He parted her lips with a slow and gentle touch, and once he’d exposed the inner silken skin, he held his cool fingers against the ache throbbing there. His touch soothed her pain, and he still held her gaze. When he pulled his hand from her after many long seconds of touching her, his fingers were red with her lost virginity. Ember panicked and tried to roll from him to leave for the restroom, only to be pulled back within his strong, tight embrace. He shushed her with his lips to her ear, and as he did, he stroked and rubbed her stomach with his hand.
He moved his body down her own and very nearly had to pry her knees open to expose her sex to his eyes.
“Please. I just want to go clean up. I’m sorry.”
His only response to her nervous words was a seductive smile; the tips of his protracted fangs showed just slightly between his parted lips. And with a quick wink, he leaned to her vagina as she gasped and tried to close her knees.
He held her knees firmly in place, and once Ember gave in and stopped struggling, he returned to his task. Ember’s body trilled and excited despite her embarrassment as his tongue touched, stroked, and laved her raw skin that was doubtless tinged with her blood. Before too long, her embarrassment abated completely, and she allowed him to taste every last inch of her flesh. As he roved over her skin, inhaling her scent as he moved, his nose tickled her flesh. He used his tongue to delve into every last swollen fold of flesh, seeking out every last ounce of her pain and every last trace of her destroyed virginity. When she came as his tongue stroked her clit, she dug her heels into the sheets and clutched them in her fists.
Truman returned to her side, and she was shocked by the strained and pained look on his face. His fangs were fully protracted, and his lips twitched in his fight against hunger. She recognized it instantly, though she’d not seen this look since the night he tore the throat from the monster. His eyes were their beautiful shade of glinting hazel green, but there was a fire to them that held danger and barely restrained desire. Desire to kill her? Turn her? Shred her to pieces? She didn’t know, but with a hand to his chest, she pushed. There was no real purpose to it for if he wished to overpower her, there would be little struggle, but seeing her sudden fear had an immediate effect on him. His teeth retracted, and the fire in his eyes subsided. His expression went from frenzied to harsh control, and he pulled back from her body, sitting.
“I won’t hurt you.” His hands were up in placation as he said the words, and Ember sat to face him, but she didn’t close the space between them. “I won’t ever hurt you, Ember.” He focused his harsh and demanding gaze on hers. “It’s just the reaction. You’re not in any danger from me.” He continued to study her, and after her body relaxed, he pulled her into his arms.
She relaxed into his body again and yawned in her exhaustion. “You’ve had a long day, it’s late, and I wouldn’t mind sleeping myself after all the fun we’ve had.” She didn’t need to see the smirk on his lips to sense it, and it sent a pleasant pulse of warmth through Ember’s body that settled in her womb, and as her body responded to his words, he inhaled and spoke again. “Don’t even think of it. I’ve done enough damage to your body for one night.” Ember’s gasp was all the response he needed. “Such a delicious scent. Now go to sleep.”
Nodding her response to his words, he tightened his hold on her body and nuzzled his mouth against her neck. His skin was comfortable but odd to her senses, and she drifted away with images of him in her mind.
Chapter 4
Waking next to Ember’s warmth was perhaps the happiest Truman had felt in longer than he cared to admit. He was without doubt dreading leaving her once again, and though he’d never be able to stay away from her permanently, he would miss her every moment he was away. It didn’t help he’d be close and watching. It didn’t help at all. He was only truly content when he was in her presence, and she knew he was there. Hiding himself from Ember was painful, and now, having finally made love to her, it would be damn unfair to them both not to share this time together.
As the first of the morning sunlight filtered through the trees that surrounded Truman’s hidden home, he watched her rouse. He never tired of watching her, and this morning was more incredible than any other. First she murmured in her sleep, and her body started shifting; then she stretched and yawned, and her eyes slowly blinked back to wakefulness. When she finally breathed a deep sigh of contentment and rolled to face his body, she smiled with a sweet, shy expression that went straight to his groin.
“Good morning.” Her words sounded warm and intimate, and he wanted her instantly. The sweet scent of her still-lingering blood erased any chance he’d be indulging in her again. She must be sore, and while he basked in the knowledge it was solely due to him and the liberties he’d taken with her body, he also felt a degree of guilt. He’d be leaving her again soon.
“I should take you home.” Her face fell momentarily before she forced a smile and sat to the side of the bed. Her back was to Truman, and he reached for the soft skin of her hip, pulling himself up behind her. He cupped her breasts with his hands, slowly kneading the supple skin and pinching her nipples lightly. When he moved his hands down to her stomach, her arousal hit his senses. He kissed her shoulder, running his tongue over the sweet skin tinged in her scent. He could do this with her every morning and never tire of her, but it was time.
After standing, he pulled her to her feet and into his arms. When he kissed her mouth, he plunged his tongue into her warmth and caressed. She returned the favor and delved into his mouth as well, stroking and tasting every last ounce of his flesh. His teeth were retracted, and it was safe for her to explore. He was also in no hurry to part from her, though dragging it out would make it no easier. He was in love with her. He shouldn’t be. He had no business being so obsessed with her, but he was. His existence wasn’t compatible with hers, and life without the knowledge of him would be so much safer for her, not to mention easier. It stabbed at his dead heart with a pain he usually associated with the living, but there it was: the human side of him that refused to die with his body. He loved her, and he had to let her go once again.
On the ride to her mother’s house, he stroked and caressed the skin of her hand. She sat close by his side, but her mind was somewhere else. He knew she was dreading returning to the reality of her mother’s death. She may have known for nearly a year that Katherine was dying, but nothing could make this loss easier. Truman had lost both of his parents early in life, and his sister as well, and he still recalled it clearly; the pain was still easily felt if he allowed his mind the time to remember them. He wanted to stay with Ember—be with her through the torment, but it was impossible. He had obligations in Boston, the same obligations that always pulled him away from her before he was ready and left him bouncing back and forth from his life there and his need to watch her in Portland.
When they walked into the house, he clasped her hand tightly in his own. He wanted her to feel his strength, but there was little he could really do to make this easier for her now. She sighed a deep and emotionally heavy breath as they crossed the threshold, and tears showed on the lower rims of her eyelids. This was hard for her. Whatever reprieve he’d given her the night before, today was a different story. She stumbled away from him, and she climbed the stairs slowly to the second half story of the small Cape Cod her mother had owned. Truman’s own mind held more memories of this home than Ember could ever imagine.