In the Company of Vampires (20 page)

He moved slightly, so he could take care of my other breast, the sensation of his hair and slightly stubble-roughened cheek as they brushed against sensitized flesh sending little zings of electricity down my skin, where it pooled low and hot.

His hand followed the path of the electricity, sliding down my stomach until his fingers curled into my warmth.
Did your toys touch you here?

He did, kissing a wet trail down my breastbone and stomach as his fingers, his clever, clever fingers, danced among intimate parts of me, making my stomach tighten, my hips twitch, and various bits that had previously possessed purely mundane functions suddenly start clamoring for more Ben, much more Ben.

When his fingers sank into me, I saw not just stars but entire constellations, and quite possibly a galaxy or two. When he nudged my legs apart and settled himself there, his mouth returning to mine, I knew that all the years of waiting for him, all those lonely nights dreaming of him, all that time I had spent figuring out who I was so I could finally return to his arms where I belonged, all that had led me to this grand moment, this pinnacle of ecstasy, this joining of bodies and souls that I knew would be the most profound experience of my life.

Ben eased into my body, his mouth hot on my shoulder. Need roared within him, and was echoed in me.

I shifted my hips to better accommodate him, stroking his back as he gave one thrust, then suddenly moaned,
No! Bloody hell . . .

Aw, Fran, I’m sorry,
he murmured, his face now buried in my neck as his hips gave tiny little convulsive twitches.

His body shook against mine, and I wanted to die right then and there. All those years waiting for this moment, and I was so awful at sex that Ben was shaking in repugnance?

He lifted his head, and I could see tears in his eyes, but the rolling laughter that poured out of him told me they weren’t tears of horror. He kissed me loudly, smiling down at me. “As if I found anything about you repugnant. I’m sorry because I anticipated this moment a bit too much.”

He slid out of me with a wet, squishy noise that startled me. We both peered down at the offending organ. “You mean you—”

“Yes. I’m sorry. I wanted your first time to be special. But the things you were feeling were too much for me, and . . .” He started laughing again.

I looked at his penis for a moment, then giggled. “I suppose I should take it as a compliment, but I have to admit, I’m feeling a bit . . . well, let down. I mean, all those years dreaming about this moment, Ben. All those hot, steamy daydreams about what it would be like. All that anticipation. Never once in my fantasies were you like this.”

“Like what? Anticipatory?”

I touched his penis with the tip of one finger. “Floppy.”

He rolled off me, laughing even harder, pulling me onto his chest. “Every second of every minute of every day since you left, I’ve thought about making love to you, and when I finally get the chance, this is what happens.” He had to stop talking, he was laughing so hard. “I swear I will make it up to you, Fran. Just give me a minute to catch my breath, and we’ll do this again, properly. I promise my floppiness is only a temporary situation.”

“Well, I hope so, because frankly, at this point my toys have you beat.”

He roared with laughter at that, and my heart did amazing little flip-flops. I’d seen Ben laugh before, but never had I seen him this way, so caught up in mirth that tears sneaked out of the corners of his eyes. I kissed the tears, then kissed his jaw, then kissed the spot behind
his
ear, breathing deeply of the scent of him. “You smell like a well-pleasured man,” I told him, biting his ear.

His laughter slowed down to a chuckle, his hands sliding up my hips to my breasts. “You smell like my woman.”

“Arrogant as ever, I see. Hey, I thought you were supposed to be catching your breath so you can do all the things to me that I’ve planned for you to do. And the ones you thought of that I had no idea we could do. Like that one. Seriously? With honey? I thought you didn’t eat?”

The grin he gave me was pure devilishness. “Do you really want me to answer that?”

I blushed at the thoughts that went behind his words. “No. Yes. Oh, I don’t care, but I would like you to do that bit with the honey.”

“Later,” he promised, pulling me over his body so my boobs were at his mouth.
Right now I have a gauntlet to pick up. You’ve challenged me, Francesca, and I intend on proving to you that I far exceed your toys.

I squirmed with delight as he rubbed his face against my breasts, capturing an aching nipple in his mouth, where he laved his tongue over it.
All right, but I have my own challenge to take care of.

I have to prove to you that I’m not horrible at sex
.

He filled my head with laughter
. What happened was not because you are inexperienced, love. It’s because I was not in control of myself as I should have been.

“Good. I like you out of control,” I said, sliding backward a little bit. “In fact, I think I should . . . um . . .” I looked down his body at his penis, taking a moment to admire the sights along the way. “I like your stomach.”

“Thank you. I like yours as well.” He tried to pull me up again, but I evaded his grasp, moving down to his hips, so I could press a kiss on his stomach. There was a thin trail of hair that led down from his chest to his belly button. I teased it with my fingers as I eyed his penis. It looked a bit different from I had expected. “Is something the matter? Why are you frowning at my cock?”

“It’s . . . uh . . . is it supposed to look like that? The ones I’ve seen look different.”

He sat up. “How many have you seen, Francesca?”

I grinned to myself at the outraged tone in his voice. For some reason, it warmed me to the tips of my toes when he used my full name. Not even my mother did that. “In person or on videos?”

“Both.”

There are times when I regret the ability for a Beloved to share Dark Ones’ thoughts,
he muttered darkly.

He hrmphed again in my mind, but lay back down. “I’m not circumcised. That is the difference.”

“Ooh, okay.” I looked down at his penis again, trying to assess it.

“Now what are you doing?”

“Assessing. I think I want to . . . um . . .” I gestured toward the object in question.

A little smile curled his lips. “Do you at all see the irony in the fact that you are unable to say common phrases despite conducting the act itself?”

“It’s not a matter of irony at all,” I told him, sliding down and pushing his legs open. I settled between his knees, eyeing his penis. “It’s not just curse words that have power, you know, and I try to avoid the ones that might get me into trouble. I’m sorry if that sounds prissy or wimpy, but it’s how I am.”

I thought about it for a moment, reaching out to gently touch his thickening penis.
No. I did a paper once for an English class on the etymology of various profanities, and I know that word and others have a long history to them. Since you do, too, it doesn’t bother me how you speak. Well, except the accent. I would hate it if you ever lost your accent.

One eyebrow rose.
I have an accent? I thought my English was perfect.

He was about to answer me, but I tipped my head at that moment, and took him into my mouth.

“Well, this is different,” I said a moment later as I tried to analyze the taste and feel of him on my tongue.

“What?”

I swirled my tongue along the very tip of him.

His hips bucked. “Flurg!”

“I take it by the fact that Mr. Floppy is gaining in stature that you’re going to be willing to give this another try.”

“Francesca,” Ben said sternly, but his lips twitched as I blinked innocently at him. “I am selfishly grateful that you have not had experience with other men to know this, but there is one term you never, ever use to your lover, and ‘Mr. Floppy’ is that term.”

I looked at his penis. He was not unduly large, not
walk funny for a week
large, but judging by my rough estimation, he had Finnvid beat. “I’m sorry,” I told his penis. “I will never again refer to you as Mr. Floppy, Mr. Overly Anticipatory, or even Mr. Leave Fran Wondering What All the Fuss Is About—”

“That impertinence, Beloved, is not something I am going to stand for.” Ben was suddenly looming over me, the sheets of the bed cool beneath my back as he nipped my hip.

“I knew you were bossy, but I never knew you were this bossy. Oh merciful goddess! Are you going to . . . You are! Oral sex! I’ve been dying to try—” My eyes opened wide, almost crossing at the sensation of his hot breath on intimate parts of me that had not previously entertained anyone, my hands clutching at the sheets as my hips rose.

“You have to tell me what you like,” Ben said somewhat indistinctly as he nipped the sensitive skin of my inner thighs.

“That! I like that!”

“So the swirl gets a thumbs-up. And what about this?”

“Oh, it’s good, too,” I moaned as my hips moved in a restless rhythm in response to the dance his fingers were doing.

“Hmm. Does this do anything for you?”

I tightened my legs around his head when his fingers sank into me as his tongue swirled across aroused flesh. “Flurg!”

He smiled into my mind.
I thought that might give you pleasure.

If you feel like that now, wait until I really get going,
he promised, sliding up my body, bringing my legs with him until they rested on his arms.

“Um, Ben. This is . . . I mean, I’m kind of exposed,” I said, feeling both vulnerable and yet at the same time desperate to have him where I wanted him most.

“Yes, I know. You’re at my mercy. Like the feeling?”

“Imogen told me that you were naturally dominant. I didn’t understand quite why she said that, but I guess now I know what she—Ben!”

He leaned forward to capture my gasp as he slid into my body with a movement that left me breathless.

It’s a good thing I’m double-jointed, or I don’t think this would be at all comfortable,
I said, mentally moaning at the sensation of him moving within me.
The difference between you and my toys is . . . well, indescribable!

“I begin to think I’m doing this wrong,” he said, releasing my lower lip from where he had been sucking on it. His hips flexed, and this time my eyes did cross as he released my legs. I wrapped them around his hips and arched up against him.

I scraped my nails down his spine, enjoying the sensations he was mentally feeding me. I could feel his arousal building, which just fired mine to new heights. “I can’t imagine that what you’re doing is anything but absolutely perfect. Particularly that.”

He gave another hard little thrust that had me digging my fingers into the thick muscles of his behind, trying to pull him in deeper. “If I was doing it correctly, you shouldn’t be able to talk at all, let alone think.”

I started to laugh. I couldn’t help myself, it was just so funny that in the middle of all that thrusting and heaving and wet, slick noises that were slightly embarrassing since I knew they had their source with me, in all of the passion that wrapped us in its fire, he thought he wasn’t doing it right.

I kissed him, savoring both the taste and feel of him as our bodies moved together in a rhythm that seemed wholly unique to us. I wanted to say something profound, something that would tell him what this moment meant to me, but all that came out was a plea.
Feed from me, Ben. I can feel your hunger. I’m offering my blood willingly. I want you to take it from me.

His mouth moved to my neck and down to my shoulder, trailing burning kisses in its wake. I had spoken the truth—the desire to feed swamped him, filling his mind with a need that claimed me as well.

He licked a spot on my shoulder, his teeth scraping as he fought a war between need and self-control. I couldn’t stand it, couldn’t resist any more of the sensations of pleasure he was pouring into my mind. My body tightened around him as I was sent spiraling into a moment of pure, unadulterated rapture. Ben groaned, arching back to yell something in a language I didn’t understand, his hips making a couple of short, fast thrusts before he collapsed down onto me.

I welcomed the weight of him, my breathing as ragged and rough as his. I held him tight as our hearts beat wildly, slowly calming until some minutes later, when Ben roused himself with a murmur about crushing me.

“Not in the least,” I told him as he rolled over onto his back, pulling me flush against his side. I was glad he did—I felt as boneless as a newborn baby.

Ben suddenly cracked an eye open. “Are you taking some sort of—”