Hunger Untamed H3 (14 page)

“Okay, let’s think this through. You were given spice so that the vampires who drank from you could get a hit without ingesting it directly. You acted like a filter.” He’d never partaken of the illegal substance, knowing its very addictive properties didn’t easily let go of users. “What if it does something like bloom once it’s in your system? I don’t know, maybe it’s active and takes over after it’s been ignited.”

When she didn’t answer, he stopped plating the ham and eggs to look at Lucy. Her face had gone devoid of all color. “Could it be
living
inside me?”

“I don’t know, doll, but it can’t last forever.” He hoped. “I’m just wondering if it’s possible to maybe activate it when wanted. That would make it more valuable to your masters, I would think.”

“Yeah, but that’s so tech. I don’t know if Sage cares enough about sex to go through all that trouble, you know?”

He deposited the plate of food in front of her. Two fried eggs—brown around the edges—fried ham—dark and crispy in places—green pepper rings and tomato slices. That ought to fill a hole. “Don’t forget how long we live. Not immortals, but long enough that choosing a single thing to focus on as a distraction isn’t unheard of. Technology is a fascinating thing for people who have seen so many changes in the human population. Don’t put anything past someone like Sage, not when he has unlimited money and time stretched out in front of him. Eat.”

Some enigmatic expression flickered across her face, but Lucy reached for the knife and fork he’d already put before her. Her stomach grumbled, and Victor just knew she was about to feast on the best thing she’d had in ages. He kind of liked this being-domestic thing. Maybe he’d do it for her again.

“It’s good, huh?” he asked, a beam of pride almost making him want to puff out his chest. Look at her face! Obviously Lucy was at a loss for words. He’d done good and would
definitely
cook for her again. She’d earned it.

“Um...did you happen to buy any salt or pepper?”

His smile faltered. “No.” Victor’s brow furrowed. “Don’t you only use that stuff when the food needs something added to make it taste better?”

“Well, that would be one way to look at it.” She shoved around a piece of egg with her fork. “But back to Sage...if he discovered a way to make it last and last, then blood slaves would actually be in danger from the spice.”

“Probably, but our laws don’t cover you. We’ve got protections in place for the number of humans who can be killed by draining, but those apply to humans in the regular population. You’re a part of the vampire nation, and property. I don’t know if the same provisions apply. I doubt if they do, especially when you serve the people at the top.”

“But...but I’m not a part of that world anymore. I’ve been released from service, so I have to be protected too.”

“Tell that to the vampire who’s draining you because he can’t help himself. If that stuff in your blood gives him uncontrollable cravings, it might not matter. People break the laws all the time. If he doesn’t get caught, who would know to care?”

Lucy didn’t answer, instead keeping her attention on the food she shoveled into her mouth as if in a trance. He wished the first meal he’d cooked for her didn’t happen over this frightening conversation, but they couldn’t avoid the topic that brought them together in the first place.

“So what do you think activates it?” she asked softly once she’d finished almost everything on the plate. A black piece of ham—maybe the egg?—had been pushed to the side of her plate.

“My first guess might have been something you’d eaten or drank, but that doesn’t make much sense. Maybe it’s something simple like an emotion—”

“Or sex. It was probably sex.” She sat up straighter. “That makes the most sense. We were intimate, and that’s something I know I haven’t been in the past month with anyone else.”

“You haven’t even—um, touched yourself in that time?” Damn, damn, damn. Why’d he bring that up, because if there was
one
thing Lucy could gift him with, Victor wanted more than anything to watch her get herself off. He wanted to study the way she did it so he could do it one better when it was his turn.

A touch of color lit her cheeks, making her impossibly prettier. “After spending a lifetime as a sex object, it’s not a moment of pleasure anymore for me.” Her matter-of-factness made Victor inwardly cringe. The things he hadn’t known about her life. “I don’t do it for release. I’d sooner find release in reading a good book or eating a gooey cinnamon roll than I would in having sex.”

A crack knifed its way through Victor’s soul at those words. While he never expected her to walk away from their encounters feeling like she’d been romanced or wooed in any way, to know that she’d gone into the agreement with the understanding that she wouldn’t find ultimate pleasure wounded him in the worst of ways. He wanted to change and fix that for Lucy. She deserved more than this. “Finish your ham,” he said, turbulent emotions keeping him from thinking straight. “You need the protein to heal those muscles. Ben Gay alone isn’t going to do it.”

Dutifully, she stabbed at the black pieces. “Well,” she said, her voice shaky, “you haven’t finished your training, and I haven’t finished my obligation. One way or the other, we’re going to figure out whether or not sex is the answer, right?”

“Yeah, but if we’re not prepared for another reaction like the one I had earlier, I could hurt you.”

Lucy nodded. “So we get prepared. The first time we weren’t expecting it. Now we know what might happen and can take precautions.”

“It sounds like you’re starting to believe that I’m right and that this is all linked back to sex somehow.”

“No, but it’s a theory, while I don’t have any. I can’t stop thinking about how I felt so much better physically after sex too. I mean, every day for weeks now it’s seemed like I’ve been breathing through fiberglass. All day I swear I could climb a mountain. I think it’s beginning to fade, but I was enjoying it while it lasted. You can’t tell me that all of this combined is coincidence. It’s just too convenient.”

“So how do we go about making sure that you walk away from me without missing a few pints of blood?” The look she shot him was pure mischief. “Whoa. You have an answer, way too easily.”

Her smile continued to broaden. “No, it’s just something I thought of. And it’s convenient.”

Victor’s brow furrowed. “What?”

“Well, how strong are you? I mean, I know that vampires have superior strength, but exactly how strong is that?”

“I don’t know. I could probably lift a car if given the opportunity.”

“So if I tied you up in rope, that wouldn’t be enough to stop you?”

Now, his eyes narrowed. “No...”

“Chains?”

“What is that look?”

“What look?” Lucy blinked at him as if she couldn’t possibly have any idea to what he was referring. As if.

“You want to tie me up in chains.”

“Well...”

“You want to tie me up. In chains would be icing on the cake.”

“Well, maybe...”

Victor laughed. “You’re kinky. A woman with a courtesan’s training, and she likes to tie her men up. I don’t know what I’ve done in a past life to deserve this, but if I could go back in time and high-five myself, I would.”

Lucy leaned back against the chair, crossing her toned legs in the process. With seduction in her eyes, she asked, “So...when can we get started?”

Chapter Fourteen

Lucy stretched, the aftermath of a full day’s sleep still working its way out of her system.

They’d both agreed to get some rest before attempting to recreate the surge of spice in her blood that might incite Victor to bite her. Although his level of eagerness for their proposed experiment reached almost maniacal levels as far as she was concerned, Lucy couldn’t help her apprehension. She almost didn’t want to know if this would work. Despite a reprieve from her illness, the other possible repercussions terrified her.

Trying not to disturb him, she turned in the bed to look at Victor. He’d given her some of the tools with which to go after Sage, given her a sexual intimacy she’d never experienced the likes of before and fed her some of the worst eggs she’d ever had the displeasure of tasting. Seriously, how could anyone ruin eggs like that?

Yet, she found herself more and more enchanted by him with every minute they spent together. He wasn’t polished, but if anything that made her increasingly relaxed around him. All of the training and rigor she’d been put through were superfluous to Victor. He didn’t care if she wore plastic party beads instead of custom-designed undergarments. The table fork, dessert fork, fruit fork and salad fork nuances didn’t exist; there was just a fork. Use it or use her fingers.

“Are you hungry?” he murmured. She should have known he’d be awake. “I can fix you something.”

Her stomach pulsed as if to remind her of the eggs she’d eaten before bed. “Uh, no. Besides, I’m in the mood for something light, like maybe a banana.” Perhaps by lunchtime, she’d find the courage to make more suggestions on how to improve his cooking if he insisted on taking up residence by the stove. “I also don’t think I can tolerate being tossed on my ass on a full stomach.”

“I thought we’d agreed on a more amorous adventure this evening.” His voice dipped wickedly low, full of suggestion and expectation.

“Oh.” She’d just assumed they’d continue as they had. Lessons in the first part of the evening, seduction in the latter. “Whichever you prefer.”

His lips quirked in the semi-smile uniquely Victor. “I’ve got a beautiful woman in my bed, wearing nothing but a clingy shirt, and you have to guess as to whether I’d want to fight or to fuck?”

“I suppose when you put it that way...” She ran her hand over his chest and torso, once again impressed with his physique. Despite her constant exposure to him, she continued to feast her eyes on his form. No straight woman with a pulse could ever tire of a body like Victor’s. “Get the tow chain from your car and then meet me right here.”

“Christ, that shouldn’t turn me on as much as it does,” he muttered before climbing out of the bed.

Lucy went to the bathroom and cleaned up quickly. Victor might not be too picky, but she had her standards. Besides, she was still under contract to him. That meant he should expect the full services any other client would. Just because she worked with limited resources didn’t mean she got to ignore basic niceties.

She found it convenient to disregard the fact that she treated him differently than any other client she’d ever entertained.

By the time she came back out, he was sitting on the bed, the chain coiled beside him. Her gaze went to the metal, and despite what he’d suggested about her kink level, cold dread went through her at the sight of it. Neither of them knew if this would work, if it would be enough to hold him back. If a rampaging vampire wanted to kill a human, she doubted anything could stop it.

“Stop thinking so much,” he said. “Come here.”

God, she hadn’t even realized she’d stood frozen, as if caught by the chain herself. “What happens—”

“Over. Here.”

Taking a deep breath, she nodded and did as bidden. He watched her so intently that she drew the shirt over her head, dropping it behind her. The soft whisper after it hit the floor seemed to capture his attention before his gaze moved over her again.

Victor visually ate her up, and her body responded to his perusal.

Lucy’s nipples grew tight, her breasts heavy as she made her way closer. Thanks to Victor’s careful instruction of the last few days about paying attention to her body’s cues, she realized her breathing had quickened, her heart rate picking up speed too. Soon she knew she would feel the moisture coating the inside of her thighs, her body in a constant state of arousal around this man.

She went to him and climbed onto his lap, cowgirl style. The blanket partially covered his thick cock, but she didn’t want him tempted to push into her just yet anyway. Instead, Lucy lifted onto her knees, her pussy grazing his groin. He made a rough sound, his hands moving to her hips.

They squeezed when she leaned forward and brushed a kiss across his lips. The contact on her breasts was electric, his chest hair scraping across the sensitive tips, arousing her further. She raked her fingernails over his chest, moving her hand to his mouth. They locked gazes as she slid her index finger between his lips, where Victor suckled on the tip and swirled his tongue over it. The blatantly sexual move made Lucy smile since she knew what she wanted to do next.

Eyes open, she watched Victor’s face as she kissed him again and removed her finger from his mouth with a soft
pop
. She got to see the exact moment he realized why she’d wanted him to wet it for her.

His own eyes went smoky when she slid her hand over her pussy and put her moist finger on her protruding clit. Her mouth parted on the first stroke, a hushed gasp rushing out. The erotic touch exactly where she needed it, how she liked it, surprised her with its intensity. Lucy closed her eyes, losing herself in the sensation of masturbating for Victor.

She parted her legs wider, repeating the strokes. A dip into her cream before sliding it over her clit again. The strokes turned into a circular rubbing motion. Arousing her clit. Sensitizing it.

Her pussy squeezed. She made a sound in the back of her throat.

Thigh muscles working, she rocked her hips, chasing the pleasure. Victor’s hands stayed on her, but the pressure he applied would leave bruises. When she glanced up at him beneath half-lidded eyes, his expression was unreadable, but the
hunger
spoke as loudly as any words could.

Lucy brought her mouth next to his ear and whispered, “It feels so good. Touching myself like this for you. I love the way you’re watching me.”

He gritted his teeth, those smoky eyes focused and growing inscrutable. Between his lips, she spied the way his teeth elongated. His nostrils flared, picking up the scent of her pussy. Maybe her blood. Didn’t matter since he hadn’t reached critical yet.

His gaze traveled from her breasts to her pussy, then back up. He leaned forward, as if tempted to lean in and nibble on her lips, a response she would have relished. Instead he inhaled the area by her carotid. Lucy didn’t imagine the shudder that rocketed through him as soon as he was done. “So sweet,” he said in a voice thick with tension.

It didn’t mean anything just yet. He would always be a vampire with a vampire’s cravings. So long as he didn’t act on them...

She brought one hand up to her breast and cupped it, almost turning it into an offering for him. She plucked at the very tip, her belly warming as her nipple responded immediately. At the same time she reached for the other breast to treat it the same, she dipped her finger into the wet heat of her pussy. Her soft moan followed.

Licking her lips snagged his attention away from below her waist and when he swallowed, it was hard enough for Lucy to hear. She continued to thrust her finger into her pussy, legs splayed wide for Victor to see unobstructed. Her thumb stroked over her clit, and this time she shuddered. Goosebumps came alive on her skin.

She circled her protruding clit faster, her body’s natural scent filling the air. Victor’s gaze jumped from the motion of her hand, went to her breasts, her face and then back to what her hand was doing. Every slight movement of her hips caused her body to brush against his cock, which she was aching to feel inside her now.

“God, Victor,” she whispered, mouth brushing his skin. Blood rushed through her ears, her heart pounding. “This feels
so
good.”

“I want to taste you. I need to.” A rough declaration.

“Not yet. Let me...
oh
.”

Victor grasped her hand and pushed until her finger went in deeper. His dark eyes watched intently. “Put another one inside.”

Gasping, Lucy did as commanded.

He no longer gripped her hips in a brutal hold. His arm went around her back, keeping her balanced. Keeping her pussy achingly close to the tip of his cock. He only had to thrust forward and impale her, ending the torture for them both. Rubbing on her clit felt exquisite, but she needed something more. She needed him to push her higher.

He was careful, so careful with her, gently removing her fingers sticky with her secretions and placing them in his mouth. His tongue licked over every drop, a hum coming from his throat. It turned into a rumble, his face intent.

In one swift move, Victor picked her up with one arm and shoved her onto the bed. She laughed as he climbed over her, the seriousness, the
need
spread across his expression. “Wait...the chains!”

“Fuck the chains,” he grumbled.

For a split second—the moment when he thrust inside her, the moment when her pussy squeezed around his cock, the moment when her nails dug into the skin of shoulders—for that brief moment, she was tempted to forget the chains. Victor’s body on top of hers filled her with protection and with desire. He made her feel like a woman again, something she’d forgotten to be for a very long time ago. He wanted her in a way that went beyond physical, and Lucy cherished it.

Her back arched, the pleasure spearing her. Victor thrust inside her like a man possessed. With each stroke, she gave a soft cry. She closed her eyes, wanting it to never end, this sensation.

Then Victor bit down on her skin, not hard enough to puncture. Hard enough to scare her. He used teeth too blunt to do anything more than sting, but it was a sharp reminder to Lucy. He was a vampire, and this was a dangerous game they played. If she didn’t regain control now, she’d never again have it. “Victor,
please
. We have to get the chains.”

His abdomen pressed into hers, his hips moving. His cock keeping them linked.

Lucy put her hands on his face, holding him in place as she looked into his eyes. “Please,” she whispered.

He slanted his mouth over hers and bruised her mouth with a kiss that stole her breath to the point that she thought she’d already lost him. Then his lips softened, his thrusts slowing. Victor nuzzled her face, then said in a soft voice, “Grab the chain. We’re about to go on a wild ride, doll.”

* * *

Victor’s cock was a steel rod, and somehow he’d found the strength to pull out of her warm, velvet grip. But he dragged himself out of the haze and flopped onto his back to await her attention.

She held the chain in her small hands, filled with obvious apprehension.

“You’re not going to hurt me,” he said with a smile. He didn’t want to remind her that the chain offered no true guarantees. It might hold him; it might not. “Tie me up so I can experience a first for me.”

He seemed to have shaken loose whatever fear held on to her. With a twinkle in her eye, she said, “Are you kidding me? Are you telling me that you haven’t experimented with being tied up?”

Victor held up his wrists, where Lucy began to wrap the chains. “I’m a simple man. I’m ashamed to say that missionary was my most provocative position for years.”

She wrinkled her nose while she laughed, the sound wrapping around his heart. “Oh, Victor. The many, many things I could show you.”

The chain continued up his arms. Seeming to think better of it, she took the two ends and tucked them behind his waist. Victor tried to remain expressionless, but the binding was beginning to get to him. The reality of metal biting into skin yanked him out of the sexual euphoria and reminded him too much of the danger they faced. He hoped they could get this experiment over and done with. Back to indulging themselves in each other for the sake of pleasure. Besides, giving up control, even if for only a few minutes, made him edgy.

“I just know that turnabout is fair play. When we’re done here and get past this, I plan on laying you in this bed, tying you up and teasing you for
hours
until you beg for release. And maybe...maybe I’ll allow it.”

Lucy grazed her mouth over his abdomen, somehow bypassing his cock without even a caress. “Are you sure you want to give me ideas while you’re the one on bottom?” She tugged on the chain, then released a deep breath. “I think this’ll do. I have it wrapped around the bed frame too. It might not hold forever, but it’ll buy me a few seconds, I think.”

He could hear the rapid flutter of her heart. “Keys are on the table by the door. If it comes down to it, grab them and go. Something like that happens, you meet me tomorrow evening at the bar where we first met. And for fuck’s sake, stay away from any other vampires before then. You managed to talk me out of biting you before, but I don’t know if that luck will hold for anyone else.”

Her hands skimmed over her chest as she straddled him. “You know, you really are a visual feast,” she murmured. Her words were honey thick, as if she’d fallen mesmerized by the feel of him. He didn’t think it conceivable until now, but he grew impossibly harder. “I could touch you all day, every day and never grow tired of it.”

Listening to her talk like this, Victor could forget his physical flaws and the fact that Lucy could have almost any man she desired. Yet, she found something fascinating about him.

“You make me forget myself,” she said. She leaned forward until her breasts touched his torso. His mouth watered, tempted by their nearness.

“How so?” he murmured.

“You make me want to be here with you. I can’t forget Cindy and Sage, but you make me want to.”

He understood how she felt, and that might have been the most dangerous thing he’d admitted to himself in a long time. What was it about Lucy that made him stop being a mercenary, looking out for himself and his interests, and instead focus on keeping and taking care of her?