Chosen by Blood (21 page)

She pouted. “Fine. But later, I get my turn.”

His expression lightened and he growled. “Oh, baby. Don’t you get it? Every turn is your turn.” He lowered his head toward her. “Now let’s try this again,” he whispered.

Her eyelashes fluttered closed as his lips took hers. Once again, her body immediately responded, clenching in places she’d long since forgotten. He took his time, teasing her lips open and then retreating to kiss along her jaw and behind her ear. She moaned, wanting to feel again that hurried rush of arousal, but now afraid to ask for it.

“You’re so beautiful.”

Her eyes flew open as he said the words. His hand cupped her breast, and his thumb swept a perfect circle across her nipple, forcing it to harden. He kissed her again, this time using his tongue as he pulled her top up. He inhaled upon seeing her bare breasts.

“Pretty.” He nudged her nipple with the back of his finger.

Felicia felt herself growing wetter and clenched her teeth.

“Your breasts are perfect. Beautiful. Full. Resilient but lush. Just like the rest of you.” He cupped both of her breasts and buried his face in between them. He laved her nipples, the suctioning warmth of his mouth making little explosions go off inside her. Licking his way up her neck, he bit down gently on the vulnerable cord there, letting her feel the sharp points of his fangs.

She couldn’t help herself. Her moan reverberated through the room and she tried to lift her neck higher, as if she could force those fangs of his inside her. He laughed, sliding his hands underneath her ass and lifting her groin into his. “That’s not what I want to eat. Not right now.”

His dark words, filled with lusty intent, had her writhing against the bed in frantic anticipation.

The hand inside her pants shifted so that his fingers ruffled her pubic hair, then slicked against her damp folds. “Goddess, you’re wet.” He slipped one finger into her and slowly moved it in and out, while at the same time rubbing her clitoris with his thumb. “And so tight. You’re amazing.”

Felicia struggled for breath as his fingers mercilessly worked her sensitive nub. “I want to see you,” she begged. “Feel you. Even if I can’t touch you. Please.”

He paused, his eyes flashing hot. With a curt nod, he straightened, still balanced on his knees, and ripped at his slacks. When they were open, he pushed down his silk boxers so his hard shaft sprang free. It looked warm and smooth and beautiful.

“My hands,” she whimpered. “Release my hands. Please.”

After a brief hesitation, he did. Immediately, she sprang up and knelt down in front of him, pulled down his underwear a bit more, and took the head of his cock into her mouth.

With a long groan, he buried his hands in her hair and pushed himself deeper into her mouth. “Fuck,” he hissed. “Yes. Take me inside your hot mouth. Show me how much you want me.”

The words were like a sudden slap to the face.

Suddenly, Noella’s words, spoken so long ago, were all she could hear.

“Knox isn’t like most guys. Sure, he loves getting head, but he just doesn’t love it, he needs it. It’s his weakness. I’m telling you, if you ever want Knox to do something for you, just get down on your knees and suck him like there’s no tomorrow.”

Felicia remembered her shock at her friend’s revelation, especially the way she’d used the word “you” toward the end. That had been before Knox had told her Noella had taken other lovers to her bed, but even that revelation hadn’t stuck with her as much as Noella’s ravings about Knox and his weakness for oral sex. Now, Knox’s poor choice of words caused a blanket of ice to settle over her.

Trembling, she released him.

He pushed her hair away from her face. “You okay?”

She nodded, trying to push the image of Noella out of her head. For a minute, looking once more into Knox’s face, she succeeded. Quickly, he shed them both of their remaining clothes and laid her on her back.

Kneeling above her, he kissed her shoulder and sprinkled kisses across her chest, pausing to place a firm, closemouthed kiss on each of her nipples before pulling away. Trailing one hand down her torso and back up, he touched her almost reverently, as if he suddenly realized he’d been presented with a gift too precious to rush.

“Bend your knees,” he whispered.

When Felicia complied, he gently pushed one thigh to the mattress, opening her wide for his gaze and touch. She suddenly wanted to cover herself. To prevent him from seeing her. Not just her flesh, but her. Her vulnerabilities. Her flaws. Before she could move, he spread her apart and inserted a long finger into her. Felicia moaned as he circled it slowly inside her, testing the muscles that hugged him. Spasms of pleasure racked her body, threatening to obliterate all thought.

He pulled his finger out of her slowly, and then pushed it back in, even deeper than before.

Felicia’s hips involuntarily lifted as her body and mind tried to absorb each new sensation shivering through her. In turn, he seemed fascinated by the sight of his finger moving in and out of her. By the contrast of his strong, tanned wrist and the soft dusting of hair covering her pale flesh. As she watched, he withdrew his hand and she was mesmerized by the slick shine on his finger. It was wet. From her.

He lifted his finger to his mouth and licked, forcing the air from her lungs in a wave of combined terror and desire. Her legs shifted restlessly and he focused on her core, pinning her in place with hot eyes. “I’ve got to taste more of you.”

Before she could say more, he bent down, eased her legs apart, and crowded his shoulders into the cradle of her body. He inserted his finger into her again and flicked his tongue over her clitoris. The pleasure was staggering and she moaned, a raw, desperate sound of need. He removed his finger and replaced it with his tongue, stabbing it in and out of her.

The pleasure built until she thought she was going to explode. Her body’s response stunned her, making her realize that the release she sometimes sought in the darkness of her bedroom had barely touched the surface of what was possible. She closed her eyes and clasped Knox’s head, sighing when the smooth strands of his hair tangled in her fingers. She almost cried out when he pulled away with one last lingering swipe of his tongue.

“I need you, Felicia. I need to be inside of you. Do you need me?”

In answer, she held out her arms.

Covering her smaller frame with his own, he gripped his shaft and rubbed it against her clit in tight dragging circles. He kissed her again as he began to enter her.

Felicia felt his heaviness invading her and widened her knees to take in more of him. When he slipped in just the slightest inch, he groaned. She couldn’t look away from him. His face was contorted as if in pain. She felt a thrill at the thought that she was pleasuring him. When she felt him push a few more inches into her, the thrill was overcome by panic.

He felt huge, stretching her beyond capacity. Her muscles were tight, fighting him. “Goddess, Felicia. A little more. Take a little more of me. Yeah. Just like that.”

She bucked up when he licked inside her ear and breathed his devotion. “Beautiful. You’re so beautiful.” Felicia’s eyes teared up. She felt beautiful. She felt cherished. For the first time in years, for the first time since meeting Knox, she celebrated her sexuality.

When he began moving, she fully expected it would happen for her. She was so unbelievably turned on, there was no way she could contain the full force of her arousal for long. But as minutes passed, as Knox steadily pumped his hips into her, she realized it wasn’t going to happen.

Despite the pleasure of finally being in his arms, of him finally being inside her, she knew what was wrong.

Noella. Her presence was like a ghost that, once seen, couldn’t be forgotten. Felicia had let her inside this room, into the bed with them, and now her mind as well as her body was rebelling.

Knox must have sensed her frustration and/or despair. Perspiration covered his face, which had tightened into a grimace of agony. “It’s okay. It’ll happen, baby.”

She shook her head, wanting him to understand at the same time not wanting him to. He bent her legs back farther and slowed his pace, controlling his thrusts so they were shallower. He reached down and began circling her clitoris with his finger. “Yeah, that’s it,” he breathed when she moaned in pleasure.

But it wasn’t. The more he tried to push her over the edge, the more frantic she became. The pleasure became pain, and she began shoving at him, beating at his chest to make him stop. “No. Stop. I can’t . . . It’s not going to happen. Stop!”

Knox stilled and rested his forehead on her own. His arms trembled with the effort to support himself. She raised her hand and caressed his cheek. “Lie back,” she whispered, giving his shoulders a push.

“Wait . . .” he began, but she pushed harder, climbing on top of him as he tumbled back. Felicia ran her mouth down his chest and swiftly covered his penis. She could taste herself on him. Knox moaned incoherently as she worked her mouth up and down him. As he got closer, she wrapped a tight fist around the base of him and used it to mimic the rhythm of her mouth. His entire body tensed, his words became more guttural as he moaned her name, each syllable vibrating through him and into her until he was shouting and shooting himself in hot pulses into her mouth. She took it all, swallowing it with a moan of heady satisfaction.

Knox sank back into the bed in a limp sprawl of arms and legs, pulling her upward. As it was in her fantasies, Felicia lay on top of him, breathing in his wonderful scent and soaking in his tremors of pleasure. He smoothed his palm against her hair and whispered her name, but it was barely audible next to the deep, rhythmic pounding of his heart.

 

 

“Well, I hope you’re not going to blame that on me.”

Felicia’s eyes popped open at the sound of the female’s voice. For a moment, she just lay there, disoriented and wondering why someone was pounding on the door so loudly. Then she realized she was still lying on Knox’s chest, her ear pressed against his strong heartbeat. Across the room, Noella, dressed in a pretty white gown, sat on the ancient dresser and waggled the fingers of one hand at her.

Scrambling off Knox, Felicia pulled at the bedsheets that were pinned down underneath him, eventually managing to pull a humiliatingly small amount of material over her breasts and crotch.

Noella laughed. “If you could only see your face right now.”

“You’re—you’re dead,” Felicia whispered.

Noella narrowed her eyes, hopped off the dresser, and raised her hands, curled into claws, as if she were about to pounce. “Boo!” she shouted, then collapsed into a fit of laughter when Felicia flinched.

Wondering when exactly she’d lost her mind, Felicia glanced at Knox.

“Don’t worry,” Noella gasped, obviously still fighting off a fit of the giggles. “He can’t hear us. No surprise there. After the way you worked him over, the poor vamp needs his rest.”

“He’s . . .” Felicia cleared her throat. “He’s hungry. For blood.”

Noella nodded solemnly. “That, too. Yes.”

“Should I . . .” Felicia waved her hand feebly, glanced at Knox, then back at Noella again. “You know. I mean, my blood’s not pure, but I know it’ll give him something.”

Noella pursed her lips. “So asking me if you can give him your blood, you’re okay with. But your body is different somehow?”

Felicia glanced down at the blanket and plucked at several loose strands of yarn. “He needs blood to survive.”

“He needs you to survive.”

Felicia’s head snapped up, a denial instinctively about to fall from her lips.

“Yes, Felicia. No matter how hard we all fought it—me and Knox in the beginning, and you all this time—you’re what he needs to survive. You, not me.”

Shaking her head, Felicia tried to blink back the tears in her eyes. “He married you. And at the same time he’s asking to be with me, he’s getting ready to marry another vamp.”

“Out of duty. Not love. He won’t marry for love until he’s able to marry you.”

“Which will never happen. He needs to marry a vampire. And he should marry one that loves him. Like you loved him.”

“That’s what the Council has made him believe. And yes, Felicia, I loved him. Just as I loved our children.” A wistful sadness sparked in Noella’s eyes. “I miss them the most. I really need to pop by and see them soon.”

“Pop by,” Felicia echoed on a nervous laugh. “Have you done that often? And how come you haven’t popped in on me before now? I’ve missed you,” she said plaintively.

“The term ‘popping by’ makes it seem far easier than it actually is. The opportunities are actually quite limited. But I miss you, too. I just wanted to make sure that when I did pop by, it would make a big difference. Now seemed like the best time.”

“Why? Because you don’t want me to die old before my time, a bitter, dried-up, inorgasmic old maid who can’t get off because she feels like she’s stolen her best friend’s husband?”

Noella laughed again, a beautiful tinkling sound that seemed to make the air dance. “Something like that.” With a sigh, Noella rose and approached Felicia. She sat on the edge of the mattress and looked at Knox, affection clear on her face. She reached out and stroked his hair, smiling when he sighed. Then she turned back to Felicia. “Dear, sweet Felicia. You were the sister I never had. I knew how you and Knox felt about each other the instant I saw you together. It hurt at first . . .”

Her words faltered and Felicia cried out in distress, throwing her arms around her.

Noella shook her head and pulled away, taking Felicia by the arms and shaking her. “No, you silly goose, don’t feel bad. You’ve felt bad long enough. Yes, it hurt at first, but not the way you think. You see, I loved Knox but he wasn’t the love of my life. You were.”

With wide eyes, Felicia pulled back.