Bound by Blood: Two Novellas of Paranormal Romance (3 page)

The living room was sparse, but clean. Art deco style, with white upholstered chairs and dark espresso wood.

"This is nice. It fits you."

"Thanks. My only complaint is the kitchen – which really isn't a kitchen at all, because I'm not really supposed to live here."She rounded the corner.

Drake found a twoburner camp stove, a mini fridge and a sink.

"And you're going to make lunch here?"

"I am. You'd be shocked at what I can do on a camp stove."She set to work, pulling out bread, meat cheese and butter. She ducked beneath the counter and a frying pan appeared in her hand. "The city has no reason to come here, but if they did, I can rationalize that this is our break space. That's why I don't have a full kitchen – it would be too obvious."

Drake nodded, watching with interest as she buttered bread and sliced cheese. She set the first piece of bread butter-side down and layered it thick with meat and cheese, pressing the second slice of bread on top. The pan sizzled and popped as the butter melted and browned the bread.

Penny deftly flipped the sandwich and readied the second one. "Will you grab two plates out of the cabinet?" She pointed above Drake's head.

He reached up and found a stack of colorful, ceramic plates.

"One of the girls is a potter. She threw an entire set of dishes for me, minus drinking glasses. I love them."

He pulled down two of the heavy plates and set them on the tiny counter, next to Penny's elbow. She transferred the first sandwich to a plate and Drake set it on the small island while she worked on the second sandwich.

"Do you want a drink?I've got stuff in the fridge."

He rummaged through the fridge, pulling out the first two cans he saw. "I've got one for you too."

"Perfect."She turned away from the stove, plate in hand, and joined him on the island.

He handed her the second can of pop, already cracked open. "Cheers."He took a swig and tackled his sandwich, biting in. Cheese strings dangled between his mouth and sandwich; he swiped a finger through them, piling the extra cheese on top of his sandwich.

"Dis is so good."Food garbled his words.

Penny shook her head. "Chew and swallow."

"This is so good."He bit in again, eagerly awaiting the next flavor explosion.

"The secret is the cheese. Never waste a grilled cheese on American."She wrinkled her nose. "Gouda and Muenster. It's the only way to go."

"Totally worth it."He cleaned his plate and looked mournfully at hers.

"Quit with the puppy dog eyes, you're not getting my sandwich."

He crossed his arms over his chest. "But I'm still hungry."

"There are chips in the cupboard and salsa in the fridge."She popped the last bite of sandwich into her mouth. "But I'm ready to go downstairs."She set her plate in the sink and her can in the recycling. Drake jumped to his feet and followed her lead, catching her in the doorway.

She backtracked down the stairs, footsteps clanging on the metal and echoing around the empty space. He stopped at the bottom and surveyed the space before him. Canvasses on stands took up a full two-thirds of the open space. The rest was filled with a kiln and several pottery wheels. Counters and cabinets lined the walls that weren't occupied by windows.

"Let me guess which space is yours."Drake took a few steps forward.

"Shouldn't be hard since I told you I like huge canvasses."

"Come on," Drake gave her an 'aw shucks' look. "I was hoping you wouldn't remember. I was going to impress you with my mental prowess – how well I already know you."

"You fail."Penny laughed. "This is my section. The covered ones are what I finished last night."

"Can I?" Drake reached for a paintsplattered drop cloth. Penny nodded and he lifted his arm, baring the canvas. The surface was red, deep, blood red, and layered thickly with her scavenger hunt finds. Feathers and leaves layered with other things Drake couldn't readily identify. Her paper flower was the only space not covered in paint.

"This is intense."His eyes followed the brush strokes, the shades and depth of the reds.

He pulled off the two other drop cloths and stepped back silently. The three works were part of a whole. Three panels, three separate colors – red, gold and blue – but a continuous theme throughout. The same elements, layers of color and scavenger hunt finds.

"They move," he said, finally. "The pieces move."

Penny nodded. "They do. You like them?"

"Very much."He closed the distance between them. "And since we're not in public anymore, I think it's okay for me to do this."He cupped her face and pulled her close, claiming her lips with his own.

Penny wrapped an arm around his neck, clinging to him. She moaned, low in her throat and Drake deepened the kiss, sliding his tongue against hers. Penny's leg hitched around his waist, lining them up from hip to shoulder.

"More," she moaned into his mouth. "More."

Drake pulled her shirt over her head, tugging her arms upward. He pushed her backward until they met the wall, pressing her against it. She lifted her left leg, linking her ankle with the first and grinding herself against him.

"I have to paint."She dropped her legs to the floor and pushed at his chest. "Now. I have to paint."

"I know," Drake smiled against her neck. "I can feel it."His Awen swelled until he could no longer contain it, unleashing it on her. Her need to create responded, exploding out of her, flooding the warehouse with Leanan magick.

He released her and turned, so his back was against the wall, watching her pull an easel and fresh canvas from her stack against the wall.

She twisted open half a dozen jars of paint and stood before the canvas, shirtless, chest heaving. She took the paintbrush from between her teeth and dipped it in the nearest can of paint.

Aqua swirled across the canvas; abstract lines flowed over the surface. A second paintbrush dipped into the yellow and followed the aqua, mixing to bleed into green. Drake walked halfway around the room to face Penny. Only the top of her head was visible over the canvas, hiding her from Drake's sight. He shifted again, to the side, until he could see her face.

The energy she emitted was enough to satiate him for weeks, months. Drake pushed outward, filling the room with his Awen.

Penny dipped her fingers in the paint, scooping up a handful and smearing it over the canvas. Concentration colored her face, lost in the world of her painting, in her vision.

Lost to her muse.

To his Awen.

She whirled suddenly, eyes scanning, and bolted across the room to a smallish wicker basket. She snatched it up and returned to her canvas, upending the basket on the floor. Odds and ends, trinkets and trash scattered, skittering away. Penny dipped a leaf in a paint can and pushed it against the canvas.

Her eyes lit up and she repeated the motion, over and over again, layer after layer of treasures from the floor. The paint dripped down the canvas and onto the floor, pooling in puddles and then rivulets, seeping across the concrete.

She paused, paintbrush in her teeth, and panted, the only sound in the room. Paint dripped from the brush onto her collarbone, over her breast and the ridge of her bra, sinking into the fabric and disappearing.

She sagged back and slowly dropped to the floor. "It's done. And I need a nap."Drake waited a beat before walking around to admire the painting. The colors exploded off the page, vivid and tactile. Drake had to remind himself not to touch.

"Amazing," he breathed. "Absolutely amazing."

He turned to Penny, still sitting on the floor, paint smeared on her face and shoulders, and pulled her up in his arms, cradling her to his chest. "Upstairs?"

She nodded and leaned her head on his shoulder, completely spent. Drake twisted the knob and pushed the door open with his foot, his intuition leading him to the bathroom. He set Penny down on the edge of the sink, drew the clear shower curtain closed and turned the dial to hot.

Penny shimmied out of her leggings and underwear, leaving only her bra.

Drake popped the clasp open. It slid down her arms and dropped to the floor, piling with her other clothes.

She stepped into the shower, the water taking on a murky look as the still wet paint rinsed from her limbs. Rivers of pink, blue and yellow swirled down the drain, merging to purple and green as she soaped up and scrubbed at her skin. He watched the rivulets of suds and water run over her skin. "It's in my hair."The tile floor was cool on his feet, shower spray dampening his socks, as he stood beside the shower.

He poured shampoo on his palms and lathered up her hair, working it into her roots and massaging her scalp. Penny moaned beneath his touch, rolling her shoulders contentedly. He pressed a kiss to the side of her neck and rinsed the shampoo away. His eyes followed the trail of suds as it rinsed down her body, over the curves his fingers itched to touch. Stirrings in his groin decided for him that her shower was over.

He pulled back the curtain as the water finally rinsed from her body clean and she turned the dial to off.

CHAPTER 4

Drake eyed her body as she reached for the towel. He grabbed it off the rack and held it out of reach. "I think it's time I teach you about my art form."

"I thought you were a muse?"Her jaw twitched as she cocked her hips, teasing him with a perfect view of pale, damp flesh.

"I am, but that doesn't mean I'm not an artist too. My art is, let's call it, unique. I think you'll like it."He held out a hand, paused a beat and closed his fingers around Penny's when they found his. He pulled her from the small room, turned away from the living room and through the door into her bedroom.

"I'll have to be a little creative today, but I think I can make do with what you have laying around."He tugged her hand, ushering her inside the room. "Just stand right there for a minute. Just stand."Her cheeks flushed and the color spread to her neck and chest. She fidgeted as he stood in silence, staring.

"Am I making you uncomfortable?"His head tipped to the side. "Good."

Penny frowned.

"We're going to play a little game, Penny girl. One where I get all the power."

Her eyes got wide as recognition dawned. "You mean kink?Like, bondage?"The side of her lip lifted toward a smile. "You're gonna tie me up?"

He shook his head. "Penny, Penny, Penny. I'm not going to tie you up. I'm going to tie you
down
, whip you with my belt, and make you like it."

Her breath caught in her chest as color exploded on her cheeks. "I– I – okay?"She chewed her bottom lip.

"Let me tell you how it works before you agree."He tipped her head up with a finger under her chin. "You're going to submit to me completely, one hundred per cent."

Her wide blue eyes blinked slowly. "What exactly does that mean?"

"It means that once we start, you get no say in what I do to you. But, if at any time you feel unsafe, you say yellow and I'll ease off, take it down a notch. If you say red, I'll stop completely and we're finished."He held her eye, watching her absorb the information. "Do you trust me?"

"I just met you."

"You did."

"And I do."

"Trust me?"

Penny nodded. "So how does this work?"

He loosened the tie he kept on his Awen, opening the proverbial bag just enough. "First, I need something to tie you to the bed with. Can you find me something?"

She dug through the dresser, coming up with a pair of scarves. "Yeah?"She offered them to Drake.

He nodded. "Are you ready?"

"Yeah. Yes, I am."

"The first thing you need to know is that you're to remain silent unless I give you permission to make noise. No speaking, screaming, crying, moaning. Nothing audible leaves your mouth."

She nodded slowly, blinking a few times.

"Good girl. Now lie down on the bed on your stomach."

Penny turned immediately, crawling up the bed and sprawling on her stomach.

Drake took his time, enjoying the view –the tight line of her thigh the smooth curve of her buttocks and the gentle dip of her back. Her hair splayed on the pillow beside her head, wild and full; his fingers itched to tangle in it. Her skin was milk pale from the long months of Minnesota winter.

"Hello, lovely."Drake knelt at the foot of the bed and lifted her foot in his hands, kissing the inside of her calf. He lowered her leg to the bed and continued his path upward, her knee, her lower thigh, enjoying the way she twitched. He nudged her knees apart and planted one last kiss on her upper thigh, just inches from her waiting heat.

He straddled her waist, lifting her arms above her head. One scarf looped around her wrists, the other the bedpost. He knotted the two ends together, testing the strength with a tug. When the scarves held, he climbed off the bed.

Beside Penny, Drake stood in her line of sight. At the click of his belt buckle, her head snapped toward him. He slid the leather strap out of the denim loops. Penny's eyes grew wide and then wider when he slapped the folded belt in the palm of his hand. The crack of leather on skin echoed through the barren room.

Drake held the buckle and free end of the belt in his hand and swung the folded end at Penny. The blow was gentle, a warm up, teasing her skin toward acceptance, and eventually, ecstasy. She jumped, the sheer surprise of the blow shocking her system.

He smiled, thoroughly pleased at her silence. "Penny girl, that's only the first blow and you're already jumping. What're you going to do when I really start?"

Silence.

"Oh, that's right. You can't talk, can you?"He raised his arm and the belt fell again, no harder than the first. A third and a fourth blow fell before he dropped his arm more sharply, before the sting of leather on flesh was felt. By the sixth blow her skin was pinking slightly, thin strips of reminder for later.

Penny's jaw tensed as Drake flogged her harder, slowly building the pressure, the pain, the pleasure. After each pass of the belt, Penny tensed and arched, slowly relaxing into the sensation. As the blows grew harder, she squirmed and writhed. Sweat dripped down Drake's brow as the temperature in the small room rose.

There was something primal in spanking, flogging, whipping, that appealed to the ancient part of Drake. Something fluid rose up inside him and roared each time he swung the belt. A part of him needed to dominate.

There was an artistry to coaxing a response – the response – from each little subbie. It was the completion of the exchange cycle with his protégés. He provided the inspiration, they returned the favor with their product, their art and Drake closed the lovely little circle with the provision of a flogging or a spanking.

A complete exchange of power.

Raised pink lines marked Penny's backside, in straight rows, one after the other, marring the perfect pale flesh. Drake traced a line with his fingertip causing Penny to wriggle away from his touch. He sucked in a breath. "So responsive. I have something to teach you, Penny. Something I really think you're going to like."

Penny nodded her understanding and frantic eyes met his. "You can speak now."

"I need to paint," she moaned. "I need to paint something."She twisted, pulling at the tie on her wrists. "Let me up."

"That's the lesson today, Penny. I'm going to teach you something new – the art of sex."He unknotted the two scarves from one another, releasing her from the bed. She pushed up to her hands and knees, gasping a breath.

"Swallow it," Drake commanded.

"What?"Penny looked up at him, confusion written in her creased brow.

"The urge to create. Swallow it. Shove it down and own it."

She sat back on her heels and chewed her lip. "Swallow it."

Drake nodded. "I'm going to teach you to take that need and mold it into what you want it for."He finally dropped the belt; it hit the floor with a clank.

Penny jumped.

He lifted a knee to the edge of the bed and stared into Penny's needful eyes.

She retreated slowly, leaned away, untangling her legs, before finally lying back. Penny scooted up the bed, scrambling on her back beneath Drake, matching him movement for movement, until her head hit the headboard.

"Oops." The tone of his voice suggested anything but disappointment in her predicament. A strong hand wrapped around her hip, tugging her down the bed. "I need you down here."Drake straddled her waist, tugged the scarf above her head and retied it to the first.

"Lesson one: Always test your medium with your hands. Touch is important."Drake's finger lingered on the soft skin behind her ear, trailing down her jaw and throat.

Penny twisted her head to the side, exposing the expanse of pale, tender skin.

He traced her collarbone and swirled around the taut peak of one nipple.

Penny arched her back, pressing ever closer to Drake's teasing finger. He made another slow circuit around her breast and dipped into the hollow between her ribs. He drew a winding line down her stomach.

She gasped and writhed against him.

"Ticklish?"

"Yes."She was breathless, panting.

His finger traced quickly in and out of her belly button and followed the delicate 'V' of her hipbones. Drake dragged his finger through the crease of her thigh, close – so close – to his goal, but nowhere near ready to win the game.

"And this?Does this tickle?"

"Different kind of tickle."Her back arched.

He moved, tugging at the scarves binding her wrists. Drake massaged her thighs with both hands, thumbs rubbing dangerous circles on the inside of her legs. He gave her calves the same treatment, covering each inch of bare flesh with his hands. He massages her breasts roughly, pinching and tugging on her nipples.

His cock swelled harder as her body reacted – the tightened peaks of her nipples, goose bumps on the flesh of her stomach. The scent of her arousal hung heavy in the air. He pushed his Awen out to her, pouring it through his fingers and palms, forcing it inside of her.

Penny's eyes flashed brightly. Her mouth hung open, chest heaving as she strained against her bonds. "Now," she insisted. "I have to paint now."

"Swallow it. Shove it down. Imagine it pooling in your stomach. Swirling hot."

Penny's eyes fluttered closed; her breathing calmed slowly.

He dragged his stubby nails down her stomach, faint pink lines popping up in his wake. "Touch is important because it wakes up the latent energy in your medium. It's as much for the medium as it is for the artist."

He leaned in close, sucking her earlobe into his mouth. "You can learn as much with your tongue, as you can with your fingers, lesson one A."His cock lay against her hip, pressed tightly to her as he explored her neck. His mouth lingered on her collarbone, sucked the tip of one pink nipple. He released it with the flick of his tongue.

"Lesson two: Be open to new experiences. Learning to sketch can improve a sculptor's understanding of shape and depth, just like learning to submit can improve a Dom's understanding of domination.

"What's something you've always wanted to try Penny?Something you were maybe a little afraid of?"Her shuddering breath on his skin lit him up.

"Blindfolds?"

"Is that a question or the answer?"He sat up, knees between her thighs and looked down at her expectantly.

"The answer. Something I've always wanted to try, but been a little afraid of."

"And what's the appeal of that Penny?"He traced her ribs with his fingers, visibly distracting her.

"The unknown. It, um–" she hissed and arched as his fingers rolled over her nipples. "It sounds fun."

"And what's so scary about it?"He braced one hand beside her head, hovering over the top of her. He followed the contours of her breasts, making her squirm.

On an exhale. "The unknown. Not being able to see what's coming, what the other person is doing. There's a lot of trust involved."

"But you said you trust me."

"I do."

"Then what's so scary?"He climbed off the bed, sifting through the drawer where Penny had found the scarves used to bind her wrists. He came up with a third scarf, a dark scrap of fabric, narrower than the others.

He saw her pulse beating in her throat, racing wildly as he came closer with her make-do blindfold. "Ta da."He knelt beside her ribcage. "Lift your head for me, Penny girl."He folded the cloth in half lengthwise, wrapping the ends under Penny's head, trying not to tie it into her hair. "How's that?Can you see?"

"Not a thing."She shook her head, hair flying wildly.

"Perfect."He stood beside the bed, silently waiting her out. He counted the pulses in her throat.

Penny craned her head side to side, as if hoping to sneak a peek under the edge of the blindfold. At three-hundred and ten beats, she finally caved. "Drake?"

"Right here, Penny girl."

She turned toward his voice and half a smile crept onto her face. "Were you testing me?"

"Not testing you so much as testing your resolve."

"That doesn't make any sense."

"Maybe not to you."The bed sagged beneath his weight as he settled in between her thighs again. "But here's the thing, now that you've waited it out, you're already worked up aren't you?Thinking all sorts of things while I waited patiently. You did half my job for me. Did you imagine what I was doing? What I was going to do?"

She nodded again.

"And now that your imagination's all fired up,I won't have to work nearly as hard."He palmed both breasts, kneading them until she moaned, and then withdrew. He kissed her sweetly on the mouth. "That's not so terrifying, is it?"

"Not at all." She smiled up at him and his cock leapt, hoping it was time for lesson five.

"I think you're ready for lesson three."His whispered words disappeared with her smile.

"I was just starting to like lesson two."

He grinned, though she couldn't see it. "I think you'll like lesson three even more: Expect the unexpected. We'll leave your blindfold right where it is."

Her smile returned as he roughly shoved her knees apart. "I'm going to need a lot more room to work."

Penny's skin flushed pink and pebbled with goose bumps. With her legs splayed apart, he could finally see her properly and he couldn't wait for a taste. He examined her.

Penny squirmed impatiently, waiting for something, anything.

Finally giving in to the craving, Drake licked a swath up her slit.

She gasped, her legs snapping shut, pinning him in place.

He wrapped his arms under her thighs, curled his fingers over her knees and pried her legs open again, holding her to the bed. His tongue delved inside her, tasting her secret sweetness. He latched onto her clit and sucked, pushing her to the brink.

She cried out, her hips rolled, pressing her pussy to his face, even as he pinned her legs to the bed.

He freed one leg and pulled away from her, pausing a beat before plunging a finger inside her. "Expect the unexpected, Penny girl."

He curled his finger, looking for her sweet spot, and knowing for certain he'd found it when Penny wailed. He twisted his wrist, searching for the angle that made her cry out the loudest, and cheering his success when he found it. While he rubbed her g-spot, he sucked at her clit, slowly building her back up, pushing toward her orgasm and abandoning her just before she came.