Embrace the Heat (12 page)

That comment made her temper snap. She spun
around, and if she had fangs they would have been bared. “What I
said had nothing to do with any feelings I might have for you. I’m
horny. Not sure why, but I can’t seem to take care of things myself
lately.”

Simon’s eyes practically rolled back in his
head.

“It wasn’t really anything personal with you.
In fact, if I’m still attracting all of the male vampires, why
don’t you send a couple over to help me out? That’s all I really
need is a man between my legs. Doesn’t matter who it is.” Layla
couldn’t believe her own crude words.

Simon moved so fast that Layla didn’t have
time to react. One minute she was taunting him from across the
room. The next she was pressed up against the door to the yard.
“That is not going to happen,” Simon ground out. “I am not going to
let you be used by any man. You deserve much better.”

Layla would love to think this meant Simon
wanted her, but she knew the truth. Okay, he wanted her, but he
didn’t like wanting her. This wasn’t jealousy. He was her friend
and felt obligated to protect her. “Get off of me,” she
snarled.

“Fine,” he said and stepped back.

“I’m not staying in this house much longer,”
she warned him. “If this is what my life is going to be like here,
then I want to leave. I can go live with the humans on Treasure
Island.”

Simon looked like she’d struck him, but
quickly recovered. “I’ll figure something out.”

She watched as he shyly grabbed several
cookies on the way out.

When she heard her front door close, Layla
finally breathed a sigh of relief. Maybe she should go to Treasure
Island. There was no way she could stay cooped up in this house,
and things were becoming even more uncomfortable with Simon.

On that depressing thought, she went upstairs
to once again try to relieve some of her sexual tension.

Simon leaned against the front door of
Layla’s house and tried to get his body under control. His cock was
pounding in time with his heart. His body was screaming at him to
turn around and go back into that house where Layla wouldn’t
protest at all if he lifted her up and fucked her against the wall
while his fangs slid into her throat.

With a groan, Simon practically doubled over.
Now his fangs ached too. They hadn’t hurt like this since he’d been
a half starved kid. This made no sense at all. In all of his
years, Simon had never fed during sex. Those activities always
remained separate. Sure he’d been offered sex by several of the
human donors in the past, but he didn’t have sex with humans. That
hadn’t happened since he’d been a blood whore forced to pleasure
humans to survive.

With that strange scent, Layla was a
temptation he didn’t need. If he was honest with himself, she’d
been enough temptation before now. Layla would be wild and
unrestrained in bed, like she was sparring. There would be no
limits, nothing taboo.

Simon failed to stifle a groan. When she’d
offered sex with no strings attached, he’d been more than a little
tempted, but Layla was his friend and he didn’t want to lose
that.

Connor and Norah had managed to stay friends
while sleeping together for decades. Simon shook his head, not
liking how he was trying to justify going back into Layla’s home.
The reason casual sex would never work with Layla was that she
already had feelings for him.

That thought made him feel like a real dick
for bringing up her feelings the way he had. What kind of friend
was he to embarrass Layla like that? Yeah, she probably knew he
suspected her feelings, but they didn’t talk about it. Thinking
about what a bastard he’d been made his erection go away, but it
made him want to go back into Layla’s house for an entirely
different reason. Now he wanted to wrap her in his arms and tell
her how sorry he was.

With his cock finally under control, Simon
forced himself to leave Layla’s front step. Going back in would
only lead to one thing. While his cock might be under control now,
having Layla in his arms would change all of that. The right thing
to do was get as far from her as he could manage.

As he walked home, Simon had a sinking
feeling he was going to end up breaking his rule about humans with
Layla, and then he was going to end up hurting both of them.

Training had ended over an hour ago, and
Norah knew she should head home to talk to Rand. Still, she
lingered. After twenty minutes of cleaning up, she decided to
practice her moves with the eskrima sticks. Focusing on the
movement of the sticks felt good. Raven had taught her exercises to
keep up her strength and flexibility when she wasn’t fighting. She
only had Raven and Layla to spar with, so she had to practice alone
part of the time. Most didn’t like the sticks, and that made them
more appealing to Norah. Her talent with the eskrima sticks made
her feel special, which was something she hadn’t felt most of her
life.

Norah had always known she wasn’t a great
beauty. Certainly she wasn’t ugly, but she knew her brown hair,
brown eyes, and relatively nondescript features were nothing
special. Only Rand had made her feel special, and during those
horrible months when she’d believed he was dead, she’d nearly been
destroyed. Learning to fight with the eskrima sticks had made her
feel empowered.

The sound of footsteps in the hallway
distracted Norah from her thoughts. Inhaling deeply, she recognized
Rand’s scent. It had been driving her crazy for more than a decade.
Rand must have gone to work out in one of the other rooms. No
surprise, he always enjoyed physical activity when he was stressed
out. Today had been a stressful day for both of them. His musky
scent combined with the smell of his sweat wrapped around her,
caressing her in all the right places. Norah shivered from the
desire that flooded her body.

It had been this way since the first time
she’d seen him. Every sense was nearly overwhelmed by Rand. The
sound of his deep voice sent shivers through her body. His scent
made her want to bury her face in his chest and breathe him in.
Rand wasn’t what one would call handsome. Nope, he’d had his nose
broken more than once and it was crooked now. His face was a little
too wide, and his eyes were too deep set for traditional beauty.
Still, Norah had found herself staring at him every chance she got
when he’d first moved to the settlement. His thick black hair and
tanned skin were so incredibly sexy to her. Rand was just over six
feet four inches of solid muscle. While that should have
intimidated her, it attracted her. She’d always been a little
afraid of men, but Rand’s strength made her feel secure. She loved
running her hands along his powerful body and loved the way his
bare skin felt against her own. Then there was his taste. Once
she’d learned how wonderful kissing Rand was, she’d been addicted
to the vampire.

A shudder went through her body.

“Christ,” Rand cursed from the door. “You’re
making me crazy, Norah. Please say it’s me getting you so hot and
bothered.”

Norah stiffened. “Who else would it be? Are
you accusing me of cheating on you now?”

Rand crossed the room in three long strides
and wrapped his arms around her from behind. No matter how angry
she was, she leaned into his heat and strength. She shivered again
when his lips brushed against her neck.

“I didn’t mean that to sound like an
accusation,” he murmured against her neck. “God, I wish I knew the
right words to say. It seems like all I’ve done this last week is
stick my foot in my mouth.”

Norah turned in his arms and touched the side
of his face. “This can’t be easy for you. You came back expecting
to start your life right where you left off.”

Rand closed his eyes. “Dreaming about
returning to you was the only thing that kept me alive. I know my
dreams weren’t realistic. Of course, you changed. How could you
stay the same after believing I was dead?”

“I’m sorry I’m not the woman you wanted to
come back to,” Norah said quietly and started to pull away.

Rand quickly pulled her closer. He threaded
the fingers on one hand through the back of her hair to hold her in
place while he kissed her. Norah felt like she was drowning in
sensation, overwhelmed by Rand. She moaned as his tongue stroked
hers. His hand released her hair and then both hands were on her
ass, lifting her up to fit her against his erection. She rocked
against him, feeling wild and desperate to have Rand inside of
her.

Rand walked across the floor with her still
wrapped around his body. He didn’t break the kiss for even a moment
as he closed the door and locked it. Then he laid her down on a
stack of mats and kissed her until she was breathless.

“The first time I saw you, I was so hard I
was embarrassed to stand up,” Rand said as he kissed along her jaw
line.

Norah wrapped her legs around his waist,
desperate to get closer to his erection. He was too tall for her to
get there, and it was making her crazy. She wiggled and clawed at
his shoulders through his shirt.

“Do you remember that day?” he asked as he
slid one hand under the fabric of her shirt. His hand caressed her
breast, and she wished her bra wasn’t in the way.

“Yes,” she said and arched into his hand. “I
thought you hated me because of the way you kept scowling.”

“You were too pretty and delicate for someone
like me,” he said. “Still, you wouldn’t leave me alone. You did
everything to get further under my skin. I’m very thankful for your
stubborn ways because you’re the best thing that’s ever happened to
me.”

Rand looked up into the eyes of the woman he
loved. This sexy woman was his wife, and the woman he would die
for. At that moment, he needed to feel her body come undone more
than he needed his next breath. “Undress for me,” he said in a
rough voice.

Norah’s shudder made him even harder. Then he
watched as she stripped out of her clothes. When she was down to
just the lacy little scrap of fabric that did nothing to cover up
her most intimate parts, he caught her hands to stop her from
removing them.

His hand slipped between her legs, and he
groaned. “These are soaking wet,” he said.

Norah stood before him with a shy smile on
her face. That smile got him every time. “As soon as your scent
reached me, I was aroused. It’s always been like this.”

“I need you so much right now,” Rand said
almost desperately.

“Then maybe you should strip out of those
clothes. You do seem a little overdressed for this kind of
sparring.”

“Sparring?” he asked with a raised eyebrow
and stood to face her. “Is that what we’re doing?”

Norah dropped so quickly that Rand didn’t
have time to react before she swept her leg around and kicked his
out from under him. Rand hit the mat with a laugh. “Damn woman!
You’ve always been ruthless, but now you’ve got some serious
fighting skills.”

“And I win, so undress for me,” she ordered
playfully.

Rand reached up a hand. “Help me up, and I
will.”

When she reached down for his hand, Rand
yanked until she fell across his chest, then he rolled on top of
her, using his weight to pin her to the mat, but being careful not
to crush her. Pinning her arms above her head, he leaned down to
take one of her nipples into his mouth. Since she wanted to play
rough, he decided to tease her by suckling it gently.

Norah lifted her breast as far up as she
could and moaned. “More!”

He pulled away and blew on her erect nipple.
“More what?” he asked with a smile.

“I need you to suck harder,” she said
desperately and struggled to free her hands. Well, she obviously
wasn’t trying very hard. Rand got the impression she liked being
right where she was.

“What if I want to spend the next hour
worshipping your body with soft kisses and gentle caresses?” he
asked.

“If you’re considering torturing me,” she
said with a sweet smile, “then I suggest you remember how much I
enjoy revenge.”

He chuckled. “Now you’re just making it more
tempting. I do like it when you decide to torture me with your
body. Lucky for you I’d never deny you what you want.”

“Then get naked for me,” Norah said.

Rand stood and gave a slight bow of his head.
“If you insist.”

Norah didn’t stand, but she did get up onto
her knees, legs spread and one hand on each knee. Rand let out a
hiss when he saw her like that. She’d always been sexy to him, but
over the last few months, her slender body had put on a fair amount
of muscle. She was still slim, but now she had strong sexy legs and
toned arms.

He slipped his shirt over his head and tossed
it across the room. Then he kicked off his shoes. His hand reached
for his sweatpants, and he slid them down his body.

“Have I ever mentioned how grateful I am that
you don’t wear underwear?” Norah asked. “I can’t imagine having to
deal with even one extra piece of clothing when I want you naked as
much as I do right now.”

“Have I ever told you how much I appreciate
you letting me tear off those little scraps of nothing you wear
under your clothes?”

“No, but I’ve noticed that over the
years.”

Rand sat down and removed his socks because
he always felt silly walking around naked in socks. After tossing
the socks aside he stood and stalked toward his wife. She was still
on her knees with that sexy smile playing on her lips. He never
doubted that she wanted him. In all of their years together, there
had never been a day when she hadn’t eagerly welcomed him into her
body.

At that moment, he wanted nothing more than
to feel her wrapped around him. He needed her more than he needed
his next breath. Still, he had to do this right. He had to say what
he’d come to say.

“I’m sorry for the way I acted earlier,” he
said and reached out to help her to her feet and pull her against
his body. “There is no excuse for me bringing that up in front of
everyone. I don’t think you’re weak. The truth is, I know you’re
strong, but I’m terrified of you being hurt.”