Forbidden Touch (8 page)

He was only about five feet from her. He unbuttoned the top two buttons of his dress shirt and pulled it over his head in one swift move. She looked terrified and he wanted her to feel safe. He wanted to hold her body next to his. He didn't care about his job. They could make a run for it. Leave the scary vampires that would try to kill them, and the cops that would throw him in prison, behind. He took another step and pulled his white t-shirt over his head. She began shaking her head slowly. He could tell she wanted to tell him to stop, but it was the need in her that wouldn't let her say anything. 

He could see it in her eyes; she wanted him too. He took another step, and he was standing only a breath away from her. She was trembling and her bottom lip was quivering. He wanted to still it with his own lips.

He reached for her hand. She jumped a little when their skin touched, but didn't move otherwise. She had even stopped breathing, and he hoped it was natural for her kind, or else she would be turning blue soon from lack of oxygen. He brought her hand up and placed it on his chest, making her palm flatten out on his pec. She sighed so heavily that it could have passed for a moan of pleasure. He slowly took her other hand and placed it beside the first.

She closed her eyes. "I've wanted to touch you like this from the first moment I saw you."

"How old are you?" he demanded in a whisper.

She kept her eyes closed as she spoke. The scent of him was almost intoxicating to her. "Three hundred and twenty-seven years old."

He tensed and she opened her eyes to look at him. He was smiling. "What?" she said.

"And here I was worrying that you were a minor. How old were you when you were made a ... a ..."

"Vampire? Twenty-five."

He smiled again. "And your name?"

She closed her eyes again. She couldn't believe she was being this open with a mortal. The Elders would have her head on a chopping block. "Ciera."

He bent to her ear and spoke in a whisper. "Thank you." He captured her earlobe with his lips and sucked gently. A soft cry escaped her throat. He pulled back and looked at her face. Her eyes were still closed. "If you wish for me to stop, you need only to say so Ci-er-a." He dragged her name out on a seductive whisper.

The sound of her name coming from his lips was like heaven to her ears. She knew that she needed to tell him to stop, but she also knew that she wasn't going to. Now that they had touched each other, she wouldn't ever be able to touch him enough. It was one of her greatest fears come true, but oh, how being bad could feel so good.

"Open your eyes and look at me, Ciera," he said and she obeyed. "Do you want me to stop?"

He was giving her an out. He didn't know that she had never been touched by a man, but he did know that she was afraid, and he was making sure that she didn't have any doubts. She couldn't think of any at the moment as she stared into those dark-brown eyes. She shook her head slowly. "Please don't."

He smiled. "I was hoping you would say that."

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Chapter 1
1

Ciera's whole body was visibly shaking and she couldn't make it stop. She had never lost control of herself like this. She was afraid and excited all at the same time. The need to touch every inch of his perfect body was almost more than she could stand.

She opened her eyes. He was looking at her like he had in his dreams before she covered herself with blood. That look only a person gives to their lover before taking them, body and soul, over to a new realm. He did want her still, and oh how she wanted him. Her hands were still in the same area he had placed them, but she noticed her fingers were moving of their own free will. There was very little hair there, but what he did have, she found that she loved the feel of the soft locks as her fingers glided over his firm pectorals.

He had his head tilted back, moaning softly as if what she was doing to him was the greatest feeling he had ever known. But it couldn't be. She was inexperienced, but it felt natural to touch him as if she'd done it a thousand times, and already knew what would make him happy.

She wanted to touch more of him, so she moved her hands up to his broad shoulders, then ran them slowly down his arms. This was what she had been waiting for. She had never wanted intimacy, and now she knew why. She'd been waiting for him.

Hands shaking, she took his hands in hers and placed them on her waist. He looked down at her with such passion in his eyes. He quickly moved his hands up to frame her face, and only a heartbeat passed before his lips met hers.

There were bombs going off in her body, she was sure of it. How could a kiss affect her this much? He took it slow, relishing every last bit of her mouth. She parted her lips willingly and his tongue slid in to massage her own. Oh, the bliss of this. She was surprised people didn't go around kissing all the time, forever joined at the mouth. Nothing else in the world could possibly matter.

She was suddenly brought out of her hazy state of mind. She'd heard a sound outside his window. They were three stories up and there was no way for a mortal to climb the brick. There was only one thing it could be. She stiffened with her mouth still on his. He sensed her discomfort and froze. Then a louder, more disturbing sound filled her keen ears. It was the sound of pain and anguish. One word screamed at the top of the male's lungs. "NO!"

In one swift motion, she pulled Mitch behind her, and was ready to strike at anything that came through the window to harm him. Nothing came.

Mitch was frozen behind Ciera. His first instinct was to grab his Beretta off the recliner seat and start shooting at the window, blindly, but Ciera had a death grip on his arm. "What…" he began, but her hand went straight to his mouth and covered it.

"Don't move," she whispered, then ran to the window with incredible speed.

She raised the glass frame and scanned the brick surrounding it. She looked down at the street. There was a lone figure standing just outside of the street light's glare. No mortal would be able to see him, but she could. He was staring with disgust in his immortal eyes at her. She had done the unthinkable and he had been here to witness it. She covered her mouth with her hand as she gasped.

What had she done? She turned back to Mitch, who had obeyed her and not moved an inch. He had thought he had been in trouble before, that was nothing compared to the shit-storm they were both facing now. He had no clue. There was no way that he could perceive the trouble they were both in.

She knew exactly what Daneian would do. He wouldn't run to their Parents or the Elders and tattle on her. He would expose her deepest, darkest secret by phone. He wouldn't let her out of his sight until she was destroyed, and from the look in his eyes, he would be the one to do it.  But not before he ripped Mitch to pieces and made her watch.

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Chapter 1
2

"What was that?" Mitch whispered as he assessed the blank expression on Ciera's face. He couldn't tell if she was nervous, scared or angry. He knew one thing for sure, she wasn't happy. Had she seen something out his window? They were three stories up, how could there be anything looking in his window?

Then she was suddenly in motion. "We have to go…right now! Grab your shirt and a jacket, nothing else. We have to take your bike; the car won't be fast enough."

He grabbed his shirt off the floor, without another word, and began to put it on. Evidently he wasn't doing it fast enough, because she took it out of his hands and threw it over his head faster than he would have thought possible. He stuck his arms through the arm holes and she tossed him his leather jacket.

"He's going to kill us," she said as she took his bike key off its hook and opened the door to his apartment.

"Wait…who's going to kill us?" he asked nervously, trying to keep up with her quick pace and words.

She turned her head in his direction as they headed out his door. "I don't have time to explain anything right now. If we get to a safe place, I'll try to explain everything." God, how could she explain her whole immortal existence to a mortal? She shrugged and looked away. "If we don't…I want you to know that I don't regret anything." Her eyes filled with tears, but he couldn't see her face. She let a few fall then turned and grabbed him up in her arms like she would a small child. He wasn't moving fast enough, and it was only a matter of seconds before Dane realized what she was doing. He wouldn't let them get far. She knew how fast he was. He would take shortcuts that the bike couldn't. It was only a matter of time before he caught up with them, if they even made it to the bike. She was glad that Mitch owned a fast one.

He only gasped and shut his eyes tight as she grabbed him up and headed for the stairs. This had to look funny, he thought. She couldn't possibly weigh more than a hundred and twenty pounds.

Ciera tried something she hadn't ever tried before. She covered herself with invisibility, and then moved it outward from her body into his. She sent a silent thank you up to God as Mitch disappeared in her arms. Just maybe they would be able to get away.

Her plan had changed from that moment. Dane would see the bike driving by itself. It would be a dead giveaway. She had to carry Mitch as far as she could on foot. She was rounding the bottom of the stairs when the door was torn from its hinges and Dane appeared where the door had once been. She froze and covered Mitch's mouth with her hand.

"Ciera," Dane said. "You can't escape me. I'll find you anywhere you go." His face filled with rage as he scanned the small foyer. "Why? How could you do this to me? You know the way I feel about you, and I know you feel the same way about me. You can't possibly have feelings for this mortal when you are in love with me." He paused for a moment and took in several deep breaths to calm himself down. "Egli è la pena di morire per? You know that's what will happen. I hope that kiss was worth it, because it will be the last one either of you will ever have again. I can't believe you would do something like this after the time we shared together."

Mitch began to breathe again. He was sucking air very hard and fast through his nose. She knew what Dane was trying to do. He was thinking that if Mitch thought she had feelings for someone else, it would upset him and he would be the one to give their location away. It was working. She kept her hand pressed against his mouth and managed to press his nostrils together with her thumb and index finger. All was silent now, but Dane had sensed them.

He ran in their direction. All of a sudden there were police sirens blaring and blue lights flashing though the open door. It distracted Dane, and he looked away long enough for her to get by him. Guess Dane didn't know that there would be cops watching to see when Mitch left the apartment complex. Dane breaking the door alerted those fine police officers. She guessed human cops were good for something after all. She ran down the street toward oncoming traffic. She kept her head turned so she could look behind her.

Dane had gotten away from the cops and ran behind her for a while. But with all the noise from the city, he couldn't hear her thoughts, or Mitch's, clearly. But he would be able to see what she was going to do if he concentrated. She wouldn't be able to stay in one place for very long without him finding her.

She removed her hand from Mitch's face and he took a big breath of air. "I'm sorry I had to do that, but you were about to blow our cover." There was a bus about to stop at a bus stop, and when the door opened she ran up the steps, then went to the back and sat down. She sat Mitch down beside her, and when her body lost contact with his, he began to become visible again. Guess it wouldn't work if they weren't touching. She quickly grabbed his hand and laced her fingers with his. He disappeared again.

"Was he telling the truth? Are you with him? What did he say back there? Was that French he was speaking?" Mitch said, and a few people turned and shot puzzled looks in their direction.

She clapped her hand over his mouth again, and in a very quiet whisper she spoke, "Just because they can't see you, doesn't mean they can't hear you, Mitch. He nodded then she removed her hand. She wished she could see the look on his face. Had he really thought Dane had been telling the truth? "It wasn't French. It was Italian. I was born, raised and turned in Italy. So was Dane, but we never knew each other until around a century ago. And no," she whispered. "I was never with him; I've never been with… anyone." She felt him stiffen under her hand but she didn't elaborate, and he didn't ask her anymore questions until they got off the bus fifteen miles on the other side of town.