Sexual Appetites of Vampires (Sexual Appetites of Unearthly Creatures #1)

Chapter 7

CHAPTER 7

L ara froze under the hot spray, goose bumps eating away at her wet skin like tiny, famished bugs. Was it the storm or had someone turned out the lights? Someone? There was only Michael.

What to do? She couldn’t see a thing.

She slammed her hand over her mouth, stifling a gasp when she caught the sound of movement in the room. Michael was here in the bathroom with her. Had he shut off the light? Had her thoughts inadvertently called him to her again?

She shivered at the thought or was it anticipation that had her body quivering?

“Don’t be frightened; I’m here, Lara.”

“Where?” she demanded remaining under the spray, his voice too clear to be in her head, which meant...

“In the room with you,” he said, finishing her thought.

“Why?”

“The generator to this part of the house shut down. It will kick on again, but not for an hour or so. I didn’t want you to be frightened.”

“A little late, I’m already frightened,” she admitted.

“Of the dark or me?”

“You in the dark with a stark naked me in the shower.” She cringed, realizing she had just put a vivid image of her in his head, not that it wasn’t probably already there.

“Is that an invitation?”

Part of her wanted to scream yes, come join me, but she forced herself to say, “No.”

“Your thoughts not only tell me differently, but so does your body. I can feel the quiver of passion stirring in you. I can hear the soft hum of your sensitive nub waiting to be touched and smell the intoxicating scent of the wetness that grows between your legs.” He laughed. “Tightening your legs will not keep me from touching you, though I would much prefer to explore your unique taste with my tongue.”

Her legs buckled and she spread her arms out, one hand bracing against the wall and the other the shower stall glass door to keep herself from collapsing.

“And then there’s that squeezable backside of yours. How I would love to give it some loving bites.”

A shot of passion stung between her legs and ran up to torment her clitoris. Damn, if his blatant suggestions weren’t affecting her almost as much as his touch.

“Stop, Michael,” she said with little resolve.

“Let me taste you. Let my tongue bring you to climax...more than once.”

She tried to combat the pulsating throb between her legs with another squeeze, but damn if it didn’t do more harm than good.

“Let me taste you, Lara. Lose yourself to me if only for a short while. Let me give you a climax you won’t forget.”

Yes! Yes! Her mind cried, but she kept her lips locked tight.

She gasped when his hands suddenly circled her waist.

“Your thoughts are as clear to me as your words, or did you forget?”

She opened her mouth to what? Deny it? Deny him when she wanted him so badly? It didn’t matter. He didn’t give her a chance to protest. His mouth found hers and he kissed her as if laying claim to her, as if searing her lips and branding them his.

He drew her up against him as his kiss deepened, and she reveled in the feel of his naked body, all hard, defined muscle. Curiosity shot with desire had her hand reaching down and taking hold of the hard, thick length of him...velvety smooth, rigid, and so tempting.

She caught her breath when his lips suddenly left hers.

His hand wrapped around hers and held it still. “Not yet, Lara, not until I make you mine.”

He lowered his mouth to her neck and nibbled his way down it, along her chest, to catch one of her already hard nipples in his mouth.

It was a good thing his one hand hugged her waist and the other steadied her back, since her body went completely limp.

She almost sighed with regret when his mouth left her breasts to travel down along her stomach. His hands moved along with his tongue, grabbing hold of her backside.

“Brace yourself,” he ordered just before his tongue flicked across her nub that had been crying out impatiently for him.

Her arms shot out to her sides, one hand slamming against the wall and the other the glass shower door.

She never knew a tongue could be so sexually lethal. Good Lord, the man knew what he was doing and she damn well wanted him to keep doing it. She dropped her head back and groaned louder with ever lick and flicker and whatever else he was doing to make her feel like she had never felt before.

His hands gripped her backside harder and drew her closer to his face, as if he was burying himself in her and oh how she wanted him to burrow himself there. She startled when he drove his finger into her, though his one hand held her backside firm, not letting her move.

Hot. She was so damn hot and suddenly the water shut off.

“Spread your legs,” he said, and she did, not giving a damn about the water.

She lost all sense of time and reason as Michael brought her to the edge of orgasm, drifted her back again, and then plunged her into a mind-blowing orgasm that had her screaming out, begging him not to stop, and he didn’t. Twice he had her climaxing and with the second climax she had realized what she had been missing all this time and tears sprang to her eyes, ever so grateful that she finally got to experience a thunderous orgasm.

And damn, it had to be with a vampire.

She was in his arms before she knew what was happening, snug against his chest.

“Don’t cry. Your tears burn my soul.”

“You don’t have a soul,” she said sniffling.

“Another misconception. Besides how could I love if I didn’t have a soul?” He stepped out of the shower.

“Don’t put me down. I like being in your arms.”

He pressed his brow to hers. “And I like having you there. But you need to get dry; you’re wet.”

“I’m always wet around you.” She heard the surrender in her voice, but then what was she to do, fight what she had no heart to fight against?

“I know,” he whispered and nuzzled at her ear.

“Can I keep nothing from you?”

“Definitely not when it comes to making love and also tears, especially when tears accompany sex.”

“They’re not sad tears.”

“I know, but it still hurts me when you cry. To know that you have found no pleasure in something that should be most pleasurable disturbs me, though it also pleases me to know that I am the first man who has ever satisfied you.”

“Satisfy is an understatement,” she said with a laugh.

He lowered her to her feet, and she unlocked her arms around his neck with reluctance.

“I wish I could see you,” she said, the darkness making everything seem surreal, but then everything had been surreal since she had walked into this house.

“Raise your arms,” he said, and she did without question.

She felt a towel slip around her, and he tucked the edge just above her one breast. He then took her hand and led her out of the bathroom to the bedroom where the light of the flickering fire in the fireplace cast a soft glow over the room...over them.

He wore a towel wrapped around his slim hips and his dark hair glistened, still damp from the shower.

“You are beautiful, especially in the throes of climax.”

She yanked her hand out of his. “You can see in the dark?”

“Yes, and I have never seen anything more beautiful then you when I made you come.”

Her heart skidded for a second and her stomach fluttered. What was this man doing to her? He was making her feel things she had never felt before. And worse, he was making it much too easy to fall in love with him.

She quickly chased the thought from her head, not wanting him to hear it. Not wanting to think it herself, for it was absurd. Wasn’t it?

“That’s not fair,” she said playfully. “You saw me, and I didn’t get to see you completely naked.

“I can remedy that,” he said and dropped his towel.

Lara stared; she couldn’t help it. He was gorgeous from top to bottom and definitely in between. If perfection existed, then he certainly was perfect, except—of course—he was a vampire. How did she ever get around that fact?

“I am who I am, Lara, nothing will change that,” he said and took a step toward her.

She didn’t step away from him; she didn’t want to. And that troubled her even more.

“Vampires aren’t the evil creatures portrayed in books and movies. We’re simply a different species from humans.”

“Far different,” she added. “You can kill in a single bite.”

“A useful trait,” he said with a smile.

“It’s not funny,” she scolded.

“I would never hurt you,” —his eyes darkened and the tips of his fangs peeked from beneath his upper lip— “though I would kill anyone who did.”

Lara shivered, his intense tone making it apparent that he would do just that. But why did he feel so compelled to protect her? They had only met. It was nothing more than lust that he felt for her. Wasn’t it?

She felt gentle warmth encircle her, as if wrapped in a loving embrace and she wanted to turn into it and burrow in its overwhelming comfort. Never had she felt so safe and secure in her life.

“Two choices, Lara,” Michael whispered in her ear, though he had not moved from where he was standing. “Join me in bed now, only if you’re ready for me to make you mine or have a drink with me and we can talk.”

What did make you mine entail was the question she was afraid to ask, so she chose the easier of the two, or was it?

“I’ll join you for a drink.”

He scooped his towel up off the floor, though didn’t wrap it around his waist, and walked to the door. She continued to admire his naked body, while wondering if she would eventually surrender completely to him. It seemed inevitable at this point, but it was the consequences that disturbed her the most.

He stopped before opening the bedroom door and turned to her. “It is inevitable; you will completely surrender to me. You will be mine.” He turned, opened the door, and walked out, shutting it behind him.

A quivering thrill raced through her and she scolded herself. “What’s the matter with you? You’re not some helpless damsel who melts at the feet of some mighty warrior. You’re a modern woman who makes wise decisions when it comes to her sex life.”

Who was she kidding? She hadn’t made a wise decision about her sex life since she had surrendered her virginity to Jason Ketchum when she was eighteen. It had been a big disappointment on both sides and the only reason she had done it was out of sheer stupidity. All her friends had lost their virginity years before, and she had felt left out. Jason had always had a thing for her, though she had thought it was more for the fact that he was obsessed with cemeteries or perhaps it had been death he had been obsessed with. So, on a hot summer night she had lost her virginity in a cemetery, though she had drawn the line of doing it on top of a grave. Still, she hadn’t been able to shake the thought that all the residents of Blue Creek Cemetery had been watching. She had the feeling Jason must have gotten a similar feeling since he had never bothered with her again after that, though it could have been that it had turned out so bad that neither one of them wanted another go at it.

Lara jumped and was startled out of her musings when the door opened and Michael entered. He wore black sweatpants that hung low on his hips and nothing else. An uncorked bottle of wine was tucked in the crook of his arm and two wine glasses dangled from his fingers.

She stared at him, wondering how he could appear more handsome each time she laid eyes on him.

“Slip into something comfortable and easily removable,” he said with a teasing grin.

She glanced down at herself and though the towel was still wrapped around her, she felt naked. She quickly grabbed her red flannel pajama bottoms and pink thermal top from her suitcase and hurried into the bathroom to slip them on.

Her chilled toes reminded how long she had been standing half naked, so she was relieved to find her thick pink and white polka dot socks wrapped in her flannel bottoms. She hurriedly pulled them on, ran her comb through her partially damp hair and with trepidation and an ounce of anticipation she returned to the bedroom.

She froze only a few feet into the room. Michael was staring at her with such intense fervor that she thought he would pounce on her at any moment, and she wondered if she would stop him.

“Is there anything you wear that doesn’t make you appear ravishingly sexy?”

Lara gave herself a quick glance, then pointing at herself asked, “This is sexy?”

“It hugs you in all the right places and best of all I can dispose of both pieces in no time, leaving you in those adorable polka dot socks. This way your feet can stay warm while we make love.”

The image of her in nothing but her socks while he drove in and out of her sent her entire body crying out to him.

Michael grew rigid and his eyes snapped shut for a moment. “Careful, Lara, I can resist your body’s cravings for only so long.”

Lara reacted, reaching out and grabbing the long purple robe draped over the chaise and slipping into it, tying the belt snugly at her waist.

Michael laughed. “Not much of a defense, sweetheart.” He handed her a glass of red wine and nodded at the chaise. “Sit and we’ll talk.”

“Here in the bedroom?” she asked, taking the glass, though making sure not to let their fingers touch as she did.

“Bedroom, living room, library, kitchen, I intend to make love to you in as many rooms as possible before our time together is done.”

Our time together is done. The consequences...have a sex fest with a vampire, enjoy it beyond belief and never see him again? Or become like him? Or find yourself caring for him more than you thought possible? She quickly shifted her thoughts, not wanting him privy to her musings.

“As I have told you, though perhaps you’ve already surmised...vampires have ravenous sexual appetites. But then your body tells me that you do as well.”

Only with you. The thought hit her like a dousing of ice-cold water.

“Oh hell,” Lara said and deposited herself on the chaise and downed more than a sip of wine. “What’s the point of fighting it when you can hear my thoughts as clearly as my words? So, tell me why my libido is constantly on overdrive around you. Do you manipulate me and make me want you with such intensity that I think I’ll go mad if I don’t have you?” Holy crap, where had that come from?

Michael took the chair that sat next to the chest of drawers and positioned it opposite the chaise and sat. “It came from you as do your feelings, your desires. I do not manipulate you.”

“Before you left this room, I felt as if I was wrapped in a loving embrace. Did I imagine that or was that you?”

“It was me. I could feel you needed comforting, but I also sensed your reluctance. I, however, could not resist giving you what you needed. As I’ve told you, I will always satisfy you, whether sexually or emotionally.”

“It’s not possible to always satisfy another and not fair to expect someone to do so.”

“Perhaps not for a human, but you forget I’m a vampire.”

“Tell me more about vampires,” she said still finding it difficult to accept that such creatures truly existed and wondering if she would wake up and find that none of this was real.

“Our sexual appetites?” he asked with a grin.

“I think I have a pretty good idea about that.”

“Oh, darling, you haven’t even touched the surface of it yet.”

Damn if her clitoris didn’t quiver, her body ran hot, and an aching need settle uncomfortably between her legs.

“I can smell your need for me, almost taste it.” He licked his lips slowly, his eyes drifting closed for a moment. “I love the taste of you, and I quite fear I will never get enough of it.”

Think of something else, Lara, think of something else , she silently warned herself.

“Yes, Lara, it would be wise to think of something else.”

“Tell me of your grandfather and the curse.”

Michael nodded, then smiled. “My grandfather claims I am much more like him than my father, but my grandmother and mother insist that all Valaine men are alike—stubborn. My grandfather refers to it as determined. Whatever way you look at it, it is the reason my grandfather was cursed.”