Mirror: Book One of the Valkanas Clan (21 page)

The heat that had rushed through me last night surged back, and I leaned into the kiss, closing my eyes. Damn this felt
good
. I wryly remembered telling a friend a few years back how I just wasn’t that into kissing, how it only seemed like an awkward squishing of lips and tongues that brought to mind clumsy high-school dates and dances more than it did desire.

Obviously, I’d had no idea what I was talking about.

His hands released my wrists, one arm moving to pull me towards him even more tightly while the other explored the curves of my waist, spine, and shoulder blades. I would have never named my shoulder blades as an erogenous zone before, but I was quickly warming to the idea. I moved my hands to his sides, slowly tracing the line from just below his hips, along his side, and all the way up to his neck. Then I moved my hands between us, absorbing the shape of his abs and chest, circling my fingernails around his nipples, and he moaned quietly, his knees bending just slightly.

It took hardly any force at all to propel him backwards across the room and onto the bed. I dodged away, grinning.

“They didn’t teach me that move," I said, "but it seems to work pretty well.”

He growled, leapt for me, and we tumbled to the floor. Beckett bolted from his hiding spot under the bed and scrambled into the bathroom.

“
Aww
, see, now you made me scare the poor little kitty,” Tom teased, cushioning my head under one arm and using his other arm to pin both of mine. Though my feminist inclinations railed against it, a more primal part of my brain was taking over, pointing out just how nice it felt to be trapped against someone so damn attractive. My head was at the perfect angle to study the faint line his jugular made crossing his neck, and the memory of how his mouth tugging at my neck last night had pulled waves of exquisite electricity through every vein and artery left me wondering if I could do the same to him. I tilted my head, slowly licking along that faint line, gently scraping my teeth across it without breaking the skin.

His muscles rippled, and the arm that had been cushioning my head now clenched to press me against his neck. I wanted to pour that same electricity into him as he had into me last night, but his comment about how he could only draw blood from me since I’d just drank stopped my teeth just short of piercing his skin.

With a shudder of effort, he pulled back slightly to look at me.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” I said.

“Then why aren’t you biting? Do you not want to?”

I looked at him, confused.

“I thought it wasn’t safe unless we’d just
drank
human blood.”

His gaze clouded for a moment, then cleared. “Oh! No, it just won’t satisfy true blood hunger unless there’s fresh human blood running through our veins.” He chuckled, smiling at me in a way that did decidedly…interesting…things to certain areas of my body. “But that doesn’t mean you can’t do it, it’s…” his voice trailed off.

Remembering the way I’d felt last night, I could see why he was at a loss for words. And needing no more encouragement, I freed my arms, tilted his head back, and sunk into the spot I’d been teasing. Instantly, his whole body was drawn tight, as if he was arching around and into my mouth. His eyes closed, and a soft moan slipped from him.

I smiled as I watched him, remembering how it had felt to have him drink from me. I wondered if the same current was running through his veins right now, or if it felt different for him. It certainly felt different to be on this side of the equation, I realized. A faint feeling of power had slipped into me as I’d begun, and it grew steadily as I drank, until it seemed that an electric white noise was assaulting my ears and spreading across my entire body. I forgot where I was, even who I was. Everything within me was aware only of the pure white energy obliterating my senses.

Aly
, you have to stop.

I could hear the voice in my head only distantly, and I couldn’t remember why it was familiar. I didn’t much care either. Then, suddenly, my stomach clenched in pain, and I fought to keep myself from doubling over.

He’s too caught up to stop you. If you don’t want to kill him, you must stop,
the familiar voice said.

Kill who?

My question
paused
me just long enough for my senses to begin to recover, for me to notice I was curled over someone who was moaning my name, over and over, but more faintly each time. And then I snapped fully back into myself, and I realized it was Tom beneath me, that I was draining him, and that he didn’t seem to care.

I had no idea what to do, and wasn’t sure if I had enough time to get Valerie and Damian and explain. I released my hold on his neck, grateful to see the holes begin to mend but scared at how slowly it seemed to be happening. Tom’s eyes were still closed, and his mouth was still moving slightly, but I could no longer tell what he was saying.

“Tom?” I said, shaking him. “Tom, I think I drank too much. What do I do?” I shook him again. “Tom!”

Desperate, I sliced my teeth across my wrist and placed it against his mouth. At first I felt nothing but the skin stitching itself up again, so I sliced it open again, wider this time, and returned it to his lips. This time I felt the light brush of his tongue, and slowly his lips fastened around the wound and he began to drink. I suddenly realized that the electric pull I’d felt go through me last night was happening again, that it was the same white noise that had overwhelmed me moments before moving back through me and into him. It felt, suddenly, far more intimate than kissing, or even sex, to be sharing this with him, to trade this pulse of energy between us and have it running through both our veins. Did this happen at every feeding, or only between vampires drawing from one another? And would I ever be able to control it without Dorothy’s help?

Tom’s eyes fluttered open, and he looked, oddly, both tranquil and confused. He stopped drinking, slowly licking the wound on my wrist and then sitting up to face me, keeping my hand resting between his on his lap.

“What happened?” he asked. “I remember your teeth sliding into me, and this incredible rush, and then…well, and then everything gets hazy.”

I looked away, ashamed at my loss of control. He’d had no apparent problems at stopping when he drank from me, last night or tonight. But I’d almost killed him. I felt terrible.

“I drank too much. Everything disappeared in this white rush and I forgot what I was doing. I think,” I shuddered, forcing myself to return his gaze. It was important he know how close I’d been, how out of control I was. “I think I could have killed you.”

Tom, however, didn’t look the least bit concerned at my admission.

“But you didn’t. You stopped and returned blood to me. Since I just drank last night I should be fully recovered in a matter of minutes.” He shrugged matter-of-factly. “Because feeding from another vampire doesn’t satisfy the real blood hunger, except under the circumstances we’ve already talked about, it can be harder to know when to stop at first.”

I just stared at him. He colored slightly, and continued talking.

“The fault, if there is any, is mine. I’ve never been bitten by someone I was so, um” he paused.
“So attracted to.
I didn’t realize I’d be too overwhelmed to stop you if you went too far. I’m sorry.”

“You’re apologizing to me?” I
snapped,
my guilt and confusion momentarily turning to anger. “I almost freaking
killed you
, Tom—hell, the only reason I didn’t was because of Dorothy—and
you
are apologizing to
me
?!”

It wasn’t until Tom looked at me, puzzled, and said “Dorothy?” that I realized what I’d said. Well crap. So much for keeping my little chats with my dead ancestor a secret. Now it was my turn to get embarrassed. I was starting to feel like we were playing a game of awkward-glance hot potato.

“My, uh, clairsentient great-grandmother.”

“How could a dead woman stop you from draining me?" he asked.

“She sort of visits me sometimes,” I stammered, feeling like an idiot.

“Visits you?” Tom spun, studying every corner of the room. “She was here? How? Where is she now? “

“Not like—I don’t see her, or anything, I just hear her voice in my head.” 

“How do you know it’s not just your conscience, or your subconscious, or something like that then?” He didn’t sound critical, just curious.

“I’m not sure. I just do, I guess. It doesn’t sound like I sound when I’m just talking to myself. Not that I talk to myself a lot or anything,” I finished lamely.

Tom studied me for a moment. “I think you need to tell Damian about this.”

I shook my head. “I’m not ready to tell him yet—his expectations for me are already so high, you know? Plus what if Valerie was less than thrilled to discover that someone he says he loved is now making guest appearances in my head?”

“Maybe,” Tom said. “But he’ll find out about it eventually, and it would be better if it was because you told him than some other way.”

“You don’t have to tell him though, do you?” I asked, suddenly concerned that Tom would be obliged to share my secret.

“Not unless he gives me some kind of direct command that would force it, no. And commands aren't really his style unless they're necessary.”

I relaxed. “Thank you."

I leaned forward until our knees, both crossed Indian style, touched. The touch immediately
resparked
the desire that had been dampened by Dorothy’s visit and our conversation.

He leaned forward to meet me, and we kissed, slowly standing and working our way over to the bed. We’d just gotten settled
lying
down when he tugged my head back gently, our gazes meeting.

“I trust you,
Aly
—”

I started to open my mouth in protest, but he stopped me with the gentle pressure of his fingers against my lips.

“No, wait.” He paused, and took a breath. “I won’t pressure you to bite me again, even if it did feel insanely good.” A slight tremor shook him, and my body, unconsciously remembering those same sensations, mirrored it. “But I want you to know that I trust you, and if you ever want to try again, you don’t even need to ask.”

“But what if I lose control?” I said, thinking
I didn’t even know where or who I was, so how could I know when to stop?

“There are plenty of precautions we could take. If we both fed just before, for example, you wouldn’t be hungry and drinking much of my blood would be like trying to eat a second meal just after finishing a first.”

I nodded. I didn’t want to talk any more. The texture of his body pressed against mine was reminding me of all the
other
things we could be doing.

We didn’t emerge for the rest of the night. I enjoyed myself too much to worry about what Damian and Valerie might think of any noise that was escaping the guest room, but I did feel slightly bad for Beckett, who I suspect hid in the bathroom for hours after we’d fallen asleep.

I woke up feeling optimistic. I was snuggled up in bed with a man—well, a vampire, but a definitely very
male
vampire—who was both sexy and caring. And my plans for the day included reconciling with my best friend and, hopefully, resolving the horn/Cesar/elf mystery. The possibility that tonight might find me once again curled up with Tom, but this time without any power-hungry vampires trying to kill me or disappointed best friends angry at me, filled me with an elation that was better than sex.

Well, better than sex with anyone but Tom, maybe.

I rolled over to face him, hoping he might already be awake as well. He wasn’t, but he looked so sweet in his sleep that I ended up just laying there, staring at him.