But he didn't let up, pushing me down until my head was on the arm of the couch. My fingers dug into him as gentle teeth replaced his lips. A groan escaped me, and he worked the scar, his teeth soft and his breath harsh. I wanted him. I wanted all of him.
"Kisten..." I pushed at him. I had to ask first. I had to know.
"What?" he said flatly as he pushed my shirt and halter out of the way and his fingers found my breast and began moving, promising more.
In the gap between us, I finally got his belt undone. I gave a tug, and I heard a rivet snap through. His head dropped back to me, and before he could find my neck again and send me into an unaware ecstasy, I undid his zipper and sent my hands searching. God save me, I thought as I found him, the smooth skin tight under my questing fingers. "You've had sex with a witch before?" I whispered, pushing his jeans down and running my hand across his backside.
"I know what I'm getting into," he said breathily.
I felt myself melt into the couch as my thoughts and shoulders eased. My hands found him again, and he exhaled long and slow. "I didn't want to assume - " I said, then gasped as he dropped his weight lower and pulled my shirt up. "I didn't want you to be surprised.... Oh God. Kisten,"I panted, almost frantic with need as his lips moved from under my jaw to my collarbone and then to my breast. Waves of promise rose high, and I arched my back as he pulled, his hands warm against my skin. Where was he? I couldn't reach that far.
He silenced my whisper as he lifted his face and kissed me. Now I could reach, and my breath slipped from me in bliss as I grasped him and sent my fingers moving lower. "Kisten..."
"You talk too much," he said, his lips moving against my skin. "You ever have sex with a vamp?" he said, his eyes half closed, watching me.
I exhaled as he turned his attention to my neck again. His fingers traced the path his lips were going to take, and waves of ecstasy rolled through me when they did. "No," I panted as I yanked his jeans down. I'd never get them off over his boots. "Anything I should be aware of?"
He ran his hands under my breast, again tracing the path his lips soon followed. Back arched, I tried not to moan with need as I reached down, trying to find all of him. "We bite," he said, and I cried out when he did just that, gently pinching me between his teeth.
"Get my pants off before I kill you," I panted, almost insane with desire.
"Yes, ma'am," he growled, and his stubble scraped me as he pulled away.
I took a much needed deep breath, following him up to push him back down and straddle him. His hands worked my zipper as I fumbled with the buttons of his shirt. A sigh escaped me when I got the last one undone and sent my hands over him, my fingers tracing up and across the definition of his abs and chest. I leaned over him, my hair hiding what I was doing as my lips hop-skipped from his middle to the hollow at his neck. I lingered there, hesitantly, daring to run my teeth against his skin, pulling against it with a slight pressure. Under me, he shivered, and his hands, working my jeans down my hips, shook.
Eyes wide, I pulled away, thinking I had gone too far.
"No," he whispered, putting his hands on my waist to keep me there. His face was strained with emotion. "Don't stop. It's...I won't break your skin." His eyes flashed open. "Oh God, Rachel. I promise I won't break your skin."
The passion in his voice struck me. Abandoning myself, I pinned him to the couch, knees to either side. Lips searching, I found his neck, turning my kisses into something more substantial. His heavy breaths and light hands drove my desire into pulsing demands, pounding through me in time with my heartbeat. Teeth replaced my lips, and his breath grew ragged.
His hands grasped my waist, and I was lifted up enough that I could push my jeans off. They caught on my socks, and with a cry of impatience, I pulled my lips from him long enough to kick them off. Then I was back, my skin warm where it touched him under me. I leaned over him, holding his neck unmoving as I used my teeth against his skin instead of my lips.
Kisten's breath came in a shuddering sound. "Rachel," he breathed, his hands firm against my middle as he sent his hand downward, searching.
A low sound, barely audible, came from me as his fingers brushed me. In his touch, I felt his need flash into demand. My eyes closed and I sent one hand downward, finding him.
Feeling him against me, I shifted forward, then back. Our breath slipped out in tandem as we joined. Heavy and potent, my want and relief rose. He slipped deep inside me. Soon, God help me, if it wasn't soon, I was going to die. His soft breathing rose to swirl in my thoughts, sending surges from my neck to my groin.
My heart pounded, and his fingers traced my neck, resting atop my pulsing skin. We moved together, a pace steady with promise. His free arm wrapped about me, holding me closer, its weight both imprisoning and secure.
"Give me this," he whispered, drawing me closer, and I willingly bent to his will, letting his lips find my demon scar.
My breath came in a loud gasp. I shuddered, our rhythm shifting. He held me close as the waves of desire built upon themselves. His lips on my neck became teeth, hungry, demanding. There was no pain, and I urged him to do what he would. A small part of me knew if he hadn't his caps, I would have been bitten. It only drove me to a more desperate need. I heard myself cry out, and his grip trembled, becoming tighter.
Wild with passion, I clutched his shoulders. It was there, I only needed to catch it. My breath came fast against his neck. There was nothing but him, and me, and our bodies moving together. His rhythm shifted, and feeling his passions beginning to crest, I found his neck and sent my teeth into him again.
"Harder," he whispered. "You can't hurt me. I promise you can't hurt me."
It tipped me over the edge, and as I played pretend with my vampire, I lunged hungrily into him with no thought of what I'd leave behind.
Kisten groaned, his arms tightening around me. His head pushed mine aside, and with a guttural sound, he buried his face in my neck.
I cried out as his lips found my scar. Fire struck my body alight. With that, fulfillment crashed upon me and I climaxed. Wave after wave rose, each building on the one before. Kisten shuddered, his motion under me ceasing as his passions crested an instant after my own. My breath came in a pained sound and I trembled, unable to move, fearing and wanting the last tingling jolts. "Kisten?" I managed as they faded to nothing and I found myself panting against him.
His grip about me hesitated and his hands fell away. My forehead dropped to his chest, and I took a shaking breath, exhausted and spent. I could do nothing as I lay atop him, my eyes half closed. Slowly I realized my back was cold and that Kisten's hand was tracing a warm path up and down my spine. I could hear his heartbeat and smell our scents mingling. Muscles trembling with fatigue, I pulled my head up to find his eyes shut and a contented smile on him.
My breath caught. Holy shit. What had I just done?
Kisten's eyes opened, finding mine. They were clear and blue, the black of his pupil normal and calming. "Now you're afraid?" he said. "It's a little late for that."
His gaze lingered on my black eye - only now seeing it with my amulets on the floor. I pulled myself up from him, immediately falling back as it was cold. My limbs started shaking. "Um, that was fun," I said, and he laughed.
"Fun," he said, running a finger down my jawline. "My wicked witch thought that was fun." His smile wouldn't leave him. "Nick was a fool to let you go."
"What do you mean?" I said, shifting to move, but his hands held me to him.
"I mean," he said softly, "that you are the most erotic woman I've ever touched. That you're both a wide-eyed innocent and an experienced slut all at the same time."
I stiffened. "If this is your attempt at pillow talk, it sucks eggs."
"Rachel," he cajoled, the heavy look of satisfied tenderness the only thing keeping me where I was. That and I didn't think I could stand up quite yet. "You have no idea how arousing it is to have your tiny little teeth on me, struggling to break through, tasting without tasting. An innocent, experienced and hungry all at the same time."
I raised my eyebrows, blowing a strand of hair out of my eyes. "You had this all planned, didn't you?" I accused. "Thought you could come in here and seduce me like you do everyone else?" It wasn't as if I could be angry, lying atop him as I was, but I tried.
"No. Not like everyone else," he said, the glint in his eyes going right to my core. "And yes, I came over here fully intending to seduce you." He lifted his head and whispered in my ear, "It's what I'm good at. Just like you're good at evading demons and kicking ass."
"Kicking ass?" I questioned as he dropped his head back to the arm of the couch. His hand was exploring again, and I didn't want to move.
"Yeah," he said, and I jumped as he found a ticklish spot. "I like a woman who takes care of herself."
"Not much of a white knight on a horse, huh?"
He raised one eyebrow. "Oh, I could," he said. "But I'm a lazy son of a bitch."
I laughed at that, and he joined me with his own chuckle as his grip about my waist tightened. With a little lurch, he lifted me from him. "Hold on," he said as he stood, swinging me into the cradle of his arms as if I was a five-pound bag of sugar. With his vamp strength, he held me with one arm and hoisted his pants up loose about his hips. "Shower?"
My arms were laced about his neck, and I inspected it for bite marks. There wasn't a one, though I knew I had bit down hard enough to leave them. I also knew without looking that he hadn't made a visible mark on me despite his roughness. "That sounds great," I said as he shuffled forward, his jeans still unzipped.
"I'll get you a shower," he said as I looked behind me to my amulets, pants, and one sock strewn on the floor. "And then we'll open all the windows and air the church out. I'll help you finish making your fudge, too. That will help."
"It's brownies."
"Even better. That uses the oven." He hesitated before my bathroom door, and feeling cared for and wanted in his arms, I pushed it open with my foot. The man was strong. I'd give him that. This was as satisfying as the sex. Well, almost.
"You have scented candles, don't you?" he asked as I flicked on the light with my toe.
"I have two X-chromosomes," I said dryly as he set me atop the washer and pulled off my last sock. "I have a candle or two." He was going to help me into the shower? How sweet.
"Good. I'll get one going in the sanctuary. Tell Ivy you put it there in the window for Jenks, and you can keep it going until sunup."
A whisper of unease pulled me straight, and my motions grew slow as I pulled my sweater over my head and dropped it onto the washer. "Ivy?" I questioned.
Kisten leaned against the wall and took off his boots. "You don't mind telling her?"
His boot thumped into the far wall, and my face went cold. Ivy. Scented candles. Airing out the church. Making brownies to scent the air. Washing his scent off me. Swell.
Smiling his bad-boy smile, Kisten padded to me in his socks and open jeans. His wide hand cupped my jaw and he leaned close. "I don't mind if she knows," he said, and I didn't move, enjoying the warmth. "She's going to find out eventually. But I'd break it to her gently if I were you, not dump it on her." He gave me a soft kiss on the corner of my mouth. His hand trailed reluctantly from me as he backed up and opened the door to the shower.
Crap, I'd forgotten about Ivy. "Yeah," I said distantly, recalling her jealousy, her dislike of surprises, and how badly she reacted to both. "You think she's going to be upset?"
Kisten turned, his shirt off and water beading on his hand from feeling the temperature. "Upset? She's going to be as jealous as a green apple that you and I have a physical way to express our relationship and she doesn't."
Frustration filled me. "Damn it, Kisten. I'm not going to let her bite me so she knows I like her. Sex and blood. Blood and sex. It's the same thing, and I can't do that with Ivy. I'm not wired that way!"
He shook his head, a sad smile on him. "You can't say blood and sex are the same thing. You've never given blood to another. You have nothing to base your view on."
I frowned. "Every time a vamp puts his eyes on me looking for a snack, it feels sexual."
He came forward, wedging his body between my knees, pressing close up to the washer. His hand went out, and he pushed my hair back over my shoulder. "Most living vampires who are looking for a quick fix find a willing partner faster when they stir them sexually. But Rachel, the meaning behind the giving and receiving blood isn't supposed to be based on sex but respect and love. That you can't be moved by the promise of great sex is why Ivy gave up that tack with you so quickly. But she's still hunting you."
I thought of all the facets of Ivy that Skimmer's appearance had forced me to openly acknowledge. "I know."
"Once she gets over her initial anger, I think she'll be all right with us dating."
"I never said I was dating you."
He smiled knowingly and touched my cheek. "But if I took your blood, even in accident or a moment of passion?" Kisten's blue eyes pinched in worry. "One scratch and she'd stake me. The entire city knows she's put a claim on you, and God help the vamp that gets in her way. I took your body. If I touch your blood, I'm dead twice."
I went cold. "Kisten, you're scaring me."
"You should be scared, little witch. She's going to be the most powerful vampire in Cincinnati someday, and she wants to be your friend. She wants you to be her savior. She thinks you'll either find a way to kill the vamp virus in her so she can die with her soul intact, or be her scion so she can die knowing that you'll be there to take care of her."
"Kisten. Stop."
Smiling, he kissed my forehead. "Don't worry. Nothing has changed from yesterday. Tomorrow will be the same. She's your friend, and she won't ask anything you can't give."
"That doesn't help."
He shrugged, and with a last touch on my side, he took a step back. Steam billowed out from the crack in the door as Kisten shimmied out of his jeans and leaned into the shower to adjust the temperature again. My eyes ran from his well-toned calves to his tight behind to his broad back, lightly muscled. All thoughts of Ivy's coming anger vanished. Damn.
As if feeling my eyes on him, he turned, catching me ogling him.
The steam eddied about him. Drops of moisture from the showerhead clung to his stubble. "Let me help you get your camisole off," he said, the timbre of his voice shifting.
I ran my eyes down him again, grinning as I brought my gaze up. Double damn.
He slipped his hands behind my back, and with a little help on my part, he nudged me forward to the edge of the dryer and slipped my halter top off. Wrapping my legs around him, I laced my hands behind his neck and tucked my chin into the hollow of his neck. God help me, he was beautiful. "Kisten?" I questioned as he nuzzled my hair out of the way and found the ticklish spot behind my ear. A warm feeling started in my middle, stemming from where his lips touched me, demanding I recognize it. Accept it. Call it a good thing.
"Do you still have that tight leather biker outfit?" I asked, kind of embarrassed.
Lifting me off the washer and carrying me into the shower, he laughed.