Blood Moon (Moon Books) (7 page)

I smiled quietly to myself, hoping he would agree, and shoved my other clothes back into the backpack.

Noah’s reaction made my efforts more than worth it. I didn’t even get a chance to see how amazing he looked before he dragged me up against him and kissed me senseless for several long minutes.

“I’m not letting you out of my sight tonight,” he growled against my neck after he released my mouth. “You look so fucking hot.”

“Yeah?” I grinned. I couldn’t help but to milk the moment. I felt sexy and heated and was loving every second of it.

He reached up and brushed his finger on my lips. “Yeah. It’s scary how much I want you right now. We need to get outta here before I cave.”

I rubbed myself up against him. “What if I want you to cave? What if I’ve wanted it for years?” I licked his neck and gave it a little bite.

He gulped and pulled back. “Let’s go.”

I laughed a low chuckle, already feeling high, then followed him down the stairs and outside to his car.

* * * *

The club was everything that I expected. Maybe even a little wilder. I don’t know if it was life imitating art or if some Hollywood people out there know a little more than we think, but the place fit the bill perfectly. It was thrilling and intimidating. I felt like some underage kid sneaking into his first club. Noah must have sensed my uneasiness because he put his arm around my shoulders after we paid our cover and walked in. There were more than a few interested stares shot our way, both male and female. I felt a stab of jealousy but I got why they were looking at Noah. There wasn’t anyone in the whole place that looked like him.

I was awestruck by the whole spectacle surrounding us: the swirling red and purple lights, the low sensual plushness of the couches and chairs, the skimpily clad crowd swaying to the uninhibited beat. The whole place was both wildly sexy and overwhelming at the same time.

When I looked over at the bar, I saw a male vampire biting a woman; I felt like I was watching an X-rated movie. The way the woman moaned and arched her back; it was obvious what she was feeling. It was unnerving to see that kind of intimate act on public display. Unnerving but very hot. I pushed up against Noah and was glad when he tightened his arm around my shoulders.

I had never liked feeling claimed with any of the guys I dated but with Noah I loved it. It wasn’t just because we were somewhere new and a little scary. It was because I wanted everyone to know I was his. We could have been anywhere and I would have still felt that same satisfied warmth in the pit of my stomach when he pulled me close. I smiled up at him and hooked my fingers into the back pocket of his jeans.

Suddenly, I felt his back stiffen.

“Watch out for this one,” he whispered to me. “She isn’t one of the nice ones.”

The woman who was approaching us was undeniably beautiful but totally repulsive at the same time. There was something reptilian in her movements. She was tall with pale skin, almond shaped eyes, and dark hair that reached her waist. She wore a short red dress with a Mandarin collar and black stiletto boots that seemed to crawl up her thighs.

“Noah, you brought us a pretty little snack.” Her voice was smoky and rich. She reached out and scraped a red lacquered nail down the side of my cheek. I tried not to flinch. Noah leaned closer to me, noticeably staking claim.

“Get your hands off of him, Lin. He’s not available. For anything.”

“I know Mommy taught you that it was rude not to share your toys.”

Noah was outwardly calm but I could tell he was seething. “Zack’s not a toy and he’s with me. I’m serious. Back away.”

She raised her eyebrows and gave him an imperious little smile. Apparently Noah’s possessiveness was amusing to her. Either that or she wasn’t in the mood to play with us. I could tell he was right about her. Total viper. I let out a sigh of relief as she walked away.

“Let’s get this over with so we can get you out of here,” he growled. “I’m tired of watching vampires check my boyfriend out. I think there’s actually a line forming to see who gets to take the first bite.”

“Me?”

“Yeah, you. Did you get a good look at yourself tonight? You’re sexy as hell. Plus you’re with me and they all know how solitary I usually am. Even if you weren’t such fang bait that would be enough to spark curiosity.”

I giggled out loud and tried to cover it so I wouldn’t look like a total newbie. “Fang bait? Please tell me you just made that up.”

“Can you really see me making that up? It’s dumb but I’ve heard it a lot in here. Another way of saying fresh meat, I guess. Someone new who literally looks good enough to eat.”

I surprised myself by giving him a long, slow, hot kiss—in a public place with a very curious audience.

“You’re the only one who will get to do that,” I murmured, sliding my whole body up against him and rolling my hips until I heard his breath catch. “Why don’t we get you some dinner so we can go home and have dessert?”

Noah shuddered against me then nodded quickly.

He scanned the club, looking for someone appealing, or maybe a familiar face. I could see when he spotted someone he knew. I had to admit the guy was hot. Preppy clean cut frat boy type. He was wearing khaki cargo shorts and a polo, no dark clothes, no brooding looks. The last kind of guy I would’ve ever expected to see in a vampire bar.

“Hey, Noah,” the guy slurred. He smiled slowly and walked closer.

Even from a few feet away I could tell he had a number of fresh little bite marks on his neck. I could also tell from the way he was looking at Noah that they hadn’t exactly been on casual terms. It made me want to growl and snap at him.

Wow, maybe the vamp thing was more contagious than they thought....

“Hey, Brian. Looks like you’ve had a few bites already tonight. You mind?”

“Nah. Those were just appetizers. I waited cause I was hoping you’d come.”

Noah must have sensed my hackles rising. “Brian, this is my boyfriend, Zack. He’s never been here before.”

Brian was friendly and shook my hand, but I could sense his disappointment.

“Do you still want to?” He pulled the collar of his polo down.

Noah nodded silently and kissed the palm of my hand before moving over to Brian.

I tried not to feel territorial but it was hard. Especially when I saw Noah run his thumb gently over the other guy’s bite marks, as if to soothe them. I didn’t want him touching someone else but logically I understood why it was necessary. I also understood the slight tremble in Brian’s body when Noah touched him like that. I’d felt the same thing so many times in the past few days.

Noah leaned closer and licked a small area on the Brian’s neck. Then with expert precision, he sank his teeth into a fresh spot. I could almost feel the instant reaction. Brian dipped his head back and groaned, his hand coming up automatically to cover Noah’s where it rested on his collarbone. He panted and arched his lower back, just like the woman I’d seen a few minutes before. Noah wasn’t exactly unaffected either: his eyes were sexy and hooded and I could see his elegant fingers clutching into the fabric of Brian’s shirt.

I gulped.

Oh, I was still jealous as hell, but I also knew I was seeing what had to be the hottest thing ever. Noah was turned on and ready for sex, the muscles in his throat swallowing, his arousal growing by the second. I wanted so badly to be the guy beneath him.

I reached out, unthinking, and held onto his free hand. Noah weaved his fingers with mine and pulled me closer, close enough that I could nearly feel the currents of lust that were passing between the other two. Close enough that I could hear Brian’s heavy breathing and low moans. Even though some part of me wanted to kill him I still didn’t want to stop watching. It was hypnotic.

After a minute or so, Noah finally drew away from Brian and licked the wound so it would stop bleeding. Then he slowly wiped any small drops from his lips with his fingers.

A split second later he hauled me up against him and kissed me harder than he’d ever kissed me before. I could taste desire, love, and the slightly exotic flavor of blood, which weirdly enough didn’t bother me at all. I wanted to feast on him. I knew he felt the same. The kiss lasted for a long heart-pounding minute. When we finally pulled away from each other, Brian was staring lustfully at us.

“It’s too bad you don’t want to share, Noah. The three of us could have a lot of fun together.”

Noah tore his gaze away from me before he smiled politely and shook his head. “Not going to happen, Brian, but thank you. You were delicious as always.”

Brian nodded and began to walk away. After a few steps he turned. “Night, Noah. Zack. The offer still stands. You know where to find me.”

Noah shook his head laughing under his breath and pulled me close again.

“C’mon. Let’s go home.”

* * * *

The ride back to Noah’s was without a doubt the longest car ride of my life. The hours I’d spent in the backseat with Peter, Paul and Mary blasting had nothing on the torture I was feeling strapped into the passenger seat and wishing I was naked and in Noah’s lap. He held my hand the whole time and tried to make small talk but we could both feel it. The air in the car was electric.

I couldn’t stand it much longer. I was almost vibrating with the pure, raging...lust that was flowing through me. If we didn’t get there soon, I was going to have to make him pull the car over and take me on the side of the road. I lifted my hand from his lap and fiddled with the radio, flipping through stations and trying to distract myself from the ever-growing need to reach over and rip his shirt off. He chuckled and took my hand from the dials bringing it to his lips.

“Almost home, baby.” He nicked my finger gently with one of his teeth and sucked, just for a second. I nearly came on the spot.

“Oh my god.” He slowly braked and began to tremble. He released my finger from his mouth but didn’t let go of my hand. “Remind me never to do that again when I’m driving,” he said with a shaky laugh.

“No kidding.”

We sat there and breathed for a minute until Noah felt like he could pull back onto the road. After a few more frustrating minutes, I thought of a real question.

“Hey Noh, aren’t you ever afraid you’ll get something from one of the people you feed off of?” It had concerned me in the club, where everything seemed so...loose. Noah shook his head. “No. I can smell it if something’s wrong with the blood. Kind of like how you can smell if food is spoiled. Besides, even if anything ever got into my body it would get burned up quickly. Vampires are a lot stronger than any weak little human disease out there.”

I guess I wasn’t surprised. If vampires were susceptible to all the gross stuff carried in people’s blood, they’d have all died out a long time ago.

“Sorry, that’s not a very romantic question.”

“No, Zack, it’s fine. I want you to be safe. Ask all the questions you need to ask.”

“So, judging by the look you got from Brian, you’ve, uh, slept with guys before?” My face turned beet red.

Noah sighed. “Yeah. A couple. Believe me, right now I wish I hadn’t. If I’d had any idea this night was going to happen, I’d have waited forever for you.”

“I know. Me too.”

I wished I’d lost my virginity to someone I loved rather than to a football player in the laundry room of my dorm freshman year.

“So maybe it can be the first time we really mean it, okay?”

I smiled at him in the dark. “Okay.”

I sat quietly for a second, just breathing in the night. “I love you,” I finally whispered. We hadn’t said it since that afternoon when we first told each other.

“I love you too.”

I scooted as close as I could in the bucket seat and leaned over, putting my head on his shoulder and kissing his neck. I could see his house looming in the distance.

Finally!

He grinned at me and pushed the gas pedal just a little harder. We were home.

I couldn’t even make it through the front door before I had to kiss him. We collided under the huge stone portico and I pushed him up against one of the granite columns, yanking his shirt out of his pants and tracing the lines of his neck with my tongue. He tugged at my hair and ground his hips into mine, breathing hard when I sucked on his neck and bit down. My hand slipped under his shirt again and I took the opportunity to reach down the front of his pants and curl my fingers around the hard arousal I found there.

“God,” he laughed quietly. “Can we please go upstairs before I end up begging you to ravage me on the front porch?”

I snickered a little but nodded. It was hard to laugh when I wasn’t too far from asking him to do the same thing.

With trembling fingers he unlocked his front door and we slipped inside, still wrapped around each other. It took a lot of effort to make it up the stairs without ripping into our clothes, but we did. It felt like eternity, since we had to stop every two steps or so to kiss, but we finally made it into Noah’s room.

His room, like mine, had so many memories; memories of rainy days playing cards on his ancient four-poster, hours sitting by him wishing so badly that I could tell him how I felt, wishing I could kiss him. I pulled him into the room, finally getting to do just that, and led him towards his bed. We collapsed onto it devouring each other’s lips and rubbing desperately against each other. He finally broke the kiss, and leaning over me, started to unbutton my shirt slowly. Each new bare patch of skin got a trembly little kiss. I loved the feeling of his lips on my skin. I couldn’t wait to feel them everywhere. My thighs quivered when he got to the sensitive skin of my belly.

“Noah...” I arched up into him. He gently pushed the shirt off my arms and I pulled his up and over his head. He lowered his bare chest to mine and hugged me close, pulling my leg up to wrap around his waist. We stayed like that for long minutes, kissing until we could barely breathe, touching and exploring. I loved the weight of him on top of me. It seemed like I’d been waiting to feel it my whole life. In a way, I kind of had.

I wanted more.

I reached between us for Noah’s belt, fumbling with buckles and zippers. I needed him to be naked as fast as possible. He lifted himself off the bed for a minute to make my job easier. Finally, I could push his jeans down past his hips and free the thick erection I couldn’t wait to taste and feel. He started tugging on my zipper too, obviously wanting me as naked as him. I couldn’t help him quickly enough. We laughed when my jeans got caught on my feet and Noah had to get off the bed to yank them off. When we were finally free of our inconvenient clothes, he crawled back over me and sank down, pinning me to the bed with his body.