would have sent her shooting off to the stars. But this…sweet heaven, this.

Oh, God, it was so good, and she was so lost, she never wanted to be found, wanted this forever… Nicolai, Nicolai, hers, always hers. She was babbling to herself, and she knew it, couldn’t control it. Didn’t want to control it. Just wanted more. Of him, of this.

“Shouldn’t bite, must bite.”

“Bite. Please. I’m yours, Nicolai. I’m yours.”

He growled, and then his fangs were in her neck and she was climaxing, squeezing at him, clutching at him. Taking everything he had to give and demanding more. And he gave it to her.

He rode the waves of her satisfaction, thrusting inside her with a fervor that left her breathless. He was all around her, a part of her, the sole light in her world. Drinking, drinking, oh, yes, drinking. Soon she became dizzy, and little doubts peeked from the shadows of her mind, as if they’d been hiding all along, waiting for her defenses to crumble.

Maybe his words—want you no matter what, need you—were preorgasm talk, meant to lure her into bed and keep her from running. Maybe the cloud of desire had been leading him all along. Maybe he would later change his mind about wanting her.

Maybe, when this was over, he would let her go.

No. She fought back. No. This wasn’t temporary. He wouldn’t discard her. Even if he learned the truth about some of the things she’d done to his kind?

Cold, hard reality. Again, she fought back. Nothing would destroy this moment, not even that. Here, pleasure mattered. Only pleasure.

He hooked one of his arms under her knee and lifted, opening her wider, increasing the depths he reached. Instantly her body prepared for yet another climax, needing it just as desperately as the others, as if sex with him was a prerequisite for her survival. She should fear that. She needed him too intently, was no longer complete without him.

Hell, if she left, would she be the one to wither? Had she mated him and just didn’t know it? What did she know about the road to mating? Nothing really.

Nicolai took hold of her other leg and lifted, surging impossibly deeper, and she forgot even that. There was no part of her left untouched. She was Nicolai’s woman, plain and simple, branded by him, a part of him. After this, she would never be the same, didn’t want to be the same.

She sank her nails into his scalp and forced his head up. His teeth slid from her vein. “Nicolai…”

“I’m sorry.” He eyed her, blood dripping from the corner of his mouth. “I didn’t mean… Did I take too much?” Agony wafted.

“No.” He could have it all, every last drop. “Kiss me,” she demanded.

“Yes.” He met her halfway. Their lips pressed together, their tongues dueled. His flavor filled her, and this time it was mixed with hers. Together, every part of them together…intoxicating.

“Mine,” she said.

“Yours.”

Forever, she didn’t let herself add, but, oh, did she want to. Later, they would talk. Yes, the dreaded conversation about feeling and intentions. About the future.

The kiss continued, spinning out of control, their teeth scraping together, as he slipped and slid within her. He released one of her legs to move his hand between their bodies, and pressed his thumb against her clitoris. Just like that, she exploded again, spasming around him.

He hissed out a breath, pushed deep once more, and came, every muscle he possessed clenching and unclenching. She’d never made love without a condom, and loved the feel of him jetting inside her.

When he stilled, she wrapped herself around him, holding him as close as possible. He collapsed on top of her, but quickly rolled to relieve the pressure of his muscled weight. They were both sweat soaked and feverish, trembling.

“My Jane,” he said, so much satisfaction in his voice she couldn’t fear the upcoming discussion.

She kissed his shoulder. “My Nicolai.”

Forever.

She hoped.

“Don’t leave…need to talk,” she breathed, just before drifting off to sleep.