After Sundown: Redemption (28 page)

A groan sounded deep in his chest as he slanted his lips over hers. His expert mouth possessed hers, claimed her as his. Alyssa moaned when she parted her lips and he delved inside. He plundered her mouth ruthlessly, taking and demanding more from her. She gave as good as she got, meeting each touch of his tongue in a dance as old as time.

Christian couldn’t get enough of her. She was his. She wanted him, just him. He used no coercion, no powers beyond those of human attraction. She had made the choice of her own free will. He knew it hadn’t been easy for her. He had seen the vulnerability and uncertainty in her eyes. She was scared. He understood.

He would never forget the moment when Alyssa’s eyes changed. When she looked at him with warmth and welcome instead of guarded passion. In that instant he had felt like he could do anything. Be anything. The guilt that ruled his life had faded under her warm gaze. She made him feel like so much more than he was, so much better. And he wanted to be that, for her.

When she finally spoke the words he needed to hear, Christian released the passion he had barely held in check. He delved into her mouth again and again, wanting to taste her completely, totally. He couldn’t get enough. When she met his tongue with hers he almost exploded. The silky feel of it made him imagine other parts of his body enjoying her touch. His pants grew even more painfully tight as desire burned through him. He dragged his mouth down her neck, laving her pulse point on the way. Taking small nips of her collarbone, he started to unbutton her blouse the rest of the way.

When Alyssa placed her hands over his, he thought she wanted to stop him. He couldn’t have been more wrong. She gently pushed his hands aside and quickly unbuttoned it herself. When she undid the last button, he spread her shirt apart and slid his fingers over her soft stomach. She quivered from his touch. He covered her mouth with his again as his hands skimmed over her belly button and worked their way up. The tips of his fingers touched the edge of Alyssa’s bra and she shivered under his touch. Christian undid the front clasp with an ease that told much about his experience with women.

Arching her body upwards, she made it clear that she wanted his touch. But Christian hesitated. His hungry gaze devoured her beauty and softness. He had been with many beautiful women during his life, but not a single one could measure up to the woman he now held beneath him. No, he had no trouble finding his way around a woman, but tonight he felt like a green boy. Worried he would not please her, as she deserved to receive pleasure.

He looked down at his hands and realized they trembled. Alyssa moaned with need and lifted her body again so that his hands covered her breasts. Christian ran his fingers back and forth over her nipples and watched as they darkened and pebbled under his touch. They looked like sweet ripe berries. He needed them in his mouth. Bending over her, he worshipped one breast with his mouth while continuing to caress the other. Alyssa’s soft sounds of pleasure were killing him. He took turns drawing each nipple into his mouth. Sucking them gently until they hardened and tightened from his attention.

Alyssa’s fingers gripped his hair and pulled his head closer. The tug of his mouth became more demanding until she was writhing under him, moaning his name over and over again. He skimmed his hand down, along her smooth stomach to the button of her slacks. Unbuttoning and unzipping them, he slid them down as she lifted her hips obligingly. All the while he continued to suckle her breasts. Her moans grew louder and more needy.

Christian pulled away to look at the little scrap of silky peach cloth she wore. It barely covered her womanhood. He smiled at her sexy choice of panties. Unable to help himself, he slid his fingers along its edges. Alyssa made soft mewling sounds in her throat. When he laid his hand over her core, he could feel her moist heat through the cloth.

Alyssa lifted her hips and gasped.

“Christian, please.”

“Easy
, palomita
. I know what you need. And I’ll give it to you.”

Christian slipped his fingers underneath her panties. His fingers delved into her sweetness. Alyssa hissed and her hips jerked with each stroke of his fingers. He found her tender spot and gave it the attention it deserved. Over and over he caressed her, felt her harden from his touch. Her lips spread apart as they swelled with passion-filled blood.

Christian tore her panties off. He needed to see all of her. He stared down at the perfection that lay before him. Her voluptuous curves made him harden to the point of pain. Her soft skin made him hunger to taste it. And her body’s responses to his touch made him want to plunge deep inside her and lose himself in her softness. But still he held back. He wanted her pleasure to come first.

Alyssa’s moans became pleas for more. Christian gently spread her thighs and stared down at her womanhood. She was so beautiful. Swollen and wet with need, the scent of her desire made his mouth water. He lowered his head and took her in his mouth. Alyssa’s hips rose up to meet him. He ran his tongue over the center of her, flicking it over and over. Quivering from his touch, she gasped his name as he plunged his tongue inside her. Then he drew her nub into his mouth, again and again, until she screamed her release.

Christian lifted his head and watched as she gave her body up to passion. It was so incredibly erotic that he almost lost it then and there. She stilled as the last vibration overcame her, then lay with her eyes closed, a smile on her face. After quickly undressing, he began kissing his way back up her body. She giggled when his mouth ran over certain parts of her. He gave her teasing nips in those spots and then continued his way up.

He lapped at her stomach then delved his tongue into her belly button. Her giggles soon turned into gasps of pleasure. He slid his mouth up to her swollen breasts and devoured each wet, pebbled nipple in turn. When Alyssa started moaning and squirming restlessly underneath him he knew she was ready again.

Spreading her thighs wide, Christian kneeled on the bed poised above her. He tilted his hips forward until his hardness pressed lightly against her softness. Alyssa kept her eyes closed, tightly closed. The feel of her was so unbearably good that his next words were no more than a hiss between his clenched teeth.

“Open your eyes,
palomita
. I want to look into them when we join.”

Alyssa immediately obeyed his command. Her eyes fluttered open. Glazed with passion and need, her blue irises glowed against her long, dark lashes. Her full red lips were parted from each panting breath she took. She bit her bottom lip and tried to lift her hips higher so that he entered her. He pulled slightly back so that he remained just out of reach.

“Christian!” Her needy gasp filled him with savage satisfaction. Good. She was as hungry for him as he was for her. It was time.

He plunged deep and sure.

Now it was his turn to gasp with pleasure. The feel of her tight wetness surrounding him made his self-control slip dangerously low. His strokes began slow and long. Each one brought him almost out of her before he thrust deeply inside again. Alyssa’s passionate cries grew louder and louder. His strokes grew faster and harder. He felt her stiffen below him and knew she was getting close. Gritting his teeth, he held himself back, waiting for her to tumble over the edge. She arched her back, tilting her hips up to take him more fully. Her breasts jutted up, like an offering he couldn’t resist. His body raged out of control. Christian captured one of her nipples with his mouth and drew hungrily on it.

Alyssa cried out and pushed herself more fully against his lips. Passion consumed him, but another hunger also surfaced. Unable to stop it, his teeth lengthened. One grazed against her blood-engorged nipple. The beast broke free. It wanted to feed. It would not be denied. His teeth sank into the soft skin of her breast. Her sweet nectar flowed into his mouth and he drank deeply. Alyssa screamed her release and her body convulsed wildly beneath him. Christian lifted his head and roared as he exploded inside her a moment later.

After the last wave of orgasm rolled over him he lowered his head and ran his tongue over Alyssa’s bite. It would heal quickly. Laying his head on her chest he listened to her heartbeat as it slowed. Her breathing became even and he knew she dozed.

He was not so lucky.

He laid his head across her chest, careful not to put all his weight on her. But he didn’t sleep. What he had just shared with Alyssa had been the most wondrous experience of his entire life. He had made love so many times over the hundreds of years of his existence, that he’d lost count. His partners had been mostly worldly women who knew their way around a bedroom. Alyssa affected him like no other. He could tell from her actions as well as the tightness of her woman’s core that she had not been with many men. Yet each soft, needy sound that left her lips, each tilt of her hips, each touch of her fingers had seduced him more completely than any courtesan he had ever been with. They had joined as more than two bodies. They connected in mind as well as body. They had touched each other inside and out.

He lifted his head and gazed at Alyssa’s sleeping face. He gently ran his hand through her hair. As he started to pull it away, a single curl wrapped around his finger and clung to it. A surge of protectiveness like he had never known rose up in him. This woman belonged with him and to him. No one would ever hurt her. Not without answering to him.

She was so beautiful in sleep, like a fallen angel. Her silky raven tresses spread wildly around her heart-shaped face. Thick, dark lashes brushed against her ivory skin. Her soft cheeks were flushed from their lovemaking. Lush, red lips swollen from his kisses. His gaze moved down the graceful curve of her neck to her chest. The sight of her berry-tipped breasts stirred him. Made him want to take her again. But the sight of his bite marks stopped him in his tracks.

Shame washed over him. He had let the beast go. He had completely lost control of himself. How could he? After all these years of keeping tight rein on it, he’d failed to keep the beast in check. What if he had killed her? What if the beast had wanted all of her, all her blood, until her heart stopped beating? The hairs rose on the back of his neck as he realized that it could have happened. His beast could have taken her from him.

He had not bitten a woman while making love since he broke away from Bazhena. He was always under tight control. He had let himself feel the physical pleasures of lovemaking, but always held part of himself back, enough to keep the vampire in check. Hundreds of years had gone by and he had never had this happen. Something about Alyssa called to his beast. Made it want to rage out of control. Made it want to totally consume her.

Christian carefully pushed himself up and away from her. He continued to stare down at her sleeping form while he dressed. Her lushly curved body called to him, but he steeled himself against it. This was the last time they would make love. If he couldn’t trust himself with her, then he had no business making love to her. It would not happen again. He couldn’t risk the horrors his beast could claim, or Alyssa’s well-being.

It was time to call in the reinforcements.

Chapter Fourteen

Alyssa woke up. She’d just had the most erotic dream. She stretched and then rolled over onto her side. Reaching down in search of her blanket, she felt all around her but couldn’t find it. The sheets felt different, silky and smooth. Not like her usual one hundred percent cotton thread. That was strange. Yawning, she thought about forgetting about the blanket and going back to sleep. But there was a definite chill in the air. She must have set the air conditioner too high. Reluctantly she opened her eyes. A gasp escaped her lips as she encountered Christian’s intense mocha eyes inches from hers. He was bent over her on the bed.

It hadn’t been a dream!

“Time to awaken,
palomita
.” The tenderness in his eyes was unmistakable as he ran his index finger gently down her cheek. He looked longingly into her eyes for a minute, then straightened and walked away.

The seductive softness in his voice washed over her, making her recall their passionate lovemaking. Alyssa cringed as she thought about how wild she had acted with him. She definitely wasn’t a virgin, but she had never let herself go the way she had done with Christian tonight. The things she had done, the noises she had made. It was like she had become a totally different woman. One who’d just let her inner self-free and enjoyed the moment with everything she had.

Hmm. Maybe it hadn’t been so embarrassing after all. She distinctly remembered Christian keeping up with her pace for pace. The desire that burned in his eyes had been her undoing. The whole experience had been incredible. The best she had ever experienced. She had never felt as close to someone as she had when Christian plunged deep inside her.

As he walked across the room, Alyssa couldn’t help admire the way Christian moved. Like a panther, dangerous, yet graceful, beautiful, but deadly. When he abruptly swung around, his face no longer looked gentle. Instead it was shuttered. His eyes cold.