A Vampire for Christmas

chapter FIVE





ANGELINA WORRIED HER bottom lip with perfect white teeth and nodded.



He eased the shirt off her shoulders, reached around and undid her bra. Slipping his hands beneath the straps, he slowly pulled it away until she was bared to his gaze. She made a motion to once again cover herself, but he murmured a protest and raised his hand the final distance to cup her breast. Its lush fullness filled his hand. Stroking his thumb along her peaked nipple, he pulled a soft sigh of pleasure from her.



“There is much more of that to come, my love,” he vowed, slipping his other hand upward to cradle her other breast. He gently rotated and tweaked her nipples until she mewled her delight and leaned her body along his. She reached down and hesitantly explored the hard ridge beneath the fine fabric of his pants.



He growled his own sharp delight at her innocent touch and bent to nuzzle the sensitive skin along the underside of her jaw. Tugged gently on her earlobe with his teeth and whispered, “Do you want more?”



Her answer came in the awkward rush of her fingers undoing the buttons on his pants and parting the soft wool to free his long, hard shaft. He sucked in a breath and pleaded, “I want to feel your skin against mine.”



His little virgin surprised him then, quickly moving her hand beneath the cotton to grasp his erection. She stroked her hand up and down, exploring his smooth length until he was almost shaking.



“May I make love to you?” he said, aware of her inexperience and wanting there to be no tears of shame this time. He would not hurt her for all the world.



“You may,” she said, a playful note in her voice as she took a step back toward his bed. When her knees hit the edge, she sat down and leaned on her elbows, offering him a dangerous view of her upper torso. So beautiful, he thought and bent to take hold of her skirt.



As his hands came into contact with the cheap gray fabric, it tore slightly beneath his impatient hands.



He restrained his need, and slowly inched up her skirts to reveal the long shapely length of her legs beneath the woolen socks she wore against the winter chill. With care, he slipped off her low-heeled shoes and rolled down her socks to reveal her lovely legs. Strong and yet totally feminine, and with that thought came a moment of guilt as he remembered their first encounter a century earlier. He hadn’t taken the time to appreciate her beauty. To pleasure her and let her know how much he valued the gift she was bestowing upon him.



This time had been different from that first fateful Christmas Eve. He had been patient with her, inviting her to take each step in their lovemaking, the consciousness of the present Damien recalled before he lost himself to reliving the past.



He took her skirts up along with the passage of his hand. Revealing the soft cotton panties she wore.



“May I?” he asked again, conscious of her virginity and wishing to remove any fear on her part.



Her shy smile was the only answer he needed.



He grasped the thin cotton, vowing that one day he would replace it with silk and satin. Leisurely pulling off her panties, he planted a series of kisses on the sensitive inside of her ankle, then at the crook where her calf met her knee, eliciting a tiny giggle from her which dragged a smile to his lips. An unhurried brush of his mouth along the inside of her thigh made her muscles quiver.



As he neared her core, his vamp senses immediately picked up the scent of her feminine arousal, musky and clean.



He nuzzled the soft thatch of ebony curls with his nose, drawing a shaky breath from her. He smiled and glanced down as he parted her curls with his fingers to reveal the glistening nub at her center and the flushed nether lips along her cleft.



“Beautiful,” he murmured before lowering his head for that first intimate kiss.



She arched her hips with the contact and gasped in surprise before a rise of heat and damp confirmed her desire for him.



He nearly came then, overwhelmed by emotion and the expectation of what would come next.



His hands shook as if he was the virgin, and maybe he was. He had never made love to a woman he cared about before.



He kissed her over and over, sucking and biting at the nub between her legs. He used his fingers to stroke and caress her until she was shaking beneath him. On the edge and pleading with him, she dipped her hand down and threaded her fingers through his hair.



Sucking in a deep breath perfumed with her need, he rose and positioned himself at her center. The tip of him poised near her moist warmth.



She lay before him, her lush breasts exposed. The nipples now a dark coral, flush with her desire.



He bent and kissed the tip of one breast.



Angelina called out his name and held his head to her. He could wait no longer.



In one slow stroke he entered her tightness until the fragile barrier provided resistance. He experienced the tension in her body as he pressed forward.



He skimmed one hand across her cheek as he promised, “The hurt will fade.”



I trust you,” she repeated again, worrying her bottom lip with uncertainty.



He nodded and grasped her hips, the cotton of her skirt laundry-soft and care-worn beneath his hands. The drape of her skirts hid their union, but he wanted to see. Needed to see.



Lifting the skirts high and bundling them at her waist, he watched as he withdrew with care, mindful of her state. A mistake, he realized, as the faint scent of blood mixed with that of their loving and pulled at the demon.



He gritted his teeth and closed his eyes, fighting the vampire who wanted a taste of that virgin’s desire.



The demon he hated because releasing it brought pain and hurt.



Damien? Is something wrong?”



He shook his head, but then her hand slipped up over his chest, directly above his heart. “I love you, Damien. Do not shut me out.”



Gritting his teeth, because the pain in his jaw warned him that the vampire was about to emerge, he met her gaze with his.



Her eyes widened with surprise as they took in the growing neon in his gaze. He could feel his humanity losing out to the demon.



What…what’s happening?” she asked, but there was no fear or uncertainty in her voice, which surprised him.



I’m not what you think I am,” he replied, the low growl of the demon threaded through his voice.



Her easy smile calmed him as did the tender caress of her hand at the spot over his heart. “I think you are a good person.” She stroked her hand over his heart again and continued. “I know your heart is true.”



He groaned then, with joy and pain. He had not been a good man and as a demon he had done things that sickened him. Despite all that, she still believed in him.



Emotion rose up in him, nearly choking him and breaking the control he had been exerting. A sharp burst of pain came as his fangs exploded, erupting beyond his top lip.



He expected her to scream. To rip her body from his and run away. But instead, she offered up another smile, a determined one this time.



Raising her other hand, she cupped his jaw and traced the line of his lips and fangs. Explored them with a mix of fascination and love.



You are not afraid?” he asked, narrowing his eyes as he considered her reaction.



“I’ve always sensed you were different, and no, I am not afraid. I love you,” she replied, her answer clear and without doubt.



Inside him came a freedom and lightness of being he had not experienced in too long. Not since his mother had anyone given him love so unequivocally and so freely. As much as he feared that he did not deserve such love, because of the man he had been and the demon he had become, he would not cast such a gift aside.



“I think I love you, too,” Damien answered, his heart filled with joy at the admission.



No sooner had the words left him than he experienced a vicious jerk at his center. Panic replaced the happiness he had been feeling on that year-ago Christmas Eve.



He was leaving her again. Leaving the vision filled with their joy and love.



“No,” he shouted, but in his mind Angelina’s voice came instead, both soothing and punishing at the same time.



Maybe one lesson learned. I think. But not another.



Damien was painfully conscious of what would happen next.