Dancing Dragon (7 page)

He looked his usual gorgeous self; assured, confident, slightly arrogant, dressed in his signature Armani again, off black suit, crisp white shirt, dancing dragon cuff links at his wrists. He tweaked one now as my eyes rested on them. I let my gaze cover the rest of his tall, lithe frame, taking in his dark hair tied back at the nape of his head and finally met his gaze. His eyes flashed indigo and violet, no attempt to hide the supernatural response in front of the Norms. I guess his vamps would be glazing then.

He returned the perusal with equal sensual speed, all languid and slow, devouring every inch of my barely covered body. Despite the miles of fabric surrounding my legs, I felt naked under his heavy gaze, as though he had already undressed me and was tasting every inch of my body with his eyes. I felt heat wash through me at that look and a wetness settle at my core. His lips quirked and then a tongue dashed out to lick them.

So, not entirely unaffected then. Good.

I crooked a finger at him, demanding he step closer. I could have sent a silent thought, but this needed to be obvious and public. Amisi's rules, damn her.

He walked over, not a glide as such, he was still somewhat in control and wasn't pushing it as far as the Norms went and every single person, vampire or human, was watching the scene right now, but his movements weren't far off supernatural. Sleek, predatory, perfect. Then he stopped within two feet of me and thrust his hands in the pockets of his trousers, making his jacket spread wide across his hips. A usual movement for Michel, but on this occasion, I would have bet my silver stake he was doing it to stop himself from reaching for
me, whereas normally, it was a sign of his casual ease. A knowing smile spread across my face as I took his stance in and when I lifted my gaze to his I was met by a brief flash of hunger, then his mask. I hated that mask and no more so than right now. I would have him acknowledge what I did to him. Right now, right in front of his line and the Norms of this city.

He saw the look of challenge in my eyes and raised his eyebrows slowly, cocking his head to the side.

“I am here,
ma douce
. What would you have of me?” His voice began caressing my arms, trailing along my bare décolletage, then tracing their way down my back. The surprise evident on his face when he encountered no fabric, then a flash of possessive protectiveness following in its wake as he realised that those vampires standing behind me were copping a good look at my naked flesh.

Shit Amisi, I thought you said no jealousy? It also hadn't failed to register with me that my shields were down, tattered as it were, but I had no intention of rebuilding them right now. Let him come to me, let him see what he will.

“You have been remiss, Michel. You have forgotten you are mine.” I said it softly, so only he would hear and the supernatural ears of those Nosferatu in attendance.

“Have I?” he asked, innocently. “Or have you?”

I paused slightly, I hadn't meant to. Had I forgotten? Was this all my fault? Had I given him reason to think I no longer cared? Is that why he had moved out and avoided me at all cost?

No!
My inner monologue shouted.
No!
I grabbed hold of the anger and threw a fraction of it out towards him with the thought,
bad, bad vampire
, thrown in just for fun.

He actually laughed, then recovered himself. “I guess not. So, what would you have of me, wife?”

He had only called me wife once or twice in the past, usually when we were being intimate, usually when he was wanting me to know how very important I was to him, how much he loved me. I blinked at the words now. Was he sending me a signal? I refused to take the steadying breath in that I needed and walked past him towards his quarters, throwing a look over my shoulder when I knew he would finally be seeing my back.

“I intend to remind you, husband,” I said quietly, proud that my voice didn't shake and then slipped through the opened door, nodding to the vampire who held it ajar and praying Michel was following.

I didn't stop until I came to the centre of his private chamber, but I could feel him behind me, slowly advancing on my back, his hunger, need and desire flowing out in front of him, wrapping around me, almost making me gasp in shock. He wanted me, he hungered for me, he needed me and he let all of it show in his
Sanguis Vitam
that engulfed me right now. I could not have hoped for a better response.

So, why was I so scared?

Michel came up and hovered behind my back, his breath hot on my bare shoulders. I heard the door softly close with a click, no doubt a flick of his wrist, as he walked through, had accomplished it. It was just us. Him and me. No one else and the heat emanating off his body right now was pure fire. He didn't touch me, I hadn't expected him to, even though his body betrayed him, he would make me work for this. I stood still a few moments longer allowing him to take in all that glorious naked flesh at my back and then I slowly turned to face my kindred.

I couldn't help the breath that escaped my lips at the look of him. It wasn't often that Michel could surprise me, but the look of utter hunger and passion on his face right then took my breath away. However it wasn't just that which surprised me, I'd seen those emotions on him before, it was the abject fear and pain that laced it, that stole my breath and stilled my heart.

Oh Michel. What has happened? I wanted to reach for him, but I knew instinctively that he would recoil and what progress I had made would be lost. I had to play this by vampire rules. Such a shame I wasn't as good at this as Amisi. I was basically winging it right now.

“You think you can cast me aside, kindred?” I said quietly, aware my voice was shaking slightly at the end. “You forget who I am.”

He held my gaze, an appreciative growl escaping his lips, magenta shooting through the depths of blue in his eyes.

Now, I took the step forward and began to remove his jacket. Slowly sliding it off his shoulders, letting it fall discarded to the floor. He purred, an unusual and uniquely vampire sound at the back of his throat. He wasn't holding any of his vampire back right now, but responding on pure instinct.

Next, the buttons on his shirt, slowly one by one. It didn't help that my fingers were shaking, he noticed, but didn't aid me in any way, just stood there oozing
Sanguis Vitam
, hot and sweet and cloyingly warm, making it wrap around my body, stroking me in places he shouldn't have dared to go just yet. He knew my shields were down, he was relishing his effect over me. I could practically hear the triumph in his
Sanguis Vitam
as it received shockwave after shockwave of my desire back at every touch.

The shirt disappeared like the jacket and then his broad cream coloured, muscled chest was before me and it took every ounce of my self control to not touch him where my mark graced his flesh, but to just stare. He smiled and shifted closer, an invitation to take what was mine. I flicked a mischievous glance up at him and began undoing his trousers. He swallowed, but held my gaze.

The belt removed, the button came undone, the zip, so slowly pulled down. I saw his hands clench at the sides of his thighs, then the trousers fell to the floor.

“Shoes,” I said quietly, stepping away. “Off.”

He growled low, but did as I asked and then stood before me in his black satin boxers, his erection already tenting the fabric. Not that I needed further evidence of his desire, but I still felt a deep seated sense of accomplishment and possession at the sight. He was mine. All mine.

His growl came louder. Had he just heard that thought?

I slowly crouched down in front of him, ending up on my knees, my face a bare inch from his arousal. His fists unclenched and re-clenched at his side. Let's see how much he can hear in my head right now, shall we?

No touching. I thought softly. You're mine to do with as I please.

Magenta shot through the room in response. I licked my lips at the knowledge that he was receiving even whispered thoughts in my head and kissed the base of his cock. It rocketed up, stiffening at my slight touch. I licked the length of it through the material of his boxers, making it wet and clinging to his firm length, then didn't hesitate as I wrapped my mouth around the tip and lavished my tongue over the already wet head.

He groaned out loud, his fists still clenched at his side, but one knocking his thigh as I suckled and nibbled my way over the length of him, then quickly pulled his boxers down his legs and flicked them away. I returned, but before I took him in my mouth I chanced a glance up at Michel's face. He looked so vulnerable, so lost, not just to desire and longing, but to something else I couldn't quite place. I wanted to say trust me, but I knew that would be wrong, so I just sent him a look of equal hunger in my eyes and then took him in my mouth, as much as I could manage. He jerked against me, an involuntary and natural response to the pleasure I was causing, his hands automatically coming up to my hair, entwining his fingers delicately with the strands, cradling my head tenderly. He began to caress my scalp, conveying everything he was feeling, all the pleasure I was evoking, in that simply movement. I loved that he did this, an almost undeniable reaction to my touch. It told me what I needed to hear, his beautiful fondling of my head let me know that he wanted more.

I didn't chastise him for ignoring my instructions. I wanted to feel him touch me so badly, I almost screamed at him to hold tight. His fingers laced in my hair and he began rocking his erection slowly, lovingly, back and forward, entering my mouth as far as I let him and then pulling out again, only to repeat it with more and more fervent need.

You are mine.
I sent the thought at him and increased my speed and licks and nibbles. He choked on a groan and met me with ever more ardent thrusts, rocking into my mouth, but still keeping himself in check, not too much, just right. Just what I wanted. And as I felt him stiffen for release, I heard his thoughts too, strong, demanding, no room for argument.
And you are mine, Lucinda.
He pulled out as he came, determined not to force me to swallow, but the sight of him spraying from the top of his straining erection, enough to make me gasp and feel heat pool at my core. I so wanted that inside me.

He languidly watched me lick my lips, his breathing rapid, his chest rising and falling in quick succession. I felt the heated, lust-filled flush that graced my cheeks and lifted my eyes to his. There was such desire there, but also love. He still loved me. I knew it now. Right this second he showed me all of him. He loved me so much, but there was something still there. Something that kept a little of him apart from me. Something I needed to shatter before I had him completely back in my arms.

“We're not finished,” I said a little huskily.

“Oh, I was hoping you would say that.” And then he pulled me to my feet and whispered against my neck, right above his new mark, “My turn.” And bit.

His fangs sliding in like they were never meant to be anywhere else but on my skin, in my flesh, opening up my blood vessels. His first pull of my life giving blood sent a shock of heat through me, every drain after followed with desire, need, hunger, lust, longing, possession, claiming every inch of my soul from the inside out. A low growl-come-purr started in the back of his throat and he pushed me back against the bed, gently lowering me to the covers, his hard naked body encasing mine.

Mine
,
I heard him demand of me.
Say it, you are mine.
It felt so familiar, as though the claiming was back, as though his vampire needed confirmation again, despite everything I had given him, it still doubted, it still needed that reassurance. But, if there is one thing I have learnt in my few years of association with vampires, you
never give an inch
.

Make it worth my while
, I sent the thought back to him and then followed it up with a blast of my Light, wrapping around his formidable shields, nudging at the brick and metal that held them tight in his mind and silently finding a crack, a small gap, one I was sure he had left intentionally for me and thrusting my Light inside. His
Sanguis Vitam
responded to the claim I was about to make and started wrapping itself around my Light, pulling me closer inside him, drowning me in his power, his strength, his conviction that I was his and no one else's. So, I did the same, I ramped up my Light and sent the message home. He was mine and he was not ever going to ignore it again. So help him, he was going to acknowledge he was mine and never put me through that hell of being cast aside again.

I felt him chuckle against me. Damn him, he could drink from me, flood me with any number of base desires, negotiate a truce and still laugh at my demands. But, he was the first to answer the claim.
I am yours as you are mine.
It was a concession, he had admitted he was mine, but I couldn't help feeling his repetition of his claim on me held more than just words. I pushed that thought aside, this was what I had wanted, wasn't it? I was tempted to not give in, but my Light was wrapped in his
Sanguis Vitam
and we had simply gone too far down this path to stop. My thoughts spilled out without restraint,
I am yours Michel and you know it
.

My Light exploded inside us in response to our claims, his
Sanguis Vitam
washing over us, intertwining with the Light and then we went spiralling out of control in a wave of heat and desire and floated back down the other side. Spent, sated and completely in tune with each other.

I groaned a minute later, as Michel held me in his arms, running my fingers over the new mark at my neck, above his old one, the one with my Light enhanced iridescent display encasing it, but now, no doubt, more noticeable.

“Do you think we will ever stop sharing
Sigillum
?” I asked, still a little breathlessly.

Michel kissed his marks and whispered, just as out of breath as me. “I told you once,
ma douce
, that I will continue to do it until I get your attention, make you realise there is no escape. There is no escape, you know. You are mine.” Another kiss to his new marks.

I pushed against him, flipping him onto his back. Normally, I wouldn't have been able to budge him, but I have a tendency to recover from my Light faster than him. He was still at my mercy. His eyes flashed indigo and violet at that thought, so I followed it up with:
and don't you forget it!
He laughed, relaxed, so normal, so my Michel. I blinked away tears and ignored his soft fingers tracing my wet cheeks.

“Where's my mark?” I demanded, trying to lighten the moment.

He raised himself up on his elbows to look at his body. I couldn't see any thing different on his chest, or neck or face, just my original dancing dragon. Maybe I hadn't marked him at all? Determined to find it, I rolled him over onto his stomach and just stared. Then started to laugh. The more I looked at it, the more the laughter came bubbling up. I just couldn't stop it.

“
What?” Michel demanded, trying to look over his shoulder at his back. “What have you done,
ma douce
?”

“
I think you'll need to see it in a mirror.” I rolled off him and settled myself into the cushions on his bed, a wide grin spreading across my face at the reaction my
Sigillum
was no doubt about to get.

Michel fluidly stood up from the bed and strode into the dressing room, I rolled onto my side and watched him through the door. He turned his back to the mirror and looked over his shoulder and then stilled.

“You marked my arse?” he asked incredulously. “A hand print, Lucinda, on my butt cheek.”

I shrugged. “I was thinking of spanking you at the time. You have been naughty,” I offered as explanation.

Michel continued to stare over his shoulder at the beautiful bright tattoo imprint of my hand on his right butt cheek, interlaced with geometric designs and ribbons of colour. It was gorgeous, but then my
Sigillum
usually are, but this one spoke volumes. I had marked him out of punishment, not merely possession. To a vampire, this was big. I swallowed past my suddenly dry throat and waited for him to strike.

“I guess I deserved that,” he said quietly, then flashed magenta at me with the flick of his gaze. “But be warned, wife, payback can be a bitch.” And then he pounced.

Nuzzling his face between my breasts beside his dancing dragon necklace, his hands found the skin on my bare back and began tracing delicate patterns across the flesh, sending tingles down my spine. His teeth grabbed the edge of the dress, at the cowl neckline and pulled the material away, to reveal a naked breast, which he then started lavishing with licks and nibbles and sucks on my nipple, eliciting a low moan from me and an arch of my back. My hands instinctively went through his hair, discarding the clip and loosening the long, glorious, dark shiny strands. I grabbed a fist full and wrapped my fingers deep within, relishing the sensations he was laying over my body.

He moved a free hand down my side, slowly savouring the curve of my hip, the length of my thigh, until he found the bottom of the dress, then reaching up inside, he began the delicate journey back up my leg until he reached the top of my thigh and wrapped a hand across my pelvic bone to hold on to my hip.

He stilled, for a moment, then traced his fingers around the front of me and said, rather hoarsely, “Ah
merde!
You're not wearing any underwear.”

I stifled a chortle at Michel's obvious near loss of control and felt rather pleased at my last minute decision to lose all underwear on the plane.

“Oh good God, Lucinda.” Michel's lips found mine in a crushing kiss, his tongue darting inside in hunger. “What do you do to me?”