Chapter Nine
Holly stared at the tips of his fangs. They weren’t fully extended, so Rez could continue to eat.
He wanted her wet.
She was that and so much more. She’d made an extra supply of blood for him which had her heart feeling laden and her mind euphoric for what was to come. Her sex was so swollen, she could hardly sit still. If he pushed her on her back, right now, right here on her dining room floor, she wouldn’t have resisted.
She almost suggested it herself.
But a secondary and equally critical requirement existed. She needed sustenance and so did Rez, so she kept feeding him. He continued to tear off bits of bread as well, sopping up the soup and sliding them past her lips.
The wine was wonderful, too. Then again, all her senses seemed heightened. Was this because of Rez, or time-pathing with him? Or maybe her blood rose qualities had broadened her senses.
Rez kept touching her upper chest, her throat and her shoulders. It took her a moment to realize her left hand was glued to his leg and kept sweeping up and down his muscular thigh in a rhythmic pulse.
She didn’t try to curtail her physical reactions or expressions. The leather was soft beneath her hand, his warrior muscles rigid. Very much a cock experience.
She was in a profound state of tension. Pleasure flowed but her need to eat demanded as much of her as sex would in a matter of minutes.
From her peripheral, she watched Oregis emerge from the guest suite. He was adjusting his belt. She didn’t shift her attention away from Rez, however. She didn’t think she could.
Rez’s hand slid to the nape of her neck, a place of control. Her sex tightened as he pushed another bisque covered chunk of bread into her mouth. His fingertips were there. She caught them with her tongue and lips before he withdrew.
“So, I’ll be going.” Oregis was now in the foyer. “See you at full dark.”
Holly heard the door open and close. By then, she’d pushed another chunk of bread into Rez’s mouth as well as one of her fingers. She withdrew, but rimmed his lips.
He offered her more wine. She drank greedily and finished her glass.
He kept feeding her until her soup bowl was empty.
When they’d finished the entire meal, he rose to his feet then dipped own and picked her up. He carried her past the green shuttered windows overlooking the vast Tannisford forest. Her hand was in his hair.
Leading her into her master bedroom, he paused at the foot of the bed. He turned toward the wall where a wrought iron headboard served as the bottom frame for a huge amount of her paintings. Other paintings.
He didn’t say anything for a long moment. He didn’t move, either.
She was looking at the dimple in his chin, and thinking about using her tongue right there, until she realized he still hadn’t moved.
She lifted her gaze to his eyes. He looked stunned. “What is it? What’s wrong?”
“This is a gallery. In your bedroom. I didn’t expect this. You did all these?”
Holly felt her cheeks warm up. She felt suddenly exposed and vulnerable. She’d never brought anyone here before. Her bedroom was a work-in-progress, something taken, literally, from her dreams. And a couple of those dreams had occurred during the past two months and involved Rez. They weren’t meant to be seen.
“Oh, Sweet Goddess, I forgot.”
“Or maybe you wanted me to see this.”
She loved her bedroom. The bed was covered in a teal silk comforter that went to the floor. The headboard was made of strong, black wrought iron. End tables and lamps flanked the bed. A stone fireplace, much smaller than the one in the living room, added a cozy feel.
“You have an amazing gift, Holly. But these three of me must be recent.” Slowly, he set her on her feet. He seemed captivated by her art and moved to examine her work more closely.
“They are. They’ve haunted me from the time I healed you in the Wild Boar. I kept having recurring dreams. Vojalie suggested I put them on canvas. It stopped the dreams, but now here you here.”
Holly had found the paintings of Rez mysterious. She often looked at them last thing before sleep. In an odd way, they comforted her. He appeared to be moving toward her. She knew he had a weapon of some kind in his hand, but it was out-of-frame.
Her gaze was fixed there, wondering that fate had brought them together. What did it all mean when she was a teacher and he was a warrior?
“Holly?” His voiced had deepened. He even sounded hoarse.
“Yes?” He stood near the east wall where the gallery continued.
She gasped and this time her cheeks heated up like coals. “Oh, no. You shouldn’t be looking at those.”
“They’re self-portraits and very beautiful.”
She knew what they were, what they would be considered by any halfway intelligent realm person. She was naked, with her hands bound, and appeared enrapt.
He drew close and caught one of her wrists. He lifted it to his lips and kissed the tender inside. Her embarrassment gave way to other things. “I need to ask you a question,” he said.
“Yes?”
“Do you have any scarves? Long ones, meant for tying?”
She could hardly breathe. She felt odd, almost out-of-her-body strange. Words kept rising to her lips then falling away. While painting these works, she’d fought the euphoria on her face. But it had returned repeatedly and she’d finally given into it. She was naked in all three, nipples peaked, her hands bound to the wrought iron.
Rez shifted and moved behind her very close and pushed her hair away from her neck. He kissed a line up to her ear.
The man could kiss. Each touch of his lips was moist and hot and forced shaky gasps from her throat.
Part of her wanted to say no. He was talking about using the scarves and tying her up.
“Do you touch yourself, Holly?”
“Yes.” She wanted him to know the truth about who she was.
“Have you ever thought about me with your hand between your legs?”
Only a few dozen times. “Yes.”
He turned her slowly in his arms. His eyes seemed filled with an unholy light that sent small erratic shocks to her sex.
“I want to tie you up. I want to do things to you and you won’t be able to stop me. I’ll be in charge. I’ll have control. Do you want that?”
“Yes.”
“Where are the scarves?”
“In the nightstand.”
“Take your clothes off.”
She didn’t say anything. She just kept considering his extraordinary eyes as she eased herself slowly out of her green silk tunic.
He began the process himself and lifted his dark blue t-shirt up and over his head. Her hungry gaze took in the toughened muscles of his chest and abdomen, rock hard, a warrior’s body.
She’d never been with a man like Rez before. She’d never dated vampires, though she was part vampire herself. She’d always thought by temperament, as a teacher and an artist, she was more suited to academic fae men. Yet she couldn’t deny the powerful visceral reactions she was having to the man.
He watched her as well, his gaze fixed to her breasts. She removed her bra and his eyes flared.
“I want you to stand very still, Holly. Don’t move. Don’t touch me.” She struggled through another shuddering breath.
He drew close and leaned down to take her left nipple in his mouth. She stood in place, obeying. He massaged her other breast. She couldn’t help the moans that left her mouth.
He worked her for a good long while, sucking rapidly on one breast while flicking his fingers over the other.
Her sex was on fire and this was all he was doing. When a vibration began to flow from his mouth and tongue, she cried out.
He stopped suddenly and looked at her. “Don’t move.” His voice was quiet but weighted with passion. She held herself as still as she could, almost vampire still.
The air was cold on her breasts.
He ran his hands down her bare legs.
He flipped the covers back then turned to her. “Lie down on the bed. In the middle. On your back.”
She moved as one in a dream to the center of the bed. Had he hypnotized her?
She didn’t care.
He opened the nightstand drawer and found the scarves. She recalled buying each one and wishing for things. She’d been without a lover from the time she’d started training with Vojalie. Certain erotic fantasies had taken over her sex life and had become even more heightened after she’d healed Rez in the Wild Boar.
Now Rez was here making her more recent fantasies real. They’d all been about him. In them, he’d taken her in every way possible. She just thought she’d never actually be with him.
Maybe her time-pathing ability had given her a sensitivity to the future. Maybe on some level she’d known he was coming.
There were six scarves. “Which pair, Holly? I want you to choose.”
She looked at them, wondering why he was letting her make the decision: Black, red, and blue. Yet her instincts felt the choice was significant to him. “The red pair.”
His smile surprised her. “Good.”
“Why?”
“Red is for blood, fire, heat, passion and that’s what you’re going to get.”
Her whole body shivered at the thought. Her hips undulated and her sex pulsed, anxious for things to begin.
He dragged the soft blanket from the foot of the bed and covered her. “Before I do anything else, I’m going to warm up this room.”
To the right of the bed was a gas log fireplace. He moved over to it and flipped the switch to the side. She watched the flames dance on the logs. She thought it incredibly thoughtful and something within her chest began to ache. Whatever else Rez might be, the vampire was considerate.
He turned back to the bed, scarves dangling from his fingers. “Put your hands above your head near the wrought iron.”
Without hesitation and with perfect trust, she did as she was told. He took his time. He tied the scarves at one end tight to her wrists. But when he tied the other scarves to the headboard, he left her some slack. She had maneuverability. She thought it brilliant.
As he leaned back on his knees on the bed and stared down at her, for just a moment, she felt panicky. He really did have complete control of her.
He drew the blanket back and placed a hand between her breasts. He leaned lose to sniff her neck. “I can smell your fear, Holly. It’s intoxicating.”
She met his gaze and the fear transformed into sudden, powerful sexual need. Her hips rocked.
He moved his hand and slowly unbuttoned his jeans.
Her gaze became fixed to his abdomen and what was the head of his erect cock. He carefully unzipped, holding his erection away from the biting teeth.
Her tongue made an appearance as she rimmed her lips.
With his clothes gone and her arms tied up, Holly’s mind drifted to a strange, erotic place. Her gums burned in two distinct spots.
She drew her lips back and hissed.
~ ~ ~
Rez stared down at Holly, his body on fire. But what was she doing? Had she just hissed at him like vampire? It was hot as hell, but he was pretty sure it meant something.
When he drew closer, her hips shifted and her legs flew at him in what would have been a hard kick. But he’d been a warrior a long time and he caught her legs easily then pinned her to the bed.
In a quick jump, he was seated on hips. There was no way she could move. She hissed again.
Why the hissing? What was going on? Even her lips were drawn back.
Her geranium scent filled the room as well so he knew she was into this. But he sensed more and knew it had something to do with her vampire genetics.
She kept pulling back her lips, then running her tongue over her gums. Her neck arched.
Then he got it. “Let me help you, Holly. You’ve got a latent, and highly unusual, pair of fangs coming in.”
At that, her body fell very still, as in vampire still. Only her eyes were alive to him as she met his gaze.
She pathed, Rez, I don’t know what’s happening. I feel like I could hurt you.
Her gaze fell to his throat and his own instincts took a sharp turn. He angled his head to give her a good long look at his throat. She started bucking her hips, but he kept her pinned.
I want your vein.
He stayed with telepathy as he slowly leaned his torso in the direction of her head. I need to massage your gums and you’ll need to focus on letting your fangs come through. And yes, this first time, it’s going to hurt. Yet, it will feel amazing at the same time.
He held his hands on the side of her face. The tension in her body told him she was barely holding on, that the darkest part of her vampire nature wanted to hurt him.
He thought about releasing the bindings. Vampires especially didn’t like being trussed up. Yet, the fae part of her needed this, though he had no idea why. For whatever reason, his powerful gut instincts told him Holly needed to be bound.
“Will you trust me?”
Though her eyes were panicked, she jerked her chin up and down several times in a row.
“Good.”
With his hands positioned around her jaw and across her cheekbones, he touched her lips gently. He pushed them back farther and could see white spots near her incisors where her small fae fangs needed to come through.
He rubbed the spots putting more and more pressure on the area. This had to hurt. Bad.
She made small grunts.
“You’re close. Focus. Tell your body to push through.”
He slid his thumbs to the side. Blood started to pool. “Good. Keep going.”
He saw tears in her eyes. “This must hurt like hell, but do it. Do it, Holly, then you can feed from me.”
He stared into her eyes. He even smiled. He spoke telepathically and added resonance. “You can do this. Push through. Push.”
Her whole body shook. She cried out then suddenly there they were, to pearlized sharp fangs that had pierced through.
He was caught, however, by the sight of the blood that had gushed at the same time. He couldn’t help himself as he leaned close and began to lap.
She was moaning now and her whole body had relaxed.
Several disjointed words flew from her mind to his, Oh, my God. Rez. What is this? How? Oh. My. God. Fangs.
He eased his hips down and began to work her legs apart with his knees. He knew what needed to happen next and it would involve sex and her fangs.
He’d never been so damn hard in his long vampire life.
But more than anything, he wanted her to have the complete experience, nothing held back.
When he positioned his cock at her entrance, she whimpered. “Yes. Oh, God, yes.”
She was wet and swollen as he began to ease himself inside. She immediately clamped her legs around his hips and helped to drawn him in.
“Holly.” He was on the edge and they’d barely started.
He settled his hands on either side of her shoulders and began to push. She used the bindings to help her arch her hips. He groaned. “That feels good.” Understatement.
Her eyes were dark and glimmering. “I need your vein, Rez. But I’m scared I’ll hurt you.”
There was more blood on her lips leaking from around the virgin breach. He leaned down once more and continued to lap. She groaned.
His hips worked her body steadily.
He drew back and met her gaze. “You don’t need to worry. You’ll have more control than you realize. You’ll see.”
He arched his throat and felt her mouth reach for him. He switched to pathing. Let me know when I’m angled well enough. Trust your instincts.
It took some maneuvering to find the right spot. The placement of her lips on his throat was what was needed. He paused in his deep thrusts and remained very still.
Closer. Her voice had gained in confidence.
He used levitation to press against her mouth. He closed his eyes, waiting, anticipating.
I think this is the spot.
You’ve got it, Holly. Do it.
When her fangs pierced him, his cock jumped deep inside her. He felt the retraction of her fangs and instinctively worked to remain right against her lips.
She began to suck.
He groaned long and loud.
He’d dated a few female vampires and had been bitten often. He knew the pleasure of it.
Yet somehow, as she began to take down his life force and he began to thrust into her again, it was as though he was a virgin as well. He suspected it was the blood rose phenomenon, but pleasure cascaded over his entire body like nothing he’d ever known.
He groaned heavily. His own fangs made an appearance. His need to bite her became a feverish call on his body.
With a moan, she stopped suckling and he felt her instinctively swipe the wounds with her tongue.
He was breathing hard and his hips had stopped pumping.
He drew back to look at her. She had blood, his blood, on her parted lips. She looked euphoric.
“Your fangs, Rez. I can feel your hunger like a living thing inside me now. My heart is full. Bite me. Hard.”
When she angled her neck and he saw her pulsing vein, his whole body tensed. All that he was as a vampire focused on the steady beats. He turned his head and with decades of practice struck quickly.
As he retracted his fangs the first rush of her blood filled his mouth. It had never been like this, the flavor, the vibrations that moved up and down his body, and the powerful sense of the sublime.
She moaned and writhed beneath him, her hips rocking.
He got the message.
As he formed a seal and began to suck, he put his cock back to work.
~ ~ ~
Holly disappeared into sweet oblivion. Yet every part of her body was awake, alive, enthralled. His blood was still an erotic taste in her mouth and a warm feel-good in her stomach. Where he thrust in and out of her sex, felt like a living entity on its own. Her muscles stroked him each time he withdrew. He offered grunts in response, short bursts telling her the pleasure he felt.
He formed a seal around the wounds and created a seductive fire up and down her neck.
Because she’d made an entire extra portion for him, the fullness in her chest began to ease up.
She was a blood rose. Pleasure filled her body from the top of her head to the soles of her feet. Her arms were still trapped. She breathed in light pants.
Your blood, Holly. Sweet Goddess.
He released her neck and looked down at her. She gasped softly. His fangs were no longer present, but blood remained on his lips which to her half-vampire eyes was a beautiful sight.
He pumped into her now with strong rolls of his hips. His eyes were lit with a fiery glow. He began to move faster. Her neck arched and a series of gasps left her throat. She tugged on the scarves to give her whole body a thrill.
“Look at me.”
The depth of his gaze pulled her in. Mesmerized her. Was it a vampire thing, or just Rez? She suspected the latter, that somehow he was the man for her, blood rose or not.
Ecstasy built a rising storm. She pulled on the scarves and arched her hips.
His face contorted. “That feels amazing.”
He leaned down and kissed her. She opened for him and he groaned again, thrusting his tongue inside her mouth.
I’m taking you, Holly. You can’t escape me. You’re mine.
Her whole body shook with need. Pleasure flowed everywhere at once, her sex, her abdomen, into her shoulders and down to her toes. She cried out as he continued to drive into her with his cock and his tongue.
His heavily muscled body pressed her into the bed. He was inside her. He covered her.
When he drew back and met her gaze once more, she knew this was it. His hips went faster.
“I’m making love to you, Holly.”
She could taste her blood as he kissed her. Or maybe it was his.
He’d been right about one thing. She touched herself. She thought of him, of his body, his eyes. She always came hard.
But this would be different.
She was breathing fast now.
The orgasm rolled toward her as heavy as his body, as full, as completely. When it began to flow, it was like a wave of electrical sensation tingling through her sex, then gripping and pulsing. Finally, it pushed up through her torso. She cried out over and over.
“You’re coming.”
She jerked her chin in response. She wasn’t sure she could speak, though she did whisper, “Sweet Goddess.” She felt his blood in her now. The ecstasy was in her veins, not just her body.
He moved faster.
His face contorted and he shouted.
As she watched him come, ecstasy caught her again. Only this time, she commanded him. “Look at me.”
His gaze shot to hers and his body jerked. “What have you done to me? I’m going to come again.”
He thrust harder. She watched a second orgasm hit him. Her own ecstasy peaked a third time as he moved like lightning over her body.
She shouted with him and tugged on the erotic scarves. His eyes were on fire. Her sex pulled on his cock and drew the last drop of his seed from him.
As ecstasy began to ease down, she fell limp against the sheet. Her arms were still held above her head and tied to the headboard. Her heart thudded in her chest.
He breathed in heavy gasps.
He lifted, supporting himself on his forearms. He kissed her hair then her cheek. “That’s never happened before.”
“Really?”
“Oh, yeah.” He chuckled then started working the scarves to untie her.
She was sure she’d pulled so hard on the knots, they’d never come undone.
But with a few brisk tugs, he released her from the headboard.
She lowered arms. “That feels good.”
He reached for some tissues as he slid out of her. “Thought you might need these.”
She tucked them between her legs then began slowly working the scarves off her wrists. Her skin was red where they’d created friction. But they didn’t hurt at all.
With the scarves in one hand, she extended an arm and let the red silk fall to the floor.
She was so completely satisfied.
The paintings now made sense to her as well. She’d been reaching for this moment with Rez, but what did it mean?
She had fangs. Was she a vampire now? Had she moved from her fae self to a vampire?
She touched her gums. They hurt where they’d finally broken through. She worked on her self-healing and the dullish pain subsided.
Rez was very quiet as he stretched out beside her.
When she shifted to look at him, his head was angled away from her. He appeared to be staring at the fire.
“I know. It’s lame.”
“What?” He sounded surprised.
“Gas and fake logs. But I do the real thing in the living room.”
She turned into him and drew close. He opened his arm and she didn’t hesitate to nestle against him, resting her head in the well of his shoulder.
She felt his distress, though, a tension rippling from him.
Fatigue, however, descended on her. She needed to sleep and to recover from everything that had happened throughout the long night. “Don’t worry, Rez. You don’t have to love me. Sweet Goddess, I’m tired.”
With that, she drifted off.
~ ~ ~
Rez knew sleep took Holly, but he remained awake.
He chuckled. So, he didn’t have to love her. How had she known his concern ran that direction? But then, she was very fae.
He didn’t normally go for fae woman. On the other hand, Holly wasn’t in the usual mold. He touched his neck where she’d bitten him. For one thing, she had rare fae fangs.
For another, he might have met his match with her especially as a blood rose.
She felt good against his side. He could get used to this.
Except, then again, he couldn’t. He’d promised himself. No more. Never again.
When his family had died, a part of him had perished with them. He’d been left with a cold, dead heart. He couldn’t explain it any other way. He didn’t have the capacity for love at this point.
Holly had been spot on. He couldn’t love her. He couldn’t love anyone. Death had taken his heart.
What he needed from her now was her time-pathing which he planned to use to find his daughter.
He smiled. Sweet Goddess, his daughter was alive. Holly had seen it in a vision.
He put a hand to his chest and rubbed.
His beautiful daughter Isobel. So much like her mother.
His eyes burned. He couldn’t imagine what her life had been like for two years, the horror she’d suffered.
He couldn’t do anything for her right now, though, not with the sun up. But as soon as full dark arrived, he’d be ready and Holly was committed to helping him.
Finally, his eyes closed and he dropped into a sleep about as fast as Holly had.
Sometime later, he awoke abruptly. Holly was thrashing.
As he sat up, she swung her arm wide. With her fist closed, she clobbered him in the face.
Instinctively, he caught her arm. He expected her to wake up. Instead, with eyes closed, she settled down. He released his hold on her arm and she turned on her side away from him.
He lay back down. But with his adrenaline pumping, he had a hard time falling back asleep.
Maybe an hour or two later, the same thing occurred. She was moaning and moving her head around, then her hips. Her legs came next. He had enough sense to catch her arms before she hit him again. But this time, she was talking, “I can’t fall in love with a man who makes war. I won’t lose another one.”
Since Holly had never dated a fighting man, he knew she was talking about the loss of her brother, Scott.
His issues were as dark as they could get. But he often forgot what it was like for Holly that she’d lost her best friend when her brother had died.
They’d both suffered deep, painful losses.
He moved in behind her, spooning her. He wrapped his arm around her tight and pulled her close. “You’re okay, Baby.” He kept his voice low and petted her head. “We’ll both be okay. You’ll see.”
In her sleep, she heaved a deep sigh.