Awakening (20 page)

“It’s just lunch,” he murmured seductively, sensing her reluctance. “We’ll be in a public place; what could possibly happen?”

She looked at him, the light in his eyes, the determined set of his jaw, and felt her resolve slide away. When he drank from her she only suffered from mild dehydration. She survived the first time he drained her dry; everything was going to be fine. She just had to keep her head, if that was even possible. “Just lunch, right?”

He smiled triumphantly, taking her hand in his and pulling her towards the exit, “For now.”

“Adam!” she protested with a laugh at his arrogance as she followed him.

The two of them sat side by side at a private table in the back of a nearly-empty restaurant. Adam watched Celeste with the intensity of a predator tracking its prey. She couldn’t bring herself to look at him, not yet. It would be devastating to look at him and see the hunger in his black eyes, knowing her own desire lay just beneath the surface and she was no more than a passing fancy to him. “I don’t think I should be here with you.”

“Sweetheart, there is nothing about this situation that should be so,” he murmured seductively, leaning forward and running a tongue along her throat, over the
newest bite marks that were already fading. Celeste’s eyes closed automatically as her body instantly responded; she was annoyingly disappointed when he tilted his head back and looked down at her, wrapping a hank of her hair around his fist and giving it a gentle tug.

She forced her eyes open, finally looking at him as she desperately tried to hold onto her resolve, to keep a measure of distance between them. How could he command her with just a look?
A slight curving upwards of his decadent lips? How was she going to resist such overwhelming temptation? “I suppose.”

“I want you t
o move in with me,” he said imperiously, tugging once more on her hair to bring her mouth to his.

“I can’t,” she shook her head, falling forward into him, wanting to fall and not wanting to lose herself. There was so much at stake, so much he didn’t know about; so much she didn’t know
and couldn’t explain.

“Why not?” he asked
indignantly, like one not used to hearing the word ‘no.’ Ever.

“
You’re an
Apocritum
,” she explained slowly, his lips a hair’s breadth away from her own.

“
What does that have to do with you moving in with me?” he murmured in genuine curiosity, his breath melting into her mouth, beckoning her to accept his offer, damn the consequences. His fingers released the lock of hair, sliding to the back of her head and pulling her mouth towards his.

“You have to stop doing th
at,” she whispered against his lips, not able to fight.

“What am I doing?” he asked softly, his other hand sliding along her thigh.

“Seducing me,” she breathed, her hands flattening against his chest, needing to feel him, as his lips closed over hers.

Move in with me; l
et me take care of you
, his voice whispered in her head.
Let me keep you safe
.

She pulled back
, frowning slightly, “I can't just up and move in with you; it's something I would have to seriously consider."

“How can you deny me?” he asked, truly not understanding
. Kissing along her jaw to distract her, he pulled her skirt up and exposed the skin of her upper leg.

“Trust me,” she murmured as the heat of his lips inflamed her skin
further, weakening her resolve. His hand burned a path along her thigh and she was drowning in sensation. The world ceased to exist beyond Adam. “You don’t make it easy.”

“It should be impossible,” he
growled, sucking the lobe of her ear into his mouth, running his tongue along the delicate curve, over the simple gold studs. His other hand pressed into the core of her sex, gently rubbing the sensitive nub.

“I thought we’ve already established that there were several things about us that are impossible
.” She sighed as he slid a finger into her, her breath catching in her throat as he hit a particularly sensitive spot. “Oh, God, that feels good.”

“
Move in with me, Celeste,” he whispered, running his tongue along her throat, teasing her clit with his thumb.

"Adam," she protested feebly, her brain melting as pleasure wrapped around her, tightening her body
and destroying her doubts.

“I want you,” he p
urred, tapping his fingers against a spot that sent shocks of pleasure down her spine, throughout her belly and her thighs. "To live with me."

“
Adam,” she murmured mindlessly, not caring that she was in a public restaurant where anyone might see what he was doing to her. There was nothing but Adam, nothing but Adam and the things he did to her, the things he made her feel. Nothing but Adam. Her body twitched as he continued his unrelenting assault on her body, ratcheting up her pleasure until she thought she would die.

Grabbing her hips, he quickly pulled her from the chair to his lap. Her legs straddled his thighs as he
pressed his blistering erection against her, his head falling against the back of the chair as she moved against him. With his fingers inside of her, his wool covered erection pressed against her, she felt as if she were flying. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she felt him wrap his free arm around her waist, urging her on. “Come for me, Celeste; let me feel your orgasm on my fingers.”

“Uh huh,” she mumbled as he held her
tight, moving her body against his penis, moving his fingers against that divine spot. Bending her head forward, she pressed her lips against his throat, kissing him and tasting him as she rode his body, his hand. Her body tightened as he hit the most delicious spot, sending her careening closer to the edge of oblivion.

In a moment of
lucidity, Celeste raised her head and looked at Adam’s beautiful face: his eyes were completely black with absolutely no white. Instead of scaring her, though, she found it devastatingly erotic, making him her predator. He was staring at her face with fathomless depths, and she finally saw his fangs and God! they were exquisite. His arms tightened around her waist as she ran her fingers over the sharp points. Leaning forward and tilting her head to the side, offering Adam her throat, she breathed, “Please.”

With a groan, he bent his head forward, burying his teeth into her tender flesh, pushing
her into the abyss, her body tightening as orgasm washed over her, as fluid gushed from her body. She would never get enough of this, of Adam. It no longer seemed to matter that there was going to be nothing left of her in a few weeks; if this was how it was going to end….

Adam
groaned, pulling his teeth free, and she watched as the blackness receded. He rested his forehead against hers, breathing heavily, as he slowly removed his fingers from her sex, making her inhale sharply at the sensation, making him smile at her reaction. Tenderly, he rubbed her back and whispered, “What have you done to me?”

Celeste
huffed a shattered laugh against his neck before she pressed her lips to his jaw and smiled, “You keep asking me that question; why?”

“I just
bit you in a public place,” he murmured, his hands still massaging her back, tilting his head back to meet her eyes. “You make me lose control."

She smiled, kissing his nose, “
And yet I am the one with no panties and jelly for legs.”

He returned the smile
, hugging her too him. “Please say you’ll move in with me.”

“We’d never get anything done,” she sighed, though her eyes smiled. She watched her fingers move over his temple, the curve of his jaw before returning to his black gaze. “The world would pass us by while we lay naked in bed.”

“Well, it wouldn’t just have to be in bed,” he smiled, trying to make light of the situation, trying to cover the disappointment he felt over her rejection. Again. “There are plenty of places to have sex.”

“Obviously,” she nodded, pointedly looking around the restaurant with a sardonic smile. Running her fingers through his hair, brushing it away from his face, she smiled sadly, “But I can’t just abandon my
best friend.”

“
She'll still be your best friend,” he said, pressing his luscious lips together in a taut line, clearly frustrated with her refusal. “Why don’t you want to live with me?”

“
Adamanteros, please don’t make this more difficult,” she whispered, cupping his jaws in her hands, seeing the longing in his black eyes. “We both know that eventually you’ll grow tired of me and where will that leave me? I am already too addicted to you.”

“Why do you think I would ever grow tired of you?” he asked
, cocking his head to the side, his brows pulled together in inquisitiveness.

“You are a
n
Apocritum
,” she whispered, as if that alone were reason enough; there was no way she was going to mention the baby, not yet. When he continued to stare at her waiting for an explanation, she sighed, “Humans are regarded as little more than cattle to the supernatural world, Adam, especially the
Apocritae
. We exist for such a short time compared to you and we make such a tasty snack; we’re merely a diversion as you manipulate us for your own pleasures.”

He didn’t respond, confirming
all of her fears and doubts. What difference did a human make when compared to near god-like status and what did that mean for the child she carried? Framing his face in her hands, she smiled sadly, “If I give you my soul, what will be left when you leave?”

“Sweetheart,” he murmured, his hands stilled on her back. “What makes you think I will leave?”

“It’s inevitable?” she asked, the pain apparent in her voice. He was, after all, an
Apocritum
and she had a secret that she couldn't afford to share with him, not yet. What if he learned of the child and believed it to be a threat?

*****

Knowing his brother and the girl were unaware of him, Auberon sat down at the empty seat, watching Adam and the girl. Quietly, he rectified the situation, wiping the minds clean of anyone who may have witnessed the biting and erecting a barrier to prevent any other witnesses from seeing anything. Fascinated at their obliviousness to the world around them, Auberon watched them for a few minutes before he spoke.

“I see you two have found one another again; congratulations,” Auberon said dryly, not wanting to be ignored any longer. Grabbing an ice cube from
Adam’s water, he crunched it between his teeth before smiling wickedly at Celeste and then his brother, “Though a little discretion might be advised.”

Celeste jumped, looking over her shoulder to see
Adam’s twin brother sitting at the table, a mocking smile on his very handsome features. As similar to Adam in regards to looks, there was a wildness in Auberon that simmered just barely beneath the surface; a magnetism that was compelling and even more terrifying than Adam’s. She blushed slightly under his intense scrutiny, twisting around on Adam’s lap and feeling her lack of panties.

“Auberon,”
Adam nodded his head, smoothing his hand over her skirt and covering her skin. He continued to hold her in his lap after she turned around, unwilling to let her go. “How’d you find us?”

“Simple, brother,” Auberon grinned, the wildness rising to the surface in the flash of his black eyes as they roamed over his brother and the girl. Celeste. “I followed the lust.”

Celeste’s cheeks grew warm but she was unable to stop the smile from forming as she managed finally straighten her skirt. Resting against Adam's chest, she grinned at Auberon, “It’s truly madness, isn’t it?”

He quirked an eyebrow in response, a genuine smile playing at his lips, “Yes.”

Adam hugged her closer, wrapping his arms around her waist as he spoke to Auberon, “Is there a reason you were looking for us?”

“
No,” Auberon shrugged, grabbing Adam’s water and taking a drink. “The assistant assigned to help out is making it nearly impossible to concentrate. He keeps rambling on about woo-something or other and how he is not going to be able to go on the campaign to find the Wings of Abadion. I think I am going to have to bite him if I continue to work with him.”