Two

 

Yuri had never regretted giving his oath to Damien. He’d never once second-guessed his commitment when he’d assumed leadership of Celeste’s protective detail.

Until today.

When that door had opened and her nipples had gone hard in an instant, the fragrance of her arousal blooming around him, he’d nearly braved the curse for one taste of her. Now, he wanted to roar, to run away and find some distance for the sake of his sanity.

He remained in position.

No post held as much in the balance as this one. Here, at her door, he effectively stood guard for the fate of the entire coven. And no other post had the added perk of spending so much time near a treasured star child.

His own coven had been decimated by superstitious hunters before he hit his maturity. He’d crawled out of the wreckage, starved, too young to identify the offenders and too weak to entertain vengeance. One of Damien’s scouting parties had found him and nursed him back to health. He’d faithfully followed Damien ever since. The coven leader had a quick mind and a deft hand with business. Under Damien’s guidance, with the support of the Drake family who’d pledged their service to the coven ages ago, they’d come to New Orleans and thrived while hiding in plain sight.

Here they were safe. Or as safe as vampires could ever be when surrounded by threats of ignorance and relentless, trophy-seeking hunters.

On the other side of the door, he heard Celeste’s breath hitch and catch. Was she crying? He hoped not. The woman was one of the warmest, kindest people he’d met in his long life. The normal protective limits were bad enough. When he thought about her whole cursed-skin deal, it blew his mind that she could never know the sweetness of being touched. It made standing between her and whatever she wanted even worse.

Still, if Damien decided that a visit to her private star-garden on the roof was too risky tonight, Yuri would keep her inside. Though Damien hadn’t yet said it outright, only a Lehara hunter -a group of warp-minded vampires determined to either enslave or kill Celeste- would be enough of a threat to deny his sister her favorite private escape. It was Yuri’s job to enforce Damien’s mandate and keep her safe, even from herself. Yes, she would be sad and frustrated in the interim, but she would stay alive. Nothing mattered more.

Yuri could barely recall a time when he didn’t love Celeste. At first it had been a youthful infatuation, seeing her face each day as Damien’s coven fostered him. With her moonlight-pale hair and those wide, dusky violet eyes, she’d been impossibly beautiful. As he’d aged and learned the truth about her -she was a vibrant, living prophecy- he’d done all he could to forget his brazen infatuation and improper attraction. He’d plowed through the females, vampire and human and anything else that had shown the slightest interest in him. When that method of distraction failed him, he’d thrown himself into the task of becoming the strongest and most dangerous male among the coven’s guard. His rationale was that if he became impossible to kill, he could be certain Celeste would always be safe.

He heard the rasp of a zipper. She couldn’t really be doing that on the other side of the door? But she was. The sweet feminine scent of her excitement drifted out to him, turned him hard as stone, his cock throbbing for release.

Upstairs, the club was in full swing, the pulse of the music and heartbeats practically reverberated through the damn walls. The tantalizing aroma of freshly pierced skin and rich blood emphasized the stability and good fortune of Damien’s coven. Blood was never in short supply here and the donors always gave willingly.

A soft moan slipped around the door jamb. It was all he could do not to press himself against it. He adjusted his raging hard-on and kept his mind on the job. Task. Just thinking ‘job’ filled his brain with images of Celeste on her knees, those soft lips sliding up and down his shaft.

Stay on task.

His responsibility was protecting her against the hunters. Their last attempt to kidnap her had nearly succeeded when the previous head of her security detail had been compromised and turned against the coven. Suspicious when his boss had changed up the regimented patrols, Yuri had foiled the attempt before the bastard had breached Celeste’s apartment. Though Damien had yet to identify the culprit who’d subverted their own man, he kept searching, tracking down every whisper from the dark corners where hunters and assassins gathered.

Not even those memories blotted Celeste’s needs from his mind. She was panting now, edging closer to her release. He could easily envision her parted lips, her pale skin flushed and her hair falling as she arched her neck for a lover’s kiss or a mate’s bite. His fangs pulsed in response.

If only. He tried to push those images out of his mind and failed. Miserably. His fingers curled into his palms. What he wouldn’t give to learn the texture of her lovely flesh.

Not a chance. Ever. The protective spell would kill him within minutes. But what a way to go, his cock suggested. His hand was on the door knob before he yanked it back.

Did she know how she tortured him, kindling his fantasies with those sexy cut-offs and unlaced combat boots? It was his purpose, his honor to watch, protect, and never touch her skin, unless it was to save her life.

He heard her climax when her hips banged against the door. Gods above he wished he’d been there to watch, to draw it out and give her all the pleasure she deserved, all the physical contact she craved. A few moments later, he heard her footsteps moving deeper into the apartment. With luck, the rest of his shift would pass without incident or temptation.

During his years of service, he did his best to accommodate her requests and keep her happy. He took pride in obeying Damien’s orders without crushing her spirit or telling her no outright.

Until tonight. Damien had forbidden her from any excursion outside, not even to the small garden on the rooftop they’d built for her so she could have open skies and the moonlight that seemed to be as essential to her as blood. When she’d looked up into his eyes, so thoroughly disappointed, he thought about double-checking the order or suggesting an alternative activity.

Replaying it in his mind, searching for a viable option, he heard the twist of the doorknob a split-second too late. She gazed up at him with a look he longed to interpret as personal interest. If only life could be that easy.

“I need to see Maureen,” she declared in a firm voice. “Now.”

Crap. He couldn’t grant that request either. “Damien just got back and...” He was no prude, but he damn sure didn’t want to finish that sentence aloud. Celeste was a virgin in physical status only. She was as deep into the club operation as Damien and had witnessed most sexual acts, though none of the patrons and only a few members of the coven had ever seen her face.

“I’m well aware the lovebirds don’t want to be interrupted.” The ragged edge in her voice caught his attention.

“Can’t it wait until tomorrow?” he asked.

“No.” She ran a hand up and down her other arm and gave him a pleading look that brought his cock to full attention again.

He told his aching member to behave. He had to keep this professional for her sake. Yeah, his body wasn’t buying that tired lecture anymore.

“Yuri?”

“Don’t do that,” he begged.

“What?”

“Say my name with that look on your face.” Her eyebrows drew together, but it did nothing to erase the lust in her violet eyes. He’d risk just about anything to be the man to satisfy her, but dying meant someone else assuming her protection and he wasn’t ready to take that chance.

She hooked her thumbs in the back pockets of her shorts. The pose gave the impression she was presenting her breasts for his approval.

Oh, he approved all right.

She glanced up and down the hallway, confirming they were alone. “Take me to Maureen.”

He shook his head. “Tomorrow.” He crowded her, urging her back into the apartment.

She held her ground. “If I can’t go outside, I’m taking a walk. I’m going absolutely stir crazy in here all alone.”

“Why not call Rosalie?”

She shook her head and for a second he thought he saw tears welling in her eyes. “I need to see something other than these walls. Please.”

“Celeste, why tonight?”

“I don’t know,” she whispered, her gaze tangled with his, her distress clearly stamped on her face. “Something is missing. The obvious, sure.” She flicked a hand over her untouchable body. “It’s something else. A pressure I can’t relieve.”

Please stop talking, he pleaded silently.

“I’m sure Maureen can help me talk sense into Damien.”

“This is about the spell?” he asked, his voice too low to be overheard.

She nodded once.

“Have you met someone?” If so, it had to be online. He knew her daily schedule down to the minute. An online relationship eliminated the risk of physical contact and assuming she was smart, protected her identity. But the idea of her doing anything intimate with anyone other than him put a twitch in his jaw.

Her gaze sharpened. “I want someone.” Her lips parted and her pink tongue grazed the tip of one fang.

Only the iron will that had seen him through his recovery and training kept his hands at his sides. Christ! He could almost taste her blood, feel the velvet heat of her in his arms. The temptation roared through his muscles, willing him to give in this time, death or no. “Who?” he asked through gritted teeth.

She cocked her head and gave him a saucy grin. “I’ll tell you if you take me to Maureen tonight.”

He snorted. “No deal. I’m sure I will figure it out soon enough.”

Her eyebrows arched in challenge.

She doubted his abilities? “I’m with you nearly twenty-four/seven. I know you, Celeste. I’ll find the someone you’re wanting.” And when he did, that would be the last of him.

“A girl can hope.” She laced her hands together, arms straight, and her full breasts squeezed close under the tank top.

Was she trying to kill him?

“Could you please take me for a walk around the club?”

That was answer enough. Her request was reasonable. All the entrances were sealed against danger from all fronts. “Promise me you won’t dart outside?”

She held up her hand as if taking an oath. “I promise.”

“And you won’t bolt for Damien’s place?”

“I promise,” she repeated. “Just give me a change of scenery, Yuri.”

He stepped back, inviting her to the hallway. This was the role he’d made for himself, finding the compromise that kept her safe and at ease within her brother’s strict rules.

*

In the hallway, I tried not to bounce on my toes like a little girl as the last of my patience evaporated and hope bloomed. Yuri had to notify the security staff that I would be walking the private hallways of the club. Like an intricate, invisible ballet, they would coordinate to give me the run of the spaces, unless a client had requested a voyeur fantasy. In that case, I’d be granted time to withdraw to a safe spot while the request was fulfilled.

I was fine with just about any activity that took place outside my apartment. The weight of the building, the reality of the clientele, the rejection from Gerri, all of it was just too much. I needed a fresh perspective.

Behind me, Yuri moved in his big, silent way as I meandered along the walkway that overlooked the bar downstairs. Music played, not loud or demanding, just enough to mute the sounds of conversation and other endeavors in the open gathering rooms on the second floor.

I paused across from the grand staircase, wishing for the day when I could walk down and join the party without fear of causing injury or drawing out the hunters. I knew Yuri watched for any untoward reactions from the patrons below.

“Have you ever gone down?” I asked.

He cleared his throat and shifted. “You mean down to the bar?”

I chuckled at the unintentional double meaning of my question, then quickly sobered. I didn’t really want to know if he’d worked as an escort at the bar, enticing women or men to trade a little blood for blissfully hot sexual favors.

As far as I knew I was the only vampire in the coven who hadn’t spent time downstairs, mingling, tempting, and savoring the heat and life of humanity while bringing client fantasies to life.

I strolled on with Yuri shadowing me, comfort and lure all rolled into the hottest creature I’d ever met. He’d starred in all of my romantic fantasies, even way back in the days before my maturity, when those fantasies revolved around hand holding and sweet, tender kisses. Now, with centuries of unpracticed knowledge and desire coiled inside me, I wanted more -wanted it all- from him.

“Do you remember when we met?” I asked in a low whisper as I climbed the stairs to the third level. There were two-way mirrors into the private fantasy rooms for new donors on this hall and sometimes when I could get up here without a guard beside me, I would watch, dreaming of the feel of another body pressed to mine.

Yuri’s body. My pussy turned slick just thinking about him balls-deep inside me. All those heavy muscles flexing under my touch, his mouth and hands demanding all those sensations I couldn’t quite wring out of myself alone. Not even with the various sex toys I kept under my bed.

In the dark hallway, before we reached the first room, I asked, “Is there someone special for you?”

“Yes.” His voice was rough as sandpaper.

“Oh.” Disappointment flooded through me. I never should’ve asked. Using Yuri as a fantasy would be harder now, knowing he cared for someone else. “That’s good.” His heartbreaking past, the way he’d overcome it had always been cause for my admiration. If anyone deserved happiness, it was the man who led my security team.

I paused at the window of the first room, hopeful about what naughty scene might be playing out. A woman’s hands were tied with scarves to the headboard while one of our younger-stud vampires teased every inch of her naked body with his mouth and hands. She arched and writhed, her body reaching for him.

My disappointment spiked again. She had no idea what she was missing, not touching that perfectly formed man. At least she could be touched by him. I moved on. 

“She doesn’t know how I feel about her,” he said, startling me.

“Your special someone?” I asked, intrigued.

His chin jerked in a nod. “I don’t think so anyway.”

“You should tell her.” I stopped in the shadows between rooms as the muffled sounds of sexual exploits swelled around us. “Any woman would be flattered, Yuri. Eager,” I said. “If she’s not eager, she’s crazy and you can do better.”

His lips tilted into a wry smile. “A guy can hope.”

The echo of my earlier words caught me off guard. “So tell her.” I was a masochist for putting myself in this position. “Pretend I’m her,” I added, fully committed to the insanity now.

One of his dark eyebrows lifted.

“What’s her name?” Don’t answer, I pleaded in silence. I didn’t want to know her, didn’t want to hate a woman who could have the walking fantasy that was out of my reach.

He shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. All my time is devoted to you -your safety- anyway.”

He made his duty to me sound like more honor than burden. The foolish, hopelessly romantic butterflies in my belly took flight.

 “So practice anyway,” I insisted, marginally relieved. “We have the time. There will be a day when you finally get sick of babysitting me and give Damien your resignation.”

I had to keep believing there would be a day when I wouldn’t need protection around the clock or cursed skin as a last line of defense against the hunters and covens that would use me mercilessly.

Yuri moved a couple strides away, turned on his heel and returned to where I waited. He stopped as close as he could without touching my deadly skin and his gaze roamed over my face, lingering on my lips.

With an aggrieved sigh, he moved to the other side of the narrow hallway. “I would ask her to walk with me through the night,” he said softly. “I would take her hand in mine and show her all the facets of the city we call home.”

Ooo, so she wasn’t local. That was great news for me. I wouldn’t bump into her and want to claw out her eyes. “And?” I prompted.

A woman in a nearby room let out a low moan, lucky enough to be close to a life-changing orgasm. Yuri’s gaze dropped to my shorts before he hauled those hot, pale eyes back to my face.

Yeah, I’d been rude -and obvious- to get off right there at the door earlier. I could apologize, but it would be a lie. Knowing he was close had made that particular experience less lonely.

“What happens after you show your girl New Orleans?” I asked, yanking my mind to more neutral territory.

He shrugged off the question. “Nothing.”

“Bull.” Vampires were sensual creatures. Part of feeling alive and being happy throughout a ridiculously long lifespan was indulging our heightened senses at every opportunity. Pleasuring new clients gave many within our coven a fresh outlook. Being untouchable, my only equivalent option was to watch or hear tales of how others interacted and humored themselves.

I moistened my lips, my eyes on his. “Tell me how you’d kiss her.”

“Celeste.”

“I’d ask you to show me, but...” I flicked my fingers and mimicked an explosion sound. “Besides you like her.” Whoever she was. “Come on, Yuri.”

He growled. I’d never heard that particular sound from him before. A jolt of heat shot straight to my nipples, drawing them tight. “Do that again,” I demanded.

He peered at me as if I’d lost my mind.

“Please?” I was willing to beg just to feel that again. “Think of her and-”

“Stop this game,” he replied, but the growl was mixed in with the words.

Sensation zinged up and down my spine and I leaned back against the wall, my hands rising to cup my breasts. My nipples were hard, straining toward him. I flicked my thumbs across the peaks through my tank, my gaze locked on his face as he watched. Breathless, I pinched the sensitive flesh. “What would you do, here and now, if I were her?”

“I would…” His body jerked as he checked the attempt to close the distance between us. “I would slide my hands under her shirt.”

I pushed my shirt up and placed my hands lightly on my midriff, watching his fingertips twitch in response.

“Stroke higher,” he said. “I-I would want to learn the shape and weight of her lovely breasts in my hands.”

He swallowed hard, his gaze resolute as I pushed up my tank, revealing my breasts and did as he said. He bit his lip and I did that too, stroking my flesh through the sheer lace of my bra for him.

“I would arch her back, suckle her through that lace.”

If only I could do that too. I moaned and arched anyway. With every word he spoke, it was as if he was touching me. “More,” I pleaded, watching him. “I’ve never, never felt this way.”

“Take off the shirt.”

The deep-voiced command sizzled right through me and I obeyed immediately. “You too.”

“Fuck me you’re gorgeous.” All that muscle bunching and flexing, the hard ridges of a man locked in his prime for eternity. My pussy wept for what I still couldn’t touch. “Would you take off her bra?” I asked.

“After I trace and tease all those little scallops.” His hands moved over his chest and I mirrored the motion, plucking at my nipples, sighing with the soft sting of it.

“Now,” he said.

I reached back, thrusting my breasts high as I obeyed.

He growled again when my torso was as bare as his and another jolt of that delicious heat burned a path from my nipples to my clit. My thighs trembled.

“I would hold her close,” Yuri said. “She would feel my desire for her pounding under my skin.”

Oh his woman was lucky. Curse or not, it was straining my willpower to stay on my side of the hallway. I caressed myself at his instructions, willing my hands to be as firm as that expansive wall of chest, as unyielding as his embrace.

He reached down and stroked himself through his slacks. My mouth watered and my fangs lengthened. “Yuri, don’t stop talking now.”

“Her curves would be my delight,” he said, low and rough. “I would put my tongue to every rise and hollow.”

He swirled his tongue over his finger and touched a place behind his ear. Impossible or not, I felt that soft velvet stroke on my skin. I covered the touch, again, mirroring his motion as he trailed that big hand over his shoulder, down across his chest to rest solidly over his rigid cock.

I started to rub myself through my shorts and my hips rocked into the touch.

“Not yet,” he bit out the order through gritted teeth. “I’m greedy. I would have her hands on me first.” He opened his fly, pushing the fabric out of the way. His cock was beautiful. Long and thick with a gleam of pre-cum beading on that broad head. He smoothed that moisture around with his thumb, tracing the thick vein along his shaft.

I licked my lips.

“I’d put this to her lips.”

On a whimper, I dropped to my knees wishing and wishing for the taste of him on my tongue. “She’ll want to kiss you right on the tip,” I said.

He touched the tip of his cock with his thumb.

“I bet her tongue is hot as hell, Yuri. She’ll lick your shaft, root to tip.”

He wrapped his fist around the base of his cock, gave himself a small, upward stroke.

I pressed my tender breasts together. “She’ll wrap her breasts around your shaft, rocking up and down.” I had to pause and catch my breath or lose it on a climax right now. “She’ll wrap her sweet lips around you, take you deep, and suck hard while you growl at her.”

His eyes locked with mine, he bucked into his fist once, twice, making the sound that shot so much sensation through my touch-deprived body.

“She’s a lucky woman,” I managed, sinking back on my heels.

“Yes,” he agreed, his voice hoarse. “I would fall to my knees before her, licking and kissing every inch of her scented skin. Take off the shorts.”

I was so wet, so needy, I’d do anything he asked, pretend to be anyone, as long as he let me touch myself. I wriggled my shorts down over my hips to my knees hoping he was too distracted by my nudity to see my legs quivering.

Yuri didn’t lose focus, stroking himself lazily as he watched me. “All the way off, Celeste.”

If he heard himself use my name when he was thinking of the mysterious her, it didn’t seem to bother him. I wouldn’t let it bother me, either.

He dropped to his knees, stroking that heavy length while I squirmed around. Finally I was free of my boots and shorts, leaning back against the wall, completely bare to his gaze.

“Yes,” he murmured. “I would put my lips to her silky thighs and breathe in the scent of her aroused flesh. She will moan as I open my mouth over that quickening pulse under her skin.”

I rested my hand where he described, gently scraping my fingernail where I would want his fang to scrape against me.

For the longest moment, he stared up at me, those slow strokes of his cock making my palms itch to cover him with my hands. To learn the pressure and touches he preferred. “Yuri, please. Tell me more.”

His grin flashed. “In a rush, darling?”

My heart flipped at the endearment. “It’s never been this way,” I said. “When you speak, I can feel it. Please, tell me more.” Give me more. Let me have this wonder to keep forever.

“I’m a beast, darling.” A seductive grin flashed across his face. “I’d dig my hands into her lush hips and cover her pussy with my mouth.”

I cupped myself, the folds slippery and swollen. I rocked into my hand, imagining his sinful mouth covering me there.

“You’re wet,” he said.

“Yes, yes,” I panted, craving more of the magic his voice created. “Don’t stop.”

“I would lap at your cunny, taking the taste of you into me.” He groaned a little as he said it, licked his lips. “I’d sink my fingers deep into your channel.”

I did as he said, feeling it in ways I never had before. My muscles clenched around my fingers as I slid them in and out.

“Tap your clit. Once.”

I hurried to obey, and he shot me a hard look when I twitched to repeat the motion. I held my hand still, waiting for his signal, his words, to continue.

“Do you know how long you’d last with your clit at the mercy of my tongue?” He jerked himself, nodded to me. “I’d start light, you’d barely feel me. Go on.”

As if he’d possessed my body, my fingers teased my clit, changing pressure and speed per his every gruff command. He kept me on edge, strung out and dancing on a wire of magnificent tension. My only solace was watching him suffer with me as he delayed his own satisfaction.

My knees trembled and I lost my breath, wanting to come and yet never wanting this incredible experience to end.

“Sit down,” he commanded suddenly.

I slid down to my butt, back to the wall, my inner thighs pressed tight around my hand.

“Open your knees, darling. I want to see you come.”

Obediently, I spread my legs, my knees pulled up and wide as if his massive shoulders held my legs apart for his ministrations.

He gripped himself harder, eyes closed for just a moment before locking again on my exposed pussy. “We come together,” he said. “You will not rush my pleasure in you.”

“I’m ready now,” I moaned, desperate. “Let me come.” I wanted this climax more than my next pint of blood.

A wicked grin tipped one corner of his mouth. “You enjoyed your head start. I suffered in stoic silence.” What might have been a laugh shivered across his shoulders. “Cup your breasts. Offer them to me.”

Though I wanted to argue, taking my hands from my pussy, I did it, holding my breasts high. His tongue slid over his lips and I would have sworn I felt that on my nipples. My breath labored with his as he worked his hand up and down his thick shaft.

“You’re so wet for me. I would drive into you with one thrust, sink deep into that slick channel. Do it.”

I sank my fingers deep inside, my muscles clutching instinctively.

“You would hug my cock, milking me harder as I teased your clit.”

I used my thumb with his encouragement and earned his deep groan of approval. “I’d wrap my legs around your hips,” I said between sips of air. “Sink my nails into those biceps and let you ride me hard.”

“Celeste!” That low, barely audible growl sounded like a roar in my ears. “Finish it, now.”

I watched the climax roll over him, semen spurting, and kept my gaze locked with his as my orgasm blasted through me. He was as glorious to me as any star-filled sky. Shattered, more satisfied than I’d ever been, I curled up into myself, hugging my knees to my chest and wishing for Yuri’s strong arms instead.

It was the closest I might ever get to real sex and I wanted to wallow in it, though this was hardly the place for a no-touching cuddle. Still, I was loathe to move too soon.

As my breathing calmed, I peeked at him across the hallway. He looked as overwhelmed as I felt. “She’ll kiss you.” With love in her heart, if she knew what was good for her.

If only I could be that woman for him. “She’d curl up on your chest and simply glow from the great big pleasure of you.” I reached for my scattered clothing, feeling unsteady and uncertain.

Across the narrow hallway, he wiped himself with the tail of his shirt, his movements slow and heavy with satisfaction as he pulled himself together. “So I see.”

Huh?

He patted his cheek, his arm, and then pointed to those places on me.

I glanced down and realized he was right. My skin was glowing as if lit from within. “What the hell? What is this?”

Yuri shrugged. “Maybe this is why Damien didn’t want you outside tonight.”

There was no need for a light in the hallway, not now. Hell, I’d be a beacon in the night, obvious to every hunter if I went outside like this. Had my brother suspected I was on the cusp of this kind of change? Or was this some weird chemical reaction to the intensity of getting dirty and intimate with Yuri?

Tears I refused to shed stung my eyes and nose at the idea of my world closing in even more. Good Lord, if one almost in-person sexual experience did this I’d never be allowed to have another. Angry and frightened, I grabbed my boots, clutched everything to my chest and with a thought, I vanished back to the safety of my apartment.