Odyssey (The Vampire Destiny Series Companion Book 1) (34 page)

My little temptress continued an assault on my chest with her mouth, her tongue swirling over the softer skin of my neck.  She nibbled my skin with her teeth, making me cry out in pleasure with each tiny bite.  She ran her palm down my torso and gripped my shaft in her hand, lightly stroking the length of my cock.  My hips jerked towards her, wanting more of everything she had to offer.

Grabbing yet another handful of her hair, I turned us around so she was pinned between the wall and myself.  Her hand tightened around me as her teeth finally broke through the skin around my nipple, my blood trickling down my chest.  Her tongue flattened as she licked at the trail of blood, then greedily latched on to the wound.  As my life force entered her, I could feel her even stronger than I had before.

The lust flared between us, explosive and hypnotic.  I had to take her, to feel her from the inside.  It was the only way I felt complete.

“You will be the death of me,” I muttered, reaching between us and tugging her hand away from my cock impatiently.  I wrapped my arms around her and lifted her up, locking her legs around my waist.  My cock slid through her wetness and I impaled her with one swift thrust, my hips pressing her against the wall as I pounded steadily into her.  I gave her no moment to adjust to my size.  Later I would make love to her…but now, now I needed to fulfill this animalistic, primal need.  I simply needed to fuck her.

“Don’t you fucking stop, Stefan.  I need you,” she whimpered, tightening her arms around my neck, her fingernails digging into my shoulders.  The pleasure of the pain she inflicted only made me increase my pace and force.  Our bodies moved together as one and I plunged relentlessly inside of her.  She answered each of them with wanton enthusiasm, her breathing coming in sharp gasps against my cheek.

“I will never stop.  Never!” I warned though gritted teeth.  “I have you for an eternity.  Tell me that you will be mine forever.”

Josephine’s back bowed, shamelessly pressing her breasts into the hard expanse of my chest.  Her nipples were pebbled and she cried out in pleasure as I ruthlessly took her.

“Tell me,” I demanded.  “I will not ask again.”

“I’m yours, Stefan.  Forever,” she sobbed, offering her neck to me in surrender.  I stiffened inside of her fluttering walls and she instinctively reacted by clamping around my cock even tighter, pulling me in deeper.

Unable to stop myself, I released a guttural moan and buried my face into her neck.  My fangs scraped against her neck before they sank into her willing flesh.  My bite caused her to shatter into a million pieces, blindly crying out as she pulsed around me.  And her orgasm triggered my own and I came with her, carefully withdrawing my fangs from her neck. 

My mouth was bloody as I forcefully captured her lips in a brutal kiss, falling to my knees and sliding us down the wall to the floor, still wrapped around each other.

Completely shattered, I struggled to regain my senses.  She was still clinging to me, her body shuddering from the powerful aftershocks of her climax.

“I will love you forever, Josephine.  An eternity is not long enough for us.”
Unable to speak, I relied on my thoughts to communicate.  When I lifted my mouth from hers, I could see myself reflected in the tears that were shining in her eyes.  I did not even resemble the man from only months ago.  She had softened me, her love making me whole.

Her gentle hands stoked the skin over my stubbled cheek, her fingers ghosting down the side of my face to follow the hard line of my jaw.  Slowly, deliberately, she leaned to press a kiss against the cleft in my chin. 

“I love you.”  She nuzzled her face against my neck.  “Nothing I can say can ever compare to your words.”

I stood, carrying her bridal-style down the hallway into the master bedroom.  I turned on a lamp by the bed and pulled the covers back.  We fell to the bed and I rolled over her, confining her in my embrace.  Even though I knew she was immortal, I was afraid at any moment my restraint would slip and I would injure her.  Burying my fear away, I smiled teasingly and peppered kisses over her face and neck.  Things were just starting to get interesting when I released her and fell to my side.

“Why are you stopping?” She groaned in frustration.  I flipped over to face her, propping my head up in one of my hands.  Her eyes glazed over and her mind became preoccupied with admiring the way the muscles in my arms and shoulders rolled with my movement and the way the light from the lamp cast interesting shadows across my face, appreciating the curve of my high cheekbones and slightly crooked nose.  She smiled shrewdly and locked her fingers in my hair, pulling my mouth to hers.  My free arm dragged her body flush against me and I eased her back down on the bed, intensifying the pressure with my lips.  One of her legs snaked around the curve of my ass and her grip tightened in my hair, effectively holding me in place.  A growl vibrated soft and low in my throat as the strength of her intentions increased.

“Seductress,” I teased, breaking away from her delicious lips.  I did not move, keeping her pinned underneath me.  “If I always give you what you want, you will tire of me.”

“Tire of you?  I don’t think so.  And I’m obviously not doing a very good job of tempting you if we’re still talking, Stefan,” she pouted.  I reached over me to turn out the light and she suddenly panicked, grasping my arm tightly as tears filled her eyes.  Her voice came out in a rush. “No!  Leave on the light!”

I froze and stared down at her, my confusion at her visceral reaction evident.  “You are afraid?”  My eyes searched hers as I watched her swallow back a sob, attempting to look away from my probing stare.  My hand grasped her chin and forced her to look at me.  I was not going to let this go…not when she was so clearly disturbed.  I spoke again, my voice much softer.  “Josephine?”

She did not speak, but her mind opened up to me. She was haunted by her time at the carriage house and the all-consuming darkness in her mind where she had retreated.  She was afraid I had left her… and she shook her head slightly and her memory stopped.  She closed her thoughts to me entirely.

Completely at a loss, I did not know how to handle a situation like this and my bewilderment changed to anger.  “I will not let anything happen to you, vackra.  I will never leave you.  Never.”

She nodded and she wiped at her eyes.  “I’m just being silly, Stefan.  I’m fine.”

“You are not fine.  A person that is ‘fine’ does not react the way you just did to something as simple as turning off a lamp.  Why are you frightened?”  I asked pointedly.  “Tell me what you are not letting me see.”

“No.  I don’t want to talk about it.”  She feebly tried to wiggle away from me.  As usual, she underestimated my strength and I simply applied more of my weight to her, effectively holding her still.  She pounded against my chest with her fists.  “Stefan,
move
.”

“I am not moving.  Start talking,” I ordered, my tone terse.  “If I remember correctly, you said that if things were going to work between us we needed to communicate.  You are not communicating with me.”

Her weak attempts to move me ceased.  “Alright, I’ll tell you.  When I blacked out, I was afraid everything was a dream or a fragment of my imagination.  I couldn’t move or communicate and I would have flashes of memories.  You were by my side the whole time and your presence in my mind is what kept me here.  I was scared I’d wake up and you’d be gone.”  She sighed in defeat.  “Are you happy now, Mr. Total Disclosure?”

Was I happy my mate was petrified and scarred by her experience as she faced a house full of vampires and began to discover her past?  “No, I am not happy to know that you are frightened.”  I rolled back on my side and paused for a moment, running my fingertips across my chin.  “Would you like to know what I was thinking as I watched you lay on that fucking couch?  For the first time in my existence, I felt helpless… I wanted nothing more than to see your green eyes staring back at me.  I searched centuries for you and you were lost to me.  I can protect your body.  How can I fight off the demons in your mind?”

Feeling helpless, I was off the bed and darted to the window, shoving the motorized curtains aside.  The lights of New York twinkled in the background and I stood with my back to her, frozen in front of the window.  This was my fault.  If I had known who her father was, I would have taken my chances with Adolfo.  I would have killed him in Bali and we could have fled the country to save her from this.

“You can’t protect me from everything, silly.  And you’re making a mountain out of a mole hill.”

“I am the one overreacting?”  My voice was accusing as I whirled around to face her.  She had reclined on stomach and was resting her chin in her hands.  I tried to swallow my mounting anger, but it was hopeless.  Her flippant attitude had pushed me to the breaking point.  “As your mate it is my job to protect you.  Everyone else is meaningless to me, Josephine.  If I were to lose you now my life is forfeit.”

“Don’t talk that way.  If something would happen to me, I want you to be happy-with or without me,” she whispered, shivering at the severity of my statement.

Darting back to the bed, my chest heaved with emotion.  My fists pounded into the bed viciously.  “You do not get it, do you?  I only existed on this earth prior to meeting you.  You have made me feel more than I did even during my human life.”

My cell phone rang; shrill in the quietness of the bedroom and doing little to cut the growing tension.  I ignored it, still focused on her. 

She apparently saw this as an opportunity to change the subject and nodded towards the phone.  “Aren’t you going to answer that?”

My eyes went blurry as I searched for the source of the call.  “It is Nigel.  Is that phone call more important to you than our conversation?” I did not wait for her answer; I simply turned on my heel and stalked from the room, heading for my office.  I slammed the door so hard the window shuddered and I fell into my chair, burying my head in my hands. 

She truly had no concept of the danger she was in.  Her dismissive actions only reinforced the fact.  She was petrified of being in the darkness, scared of the memories she would be forced to face.  And when I confronted her, she waved me off as if I was the one blowing the situation out of proportion.

Flipping open my laptop, I paged through my e-mails.  It did little to calm me, but it provided enough of a distraction that I did not want to start ripping things apart.

The door cracked open and I heard the cadence of her pounding heart.  “Stefan?”

I made no reaction to her appearance in my office.  My back was to her as I remained focused on my mindless task.  I ignored her and continued tapping away at my computer.  If she wanted to play games, I could easily resort to her childish tactics.