Blood Ties (12 page)

Her other hand lifted to touch herself, hesitated, middle finger a breath from her nipple. He sucked gently, scraped his tongue over her nail. Her nails scored restlessly against the line of his throat. She took her thumb from his mouth and laid her hand on his shoulder, her damp touch painting the hollow above his collarbone.

Then she closed her eyes as she delicately played over her nipple. He watched her face, now flushed. Her eyes tossed behind her lids. He studied her fingers, how she dragged the edge of a nail over the tip, how she barely touched herself, sometimes tracing the lower swell where her breast met her torso. His dick bounced.

Her grip tightened on his shoulder, nails biting suddenly, as she trailed those fingers down her sternum, over her belly, and hovered over her split lips.
Open your eyes. See me.
He didn’t say it. But she answered his plea. She gave the faintest gasp at catching his gaze. She wasn’t focusing as well as he. Her lashes fluttered like the rarest butterflies. Her lips were so plump and ripe. His mouth burst with saliva.

Her hand lightened its grip on his shoulder, soothed the shirt over the muscle there with a swirl of sensation. Then she dragged her palm flat down onto his pec and ground her heel into his nipple. His balls churned and boiled. Her eyes looked dazed as she watched her hand massage him, gripping the fabric and his muscle, fingertips pattering over the whole sweep of his chest. Finally, she stilled with her thumb pressing hard against his nipple. He was still watching her face, the want on it making him fiercely glad, when she looked up and met his eyes again. His breath hitched. Hers looked blank now, wild.

He steeled himself as her weight increased, pressing against him. She rose up higher onto her knees. She paused, gathering her balance, taking a deep breath, then looked down at her lower hand hovering over herself. He had no choice but to follow the slender line of her arm down past her breasts.

He’s rich, single, sexy and…oh, yeah. Undead.

Obey Me

© 2008 Paige Cuccaro

A
Gifted
story.

Sophie Merlo dreams of becoming an international journalism star. Until her uncanny nose for news leads her into the path of a brutal serial killer. Now she’d be happy just to survive the week.

Alex wants only one answer from Sophie—how she wormed her way into his exclusive vampires-only club, something no human should be able to do. He thinks he’s being set up in a string of murders, and he’s got a good idea who it is—Octavius, his long-time, bitter rival. Only Octavius could figure out how to leave Alex’s distinctive mark behind on the victims’ throats.

One drop of Alex’s saliva on Sophie’s skin has her babbling a river, swimming in desire for him—and agreeing to use her persuasive powers to help find the real murderer.

Caught in the middle of a century-old feud between two rival vampires, there are only three things Sophie knows for sure: One of them is a killer. The other wants to take her to bed. And they’re both lying.

If she can’t figure out who’s lying about what soon, her career hopes could vanish. Right along with her last drop of blood.

Enjoy the following excerpt for
Obey Me:

“Do you know? Do you understand what it is I want to do to you?” His breath warmed across my mouth, the hint of wine and some other tempting spice I couldn’t name filled my nose, rippled down my throat to breeze through my lungs.

“Yes. You…you want to take my…blood.”

He lifted his chin and pressed a kiss to my forehead. The skin beneath his lips warmed instantly with a heat that went beyond simple body temperature. It seemed to ripple all along my skin working its way through my body like a drug. “That’s right. But do you understand what the feel of it will do to us?”

I swallowed again, my eyes closed, my nose brushing under his chin breathing in the sweet powdery scent of his cologne, his lips feathering against my forehead. “Blood lust.” The words were barely audible.

“
Lust
. Raw and powerful. To lose all abandon. You won’t be able to stop. You must be sure, Sophie…now.” He leaned back just enough to watch my face.

I nodded, uncertain my voice would be heard. “I’m sure.” I held my breath.

His gaze focused on my mouth again and my lips parted an instant before he pressed his kiss. The taste of him filled my mouth, cinnamon and sweet wine, the flavor swirled over my tongue, warmed down my throat like a fine liqueur. Delicious heat spread like a blaze gone wild, burning me up from the inside, igniting every nerve ending, awakening my body so my muscles pulled tight, need coiled low and my thighs trembled.

His muscles flexed under my hands pulling me closer, tighter. His kiss deepened and my mind swam with the feel of his tongue exploring my mouth, his fingers denting my back, gripping my head, holding me…like prey. I felt consumed and wanted more, but he pulled himself back, trailing his lips along my cheek, nibbling my ear, teasing his teeth over my neck.

I shuddered, each scrape of his teeth sending a fast pulse through my sex. Hot and wet with lust, I squirmed in his arms, fumbling with the buttons down his shirt. Alex pulled back enough to help, shrugging the white cotton off his shoulders, allowing only a moment for me to work his belt and zipper before his hands slipped up to my shoulders.

I unfastened the button of his slacks so they loosened around his narrow hips just as he hooked his fingers on the edge of my dress and slid the red elastic tube off my shoulders and down my arms, letting it fall down my legs to pool on the floor around my feet. I was left wearing only a pair of lace boy-cut panties and my high-heeled shoes. Both matched the dress. The neckline had been too low to allow for a bra.

Alex’s blue eyes took me in, lingering over me from head to toe as though a picture were being drawn in his mind. My heart thundered in my chest, muscles so tight my breaths came in soft, shallow pants. I wanted his lips on mine again, his arms around me, the heat of his hard body pressed to mine.

“Alex…” I fought not to squirm under the intensity of his gaze. His eyes met mine and the heat of his stare nearly took my breath. He swept in and pressed another searing kiss to my lips then bent lower to capture my breast in his mouth.

I gasped as the warmth of his venom penetrated through the pores on the sensitive flesh. The gentle massage of his hand turned my knees to rubber. I wrapped my arm around his head, held him to me as he suckled my breast, tugging the hard nipple into his mouth.

Would he bite me there? A wave a desire swamped through me and I moaned out loud at the thought, arching my back, pressing my flesh deeper into his mouth. I wanted to feel his teeth sink into me, to feel the rush of blood as it spilled from my body into his.

Somewhere in the distant parts of my brain, I felt his hands at my hips, the soft chafe of my lace panties sliding down my thighs, tickling the tops of my feet, hooking on my high heels. I shifted to toe off my shoes, but Alex’s arm clutched around my waist, stilled me instantly.

“Leave them on,” he said, his voice rough and sexy. He gazed up at me, the scruff of his day-old beard scraping my nipple as he spoke. My breath caught at the maddening mix of pain and pleasure, and all I could do was nod.

He lowered his face to my body again, kissing and nipping, the teasing promise of his bite spinning my mind, churning a firestorm of desire through my veins. He tasted my body, kissing the bottom round of my breast, slipping lower to the tip of my breastbone, then lower still to my belly. He sank to his knees and finally, in a heart-stopping instant, he pressed a kiss to the coarse hairs at my sex. With a firm wet lick, he traced his tongue between the sensitive lips. The sensation buckled my knees and in a move far too quick and fluid for me to track, he stood, scooping me into his arms, driving me backwards toward my bedroom. I wrapped my legs around his waist, my high heels catching his back, snagging the belt loop of his slacks.

An instant later Alex was on top of me, his body pinning me to my mattress. He kissed me hard, driving his tongue into my mouth, filling me with the taste of him, the heady burn of his venom. I arched my hips, felt the hard line of his erection trapped beneath layers of cloth. My skin hummed with the feel of his kiss pulsing through my veins, my body moist and ready for him. I reached for his slacks, the tight elastic of his underwear…and pushed.

Alex ground his hips against me, triggered my body to push back, wanting the hardness of him to fill me. I pushed at his clothes again, nudged them to the highest curve of his ass. His stiff sex and the press of his body against mine kept the material from slipping lower.

Enough
. I wanted him inside me and with a small point of my high-heeled shoe, I snagged underwear and slacks alike, and shoved them down his thick muscled legs.

Alex pushed up on stiff arms, shifting his legs, kicking and pulling himself free of his clothes. His erection thudded against my groin, brushing through the hairs at my sex again and again. I reached down and took hold, feeling his thickness, caressing his length. Alex stilled for a moment, then rocked his hips, enhancing my strokes.

His was thick and long, but the velvet skin wasn’t as taut as it could be, it wrinkled and gathered at the head moving with my hand. His body didn’t possess enough blood, his heart too weak and slow to flood his penis. He was hard enough to do the job, but he’d never reach satisfaction this way.

I flicked my gaze to his and found him staring into my eyes, reading me.

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