Bound by Blood: Two Novellas of Paranormal Romance (7 page)

BOOK: Bound by Blood: Two Novellas of Paranormal Romance
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Her eyes rolled back and she breathed in deeply through her nose.

"Can you smell yourself?No one's ever made you this wet before, have they?No one else knows just how to play you."

She whimpered and her mouth fell open soundlessly.

"It's the blood bond. Imagine how it'll be once we've sealed it."I lowered my mouth and flicked my tongue across the exposed tip of her nipple, purple from the clamp. I touched her with my tongue.

She bucked, presumably from the lack of blood flow.

Tonguing one nipple, I pinched the other, right over the top of the clamp, jamming the teeth further into her.

She cried out, a mixture of pleasure and pain and threw her head back hard, jerking the head strap of the swing.

"This one's special," I told her. "I had it made just for girls like us. It's a bit stronger than the original."I winked and grinned.

She thrashed wildly, for the first time truly straining against her bonds. A wicked smirk spread slowly across her face when she finally conceded defeat. "I guess I'm yours then. What're you gonna do with me?"She raised her chin, issuing a direct challenge.

"Wouldn't you like to know?"I flicked my fingertip against one of her nipples and she flinched at the impact. I circled the tip of her abused flesh, rubbing my finger over her again and again.

Her hips rolled to the rhythm of my finger. The vibrating bases of the clamps rolled off her ribcage as she moved, pulling on her nipples. The chain between the bases pulled taut against the weight of the clamps and her tits.

I closed my mouth over one clamp and let the vibrations of the toy move my mouth over her. I sucked and rolled her nipple in my mouth, twisting the clamp with my tongue.

"I need something in my pussy," she moaned. "Fuck."Her voice was rough and low, almost a growl. "Now!I'm so close."Her hips rocked uselessly with nothing for friction.

"Not happening."I yanked on the chain resting on her ribcage, watched the teeth pull on her nipples, making the clamps stretch and pinch.

She howled and moaned, finally screaming when the teeth pulled straight off her nipple.

I smelled her orgasm, the pheromones pushing me to feed. I bit down, my teeth tearing through her flesh as I drank her in, her orgasm sweetening her blood. I pulled, suckling her while she thrashed in ecstasy.

I licked the wound, sealing it closed.

She panted, recovering from her second orgasm.

"I think you've got another one in you."I met her heated gaze, "But this time it's my turn. That stuff can wait."I nodded toward the dildo and the butt plug. I loosened the head strap so she could lay her head back. When I lowered the whole contraption, she looked at me quizzically.

As I crawled up her body, she seemed to grasp the concept, lifting her head and nuzzling into my crotch. I rested my knees on the shoulder straps, straddling her face, and hooked my elbows around the straps supporting the butt pad. I leaned in and went to work on her cat just as her tongue found its way into my slit.

I moaned, letting the vibrations from my throat work on her pussy. Apparently, she liked it because she did the same, moaning and groaning while lapping at my core.

Watching her come twice had me so worked up. I wouldn't last much longer.

She wrapped her arms around my thighs and pulled me open, blowing lightly across me, her hot breath making my knees shake in anticipation.

"Put your mouth back on my pussy or I'm going to leave you here for the customers."

She laughed throatily and slipped a finger inside me, curving it just so, pumping it in and out of me. She clamped her mouth down on my clit and sucked hard, pressing her tongue against my bundle of nerves while she fucked me with her finger.

All the coiled energy in me exploded as I came undone a second later, massive spasms of pleasure wracking my body, my knees clenched together, holding her captive between my thighs, her finger trapped in my pussy.

Her teeth sank into my thigh and she drank deeply, sealing the blood bond. When I could think clearly, I focused my attention on her again, angling my finger inside her to find that little smooth spot. Her thighs shook.

Her clit had to have been sensitive to the extreme after what I'd put her through. I bit down on it lightly and tugged, scraping my teeth across her.

She came and bucked hard enough to knock my right knee off the shoulder strap.

I straddled her face as I finger fucked her, her inner muscles clenching and grabbing my finger.

She fell apart completely, hanging spent in the swing.

I dismounted, pulled the ropes and adjusted the straps so she could sit upright, then I unhooked her.

She stumbled free and collapsed to the floor in a weakkneed pile. She panted for a minute before looking up at me wide-eyed. Her chest heaved wildly as she sucked in mouthfuls of useless air.

"Come upstairs with me?"

She rubbed the back of her hand across her weary eyes.

"I've got a place up there. We could shower, get something to eat and climb into bed."

She didn't answer immediately and for a panicked moment, I thought she would say no.

"Can we sleep for a decade or two?"She sagged visibly.

"Maybe three."I cocked an eyebrow, my silent challenge. You really think you can handle it here?

She returned the raised eyebrow, but her posture spoke of defiance. Make me leave, it said. "I've got a bag in the car."

"Just one?You're never leaving my sight again."

"I travel light."I have everything I'll ever need.

CHAPTER 3

Living with another female was the hardest thing I'd ever done. Harder than scaling Everest, harder than surviving for four centuries on my own, harder than the first time I bottomed. Her toothbrush was always on the counter; her socks were on the floor. She's a morning person, I'm a night owl.

For every negative, there were two positives. I never had to worry about the Blood Sickness again. Sex whenever I wanted it. Someone else to wash the dishes. And she just got me – understood me. We meshed like two halves of a whole. Like Blood Mates.

The combination of my knowledge of sex toys and Edana's marketing skills turned the Toy Chest into the local muststop shop for anything sex related. I extended the shop hours and took on another employee – a first in the history of the Toy Chest.

Kitty was everything Edana and I weren't – happy, bubbly, a people person. She was the unofficial greeter and official cashier. Edana and I stayed in the background, answering questions and chatting with the regulars. I stocked shelves, Edana arranged displays.

Another night dawned and the metal shades rose on their tracks, allowing the wan moonlight into my little shop – our little shop. Half the overhead lights dimmed, filling the shop with mood lighting, rather than the artificial sunlight of day.

The scent of the lube samples filtered through the air and I decided to take a tube of the new coconut upstairs to sample. Kitty's radio blasted '80s hair bands across the store. Edana's fingers flew over the keys of her laptop. I could hear the click-click-click from the other end of the store. The bell above the front door chimed and I paused my shelf-stocking.

"Welcome to the Toy Chest. How can I bring you pleasure?" Kitty's saccharine voice greeted the customer.

I emptied my box of dildos onto the shelf and walked toward the front of the shop. The customer's voice was low, gravely, and I couldn't make out his words.

But I didn't need to; I knew his voice.

And Edana would too. I selfishly hoped she'd stay put and let me deal with him.

As I rounded the last aisle separating us, his eyes landed on me, went wide with fury. "You," his voice hit an unnatural octave. "You're keeping her from me. She needs me, I know she does." Hollows lined the underside of his cheekbones. Dark shadows colored his eyes

He wasn't the first crazy in my shop and he wouldn't be the last, but he was the first crazy who was after my Blood Mate. "Adrian," I kept my voice light. "Been a while since you fed?"

"Not since you took her. No one else can replace her."He stomped his foot, every bit the petulant toddler. "Give her back."

I couldn't help the laughter bubbling up my throat. "She's not a plaything for you to take back."I closed the distance between us. "It's time for you to go. Edana doesn't want you here."At least, I was pretty sure Edana didn't want him there.

"Just let me see her, please?"His shoulders sagged as the fight left him. His angry eyes turned pleading, dark abysses in blood shot whites. He was far enough gone that the council wouldn't help – just leave him for the sun.

"It won't make a difference."As far as I could tell, he was transitioning from the second to the third stage of the Blood Sickness. Despair was the third and final stage. I'd always rationalized it was that way because anyone who made it that long with the Sickness couldn't fight the urge to face the dawn.

I felt Edana before I saw her; a shuffling behind me caught my attention. "Adrian."Edana stepped out of the aisle, features soft. "Cai's right. You need to go."

"No," he stabbed a bony finger her direction. "I need you. I need to feed."His eyebrows drew closer together, pain drawn on his face. He took two steps toward Edana, fingers twitching.

"Close enough."I shifted to the side, putting myself between them.

"It's fine, Cai. I'll deal with him."She sidestepped me and reached for Adrian.

"No."I whirled on him. "Get the fuck out. I've been nice long enough."I pushed his shoulder, moving him toward the door. He didn't bother to resist as I steered him roughly toward the exit.

"Cai."Her tone was not polite. "Get your hands off him."She pulled on my arm, yanking me away from him. "I said I'll do it."

I watched in stunned silence as she pushed passed me and guided Adrian carefully to the door, whispering in his ear as they walked. I picked up the occasional word, knew she was telling him to find someone new to feed from. Knew that my Mate was way too close to an unstable vampyre desperate for her blood.

As he left, she held the door, half in, half out of the building, her old life walking away. She stormed silently passed me, disappearing up the stairs to our apartment.

"Ooh, you're in trouble."Kitty's singsong voice distracted me from Edana's departure. One brow arched in her direction silenced her tittering. I sulked back to my shelf stocking. Jealousy was not one of my better traits, but it was a dominant one.

I emptied the box of vibrators onto the shelf and opened the next box – spreader bars. I walked to the next aisle and filled the shelf.

Edana would be in the bedroom, waiting for me to coming slinking in. If I took too long, she'd be in the bathroom, soaking in a tub full of lavender scented bubbles. If she finished the bath before I went upstairs, she'd lock the front door and go to bed without me.

I hated sleeping in the shop.

Knowing the registers were safe with Kitty up front, I made my way quietly to the stairs, hoping to sneak in before Edana heard me coming and locked the door. The narrow staircase loomed before me, longer than I remembered it being.

Silence greeted me from the living room when I walked in, the kind of silence that makes you afraid to be the one to break it. I shuffled across the small, tiled entry, kicked my shoes off and padded quietly to the bedroom door. Hand on the knob, I paused, listening for movement inside and praying for a little lenience. Gathering my courage, I twisted, found it unlocked and let myself in.

"Hey." My voice was a half-whisper, still afraid to be the one to end the tense silence. She sniffed, avoided my eyes and disappeared into the bathroom. I sighed and screwed up my mouth in frustration, following her as far as the doorway. "Babe?"I tried again.

She faced the mirror, hands in her hair, tension rolling off her in palpable waves. "Don't 'babe' me."Her response was garbled, the words distorted by the hairpins she was holding in her teeth. She tucked the last one into her hair and turned. "'Babe' is not going to fix this. We have a serious misfire in our relationship Cai."

"I just didn't want you to have to deal with the guy. I didn't want him to make you feel bad. He clearly had the Blood Sickness. You should have known better than to let him feed from you for so long."I shifted, filling the doorway, blocking her escape.

"I should have known better?"Her eyes grew wide and her fists clenched. "I should have known better?"

I scrambled mentally for a way to distract her from her anger. "Can we focus on the part where I said I was sorry and that I wasn't trying to be a jerk?"

She crossed her arms over her chest. "I must have missed your apology."Her lips pressed into a thin line.

"Sorry?"The weight of my mistake hung an anchor around my neck. The inches between us were impassable, blocked by my own stupid, impetuous nature.

She flung her arms in the air. "I know you weren't trying to be a jerk. That's the problem. You just are. You're bigger, better, faster, stronger. I need protecting from everything, right?I'm not a china doll, Cai."She ducked under my arm and slid out of the room.

"It's not that I think I'm better, or stronger. I just can't help myself; I have to protect you."I turned, leaning on the wall and crossing my arms over my chest. "I need for you to be safe."

"I am safe and I don't need protecting, Cai." She mirrored my crossed arms.

"I know. I know you don't."I wrung my hands, pacing back and forth in our small bedroom.

"But you do it anyway. Every time. I'm not going to live this way."She lifted her duffle bag from the floor. "This just isn't working for me. I can't stay with someone who doesn't see me as an equal."

My heart blocked my throat and I choked on my breath. "I do; I do. How can I prove it to you?"I stopped in the doorway, blocking her exit again. Edana leaving was not a possibility I could deal with.

She paused for a second, weighing her options. "Submit to me. Completely."

"I–" The words caught in my throat. Subbing was my least favorite thing. The loss of control made my toes curl. The thought of being completely at someone else's mercy, of having no say over my own being, twisted my stomach in ways most unpleasant.

My heart warred with my mind, with my sense of self. "I don't know–"

She cut me off. "Then I do."She lifted her bag again and walked to the door. "It would have been nice if you'd thought about this a few months ago."

I watched her walk away, watched the sway of her hips that had always tempted me so. Her hand on the front door spurred me into action. "Let me try," I croaked through my cottonmouth. "I can try. I want to try."

Her head turned slowly. "There is no trying, Cai, it's do or it's don't."

"It's do. It's always do, Edana. Please."I crossed half the room in a few strides and stopped impotently, not knowing what she would do.

BOOK: Bound by Blood: Two Novellas of Paranormal Romance
10.27Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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