Immortal Moon (10 page)

“So, no biting, huh?”

I grimaced. “Sorry about that.”

He laughed softly and ran a finger up my
arm, sending tingles of excitement through me. “There’s nothing for
you to be sorry for. I liked it.” He shot me a sexy grin.

I shrugged, laughing. “Well, there is that.
It’s still a little hypocritical of me.”

Leaning on one elbow, he looked down at me,
his face serious. “No, Anya, it’s not. You biting me and me biting
you are two very different things. I don’t drink human blood, norm
or vampire, under most circumstances. But I can’t deny that doing
so during sex heightens the pleasure for both parties.”

I nodded. “Because vampire saliva is a drug
to humans and human blood is a drug to vampires. And vampire blood
is more intoxicating than norm blood. I know that. The bars are
full of suckers just aching to get bit.”

He smiled at me. “Exactly. But I am one of
the rare vampires who finds exchanging blood to be an extremely
intimate act. I might nip at your skin with my teeth, but I will
never extend my fangs and bite you. Not unless you ask me to. And
then, only if I want to do so.” His grin turned lecherous. “But you
can feel free to sink your tiny little teeth into me anytime you
want. I like it.”

“Humph!” I swung my leg out to kick him and
the heel of my boot got tangled in the sheets. “Oh, crap, I forgot
I had these on. I should take them off before I rip your sheets or
poke a hole in your mattress.”

I started to sit up, but he gave me a gentle
push back onto the mattress.

“Let me,” he said.

He moved so that he was kneeling at my feet
and reached for the boot on my right leg. He slowly unlaced the
boot then slid it off, his hands sliding over every inch of my leg
on the way down. He moved to the second boot, giving it the same
treatment.

Then, starting at my ankle, he began kissing
and licking his way up my leg. It was so hot and sensual, my entire
body buzzed. When his lips and tongue were mere inches from the
apex of my thighs, I braced myself for the sensations I was sure
would come next. Instead, he retraced his way back down my leg. I
moaned my frustration as he started up the other leg in the same
manner. This time as his mouth moved across my inner thigh I wasn’t
disappointed. I shook with pleasure as his tongue flitted over my
most sensitive spot, and then I groaned as he slid one finger
inside me.

I wrapped one hand in the long, silky
strands of his hair, while the other clutched at the sheets beneath
me. I writhed under him, letting the sensations rock me as he
licked and stroked me into delirium. Unable to stop myself, I
screamed out his name as my orgasm shook me.

Within seconds, he was over me, pushing his
hard length into my body. I welcomed him, arching up to meet him.
He immediately began to move, hard and fast. My nails dug into his
back as I met him thrust for thrust. To my surprise, it only took a
few minutes before I was there again, in that storm of pleasure
that took my breath away as my body tightened and clenched around
him and the world broke into a million tiny pieces.

Several hard strokes later he growled his
own release into my neck.

“We missed
the sunrise,” Anya said, stretching like a satisfied cat.

“Yes, I guess we did.” Jarrett leaned up on
both elbows to watch her as she walked around the cabin picking up
her discarded clothing, apparently unbothered by her nudity.

Jarrett, on the other hand, was very
bothered. He could feel himself hardening again as he took in her
creamy skin and tantalizing curves. He had to force himself to stay
in control. They’d already made love several times over the past
few hours, and though he was ready and willing for more, he wasn’t
sure Anya would be. It had been so long since he’d been with a
non-vampire, and Anya’s sexual appetite was so voracious. He’d
almost missed the signs of how tired she was until she started
yawning a few minutes ago, shortly after their latest tumble around
the bunk.

“So, are you headed off to parts unknown
this afternoon?”

She had her back to him as she found the
last bits of her clothing and began to dress. He couldn’t see her
expression. Nor could he gauge her mood from her voice. He was
silent a long moment, watching her pull on her skirt and trying to
decide how to respond. When she sat on the bench to pull her boots
onto those sinfully long and sexy legs, he quickly made up his mind
about how he wanted to spend the next two weeks.

“Actually,” he said, keeping his tone as
neutral as possible. “I’m on leave for the next two weeks and will
probably be hanging around Nash City. So, I’ll be around if you
want to try to catch that sunrise, or whatever.”

She looked at him hard for one long moment,
dropping her boot on the floor. She strode over to the end of the
bunk.

“Jarrett Campbell,” she said, slowly
crawling up the bed, her legs on either side of his. “Are you
asking me if I want to spend the next two weeks screwing your
brains out every chance I get?”

“I…” but he couldn’t finish the sentence.
She had pulled the sheet away from his erection and was lightly
running her fingers up and down. It was everything he could do to
keep his eyes from rolling back in his head.

“Because if you are…” She moved up,
straddling his hips, and he suddenly realized she hadn’t put her
underwear on yet.

“The answer is…” She positioned him at her
opening.

“Yes.” The word was drawn out on a
breathless gasp as she pushed down.

Forty-five minutes later, Jarrett pulled The
Minnow alongside the pier he’d been moored at earlier. He’d barely
finished securing the lines when Anya gave him a quick kiss and
climbed ashore.

“It will be busy tonight so it will be
almost dawn before I can leave work. I’ll see you,” she said with a
wink. Then, tossing her long red locks over her shoulder, she
turned and disappeared into the crowd of sailors, fisherman, and
other dock workers.

He watched her go, wondering just what he’d
gotten himself into. The woman was likely to drive him mad before
two weeks was up. At least he didn’t have to worry about staying
busy. He looked around at The Minnow. He’d neglected her over the
past several months while he’d been obsessed with his quest for
Cora. There was plenty of scrubbing, scraping, painting, and
repairing to do around the boat. He pushed Anya and her amazing
body out of his mind and went to get supplies and get started.

***

Three days later, Jarrett knew Anya wasn’t
lying beside him the moment he reached consciousness. It vaguely
registered in his brain how, in the past three days, he was already
used to waking up with her warm body against his. He opened his
eyes to the dim light of early dusk peering through the cabin’s
narrow windows. Next to him, the bed was bare as he’d suspected,
but it only took a second to find Anya. She was standing at the end
of the bunk, fully dressed with hat and bag in hand, tiptoeing
towards the door.

“Where are you going?”

Anya gasped and turned around, a guilty look
on her face. “I wasn’t sneaking out.”

She was so adorable while trying to be
sneaky. He leaned up on one elbow. “Of course you weren’t. So,
where are you going? I know you aren’t going to work, you’re off
tonight.”

She let out a sigh. “Pete’s Fight
House.”

He climbed out of bed and began to dress.
“You thought I’d disapprove?”

Her eyes narrowed. “It doesn’t really matter
what you think.”

He laughed, loving the tinge of pink that
filled her cheeks and the fire that flashed in her eyes. “True, it
doesn’t. Can I go with you?”

The pink deepened and her eyes narrowed. “I
don’t need you to protect me.”

“Wow. You know, it’s times like this that I
really see the family resemblance between you and Fiona. That
fierce independence would be attractive if you weren’t so quick to
jump to conclusions and be defensive. I merely thought it would be
fun to watch you fight. Fiona has told me you are a better fighter
than she is, but I haven’t had the chance to see it myself.” He
thought it best not to point out that just a couple of days ago she
had, indeed, needed protection.

She had the grace to look slightly chastised
before her attitude snapped back into place and she rolled her
eyes. “Don’t get your panties in a bunch. You can come with.”

With a single stride, he crossed the room,
grabbed her by the waist, and picked her up. Her legs automatically
went around him, her boots knocking against the back of his thighs.
Her arms wrapped around his neck as his hands slid under her
bottom. Pushing her against the nearest wall, he kissed her hard
and hungrily.

When they were both breathless, he pulled
his mouth away, kissing across her cheek to her ear where he traced
the lobe with his tongue. “Good morning,” he whispered, nipping her
ear with his teeth.

She let out a little moan. “Oh, yes. Good
morning. You know, going to Pete’s could wait until tomorrow.”

He slid his hands back up to her waist and
pulled her away from him. He set her back on her feet and took a
step back. “No, we’ll go. I’m in the mood to see you kick some
ass.”

She swayed a bit and leaned back against the
wall and glared at him. “And suddenly I’m in the mood to do just
that,” she said through gritted teeth.

She looked so volatile and sexy, it was
everything he could do not to scoop her back into his arms and take
her back to bed. Maybe he shouldn’t have teased her. She’d deserved
it trying to sneak out on him, but it had tortured him as much as
her.

He picked up her hat and bag from where
she’d dropped them. “Come on, Killer, let’s go see what kind of
trouble you can get us into.”

She stared daggers at him for another moment
before her mouth curved into a slow, sexy smile. “You are going to
pay for that later.”

“I’m looking forward to it.”

***

Pete’s Fight House was illuminated by a
mixture of crystal and oil lanterns casting a dim, blue glow over a
massive crowd that had gathered to watch the evening’s fights.
Jarrett stood ringside, watching as Anya moved gracefully around
the ring, throwing punches and kicks and dodging blows. He’d known,
from nights of exploring her luscious body, how muscular and
athletic she was, but watching her toss her opponent around and
bounce up when she was knocked down told him she had a strength he
hadn’t imagined.

She was magnificent, moving with a practiced
grace he’d seen in few fighters. The fact that she wasn’t paranorm
made it all the more phenomenal. Vampires and shifters were
stronger with faster reflexes, and some mages could use magical
energy to increase their agility. But Anya had none of that. Her
abilities came from training and practice.

He wondered what made her work so hard on
her body. And, even more, why did she fight? He fought as a part of
his job, though he couldn’t deny he enjoyed it. But that was
partially due to the vampire side of him. Vampires were adrenaline
junkies, and fighting was one of the best activities to get his
kicks. But Anya had no such compulsion. He wondered what pain or
trauma from her past drove her to fight for sport.

Barely four minutes after the match began,
Anya had her opponent’s shoulders pinned to the floor as the
referee counted down. The crowd of spectators roared with approval
as Anya was announced the winner. Jarrett couldn’t help smirking at
the name “Spitfire” as the ref called it out. He knew Anya must
hate it, but it fit her so perfectly. She did everything with a
fiery passion that matched her hair color.

His own temperature started to rise with
thoughts of having her and all that blazing passion in his bed
later. But, his ardor cooled drastically a few seconds later when a
man entered the ring and challenged her before she could exit.

“Come on, Spitfire,” the man said. “Your
other opponents tonight barely had enough skill to warm you up.
I’ll be a little tougher to put down.”

Jarrett groaned. The man was well over six
feet tall, probably no more than an inch shorter than Jarrett. He
was also at least fifty pounds heavier and nearly solid muscle.
Unlike many of the big men Anya and Jarrett had watched fight
tonight, he carried himself with the grace of a trained fighter. He
wouldn’t be as easy to put down as the previous two were. Surely
Anya wouldn’t be daft enough to go into a third match against
someone who hadn’t fought at all tonight and clearly had the
physical advantage.

“Let’s do it,” Anya said.

Jarrett groaned. Of course she was that
daft.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Jarrett
asked when she’d joined him to rest a minute and wait for bets on
the fight to be placed.