Seduced by the Night (23 page)

He ground his mouth against hers and she tensed, expecting it to be as painful as the words he'd hurled at her. Instead, it was sensual and demanding, robbing her of all thought until she was responding with growing desperation. It was as if she couldn't get enough. His kiss was a drug and she the addict.

Her blouse fell to the floor, forgotten, as she wrapped her arms around his waist, pulling him close. His tongue forced its way past her lips and delved inside her mouth to tease hers. Through the sheer fabric of her bra, she pressed against the silky warmth of his chest. Every primal instinct in her reveled in the feel and taste of him, and the tingling that started deep in her stomach built until she rubbed against him shamelessly.

When Dirk tore his mouth from hers, she wanted to cry out in protest. Then he lowered his head and began to tease one of her nipples through the bra, causing her to whimper instead. In a bold, daring move, she ran her hand  along his side, down past his hip until she could reach between their bodies. He filled her hand and when she stroked him through his jeans, he groaned with pleasure. Knowing she could elicit that type of response from him encouraged her and she started to slip her hand inside his zipper when he stopped her.

Though it was by far the most difficult thing he'd ever done, Dirk pulled Bethany's hand away until she no longer touched him. When she opened her mouth to protest, he shushed her to silence and, resting his forehead against hers, closed his eyes and prayed for strength.

"Beth, we can't do this." She started to speak, but he cut her off. "You're not thinking clearly right now, but trust me, you'd never forgive yourself or me."

"You don't want me?" she asked softly, sounding hurt. The question was so ludicrous that he groaned aloud.

"Not making love to you will be the hardest thing I've ever done, but I won't make love to a woman engaged to someone else." She opened her mouth again, and knowing he couldn't bear to hear her protests, he captured her lips in a heated kiss. The last one, he told himself. When he felt himself losing his resolve, he broke the kiss and stepped back.

It was a mistake. Her lingerie was more enticing than if she'd been nude and his already throbbing member grew harder at the sight. As if she knew the war he waged with himself, knew how close he was to losing, she smiled. "Miles and I are no longer engaged."

He blinked, staring at her dumbly as his brain struggled to understand. "As of when?"

She stepped closer and trailed her hand down his chest as she gazed up at him through sultry green eyes. "As of about twenty minutes ago, when I called the whole thing off and gave back his ring."

Like a drowning man suddenly thrown a life jacket, he caught her to him and kissed her as he'd wanted to do for so long, taking extra care not to cut her with his fangs. His body reacted to the lush mounds and curves pressed against him. He would no longer be denied.

Scooping her into his arms, he carried her to the bed and lay down beside her. "You are so beautiful. Knowing you were with Van Home was killing me."

"We didn't do anything," she said softly. He heard the worry in her voice and almost kicked himself for his earlier crude remarks. He'd been hurting and had lashed out.

"Hush, I know," he said tenderly, placing his finger across her lips. She pulled it into her mouth, sucking on it gently, and he felt an immediate reaction below.

He let her continue as his gaze followed the line of her jaw down to the column of her throat, so long and slender. With his acute senses, he heard her pulse pounding below the surface and it was a siren's song, drawing him closer until he pressed his mouth against her neck, stroking the skin with his tongue and then sucking ever so slightly.

Bethany gasped at the erotic feelings stirring deep inside her. When Dirk's hand cupped her breast, she arched into it, needing to feel his touch. For several long seconds, she helplessly clutched at his shoulders while he teased one nipple with the tip of his finger through the silky fabric of her bra. Then he pulled his mouth from her neck and lowered his head until his tongue replaced his finger.

Awash in sensations she had never felt before, Bethany almost came undone when Dirk unclasped her bra so he could suckle her with his mouth. So overwhelmed was  she that she hardly noticed when he stopped momentarily to rid them both of their clothes.

Before she could miss him, he was back, his hard body poised between her parted legs, his shaft pressing against her. "It's not too late to say no," he offered, his voice sounding huskier than normal. For a brief moment she wondered if he'd really stop if she asked him to and then, knowing that he would, she caught his head between her hands so she could peer into his face. "Make love to me."

It was all the invitation he needed. He surged into her, stretching her, filling her until she thought her body could take no more, and then he held himself still for a long moment, letting her adjust to his size, before pulling back. Then she felt the entire length of him ease into her again, oh so slowly, and it left her gasping from the sheer pleasure of it.

Wrapping her legs around his waist, she held on tightly as his body moved with powerful smooth strokes. With each thrust, the pressure inside her built, taking her closer and closer to an explosion she'd only heard about, but never before experienced.

When she felt the first scrapings of his fangs against her neck, she wasn't afraid. But when his rhythm faltered, she knew that
he
had reservations. "Don't stop," she breathed.

"I'll hurt you." His arms strained to hold himself above her as he searched her face.

She smiled and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him down. "No, you won't. I promise."

Once more, she felt his mouth at her throat and his powerful body resumed its primitive rhythm, driving into her, pushing her to the edge. Just when she thought she could take no more, go no further, his fangs sank into her neck and her entire body felt as if it burst into a thousand sizzling points of light and energy.

Above her, Dirk surged into her one last time and then went rigid as he found his own release.

Moments later, he collapsed beside her and pulled her into his arms. He felt better than he ever had before. With the sun starting to rise, he should have been exhausted and yet he felt as if he could go on forever. He knew why. It was the gift of her blood, freely given, that made him feel so alive.

Humbled that she shared her blood with him, he tipped her face up to his and saw tears in her eyes.

"Beth?" His euphoric mood collapsed into worry. "Did I hurt you?" She laid a hand on his chest, but didn't push him away, so he covered it with his own. "Are you sorry we made love?"

"Sorry?" She gave a nervous, short laugh. "No. Surprised? Amazed? Yes. I didn't know it could be like this. I mean, I've heard other women talk, but I thought they were exaggerating."

Dirk did his best to follow this female logic, but it was beyond him. "I'm sorry, honey. I don't understand."

Her face grew red and after glancing at him, she looked away, unable to meet his eyes. "Dirk, I thought there was something wrong with me because I'd never had…" Her words trailed off, but Dirk finally understood.

"You've never had an orgasm."

She nodded.

A very male sense of pride filled him to know that he had been the one to give her that experience. She saw it and laughed. "Go ahead and beat your chest if you
want.You
deserve to. You have no idea what this means to me. I thought there was something wrong with me, like maybe I was frigid or something."

This time he laughed out loud, remembering her responses while they'd made love. "Honey, let me assure you. You are most definitely not frigid."

"No?" She began to play with the hairs on his chest.

"Absolutely not." He bent down to kiss her, but one taste of her lips only whetted his appetite. He pulled her to him, kissing her with a hunger that might never go away, and proceeded to show her just how frigid she wasn't.

Julia arrived that morning to a quiet mansion. As expected, Charles was gone, having driven into town for an early breakfast meeting, and none of the others were about.

Going to the study to finish her work, she hesitated when she reached the desk. For a change, the gargoyle statue was not sitting in the middle as expected. Instead, she spotted it in the wastebasket next to the desk. For several seconds, she simply stared at it. It had to be a mistake, she thought, bending over to pluck it out. No matter that the statue wasn't something she would have bought herself—she found its appearance worrisome—it must still have some value. Why would someone just throw it away?

Setting it on the desk, she pulled her hand away and noticed something sticky on her fingers. Looking at them, she found them covered in a light brown substance that smelled of sweet maple. It was the same sticky substance coating the front of the statue. She pulled a Kleenex from a nearby box and tried to wipe the substance off both her hand and the gargoyle. It was nearly impossible to do. Tossing the tissue in the wastebasket, she noticed a broken jar of syrup. That explained the stickiness.

Wondering what she should do about the statue, she noticed the note from Charles lying on the desk.

Julia, I feel bad having to dispose of this, but I think it's for the best. Please see that it goes out in today's trash
.—
Charles
.

It seemed a bit dramatic to throw out the statue, but if this was how Charles wanted to deal with the problem she'd been having, then who was she to argue?

Placing the statue
baek
in the wastebasket, she checked the time. The garbage collectors usually came early and she didn't want to miss them, so she carried the wastebasket outside and dumped the contents, statue and all, into the large trash canister. Feeling slightly better, Julia went back inside and washed her hands.

The sun was up when Dirk rolled over and pressed tiny kisses along Beth's eyes, forehead, and lips. "Time to get up," he whispered.

"Do we have to?" she mumbled.

"Afraid so."

She stretched in bed beside him and it was all he could do to not run his hand along her perfect form, but he knew if he did, they'd both be in trouble. "Come on." He rolled out of bed and pulled on his jeans.

"Where are you going?"

"Where are
we
going—and the answer is—I'm going to walk you to your room before the whole house realizes you spent the night with me. It would be better if you had a chance to tell them you broke off the engagement with Miles
before
they learned about us." He bent over her and pressed a kiss to her forehead. "So you should get up and get dressed unless you want to walk down the hall naked."

"Okay, okay."

She got out of bed and Dirk almost groaned aloud. "You are so beautiful."

Her eyes lit up and she smiled shyly. "T
hank
you."

He pulled her into his arms and kissed her because he couldn't resist, then sighed and let her go. "Now let's look for your clothes." He searched around the bottom of the bed until he found them. Picking them up, he held them out to her and watched with unabashed interest as she put them on. He remembered watching her pack and the memory of a particular purple bra and panties still haunted him. He wanted to see her in them.

He smiled at the thought, then opened the door to his room to check the hallway. Finding it empty, he ushered her out and they headed for her room.

"The sun's up, aren't you tired?" she asked him as they walked.

"A little," he admitted. "Maybe there's something to that blood freely given thing after all."

They reached her door and he opened it for her, but didn't follow her in. "You should get some rest," he told her.

She shook her head. "I'm not really that tired. I'll probably take a shower and then go scrounge up a cup of coffee while I go over my lab notes. What are you going to do?"

"I think I'll go catch Mac before he goes to bed. There are a couple of things we need to talk about. After that, I'll probably get some sleep. Do you need to go to the lab tonight?"

"Yes, but not until about eight."

"Okay. That'll give us time to break the news about you and Miles. Then, before the questions become too personal, we can leave." He closed the distance between them and pulled her into his arms. "It's going to be hard not seeing you all day," he said softly, just before he kissed her.

She melted against him, returning his kiss with enthusiasm. It was with great willpower that he stepped away from her and closed the door.

She stood for a moment in a daze, hardly daring to believe everything that had happened. It was enough to make her giddy and she wrapped her arms about herself in a hug, unable to stop the smile that spread across her face. Then she caught a look at her reflection in the mirror and froze.

She was a mess. Running her fingers through her hair, she tried to comb it into place, even though it did no good. She groaned to think that Dirk had seen her looking like this. Embarrassed, she hurried to the bathroom and started the water for her shower.

Shedding her clothes, she stepped inside and let the warm water flow over her body, soothing muscles she hadn't realized were sore. It felt so good that she closed her eyes and fell into a kind of trance.