Savannah Past Midnight (11 page)

“Oh, yes. Oh God, please, Colton!”

I grin in satisfaction as she bucks hard against me.
Using my index finger I start up a relentless circle as she starts
to shake and tighten against my hold
. Nearly there … so
fuckin’ beautiful.

Against the back of her head I grind out the command,
“Let go for me, Cosette. Do it. Give me that orgasm. I want it from
you and I’m gonna get it.”

Buried impossibly deep within her, I feel the first
clenching waves start up. I pull back out and thrust home, grinding
firmly into her tightness as her screams of ecstasy begin bouncing
off the shower walls.

Music to my fuckin’ ears.

“That’s it, such a good girl.” I growl low, not able
to hold back a second longer. I intensify my pounding thrusts,
loving the way she’s cumming for me without holding anything back.
I shove deep inside of her one last time before releasing with a
raw shout, my cock pulsing so fast and hard from the unbelievable
orgasm that I’m seeing black spots and feel like I’m on the verge
of passing out.

Holy fuck. Unfiltered perfection.

I’m gasping for breath and feeling like my muscles
are suddenly made of Jell-O—most likely the after effects from the
fight and the rampant fucking—when I realize that she is perfectly
still.
Too
still.

Oh shit.

Did I hurt her? Was I too rough?

My eyes fly up to see her tiny hands balled into
fists, completely trapped in my punishing hold. “Cosette?”

I gently pull out of her pliant body, release her and
spin her around to face me, but before I can blink she’s shoved me
away and I go flying back four feet to slam against the opposite
wall. I wince as my back hits the marble so fucking hard—it’s a
wonder the shit didn’t crack under pressure. Pain rolls though me
but I mentally push it back.

She stares across at me with the crazed look of a
trapped animal, a look I’ve never seen on her face before. Her
fangs are bared and the black pupils are just adding to the
shocking sight.

With difficulty she rasps, “Get … get away from
me.”

She looks scared out of her mind.
What
changed?

“Cosette, what’s wrong? Talk to me, sweetheart.” I
take a step toward her to comfort her but she shrinks away into the
corner, yelling, “No! I’m about to bite you! Get away!”

She’s hungry?
I’m furious that she’s holding
back when she needs something. I lash out, “Then fuckin’ bite me,
woman! Take what you need, I don’t give a shit! I just want to give
it all to you. Don’t you think that the thought of you drinkin’ my
blood hasn’t crossed my mind before now? I’m not that fucking
dense. Gimme some damn credit!”

She stares at me for a long, tension-filled moment
and finally rasps out, “Please, please, Colton, at least go into
the other room. I need time to get my emotions under control.
Please … the urge is so strong and I’m worried that I won’t be
able to control myself with you. I’m begging you.”

Give and take. You’ve waited this long to get close
to her. Don’t piss her off now. The possibility that she would ever
harm me is stupid as shit, but I’ll give her what she wants. This
time around.

“Fine. You have ten minutes then I’m comin’ back in
here to get ya.”

She nods once and I can’t help but think how
beautifully vulnerable she looks with her long black hair covering
her breasts as she stands drenched and naked before me. My dick
starts to harden at the thought of sinking into her once again.

I snap a towel off the rack and stalk into the
bedroom, closing the door firmly behind me, reluctantly giving her
the privacy she pleaded so desperately for.

I briskly towel off, trying to calm my surging
emotions. I had hoped that the shower session would lead right to
round two in my bed, where I could make slow, sweet love to her for
the next two hours.

What the hell happened?

I toss a Duraflame log into the fireplace and use a
Zippo to light each end. Securing the towel tightly around my
waist, I cross barefoot to the bed and flop down onto my aching
back, the tension and intensity of the past several hours finally
taking its toll. I glance over at the bedside clock, which reads
2:17 a.m. Light streams out of the bathroom as she suddenly
emerges. I prop myself up on my elbows to watch her. I sigh because
she’s dressed and that’s something I’m not fucking happy about in
the least.

“C’mere.”

Hesitantly she replies, “I really need to go.”

“I do somethin’ wrong, somethin’ you didn’t like in
that shower, babydoll? I can handle it. Tell me.”

Her dark brows draw together and she vigorously
shakes her head. “No. No, it was nothing like that. Honestly. It’s
just ….”

She trails off and looks away, staring at the leaping
flames.

I’m not giving her the chance to keep what’s going on
to herself.

I growl, “Look at me. It’s just
what?
”

Now blue, her eyes fly to mine. “You were right. It’s
just that I wanted to taste your blood. Desperately.”

“And that’s a problem
how
?”

“That’s a problem, Colton, because I crave it so
badly that there is a strong probability that I wouldn’t be able to
stop myself. I could very well kill you, drain you dry! Does
that
resonate with you?”

I bark out a laugh. “Shit, girl, you wouldn’t be able
to kill me. I can handle you and that situation.”

I only catch a glimpse of her fury as the final word
slips past my lips. Before I know it, she’s moving in a blur,
pinning me down, straddling me with a vice-like hold on my
throat.

“You think you can handle a vampire? Truly? Show me.
Show me how strong you are, Colton.
Do it.”

I’ve never heard her voice so flat and detached
before, and it sends a shiver of discomfort up my spine. I swiftly
brush the feeling aside, saying, “All right then.”

One hand closes around her slim wrist and the other
latches onto her upper arm. I use my weight in an attempt to flip
her beneath me, but nothing happens. Logic tells me that it’s
impossible, that there is absolutely no reason for me not to be
able to flip a slight female, but the force she is exerting to hold
me down is immense, easily equal to that of five men my size. Not
possible. I strain harder and try again, using everything I have to
move her. Nothing. I am trapped beneath her, completely immobilized
and gasping for air.

She leans down to whisper menacingly, “
Now
do
you see how dangerous it is for me to be this close to you? I was
on the verge of bleeding you dry in that shower, Colton. The force
of the orgasm ignited my unchecked hunger for you. It’s a miracle
that you’re still alive.”

She opens her hand and sits back on her haunches.

I push up on my elbows and in a matter-of-fact voice
argue, “Lemme tell you somethin’, and I want you to listen close.
Instinct has kept me alive all these years, Cosette, and deep down
it’s screaming at me to trust you. Completely. Now make up all the
fuckin’ excuses you want, woman, but the fact is, we’re right for
each other, and if you wanna drink from me, for whatever reason,
then do it, because I sure as shit don’t want you going anywhere
else from this point on. You’re
mine
.”

She seems stunned at the gravity of my words.

“I’m serious.”

“Colton … this, all of this between us is so
foreign to me. Not only am I trying to figure out what you are
coming to mean to me but more importantly, how to keep from harming
you. There
might
be a way for me to drink from you, but I
need to give it some more thought. Can you be patient with me?”

“Yeah, yeah I can. Wanna kiss you, though. Get back
down here.”

Her vivid eyes soften as she hovers closer. Her still
damp hair falls all around us a moment before our lips connect. My
hands close around her shoulders, pulling her against me as the
tender kiss rapidly turns heated and frantic. I groan into her
mouth as our tongues play in eager exploration. Her head tilts to
the side as her hand caresses my cheek and then brushes over my
hair.

I break the kiss for a moment to whisper, “You’re so
damn perfect, you know that?”

“Colton, I’ve never—”

“Hush.”

I claim her mouth once again and savor the intensity,
the energy that’s flowing between us. It’s always how I’d imagined
and never dared to hope it could be with a lover.

Just when I’m about to take things to the next level
she stops to whisper quietly, “I really have to get going.”

“No. I want you to stay the night with me.”

“I can’t.”

“Give me one reason.”

“Dawn.”

“Sunlight messes with you?”

“Immensely.”

“Need to fix that.”

“What?”

“Get some blackout curtains or even more shit in here
so you can safely stay with me. I want you close to me.”

Both of her small palms run across my temples,
“You’re an exceptional man, Colton.”

I just stare up at the woman who is quickly
conquering every one of my well laid defenses.

“When can I see you again? I’m working ’til about two
thirty every night this week, but I can come to your place
afterward.”

She seems hesitant. “I … I don’t know, Colton.
I’ve been trained to be incredibly private about where I live.”

“Fuckin’ blindfold me and take me there then. I want
to spend time with you, not harm you or run my mouth to buddies
regarding private shit about you. If you don’t know that about me
by now then you never will.”

“I know, and you’re right. It’s just … with
everything that’s been happening recently, I feel vulnerable. You
can understand, right?”

“I want to, baby. I also want to help protect
you—that is, if you’ll give me a chance.”

“Fine. I’ll pick you up on River Street tomorrow
night. You can come with me to my place, but I’m warning you, the
blindfold isn’t a bad idea. I might use it to get you there. I’m a
wary kind. It’s the way I’ve been taught. Survival is paramount in
my world, Colton.”

I grin at her. “Darlin’, give me a damn roofie if you
want. Drug my ass to get me there if you have to. But know this:
you can trust me. I’ll
always
have your back.”

“That means a lot.”

Her body feels so good on my chest that I’m reluctant
for her to leave.

“Promise you’ll come.”

“Yes. I promise, Colton. I’ll see you in just about
twenty-four hours.”

“Lemme write down my cell in case somethin’ comes up.
If you’re running late, just text so I know you’re all right,
’kay?”

She slides off me and stands beside the bed,
adjusting her skirt. “My cowboy. So protective.”

I get up and twine my arms around her waist. “You
know it, Cosette. One last thing … why did you come to the
fight tonight? It’s been two weeks and I was beginning to think we
might never see each other again.”

“It’s simple, really. I couldn’t fight the pull
anymore. You’ve done things to me, to my emotions, that are
difficult to explain and impossible to deny. I tried hard to stay
away, but each hour, each second that went by became more of a
weight, a discomfort that had only one cure. You, Colton. You.”

My chest tightens as I pull her against me. In that
moment I realize that she’s the one I’ve been searching for my
entire life.

Now I just have to come up with a solid plan to keep
us both alive.

I
glance sidelong at the
headlights of my old Bronco that are providing the only source of
illumination for my grueling task. The fierce blizzard started up
just shy of three hours ago. After checking miles of fence line I’d
met up with the old man a quarter mile from the house, where he
informed me that there was a massive gap on the western side barbed
wire. Lucky me, I was the guy for the job.

The wind is so fierce and the driving snow so thick
that my visibility is limited to about twelve inches ahead. I’ve
already re-seated a new post—the one that caused the collapse in
the first place. The old one had substantial rot and is lying to
the side, mostly buried beneath the snow. My leather work gloves
provide little in the way of warmth, and at this point sensation is
nearly gone, but they’re my best defense against my hands getting
torn up from the barbed wire. I pause for a second and consider
climbing into the truck to warm up for a minute but decide against
it, wanting to get the job done. Fucking around will just stretch
the misery out longer.

Our heated disagreements over just about everything
have steadily become more frequent over the years and the tension
between us constantly threatens to boil over. I thought that after
my father remarried six years ago, he might calm down. Alice seems
like a nice lady, far better than he deserves, but he’s still the
same damned mean-ass bastard he’s always been. Nah, I’ll stay out
here until the job is done—don’t want to give him yet another
reason to come down on me. I do the work quickly and efficiently
and things are nearly tolerable between us. When my work is not to
his liking, well, then there’s hell to pay.

“Aw, shit!” I’m nearly finished when my right glove
gets snagged up on a rusty barb. I fuck with it for a few minutes;
finally, teeth chattering, I give up and slide my hand out of the
protection.

The burning in my exposed hand is immediate and
intensely painful. Cursing furiously, I get to work in the near
blinding conditions, finally managing to get the last wire strung
and secured, doing my best not to get my bare hand snagged up.

I curse a blue streak as I grab my tools and haul ass
over to my Bronco. Thankfully I left the thing running and I moan
at the welcoming heat.