Once Forbidden (2 page)

Sarah
knew what was coming. When he loved her with his mouth her whole world centered
on those few moments. She felt his fingers holding her open to him and felt his
tongue as he lapped at her, driving her to the brink of climax within only a
few seconds.

His
hand was biting into her buttocks, clenching and unclenching as he held her to
him. “Now!” she demanded. “Please!”

He
ignored her, driving ruthlessly. He flicked her clitoris again with his thumb
and felt her convulse, her legs tightened around his head and still he drove
her on, wringing every last ounce of her passion, drinking in the scent of her.

Sarah
screamed with the force of her release.

“Yes,”
he said at last. “That’s what I want.”

Sarah
awoke suddenly and climbed from the bed with a groan. She’d had the dream
before. Her eyes closed against a wave of pain. In the dream, the way he made
love was sometimes different, but some things were the same—she was whole
again, the disfiguring burns were gone. Her lover had been intense, his passion
driven by her own.

With
a sigh, she padded silently across the carpeted floor to the bathroom. As
usual, she was wet. She could feel the juices flowing, and knew she’d had an
orgasm. It had been so
real—
and it was embarrassing!  Women didn’t have
these kinds of vivid dreams. It amazed her still how real the dreams were each
time she had them. She could almost feel him inside her.

Sometimes
he made love to her slowly and gently. Sometimes he was rough and demanding…but
always, he made sure that she found as much pleasure as he did. Never before
these dreams had begun had she had such erotic dreams so vivid and real. But
the dreams were also painful—especially now that no man would ever want her. That,
of course, was the source of the dreams, she’d decided.

It
had been months since she’d had sex, and it was her minds way of giving her
body release. Too bad her body didn’t know how painful they were when she was
awake and realized it all would never be real.

 Always
awakened after the dreams, she knew she’d be getting no more sleep this night.
She didn’t bother turning on the light as she got the glass on the counter and
filled it with cool tap water.

As
she sipped, she thought once again how much she wished the dream would come true.
Wished with a desire that literally hurt. She didn’t regret what she’d done six
months before. She couldn’t regret saving the child. The little girl thankfully
hadn’t been burned and would go on to live a normal life.

Unlike
her.

The
price she’d paid was high. She’d never look normal again and she never would
she get used to the stares of people as she walked down the street to the
market. It hadn’t taken her long to realize that she was better off staying
inside as much as possible. She hated being the recipient of their disgust
and—even worse—their pity.

Parents
actually pulled their children closer when they happened to pass as if she were
somehow a danger to them. It had been months since she’d gone out in the light
of day.

Sarah
sat the glass back on the counter with a soft clink and reached for the vanity
light. A Tylenol for the headache she felt creeping up, and just maybe she
could at least go read for a while. She glanced up as she prepared to open the
medicine cabinet and gasped.

Where
there should have been pink scars, there was smooth undamaged flesh. Her hair,
burned off in large patches in the fire, was long and the luxurious again.
But
how?
She ran her fingers through her hair. It was soft and silky just as it
had been before.

The
answer hit her with the force of a blow. It was only a dream. She was still
somehow in the dream. She touched her face.

It
seemed so real.

If
she was dreaming she didn’t want to wake up. The dream was much better.

Sarah
ran her hand down her neck to the edge of her nightgown, seeing that the flesh
there was healed, too. The ugly scars on her neck and upper chest were gone. “Please,”
she whispered, “let it be real,” knowing of course that it couldn’t be.

“It
can be,” came a deep voice.

Sarah
spun around, her hand coming to her throat in terrified response. “How did you
get in here?” she asked in a hoarse whisper, backing away until the sink
stopped her. She hadn’t even seen him in the mirror. Her eyes widened as she
looked at the man standing at the door of her small bathroom.

It
was him.

The
man from her dreams. He was dressed as he had been in the dream—in the same
dark slacks and shirt. He was the same beautiful man she’d been dreaming about
since the first few weeks after the fire. She’d spent more than a month in the
hospital, and the dreams had started the week she’d come home.

She
relaxed then. Somehow, she  decided, she was still locked in this very vivid
dream.

“You
don’t know?” Devlin asked, moving toward her.

“It’s
a dream,” she said sadly. “This is all some kind of very vivid weird dream.”

“That’s
almost true,” he explained carefully. “What you’re seeing is an illusion,” he
explained.

Sarah’s
eyes filled with pain and she felt tears burning in her eyes. “I know.”

He
walked to her and touched her, his hand gentle on her cheek. “But it can be
real, Sarah. If you want it to be, it can be real,” he explained very gently.

She
looked into those deep green eyes she’d seen so many times before in her
dreams. “How?” she whispered. “How is that possible?”

“I
can help you be reborn,” he said in a hypnotic voice.

“What
are you?” she asked, though she knew the answer. “Who are you?”

“You
know what I am, and you know my name is Devlin Wilkes,” he chided softly.
“You’ve always known. I can give you this, Sarah. You only have to ask.”

“So,
I’d be dead?” she whispered, not really understanding how it all worked—and not
questioning why she’d even believe it was real—but she did. Suddenly, she did.
Maybe because she wanted so much for it to be true. Later, she’d worry about why
she would believe in the unbelievable.

Devlin
smiled, showing even white teeth. “You’d be more alive then you’ve ever felt,
Sarah. You would see and hear things you’ve never heard or seen before. Your
senses would all be enhanced. Your passions would be enhanced. But,” he
admitted, “you could never go out in daylight again.”

A
vampire.

She’d
become a vampire. She’d read about them, of course. Even as a child, she’d
somehow known they were more than myth, though. Part of her had believed in
them even then.

Could
she accept that existence, though? “I don’t know,” she whispered, uncertain. “I
just don’t know.” The lure of his voice was almost hypnotizing, and the thought
of being like she was before almost too strong to ignore. Surely, though, he
didn’t expect her to make that kind of decision this quickly.

He
nodded. “Then take time to consider,” he said. “Let me show you what we can
have, though.” It wasn’t a request, and she knew it.

Sarah
suddenly smiled. Here she was, standing in her bathroom in the middle of the
night with a vampire. “Yes.” It had been so long since she’d been held. She
wanted to feel him holding her—feel him loving her. Already she was growing wet
for him, and her nipples were painfully tight. She felt his gaze on them and
she almost groaned. “Yes,” she repeated softly. She smiled when he lifted her
into his arms.

Finally!
Devlin lifted her in his arms almost before the word had left her mouth.
She
had accepted him much easier than he’d have thought possible, even with the
dreams he’d shared with her. But he’d been unable to wait even one more night. She
belonged to him. It was time.

He
carried her quickly to stand by the edge of her bed and removed her gown
carefully, letting it pool at her feet.

In
the dreams he’d shared with her, he’d usually been quick in his loving, needing
to drive her to pleasure in the limited time he had with her. Now, he could
take his time. He could tune all his senses to hers. He lowered his head and
kissed her gently, his lips cool on her own heated ones. When he felt her lips
part, he deepened the kiss, drinking deeply, his tongue dueling with hers and
stealing her breath.

There
was innocence in her kiss. She was hesitant at first, but then opened fully to
him. He fisted his hands in her hair and pulled her against him with a groan.
This was what he wanted, what he’d needed for so long.

For
months he’d loved her through her mind, but now, finally, he’d been unable to
wait even one more night. It was time for her to belong her him. Devlin knew
that even if she wasn’t ready to become a vampire yet, she was ready for this
much at least. Nothing would seal their bond faster than mating with her.

She
was his.

Making
love to a human was intoxicating. Making love to one of the Chosen was even
more so. Her scent filled his nostrils, the beat of her heart pulsed in her
throat, and he lowered his head, teasing them both by nipping her neck where
the pulse beat steadily. It would be so easy to take just a taste, but he
didn’t—not yet. There would be time later for that.

For
now, he just needed to make love to her and with her.

Sarah
felt a jolt of electricity when she felt his teeth on her neck. She arched her
head, giving him better access. She’d have sworn in that instant that there was
an actual string from the pulse in her neck to the heated flesh between her
thighs when she felt the almost painful pull of need. She felt herself growing
hotter and hotter as his lips and teeth moved on her.

She’d
never been touched like this before; had never been wanted like this before—
had
never wanted like this before. Would it always be like this? Would the gentlest
nips of his teeth always make her heart beat a little faster?

When
she felt his fingers move to her breasts, she arched her back, loving the feel
of his fingers on her skin. She gave a sound of denial when he lifted his
mouth, only to groan in pleasure as his mouth found her breast. She felt him
bite her nipple gently and once more arched against him. Her fingers moved into
his black hair, holding his head against her breast. When he drew the pointed nipple
into his mouth, she sighed with pleasure.

One
hand smoothed down her chest to her stomach. He lingered a moment, drawing
light circles around her navel and she wiggled, silently willing him to touch
her where she so needed it.

Devlin
didn’t disappoint. His fingers found her clitoris and rubbed it for a long
moment, before gently flicking it with his thumb and forefinger. The dual
sensations of his mouth on her breast and his fingers on her clitoris drove her
over the edge with a hard, fast orgasm. She cried out, mindless with the
blinding pleasure of her release.

When
she’d slumped back against the pillows, Devlin lifted his head and looked down
at her. Her face was flushed and damp with perspiration. Her body was shuddering
with the aftermath of her quick release and he smiled. “Tell me you want me,
Sarah,” he growled low. “Tell me that you want
this
,” he demanded,
driving two fingers into the warm folds of her labia, driving her relentlessly
toward a second climax.

Sarah
met his eyes and said only one word.

“Yes.”

Devlin
needed no further urging. He removed his clothes quickly.

Sarah
watched in dazed pleasure as his hands moved first to his waist, as he stripped
out of the dark black jeans and his boxers. In her dreams she’d seen him naked,
but nothing could have prepared her for the reality of his body. His chest was
broad and wide and the muscles rippled as the navy silk shirt followed the jeans.
There was a dark line of hair going from his waist to the thick length of his
penis. He eased onto the bed and moved over her, bracing his weight on his
forearms, and taking her hands.

He
held her hands in his, lacing their fingers together and looking into her eyes.
“Tell me you want me,” he demanded again, his voice low.

Sarah
arched her hips, feeling the broad tip of his penis against her soft folds. “I
want you,” she said instantly. “Please. Now.”

Devlin
moved, driving inside her to the hilt in a powerful stroke of his hips, hitting
her womb with the force of it. She felt the fullness, loving the feel of him so
deeply inside her and began to move under him.

Sarah
felt free; more free than she’d ever felt before. She should have felt exposed
to have him doing these things to her, but she didn’t. This was something she’d
always fantasized about, but had never expected in her life. Each powerful thrust
of his hips drove him deeper, making her gasp and still she wanted more.