The Accidental Vampire (30 page)

It was just a darned shame she had to get her throat ripped open to see his caring again, Elvi thought, and scowled at him over the bag in her mouth. Really, the man blew hot and cold like an air conditioner with a broken thermostat.

"How is she?" Harper asked, drawing their attention to the door.

"Fine," Elvi assured him, pulling the empty bag from her teeth. "How is Mabel?"

"She's doing better," he said cautiously. "It's going to be a long one, though. She's older and there's a lot to repair. We're going to need more blood."

"I'll call Teddy. He'll pick up some from the blood bank and bring it by," Elvi assured him. "Do we have enough to last a couple more hours? I'd rather not wake him up at"—she paused to glance at the clock, then finished—"four-thirty in the morning."

Harper considered the matter before saying, "Barring her ripping out someone else's throat, I think the blood will last until midmorning."

Elvi nodded. "I'll call him first thing in the morning, then. He'll be upset when he hears what's happened and it would be better if she was further along in the turning."

Nodding, Harper backed out of the room, assuring them he'd keep them posted as he pulled the door closed.

"I don't know how you can be so calm about all this," Victor muttered, taking the empty blood bag from her and tossing it in the garbage can he'd moved beside the bed.

"She didn't do it on purpose," Elvi repeated as he reached for a fresh bag.

"Yes, but—Hell, you seem almost cheerful about it," Victor said with bewilderment.

"Well," Elvi said, a smile curving her lips, "I sort of am."

"Why, for Christ's sake?" he asked with exasperation.

"Because now I don't have to feel guilty about my biting her when I was turning in Mexico," she pointed out and then added more seriously, "I've suffered horrible guilt about that over the years. Horrible, horrible guilt," Elvi said with a sigh, and then shrugged. "But now I don't have to. She's bitten me back, so we're even."

"Women," Victor muttered with disgust. "Your reasoning never fails to bewilder me."

Elvi narrowed her eyes and muttered, "We're no worse than you men. None of you make sense either, and you're the worst, as changeable as the wind."

"What?" Victor asked with surprise, but she'd already slapped the blood bag to her teeth and he had to wait while it drained.

"What do you mean I'm as changeable as the wind?" Victor asked again once the bag was empty and she'd removed it from her mouth.

"Nothing," Elvi said, too tired to be bothered arguing with him at this point.

Sitting up, she removed the towel from her throat and got to her feet, then walked to the mirror to peer at her wound. She'd been woozy from blood loss when Victor had brought her in here, but aware enough that she understood what the men said as they kept Victor updated with what was going on. She knew the men had tied Mabel down, fed her several bags of blood, and given her the drugs Harper had fetched back. They'd kicked in quickly and Mabel's screams had soon become nothing but a memory.

The throat wound Elvi had sustained had been almost healed by then, yet Victor kept pressing blood on her. Now she looked in the mirror to see it was completely closed and merely an angry, jagged scar on her throat that she knew would soon be gone.

Her gaze shifted to Victor as he appeared behind her in the mirror. His hands settled on her shoulders and he met her gaze in the reflection. "You should be in bed."

Elvi felt her body respond to the huskiness in his voice and stood very still as his eyes slid over her reflection. The silver had flared in his eyes, burning away the blue of his irises and leaving them a hot, hungry current of electricity that she could almost feel caressing her body. She knew she should suggest he leave, or at least demand an explanation for his distant behavior that night, but her body had other ideas and simply leaned into him, melting to fit his form.

Elvi's breath left her on a small sigh as his hands slid around her waist then up to close over her breasts in the red halter of her dress. She covered them with her own, squeezing them as they squeezed her, her own eyes flaring golden as her body automatically arched, pressing her breasts more firmly into the caress while pressing her bottom back against him.

When Victor bent his head to gently kiss her injured throat, her eyes drooped. She watched through slits as he gave up his caresses to undo the catch that held the halter in place. The deep red cloth immediately dropped away to hang down in front of the skirt, leaving her breasts on display.

"Beautiful," Victor whispered, his gaze sliding over her in the mirror. Just the word breathed by her ear made tingles slide through Elvi and she stretched like a cat, one hand slipping behind her to seek his hip, the other rising to slide around his neck making her back arch further and lifting her erect nipples in a plea for his touch.

Victor obliged at once, his hands covering them both. Elvi moaned at the erotic feel as well as the sight of his touching her. She'd never thought of herself as an exhibitionist, but seeing their entwined reflection and watching him do what he was doing was having an incredible effect on her. When one of his hands drifted down over the skirt of the red dress to cup her between the legs, Elvi groaned and arched further.

Her weariness was suddenly forgotten, but there was still no chance they would be discussing anything. Conversation was the last thing on her mind now.

Elvi turned in his arms. The men had all changed when she had and Victor had chosen a casual blue cotton shirt with jeans. She promptly began to tug it out of his jeans, and then turned her attention to the buttons, undoing them blind as Victor bent his head to kiss her, obscuring her view.

She had half the buttons undone when his hands slid under her skirt to clasp her bottom. He only squeezed and kneaded at first, but the moment Elvi had his shirt undone and began pushing it off his shoulders, he lifted her by his hold on her bottom, urging her firmly against the erection straining his jeans.

Elvi stopped pushing at the shirt and instead clutched at it, sucking desperately at his tongue as they ground together. Easing her back to stand on her feet again, Victor quickly undid the zipper at the waist of her dress. She shivered against his chest as the light cloth slid down to pool around her feet, her panties quickly followed, leaving her standing in only a pair of red high heels.

Victor broke the kiss and raised his head, then stilled, and she glanced curiously over her shoulder to see what had his attention. She caught their reflection—the sight had his eyes swirling with silver, but all it did for Elvi was make her decide one of them was overdressed. Turning back, she finished pushing his shirt off, and then reached for the snap of his jeans to undo it. The zipper quickly followed, then Elvi knelt to drag his jeans down his legs, noting how strong and muscular they were and the fact that he'd gone commando.

When his erection popped free of the blue cloth, Elvi leaned forward and pressed a kiss to it as she continued pushing his jeans down. She gave up on the jeans, however, when she reached his ankles, and instead reached for his erection, and then leaned forward to draw him into her mouth and run her lips his length.

Victor immediately groaned and tangled his hand in her hair, but she was only peripherally aware of that, her mind was swirling with a sudden infusion of pleasure. As she caressed him, her mind filled with the sensations he was enjoying, her body reacting as if it were being pleasured. She didn't know how it was happening, but she seemed to be experiencing what he was experiencing. It was an incredible sensation, letting her know exactly what felt best and how much pressure to apply, and she wondered vaguely if Victor had been experiencing this in the garage the other day. Was this how he'd known exactly what would drive her wild and when to stop and make love to her?

Just when she thought she would explode with the pleasure overwhelming her, Victor caught her by the upper arms and forced her back to her feet. He covered her mouth with his own, and drove his tongue inside as he caught her behind the thighs and lifted her to wrap her legs around his hips. Holding her in place, he kissed her thoroughly and continued to do so as he turned toward the bed, apparently sufficiently distracted to forget about the jeans still caught around his ankles. With the first step, they were both reminded of it when he suddenly lost his balance and started to fall forward.

Elvi cried out and squeezed her eyes closed, arms tightening desperately around him as she waited for a pain that never came. Releasing her, Victor reached out with his hands, stopping them before her back touched the floor. They both released a relieved breath, and then he peered down at her as she eased her hold on him and allowed herself to ease down to lie on the floor beneath him.

"Are you all right?" he asked with concern.

Elvi started to nod, then froze, her head jerking toward the door at the sound of feet pounding up the hall.

"Victor! Elvi!"

"Stop!" Victor roared, kicking out with his feet to hold the door closed as the knob started to turn. When it stopped turning and silence erupted outside the door, Victor released a breath and lowered his forehead to hers briefly, his eyes closing.

"Is everything all right?" Harper asked, his voice muffled through the door. "We heard Elvi scream."

Victor raised his head and peered at her as he said, "She's fine. She… er… I was carrying her back to the bed and tripped."

"Carrying her
back
?" Edward asked sharply. "What on earth was she doing up in the first place? She shouldn't be up."

"Yes, I agree thoroughly… and shall endeavor to keep her there," Victor spoke solemnly, but there was sudden devilment in his eyes as his gaze met Elvi's.

She started to smile in response, and then sucked in a breath as he shifted, his erection rubbing against her. The silver in Victor's eyes burned hotter and he deliberately shifted once more, caressing her with his body. Elvi's hands clutched at his shoulders as her own body pressed into the caress.

"Well, I should hope so," Edward muttered. "The woman doesn't know enough to give her body time to recuperate when necessary. She's forever rushing about right after sustaining serious injuries. She needs a damned keeper."

"I'll keep her," Victor breathed by her ear, rubbing against her again, his erection slick with her excitement.

"What was that?" Edward asked sharply. "I couldn't hear you."

"I said I'll be her keeper," Victor lied, his voice almost covering the sound of her moan as they ground together once more. Almost.

"Are you sure she's all right?" Harper asked with concern. "I thought I heard her moan."

"Are you all right, Elvi?" Victor murmured, pressing a kiss to the point below her ear as he shifted to the side and ran one hand down to slip between her legs.

"Yes," Elvi groaned, arching her hips into the caress. She started to groan again, but Victor bent his head to catch the sound in his mouth as his fingers slid over her slick flesh.

"Are you sure?" Harper asked and she could hear the frown in his voice, knew he was concerned, but just wished he'd go away.

"I'm fine," Elvi gasped the moment Victor lifted his head. The words were faint and breathy, her breathing reduced to short pants by what he was doing to her. In the hopes of getting rid of the annoying men outside the door, she added a breathless, "Really. You can stop worrying. I'm going to sleep now."

"I sincerely hope not," Victor breathed into her ear, and then lowered his head to catch one nipple lightly between his teeth and nip it gently.

"Elvi?" Harper asked.

"Yes?" Elvi breathed, sucking in her stomach with alarm as Victor released her nipple and suddenly began to slide down her body until his face was between her legs. She immediately tried to close them to keep him from doing what she suspected he was going to do, but Victor simply caught her legs and pressed them open again, exposing the core of her to his view.

"Elvi?" Harper repeated and she realized there had been no voice behind her first response.

"Yes," Elvi tried again and this time it came out a near squeal as Victor chose that moment to rasp his tongue over her quivering flesh. Trying for a more normal voice, she panted, "What is it?"

There was an uncertain pause from outside the door and Elvi lifted her head to peer down at Victor, then caught at his hair and tugged, hissing, "Stop that."

At first, she thought he would obey the half-plea, half-command. He rose up slightly between her legs, but merely grinned at Elvi evilly and slid a finger into her. Elvi bucked like a wild horse, her body uncaring that there were men outside the door. Then his mouth found her again and Elvi pressed a hand to her own mouth to stifle a whimper. She closed her eyes as he set to work in earnest.

He was hitting just the right spots with just the right pressure so that her head began to twist frantically back and forth.

Victor must be experiencing the same thing
, Elvi thought suddenly, amazed at what he was doing to her. There was no way he could—

"You won't forget to call Brunswick in the morning? About the blood?" Harper finally asked, interrupting her thoughts and bringing her eyes abruptly open.

Elvi had actually forgotten the bloody men were outside the door. How could she forget that? Easy, she realized as Victor caressed her more determinedly.

"Yes!" Elvi cried, hips thrusting. Lights were starting to dance on the periphery of her eyes and she felt ready to explode, but this time Victor was showing no mercy.

"You will?" Harper asked with confusion.

Elvi blinked, wondering what the man was nattering on about. She'd quite forgotten the question. She hadn't been talking to him anyway.
Had she talked
? She might have said something.
What had it been
? She thought it might have been yes or something of that ilk. Since that was apparently the wrong answer, she tried, "No!"

"Oh, good, thanks," Harper murmured. "I'm off to bed, then. Alessandro has already retired, but Edward is going to stay up with DJ for a while, to help watch over Mabel. Just shout if you need anything."