Blood Moon (Moon Books) (17 page)

He cried out and arched his back, his knuckles white against the sheets. “Zack, you’re going to make me come.”

I grinned and went for it again, doubling my efforts. I’d never felt this unequivocal need to give pleasure before. I hadn’t exactly been selfish, but with Noah I got as much satisfaction from watching him moan and come as I did from coming myself. His breathing sped up and his hips started undulating wildly. Finally he reached down and pulled me off of him.

“Not yet.”

“But I want to taste you.”

“Me too. But not like that.”

Oh. I’d almost forgotten. Almost.

He pulled me down so that I was lying on top of him, anchored his heels on the mattress and arched up, rubbing against me with his entire body. My skin burst into waves of sensation.

“Can we both?”

He nodded. “It’ll be easier if we turn-bite each other on the leg. Remember how I did it last week?”

I trembled at the memory of his teeth sinking into my thigh as he delved inside with his fingers, rubbing against my prostate. I shifted around quickly, eager to feel the new sensation.

Noah nuzzled up against me and wrapped his arm around my waist. “You ready?”

I nodded.

“You bite first, then I will.”

With a deep breath, I sank my teeth into the succulent flesh of his thigh. His flavor detonated in my mouth, a hundred times stronger than that of the girl. He tasted just like he’d smelled; like everything I had ever desired. I convulsed in pleasure and looped my arm around his waist, pulling him closer. In that moment, I felt the brief slice of pain caused by his teeth slipping into my skin. Then his taste and the rush of being bitten sang through me; a mind-blowing pleasure more intense than I could have ever imagined. It hit me with the strength of a tsunami.

I felt his love, his desire, the very essence of who he was blending with me and making us one. I wanted to scream and cry and I needed more than anything to come. All of a sudden, I was hanging on to the precipice with the tips of my fingers, the roaring blackness swirling below me. I couldn’t hold on any longer.

In a blinding flash, I released my hold on his leg, felt my fangs slip out of his skin and cried out in ecstasy as my orgasm pounded me senseless. Noah shouted and his arms tightened around my waist. I could feel the wet heat of him pouring out between us.

We both lay there in shock, panting and silent. I couldn’t form words to describe what had just happened between us. He’d been right before. What we’d done was so intimate, so vulnerable, that it would have been impossible to share it with anyone other than him.

Eventually I moved, turning and crawling tiredly up to collapse against Noah, my arm flung across his chest. I felt so connected to him, so attuned to every little part of him. It was almost like I could read his emotions, like what we’d done had bonded us to one another. Forever.

Finally he whispered in the dark, “Zack, you awake?”

I lifted my chin and rested it on his chest. Then I moved my hand, which had been resting against the sheet, to entwine my fingers with his.

“Yeah, I’m awake.”

“I...”

I could tell he was still trying to fathom the hugeness of what had just happened.

“I know. It’s impossible to even describe, isn’t it?”

“I feel like we’re not two people anymore. Like we’re connected—god, you’re right. It is impossible to describe.”

“I wonder if the bond will fade.”

“Maybe. But I think the closer we become, the more intense it will be.”

I laughed shakily. “It gets more intense? I think that might kill me!”

He chuckled and wiggled his arm under my body to squeeze me close. “Death from pleasure. Is there a better way to go?”

We both smiled in the darkness of the room. The sun was starting to creep in through the miniscule cracks in the curtains. It wasn’t unpleasant, just enough light to give the room a kind of ethereal glow.

I closed my eyes, not quite ready for sleep, but happy to bask in the flush of early morning and the warmth of Noah’s embrace.

A Life Less Ordinary

It took me a week or so to get used to my new dizzying senses. Every time I touched something, felt a weird breeze, smelled the rancid stench of the hot dog vendors outside, I was thrown. It was hard to regain my equilibrium, even though I was getting better and better at it all the time. I knew that soon, I would feel normal and I wouldn’t have any memory of my dull human senses.

The most challenging part of my new body remained the same. It was impossible for me to walk down the streets of Manhattan without running into some woman that I wanted to take a bite out of. There was just too many of them. Restraint was difficult, and I sometimes had to hold my breath if one of them smelled particularly delicious. Noah said I was doing really well but I hated even thinking about attacking some unsuspecting girl...well, hated and loved thinking about it.

Drinking blood was my guilty pleasure. Part of me wished it wasn’t so pleasurable, but god it was. That first bite into the soft fragrant skin of a woman’s neck was better than sex—well at least better than sex with anyone but Noah. Nothing compared to that.

He had been right about the sex too. It was getting more intense. The pleasure and the closeness kept getting stronger. It had gotten to the point where I could feel Noah’s emotions most of the time as he could mine. We’d been close before, but now I didn’t even have to ask what he was thinking. I couldn’t hear his thoughts, but the blasts of emotion that he projected were so strong and clear that there was no doubt what was on his mind.

With anyone else the bond would have scared the hell out of me, even more than the intense feelings during the act. But with Noah I liked it. It was just one more way for me to feel like he was mine. I wanted to claim him in every way possible. Even the thought that we could potentially be with each other for hundreds of years didn’t make me feel anything but happy. He was my forever.

* * * *

“Hey, babe, guess what tomorrow is?”

We’d been lounging on the couch watching some afternoon TV and waiting for the sun to set so we could meet the others at Red (yeah, that was the name of the vampire bar. I know. I didn’t name it.)

“I know what tomorrow is. We’re not going to make a big deal out of it.” He sounded wary.

I rolled my eyes at him. “Uh, yes we are. A guy only turns twenty-one once, even if he is going to live forever. You’ll be able to get into a real bar now! We should all go dancing.”

He gave me a pained look. “I can’t dance. I refuse to dance.”

“That’s what they all say.”

“Please don’t tell Leila that tomorrow’s my birthday. She’ll make it into this huge thing.”

I raised my eyebrows in a challenge and pulled my cell out of my pocket. He made a grab for it, I leapt off the couch, and we spent the next twenty minutes or so laughing and chasing each other—which turned into wrestling on the bed and the next thing I knew I was naked and moaning with my legs around Noah’s hips as he plunged into me.

Needless to say we were a little late getting out the door.

When we finally did burst out of the building and into the soft summer night, freshly showered and dressed in Noah’s designer clothes, I was so focused on him that it took me a minute to realize that something felt off. A small prickle danced along my spine.

“Hey, Noh, stop for a second.” We both stood still, then looked around. There was nothing but the muted roar of the city. Neither one of us could see anything. But I couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something out there.

Someone out there.

Were we being followed?

“There’s nobody there.” He looked like he wished he could believe it.

We walked a little faster than usual out to the corner to catch a cab. I noticed Noah looking back a few times. I was relieved when a cab finally pulled over and we could slip into the relative safety of its somewhat fragrant backseat.

“Do you really think there wasn’t anyone there?”

“I don’t know. I hope there wasn’t.”

We were quiet for the rest of the ride. I held his hand and tried to relax but I was scared. There was no doubt in my mind that there had been someone waiting for us outside my apartment and there was only one thing that could mean.

The hunters had found us.

* * * *

When we pulled up in front of Red, Noah leaned over and whispered, “Don’t be too obvious about it, but get inside quickly. If one of the Harpers, or any other hunter, is out there than they’ll know better than to start something in a room full of vampires.”

We paid the driver quickly and scooted into the front door of the bar as speedily as possible while still looking nonchalant about the whole thing. Leila, PC, and Jason were waiting for us there, with a very familiar looking brunette. In the midst of my semi-anxiety attack it took me a second to place her. When I did, I felt a wave of embarrassment...as usual.

“Hey boys!” Leila called, waving us to the table.

“Zack, Noah, this is my sister Trista,” Jason gestured.

I turned red (again) and looked at the floor. “We’ve, uh, met already,” I mumbled when I could finally talk. I shot Leila a murderous look. “I didn’t know you two were friends.”

They both laughed.

“She left out a pretty big detail about you too, Zack.” Trista gave Noah a significant look. “I was a little disappointed when she finally told me a few minutes ago, but now I get it.” She fanned herself with a napkin and her and Leila burst into laughter again.

Great. It was going to be one of those nights. I decided to take the focus off of me.

“Hey guess what tomorrow is, guys?” Noah pinched me in the side and I smirked at him. “It’s Noah’s twenty-first birthday!”

True to form, Leila screeched loudly. Jason had to cover his ears and PC just laughed. “Dude, I can’t even take you out and get you drunk. What are we going to do?”

“Nothing is fine with me.”

“Nonsense,” Leila scolded him with a swat.

I decided to go whole hog. “I was thinking dancing. It would be fun.” He pinched me again. I knew I was going to be in for it when we got home.

That announcement garnered another shriek from Leila and a moan from Trista. “I want to go dancing! I’m not even going to be twenty for two more months. It’s not fair.”

Leila rolled her eyes. “Like we can’t get you in. These are not the droids you’re looking for.” She made a little waving motion with her hand and we all laughed.

I was always taken aback how modern Leila sounded. It would be expected for someone who’d lived as long as her to seem all wise and seraphic, but she could have fit right in with the girls I’d lived in the dorms with.

“You’re in big trouble, mister,” Noah teased when the others drifted off to order drinks.

“Hey! You’re in trouble too. Why didn’t you tell me she was Jason’s sister? That would be like you biting Maya!”

Noah made a face. “Luckily that will never happen. Better keep her away from Leila here, though. Anyway, I didn’t know she was Jason’s sister. I’d never met her before.”

“Jason ‘s fine with it,” Leila assured me. “He obviously knows she comes here and she is a big girl after all.” I was about to reply when I heard Noah take in a sharp breath.

Shit.

“Who’s here?” I was afraid to even turn around.

Noah’s look changed from alarmed to confused. “It’s my cousin Colin. He’s a Fitzgerald. From my mother’s side. I haven’t seen him in at least five years.”

A million questions popped into my head, but I knew it wasn’t the time. It was tense for the long moments that it took Noah’s cousin to weave through the crowded room to our table. It was obvious that he was here specifically to talk to Noah. I expected a showdown of some sort.

Well, that wasn’t true. I honestly didn’t know what the hell to expect. What I know for sure I wasn’t expecting was that Colin would come right up and envelop Noah in a fierce hug.

After a few moments they pulled apart clapping each other on the back. Colin turned to look at me and Leila curiously.

“Uh, this is Leila, a friend of ours, and this is Zack. He’s my boyfriend.” Noah looked a little unsure, but it obviously didn’t matter.

Colin broke into a huge grin. “Must run in the family. Charlie’s dating guys too.”

Noah’s mouth dropped. “Charlie? Your brother? He’s just a little kid!”

“Sixteen. And more than willing to speak his mind. It gave Mom a heart attack for a day or so, but she’s had a year to get used to it. Anyway, it’s nice to meet you, Zack.” He stuck out his hand and I shook it. So far I was liking the Fitzgeralds a whole lot more than the Harpers.

“What on earth are you doing here, Col?” Noah gave him a long look. I could tell that he was trying to decide how much his cousin knew.

Colin laughed. “I know this is a vamp bar, cousin. And I know you belong in here if you get my drift...don’t worry, not going to out you. Family comes before hunting business. That’s why I’m here.”

Noah sputtered for a second before he got it together in time to answer. “So you’re not here to kill me?”

“Nah. We’ve been watching you for a long time. You’re completely non-violent, not that you need me to tell you that. You’re still the pansy ass little cousin that I loved to shrink wrap in blankets when we were little.”

“You have no idea how good it is to hear you say that—even with the pansy ass remark. You may want to watch your mouth, though. I could totally take you now.” He flashed his fangs and they both laughed. “So, I guess you’re going to tell me why you are here if it’s not to kill me?”

“Yeah. I am. But not in this place. It’s too public. Can we go back to your apartment?”

* * * *

The cab ride back was like being stuck with two obnoxious puppies in a box. They punched each other and made dumb jokes. Colin would put Noah in a headlock every minute or two and Noah would have to fight his way out, accidentally elbowing me the whole time. It was slightly annoying and a little bit embarrassing to have the driver stare in the back window, but seeing Noah act so goofy and happy had to make me smile.

I still had a ton of questions but I was hoping to get at least a few of them answered when we got home.