To Kill An Angel (13 page)

“Rest,” he commanded softly.  “I’ll be back soon.”

I watched him go.  When he shut the bedroom door, I tried to put him and everyone else out of my mind.  I don’t know how long I lay there before I realized that my attempts at rest were futile.  It must’ve been quite a while, though.  I could feel my thirst gaining ground and clouding my mind.  My thoughts rocked between physical need and the reliving of the surreal events of the last few hours, days, and weeks.

In many ways, my entire life seemed surreal.  Well most of it anyway.  Some parts felt much more unbelievable than others.  Unfortunately, it seemed that the painful parts were the ones I remembered most clearly, the ones that felt most real. 

Each time I would try to push away the most bothersome memories in favor of the more pleasant ones, they would claw their way back to the surface of my mind and drag me back down into what felt like the depths of despair.  There, they would swirl angrily with my ever-increasing thirst, each feeding on the other, growing more and more dominant of my thoughts.

Finally, tired of fighting, tired of thinking, tired of being awake, I turned on my side and I let the pain pour out of me in great heaves of agony.  Tears streamed from my eyes, wetting the pillow beneath my cheek.  Eventually, I cried myself to sleep, relieved to feel the comfort of oblivion carrying me away.

Almost as soon as I drifted off, something woke me.  I wasn’t sure at first if it was a noise or the delicious scent of sandalwood and human blood.  The smell was so intense, I knew the source had to be close. 

The strength of the heavenly scent in the air coupled with my unpreparedness for it made my thirst increase exponentially.  My throat burned like I’d swallowed acid.  My chest ached with want of the sweet blood.  My limbs stung with icy heat. 

The last thing I was aware of was the prickling of my elongated canines against my lips.  They were already prepared to penetrate flesh in order to satisfy my incredible yearning.  My focus was singular.  My need was violent.

When the doorknob to the bedroom twisted, it echoed in the silence, drowning out the drum-like thumping of my heart.  I watched breathlessly as the wood panel moved toward me, opening just a crack to reveal Cade’s handsome face on the other side.

Then, as if by merely thinking it, I was standing in front of him, taking him into my arms and burying my teeth in the deliciously-scented skin of his neck.  Somewhere in the back of my mind, it registered that not only did he not resist, but he wrapped his muscular arms around me and held me close as I pulled long gulps of his thick, warm blood into my mouth and let it pour down my fiery throat.

Almost immediately, I felt it singing in my veins and saturating my tissues, warming them, revitalizing them.  The gift of his blood was bringing me back to life. 

But then, all too soon, Cade was torn from my grasp and I found myself eye to eye with Bo.

“Get him out of here,” he called sharply to someone over his shoulder.  I didn’t see who.  I couldn’t take my eyes from him, from his thunderous expression. 

He looked angry.  But he also looked worried and tired and hungry and delicious all at the same time.  Without taking his eyes from mine, Bo reached behind him and slammed the door shut.  I saw the change in him as his pupils widened.  The deep, rich brown of his irises didn’t fade because his thirst had been satisfied.  No, it was hunger that I saw.  Hunger for me.  Hunger for my soul, for my love, for my body. 

Desire rippled through me at the look on his face.  I almost forgot that I still needed blood, that I still ached for something other than Bo himself. 

I could see intent in his eyes as he watched me.  He wanted to take me, to satisfy the passionate hunger we’d felt for what seemed like an eternity already.  He was as tired of fighting it as I was. 

Rather than tearing my clothes off and whisking me away on a wave of sensual satisfaction, Bo tore open his wrist and held it to my lips.  Without hesitation, I touched my tongue to the trickle and lapped it up, reveling in the taste.  I closed my eyes to savor the flavor.  There was no comparison to blood that came from Bo.  Not even Cade’s delicious fluid could compete with the sweetness that pumped through Bo’s veins.

As I suckled greedily at his wrist, Bo walked me backward to the bed.  When the backs of my knees hit the mattress, I stopped.  Bo took his wrist from my mouth and covered my lips with his own. 

He wanted me.  Badly.  I could taste it as plainly as I could taste his blood.  And, somehow, it was even more delicious, even more irresistible. 

When I felt his hands at my waist, I didn’t hesitate to lift my arms as he pulled my shirt up over my head.  Then his lips were on mine again, devouring me.

His hands roamed up and down my back until they stopped once more at my waist, coming around to my belly.  I felt his fingers working loose the button and zipper of my jeans.

He leaned back to look at me and then dropped to one knee to pull off my shoes before he eased my pants down my legs.  Obligingly, I stepped out of them.  Bo’s eyes never left mine as he stood.

Bending, he swept me up in his arms and laid me gently back on the bed, my head resting once more on the mountain of pillows.  The stimulating rasp of velvet against my naked skin sent a cascade of chills skittering across my chest and belly. 

Backing away, Bo reached for the hem of his own shirt and peeled it off, revealing to my starving eyes the pale, smooth skin that covered his muscular chest and stomach.  When he reached for the button of his jeans, he paused.  My eyes flew to his and I saw the blaze of my own desire reflected there, scorching in its heat and intensity.

The grate of metal teeth drew my eyes back down.  I was immediately mesmerized by the play of muscles in Bo’s arms and abdomen as he unzipped his jeans and bent to remove his shoes.  When he straightened, he didn’t take off his jeans.  Instead he crawled up onto the bed and took my foot in his hand, pressing his lips to the arch.  His eyes didn’t leave mine as he licked and nipped his way up the inside of my leg.

When he laid my leg back on the bed, he trailed the fingers of his other hand up the inside of my right thigh, gently spreading my legs so he could stretch out on his belly between them. 

Heat swept through me as I looked down at Bo’s burning eyes where he hovered only inches from the place I needed him most.  As I watched, he pulled his lips back from his razor-sharp teeth and then drove them into the tender skin of my groin.  A shower of fire and light exploded inside me and I closed my eyes and let the pleasure consume me.

I could barely breathe, the sensation was so incredible.  The intimacy of it, the bliss of it was so intense that all thought was washed away by wave after wave of ecstasy.

When Bo’s mouth moved from my leg, I felt his lips graze my left hand.  I opened my eyes a crack and saw a golden band encircling my ring finger.  My befuddled mind wondered over it for just a moment before it returned to Bo as he kissed his way up my body.

Stretching out atop me, Bo nestled his hips between my thighs as his mouth covered mine.  I tasted the delicious flavor of my own blood when he slid his tongue between my teeth to tangle with mine.

Shifting his weight to one side, Bo’s knowing fingers teased a trail from my throat to my shoulder where he eased my bra strap down.  His lips followed the path with feathery kisses all the way to my breast.  I couldn’t hold back a moan as his skilled tongue adored every inch of flesh he revealed. 

A liquid heat began to bubble just below my navel.  I knew instinctively that this was our moment.  This was our time—the right time.

  Reaching behind me, Bo unclasped my bra and quickly dispatched the material.  He leaned back, his eyes roving over my bare breasts causing a flush to spread across my chest. 

“You’re so beautiful,” he whispered reverently.  “Perfect.” 

He bent his head and sprinkled hot kisses all the way from my throat to the flat of my stomach and on to my navel, where he dipped his tongue inside.  His fingers slipped beneath the band of my panties and he worked the silky material down my legs until he was once again at my feet. 

Tossing my last piece of clothing aside, Bo slid from the bed and stood, worshipping me with his eyes as he pushed his jeans down his legs.  He straightened and stood perfectly still as I raised myself onto my elbows to memorize every detail of his flawless naked form.

I felt as though I would burst when Bo set one knee on the bed and crawled back to me.  He eased himself down between my legs, covering my body with his.  The feel of his skin shifting against mine sent a gush of steamy desire pouring through me. 

Every nerve in my body was screaming out for his touch.  I ached in ways I’d never ached before, ached in places I’d never ached before.  I was alive with need. 

When I opened my mouth to beg, to plead with Bo to put an end to the unbearable want that flooded my body, he smothered my plea with his lips.  His kiss was deep and fiery with passion.  It drove me to the brink of a need so desperate, a desire so overwhelming that it stole my breath. 

Bo’s lips left mine as he positioned himself over me.  With an intensity that seemed to singe my very soul, he gazed unblinkingly into my eyes, and in that time, a space no longer than a single heartbeat, our thoughts were one.  In my head, I heard a word as if we’d both spoken it aloud. 

“Forever” echoed through my mind and through my heart as Bo joined his body to mine in one smooth motion. 

With that one action, in that one moment of the most intense ecstasy I’d ever experienced, he sealed our fates.  He sealed our fates, our bodies, our lives, our love and our future.

We delighted in each other’s bodies for what seemed like hours before we rested.  It was as my body was floating back down to earth from the clouds that I became aware of Bo rubbing my ring finger.  Slowly, I opened my eyes. 

There, poised over me with his weight resting on his forearms, was Bo.  He had my hand in his, brushing his thumb back and forth over the empty space below the knuckle of my left fourth finger.  When he raised his eyes to mine, there was still passion in them, passion I could clearly remember us slaking only moments before.  Or had we?

Bo opened his mouth as if to say something, but then closed it with a snap of his teeth.  When I saw the wetness of my blood still glistening on his lips, I became even more confused, different memories colliding in my mind and wrestling for the truth, for reality.  Raising my head, I glanced down between our bodies and saw that my bra was still intact, still hiding my nakedness from Bo’s gaze. 

I lay my head back down and my eyes met Bo’s again.  We looked questioningly at one another. 

“What just happened?” I asked in a whisper.

“Did you see it, too?” he inquired, his voice husky with desire.

“Yes, I saw it.  And- and I
felt
it, too,” I confessed, feeling suddenly shy.

One side of Bo’s mouth pulled up into a satisfied grin.  “So did I.”

I felt a flush of warmth suffuse the skin of my cheeks and I couldn’t quell the nervous giggle that bubbled in my throat.

“I- I don’t understand,” I admitted.

Bo shrugged, shaking his head in amazement.

“Neither do I.”

“Maybe it’s because we drank each other’s blood.”

“But we’ve done that before and never had this happen.”

“True,” I said, chewing my lip in thought.  “Of course, I wasn’t a vampire then.”

“Good point.  Maybe our connection is just getting stronger,” he said, shifting his weight to one side and brushing a strand of hair from my cheek with one hand.  “We’re destined to be together.  That’s just more proof.”

“Maybe,” I answered agreeably. 

I knew that my attempt to be casual was a miserable failure.  It was undoubtedly belied by the smile that I felt wrinkle the corners of my eyes and beam out at Bo from my face.  But I couldn’t help it.  To hear Bo speaking about our destiny, about our lives as if they were forever joined by divine will was like pouring sweet, warm honey all over my heart.