VAMP RISING (By Moonlight Book 1) (11 page)

              Gwen smirked at him, eyeing the crooked curl of his lip as it lifted into an eager grin, then she turned for the entrance door and plucked her dorm key from her bosom, muttering to herself how ridiculous her dress was, and opened the door. When she returned her key to its home inside her dress, the material over her shoulder where the branch had torn through caught her eye.

              “Oh,” she said. “It’s mended.”

              As they walked down the hall to her dorm room, Brandon eyed the dress fabric as well. “It’s like it was never torn.”

              “Christoph still hasn’t explained to me why it’s necessary for me to look so stereotypical,” she shrugged before clarifying, “Maybe it really does serve a purpose.”

              Gwen held her dorm room door open for Brandon to enter, then followed locking the door once it had closed. Brandon milled through the room, his broad shoulders rolling with each step that reminded Gwen he was a natural predator. He turned to face her when he reached the back wall. She felt like he was drinking her in. His eyes traveled down the length of her then up again, as a naughty smile spread across his face. She liked that her figure inspired that kind of hunger in him.

              “Are you wearing anything under that dress?” He asked.

              It was a seductive question and paired with his naturally deep voice that had arched up suggestively, caused Gwen to find herself suddenly aroused. Before she could answer, she sensed the dress’ fabric shrinking. In the same moment Brandon’s smile widened with surprise and when she looked down the dress had shrunk into black, silvery undergarments: a bra and panties.

              “That’s a great trick,” he said.

              “Oh my God,” she said, as her hands whipped over her breasts and privates. “Did you do that?” She laughed, though accusingly.

              “I wish,” he said.

              Gwen focused, concentrating on her intention to conjure the dress and soon it returned, spreading out from the undergarments and reshaping around her, this time into a tightly fitting, sleeveless design with a low cut neckline and impossibly high hemline. She noted it still revealed an awful lot of her, but was a marked improvement so she didn’t fuss to change it further.

              “You did it with your mind,” he stated, though it came across as a question.

              “Well, I didn’t realize,” she said embarrassed.

              “I think it took a cue from your emotions,” he concluded.

              “Which you influenced,” she said, blaming him playfully.

              “Isn’t that interesting. It’s usually the other way around,” he said then added off of Gwen’s confused expression, “Vampires are the ones who influence, not the other way around.” Brandon studied her figure then suggested, “I’d like to see you in nothing.”

              Gwen froze, knowing in an instant what he was trying to do and also knowing that unless she concentrated hard, pushing his attraction to her out of her mind and avoiding her natural response to him, she’d find herself suddenly in the buff. But she couldn’t fight it. And within seconds she was back to scrambling to cover herself up.

              “You’re being a dog,” she scolded, this time annoyed, but at least her dress had reappeared.

              “If you were more of a vampire, I wouldn’t be getting away with it.”

              “Oh is that a challenge?”

              “I think so,” he teased. “What are you going to do about it?”

              “Don’t provoke me,” she warned. “I could influence you and be drinking you all night.”

              Brandon let his smile drop, as a serious tone took over his voice, “That’s what I want.”

              It was intriguing and didn’t necessarily add up. Elektra had warned Gwen
not
to feed off of any of the shifters at Cascade. Why would Brandon want this? Yet she couldn’t ask him. She didn’t want to dissuade him from the offer.

              When she said nothing, Brandon clarified, “I can’t have you injuring animals out there. And I don’t know Christoph’s plans for keeping you fed.”

              “So you’re just going to let me drink you?”

              “Don't you want to?”

              “I don’t know. I’ve never done it before.”

              “Neither have I.”

              “What do you want in return?” She asked, suddenly cautious.

              “I want you to promise me you won’t harm anyone or anything for as long as you’re here,” he admitted.

              “That seems a bit too selfless coming from a werewolf,” she pointed out.

              “You think werewolves are selfish?”

              “No, not-” she stammered, realizing the insult. “It just seems like you’d want something out of it.”

              “I want you to turn Christoph down when he offers the same,” Brandon admitted.

              “What makes you think he’s going to offer me the same?” She asked genuinely curious. Christoph hadn’t indicated he would. Then again, he hadn’t mentioned how she would feed whatsoever, so technically anything was possible.

              “I’ve looked into it,” said Brandon. “The one who turns another supplies their blood until the new vampire is completely acclimated.”

              “If that’s what’s necessary then why would you want to prevent that?” She asked, hesitant to promise anything that would jeopardize a smooth transition into the vampire lifestyle.

              “Because feeding is...” he trailed off, as though he needed to assess the right way to put things. “It’s sex,” he said bluntly. “It’s sexual. I don’t want you doing anything like that with him.”

              Gwen processed the confession, wrapping her head around what she must mean to Brandon and analyzing his actions and their probable motivations. He was in her room, yet not all over her. He clearly liked her. Their kiss had been amazing, but it was as though he needed a commitment, a pact of loyalty, before he’d allow himself to be with her even for fun. Which possibly meant that this wasn’t just fun for him. It really did mean something.

              “I’m not sure I can promise that, Brandon. He’s my trainer. What if he insists? Or what if I learn it’s bad for my health or something if I don’t feed off of him? I just don’t know enough.”

              “You like him,” he stated gruffly.

              Gwen’s eyebrows popped up in surprise. “You think I’m attracted to him?”

              “Are you?”

              Christoph was certainly an exceptionally handsome man, not that she could reveal that to Brandon, but the bottom line was that she’d been drawn to Brandon from the start, not Christoph. So she answered, “I’m not attracted to him. Why are you concerned with him all of a sudden?”

              “I don’t like the way he touches you.”

              “You’re jealous?”

              “He lives by his own code. It goes against the code of my pack. I’d like to know I can trust you.”

              “You think if I don’t promise this I’ll become corrupted or something?”

              “I think you should’ve been turned into a werewolf,” he said frankly.

              “Why do you want me?” She asked, suddenly intimidated by his conviction since it didn’t seem to match the degree to which they’d gotten to know one another.

              Brandon approached her, each step conveying his hunger, predatory yet passionate, and all for her. He drew her into his body, holding her firmly against the wall of his chest and leaning in so that they stood cheek to cheek, melting into each other. “How could I not?” He whispered then grazed his scruffy beard against her smooth cheek, drawing back until their lips met.

              He kissed her, tenderly this time, slowly and gently as if it could coax the promise out of her. Gwen became momentarily lost in his kiss, savoring the calm that came with being wrapped in his strong arms.

              The next thing she knew Brandon was lifting her and carrying her towards the bed, as her legs wrapped his waist and their kiss deepened. He lowered her carefully to the bed so that he was on top of her and then slid between her legs, which naturally spread apart for him as his weight pressed down, pinning her.

              As their kissing deepened Gwen could feel Brandon gently thrusting. The pressure he held then released against her loins, as if to suggest what they could do, was a huge turn on and Gwen felt a rush of heat wash over her.

              Brandon lifted her head briefly, as he kissed her, so that he could wrap his arm around the back of her neck. Then he brushed his other hand down her neck caressing slowly and traveling over her breast, skin on skin. Gwen’s eyes popped open at the realization:
skin on skin
? What happened to her dress? Even Brandon pulled back realizing something was
off but
in his favor, and when their eyes met he smiled.

              “You’re not wearing anything,” he whispered.

              “I’m not promising anything either,” she whispered back, trying desperately to play off her shock.
That’s it? She gets turned on and her dress disappears?

              “We’ll see about that,” he challenged playfully.

              His hand continued traveling over her stomach and downward still, then grazed across her lower abdomen just above the pelvis. Gwen sighed a moan of arousal and ran her fingers through Brandon’s thick brown hair. They stopped kissing and were simply breathing each other in, lips brushing, eyes locked. Gwen moaned again when Brandon stilled his hand, resting it over the mound between her legs. The heat from his palm sent waves rolling through her, sweeping her arousal up into a tightly coiled ball of sensual tension that began to throb between her legs.

              He was holding her so close, breathing with her so intimately, making her grow wet for him in such a delightfully relaxing way that Gwen found herself grinding against his hand and pecking his lips between breaths. Soon he moved with her, massaging his palm into her pelvis and stimulating her arousal even further.

              He pressed his lips to hers, kissing firmly for a moment then lowered his mouth to her breast where he licked and sucked her nipple, all the while delivering slow sensual circles to the mound between her legs.

              The combination of cool air on her wet nipple between his licks and the tightly coiling heat wave between her legs that seemed to build with each revolution of his strong hand had Gwen reeling with pleasure. “Let me touch you,” she whispered between breaths.

              “Promise me that I’m the only man you’ll ever touch,” he demanded before returning his hot wet mouth to her breast.

              “Ok,” she said without saying the actual words.

              Brandon caught her omission and pressed, “You won’t draw blood from anyone else. You’ll let me meet all of your needs. Promise it.”

              Gwen was getting swept up in his sweet touch, as his demand washed over her. It didn’t seem like such a hard thing to promise anymore, not with his fingertips circling her most sensitive spot at the apex between her legs. “Ok,” she said again, though she knew it wouldn’t satisfy him.

              Brandon lifted up to his knees and looked down at her. The sudden exposure had Gwen feeling both modest and aroused. There was something hot about lying completely nude, legs spread, before a sexy man, whose gaze studied her every curve. She felt a surge of wetness and heat inside her, as a sweet burning ache oozed from her loins inspired by the weight of his stare.

              He unbuttoned his shirt, stripping down to a tight, white undershirt that revealed every chiseled muscle from his shoulders to his pecs and well-defined arms. Then he pulled the undershirt up and over his head. Gwen drank in the sight of his hard abs, his small hard nipples, and the bulge beneath his jeans. She reached for his zipper, but Brandon caught her hands in his.

              “Show me your fangs,” he ordered, though it came on a whispering breath.

              It was true that her arousal had caused them to emerge, but she felt awkward about flashing them. That was, until Brandon drew his lips back into a snarl, revealing his own. It was incredibly sexy, and suited his burly mountain-man look. They were thicker than hers, more like the canine incisors to those he was related to.

              She smiled wickedly for him, showing him hers, which she knew were thinner, sharper, like a snake’s.

             
There they were, two paranormal creatures the world had no knowledge existed,
thought Gwen.
A werewolf and a vampire. What were the odds?

              Her gaze locked onto his throat, as he took her hips in his hands, lowering his mouth and those fangs to her stomach. She watched his shoulder, the side of his neck, the top of his head, as he skimmed the points of his fangs along her taut stomach, sending chills of excitement through her. Soon his tongue was pressing, wet and hot, against her loins and Gwen moaned at the incredible sensation as he slipped and licked over her genitals.