Blood Wyne (21 page)
Nerissa pressed her lips to mine, crushing against me with her round breasts, with her soft curves. I circled her waist with my arms and floated up just far enough off the floor to meet her gaze. As we kissed, I closed my eyes, melting into the flow of energy. The scent of her perfume hung heavy in the air. Nerissa wore Warm Vanilla Sugar by Bath & Body Works, and it was a rich, carnal fragrance that made me both hungry and horny.
She suddenly forced my feet back to the ground, turning me around so I leaned back against her breasts. As her hands slid up my stomach, she lowered her lips to my neck. I let out a little cry as she found her way under my blouse and the smooth touch of her fingers met my skin, running lightly over the scars up to cup my breast.
Her other hand slid down toward my jeans and I quickly unbuttoned them and slid the zipper down, with her fingers following. Shoving the denim down to the floor, I kicked my way out of them.
“I love that you go commando,” she whispered. “Every time I see you, I keep thinking that you’re naked under those jeans, that your pussy’s just waiting for me to slip my tongue inside.”
“You drive me nuts when you talk like that.” My fangs were descending, and I had to force them up. “I want to throw you down and slide up your body.”
She held tight to me. Nerissa loved to touch me from behind and I loved being touched by her. With my werepuma goddess, I could push away my nature long enough to let her be the strong one, even though we both knew it was a façade. As her fingers slid down to lightly caress my clit, I covered her hand with my own, feeling her strength as she stroked me alive.
Nerissa’s lips moved lower, to suck on my neck, and once again, I felt my fangs descend and forced them back up. Memories of exchanging blood with Roman flashed through my mind, but that was him and this was Nerissa and I would never steal blood from my love.
A moment later, I couldn’t stand it and whirled out of her embrace, walking her back to the sofa where she gasped at the sight of my eyes, now bloodred with passion and fire.
Silently, I undid the zipper on her skirt, and it dropped to the floor. She was wearing a thin pair of lacy panties, and I slid two fingers beneath both sides and slowly lowered them, getting down on my knees as I did so. Her pubes, tawny hair neatly trimmed, were in front of my face and I found myself hungry for her taste, aching to plunge my tongue against her and watch her squirm.
I reached up and pushed her back onto the sofa, spreading her legs as I did so. As she let out a delicate moan, I lowered my lips to her clit and the soft, musky scent of her sex filtered through my brain. Laughing with delight, my tongue forked out and met her flesh, circling the nub of her passion, licking and nibbling as I pressed harder against her.
Nerissa clinched her knees against my sides and reached down to hold my head as I ate her out and licked her raw. She was crying out now; the harder I tongued her the louder she got, bucking against my mouth. I reached up and grabbed her waist, holding her steady so she couldn’t pull away. And then, as she let out a bark of pleasure, I pulled back and slid inside her, circling her pussy with my questioning fingers, delighting as she thrashed against me.
I dragged her fully down to lie flat on the sofa and slid a box out from beneath the divan. This was our place, and we kept our toys firmly tucked out of sight under the dust ruffle. Nerissa saw the box and let out another moan.
“You want it tonight?” I whispered, drawing out a large toy that was the color of amethyst, lined with ridges.
Her eyes went wide and she nodded, so I lowered my mouth to suck her nipple, feeling my own arousal heighten as I watched her body welcome in the length and girth of the dildo.
“Oh my Gods, that feels so damned good.” Her voice was hoarse but the pleasure was evident in her eyes, in the upturned corners of her mouth as she dropped her head back and slid her tongue between her teeth.
“You want it hard, baby?”
“Harder, faster . . . please . . . I need you to fuck me hard.”
I went to work, driving in and out, pressing my breasts against hers as I slid my arm beneath her shoulders, holding her close to my body. Her hips ground against my thrusts, and then she suddenly stiffened and cried out and I slid my thumb up to once again flick her clit and she screamed again, followed by a short, sharp burst of laughter as she crumbled into the orgasm.
A moment later, when she could breathe again, Nerissa sat up. She was glowing, vibrant, and she turned to me. “Now, my love, let me see how loud I can make you scream.”
And I, the willing lamb, put myself in her hands.
After we were both satiated, I leaned back in her arms, curled on the sofa with the afghan lightly tossed over us. The snow was still falling outside and we were in for a cold morning. I pressed my head against her heart as she embraced me and sighed with contentment.
“Hey,” I said after a moment. “What about you move in here, with us? I can’t have you in my lair, but suppose we fix up a room for you out in the studio? Camille and Delilah won’t mind, and that way we could be together as much as possible.”
She brushed one of my braids back from my face. “Oh, sweetness, I thank you for that, but I think I need my own place. I’ve always lived in a compound, always lived by others’ rules, and I need a space that is mine alone. At least as far as setting the rules and decorating . . .” With a small sigh, she added, “It’s not that I don’t love you or want to be with you, but . . .”
“But you need your lair, just like I have mine.” I gazed up at her. “I get it.” And I did. Nerissa needed to stretch her wings and see how far she could fly sans the Pride. I was along for the ride, so I wasn’t going to complain about her wanting a space that she could mark as her own territory.
“I do have something I want to ask you, though. We’ve been together what . . . almost a year?” She tenderly trailed her hand down my arm.
I nodded. “Yeah, about that.”
“What say we turn these promise rings into something a bit more . . . official? I don’t think either one of us is ready for marriage, but let’s have a promise ceremony. Give it another year and a day and see where we’re at? Maybe by then I’ll be ready to move in. Maybe by then the demons will have broken through. Maybe by then . . . who knows?” She sat up abruptly, and I had no choice but to sit up with her. “Let’s do it. Something small—for family and close friends only?”
I stared at her. I’d given up ever thinking to promise myself to someone. Marriage, a family, even something like a promise ceremony had seemed out of reach once I had been turned. We’d given each other rings, but that had been that, I thought.
Now . . . was I willing to honor a year and a day? Was I ready to commit to a specified length of time? Of course, if it got bad, we’d go our separate ways, but this was a test. A test to see if I was ready for more than just lip service.
I took her hand, kissed the ring on her finger. “Nerissa, you are the only one in the world that I would say yes to. Yes—let’s have a promise ceremony. I have no idea what the future will be like, or if there will even be a future, but yes.” And with that, we were off making plans, until the approaching dawn drove me down into my lair, into satisfied slumber.
CHAPTER 12
The next night, Nerissa was there when I woke up. She’d gone during the day to apply for the position with Chase, and he’d hired her on the spot. We celebrated and—during the early dinner Iris had fixed—sprang the news of our promise ceremony. We opted to hold it on the Vernal Equinox, during the spring festival of new growth, when life springs forth from the soil and the balance of the year once again hangs forefront. This would give us enough time to find outfits and really hammer out what this meant for us. Nerissa would be in her new condo by then and we could spend time truly alone.
Camille had immediately launched into a fashion discussion with Nerissa about dresses and makeup, while Delilah used the news as an excuse to talk Iris into making cookies, even though I couldn’t eat any.
Iris stopped by my chair—I’d vacated my usual place near the ceiling for once—and gave me a tight hug. “Menolly, you deserve this. You deserve so much, and she’s a wonderful woman.”
Touched, I squeezed her hand gently, then let go as she headed over to the stove. Trillian rushed to help her put dinner on the table—they were having fried chicken and mashed potatoes.
Morio winked at me. “Taking the plunge, are you? About time.”
I shook my head at him. “We aren’t getting married, dude, but thanks. And I’m happy about it. She’s my girl, she is.”
Nerissa giggled and blew me a kiss. “I’d better be your
only
girl.”
only
girl.”
“No doubt about that.”
As Trillian passed by with a tray of food, I moved out of the way. The smell of food had been torture until Morio had come up with the enchanted blood for me, but it still wasn’t easy.
Morio motioned toward the fridge. “Bottle of chicken soup-flavored blood in the refrigerator, and one that tastes like rhubarb pie.”
I cocked my head. “Weird mix, but sounds good.” I wasn’t going to complain; anything was better than the taste—day after day—of blood.
As I contemplated floating up toward the ceiling, it occurred to me that first, I should call Tavah at the bar to ask how Erin was doing. The phone rang at that moment and Delilah answered. She turned around, hand over the mouthpiece.
“Tavah.”
Speak of the devil . . . I took the phone and moved into the hall.
“What’s up? Everything okay?”
“Yeah, I just thought I’d check in with you. Listen, Erin is happy as a clam to be working again. It’s all we can do to find enough work for her. She genuinely seems content.” There was an undercurrent of tension in her words.
“I hear a
but
in there.”
but
in there.”
“Yeah . . . just that . . . I hate locking her in the safe room during the day. I know she’s safe there, but after I leave at night, that leaves her alone for several hours. She’s able to talk to people in the bar, but she hasn’t been socialized much over the past year, boss. I think she really needs to meet more vampires and learn how to interact with breathers.”
There was one place where she could do that, and I knew it. “Let me call Wade. He was supposed to let me know about his decision anyway.”
“Decision?”
“Never mind. I’ll see what I can do. Meanwhile, thanks for looking after her. I’ll try to be in tonight, but we have an emergency and I’m not sure if I’ll be able to get there before the bar closes. Ask Chrysandra to watch Derrick, and tell Erin good night for me, please.” As I hung up, I was already dialing Wade’s number.
He answered on the second ring. “Dude, we need to talk. I need your answer and I need to ask you a big favor.”
“You killed Sassy,” he said softly.
“I had no choice.” I didn’t bother to ask him how he found out but ran over my meeting with her. “She lost it, Wade. She lost it in a big way. I had to keep my promise.”
“Yeah, I understand. Listen, nobody else knows. I only know because her lawyer contacted me. Sassy left her mansion to the VA. There’s so much we can do with it—we can run a hotel and have a full meeting space.”
“You mean
you
can.
I’m
not part of the group, remember?” I couldn’t help myself. My voice was bitter. I was still pissed over the situation.
you
can.
I’m
not part of the group, remember?” I couldn’t help myself. My voice was bitter. I was still pissed over the situation.
“I wanted to talk to you about that. I was wrong, Menolly. I’m sorry. Please, come back to the group. I’ll smooth out any hard feelings there. And, I thought about what you said. I’ll step down—as long as you promise Terrance won’t win the position.”
“That, I can promise. Ro—my . . . source . . . has no desire for Terrance to be in charge.”
“Then color me cooperative.” Wade paused, then added, “Menolly . . . I know we don’t have a chance of dating again. Too much water under the bridge. But I really miss our friendship. If I promise never to screw up again, will you give me another chance?”
I stared at the phone, then let out a sigh he could hear.
“Whatever you say is gonna be serious . . . you never breathe unless you have to.” He tried to laugh, but I could hear the uncertainty in his voice.
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