Immortal Becoming (8 page)

“You’re sure.” Shane asked, lisping from the eruption of his fangs. Her flesh warmed to the stark desire she could see in his dark eyes. Jess touched her lips to his in answer, and he captured them, licking and nibbling at them. She was instantly swamped in sensation. Helpless, she opened to him. Without hesitation he plundered the depths of her mouth, tangoing with her tongue, and she matched his passion with her own.

Shane released the tie of her robe. His warm hand slid up her ribcage and cupped her breast in his hand, his thumb skimming her nipple. It tightened and ached under his attention. Her womb clenched, and she felt a warm rush as her sex flooded with moisture. Her mind turned off while her body turned on. She forgot about everything except Shane and how he was making her feel.

She felt his fangs touching her lips and tongue. She pressed her tongue to the point, causing it to puncture, and the coppery taste of her blood filled her mouth. Shane stopped the kiss, placing his forehead against hers.

“What I would give to take your blood.” He took a deep, shaky breath. “We can’t share that yet. There are very specific guidelines that should be observed in the sharing of blood from the vein. Especially since we both are … psychic.” He looked deeply into her eyes. “There are implications to blood sharing that I have yet to explain to you.” His look held hope and promise.

“Oh.” Only his ministrations on her breast kept her from withdrawing. “I didn’t realize.” She hadn’t meant to commit a faux pas. He shifted her on his lap and sucked her nipple into the heat of his mouth, flicking it with his tongue and scraping across it with his fang. All reason left her in the swamp of sensation he released in her.

Her hands in his hair, she arched her breasts into his mouth. His hands cupped the curve of her buttocks and he stood, lifting her in his arms as if she weighed no more that a feather. Her legs came around his waist. Blindly he carried her to the edge of the bed, releasing her breast to capture her lips again. Jess surrendered her grip in his hair long enough to shimmy her shoulders, letting the robe slide from her body. She sunk into the bedding, loving Shane’s weight pressing her deep into the luxurious mattress. The bedding released his scent, swallowing any reserves she might have still had.

Breaking the kiss, he rose up to look down at her. Laid out and open to his inspection, she felt like an offering. He seemed to be fascinated with her diamond belly-button ring.

“Do you have protection?” She bit hard into her bottom lip, wishing she would have thought to ask him to stop at a convenience store after they left the academy.

Shane drew a deep breath into his lungs. His eyes fell closed, looking like he’d just taken a bite of the best cheesecake ever. “You are not fertile at this time, and Elven are immune from all disease. However, I would be happy to procure a … condom, is it? If it would make you more comfortable.” Jess chewed her lip for a moment longer. He’d already displayed more honor than any man she had ever even heard of.

“No, I believe you.” She surrendered and Shane leaned in, nibbling at her lips. Jess moaned, giving him access to plunder her mouth with his own. She returned the kiss, pouring every ounce of her desire to pleasure him into it. She was breathless when he released her lips to lay a trail of kisses across her cheek to her ear and down her neck. She heard his groan, feeling his fang scrap against the pulse at her throat.

Her body was on fire, burning hotter under the trail of his hands and his mouth. She cried out, feeling him gather one of her breasts into his hand, gently tweaking the nipple between his thumb and fingers. His other hand teased across her abdomen, her muscles bunched beneath it, and halted in silent question when he reached the soft flesh just above her clitoris. She answered by raising her hips slightly.

Gasping a cry, Shane’s fingers slid lightly over her sensitive bud, giving it just a moment of attention before he slid the finger into the heat of her folds. He gently swirled the finger within her in an attempt to loosen her tight grip on it. His thumb tapped out a soft dance against her tender bundle of nerves. Her body yearned, reaching for relief to the overwhelming sensations, arching into his mouth when it replaced his hand at her breast. He slowly slid a second finger into her tight channel.

She felt a humming vibration within her, and her womb clenched under the pressure. Thrashing her head, her fingers digging into Shane’s scalp at her breast, she shattered into a million pieces. Wave after wave of pleasure crashed over her, dragging her gasping under it again and again, continuing even as she felt him withdraw his fingers from her still pulsing vagina.

She was still riding the wave when she felt the head of Shane’s erection at her entrance. Tenderly, he started to enter her inch by inch. He was large. She looked into his beautiful face. His teeth were clenched in agony, his breathing labored, his fists knotted into the sheet on either side of her head. Her body reluctantly stretched to accommodate his. He looked to be in as much pain or more than she. She willed herself to relax, focusing on her breathing, appreciating the gentleness Shane was exhibiting while he worked to ease himself into her tight body. She was glad she’d saved this rite of passage for him.

She felt a sharp pinch when he made contact with the evidence of her virginity. Shane halted at the barrier, meeting her golden gaze with the darkest green, nearly black color of his. Shining with a silent apology, Shane pounded through to his hilt with a hard thrust, tearing her innocence in one final plunge. She screamed out in pain, hearing a painful grunt from Shane too.

Shane held himself buried within her. Jess’s body slowly adjusted to his girth. She could feel his heart beat frantically where their chests where touching. She hated the tears running down her face.

“Relax for me, Beauty. I will bring you pleasure.” He kissed her deeply, beginning a slow, rocking rhythm inside her. She began to match his rocking pace, meeting his passion with her own. “Great Fates, you are so soft, tight, and wet. Perfect. Like a silk glove created for me alone.” His words rumbled through her, stoking the fire inside of her hotter.

The slow rocking gave way to faster and harder pounding. Jess could hear herself calling out to him for more in complete abandon. Her pressures built, rising to a peak, gathering within her like the wildest storm she had ever experienced. She swore she even heard thunder. The reverberations were drowned out by the combined sounds of their lovemaking. She shattered again, her body’s response more powerful than the first time. She cried out with it, “Shane … OH GOD!” Her vaginal walls gripped, squeezing, and still he pounded into her over and over, intensifying her release.

Suddenly Shane threw his head back, giving Jess a view of his taut face. Fangs filled his mouth. His neck muscles strained. He released a deafening roar, his seed jetting deep inside of her, sending her still pulsing, gripping vagina into a fresh bought of spasm. He collapsed against her, their breathing heavy, their bodies glistening with sweat. The room was saturated with the combined scents of their passion.

Jess felt a bubbling giddiness. She couldn’t stop the grin. Feeling like she’d drunk too much champagne, she giggled, which quickly turned into an uncontrollable laughing fit. Shane lifted his weight from her, looking at her as if she were the crazy one for a change. At least he was smiling at her outburst. Tears rolled down her face and she curled up in the ache of her belly muscles, riding it out till her laughter trailed off, leaving her sniffling, still smiling, Shane wiped the tears from her cheek.

“That was weird.” Jess had no idea what to say, completely baffled by her reaction.

“Good thing I am not the insecure type.” Shane pulled her into his arms.

She playfully slapped against his chest. “You know what I meant.”

Chapter Seven

Shane laughed, holding Jess against him tightly. “I know. Sometimes sexual and emotional releases go hand in hand. At least that is what I have heard.” He rubbed his chin against the top of her head, luxuriating in the softness of her hair and the warmth of her body against his. “My brother, Gregor, told me he knows his mate Teya is happy when she bursts into tears, which seemed like an oxymoron to me at the time. I think I get it a little better now.” He felt her smile into his chest as she snuggled deeper into his side. She was his destiny; he knew it in an instinctive and primal way. It shouldn’t be possible, but it was.

He had felt her pleasure rebounding. Her fragile shield had dropped away during her first orgasm. He was grateful to have been able to share the pain of his penetration, to truly appreciate the gift he had just been given by this exceptional creature.

“You dropped your shields, Beauty,” Shane confided. “That in and of itself was the most amazing thing I have ever experienced.” She sucked in her breath. He felt her shield rise immediately. Expected though it was, he felt some disappointment at the expulsion. “Did you expect it to be so painful?”

She shifted, placing her arms crisscrossed on his chest with her chin on her wrists, and looked into his eyes. Her hair fanned out across his abdomen. She took his breath away.

“I thought it would hurt worse.” She released a long sigh, and then went silently contemplative. “Remember when I mentioned that I killed the last man I saw naked?” He nodded, instinctively knowing she needed to reveal this secret in her own way and time. He held a lock of her hair between his fingers, rubbing its softness between his thumb and forefinger, waiting for her to continue.

“Well,” she began, but her voice cracked and she softly cleared her throat before continuing. “I was ten years old when my mom … when she died.” Her expression reflected some of the horror she’d witnessed. His empathic nature was partially blocked by her shields. He wanted to ask how her mother had died and a million other questions to help him solve the puzzle of Jess, yet he knew she needed to do this her own way. He smothered his curiosity, relaxed, and let her unfold for him.

“Ok, I need to just say this so … shit … here goes.” She sat up, holding the sheet to her breasts, with her back to him so he was unable to see her face. He reached out to rub her back. His heart leapt with the small distance she’d put between them. He needed to touch her, to feel connected to her even if she felt she couldn’t face him while she confided her secrets.

She took a deep, bracing breath. “My father killed my mother. I walked in right after he had done it. He still had the knife in his hand, her blood dripping off the tip. They say he snapped somehow. When they took him away, he went willingly, moved when directed. They say he has never spoken again. When I became an adult I thought about going to see him in the mental hospital, but I never did. I changed my name instead and distanced myself from him even further. I was grateful they put him in a hospital.”

Her voice shook but she continued on. “I was just a little girl. I was supposed to testify at his hearing. When they declared him incompetent, I was off the hook.” She paused, her guilt so powerful he could feel it through the shields.

A few more moments of silence passed before she spoke again. “I went into the foster system after that. The first home they placed me into was a few blocks away from the Ryu.” She glanced over her shoulder at him to add. “That is the name of my martial arts school.” Wondering how alone she must have felt then, he nodded. The officers had announced her credentials prior to her arrival. They had stated she was the sensei and owner of one of the most premier martial-arts studios in the state.

Jess gave him a small smile that did not reach her eyes before turning away again. “Every day after school I would stop and watch the classes being taught by Sensei Yamamoto, Jirou is his name. His brother was Shihan, and Aymee’s father. Anyway, I would watch. Then I would go home and practice what I saw until I could do it just like they did. I wanted to mimic the teachers, not the students.”

He could hear some pride in her voice, and he grinned at the mental image of her as a little girl making karate chops in her yard. “The Yamamotos must have noticed my attention. One day they invited me into the class for a free lesson.” Her love of these instructors seeped into her tone. “The first time they asked I ran away, but eventually I found the courage to go in. They ohhh’d and ahhh’d at all I had learned from them without ever taking a class. They made an agreement with the foster parents I was placed with at the time, that if I would practice at least two hours outside of class every day, they would give me a full scholarship for lessons. They were aware that I was already practicing for hours without any incentive at all. I knew it for the gift it truly was, and I made sure to practice at least twice as long.”

Her voice caught and Shane prepared himself. He could sense what would follow was going to be bad. “My first foster parents were an older couple. When I was thirteen I became ill. I would bleed from my ears, my nose, sometimes even my eyes. I began menstruating, but it wasn’t normal. I bled for months on end. I was weak and sometimes needed help to even get to the bathroom.” She was whispering. Shane directed his hearing so that he could catch every word.

“My medical needs were just too much for them; they were too old to care for me at that level. I was placed into a new home with younger parents. In that home there were two other girls and me. I remember the girls being quiet and withdrawn. I wish I wouldn’t have been so wrapped up in my own pain, but I was. The doctors couldn’t figure out what was wrong with me, just that I always had too much iron in my body.” Shane’s hand paused at her back. Holy shit, she was iron-rich. How did she survive constant iron poisoning without knowledge or help?