chapter Ten
"Ethan, did you ever check into that vampire slayers Internet loop?" Alexis paced back and forth in her husband's office, feeling frustrated and anxious.
"No." Ethan shrugged nonchalantly, though Alexis could tell he was braced for her response. He always held his hand out like a barrier when he was sure she was going to protest. "I'm sure that group who e-mailed you is just a bunch of thrill seekers. They don't really fancy themselves vampire slayers."
"How do you know?" Alexis opened the balcony door and stepped out into the rapidly disappearing night. Another hour, the sun would be up, and she'd be in bed for the day. There would be no one to watch over Brittany , make sure she was safe. Alexis scanned her eyes over the Vegas Strip, worried. She'd gotten the invitation to join the vampire slayers group,then was promptly kicked out the minute she'd been turned.Like they'd known.
Ethan came up behind her and rubbed her shoulders. "What's the matter, Alex?"
She wasn't sure exactly. "Something is going on. People want you and Seamus dead. Why? What haven't you told me?"
"I've told you everything," he said softly, his lips running over the tip of her ear. "I don't know why someone wants me dead. The guy we're holding isn't talking."
"Something is wrong. You know I'm not a worrier normally, but I just feel like something bad is going to happen." Alexis shivered.
Ethan gave a soft snort of laughter. "Actually, when it comes to the people you care about, you worry constantly. Before you only had to worry about Brittany , now you have to worry about me, too. ButI promise, I will be fine . After nine hundred years, I've learned to defend myself fairly well."
Sometimes it still creeped Alexis out to think that her husband was as old as dirt, but he had a point. He hadn't lived that long by being stupid. "Maybe we should take a vacation take Brittany and get out of Vegas for a few weeks."
Even as she said it, she knew he'd never agree to it. Not with the election looming.
"The timing is wrong, love. I can't leave now. Besides, security is best here in my own casino."
That wasn't very reassuring. "Then how is it you managed to get shot?" Just the memory made her uncomfortable. Made her glance right and left, even though they couldn't possibly be at risk from anything other than rain out on their thirty-second-floor balcony.Or a vampire.
"That was unfortunate. I was distracted and overconfident. I won't be caught off guard again."
The hardness in his voice made her feel a little better. He was taking this seriously.
"And I won't let anyone harm you or Brittany. I have a guard watching Brittany twenty-four/seven. He should already be in place."
"Thank you." Alexis held on to his hands as he wrapped his arms around her middle. She leaned against his chest. "How did you meet Kelsey? You both told me it was in New York in the sixties, but I mean specifically."
"I went to a party at an artist's loft and saw Kelsey. I knew she was a vampire immediately. And it was also clear she was doing a steady diet of drugs. I put her in rehab and gave her a job. I don't think she ever knew who turned her vampire?too much LSD running through her."
That probably explained a lot. "I think Kelsey is a sweetheart, I really do, but I also think maybe she lost a few brain cells too many during the sixties. Then a few more when she was drained of blood six weeks ago. She says the weirdest things sometimes. Tonight in the casino she asked me if I've ever been to the Venetian. She said she heard the blood is better there, but that she won't go there because that's where they took her. When I asked her what she meant, she wouldn't answer."
Ethan stiffened. " Donatellilives at the Venetian." Alexis jerked around, started. Her husband's face was filled with fury. "Ethan? You mean oh, shit."
Cara had never really liked Jodi. She thought she was a bit crass, but then Cara could readily admit she was a prude. Now, however, she decided she'd been right all along.
Jodi sat guzzling down a scotch and leering at Seamus. He appeared oblivious to the sultry looks and the cleavage, but it still irritated Cara.
"I remember you," Jodi said to Seamus. "You were at Alexis's wedding. I'm sure you noticed me. I was the one who was ignored by the bride. My own niece, the ungrateful little bitch, didn't even invite me. I had to invite myself."
"So you don't keep in touch with Alexis and Brittany?"
"No." Jodi tossed back what was left of her drink. "They don't want anything to do with me. They both think they're too good to associate with their aunt, the ex-stripper. But they're no better than me. They're just dishonest about it. I mean, come on, what did Alexis do to get that rich guy to marry her? That requires some oral skill, and I don't mean conversation."
Cara couldn't help but curl her lip in distaste. Unfortunately, Jodi saw her do it.
"You know what I'm talking about, don't you, Cara? Some people look at a stripper and they think whore. I mean, when you first met Seamus, it wasn't like he thought to himself, hey, there's a smart girl. I bet we could have some interesting talks over wine."
She should interrupt with some cutting remark, but Cara just found herself sitting there at the table in the back of the club, while the dancers moved on stage, and her face went hot. Jodi was saying exactly what she had told herself.
"No, he was thinking about your body, about hot, sweaty, nasty sex. And that's fine, because sex makes the world go round, and we get paid damn good for what we do. But some snooty bitches will look down their noses at you.The same ones who sleep their way to the top. Me, I'd rather be up front and honest about it." Jodi glanced up and down at Cara. "By the way, when are you coming back to work? You don't look hurt to me, and now with Dawn being gone, we're really shorthanded."
"I'm not sure," she managed to spit out. "Seamus?"Cheeks still hot, feeling like she'd been slapped and intentionally humiliated, Cara turned to him. "When can I go back to work?"
Part of her wanted him to say never. That it wasn't safe. That between him and her twenty grand in winnings, she should quit her job as a dancer. That he didn't like men looking at her and thinking of hot, sweaty, nasty sex.
He didn't even come remotely close to doing that. He just said, "Whenever you feel ready. It's up to you."
What happened to her supposed safety? And why, when he was finally respecting her independence, did she feel so annoyed?
"I guess I can start back tomorrow night.If that's okay with Seamus."
"That's fine," Seamus said with apparent unconcern.
Jodi laughed, gesturing for the waitress to bring her another drink."Money and sex, Cara. That's what it's all about."
Then her laugh died out and she looked puzzled, head cocked to the side. Her fingers trembled on her empty scotch glass.
"Who was Brittany 's father?" Seamus asked in a soothing, even voice.
Jodi made an indistinguishable sound from her mouth, her lips working,eyes glassy. Cara suddenly realized what was going on. Seamus was probing her mind.
It was disconcerting to watch. Jodi looked paralyzed, like a stroke victim, trapped in her own mind, spittle forming in the corner of her mouth.
"You don't remember his name? He was dark haired, dark eyed, foreign, rich and you were jealous of your sister because she was married and didn't need a sugar daddy. He should have been yours." Seamus stopped speaking and sat back. He turned to Cara. "Damn. She doesn't remember his name. There's nothing there."
He released Jodi, who looked confused for a second. She wiped her mouth,then narrowed her eyes at Cara. "So be here tomorrow ready to shake your shit. I have to get back to work." A little unsteady, she stood up and nodded to Seamus. "Thanks for the drink."
Cara watched Jodi leave, her retreat in haste, no effort made to sway her hips and display her still firm backside the way she usually did.
"Well, that's disappointing," Seamus said. "I had hoped she'd know more identifying information. There were lots of foreign vamps running around Vegas twenty-eight years ago. It's a good town to hide in."
Only half-listening, Cara looked from Jodi to the dancers on stage. Was this all there was for her? She had always taken pride inwho and what she was. At the moment, she felt nothing but a sick burning pit in her stomach that wasn't hunger. It was anger. Despite all her efforts to be independent, liberated, and totally on her own, she felt two emotions that made her squirm.Embarrassment that men watched her dance and got aroused. And love, for Seamus.
Two traps she said she'd never fall into, and yet she was sitting there caught by both ankles, strapped helpless to her emotions, conventions, and nature.
She had become a stripper to pay for school, and to prove she wasn't repressed. She was a virgin to prove she wasn't a slut. And she didn't date because she knew that if she loved a man, she would love with all of herself, and that was damn scary.
Her mother had been like that, and her mother had wound up alone.
Cara had loved Marcus and had thought he respected her, when in truth he had been having sex with everything thatwalked, everyone but her.
Obviously the man she had loved hadn't been the man Marcus really was.
So clearly she was just bad at relationships, and didn'tknow what she felt, because honestly, how the hell could shelove Seamus? He had made her a vampire without consulting her, held her prisoner, and didn't like her choice of draperies. She shouldn't even like him, let alone love him. It didn't make any sense.
But he was also the most amazingly kind, patient, and generous man she'd ever met. He took care of Ethan's political campaign, he soothed Kelsey's nerves, from day one he had tried to make her comfortable in his apartment, and he walked her dogs without complaint.
Seeing Dawn on the floor like that, having her own brief run in with a killer vampire, she realized she wanted nothing more than to stay with Seamus.Permanently.
Maybe it was shock. It had to be shock, because why else would she be thinking she loved Seamus and that she didn't want to dance anymore? It didn't make any sense to feel either one of those convictions. Yet she did.
While her entire sense of self was buckling and heaving like asphalt above an earthquake, Seamus paid their bill and patted his pocket for his car keys.
"Ready?" he asked, oblivious to her shocking revelations.
She thought she loved him. Wasn't it written on her forehead? Throbbing across her chest? How could he just stand there and not notice?
Drowning in confusion, she reached for a life jacket.Anger. "What happened to my safety? Don't you care that if I dance here tomorrow night the assassin will try to kill me again? I would be totally exposed and vulnerable."
He stared at her blankly for a second,then gave one of those male sighs that indicated he was willing to blame her behavior on PMS. "Can we talk about this in the car?"
Wrong move.She felt indignation rise with volcanic fury. "We'll talk about it now."
Seamus sat back down, eyes wary. "I figured you could have a guard?me. I don't want you to dance, but if you have to, then I'll watch you."
That slightly mollified her irrational anger. She knew she was being unreasonable, but she couldn't stop herself. She felt that if she didn't cling to her fury, she would burst into tears. "Why would you tell me to go back to work if you don't want me to?"
"Because if I told you no, you'd get mad at me. I was trying to let you make your own choice."
"By telling me to dance naked for strange men?"Maybe she did have PMS. She wasn't sure about vampiric physiology but wasn't it possible she could be having a hormonal surge of some kind? She felt on the verge of cracking, borderline hysterical.
Seamus just sat there. He didn't say a word, just sat in the chair with his hands on the table, his blue shirt turning an orangish color when the pink lights reflected off it. She couldn't read his expression.
"Well? Aren't you going to say something?"
He shook his head. "No."
"What do youmean, no? I asked you if you want me to dance naked for strange men."
His jaw twitched but he remained silent.
"Seamus!"
"I'm not answering anything because no matter what I say it will be wrong. We've done this before and this time I opt out."
Cara was stunned to realize he was right. She was being a shrew because she had decided she loved him. That made no sense.
The corner of her mouth tilted up involuntarily. "Okay, let's go home."
"Really?"He looked immeasurably relieved. He stood up and reached for her hand.
"Really."Everything suddenly made much more sense to Cara.Independence wasn't achieved by dancing naked in defiance. It was reached through respect, and Seamus respected her enough to refuse to argue with her.Enough to never press his advantage after feeding and have sex with her.Enough to let her dance, despite his concerns.
"Let's go home." So she could tell him she intended to dance only in private from then on. And show him exactly how she felt about him and those sexy blue eyes of his.
Seamus was getting good at bullet dodging. One minute Cara had been furious with him, the next she had been chattering away in the car as if nothing had happened. He wasn't sure why he was even bothering to stay standing. Maybe he should just let a bullet hit him and take him down. Hadn't he always said he wasn't going to cater to another woman's irrational whims?
Yet something made him stick to Cara. Something kept telling him that once they got solid ground beneath them, their relationship could be amazing. It already was amazing.
So when they got into the apartment, he decided they needed to be clear about what they were, what they were doing, where the future was headed. Not that Seamus knew how to approach the subject, or even how to articulate what he felt. He just did it the way that made the most sense to him. While Cara kicked off her sandals by the front door, he squared his shoulders and faced her.
"Ethan suggested you could have your own apartment. I told him no, because I don't want you to move out. Really don't want you to. But if you want to move out, I'll understand that, and I'll let you move out. I mean I won't protest or pull vampire rank or be a jerk.If you move out.If you want to."
Yeah, that was clearing things up. He sounded like a vampiric Rainman .
She just looked at him, her hair falling over her shoulder, the dogs running around her, licking at her fingers. "I don't want to move out."
"Oh, okay. Good." Seamus cleared his throat. Now what?
"Can I be honest with you?"
That was a scary thought. God only knew what would come out of her mouth. But he knew what was expected of him. He'd gleaned that much from twentieth-century chick flicks."Of course. You can always be honest with me."
Even if she ripped his heart out of his chest and flung it against the wall with her words. Sure, he was cool with the whole honesty thing. He was a modern vampire, with pink lint on his nuts. He could talk about his feelings. A stake to the heart might be more pleasant, but he could do this.Honesty. Sure. He was on it.
"I really am a virgin."
Thatwasn't what he expected her to say. It didn't make sense to him and he blurted out, "Are are you sure?"
Her cheeks bloomed pink. "Yes, I'm sure! I ought to know something like that, don't you think?"
Okay, so it had been a stupid thing to say. But she danced with no clothes on. She had a vibrator. She'd had orgasms while feeding from him. Cara was sexy, sensual. Not a virgin. Damn.A virgin?
His brain hurt.Along with another part farther south.
"Of course.But you " Where the hell was a speechwriter when he needed one?
"Look, I know it seems kind of ridiculous, but I never wanted to give that up to anyone, you know what I mean? I'm a control freak. I dance because I can hide behind the screen. It doesn't feel like anyone is watching me. I dance for the money, not the audience."
"But the vibrator " Seamus wondered if that counted toward nonvirgin status, or was that a technical loophole. He was seriously intrigued by the thought that she'd gone there alone, with a battery-operated toy, never having experienced that with a man. Though why in hell had he mentioned the vibrator out loud? Way to sound like a perv .
She folded her arms across her chest and looked around nervously. "Well, I just use it, um, externally. I don't think I would know how to actually do, well, anything else."
They were a train wreck. They both sounded like a couple of twelve-year-olds looking at porn.
"I haven't had sex in two hundred years," he said, because it seemed like an appropriate time for a confession. Also, if they ever got to the sticking point?sex?he wanted her to know he was a bit out of practice.
Cara looked startled. She rubbed her toes on her opposite ankle, and pulled her T-shirt down over the waist of her jeans. "Oh, well, uh wow.Any reason?"
"The last woman I slept with betrayed me. She had me sent to the guillotine." Seamus touched the scar on his neck.
Her eyes softened. "Oh, baby, that's horrible."
He would have thought her compassion would be embarrassing, but he kind of liked the way her fingers reached out for him. He let her touch him, run her thumb over his puckered scar. "I was Marie's lapdog, though I didn't know it at the time. I swore I wouldn't give up control to another woman ever again. I am a control freak, too."
"My last boyfriend he said he was cool with waiting until we got married to have sex. And later I found out why he was so willing to be chivalrous?he was having sex with a handful of other women."
"Oh, sweetie, what a bastard.I'm sorry." He didn't understand a dog like that. One who turned sex into selfishrutting. "And if it makes you feel better, the woman I thought loved me was sleeping with another man, and together they had plotted my death from the beginning."
"Uh!What a bitch," Cara said, looking indignant on his behalf.
"Vampire slayer," he said.
"Oh. Yikes." She stared up at him, her body lithe and lush against his, her dark eyes wide with desire. "Since we're being honest I want to sleep with you, but I'm afraid to give up control."
"Me, too."He wasn't sure he could trust her not to kick him in the teeth. It wasn't Cara, it was him. Ethan had told him he had trust issues, which was probably true.
"So what do we do about it?"
Seamus wrapped his arms around her waist, tensely. It felt like they were circling each other, waiting for the other to make the first move. "I don't know."
"Also since we're being honest," she said in a husky whisper. "How do you really feel about my dancing naked for other men?"
That was easy. Jealousy exploded in his gut, sick and hot. "I hate it. That's how I really feel. I want to rip every one of their faces off and shove them up their arses . I feel like knocking their damn skulls together and covering you from head to toe in fleece."
She opened her mouth.
And Seamus kissed her. He leaned down, and took her mouth with determination.The hell with this. They were going to do what they both wanted to do. And if he was going to have to sit in that club and watch her?guard her?while she danced behind that screen, he was going to be damn sure she was his first. He wanted to take her, brand her, hold her to him,make Cara and everyone else understand that she belonged at his side.
They were mates already, living together. Now he wanted to seal that, put his scent on her.
So he kissed her hard and fast and deep, sliding his tongue between her surprised lips. When they both came up for air, he said, "Did I mention that I hate the dancing naked for other men?"
Without waiting for her response, he covered her lips with his again, his hands trailing down her back onto her tight, firm ass. She felt perfect beneath his hands, and she tasted delicious, like rich, fine wine, her lips soft and pliable, juicy. After a long, hot minute, Seamus pulled back with a suppressed groan.
"Well," Cara said, breathing hard. "Don't hold back. Tell me how you really feel."
Desire, hot and hard, ripped through him, and he made no effort to control it. "Tell you how I feel? This is how I feel."
Seamus yanked his shirt off with vampire speed and pulled her against him. He licked along her bottom lip,then kissed her feverishly, kneading her backside beneath his fingers. It was perfect, this was right, it was everything, and he wondered what the hell he'd been waiting for. Cara was kissing him back, eagerly, her hands racing across his chest, gripping him.
He wanted to feel her flesh against his, touch the body that had been teasing and taunting him since the first minute he'd seen her. He wanted to be the only man who had ever been allowed to taste her, run his hands over those curves. He wanted to fill her with his hard body and make her scream in pleasure. But first he had to get those clothes off.
The T-shirt went with one tug. And she wasn't wearing a bra. A very beautiful, full chest was right in front of him, gloriously naked.
Cara jerked back, startled. "Did you just rip my shirt off?"
"Yes." He threw it on the floor, where Button promptly buried his nose in it, kicked it up with his snout, and wound up with the T-shirt on the top of his head.
Seamus had to admit he was starting to like the dogs. They were such total idiots, he felt better about himself just watching them.
"Oh, okay." Cara blinked, her hands snaking over her bare chest to cross and cover.
She was hiding her breasts from him. Seamus couldn't believe it. It was so damn cute and sexy that she was self-conscious, shy, whatever you wanted to call it, in front of him. It made him feel a notch above the club-goers. Like him and his opinion mattered to her.
He started to grin, even as he tried to prevent it. "Drop your arms, Cara."
"No." She looked squeamish at thevery thought. Her grip on her elbows tightened.
"Drop them or I'll do it."
That made her flush with indignation, "Screw you."
"That's the plan." Seamus took a step toward her as she backed up a foot. "Trust me, Cara."
"Do I have to?" she asked, now hunched over a little at the shoulders.
"Yes." He put his hands on her wrists and ripped her arms apart, off her chest, and held them out at her sides. "I trust you. I do. Give me the same thing." He stared down at her, his breath hot and thick, his erection pressing into her thigh, his fangs down and ready. Her chest heaved, and she jerked her head to toss her bangs out of her eyes.
No words came out of her mouth, but her eyes pleaded with him, told him to take the risk. Seamus let go of her arms and stood still to wait for her reaction. If she covered herself back up, they had problems.
But Cara didn't do that. Instead she fit her index fingers through two loops on his jeans left and right and stepped in close, pressing her bare chest against his. Her lips ran along his shoulder and neck, while every muscle in his body tensed with pleasure, anticipation.
"I trust you," she whispered in his ear. "Now let's do this."
She made it sound like they were about to leap off a building or charge into battle.
Maybe they were.
Seamus turned his head so he could brush his lips over her cheek, feel her soft skin beneath his. He took her chin, tilted her head up, and kissed her gently, then franticly, then fiercely. He bit her lip, let a drop of blood bead and meander into his mouth. Her hands were on his chest, then his back, then his arse , gripping and grinding and tugging.
When she sped up, he slowed down, when she eased back, he stepped it up, so that they were both building and breaking down, ebbing and flowing, frustrated and hot. Seamus was doing it intentionally, conscious of her virginity, aware that he had only one chance to do this right, to make it good for Cara. And he wanted to draw it out for himself, enjoy Cara at length, to make a two-hundred-year celibacy end in ecstasy, not a quick three-minute explosion.
"Seamus," she murmured, trying to undo his belt.
If she was ready to move to the next stage, it was time to move to the bedroom. Seamus lifted her up into his arms and started down the hall.
"Whoa," she said. "I still can't get used to vampire strength."
"Wait until you see my endurance."
"Don't scare me," she said with a small laugh.
The Labs leaped around Seamus, barking, like this was a game. Satan sat in the doorway of the bedroom, looking like he'd tear Seamus's ankle off if he attempted entry.
"If you guys trip me, you're going to the pound," he told them.
Cara made a sound of horror. "Don't say that! Daddy didn't mean it, sweeties. And if he did, Mommy wouldn't let him do such a horrible, nasty thing."
She made ushy , gushy, shushing sounds while Seamus contemplated fatherhood to Cara's furry brood. It wasn't a horrifying thought. He had raised dogs for years inEngland . But they'd stayed in the kennel, like dogs should. They hadn't lived in the house with him, sleeping in his bed, and he had never once thought of himself as their daddy.
While he couldn't imagine he'd ever think of any four-legged creature as his baby, he liked that Cara was placing him in that role. She didn't want to move out. She wanted to stay with him, with her dogs.For now, anyway. And that was good enough for him.
He stepped into the bedroom. When the dogs would have bounded in after them, he put out his finger and commanded, "Sit."
Button and Fritz plopped their rumps down in the hall, their tails swishing back and forth. "Good boys."
Satan, who had been sitting, stood up at the command to sit. Seamus used his foot to encourage Satan to run out into the hallway.
Then he slammed the door shut on all of them.
"That was mean," Cara reprimanded.
"I don't need an audience, I'm sorry. They'll get over it." Seamus laid Cara down on his bed?their bed?and stepped back to undo his belt buckle.
She bent her knees so her legs were up in the air, but she didn't cover her chest. In fact, she thrust it toward him in a sexy little pose. Her skin was pale, milky white, the moonlight streaming through the wood blinds onto the bed, onto Cara's beauty.
Seamus just about stopped breathing."You're so beautiful," he said, fingers freezing on his zipper. "Damn, Cara, I just can't tell you how gorgeous I think you are. That night the night I met you. It was like you just drew me in.Like you are now."
Man, he needed to just stop talking around her. Instead of the Irish gift of the gab, he had the gift of the gag.
"You're not just saying that, are you? You're not playing me?" she asked with a saucy grin, fingertips sliding across the ends of her black silky hair.
"No. If I was being a player, I'd sound better than this." He shook his head as he unzipped his black pants. "I sound like a potato farmer around you.Nothing like a man who spends his night strategizing politics and putting a spin on words and policies."
"I like you both ways. When you talk shop with Ethan, you sound commanding and in charge. It's sexy. But when you're with me, you're more real and that's sexy, too."
He couldn't see how a bumbling idiot would be sexy, but he wasn't about to talk her out of it. Instead he ditched his shoes, socks, and pants and leaned over the bed, running the gristle of his unshaven chin over the smooth denim covering Cara's knees. He stroked one hand down her calf and used the other to undo her pants. Her breathing had changed, her eyes widening, and he knew she was as aroused as he was.
Before taking her pants off, he bent over and ran his lips along her nipples, closing his eyes, breathing in her scent. Goose bumps rose on her warm flesh and she shifted, lifting her chest.
"Do you want this?" he asked, pulling one tight nipple into his mouth and sucking, reveling in the feel, the texture, the moan she gave. It had been so long since he'd made love to a woman, he'd nearly forgotten the torturous pleasure, the slow cadence of sex, the teasing anticipation, the discovery of a woman's erogenous areas.
He had touched Cara several times now when she had been feeding from him?he already knew the way her moist inner flesh felt, and how she arched her back when she came. He had had several sleepless days that could be attributed to experiencing that. But he hadn't tasted her until now, hadn't had her hands on his bare chest before,hadn't experienced her interest in his pleasure, too.
It was better than he ever could have imagined. She scratched at his skin, harder when he pulled faster, fiercer on her nipple, and her drive drove him on, until her chest was slick from his mouth, her nipples peaked, her moans agonized and high.
"Take my pants off," she begged.
That was the beauty of being a vampire. He had them off before she was even finished speaking.
Cara blinked up at him."Show-off."
"You haven't seen anything yet."
A sly little smile crossed her face. "I can't wait."
Neither could Seamus. He moved his hands over her abdomen, between her thighs, parting them. Cara spread her legs willingly for him, which made his tongue thicken and his desire boil hotter still. He bent down and put his mouth on her moistness.And tasted.
Cara had thought she was turned on, thought she was close to the edge, since Seamus had been kissing, petting, and sucking on her mouth and breasts for a solid twenty minutes, but when he put his tongue between her thighs, she broke the bed.
Literally.She jerked back so hard in ecstasy, the headboard cracked where her shoulders and head made impact.
"Oh, shit," she said, more stunned than hurt.
"Are you okay?" he managed to ask between licks, clearly with no intention of stopping.
Thank you.
"Yes, I'm fine. Seamus " Cara squirmed, trying to turn sideways so she could lie down and enjoy the full effect. Not that half the effect was bad?amazing, actually?but full would be better. But she was having a hard time concentrating on what she was doing because every two seconds he slid up, then trailed back down in a delicious, torturous, warm, wet motion.
Two hundred years of celibacy hadn't negatively affected his technique.
Wow. As she gripped the duvet cover, eyes rolling back in her head as she tried not to explode just yet, Cara realized she was picking up on Seamus's thoughts.
It wasn't complete sentences or a message sent directly to her, it was more just random words and impressions.His desire, his sexual want, his urgency and taut muscles.
Delicious hot fucking gorgeous all floated over to her from him. Heat, throbbing, pulsing want that spiked each time his tongue connected with her flesh. That he was turned on turning her on made her moan louder, which made him grip her thighs tighter in a sexy, arousing circle.
Seamus drew his mouth back suddenly and she gave a cry of frustration, knowing that she was about two seconds away from having an orgasm. "Don't stop!" she begged. "Seamus, please."
Don't come yet, he said in her head, thumb sliding over her swollen clitoris. Then he opened up his thoughts fully to her.
It was like a tidal wave of emotion, desire, pleasure, crashing over her, into her, above her. Cara sucked in a breath, overwhelmed. She lifted her hand, for what she wasn't sure, but Seamus took it, laced his fingers with hers.
Their thoughts mingled, their pleasure collided as he took her mouth in a hard, passionate kiss. It was amazing, stunning, to feel him everywhere, inside and out of her. She felt his appreciation for her curves at the same time she projected back her interest in his hard, male body. Running her fingers over his chest, she kept going until she reached his erection, letting him hear, feel, see, know that she was ready for him. He wanted to be inside her, thrusting, that feeling, urge, loud and drumming into her skull.
Stroking his warm flesh, she hoped he could hear that she wanted him, too, that she was ready, that their connection was so whole and total and exhilarating, that she had to experience what the rest was like. What it would feel like with him buried deep inside her.
"Are you sure?" he asked out loud, pulling back to study her face.
Cara traced his jaw with her finger, loving the way he felt, chiseled and rough, and waited for the panic to engulf her, the vice to close around her emotions, making her feel trapped and helpless.
But none of those feelings were anywhere in her. What she felt, besides the total mind-melding arousal, was freedom. To feel and do whatever she wanted, no worry for the future, no pressure to be something she wasn't. Just freedom to be with a man she cared about for now in a sexy, uncontrollable way.
"Yes, I'm sure."
His fingers were stroking, stroking, stroking, pushing in deeper each time while he waited for her response, and Cara moved restlessly beneath him, eager to have what she'd denied herself for years. "Do you have a condom?"
"No." He moved in between her legs, his erection pressing against her, hard and demanding.
Fifteen years of safe sex mantras had her pushing on his chest."Stop. You need a condom."
"For what?"Seamus asked, nuzzling along her ear, while his fingers pried apart her oh, whoa.
He was just resting there, big and wet and intriguing, leaving her feeling empty and unsatisfied. Wanting what came next.Wanting more. What had she been saying? "For protection," she managed, her entire body tingling in anticipation.
"You can't get pregnant and you can't catch anything from me. You're a vampire."
"Right."Cara lifted her hips just alittle, distracted by the way he was just hanging around down there. He needed to do something. "I'm an immortal vampire."On the edge of an orgasm.
"My vampire," Seamus said as he pushed at her, hard.
Cara winced as a sharp pain tore through her. " Ow. Ow . Ow . Get out, get out."
" Shh. Just relax. I'm only half in. It will feel better when I'm all there."
What the hell kind of logic was that? Here, if your ear hurts, stick that cotton swab in even farther. Hot stove burning your hand? Just leave it there longer.
Cara tried to back up. "There is no way. It hurts too much." She felt intense pressure, and a damn uncomfortable burning sensation. Game over. She wanted out.
Seamus pinned her with his weight. "Don't move, Cara. Let me finish. Trust me."You have to trust me , he added in her head.
Oh, now he was going to make her feel guilty. Like if she shoved him off, he was going to be hurt. Well, she was hurting right now, with his big vampire you-know-what impaling her. "I trust you. But I've changed my mind. I don't see the point if we can just have oral sex."
She'd give him a blowjob if he would just get out.
"Appealing as that sounds, I'd rather do it this way," he said.
Ugh. He was reading her mind.
"Just one time in, and then if you still say no, I'm gone, okay?"
This was ridiculous. They were bargaining for penetration rights."Just one. Then you owe me big time."
"Deal."He kissed her forehead, her temple,her lips softly.
Mouth over hers, Seamus pushed into her, and everything sort of clung and pinched and stung, then suddenly he was fully embedded in her and the pressure was gone. It was snug, but slick, pleasant, his pelvis bumping an interesting spot.
Not nearly as bad as before.Cara relaxed a little. Her shoulders had been almost up to her ears from tension and discomfort. She was about to open her mouth and mention that she'd done her part and he could use the nearest exit, when he pulled back on his own.And pushed into her again, his tongue mimicking the movement in her mouth.
Hey, now. This wasn't bad at all. He did it again and then again, slow and easy. Um, actually, this was kind of nice, the way her body sort of wrapped around him. He was past his one-thrust allowance, but she wasn't sure she minded.
Seamus gave a tight, low groan. "Cara oh, yes, baby, this feels good."
That was a sexy sound. She was havingthat kind of effect on Seamus, and that was hot. She touched his firm butt. He had a great one, all tight and hard and manly. It seemed like a good time to really get a grip on it.
It made themcollide together a little harder, sending a jolt of desire through her. Okay, now shewas understanding how and why this worked. A gasp slipped out as a delicious shiver rippled up and over her. That little thing he was doing, faster now, this made sense, this was hot.
"This is good."
"Told you.You need to listen to me more often. I'm always right."
As long as he was wasn't being smug about it. Pinching his butt to show what she thought of his words, she wrapped her legs around his thighs and rocked up to greet him. They both grunted in delight at the impact.
"You're not right about the curtains," she managed to say between gasps, groans, and thrusts.
Seamus wrapped an arm around her and tumbled them in a one-eighty, so that he wound up on his back and Cara was splayed out on his chest, amazed that he was still inside her. Intrigued by the possibilities, she wiggled a little to adjust her position.
He said, "I am definitely right about the ugly curtains. And I'm right when I say you're going to enjoy being on top."
"I disagree about the curtains." She gripped the bed on either side of Seamus and let her hair fall over his chest. Experimenting, she swiveled her hips and marveled at how there was no pressure, just an incredible tingling arousal. "But I have to admit you're definitely right about this."
Not really knowing what she was doing, she just starting moving, adjusting as needed, trying different rhythms, angles, and motions, startled at how just a tiny shift could move her from nice to eye rolling. Seamus lay still and let her work it all out, though he couldn't seem to resist pinching and licking her nipples and interjecting words of encouragement.
"That's it, baby, take what you want."
She had found a damn good position, one that allowed her breasts to brush against his chest, and her body to grind together with his, hitting a perfect spot. Cara closed her eyes, dropped her head down alongside his shoulder, and picked up the pace, driven to pump harder, more frantically.
"Yes, Cara, go, you're doing it, you're so fucking hot." Sea- mus'svoice was rough, excited, and she felt his thoughts cloud over her and in her again, wrapping his desire around her own and spurring her on.
"Should I stop?" she said, hoping like hell he didn't say yes, but figuring it was polite to ask. "I think I'm going to come."
"Don't stop. Hell no. Come on me, Cara."
He didn't have to tell her twice. She wasn't sure she could stop any longer, anyway. Snapping up her head, she rocked down on him, and exploded. The orgasm snapped up through her, forcing her back to arch, and her teeth to clamp down on her lip in a violent clench.
Her amazement, her exhilaration, her thoughts, all poured out, spilling like honey and running quickly down over Seamus.He groaned at the intensity of her emotion, her delight as she rode out her orgasm, thighs spread over him, body fitted down onto him like a hot, wet glove.
Shit hello ...damn Seamus all rolled through her thoughts, like random words her brain grabbed on to, her body singing with physical stimulation. It wasarousing, a little slap to his already racing libido, and Seamus started to thrust up inside her, drawing a startled gasp from Cara.
Love him love Seamusfell out of her head right into his and Seamus paused for a split second, wondering if he had heard that right. She loved him? That wasn't possible. But he loved her, he knew, fiercely and desperately. Cara groaned, like she had heard him.
I love youcame loud and clear, like she'd whispered it right into his ear.
Seamus swallowed hard, then grabbed Cara and flipped her onto her back. As he thrust, her legs fell farther apart, her arms slack against the sheets, her eyes half closed, expression rapturous. She was his, his,his .His woman, his vampire, his lover, his fledgling. He wanted all of her, hard and fast, he wanted her to understand who and what he was toher, that no man, mortal or immortal, was ever going to touch her flesh the way he could.
Reaching down, he cupped her cheek, using his elbow for stability as he pushed into her again and again. With his thumb, he traced her smooth skin, her pert rosy lips. Her tongue came out and wet his skin before she bit him. Just sank her fangs on the backside of the fingernail and drew blood. It was so unexpected, so erotic, that Seamus lost his rhythm for a second.
But when she sucked, making little sounds of approval, he went at her with renewed energy, wanting in her deeper, everywhere. He bent over and plunged his own fangs into her creamy shoulder, pinning her still when she jerked in surprise. He drew hard, quickly, pulling back with a mouthful of her hot blood rushing all over his tongue.
She looked up at him with dilated eyes, thick black pupils glassy and unfocused."Oh, Seamus. More, more! Harder."
He could do that. Shifting up higher on his knees, he went harder, rushing on, spiraling out of control in a way that felt better than good, more than ecstasy. It was consuming, all there was, just Cara and justhim buried deep inside her. She ran her lips over his bicep,then slipped her teeth into him. She sucked frantically with lots of sound and jarring movement as his thrusts bounced her around.
The tug of blood pulled at his body, his legs, his groin,his lungs, blending him with her completely and totally. He clamped on to her neck, and he heard in his head, felt through her emotions, her scream of utter ecstasy. Rolling them, locked together, they grappled and gripped and pulled and sucked while Cara had a second orgasm, then a third nipping at the heels of the second, her mind a delicious jumble of nothing but frantic delight, urges for more.
They had kicked most of the bedding off and had traveled the whole length of the bed. Squashed against the headboard, Seamus found the barrier he was looking for. Wedged like this, Cara couldn't scoot away from him by the sheer power of his thrusts. The headboard and wall kept her still, made her body take the full length of him. Somehow she had turned sideways, her bottom nestled in the crack between the mattress and board. But her chest was still front facing, and while the whole thing was probably spine breaking, Seamus buried a hand in her glossy thick hair, wrapped his fingers around and around, and poundedhimself to a finish.
He licked her blood off his bottom lip as she swatted at his arse and tried to shift, to move away from him or to bite him, he wasn't sure. Either one he wasn't going to tolerate. He locked her arms above her head, crushed her with his weight, and exploded, two hundred years of sexual restraint hurling out with a massive yell. It went on and on, until he was nothing but a shuddering mass of spent muscle,sweat on his forehead, throat raw.
"Damn," he managed, before he collapsed on her.
Cara was taking deep, uneven breaths and pushing her hair off her face, her eyes wide. Seamus knew he should get off her. Her thighs were going to be sore, not to mention more delicate parts, but he didn't want to let her go.
So easing out of her body, he rolled onto his back and took her with him. She lay limply on his chest, though her fingers softly stroked his shoulder.
"Seamus?"
"Yeah?"He swallowed the excessive saliva in his mouth and wrapped his arms solidly around her back and bottom.
"Wow." She sighed. "I'll think of something better to say later, but for right now just wow."
"That's good enough for me," he said, though Cara was asleep before he even finished speaking.
Seamus closed his eyes and did the same.
When they stepped off the elevator, Alexis ran into Ethan's back. "Why did you stop? Who's in the hall?"
She was starting to get a little unnerved. Given that every time she turned around and blinked lately someone was being attacked, she was feeling a little cautious. "Get back in the elevator!"
Yanking on her husband's arm and turning around to find the down button, it took her a second to realize Ethan was laughing.
"What's so funny?" She let go of him, disgusted with both his reaction and hers. When had she become so quick to panic? She'd always prided herself on keeping her cool in all situations. Marriage had made her a wimp.
"I think we'll have to wait to discuss the current situation with Seamus. Listen." Ethan jerked his head down the hall toward Sea- mus'sapartment. They were a good twenty feet away from the door, two other suites between the elevators and Seamus's .
"I don't hear anything." Alexis moved around Ethan, annoyed with her husband, annoyed that she couldn't seem to stop worrying about hersister, annoyed that maybe Ethan's political opponent wanted him dead. It was stressing her out. She just wanted a bag of blood and bed.
"You don't hear that?" Ethan asked in amazement, rooted to the gray carpet in the hallway.
"No, Mr. Super-Cool-So-Much-Older-Than-Me Vampire.I don't have your hearing skills." But now that she thought about it, she did hear something. "What is that? It sounds like pounding."
Ethan's lip twitched. "You could call it that, I suppose."
Frowning, Alexis concentrated on listening. That pounding sound was accompanied by moans. Well. She was starting to get a clearer picture of what was happening down the hall.
Especially when Cara's voice rang out, sharp as glass, "Oh, Sea- mus!More, more. Harder."
"She wants more," Alexis said to Ethan.
"And harder."
The male grunts joined in chorus with the female moans, the pounding increasing. Alexis started to feel a little jealous. They were rocking the casino down there. "Should we tell them that everyone on the thirty-second floor can hear them?"
"I doubt they care." Ethan was grinning.
"I guess not." Alexis headed toward their own apartment. "Though I have to admit I'm kind of surprised. I didn't really think Cara liked Seamus all that much. Maybe it's the high from winning all that money. Or maybe it's the fear of almost being killed again tonight. Staring death in the face makes people do weird things."
"Having sex is a weird thing?" Ethan looked baffled. "Why wouldn't they be sleeping with each other? They live together. They spend a great deal of time together. It seems perfectly natural that they would be, and I'm pleased for Seamus. He's about a century past due for a girlfriend."
It didn't seem that simple to Alexis. Cara had talked about wanting to escape. Have Seamus kick her out. It didn't make sense to Alexis that she would suddenly change her mind. It made her start to wonder if Cara was actually a spy.
Alexis gave herself a mental eye roll. Geez , she was losing it. Cara was an exotic dancer, not a spy for Donatelli .
"I don't think I'd like to date another vampire. What happens when you break up? You'd spend the next four hundred years avoiding each other. No thanks." Alexis opened their door and went inside, kicking off her sandals. She hated wearing shoes in the apartment.
"Sometimes the things you say make no sense, given that you're married to a vampire," Ethan told her. "But I love you anyway."
That made her bristle. "Are you trying to start something with me?"
Ethan gave a lecherous smile. "Yes. Listening to Cara reminds me how I'd like to spend the rest of the night."
Alexis threw her purse up on the kitchen countertop."How? Begging Seamus for more?"
He made a face."Very funny. No, I want to make love to you, my beautiful wife."
Even though she felt tense, Alexis let him pull her into his arms.
"Ethan?" she asked, even as he kissed her neck and started to undo the buttons on her thin sweater.
"Hmm?"
"If Donatelli has a hit out on you, I'm going to rip his testicles off and make him eat them.Just to warn you."
Her husband pulled back, his blue eyes burning with desire. "Alexis, my love, you are hot when you get violent."
Alexis trailed her fingers over his crotch, suddenly feeling much better. "I'm going to have to teach Cara karate. She needs to know how to protect herself.Same with Kelsey."
"The three of you training together?"Ethan finished with her buttons and tossed her sweater to the floor. "That sounds brilliant, yet absolutely frightening. Now be quiet and let me make you scream."
She could do that.