Between a Vamp and a Hard Place (32 page)

“Lindsey,” he murmured. “Lindsey, Lindsey.”

“I'm here,” I told him between kisses. “I'm here and you're warm. You're warm to the touch. It's incredible.” I skimmed my fingers over his face, feeling the delicious flush of his skin. To my delight, I could even feel beard stubble coming in on his chin. He'd never had stubble before. Fascinating. It was like all the processes in his body had stopped the moment the Dragon had instated his connection, and now that it was free, so was Rand. “Can you see sunlight?” I asked him, suddenly curious.

He cocked his head and looked at me, then gave it a small shake. He didn't understand.

I looked around. His windows went out to the rest of the hospital. No windows outside. I guess we'd have to save that question for another day, because I didn't know how to communicate “sunlight” with our language barrier.

Rand said something else, and his good arm went around my waist. “Something something something, Lindsey,” he told me.

“Is that Old English?” I asked, curious. “French? Spanish? Um, Prussian?” I tried to think of all the places he said he'd been.

He just gave me a quizzical look and tugged me into bed with him.

I went because God, I never wanted to be separated from him again. I slipped my legs under the thin hospital blanket and snuggled up against his side. My hand smoothed down his chest as I tucked my head into the crook of his shoulder. His cast-covered arm lay atop his lap, and I touched it gently. “Does your arm hurt?”

“Hurt?” he repeated.

“Arm,” I said, patting his arm, and then mine. “Arm.”

“Arm,” he agreed, accent thicker than I'd ever heard it. Then he grabbed my hand and kissed my palm. “Lindsey, arm.”

I giggled. “Lindsey's hand,” I corrected.

“Hannnnd.” He nipped my palm with his teeth—normal teeth.

“That is adorable,” I told him. “We're going to have to teach you English all over again. And can I be the one to say I don't mind in the slightest? Because I'd rather have you unable to talk to me than have you with that horrible vampire in your thoughts.”

His eyes narrowed, and he gave me a helpless shrug. His arm locked tight around me, and he pulled me against him, then kissed the top of my head, hugging me close.

Tears pricked my eyes. Yeah, I knew just how he felt. “Me, too, love. Me, too.” My hand continued to smooth up and down his chest, the ability to touch him incredibly soothing. Just having him here again, with me? It was worth everything in the world. I pressed my hand to his chest and wept again to hear his heart beating strongly in his chest.

It was incredible. We were so lucky.

Whatever dark “thing” had given the Dragon his immortality had been removed when he'd been destroyed. We'd thought Rand would be ash, but by destroying his maker, he'd become utterly free once more.

His hand pressed over mine.

I smiled and tilted my face up to his, just so I could look up at his masculine beauty.

Rand leaned in and kissed me, his tongue grazing my lips. I was a little surprised, because he tasted different. It wasn't the spicy, heady taste that drugged the senses like before. Now, he tasted like man, and he smelled like soap.

I decided I liked the changes. I kissed him back, flicking my tongue against his.

He groaned and pulled me tighter against him. “Lindsey,” he breathed.

“I know,” I murmured. His lips were flushed and deliciously full, and I nipped at his lower one, then sucked on it, which elicited another groan from him. “I liked you as
upyri,
but I like you even better as human.”

“Upyri?”
he asked huskily, recognizing the word.

“Human,” I repeated, and patted his chest again, in the thump of a heartbeat.

“Human,” he agreed.

I got a naughty idea and slid my hand under the blankets, to his erection. He was rigid under the hospital gown, and it made for easy access. So I took him in hand, loving how scorchingly hot his skin was. “Human,” I said again.

He sucked in a breath, and that tiny sound reminded me that he was, in fact, breathing. I was filled with another rush of love and decided right then and there I was not leaving this room until I made love to him.

“Wait right there,” I murmured, and gave him another light kiss on the mouth. He didn't want to let me go, but I slid out of his grip, went to the door, and moved a chair in front of it. I checked all the blinds to make sure they were drawn, and scanned the room for cameras. Nothing.

Perfect. He was all mine.

A month ago, I might have turned my nose up at having sex in a hospital bed, with no privacy except that of an unlocked door barely blocked with a chair, the windows only covered by blinds. But a month ago, I hadn't been to Venice.

A month ago, I hadn't pulled the stake out of a vampire's heart and woken him from a six-hundred-year slumber.

A month ago, I hadn't been attacked in the streets, visited night graveyards, killed vampires, and chugged more garlic than any human possibly wanted to.

A month ago, I hadn't fallen in love.

Hours ago, I thought I'd lost the man I loved. The grief had been so horrific, so wrenching, that I still felt hollow inside. And I vowed that nothing was going to come between us and our happiness ever again.

And if I wanted to have sex with the man in his hospital room, by golly, I would.

As I approached the bed, I slipped my hospital gown off. I wore nothing underneath, and I strolled toward him, nude and proud. When I reached him, my hand went back under the blankets and found him again.

Hard as a rock. I sighed with pleasure.

“Lindsey,” he groaned. An entire stream of words followed that, and I had no clue what he was saying. His good arm went around my shoulders, and he tugged me closer to him, until my breasts pressed against his hospital gown.

I sat up and tugged at the fabric. “Let's get this stupid thing off you, hmm?”

Despite our communication barrier, he understood exactly what I was asking. Between his good hand and both of mine, we managed to pull it off him. I tossed it to the side and gave a sigh of pleasure as I slipped back under the covers and laid down against his warm skin. Rand as a vampire was sexy, but Rand as a flesh-and-warm-blooded man? Utterly divine. I couldn't keep my hands off him. I trailed my fingers down his chest, feeling the hints of old scars. I pressed my lips to his shoulder, then kissed his collarbone, his neck, his jaw. All the while, my hand on his stomach slid lower and lower, until it returned to the curls at his groin, and then, his cock.

I gasped to feel something wet and pulled the sheets back. Pre-cum dotted the head of his cock, and my eyes went wide with surprise. That was new.

Rand dragged my fingers to his cock, trailed them over the pre-cum. “Human,” he told me in a thick voice.

Oh God, was he ever. “Human,” I agreed. “My human.” I lifted my hand and tasted him from my fingers. He was salty, musky. Delicious. “Rand.”

He reached for me, then winced, his bad arm falling back to his side.

I put a hand to his chest. “Let me,” I told him. “I'll take care of our pleasure. You just sit back and relax.”

“Lindsey,” he murmured again, and I pulled the blankets back over his hips . . . and went under them.

My hand went to his cock again, curling around the base. My mouth followed, and I licked up the pre-cum dotting the crown of his cock, sighing with pleasure as his taste touched my tongue. The more I licked, the more appeared. I took the head of him into my mouth and sucked gently, then lapped him like I would a treat.

His hips jerked, and I felt his good hand twine in my hair. “Lindsey,” he murmured again, followed by another stream of soft syllables. I could imagine what he was saying. More, more, more. As I sucked, I began to take him deeper, pumping him with my mouth.

Rand began to rise to meet my mouth, his hand holding my hair in place until he was fucking my face, his movements rapid. I kept pace with him as best I could, excited that I could turn him on so much with just my mouth. I felt him shudder, expecting him to come.

Instead, he pulled his hand from my hair and brushed his fingers over my shoulder, trying to get my attention. “Lindsey.”

I popped my head up from the sheets. “Hm?”

He tugged me toward him and dragged his mouth over mine, his kiss hungry and devouring. “Mmm,” I sighed, and put my hands on his neck, leaning against his bare chest and pressing my breasts against him. I slid up and down against him, letting my nipples rub against his skin, growing more and more aroused as his mouth possessed mine.

Rand's hand went between my legs, pressing to my sex. I heard his soft exhale as he found me wet for him, and I rocked against his hand, encouraging his touches. I loved his touch. Adored it. Wanted it everywhere. “Touch me all you want,” I told him, breathless. “I'm all yours.”

As if he could understand my soft commands, his fingers pressed deeper, seeking my clit. I moaned as he found it and began to rub back and forth, teasing the sensitive hood. My mouth became frantic on his, my hips moving on his hand as he continued to finger me, making me mad with desire. I ached for him. “I want you inside me,” I told him.

“Lindsey?” he asked, a question on his breath.

I thought about condoms, then decided to skip it. If we made a baby this night, I'd take it and be glad. I wanted anything and everything that came my way, from now until forever. So, kissing my love, I straddled his hips and settled over him. And as I kissed him, I reached between us and guided his length to my entrance.

He pulled back a little, gazing into my eyes. He said something, then tapped my breast, a grin lighting his beautiful face.

And I laughed because I knew what that meant. Weasel balls. Was I going to wear them for birth control? I shook my head and kissed him again, then guided his hand to my stomach to let him know that we were going to take things as they came . . . literally.

Rand nodded, his smile widening.

Guiding him deep, I pushed down on his cock and moaned as he palmed my breast, then teased the nipple. I was so wet that it didn't take much to seat myself entirely on his length. Then, I put my hands on his shoulders and began to ride him, my hips moving in gentle rolling motions.

He reached down and pressed his fingertips to my sex, then began to rub my clit as I rode him, which made me crazy. Gasping, I clung to him and began to ride him harder and faster. His hips began to jerk under mine, until we were shaking the hospital bed with the force of our exertions.

I came, crying out his name, and as I did, he ground me against him, slamming me down on him until he came moments later. I felt the heat of his spend inside me and reveled in the difference.

My Rand. No longer a vampire. Still all mine.

Leaning in, I kissed his face over and over again. I wanted to collapse on top of him and go to sleep, but, first, hospital gowns. With a small smile, I asked, “Is it okay if I stay here tonight?”

He only tilted his head at me, then rattled off another stream of words I didn't understand.

I yawned. “I'm going to take that as a yes, babe.” I leaned in and gave him a peck on the mouth, then slid off the side of the hospital bed.

He grabbed my hand as I did and shook his head, a silent entreaty for me to stay.

“I'm not leaving,” I told him, smiling. I pointed at the discarded hospital gown a short distance away. He let go of my hand reluctantly and was pleased when I redressed and joined him in bed again. Rand pulled the covers over me and tucked me against his side, and I snuggled against him to catch a few hours of sleep before the hospital orderlies could chase me away.

I was never leaving Rand's side again.

It turned out the hospital was keeping Rand isolated because they'd thought he had a mysterious illness that had caused memory loss. His language barrier was also stumping them, except for the fact that he'd managed to learn a few words overnight. They were baffled, because other than his now-gone fever and his hurt arm, there was nothing wrong with Rand.

He made it very clear, though: he wanted to go home with me.

Since he had the fake ID with the Venice address, there was no reason to suspect more than a freak medical occurrence. And since the hospital couldn't come up with a good reason to keep him, they let him go, with a promise to send his bill in the mail. I was also declared healthy enough to check out, though they did ask me if I'd be interested in donating blood in a week or two so they could study my rare blood type.

I declined. I'd given out enough blood in the last month.

Gemma picked us up and our little party caught the next train back to Venice. To the place that was starting to feel like home, oddly enough. Strange how Venice had seemed so odd to me a month ago, and now all the little canals gave me a happy feeling of relief.

When we got to the old apartment, it was a joy to not have to invite Rand in. Instead, he grabbed me and swung me under his good arm, then carried me over the threshold like a sack of potatoes. I squealed with laughter the entire time.

“You guys are fucking weird,” Gemma said, but she grinned. “Try to control yourselves for a bit, will you?”

“No promises,” I said, kissing Rand.

“No promises,” he echoed, though I wasn't entirely sure he understood what he was saying. He just knew it made me smile.

Gemma rolled her eyes.

Rand gave me a smacking kiss and set me down a few feet inside the apartment. “Lindsey home,” he said, showing off his new English.

“That's right,” I said with a pat to his big, brawny chest. I'd been trying to teach Rand a few words so he could communicate, because I knew he was frustrated. Right now his vocabulary was worse than a caveman's, but it was a start, and he was a fast learner. “Apartment in Venice,” I told him.