Vampires of Eden (Alexander #2)

28. Daniel

CHAPTER 28

Daniel

T he words slip out on a breath and from the depths of my soul.

“Please don’t stop.”

I have him in my grasp. He finally seems relaxed and I’m praying to God, fate and the universe that he doesn’t back away again.

I need this.

I need him .

On my own, I do alright. I’ve accepted my choices and the ensuing consequences. Day to day my body aches. I’m tired and my nature is weak. But I’ve grown accustomed to it. It’s my reality. My fate.

Being around Alexander challenges this fate. The vibrant, unequivocal pull of his nature and its desire for me brings everything into question.

Maybe, I’m not meant to endure this suffering for the rest of my existence. Maybe, I can trust him. Maybe, we could fall in love.

Alexander’s mouth is hot on mine and he tastes to me like electrified sun-kissed oranges. Gently, his aura radiates and hugs the outside of his body. His energy resonates like a citrus grove bending and swaying in an early-summer wind—refreshing to my tired body and weak aura. Invigorating and enticing.

He lifts from my lips and his eyelids are heavy. His nose brushes mine before he kisses the corner of my mouth, my cheek and down the curve of my jawline until he’s nestled in the crook of my neck. I tilt my chin up, breathing and wanting him to take me in some carnal and visceral way.

A surge of energy courses through my body. I had felt stiff, but I’m revitalized as I push against his chest and urge him onto his back. He forfeits, tumbling and I follow the trajectory of his frame to settle on top of him. Resting on one hand, I position myself with my knees on either side of his hips, then simply take him in. This striking man with his golden irises, aroused and finally in my bed.

Alexander rests his hands at my waist, surprised by my action. As he takes a breath and opens his mouth to say something, I dip down and kiss him once more. His fingertips tense and dimple the naked skin beneath my t-shirt just above my underwear, but he relinquishes, softening his jaw and melting into the sensual rhythm of our mouths glued and moving.

I’m tired of talking.

I love talking to him. I do. But I can’t anymore.

Not right now.

The passion is centered in our connection. Between our lips and his tongue searching and tasting mine. In the blind heat and delicious fervor of it, my hips reflexively rock against his shaft. Slow and languid, because I want to take my time feeling him. His hardness and solidity. His glorious, effervescent presence and exotic scent.

I lift from the kiss, but steadily grind against his cock, which is already hard and pinned against my thigh. We’re so close that I can feel and taste his breath as we stare into each other’s eyes. His are glowing. Always shimmering for me and his lips are parted. He breathes in shallow, quiet gasps with his attention solely fixated on me and my movement as if he’s in a trance.

I kiss him again, delicately, teasing as I still my hips and shift one hand down in-between our bodies. His pajama bottoms are soft to touch. Warm and undoubtedly expensive as my palm grazes the fabric, reaching for the hard center of him.

When my palm caresses the outline of his cock, I close my fingers and squeeze. A small, unexpected sound escapes his throat on a huff. It makes me smile. I kiss him again as his hands start to explore.

Gingerly, he drags them up the center of my spine at my lower back. The tips of his fingers trace the concave of my bare skin. It tickles and feels hot and sensual and makes me writhe even though my hand is trapped between our bodies, still gripping him.

The color and essence of our atmosphere shifts. A profound weight and emotion that is invisible, and yet, undeniable. Our inner natures speak loudly now. Shutting out the distractions we’ve been wrestling with. Communicating with each other in their ancient and mythical way.

Responding to some truth that neither of us fully understands, but can no longer ignore.

I lift from his body and reach toward the side drawer of my nightstand. Alexander’s hands linger on my back, not allowing me to go too far. There’s lotion there—not lube—but it’ll have to do.

His eyes are luminous in the sunlit room. Neither of us speaks as I spread the lotion on my hand, then toss the bottle away. Inhaling a breath, I pull my underwear down with my dry hand, just enough to free my own arousal.

Alexander blinks, his chest rising sharply and falling as he stares with his palms resting on my thighs. His aura burns hotter beneath me as I lather myself, biting my lip and reveling in the abundance of sensations. “You, too,” I tell him. “Show me.”

Obedient, he lifts his hips, gently, so that he doesn’t unsettle me on top of him and slips his pajama pants and underwear down. When his cock is free, I crawl back down and fold myself into his body, resting on my elbow once more and taking hold of the two of us in my slick palm.

He whispers my name on an exhale in a quiet, strangled breath. The sound of it stokes the already burning fire in my belly and chest.

This beautiful golden prince. Always so neatly put together on the surface. Dressed to perfection and clean cut. Minding the rules and doing what he’s told.

And yet, he’s here. Against every strict expectation, showing me all of his broken pieces. His heartache, tears and pain. In this far away cottage surrounded by mountains, his nature is lovingly melted outward, seeking and coveting me.

Offering itself to me .

The strange magnetism hovers around us as I stroke and pull. Losing myself to the delicious friction of us in my palm. The slick, sensual goodness of his cock pressed and rubbing against mine. Alexander’s hands caress my hips and down to the curve of my ass inside my underwear. He grips me, squeezing and encouraging my movement.

The air feels like silk and satin against my skin and our mouths are playful. Our kisses are needy as we push, lick and pull, as if we’re wrestling, over and over again and neither of us cares about winning because the match is too good to call. Too amazing to stop.

I pull up from his mouth and inhale sharply as the rhythm of our movement peaks and burns in my groin. It spreads like glimmering heat into my belly—across my chest and up my spine to my brain. His essence perfumes the air like oranges and sunshine and I groan, absorbing every sensation.

His hands on my body.

His hardness and wetness.

His aura and scent.

I let it overtake me and it does. Sending me to a place filled with soft color and light. Ethereal pinks, lilacs and blues all swirling and frothy like sunset clouds as I close my eyes .

The pleasure and goodness of his essence resonates so profoundly within my core that I shudder as I submit to the release. Alexander’s palms grip my hips and ass tighter and his frame stiffens, His body relinquishes to the pressure and tension of our efforts. To this love that we’ve chaotically made.

Dizzy with pleasure, I remove my hand from in-between our bodies and collapse onto him. Into him and the mess of our mutual release on his designer pajamas. Before I can gather my senses, he holds me and flips our positions. The action surprises me, but in a euphoric way, like I’m floating and being settled back down onto a bed of cotton.

Alexander hovers above me with his striking eyes alighted and focused. Evocative and intense. I shift, tugging at my twisted underwear because I want them off. As if he’s read my mind, Alexander lifts, then swiftly works the material down my thighs and legs until I’m free. When he lies back down, he’s cradled between my thighs and flush against my groin.

I lift my arms and embrace him around his shoulders, breathless and blissful in the silence. I feel as if I’m high as he works his way down my jawline and into the curve of my neck. He sucks me there, puckering my skin with his mouth and another hard shiver rattles my spine.

Raising my chin, I close my eyes and speak quietly. “You want me.”

He raises his head. His voice is a warm whisper against my mouth. “ Yes .”

I open my eyes, meeting his radiant gaze as I exhale a sigh.

No more bullshit.

“You have consent.”

I tense, preparing myself for an argument. For him to sit up, run away and explain all the reasons why he—why we—shouldn’t do this. Why we shouldn’t take things this far.

To my utter surprise and relief, he does not.

Without another word, he leans into the concave of my neck. Alexander laps his tongue in a long wanton stroke, then bites down. The moment his incisors break my skin, a long-forgotten torrent of heat and light pulses behind my irises and I gasp. It comes and goes so fast, like the powerful spark of a lightbulb burning out.

Before I can contemplate it thoroughly, I’m flooded with the luscious, melting sensation of Alexander’s affections. The hidden depths of his heart and soul.

He is in love with me. Unquestionably.

He loves me like a haunting and complex melody. A symphony that speaks to both his darkest and brightest parts. Perhaps, even the gray areas in-between. Elegant, masterful and lovely. Emotional and moving.

Alexander appreciates me in this way. As if I’m an expressive song that he always wants to hear. His favorite song.

His emotions soothe the incessant itch deep inside of me. Coating it like a healing balm. Like warm honey. He feeds from me and tears well up in my eyes as I grip the back of his head and shoulders. I’ve never… No one has ever expressed such profound sentiments?—

A familiar jingle cuts through the atmosphere and we both start. Delicately, Alexander stops feeding, then swiftly licks the wound before raising his head. His hair is wild and his face is completely reddened. His eyes bewildered.

My heartbeat pulses violently as I blink up at him. Half awestruck and half dazed. “Y-your phone?”

His eyes burn out as he blinks, waking up from his stupor. “Yeah… it’s… in my robe pocket. Danny why are you crying? Did I—did I hurt you?”

An awkward pause. Shit, I probably look like a train wreck. Quickly, I wipe my eyes and inhale a breath to calm myself and the chaos happening everywhere inside my body. “No, I’m fine. Do you need to answer it?”

“It’s probably Raphael, so yes…”

Another awkward pause.

Sighing, he withdraws from my body. As he shifts toward the ottoman he adjusts his ruined pajamas to cover himself. “Are you sure I didn’t hurt?—”

“You didn’t. I’m okay.”

He looks me over with some serious expression—concern or worry, disbelief—then fishes for the phone in his robe pocket. He briefly glances at the screen before bringing it to his ear and running his free hand through the top of his mussed hair.

“Hey,” he says with a rough, quiet voice that I find utterly sexy. He clears his throat, likely having realized the unfamiliar strain behind it.

I push myself upright, then draw and fold my legs into lotus position so that my shirt covers my cock. Exhaling, trembling, I rub my palms against my face. I feel like we’ve gone from zero to a hundred and fifty.

“I didn’t forget, calm down! I’ll be there. I’m leaving now.” Alexander flashes a nervous look with his teeth clenched in my direction. Whatever it is, he definitely forgot.

A dull throbbing sensation pulsates in the place where he bit me. I lift and touch my fingers to the spot at the base of my neck. When I pull them back, there’s blood. I’m still bleeding out.

“Alright—yeah, I will… Later.” He hangs up, sighs and drops his shoulders. “I have a banquet tonight. Raphael scheduled?—”

Alexander’s eyes widen as his gaze lands on my neck and the still dripping blood there. He hops off the bed and is on his feet like the mattress is on fire. “Fuck—I did hurt you!”

“You didn’t.”

“Why are you still bleeding?” He whips around, frantically looking at the closed doors to my bathroom, then my closet. “Are there towels? Should I?—”

“Alexander.”

“Yes?”

“Come here.”

He falters, blinking as if he doesn’t understand. “Let me grab a?— ”

“Please.” I say calmly but imploring. I touch the edge of the bed with my palm, gesturing for him to sit.

He does. The moment he’s settled with his feet planted on the floor, I crawl and shift my leg over his thighs so that I’m resting in his lap, facing him.

With one hand, I lace my fingers through the back of his hair. I close them into a fist, pull his head back so that his chin is lifted to me, and then I kiss him. He’s stiff, hesitant at first. But as I urge his mouth open and lick into him, he relaxes. His hands slip beneath my shirt, embracing me around my naked waist.

The beautiful, loving thoughts he imbedded within me while he fed float in my mind and heart like a nighttime field of fireflies. Enchanting and romantic. Wondrous. I can’t express with words how he’s made me feel. The hope, love and tenderness he’s given to me.

So, I kiss him. Intentionally and slowly. I’m awkward with words, but I am good with actions. Words aren’t my strength, so I’ll show him.

The hypnotic, sensual pinkish purple magnetism of our mutual desire kicks up again as the kiss deepens. My hips involuntarily rock into his hardness beneath me and his hands roam up my back as if he’s memorizing the lines of my spine and shoulder blades.

I know he needs to leave, so I raise my head. When I do, I’m met with his alighted irises.

“My body is slow to regenerate,” I remind him in the quiet. “If you give it a few minutes, it’ll heal itself. It’s not instant like with most vampires… You can put your mouth back on me until it closes?”

He lifts a hand from my body and pulls at the collar of my t-shirt, examining the trail of blood. “It feels like we’re crossing into dangerous territory.”

I raise my chin so that he can see my neck clearly. “How so?”

“I shouldn’t have bitten you like this. It’s not… We haven’t even… ”

“I gave you consent.”

“Hmm.” He leans in, licks up my flesh to clean the trail, then places his mouth on me once more. I feel him exhale a weighted sigh as he holds me. I hug him tighter in turn because this is perfect. For all my worry about being safe, I feel it here, wrapped within his firm embrace and exhilarating essence.

“I want you,” I say softly, “you want me, so I said yes. It’s simple, Rabbit. We both consent to this situation. We don’t need a formal contract with signatures and I don’t want a dowry from you. We can choose each other in private. We’ve done nothing wrong.”

He draws his head back. There’s a handsome little crease in his brow as he examines the wound where he fed. “I didn’t say it was wrong,” he amends before quickly licking me again for good measure. “I said it was dangerous.”

“You’re not in any danger. Not from me. And I trust you.” He says that he trusts me, but it’s lip service. I’ve hurt him and made him feel uncertain for too long. It’ll take time before he truly, genuinely believes in me. I’m okay with that. “Did I taste okay to your palate?”

He stares, rubbing tiny arcs against the curve of my hips with his thumbs. Like little rainbows. “Not ‘okay.’ You taste beautiful. Like something sweet and intricate that seals the cracks inside of me.”

My mouth hangs open as I blink. The residual heat coursing through my body from his loving bite centers itself in my chest and I smile. “Good.” I tilt my head and kiss him softly once more. “Do you need to leave?”

He drops his hands and his expression is apologetic. “Yes, but… it’s good because I can look at the law book back home in Father’s study. I can take the notes you’ve written and start typing up the proposal.”

“That is good,” I say, shifting from atop his lap and sitting beside him along the edge of the bed. “The proposal is important. ”

“It is. And I’ve been avoiding it for too long. The meeting is coming in a few weeks.” His hand finds mine atop the rumpled bedsheets. I flip my palm so that our fingers entwine.

“When will you come back to me?” I ask.

“Monday,” he says. His eyes burn out. “I’ll stay for my second week of the trial, but after that, my leash will be shortened again. It’ll be harder to escape.”

“Your parents will be back home,” I say, remembering.

He nods.

I sigh.

God, this situation. What kinds of consequences will I inevitably face if I become Prince Alexander Ethan Kendrick’s partner? Central Eden at large, his parents, the Royal Order, his friends— no one would accept me.

Against all the odds, we’re here, together. His nature speaks to mine and mine to his. That has to mean something, right? Somehow, this will work out. I want to believe in magnetism and karma. Maybe I’m being foolish, but I trust in the love he’s just shown me.

Alexander leans forward and kisses my cheek in my contemplative silence. I blink and am snapped out of my tumultuous thoughts.

“But I’ll still come to you,” he says. “I’ll tell them about the vineyard and wine business when they return home. I think my father will approve.”

“Okay,” I say, resigned to the circumstance. I take a deep breath. “If you need help with the proposal or for me to look something up, call me.”

“Can I call you even if I don’t need help?” he asks, smiling with his tousled hair. He tilts his head and the sunlight catches the golden flecks behind his brown irises.

This lovely and sweet purebred.

God? The universe? You better fucking work this out for me.

“Yes,” I say quietly. “Please do.” He pushes into me then, kissing me in earnest. He urges me back down against the bed and I let him.

We lie together in the warmth of the sunlight pouring in through my window, entwined and lazily kissing as if he doesn’t need to leave soon. As if the truth that we only make perfect sense within our insulated world is all that matters.

We can do this, somehow.

I have faith in us.