Authors: Wendi Zwaduk
My Immortal (15 page)
She curled her fingers around his hands. “The rules are that I have to come to you, right? Your mate must initiate the process.”
“How did you know?”
“You never forced me to do anything or pushed me in any way,” she murmured. “You’re a gentleman, even if you are a vampire.”
“That gave me away?” He found it hard to believe her or read her thoughts.
“Truth?
I asked Allan. You know he likes to talk.” Her voice rasped.
His stomach flip-flopped. Storm wasn’t sure whether to snap at her or kiss her senseless. Hell, kissing and loving sounded so much better.
Stevie released his hand. She brushed her hair off her creamy shoulder and exposed her neck. “Bite me. Make our two halves whole. Make me your mate in every sense of the word.”
Her jugular vein pulsed under her skin, drawing him to her. Storm paused. “Look at me.”
Stevie dropped her hair and turned to him. Her eyes widened.
“Stevie, are you sure? Once we do this, we’re mated for life. We can’t separate and no one else can claim you.” Not that he wanted to separate or share. He’d waited an eternity for this moment. But if she had any doubts, he’d rather know now. “Even if you don’t love me, we will always be a part of each other.”
She licked her bottom lip and the simple act tightened his groin in sweet pleasure-filled pain. “We fucked those nights,” she murmured. “Isn’t that the same?”
“No, babe, we made love. There’s a difference.”
Questions burned in her clear blue eyes, but she remained quiet.
“Tonight, I’ll make love to you again. But to mate, I need to bite you as we make love. To make you mine.”
Stevie gave him a sharp nod. “Then do it.”
A wave of apprehension hit him at full force. “I don’t have to turn you to make you mine. You’ll be a bitter taste to anyone who tries to bite you. You’ll stay human and no one else can have you unless you chose to leave me.”
“You don’t want to make me like you?” She cocked her head. “I thought you all glamoured people to get what you wanted. I’ll submit if you prefer.”
Storm silenced her with a hard kiss.
“No, love.
I want you to stay sweet and innocent. I don’t wish this sickness on you or anyone else. Do you trust me not to harm you?”
“I’ve always trusted you.” Stevie tossed her hair over her shoulder. “I have faith you’ll know when to stop.”
A tremor blazed through his body. He possessed the power to drain her—hell, to kill her. But he wouldn’t. He loved her too much to risk her. Because the unspoken love in her eyes backed up the truth in her statement. She gave him something few ever tried to give—her unabashed trust. Yes, he loved his mate.
“On your bed.”
He scooped her into his arms and blew out the candles. “I refuse to initiate another couch because I can’t wait to enjoy your sexy body.”
“I agree.” She giggled.
Storm entered her bedroom where another display of candles illuminated the room. As he laid her on the bed, his gaze roved her body. “You are so beautiful.”
With little effort, he tore the sheer dress in half. Satisfied with his handiwork, he tangled her hands above her head. She parted her legs and granted him visual access to every inch of her body. He ran his tongue over his teeth. His fangs grew, pricking his bottom lip. The flutter of her pulse beckoned him.
“Take me, Storm.” Reaching between her breasts, she flicked open the tiny clasp on her bra. “I’m yours.
Always.”
His mouth watered. Yes, always. He brushed kisses over her engorged nipples and groaned. “I need to be inside you.” The words came out on a growl.
As he spoke, he yanked the thong away from her smooth pussy and down her thighs. Her scent went to his brain like fresh blood. Closing his eyes, he took a moment to gather his bearings before he did something foolish—like turning her. On a sigh, he opened his eyes and eased off the bed to unzip his jeans. Shoving the constricting denim, along with his socks and shoes, out of the way, he stood at his full height. She looked so small, but not helpless, under him. His cock bobbed as he removed his boxer briefs. Dear God, he needed her.
Mate.
Now.
Peering up at him through dark lashes, Stevie smiled. “I trust you.”
Throwing his head back, he moaned. With a surge, he knelt at the edge of the bed and entered her. She gasped and bared the smooth porcelain of her neck. Her inner muscles grabbed his shaft, holding him tightly in her heat. Salivating, he thrust into her again. Hell, he’d be done before he bit her.
The darker instinct won. He nuzzled her jaw and found her pulse. She twined her fingers in his hair in a silent go-ahead. Before his sank his teeth into her unblemished skin, he murmured the words in his heart. “I love you.”
Her nails scratched his shoulders as he latched onto her. The sweet taste of her blood lingered on his tongue. All the desire in her heart and the love in her soul bombarded him. He closed his eyes to savour her. Each thrust into her body brought a gasp. Her hips writhed under him as she dug her nails into his back. By letting go and trusting him, she gave him everything.
His vision blurred as he opened his eyes. Storm withdrew his teeth and kissed her neck. Grasping her waist, he pistoned into her and headed towards sexual release.
“Oh, Stevie.”
Arching under him, she tensed. “Oh!” Her brows knotted.
“Oh, my God!”
When he came, he buried his face against her neck and panted. Her scent, her blood, her life etched itself onto his heart.
His true love, for eternity.
His mate.
Chapter Thirteen
“What did they do to you?” Stevie propped herself up on her elbow and reapplied a bit of gloss. She curled her leg over his and walked her fingers along his sternum. “Vampires aren’t born. Tell me how you became one of the undead.”
Storm blinked. Only moments ago, he made love to her. Now she wanted to know his true story. He chuckled. She gave honesty and deserved it in return. She hadn’t reciprocated his declaration of love, but he could feel it in her kiss and knew it deep down in soul. He wrapped her naked body in his embrace. “I want to hold you while I talk.”
Stevie pursed her lips. The gloss sparkled as much as her eyes in the flickering candle light. The warmth from her core seared him. He wanted to kiss her again, to make love to her again. Instead, he’d tell her the truth—then he’d make love to her.
“I was born in Salem,
Stevie chewed the corner of her mouth and tipped her head to gaze into his eyes. She pressed her hand flat on his chest right over his heart. The heat scorched him to his core. “Did you love her?”
He suppressed a chuckle.
Love?
He never really loved anyone until he met Stevie. “I thought I did, but I didn’t. In fact, I never touched her because we weren’t allowed to be alone together.”
A lock of her hair slid in front of her eyes. “Oh.”
Storm tucked the silky strands behind her ear and fingered the four hoops in her lobe. “There is a devil and he lived in Salem for a while. You see, he has many faces and it suited him to be a warlock. He gave the women fits of sobbing, babbling and paralysis to keep the town busy. He made them think they saw witches because it was a good cover for his vicious bidding. Those women were puppets.” He peeked into Stevie’s mind. Uneasiness and shock skittered around her brain.
She gasped and covered her mouth “It doesn’t seem possible that anyone could be that evil or callous. Someone had to miss you.”
“I disappeared right before my marriage when I was twenty-two.” He took her hand and kissed her knuckles. “I later found out that Martha had no idea what happened to me. She didn’t care because she didn’t love me any more than I might have loved her. There were plenty of marriageable men around, so my disappearance wasn’t that important.”
“Oh, Storm. You’re important to me.” She fiddled with the dusting of hair on his chest. Tears slipped across the bridge of her nose, wetting the pillow.
He wiped her sadness away with his index finger. “Before I knew it, sunlight hurt, but it wasn’t lethal. My favourite apple pies tasted bland. I salivated at the mere thought of fresh blood. It made me sick. Even worse were the sexual cravings. The devil knows the way to a man’s brain is through his penis. I’m no different. I went from settlement to settlement defiling every young woman who caught my fancy. Many of them claimed to love me, but I doubt it. Almost out of the blue, I realised the foolishness of my actions, and from then on, I abstained from sex all together.”
“When was your last time?
With a woman?”
She fidgeted and tried to cover their bodies with the sheet.
Her innocence rocked his world. He chuckled and stilled her hand.
“Besides you?”
When she nodded, she succeeded in grabbing the bedcovers.
“Other than me.”
Storm fought the urge to sneak a taste of her. “Seventeen forty-five.”
Her mouth fell open. “You went over two hundred and fifty years without sex?” A curl obscured her eyes.
“No way.
I saw those women at the clubs and watched you leave with them. There had to be others.”
“None of those women was you.” This time, he gave in to his desire to taste her and kissed her. Stevie fisted the sheet in her hands. Storm rose up on one elbow. He nibbled his way from her lips to her jaw line. “You’re the only woman I see wherever I look.”
“Me?” Her glazed eyes opened. “Storm, don’t joke around.”
“Do you think I could hire someone I wasn’t attracted to, to rub her body all over mine each time a bullet whizzed past? Or, better still, do you think I’d work with a woman I didn’t feel comfortable taking out in public? On top of that, you’re beautiful, confident and natural. I couldn’t keep away from you because you fit my bill perfectly.”
“Not Lettie?” Apprehension swirled in the azure depths of her eyes.
“Never.”
A small smile twitched on her lips. “Good. I’d hate to boost your ego by starting a cat-fight.”
“Although it would be hot, my ego is fine as-is. Besides, I’m damned happy. I’m all yours, love.”
She opened and closed her mouth. The words lingered in her mind where he could see them, but just out of reach. How the hell was he going to get her past her fear?
Time, love, and more time.
He’d give her forever and love her just the same.
“So why become a PI?” She traced her middle finger down his cheek. “It isn’t like there was a lot of call for that back in the seventeenth century was there?”
He pressed a quick kiss to her mouth. “I watched the Salem Witch Trials firsthand. Those women did nothing wrong other than talk to their pets and attempt to make the best of a rough existence. Those rotten little girls wanted attention and the devil held their hands the entire way. You’d be surprised how much oppression I witnessed in three hundred and forty years. The devil gets his way much of the time. I knew if I followed along his path, I’d be no better than the one who turned me. In that instant, I decided to help those in need as a silent honour to those who couldn’t fend for themselves.”
“Why did you change your name? So people wouldn’t know you?” Stevie leant forward to rest her forehead against his. “I doubt anyone really remembers that far back.”
He twirled a lock of her hair between his fingers, savouring the silky texture. “After the change, I wasn’t Jacob Preston. I was a monster who fed off others. I tried Jacob Richardson for a while because I saw it on an advertisement, but that didn’t sound right. During the Civil War, I fought with an
“Then my mate is Storm Richardson.” Her hand slid to his cock. “And based on the way this is stabbing me, I’d say you’re ready for round two.”
“You have no idea how much I want you.” Blood surged through his body and engorged his dick. “We spent too long apart.”
“Do you need to drink from me each time we make love?”
He pressed a kiss to each eyelid and swept kisses over her cheeks. “Yes and no.
If we make love as much as we have already, then no, because I’ll drain you.
But because I’m rather fond of you, I can have a sip and be fine. Drinking from you as we have sex gives me power.”
“Power?”
“You energise me so I can hear things far away, sense your feelings and read your mind—stuff like that.”
Her eyes flashed with a combination of desire and mischief. “Read my mind, eh? So what am I thinking right now?”
“That you want a certain sexy vampire to ravish you again until you come and then when I’m done, you want me to do it all over again.”
