Dark Needs at Night's Edge (22 page)

Even in the midst of the mind-numbing pleasure she'd given him tonight, he'd experienced fear for her, for the dangerous things she made him feel.

If you care for her, you'll let her go now,
his long-dead conscience whispered. And yet he found his arms squeezing her closer to him.
Mine
.

W
hen he returned from errands that morning, Conrad heard the shower going. He made out her soft sighs under the sound of the water.

Tossing away the bags of items he'd purchased for her, he postponed his plans to discuss how she'd been changed from ghost to mortal. In seconds, he had his clothes off, then silently traced into the tiled stall with her.

Her eyes were closed, and she was leisurely exploring her body. Licking drops of water from her lips, she cupped her breasts, as though relearning them.

Making himself as quiet as if he were hunting, he stared, riveted. Her raven hair was pulled over her shoulder, draping her pale breast, her hard nipple peeking through it.

He didn't think he breathed as her fingers skimmed down her flat belly and her legs parted for them. But he had to wonder if she would hear his heart slamming inside his chest.

When her dark nails glinted in the light as she began delicately stroking her sex, he bit back a groan and fisted his suddenly aching cock. She focused on her clitoris, briefly slipping her finger inside, as if to gather moisture for her rubbing.

He marveled at the expression of building ecstasy on her face. He wanted to see her look up at him like that when he entered her.
Abandon.
Never in all his years had he seen anything as awing as this female pleasuring herself.

But even as he realized that he could watch her and learn how she liked to be touched, he resented that she hadn't waited for him.

He'd satisfied her last night, so why hadn't she? Perhaps he needed to remind her why she should have.

When her moan turned nearly constant, he stopped her before she could come.

Just before she climaxed, she heard Conrad rasp, “Ah-ah.”

Her eyes flashed open. He was in here with her, and she'd never heard him?

At once, her gaze was drawn downward to his jutting erection. The last time they'd been in the shower together, his manhood had been splendid. Erect, it was mouthwatering. She knew from last night that he'd grow so slick along that wide head….

Yet when she reached to stroke his length, he seized her wrists behind her, yanking her body into his.

They were both breathing heavily as the hardened peaks of her breasts rubbed against him, and his stiff penis pressed against her belly.

“Why didn't you wait for me?” He had that intense, dangerous air about him.

“I woke…the sheets were rubbing over…my nipples.” She shivered.

“If you have these needs, I want to satisfy them.”

“I didn't know when you were returning,” she said. “But you're here now.” She leaned up on her tiptoes to kiss him. What started as her gentle foray soon blazed into a searing kiss. He crushed her lips beneath his as their tongues twined again and again.

When they broke apart, both out of breath, she murmured, “Conrad, I need you to make love to me.”

At her words, his shaft pulsed against her.

“I think I'll die if you don't.”

Instead, he released her wrists and cupped her ass in his hands, lifting her. Before she could say a word, he'd turned his back to the water and raised her to his mouth as if she weighed no more than a doll. Cradling her with splayed fingers, he eased her back so she could lean her head against the tile. She buried her fingers in his thick hair as she held on to him.

Running his face against her thighs, he abraded her with the stubble on his lean cheeks, and she loved it. Everything felt magnified. Each drop of water that splashed her skin heightened her pleasure.

But would he enjoy taking her with his mouth? He'd never done this before, had never tasted a woman.

When his tongue first dipped to her flesh, he gave a harsh groan against her. Pressing his mouth to her core, he thrust his tongue inside her, licking her deeply, thoroughly.

“Yes!” With a cry, she jerked her legs, tightening them on his shoulders. But he held her fast.

“I'll never get enough of this,” he grated, settling back in to suck and lick. As his fingers clutched her ass almost painfully, his strong tongue snaked over her throbbing clitoris again and again.

“There!” she cried, then moaned, “Conrad, right there.”

Flicking…suckling…hard.
When she came with a scream, undulating to his mouth, he set in with a frenzy. He never allowed her to take a breath before he was making her moan for another orgasm, forcing her body to strain for release once again.

Even more powerful than the first, this climax overwhelmed her. Her eyes flashed open in surprise as she melted against his greedy tongue, helplessly rubbing her flesh against it.

Once it was over at last, she had to push at his head, because he was still slowly laving her, lingering with low growls.

When he finally let her slide down his body, he held her steady. She felt how hard he was, yet he still made no move to take her. His expression was inscrutable, his shaft visibly pulsing with need.

“Don't you want to make love to me?” Naturally, she was all about living in the moment and was eager to fully experience this virile, compelling male.

But now there was something more.

She also wanted to join with him, because for the first time in her life she wanted to give herself to a man she…loved.

I'm in love with Conrad.

Though she'd never fully admitted it before now, her feelings weren't new. They'd been growing since the first night she'd seen him in all his wildness.

“Conrad, do you want to?”

He shook his head.

“Oh.” Her face fell. “I see.” Then she frowned. “No, I
don't
see.”

“I fear hurting you,” he said, his breaths still ragged from what they'd just done. The way she'd rocked to his mouth to give him more…He stifled a groan. “I felt how tight you are. I've thought about this all morning and do not see how I can spare you pain. I…can't give you pain.”

She tilted her head at him. “You'd forgo your chance to be inside a woman because of consideration for me?”

He grated,
“Of course
.”

Her lips parted, and she laid her palm against the side of his face. “You're such a surprise, vampire. Such a wonderful surprise.” Her hand trailed down his body. “Honestly, I've never been with a man as big as you”—she cupped the underside of his shaft, making him buck to her hand—“in all respects. But if you make sure I'm prepared, everything will be fine.”

He ground his teeth.
I don't know how!
He could do as he'd done last night, but would that be enough to
prepare
her? He'd barely fit his finger inside her, even when she was wet.

She must have sensed his thoughts, because she licked a drop of water from his chest and said, “If you take me to bed, I'll show you exactly what I need—”

Conrad had her swooped up in his arms before she'd finished the sentence. Not bothering to dry off, he traced to the bed and laid her in it, following her down. Water dripped along their sides.

Her lips curled. “I guess you like that idea, then?”

He nodded. If she could show him how to do this…
God, to finally be inside her
.

As he leaned over her on his knees, she lightly grasped his forefinger, using it to slowly stroke her sex, from the opening up to her clitoris and back. Once she guided it inside her, he began thrusting with it.

Soon she murmured,
“J'ai besoin de deux.”
She needed two of his fingers inside her.

He swallowed, but began working another finger in. Her knees fell wide open, her wetness growing. “Perfect, Conrad.” With both of her small hands, she pressed his palm firmly against her until his fingers were seated deep. Eyes heavy-lidded, she whispered, “Spread them inside me.”

He did, shuddering with pleasure when her back arched.

“Now in and out…”

He thrust his spread fingers. “This way?”

“Ah, yes! More…”

He gave her more.

“Conrad, now.”

“Are you ready?”

“I don't…care. I need…”

As much as he wanted to replace his fingers with his cock, he had to be sure. He caressed and delved inside her, until she grazed her teeth against his shoulder in frustration. “Are you still worried?” she asked, panting.

“I still do not see that we can…fit.”

“This is supposed to be enjoyable, darling. Let me show you how well we'll fit.” She nudged his wrist, and he removed his fingers. Once she'd gotten him to turn to his back, she crawled over him, straddling his hips.

As her breasts rose and fell with her quick breaths, her fingers dug into the muscles of his chest, just as she'd said she would do days ago. She appeared fascinated, her tender palms running all over him.

He felt a savage thrill to see the way her gaze roamed over him.
My battle-scarred body is good for more than taking hits.
It aroused her.

When she curled her fingers around his shaft to guide it inside her, he hissed in a breath.
This is finally going to happen….
The anticipation had him rolling his hips. He swallowed loudly, wondering if he'd last any longer than the time before.

He was already struggling to hold on, his cock throbbing with seed. “Want this so much…” When she began to mount him, his hands flew to her hips, gripping her. “Néomi, I—”

Her flesh was hot and slick as it met his. His eyes rolled back in his head.

T
he only thing sexier than a completely smitten male was a smitten male who'd never been with a woman. And Néomi was on fire for him.

Yet even as she ached, she savored Conrad's reactions. Once she began to work the broad head inside her, he gave a short, stunned groan. His lips parted as he stared at where they were joining.

This was all new for her as well. She'd fallen for him utterly.

She was truly making love. “Is this everything you'd hoped?”

“Ah, God,
you
…” He tried to speak again, failed, then gave a sharp nod. “Didn't know…to hope for…this much.”

The look of wonder in his eyes as he watched her move on him made her feel sexier than she could ever remember feeling. His big body was so incredibly strong, and yet she was in control of it now, was about to take pleasure from it.

She relished the power, moaning as she settled farther along his length.

Chin to his chest, he shuddered. “Hot,” he grunted. “Tight.” She knew he was beginning to lose control, his hands quaking on her hips. His muscles were already straining, from his corded neck all the way to the sharp indentations leading from his waist to his groin.

“Take it deeper, Néomi.” His accent was so thick.

Biting her bottom lip, she rose up and eased down farther. She was aching for more, too, but his size was challenging.

“Need more,” he growled low in his throat, his knees falling open.
“More.”

She rocked forward, then sank back harder, but his hips surged up at the same time—his shaft plunged deep in a searing thrust.

“Ah, God, Néomi!”

She winced, unable to bite back a cry.

“Your eyes are watering. You told me you wouldn't hurt! But I've hurt you.”

“Just give me a second, Conrad,” she whispered. The fit was so tight that she could perceive him throbbing inside her. “Can you do that?”

He grated out the word, “
Somehow.
”

After long moments, she tentatively rocked up and back, then again. Each time she could take his length more readily, her body accommodating his.

Soon pleasure subdued the pain, and his heated reactions fueled her own arousal. When she began to ride him in long, steady strokes, he yelled out her name. Once she pried free his death grip from her hips and placed his palms over her breasts, he gave a desperate groan as he squeezed them. Dragging her nails up his inner thighs had him shuddering, drawing his knees up for more.

By the time he was on the brink, she wasn't far behind.

Néomi let herself go completely….

This
was what he'd missed out on. This was what he'd ached for.

Inside his woman, he'd never known greater pleasure. He'd been waiting his entire life for this….

She threw her head back, arching. Her long hair swept over his thighs. Clutching his legs behind her, she rode him faster. Her breasts quivered as his cock disappeared inside her again and again.

Seeming lost in her own pleasure, she writhed on him, raising her slim arms, stretching and twining her hands over her head. She held her elbows as she whipped her hips.

When she twisted her body at the end of the motion, he rasped, “My God,
how you move
.”

With each snap of her hips, the pressure to come built within him, but he vowed she would first. “Want you to—” His words died in his throat when she lowered both of her hands, letting them graze down her body to her sex. He shuddered out a breath as she began masturbating atop him.

“Néomi!” His control slipping, he drove up between her thighs hard, bouncing her on his shaft.

But she gasped in delight. “Do that again….”

He released her breasts to cup her plump ass, working her up and down his length as he thrust at the same time. “You like that?”

“Yes!” she cried, rubbing her clitoris faster.

“
Come on me, Bride
.”

“Oh, yes!” Her eyelids fluttered, she licked her lips, then she moaned loudly.

In total abandon, she climaxed.

All around his cock, he felt the tugging clench of her sex.
Control slipping
. Her sheath seemed greedy for his seed. He could barely resist the demand.

Instinctive drives overwhelmed him. He wanted to obey them.
Mark her, claim her, bite her.
He needed his scent all over her, in her. He needed her blood on his tongue.

Before he could stop himself, he turned her to her back, shoving her legs wide.

Pinning her hands over her head, he began pumping his hips between her thighs. “I'm losing…control.
Néomi!
”

His eyes were wild. His massive body loomed over her, his muscles rippling with strain. He could do anything he wanted to.

Néomi had feared she would never experience Conrad like this—her powerful warrior, captive to his own fierce need. Now she could, if she believed in him, if she trusted him not to hurt her.

She surrendered herself…

As if he sensed her yielding to him, he rose to his knees to take her with more force. Gripping her shoulders to hold her in place, he plunged his shaft into her again and again. She'd never known anything like this—being taken without mercy, helpless to do anything more than accept the pleasure.

With each buck of his hips, he gave a short, rough groan, each growing louder until he was yelling.

Her head thrashed on the pillow. “Conrad…” she moaned, lost in another boundless orgasm.

“
I feel you coming on me…”
He clutched the back of her neck and rasped, “You're
mine,
Néomi.” With his body tensing all around her, his eyes met hers as he began to ejaculate inside her. His expression turned to one of shock, then anguish. As soon as she felt his hot seed jetting so strongly within her, ecstasy lit his face.

He held her gaze…until his back bowed and his head shot back from the strength of his release. On and on, he filled her. She dimly heard his husky murmur:
“Nothing better…nothing.”

With a final shove, he collapsed atop her, his breaths harsh against her neck, his heart pounding over hers. Still semihard in their wetness, he continued to thrust over her slowly, as if he didn't want to relinquish his new discovery.

He muttered, “My God, Néomi.”

She grazed her fingertips up and down his sweat-slicked back, sighing with contentment. “I could die happy,” she sighed, then frowned.
I will die happy
. No, she wouldn't consider it dying. She was
leaving
—simply moving on to a new existence. And after sharing this body with Conrad, allowing them both to know this pleasure, she was even more confident with her decision.

He never would have experienced this if he hadn't been blooded….

“How could I have lived without that?” he grated. “I never knew.” He'd demanded…everything from her. She'd seen it in his eyes as he came. He'd wanted her to yield to him, to desire him, to love him.

And she did love this vampire, with all her heart.

When he raised himself up, he gave her a sexy, cocky grin that made her breath hitch. “I was good, wasn't I?”

She reached up and stroked his face. “The best I've ever had or imagined.” When he went still, she said, “It's the truth. Some men are just instinctively better lovers.”

The grin returned. “Imagine when I practice on you five times a night.”

“I can't wait.” At her murmured words, his shaft jerked inside her, hardening and thickening so fast, she gasped.

“Time for practice,
koeri
.”