Evading (Regent Vampire Lords Book 4) (16 page)

Only Giselle had other ideas.

And fuck if he could refuse her. He’d never refuse her a damn thing.

“I want you to be mine,” she whispered against his jaw before unleashing her fangs, scraping them erotically down his throat. Twin lines of blood welled, dripping, and he grew impossibly, painfully hard when she ran her tongue back up, lapping every stray drop.

“Jesus Christ, Giselle.” That move right there had the ability to make him lose his man card, his seed already coaxed halfway up his shaft. Palming her head, he stopped her short before he had to hand it over. “We can wait. I don’t want to pressure you.”

“I don’t want to wait anymore. I want to start living.”

“You sure?” His question was more of a groan as she reached between them and starting undoing the mechanics on his jeans. In a flash, she had his cock out and in her soft hand and was trying her damnedest to revoke his manhood.
Draw on your reserve, Thatcher. Think of Halo, firing your weapon, the zombiepocalypse, for God’s sake. Any fucking thing besides the fact you want to coat her hand with your seed.

“Giselle, stop.” With his hand on top of hers, he squeezed hard, forcing her still.

“You don’t want—”

“Oh yeah, I want. But I’m going to be buried to the fucking hilt in that sweet pussy when I make you mine. I’m not coming in your hand and if you don’t stop, that’s exactly what will happen.”

“Oh,” she breathed heavily, her chest heaving up and down.

“Bed. Now.”

Picking her up, she buried her head in his neck and snaked her long, lean legs around his waist. Seconds later, his dick throbbing hard, he lowered her onto his bed.
Their
bed.

“Get naked,” he commanded thickly, taking quick care of himself.

He wanted to consume her. Devour and own. But with their clothes thrown haphazardly all over the bedroom, Mike took a moment to let his gaze trail over the ethereal goddess currently spread out on his ivory sheets.

Flames of desire licked her cerulean blues, turning them smoky. She palmed her breasts, restlessly pressed her legs together trying to relieve her ache. Her body writhed in a tantalizing mixture of seduction and enchantment. If he wasn’t so fucking insane to be inside of her, he could just sit and watch her like this for hours upon hours and never tire.

He wanted to treat her like blown glass and fuck her hard into next year all in the same breath. But he had a feeling this wouldn’t be a tender, sweet-gesture-filled lovemaking session. This was going to be a swift, violent, you-belong-to-me-and-only-me, primal coupling.

And the second Giselle spread her legs and begged him to claim her, his patience shattered, the rabid animal inside breaking violently from its leash.

She. Was. His.

He pounced.

He plunged.

He pillaged.

He owned her mouth and her body with equal passion and intent. He sipped her cries and ingested her moans. They tasted like sweetly spun sugar on his taste buds and he let them linger before he swallowed. He climbed inside her, caged her heart, and seized her soul.

He took and took and took until she gave him everything she had. And the second her walls started clenching around his dick, he took that, too. He claimed every flutter and pulse and drop of her climax. He then claimed the next and the next and the one after that until they were all his. Until she was mindless, the only thought being the next release she could catch.

Mike’s tempo slowed while he let her catch her breath. But she didn’t need it. Her mouth was at his neck, right over his carotid, sucking. While his one thumb was busy playing her taut nipple, the other hand slipped under her neck. He held her there against him, sure and steady. His cock swelled in impatience and every drag in and out of her tight channel lured him closer to the ledge he wanted to free fall from. “Now,” he pleaded. Fuck.
Now
.

There was no superfluous preamble. No sweet words, no declarations of love or forevers. She struck like lightning, plunging those razor-sharp teeth into his vein, setting off the most explosive orgasm he’d had to date. On a pleasure-pained roar, he came. Hard and fast and long. It was devastating. He had no idea what the fuck she’d done, but it went on and on, the ecstasy washing through him in strong pulls until he almost blacked out.

Then her wrist was at his mouth; the tangy flavor of copper coated his tongue. Release after release, or maybe it was just one long, endless—fucking endless—climax kept his blood on fire and his head wrapped in fuzz.

Mine, mine, mine
was the never-ending cacophony of their collective voices twisting inside his brain until it spiraled downward and settled in the pit of his black soul.

As Giselle’s lifeblood coursed through his bloodstream, any imperfection that resided inside him knit together along the way. He swore to God he felt his cells split and regenerate. He was sure his skin tightened, his senses honed. His muscles thickened, his jaw ached, his bones lengthened. His mind was sharper than a tack.

It was power.

He
was power.

He was King, Sultan, Czar.

He was a swirling mass of a hundred thousand volts of unalloyed electrons and if the Prince of Darkness himself stood before him, there was no shred of doubt Mike would win a duel to the death.

Stop
, Giselle’s voice whispered in his head.
Stop
.

Mike knew exactly what she was demanding. Even through the hazy fog of omnipotence, he yielded to her even though he didn’t want to. She was now his nucleus. He revolved around her.

The second his mouth left her wrist he plummeted. The fall was just as swift as the rise. The sharp edge of his orgasm immediately dulled, then waned altogether. His muscles felt atrophied and, unable to hold himself up, he slumped on top of her.

His eyes fell shut. He felt his body roll. He had to take care of her, of his queen, but he was so damn tired he couldn’t move. Couldn’t think. Could barely breathe.

“Sleep”
, her sultry voice coaxed.

“I need to take care of you.”
Did he speak out loud?

“No arguments. You need sleep
.”

Just for a minute
, he thought to himself.
Maybe
just for a minute.

This time, when sleep wound her tempting fingers around him and pulled tight, he fell into her knowing that when he woke he would be a brand new man.

A better man.

The one he was always meant to be.

A vampire’s mate.

“
B
reathe
.” She shivered as her mate’s lips brushed against the shell of her ear. His hands rested lightly on her hips and she couldn’t help but press herself back into him. Mike seemed to have his wits about him. She hoped they rubbed off on her. She could use a whole boatload of them about now. “No need to be nervous, baby.”

“Like you’re any better,” she chided in a hushed voice. She felt the tension coiled inside him.

“We’re going to be fine,” he said quietly, thoroughly meaning it. He was so sure, so confident, but how could he be? This would be like the blind leading the blind. Neither of them had a clue what they were doing. There really should be a licensing process for this, she’d decided. Mandatory training classes, annual recertification, board exams. How was it possible to suddenly inherit responsibility for another life without a sole qualification? No wonder there were so many fucked-up people roaming around.

“Besides, we have a village of help,” he added with conviction.

There was that. Weeks ago when Giselle originally had this crazy-ass idea, she was bound and determined to do it on her own. Well, her and her mate. She didn’t want help from others because help equated to failure and failure led to judgment. But she’d come to realize the kind of assistance and advice given to her by Kate, Sarah, and Analise was out of some weird affection and understanding, not scrutiny or derision.

Giselle and Mike stood beside her crib, watching her sleep, watching her breath. Making sure they were there the second she woke up and needed them. Mainly they just stood there in awe of her.

Jade.

Their daughter.

The morning after bonding, Giselle talked to Mike about baby number one. She’d been nervous, not knowing how he’d feel about it, particularly after they’d just become mates. They had so much to learn about each other and throwing a new baby in the mix might not be the best of ideas, but no matter what she did, she couldn’t let the idea go without at least talking to him about it.

She should have known better, though. Mike was supportive. Encouraging even.

“
S
omething’s on your mind
. What is it?”

“Reading my thoughts already?” she hummed against his neck. She ran her hands down his strong back, scraping her nails against his flesh on the way back up. She’d never get used to how heavenly his nakedness felt against hers or how perfectly his body weight pinned her beneath him.

“No, but I’ve been reading your emotions for weeks and I know you’re anxious about something. What is it?”

She pulled back, surprised. “You’ve been feeling my emotions?”

His lips quirked. God, that smug look hooked her every time. “Yep.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because I didn’t really understand what it was at first and besides, even if I did, you weren’t ready to hear it.”

She diverted her eyes, but he gently grabbed her chin and brought her back. “Spill,” he quietly encouraged.

Well…here goes nothing. “I met someone.” His eyes bugged and she laughed, realizing how that sounded. “She’s tiny and sweet and vulnerable and all alone. She’s…” Giselle paused, trying to find the right words. “…absolute perfection.”

“Yes,” he mumbled sweetly against her mouth before taking it in a searing kiss.

“I haven’t even asked you anything yet.”

“You don’t need to, baby. If she brings out this blinding blaze inside you, that’s all that matters.”

T
he genuine excitement
she’d felt when she’d talked about Jade was infectious. They’d decided together, though, that it would be best to wait just a while. Mike needed time to adjust to his rapidly changing body. She estimated he’d gained about fifty pounds of pure muscle over the course of the last few weeks and if she’d thought he was insanely sexy before, he was a demigod now. Vampire looked awfully fucking good on him. She was damp just thinking about how taut and virile he was. Everywhere.

“You’d better stop thinking those salacious thoughts, my mate, or I’ll have to have to take you in the other room and fuck them out of you.”

“You make that sound like a bad thing,”
she taunted silently.

“I feel like you’re challenging my manhood, baby.”

“And if I am?”

They’d no sooner taken half a step in the direction of their bedroom when Jade stirred, making those cute little sleep noises that she did when she dreamed. They froze, all thoughts of lust and toe-curling sex evaporating in a flash.

“Cockblocked by my own daughter. Ouch. I suppose I’d better get used to that, huh?” His chuckle slid all the way to her now wet and ready core.

“I think we just need to learn to take advantage of when she naps, instead of staring at her.”

“Or we can just get a babysitter.”

“To have sex?” she asked incredulously.

“It’s called
date night
, baby.”

“We just brought her home yesterday. I don’t think we need a date night already.”

“And I haven’t been inside you yet today. That’s unacceptable, mate.”

She turned in his arms and wound her limbs around his neck. The love she saw floored her. She was pretty sure it always would. “I love you, Mike. Thank you for this. For her.”

Pushing some stray hairs behind her ear, he said, “I wanted her as much as you did, Giselle.”

While they’d decided they needed to wait to make things official, they’d spent all of their free time with Jade over the past few weeks. They’d bonded as a family well before they officially were and when it became harder and harder to leave her behind at night, they knew it was time.

So yesterday they finally brought their sweet baby girl home.

And insecurities reared their ugly, vicious heads once again.

“What if I’m too lenient?”

“Then I’ll be the disciplinarian,” he answered plainly.

“What if I’m too strict?”

“Then I’ll be the favorite,” he chuckled in jest. That made her smile. He probably would be anyway.

“What if she gets you wrapped around her pinky finger?”

“She already has, just like her mammi,” he breathed.

Oh God. She’s a mammi.

Her stomach flipped in excitement, but nerves piggybacked on top, making her feel sick.

“What if I can’t love her like she deserves?” she barely whispered. She was barely getting the hang of being a mate, let alone a parent. It was a daunting, overwhelming, disheartening thought.

He cupped a cheek and bore his gaze into hers. She knew this look. Steely determination. She loved this side of him the most. If not for his grit, they wouldn’t be bonded. If not for his insistent, gentle prodding, she would have talked herself out of adopting this perfect little being.

“Not. Fucking. Possible. If your love for her is a tenth of what it is for me, she’ll be the luckiest girl in the whole world.” It was. It
is
.

A smile tried to break free. He always knew the right thing to say to squash the negative into mush. “You can’t swear around her, you know. I read that kids are like sponges. They absorb everything. We don’t want her first word to be fuck.”

Mike’s lips curled in amusement. “Hmmm. Maybe you’ll have to punish me until I get it right.”

“That sounds like a good reinforcement technique,” she hummed.

His eyes fell to her bottom lip, watching his thumb rub it back and forth, back and forth. His attention had shifted solely to her, but hers was still on Jade. “What if I mess up?”

Hot lips met her mouth. “We both will,” he mumbled, washing out her moan. “And then we’ll make it right again.”

The next insecurity was almost out when the softness of sheets surrounded her and her clothes were being ripped off. “Mike…”

He came flush with her, pinning her arms above her head. Her sex went liquid, her nipples strained, needing his mouth, and her body started moving for him. She’d let him dominate her before, but now that his strength almost equaled hers, there was no
letting
about it. He dominated every single part of her, pushing her to her limits but never over. “Every protest is another second without me inside that sweet, wet, tight body, Giselle,” he replied on a heave. “Is that what you want?”

She shook her head.
No, no, that isn’t what I want.

“Good.” Reaching down, he freed his velvety steel rod and without even removing his jeans, slid inside in one long drive, the denim abrading her bare thighs. When he hit the end of her womb he groaned but stilled. “Besides, we only have half an hour before we need to wake her anyway. The guest of honor can’t be late to her own party.”

The
baby shower
.

Christ, how could she have forgotten?

“And don’t look like that. You know you’re excited about it.”

“I am not,” she protested.

“Yeah, you are,” he breathed into her neck as he began moving in the most delicious of ways. He had her panting in short order, her objections now halfhearted at best. “I overheard you talking to Jade about it.”

“I was…just…warning her.” Giselle gasped her reply between pumps that were getting rougher and quicker with each shift of his hips. She was already balancing precariously on the tip of a climax that was beginning to wash through her.

Her eyes fluttered open when he stilled again. She was overflowing with protests now that had nothing to do with balloons, presents, oohs and ahhs, and unwanted attention.

“Remember what I said about lying?”

Shit. The rat bastard.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought.” No, he wasn’t a rat bastard. He was a smug bastard. “I know how much you enjoy your orgasms, baby.”

It didn’t take her mate long to find and withhold the one thing that would get her to confess anything and everything, every fucking time.

Moving again, he was slow. Too slow. Too teasing. Too effortless to give her that final push. His curved, wicked mouth hovered over one erect bud, waiting. She knew exactly what he had in mind. It was his favorite spot to feed from her. And for some ungodly reason, his mouth suckling at her breast threw her into a wild orgasm like nothing else.

“Okay, fine. I may be the teeniest tiniest bit excited,” she confessed. Deliriously, stupidly, unreasonably excited. No one had ever thrown a party for her before, and even if it was for Jade it was also for her, too. “Happy?”

“Oh yeah. I’m deliriously”—nip—“stupidly”—nip—“unreasonably”—nip— “happy.”

“God, you’re such an asshole,” she chided, but there was no truth behind it. She loved that she didn’t have to keep anything from him. That she could be who she was and when she strayed, when she felt unworthy and scared, he’d find her and bring her back to him, reminding her she was loved now and forever.

“I know, but I’m your asshole, right?”

Yes
was but a perishable thought because his teeth had now pierced her flesh and she was coming apart at the seams, trying hard not to scream Mike’s name, waking their daughter prematurely.

Next time she’d need to try harder. Jade’s angry wail filled the house and Mike’s frustrated panting filled her ears. “You’ve got to be kidding me,” he mumbled against her tightened nipple, flicking it hard with his tongue.

“I’m sorry,” she moaned, still mostly lost in her postorgasmic haze. “I’ll get her.”

One last pull then he licked the tiny punctures closed and bounded off the bed, leaving her cold and empty, but satisfied and smiling.

“I’ll get her.”

She loved her baby girl more than her next heartbeat, but not having her mate all to herself anytime she wanted would definitely take some getting used to. She may have to rethink this “date night” idea. “You sure?” she asked, stretching her arms above her head teasingly, letting the hair she’d pulled through her fingers fan out around her.

An arm came down on either side of her head. His mouth swooped in to take hers. Her blood hummed and her body immediately came alive. “I’m sure, you wicked temptress. Now, take a quick shower and get ready to be fawned over.” Her mouth turned down at that sickening thought. “And maybe practice turning that frown upside-down.” He laughed as he strode nude out of their room.

“Hey, you can’t let her see your junk flopping around. You’ll scar her!” she yelled after him. His only reply was to laugh harder, but it still didn’t drown out Jade’s short, high, escalating cries.

Giselle stayed still, waiting with anxiousness until their little girl’s cries abruptly stopped. Then she heard Mike’s low, gruff voice soothing her. Telling her she’d cost him an orgasm and that his balls were bluer than the Pacific. Then she heard him tell her he was going to gag her mammi next time they had sex so they could finish without Giselle’s wails waking her up.

Oh my God
.

What the hell kind of parents were they going to be if they walked around naked and talked about sex in front of their daughter?

“Fucking good ones
,” her mate’s growly voice echoed in her head. “
Now…get that fine ass in the shower and stop stalling.”

“But…”

“No buts, baby. Everyone’s waiting.”

“Fine,”
she grumbled, knowing there was no way out of this absurd human ritual.