Chapter 20
There was a room in the warehouse that had running water and a bathtub. Miguel had boarded up the window, just as he had throughout the rest of the warehouse, so we’d had the pleasure of bathing during the night and the day. He climbed the basement steps with me in his arms and walked us over to the bathroom.
“Are you okay to stand?” he asked, not making a move to set me onto my feet until I nodded. Even then he lowered me slowly, gently, and made sure I was steady before pulling his hand away. The shirt he’d draped over me fell to the floor.
“I’m fine,” I said with a laugh. “Honest. I wasn’t hurt.” I shrugged. “I just wanted to be close to you.” I rubbed my toe on the floor. “I guess maybe I was a tad more frightened than I realized.”
He flung his arm around my waist and pulled me into a hug. “I’m so sorry, baby,” he said. “I didn’t mean to bring all this down on you.”
“None of this was your fault,” I said. “If anything, it was my fault. To hear Ralph tell it, he was mad about your decision to buy up the pack lands.”
“Ralph was a fool who deserved what he got,” Miguel said angrily. He pressed his fingers to the spot on my neck where Ralph had bitten me. “He had no right to touch you, to bite you.”
I put my hand over Miguel’s. “He’s dead,” I reminded him.
“I know. I wish I could bring him back to life just so I could kill him all over again.”
I couldn’t help but laugh at that comment.
Miguel arched one eyebrow. “You think that’s funny, do you?”
“No.” I shook my head and chuckled some more. “It’s really not.”
“And yet you’re laughing.”
“Yeah.” I beamed at him. “Thanks for that.”
He smiled back at me, and we stood there for a few moments, staring at each other and grinning like a couple of loons.
“All right,” Miguel said eventually. “Bath time.” He squatted down and turned on the tap that came out of the wall on the side of the tub. He put his hand underneath the stream to check the temperature before standing back up. “Climb on in,” he said.
I did as he said and settled down on the hard surface, then immediately reached for the soap and began scrubbing myself clean.
Miguel toed off his shoes and then hooked his thumbs in the sides of his pants and pushed them down, exposing his torn-up legs.
I gasped in horror and dropped the soap. “Oh my Lord!” I shouted and reached for him.
“I’m fine,” he said. “Just a few scratches, and they’re already scabbing over.”
When he peeled his shirt off, I almost passed out. There didn’t seem to be a single bit of skin that wasn’t covered in deep, angry gashes. Those black clothes he favored must have hidden a lot of blood because my mate was much more hurt than I’d realized.
He climbed into the tub and the water immediately turned pink. I reached a trembling hand for the soap I’d dropped and hesitated.
“Will it hurt too much for me to wash you?” I asked.
“Nothing could ever hurt enough to make me turn down your touch,” he said.
Taking him at his word, I lathered up my hands and carefully ran them over his body and head, alternating handfuls of water with soap until his hair was silky and smooth and the water around us ran clear.
“The water’s still warm,” Miguel said. “I can plug the drain and fill the tub if you want to sit here for a bit.”
“That’d be right nice,” I told him.
Once he had the plug in the drain, he relaxed back against the tub, spread his legs wide, and held his arms open. “C’mere,” he said.
I turned around and scooted until my back was pressed against his chest.
“This doesn’t hurt you, does it?” I asked.
He wrapped his arms around my chest and pulled me tighter.
“Uh-uh,” he said and nuzzled my neck. Then he stiffened and I could hear a rumble in his broad chest. “I can smell him on you.” Anger laced his words.
“I washed real good,” I told him.
“Doesn’t matter. He’s still there, under the skin.”
My heart raced and my breathing quickened. I didn’t want anyone but my mate under my skin. “Get him out, Miguel.” I dropped my head back on his shoulder and rested my arms over his. “I need you.”
He moved his big hands down my chest, over my belly, across my groin, and over to my thighs. “You’re not hurt, right?”
I dropped my knees to the sides and canted my hips up, giving him better access. “Not hurt. Promise,” I whispered.
He cupped my testicles with one hand and wrapped the other around my hard length. Then he fondled and stroked me as he licked and sucked at my neck, pulling the blood close to the surface.
“Ungh,” I moaned and thrust up into his fist. He scraped his fangs against my neck and tightened his hand around my testicles. “Please,” I cried.
His response was immediate. Sharp teeth sank into my skin, and that magnificent feeling of blood being pulled from my veins overtook me.
“Yessss,” I hissed. I reached my hand back over my shoulder and gripped his hair, holding his head in place so he wouldn’t stop feeding from me. “Feels so good.”
My vampire didn’t answer with words. Instead, he sucked and swallowed, caressed and stroked, and then, just when I was sure I’d explode from the pleasure, he pulled his mouth back and licked at my neck.
“He’s all gone,” he said, his voice rough with a new kind of need.
I scrambled to turn off the tap. Then I got onto my knees, gripped the side of the tub with both hands, and lowered my head and shoulders. I spread my legs and tilted my hips so that my backside was raised and spread, the invitation clear.
Wet fingers skated reverently over my crease, and then I felt Miguel’s long hair tickle my legs an instant before his tongue swiped over my sensitive skin.
“Love when you do that,” I said on a sigh.
“Good,” he responded, his voice scratchy as sandpaper, lust having flooded him. “Because I love doing it.”
Seemingly intent on proving the truth of that statement, he ate at me with renewed vigor, sucking and licking my cleft, then pushing his tongue into my hole and wiggling it inside, even biting the pale cheeks of my rear end.
All the while, I moaned and shouted and pleaded for more.
“Fuck, you’re something else,” he mumbled to himself as he palmed each side of my bottom and spread me wide. “Never wanted anyone like this.” He rubbed his thick thumbs over my pucker. “Never felt like this.” He pushed those digits into my saliva-slicked hole. “Didn’t know I could.”
“Ah!” I shouted at the wonderful feeling of penetration. I pushed back, grinding myself against his hands, riding his thumbs.
“Can’t wait,” he grunted as he lined his throbbing erection up to my needy hole. With his thumbs still inside, spreading me wide, he bumped the mushroom head of his shaft against my entrance. “Gonna feel me in your throat,” he said gruffly.
Water splashed out the side of the tub as he replaced his fingers with his shaft, shoving into me hard and deep and oh so good.
“Fuck!” he groaned.
“More,” I begged.
A growl was the only warning I got before I was yanked up to a kneeling position with my back pressed to Miguel’s chest. He wrapped one of his meaty forearms around my neck and the other around my belly, and continued to wage his welcome assault on my hole.
We moved in concert. I slammed down as he thrust up, both of us grunting and moaning, desperately chasing our orgasms. Miguel pinched my nipples and moved his hand up to my face, tracing my lips with his fingers before shoving two of them into my mouth and mimicking the motion of his hips.
I sucked with gusto, fellating those fingers like they were the penis that was, at that moment, doing its level best to rip me apart in the best way possible. And yet, it wasn’t enough. I needed more. And Miguel seemed to know exactly how to give it to me.
He pressed his thumb to my chin and hooked the two fingers in my mouth against my cheek, tugging until my head tilted to the side. I shivered at the knowledge of what was coming next.
His fangs sank into my neck, and I screamed around the fingers that were, once again, thrusting in and out of my mouth. Miguel’s testicles banged against my backside as he somehow managed to push his thick pole even deeper into my body.
The pleasure was all-consuming and I burst—white, creamy seed shot out of my untouched prick. My mate followed me over the edge, stilling and holding me tight as he came deep inside me.
“We’ll be safe in here?” I asked nervously as I looked around the dingy room. The space was empty save for a mattress on the floor, which seemed to be the decorating style in this particular warehouse-turned-vampire-den. “Nobody’s going to come back today to use it?” My question didn’t make sense. It was daylight, which meant the only vampires we’d see in the warehouse were the ones already inside, two of whom were just barely out of death’s grip and the other two who were friends of a sort.
“I’ll keep you safe, baby.” Miguel dropped our bags in the corner, wrapped his strong arms around my chest, and pulled me flush against him. “I promise.” He nibbled on my earlobe. “The men who used this room aren’t coming back here or going anywhere else ever again. I made sure of it.” He paused and took in a deep breath, squeezing me tightly. “And I’ll do the same to anybody who tries to keep us apart.”
I nodded and rubbed my hands over his forearms. “I knew you’d come back for me,” I whispered. “Felt it deep in my gut.”
“Good,” he said, his voice just as low as mine. “I’m glad. Because that’s something you can always count on.”
We stood together, swaying just a tad and enjoying the feeling of each other’s heat, the scent of each other’s body, the sound of each other’s breathing…until the sound of footsteps rent the air. I stiffened and Miguel rubbed my belly, instantly soothing me.
“Miguel,” Katherine called out. “I’m heading your way, so make sure you’re not in some indecent position that’ll leave me scarred for life.”
“We’d better get dressed,” Miguel said resignedly. He dug through our bags and pulled out my shorts and shirt. “Here you go,” he said, holding them out to me. “I know you must be sick of wearing these. Just as soon as we get to our house, we’ll buy you some new things.”
“It’s okay.” I shrugged into my shirt. “I don’t need much.” It wasn’t as if I’d had a huge wardrobe at my parents’ den, and the things I did have were mostly hand-me-downs my mother had hemmed and shortened so they’d fit. Heck, the shorts I was wearing were full of holes and practically coming apart at the seams. It wasn’t like I minded.
I’d just pulled my shorts up past my hips when Miguel stepped up to me, already fully dressed. He cupped my prick with one hand and tugged the zipper up with the other. Then he gave me a squeeze and pulled his hand out of my shorts before fastening the button.
“There,” he said. “You’re all set.”
My skin felt hot and my breath came out in fast pants. Lord, but did that man do it for me. Just those simple touches and I was ready to tangle with him between the sheets yet again. Based on the self-satisfied smirk on my mate’s face, I reckoned he knew it too.
A knock sounded at the door.
“Come on in, Katie,” Miguel said over his shoulder. He didn’t move his wicked gaze from me.
“Oh, good,” Katherine said, sounding relieved. “I was sure I’d walk in here and find you in flagrante.”
Miguel chuckled and turned to her as he wrapped an arm around my waist. “Don’t worry, sweetheart,” he said. “I know man parts make you queasy.”
My muscles spasmed and I growled low in my throat when he called her sweetheart. I instinctively moved my body in front of his and bared my teeth at this new, albeit petite, threat.
“Oh, for Christ’s sake!” Katherine shouted as she threw her arms in the air. “You”—she pointed at me—“stand down. Your man’s right. I’m a girl’s girl, if you know what I mean.” She moved her finger up so it pointed at Miguel. “And you,” she said. “I’m a professional. You’ve seen me heal dozens of men over the years, yourself included. Just because I don’t lust after your man parts, as you so charmingly call them, doesn’t mean I find them offensive. I just wasn’t interested in a live sex show starring my uncle.”
I snapped my head to the side and looked up at Miguel in surprise. “You’re her uncle?” I said. “But I thought you told me you only had a nephew and he…” I let the sentence trail off, not wanting to speak of his kin’s death.
“You’re right,” Miguel said. “Katie is using the term ‘uncle’ as a sign of respect.”
“I would’ve described it more like using the term loosely,” she corrected him with a wink and then she looked at me. “Miguel’s nephew had a daughter, and she was…” She paused and swallowed thickly, her eyes suddenly looking a tad wet. “Sheila was my great love.” Katherine closed her eyes and shook her head, causing her blonde locks to move to and fro. When she opened her eyes, they were dry and she seemed happy once again. “Sheila called this big lug Uncle Miguel, so that’s how I’ve always known him.”
My heart ached for her loss. I eased myself back against my mate, needing to feel his presence. He immediately circled both arms around me and held me close.
“What happened to Sheila?” I asked and then clamped my mouth shut, wondering if I was poking around where I had no business being.
“We came across a few men who had trouble understanding the meaning of the word no,” Katherine said, anger flashing in her eyes. “We didn’t go down without a fight. Especially Sheila. She was magnificent. But they were bigger than us, stronger. And there were three of them.” She took in a deep breath and shrugged. “They didn’t get what they wanted in the end anyway, just left us for dead. That’s when Miguel got there. It was too late for Sheila, but he was able to save me.”
Small as she was, with that blonde hair and those baby blue eyes, Katherine could have passed for an angel. That was, unless you heard her cuss like a sailor. “And then he made sure those pieces of shit never fucked with another woman again.” She looked at me with a wicked gleam in her eyes. “I was still healing from what they did to me and from being turned, but Uncle Miguel let me watch.” She sneered. “In the end, those big, strong men begged for their mamas and the Lord and anybody who’d listen. They offered to give me anything if I’d only just make him stop.” She paused and almost took my breath away with the intensity of her stare. “And do you know what I told them?” she asked.
I gulped. “What?”
“I told them I wanted my Sheila back. And unless they could give me that, I was going to enjoy the show for as long as it lasted.”