Born to Bite (16 page)

“Christ,” Armand said through his teeth as he broke their kiss. He peered into her face briefly and shook his head. “I can’t wait.”

“Don’t,” Eshe said simply, knowing exactly how he felt.

It was all she had to say. Armand immediately shifted her around the bedpost and urged her backward onto the bed, his body following. He came down on top of her, his mouth claiming hers again, and then he shifted his hips and buried himself inside her. Her panties were still on, just the strip of cloth between her thighs pushed to the side, and his pants were around his hips, but neither of them was willing to take the time to remove the items. Next time they could try it completely naked; this first time they needed to quench the fire burning inside them both, and they did so with almost stunning speed. It didn’t seem to Eshe that he’d pressed into her, withdrawn, and pressed into her again more than three or four times before they both cried out with the passion burning inside them and passed out.

Eshe woke slowly sometime later to find herself alone in bed. Immediately wide awake and annoyed, she sat up at once and glanced around for her clothes. She had every intention of dressing, hunting down Armand Argeneau, and giving him a piece of her mind. A wham-bam-thank-you-ma’am was not acceptable to her mind. While the urgency and speed of the first time had been unavoidable, sneaking out directly afterward just wasn’t—

“You look annoyed.”

Eshe blinked and glanced around, her anger deflating as she spotted Armand coming out of the bathroom, hair still wet from a shower and wearing nothing but a towel wrapped loosely around his waist. A slow smile coming to her lips, Eshe slid her feet to the floor and sat up on the side of the bed as he approached.

“You showered,” she said huskily as he paused in front of her.

“Hmm.” Armand smiled. “I tried waking you when I woke but you were still dead to the world, so I took a shower rather than ravish you.”

“Next time, ravish me,” Eshe whispered softly, her hands reaching instinctively for the towel around his waist. She slid her fingers between the towel and his skin and used her hold to draw him closer, her eyes caught by a drop of water slipping down his chest as she spread her legs and pulled him between them.

“I—” Whatever he was going to say ended on a gasp as Eshe leaned forward and caught the rolling drop of water with her tongue. She closed her eyes as a shaft of pleasure shivered through her, the pleasure he’d experienced, and then she opened her eyes to survey his chest hungrily. He apparently hadn’t dried himself off, but had simply stepped out of the shower and wrapped the towel around his hips. It left an entire field of water droplets for her to choose from. Who needed whipped cream?

“Eshe,” he breathed as she began to lick and nibble the droplets away. Groaning, he slid his fingers into her hair, cupping the back of her head as her mouth traveled up his chest. When she reached and paused at his nipples to pay them special attention, his fingers clenched in her hair and he forced her head away and up so that he could kiss her.

Eshe allowed it, but then pulled away slightly and ran one finger lightly over his swollen lips as she said, “You should have tried a little harder to wake me. I could have soaped you up.”

Armand grunted and tried to kiss her again, but she held him away, turning her face to avoid his lips as she added, “Now I guess I’ll have to just soap myself.”

Laughing at his blank expression, she then slid from his hold and hurried away across the room, aware that his startled eyes were focused on her behind. She could feel them burning through the white panties and scorching her flesh as she walked. Pausing in the door to the bathroom, she glanced over her shoulder and grinned. “Unless you want to do the soaping?”

The moment he started forward, she laughed and slipped into the bathroom. Eshe managed to shimmy out of her panties and get the shower started before he caught up. When she then stepped quickly under the spray to prevent his stopping her, she heard his towel hit the floor and then he was joining her. She managed to grab the soap from the soap dish, but then he caught her arms and turned her in the water to face him.

Eshe held the soap out, half expecting him to toss it aside, but instead, he released her and took it to begin working up a foam. Only then did Armand set it aside. When he turned back to her his soapy hands went straight for her breasts and Eshe half laughed and half groaned as he began to soap her up, kneading and plucking at the tender orbs as he pressed her back against the cold tiles of the large shower.

Eshe closed her eyes and sighed, enjoying the contrast of the cold at her back and his body heat along her front, and then his hands suddenly left her breasts. She opened her eyes with surprise to find he’d picked up the soap again for more lather. This time when he set it back, his hands went to her sides, sliding up and down and then around to move over her stomach before dropping to find her hips.

When one hand slid between her legs to urge them apart, she bit her lip and shifted her stance for him, and then gasped as that hand rose to find the center of her. Eshe clutched at his shoulders, her nails digging in for purchase as he caressed her. The excitement came on almost as fast this time as it had the first, bouncing between them strong and hard, and Eshe was resigning herself to the fact that they probably wouldn’t manage to go slow for a while when Armand suddenly withdrew his hand.

She blinked her eyes open, noting that he was breathing just as heavily as she was, and then gave a surprised squawk of surprise when he suddenly turned her into the spray, allowing it to wash away the soap he’d just spread over her. She had closed her eyes the moment he’d turned her into the spray, but felt his arm brush her shoulder as he reached behind her. When the spray suddenly moved off her, she opened her eyes to look around and saw that he’d removed the showerhead from its holster and was drawing it down on its long hose.

“I have to rinse away all the soap,” he growled for explanation, but the silver glint in his eyes warned her he was up to something. Still, she wasn’t prepared when he suddenly dipped the showerhead down between her legs to rinse away the soap there. Neither was she prepared for her body’s response to the sharp spray pounding against her excited center. Eshe cried out and clutched at his arms to stay on her feet as her body responded to this new caress. She wasn’t the only one affected. Armand had squeezed his eyes closed and was grinding his teeth together as he experienced her unexpected pleasure.

They stood completely still for a moment as the water played over her body, and just when Eshe didn’t think she could stand it another moment, he cursed and dropped the showerhead, letting it spray wildly around the shower’s interior as he caught her by the arms, kicked the shower door open, and lifted her out.

Eshe grabbed up a towel as he turned back to shut the water off. She marveled at the way her hands shook as she lifted the heavy cloth, but never got the chance to dry herself. The towel slipped away as Armand turned to scoop her up and carry her out of the room. They left a trail of water in their wake as he carried her to the bed.

Armand set her on the mattress, but when he started to come down on top of her, she managed to catch him by surprise and wrestle him onto his back. Eshe then sat up. She grinned at his startled expression, but when he reached out to pull her down, she reached between them and caught his erection firmly in hand. He froze at once, his eyes squeezing briefly closed. Eshe ground her teeth against the pleasure assaulting her as she touched him and quickly shifted to sit beside him so that she could turn her attention fully to his erection. She started out merely touching him, running her closed hand the length of his shaft, but then bent to take him in her mouth, little moans issuing from her throat and vibrating around his shaft as she experienced the pleasure she was giving him.

Eshe then gasped and nearly bit him with surprise when Armand suddenly caught her by one thigh and drew her body around so that he could pleasure her as she was him. The combination was too much for either of them to bear for long and then they were both crying out and clutching at each other as their mutual excitement again overwhelmed them, pushing them into the darkness that usually claimed new life mates when they made love.

Nine

Eshe stretched in bed and reached instinctively
for Armand. It was something she’d done several times that night, at least the times that he hadn’t woken first and reached for her, caressing and kissing her awake to join again. This time, however, rather than his warm body, her hand found cool bedsheets. She was alone in bed.

Eshe popped her eyes open to peer at the empty side of the bed and then heaved a little sigh of disappointment. It appeared playtime was over, but she supposed it was for the best. They couldn’t stay in bed forever. He had a farm to look after and she had a job to do, saving his son from execution for something he might not have done.

Recalling what she was there to do, Eshe pushed aside the sheet covering her and stood to move to the bathroom. She took a quick shower, banishing the memories of her last shower from her mind when they tried to rise, then brushed her teeth, fiddled with her hair, and moved out to the bedroom to dress.

The house was completely silent when she stepped out into the hall. Eshe made immediately for Armand’s room. It was empty, but she’d expected as much and barely glanced around as she made her way to the walk-in closet and the hidden refrigerator there. Armand had shown her where it was at one point during the night when they’d finally noticed they were in serious need of blood. He’d also made a run downstairs for food once and she’d woken to find him eating something called Cheerios off her naked body, placing the little rings strategically on her nipples and then sucking and nibbling them off. Eshe hadn’t had any when she’d woken that time, but they’d finished them off through the night, her wishing the rings were bigger so that she could have played the same game with him, but not on his nipples.

Eshe had four bags of blood before feeling satisfied. Leaving Armand’s room then, she headed downstairs, noting as she glanced out the window that it was still dark out. Knowing that, she wasn’t surprised to find Bricker still up and in the kitchen, a coffee on the table and a paper in hand.

Eshe glanced from him to the clean counters and asked, “Did I hear you mention something about cooking supper as I was leaving the room earlier?”

Bricker glanced around in surprise at her arrival, but said, “Yep. Cooked stew, ate it, and then ate it again…the day before yesterday before bed,” he added dryly. “It’s Saturday, Eshe. You two slept right through Friday…Or didn’t sleep through it, as the case may be,” he teased.

“Saturday?” she asked with surprise, and then paused to think about it and supposed she shouldn’t be surprised that much time had passed. She and Armand had been kind of…busy. Realizing Bricker was staring at her with one eyebrow arched, she shrugged. “I guess we needed the sleep.”

Bricker chuckled with amusement, and then, sounding envious, said, “Right. It was sleeping you two needed so bad…after you got busy. You slept, woke up, got busy again and fell asleep again, and then woke up to do it all over, and over. You probably lost count.”

“I was supposed to count?” Eshe asked, arching an eyebrow.

Bricker grinned again, but she was already moving to the refrigerator to see what there was to eat. Her eyes widened at the stuffed refrigerator. “Armand bought a lot.”

“Yeah.” Bricker chuckled. “And most of it junk food. He must have been hungry when he shopped.”

Eshe nodded, surveying the different items more closely. “So is there anything good in here?”

“Oh yeah,” Bricker assured her, moving to stand beside her and peer at the contents. “Loads of it tastes good. It’s just not all that nutritious for you. But I guess that’s not a major concern for us. We get our nutrients from blood.” He leaned past her and opened the freezer door to retrieve an orange box. “These apple strudel things are delicious, and they only take a minute in the toaster.”

“Thanks,” Eshe murmured, taking the box. She moved to the counter and the contraption Mrs. Ramsey had toasted her bread in the day before. When she began to fumble with the box, Bricker was immediately there, taking it from her.

“I’ll do this. You pour yourself a coffee,” he suggested.

Eshe murmured her thanks again and then moved to find a cup and pour herself some coffee. “So what did you tell Mrs. Ramsey to explain our absence? She was here yesterday, wasn’t she?”

“She was,” Bricker agreed dryly. “And I didn’t have to tell her a damned thing. She could hear you weren’t absent.”

“Oh,” Eshe said, nonplussed.

Bricker snorted with amusement. “Woman, you’ve got some set of pipes on you.” He shook his head. “Armand wasn’t much better. It was like listening to opera. You couldn’t understand a word, but knew exactly what was happening.”

“Oh,” Eshe said again, not at all sure how she should be reacting. She supposed she should be embarrassed, but didn’t really feel embarrassed. She supposed she was too old to experience the sensation. Instead, she just felt kind of warm and fuzzy all over as she recalled what had brought on that opera.

“Mrs. Ramsey was worried a couple of times though,” he told her, and then added with a laugh, “Both times when you guys went quiet. She made me go upstairs and check on you before she’d leave at the end of the day. You’d gone quiet again and she wanted to be sure one or both of you hadn’t died.”

“You checked on us?” Eshe asked with surprise.

“Well, I didn’t open the door,” Bricker told her dryly, opening the box and then some sort of plastic cellophane to pull out two rectangular pastries. As he dropped them into the toaster, he added, “There was no need, I could hear the pair of you by the time I reached the top step. You were both snoring. I turned around and went down to assure her you two were fine and that she should go home.”

Eshe nodded.

“I should warn you, her eyes were all sparkly and she couldn’t wait to get out of here. I’m pretty sure she rushed right down to the market or the diner to continue spreading the news. Your antics are probably the talk of the town by now.”