Bitter Bite (10 page)

Alaric felt her memories shoving to the forefront of his mind as
her emotions overloaded the consort bond. Images of blood and guilt flashed by,
and he suddenly knew her father had been a horrible, abusive man. Even so,
despite the violence she’d done to keep herself safe, she was still innocent in
the way demons relished. Her spirit and body were truly pure.

“I think he’s suggesting a very specific definition of innocent,
Hannah,” Gideon said quietly, having walked up to the door while Alaric
wrestled with Hannah’s past. He touched her shoulder and pulled her into a hug.
At first she resisted, but then she sagged into his arms. “Shh. It’s okay.”

Hannah bit her lip and shook her head against Gideon’s chest. “You
aren’t serious?” She glanced at Alaric. “Sex, right? That’s what we’re talking
about?”

He nodded. “I’m very serious.”

“That’s insane. It’s like something out of a weird romance novel.
Having sex doesn’t magically fix things,” she said, trying to pull away from
Gideon. He trapped her against the door with his body.

“
All
of this is insane, Hannah,” he said, dipping his head
down to kiss her. His dark hair slid across his face. “Mental bonds, vampires.
Us.”

He has the same idea as I.
Alaric was strangely pleased. Strangely aroused. He thought he’d
feel jealous, but instead, he wanted to see more. He wanted to see them bare,
their emotions set completely free for him to taste. It had been so long since
he’d experienced such sweetness, and he yearned for it like a starving man
wished for fruit.

“No, wait,” Hannah pushed away. “You can’t mean—”

“Yes.” Alaric took her by the arms and turned her to face him.
“Tonight you lose your virginity.”

* * * *

Hannah stared at Alaric. His blue eyes didn’t waver for even a
moment. “You’re assuming I’m a virgin.”

He smiled at her, slow and sexy, and then he let her go. She
almost fell without his support. Through the bond, she caught glimpses of his
emotions: worry, arousal, but above all protectiveness.
And both of them feel like that
. Confused, she glanced from Alaric
to Gideon and back again. She wasn’t used to anyone else caring for her so
deeply.
How can this be real? People
don’t just fall in love at the drop of a pin.

“I can sense your purity,” Alaric said. “Unfortunately, so can the
demon.”

Hannah chewed on her lip while her mind ran in circles. She wanted
to trust him. Her instincts told her she could, but this was serious.

“I would never hurt you, Hannah,” Gideon said, as if she didn’t
know that already. He stepped back, then, giving her space.

You don’t really care
about your virginity all that much anyway.
She didn’t. She’d ended up a twenty-one year old virgin more because
of apathy than through any sort of moral choice. She simply didn’t care to hook
up with some random guy, and she didn’t want to date anyone. Of course, now
she’d gotten herself not one, but two men mentally attached to her. Forever.
And there was no going back. She knew that. Accepting it as her new reality?
That was the thing she was having trouble swallowing down whole.

There’s no sense in
prolonging this, though. It’s gonna end the way it has to, no matter how scared
I am.
She took a
deep breath, and gave in. “I wanted my first time to be special.” She glanced
at Gideon involuntarily. He’d wandered over to a chair set near his dresser.
While she watched, he stripped off his jacket and threw it across the seat,
exposing his muscular arms. She looked at his tattoo, the one she wanted to
trace with her finger, and possibly her lips. She didn’t tell him she’d always
wanted her first time to be with him, ever since she was a teenager. No doubt,
he could feel her turmoil, though he’d likely misinterpret the cause. The bond
cut three ways, but it didn’t provide explanations for emotions their owner
couldn’t even decipher.

“It
will
be special,” Gideon said as he straightened up.
“Because I care about you.” He walked over to her and cupped her cheek. “I
would never hurt you. I would never let anyone else hurt you.”

Where was he when I was facing my father’s insanity?
His voice gave her chills so she
shook off his hand and backed up. “My first time—” She took a deep breath as
she lost her nerve and let it out shakily. Then she then grasped the doorway
for good measure. She took another lungful of air and vowed to say what she
meant, even if she hyperventilated and passed out. “I don’t want to have sex
just because some demon wants to eat me. That’s not the way I’d planned on being
intimate for the first time.” Her heart pounded as her voice trailed off, not
sure when her night had changed from run-for-your-life to
let’s-have-sex-so-you-don’t-die. Although, truthfully, both situations pinged
her this-is-absurd radar.

I go for years wanting to do the deed, wanting to have a boyfriend
and be normal, and it isn’t until I’ve given up hope and avoided entanglements that
it finally happens?
she mused, still somewhat ambivalent. And aroused, despite herself. Gideon
looked like everything she’d always wanted. Alaric looked like, well, a
ridiculously sexy master vampire. He had all the mannerisms down pat. The two
of them loomed over her, too close for comfort.

As if to emphasize his experience and her complete naïveté, Alaric
kissed her lightly before she could continue her inner freak out before
stepping away. “It
will
be special.” He tugged her into the bedroom.
“You’re my consort. I would never, ever hurt you.” His lips quirked into a half
smile. “Even if I wanted to hurt you, I couldn’t. I would only be hurting
Gideon, and myself, too. I am many things, but a masochist is not one of them.”

“You don’t have to be with him, the first time,” Gideon said,
closing the bedroom door behind him. He walked over to the bed and sat down.
“I’m here.” He opened his hands and put them palm up on his knees. “I’ve always
been here.”

She stared at him. He couldn’t be serious? Was he really saying
what she thought he was? No way, but the emotion she sensed from him was …
desire?
 
“You were my
teacher.
”

His cheeks went pink, but he didn’t drop his gaze. “Even so.”

That steady response woke something in her. “I had a crush on
you,” she blurted out. “All of us did, back in high school.”

“You were the only one who didn’t flirt with me,” Gideon said
softly. “I appreciated that more than you know.”

 
“What the other girls did
was wrong. You were a priest.” Hannah couldn’t move. Her entire body buzzed
with anticipation.
Or is it fear?

“I would never have violated my position as their teacher. And I’m
not a priest anymore,” he murmured, kicking off his shoes. “Hannah, let me keep
you safe. I don’t know what I’d do if something happened to you.” He frowned.
“I studied old texts. Diaries. The things the old stories say about demons are
horrifying. Please. Let me do this for you.”

Alaric nodded somberly. “Brosius won’t stop. He thinks he holds
that demon’s leash, but it’s likely the relationship flows the other way around
and he doesn’t even know it. This is the first, best way to ensure your
survival.” He paused, and Hannah
knew
he was about to say something she
wouldn’t like. “I know you want to live. I saw what you had to do to your
father.”

She glared at him, but she couldn’t hold his gaze for long. How
dare he? Those memories haunted her every day of her life. Every night, too.
When she glanced up, Gideon’s face held a faintly puzzled look and that’s what
spurred her into truly making the decision she thought she’d already resolved.
She wanted at least one night with him before he found out what she’d done when
she was too young to know any better.
Because
once he knows, he’ll never look at me the same way again.
He might even
leave
.
Alaric never said anything
about having to stay together because of this bond.

Alaric shook his head slightly, as if he knew what was running
through her mind. “It will be okay, my dear. I promise.”

She swallowed and gathered her courage. “Okay.”

“Come here.” Gideon held out his arms.

His low tone went right to her stomach. She walked over to him,
shaky and uncertain. Nervous, like she hadn’t felt in years.

“Give me your hand, Hannah,” he said.

When she did, he kissed her fingertips, then put her palm on his
bicep. “Go ahead.”

She jerked her arm away. How did he know she wanted to touch his
tattoo? She flushed.

He grinned. “I saw you looking at it.”

She wrinkled her nose at him, trying to push her embarrassment
down. “I’ve always liked it.”

Gideon shrugged. “The cross ink was a thorn in my side from the
moment I got it when I was in high school. No one approved, especially not my
superiors at the seminary. And then, when I left the priesthood, I wanted to
make a big statement and I expanded the design.” He laughed. “And then tattoos became
as common as earrings. So much for my little rebellion.”

“It’s still something you did for yourself.” His self-deprecation
loosened the knot that had formed in her midsection. “But yeah, I know what you
mean.”

“Enough about me.” He drew her closer, until she stood between his
legs. “Let me make this good for you.” He slid his hands from her waist to her
hips.

“It feels weird to be so premeditated about it.”

He chuckled. “Yeah. And if you only knew how many times I thought
of touching you….” His hands shook slightly. “I premeditated the hell out of
us, Hannah.”

“Seriously?”

He nodded. Hannah bit her lip as his thumbs rubbed circles into
her body. She wanted Gideon, oh how she wanted him, but what about Alaric? She
glanced over her shoulder to find him watching them, blue eyes bright. It felt
really awkward with both of them in the room.

“Pay no attention to the vampire in the corner,” Alaric murmured,
lips quirking.

She smiled despite herself, and then Gideon drew her down onto his
thigh. “Stop thinking so hard, Hannah.” He slid his fingers into her hair and
kissed her—no fooling around this time. His mouth demanded entry and she gasped
when he bit her bottom lip.

“How do you even know how to do this?” she asked breathlessly. Her
entire body felt hot and soft and strangely eager.

He snorted. “I was a man before I was a priest, Hannah.”

She licked her lips, wanting more.

He groaned and kissed her again, this time not letting her up for
air until they were both gasping.

“But you seem to know what you’re doing,” she said, inanely. Her
pussy throbbed, hot and wet. Her panties would be soaked by the time they did
the deed. She flushed more, thinking about it. She felt naughty. This was a guy
who’d been her religion teacher in high school. Her minister.
God, that makes this even more arousing.
Nothing like the lure of the forbidden to get a girl’s juices flowing.

“I was celibate, not dead.” He chuckled, sliding his hands beneath
her shirt. His palms on her bare skin burned and she wriggled on his thigh.
When he sucked in a harsh breath, she realized her leg had bumped his erection.
Involuntarily, she looked down. His jeans bulged at the groin. She wondered
what it would feel like to straddle him.

“Go ahead and touch him,” Alaric said, making her jump. He’d moved
closer and she hadn’t noticed. “Push him down on the bed.”

She looked into Gideon’s eyes and saw desire there, but also more
than that. She saw affection. It was like looking into a mirror. He wanted her
just as much as she wanted him. Taking her courage in her hands, she did as
Alaric said and climbed on top, fitting his erection right up against her core.

“Dear God,” Gideon muttered, hips rising. “I can feel how hot you
are, even with clothes on.”

“I don’t know what to do,” Hannah said, face burning. She was a
twenty-one year old virgin bartender. A freak.

“Shh,” Alaric said, sitting next to Gideon. He threaded his
fingers through her hair. “Just do what feels good. Ride his thickness. Put it
right up against your quim.”

“How do you know what feels good to me?” she whispered, eyes
falling shut. “You’re a million years old. And male. You haven’t been in my
situation, probably, ever.”

“Let go of your fear,” he said. A hint of amusement ran through
his words. “What feels good to you feels good to me.” He leaned in and pressed
his lips softly to hers, nibbling lightly. The contrast with Gideon’s deep, passionate
kisses made her moan.

Gideon shifted beneath her, driving up against her pussy. She
gasped into Alaric’s mouth, then kissed him harder. She held onto Gideon’s arms
while kissing Alaric. The thought pushed her body into overdrive, and she
trembled, not sure what to do with all the heat rushing through her.
Even in
this, you can’t be like everyone else.
Her face burned with both arousal
and embarrassment.

“Yeah, that’s it. Let go, Hannah.” Gideon popped the button on her
jeans and slid a hand inside. He cupped her hipbone, then moved up under her
shirt again. “We’ll catch you.” When his palms reached her breasts, she yanked
her head away from Alaric, so overwhelmed she couldn’t think straight anymore.