Cursed: Brides of the Kindred 13 (28 page)

“Um, okay. Thanks, I guess,” she said awkwardly.

To tell the truth, she could hardly control her reaction to him either. Pressed as she was, right up against him like this, she could smell that warm, spicy, completely masculine scent that rose from his skin. God, what
was
that anyway—some kind of cologne? But there was nothing artificial about it—it seemed to be just his natural smell.

As unobtrusively as she could, she pressed her cold nose to his warm, broad chest and inhaled deeply.
Mmm, amazing!
His big body seemed to cradle hers in warmth and safety—as though he was her very own breathing mattress. And he was so
warm
too—he seemed to put out heat like a furnace. Was that because he came from a cold planet and was used to these temperatures? Or did it have to do with the microbes being repelled by their “combined field?” Charlie didn’t care. For whatever reason, it was
really
nice.

But as nice as it was, she was still tense and uncertain. There was a long, uncomfortable pause between them and she didn’t know
what
to say. Finally she blurted, “Tell me what I did wrong this evening.”

“What?” He seemed startled by the question.

“When I was massaging you.” Charlie hoped he wouldn’t get mad at her again for asking. But at least this time he was a captive audience—he couldn’t just walk away from her and refuse to answer.

“Well…” Stavros shifted uncomfortably.

“Look, I
really
need to know,” Charlie said reasonably. “We’re partners here. I need to know what I did wrong so I can avoid doing it again and setting you off.”

“You didn’t ‘set me off’,” he protested.

“Oh no?” Charlie frowned at the outline of his features in the darkened room. “Then why were you so pissed off at me? And don’t say you weren’t—you know you were.”

“All right,” he said reluctantly. “I will admit I was…not happy.”

“Ha. Not happy.” Charlie snorted. “You were as mad as a bear with a bumblebee up its butt.”

“A what with a
what
up its posterior?” He sounded like he was frowning.

“Never mind. Just tell me what I did to make you so mad. Was it…was it that I touched your tattoo?” she asked in a lower voice. “Were you trying to tell me not to and I just ignored you? Because if so, I’m sorry. I should have been more sensitive to the signals you were trying to send.”

Stavros was quiet for a long moment—for so long, in fact, she wondered if he was going to answer. Finally, just as she had given up and decided they would go back to awkward silence, he spoke.

“It wasn’t so much that you touched it—my mark, I mean,” he said in a low voice. “It was that you were
willing
to touch it.”

“I don’t understand,” Charlie said blankly. “I mean, I know you said people on your home planet think it’s bad luck—”

“That was an understatement,” he said. “It is not just bad luck. It is…an abomination. A cause for disgust and loathing. No woman of Tranq Prime would ever lower herself to touch it, let alone massage me there, as you did. Not even a whore.”

“I’m sorry that your people are so superstitious and judgmental,” Charlie remarked. “But did you just say I was lower than a whore?”

“No—that’s not—” He shifted restlessly. “You don’t understand what I’m trying to say. Even my own mother would not come near me once the mark started growing on my back when I was just six cycles old.” His voice dropped lower, as though he was lost in the memory. “She first saw it during bathing time. I…I remember how she screamed.”

“She screamed?” Charlie asked softly.

“You have to understand—it was like seeing the mark of death on her only son,” he rumbled. “My parents had feared the possibility that I might be Cursed because of my red hair—it is often the sign of a Sin Eater. But it usually manifests early, when the child is still a baby. I think my mother had allowed herself to love me more and more as the years went by and no mark appeared. And then, when she finally saw it—” He sighed. “It horrified and disgusted her, as it does all the people on my home world.”

“But…you were her only son, like you said,” Charlie protested. “Surely she got over it eventually.”

In the darkness, she saw his head shake.

“No. She never got over it. Before then, she used to hug and tickle me to make me laugh—it was one of our favorite games. After the mark began to grow on my back…” He cleared his throat. “I…I do not believe she ever touched me voluntarily again.”

“Stav, that’s awful,” Charlie murmured, using his nickname without thinking about it. “I just…I don’t know what to say.”

He shrugged philosophically. “It is the life of a Sin Eater. There is nothing more
to
say.”

“So should I have avoided your back? Maybe…massaged you someplace else?”

“Not…necessarily.” He sighed. “I suppose I should be less sensitive. It’s just…no female has ever touched me there before. It was…a moving experience.”

“And I treated it like it was no big deal. I’m sorry,” Charlie said again. Despite the animosity she had felt for him in the past, she couldn’t help being moved by his sad story. To be rejected by his own mother—an outcast among his people—and all because of a stupid mark on his back. It seemed so unfair…so awful.

“And I am sorry I didn’t explain more fully about my mark earlier,” he rumbled. “It is…shameful to me. But I should have given you more information before we came to this place.”

“We’re both to blame,” Charlie said softly. She shivered again. “You know, you’re really warm but it’s still so damn
cold
in here.”

Stavros pulled her closer. “I wish I could warm you more thoroughly—from the inside out.”

Charlie shifted against the hard ridge that still pressed against her belly. It had gone down some when he was telling her about his mark but now it seemed to be getting harder again.

“Um…” She cleared her throat. “I’m not sure what you mean by that but—”

“Not that way,” he said quickly. “I was talking about giving you my blood.”

“Tell me about the blood drinking thing. Is that something you do a lot on your planet?”

“Only between mates,” Stavros said in a low voice. “A Blood Kindred may warm his bride by giving her his blood to drink.”

“Oh…but I’m not your—”

“I know you are not,” he said. But for some reason my body reacts as if you were. My fangs get longer and sharper. My…” He coughed. “Anyway, my body reacts to you.”

“So if I was to, uh, bite you and take your blood it would warm me up?”

A tremor ran through him and a low growl came from his throat.

“Did I say something wrong?” Charlie asked, alarmed.

“No, forgive me. It is just…the idea of you biting me. It…”

“What?” she pressed when he paused.

“Biting and being bitten…it is a very intimate and erotic activity among the Blood Kindred. When you talked about biting me I just…could not help reacting.”

“Oh…” She cleared her throat. “I see. We…my people think biting is, uh, erotic too.” She didn’t know why she was telling him this—maybe it was just her own vampire fetish coming out. “Some people do, anyway. We even have legends about supernatural beings that bite others,” she said.

“Vampires, you mean? Yes, I’ve heard of that,” he murmured. “But I thought they were a kind of demon. Evil creatures that feed on blood.”

“That was the traditional view. But it’s changed recently. What
doesn’t
change though, is that it’s usually the vampire doing the biting—he almost never gets bitten himself. Or herself, I guess.”

“We
do
bite when bonding our mates to us,” Stavros said in a low voice. “Or when we heal them.”

“But
you’re
the one getting bitten when you warm them up, right?” Charlie asked, shivering again.

“Yes,” he rumbled softly. “As I would like to warm you.”

Despite herself, Charlie found she was becoming increasingly intrigued by the idea.

“Would…would I have to drink a
lot
of your blood?” she asked.

“A very little bit would do,” Stavros assured her.

“Well…” Charlie bit her lip indecisively.

Really, Charlie—do you think this is a good idea?
whispered a little voice in her head.
He just told you that biting and drinking blood is an erotic thing for them—it’s probably like agreeing to give him a blow job or something!

But I’m
cold
,
she argued back.
My back is still
freezing
. Stav says this could warm me up from the inside out so it might be worth trying. And it’s not like I’m letting
him
bite
me.
I’ll just be taking a little bit to help warm me up, that’s all.

“Charlotte?” he asked softly and she realized he was waiting for her answer.

“Yes,” she said at last. “I’ll try it. Just tell me how.”

“Move up some,” he directed. “It’s probably better if you drink from my neck.”

Charlie shifted up his big body and nuzzled her cold nose into the hollow of his throat.

“To the side.” Was it her imagination or had his voice gotten deeper and a little more ragged?

“All right.” It was too dark to see much but she managed to get settled with her mouth against the side of his neck, right where it met his broad shoulder.

“That’s good.” His voice was definitely deeper and rougher this time. “Now bite me.”

Charlie started to…then stopped. “But…I don’t have fangs like you. I’ve just got blunt human teeth—won’t that hurt? Like, a
lot?”

“I don’t mind if you hurt me,” he rumbled softly. “I just want you to be warm. Drink from me, Charlotte…please.”

As he spoke, the thick ridge of his cock, still only separated from her by his thin sleep trousers, throbbed against her. Only it wasn’t pressing against her belly this time.

With a start, Charlie realized that things had changed when she shifted up his big body. The hard ridge beneath his trousers was no longer lodged against her belly—it was directly between her open pussy lips.

“Um…” Charlie didn’t know what to say. Should she address what was happening? Should she pretend nothing was wrong? She couldn’t really move or say anything without drawing attention to what was going on down below and she felt like she would die of embarrassment if they had to talk about it. Better just to ignore it until his arousal went down and stopped poking her sensitive clit.

Maybe I should just bite him and get it over with,
she thought.

It seemed like the only thing to do. Opening her mouth, she latched on to the side of his strong neck. His skin was salty and spicy and delicious against her tongue but she couldn’t quite bring herself to sink her teeth into his flesh. It seemed so
violent
somehow. So
aggressive
.

“Gods…” Stavros’s voice was ragged and his cock was pressing even harder against her open pussy. “Charlotte, if you’re going to do it, please
do
it. Don’t worry about hurting me—I’m a Sin Eater, I’ve had pain all my life, mine and others. I can take it.”

Well, if that’s what he wants…

Summoning all her courage, she sank her teeth into the strong column of his neck. As she pierced his skin, Stavros gave a deep groan and the big body began to move beneath hers. She gasped and nearly lost her hold as his hips thrust up, rubbing the length of his ridged cock against her open pussy. And it wasn’t like she was dry either—from the moment he’d first pulled her on top of him, she’d started getting wet. Even though she hadn’t wanted to admit it or acknowledge it before, there was no denying it now. The silky sleep trousers he wore slid smoothly against her, aided by the wet heat between her legs as her juices flowed freely for him.

Then she tasted his blood. It was warm and sweet and sharp—almost alcoholic—and nothing at all like she had expected. It rushed through her like tongues of flame dancing through her veins, warming her from the inside out . In seconds she was warm to the core and yet, she didn’t want to stop biting him. Didn’t want to stop feeling him move against her.

“Gods, Charlie,” he groaned hoarsely and his big hands slid down her hips to hold her even more firmly against him. “Yes,
falinda,
drink from me! Take from me. Bite harder!”

Charlie did as he said, sinking her teeth even more firmly into his flesh and sucking hard to get his sweet, wild blood. Blood that made her feel hot inside in more ways than one.