Lure of the Blood (5 page)

“You keep doing that,
chere
, and I won’t
be held responsible for what happens next.”

She felt the rumble of his voice all the way
down to her toes, the vibrations settling in her sex and causing her to press
her heated flesh closer to his cool skin.

“Maybe I don’t want you to be responsible…Maybe
I just need you to …”

“Marnie,” the low warning just excited her more
and her hands found themselves under his shirt, tracing the hair down to his
waistband, where his obvious arousal stopped her, suddenly unsure.
What was
she doing?

Before she could pull back, Lucas crushed her
to him with another muttered curse and his mouth found hers. He kissed her with
an urgency and passion that left her clinging onto him for support until the
soft click, coupled with the sting of teeth against her lips made her gasp and
he pulled back, turning his back on her, his shoulders heaving.

“Get in that bath and wash away his stench,
before I lose what little control I have left and go and tear him limb from
limb, right after I have fucked you every which way possible.”

The words should have scared her witless, but
that reckless part of her that couldn’t help goading Ion earlier, the part
which had lain dormant for years, only to be awakened by her dancing, rejoiced
at the danger she sensed. When had she become an adrenaline junkie? Where was the
timid girl, who hid away her body, lest she was noticed, whose only aim it was
to get her degree and make the world a better place somehow?

“I need help getting this top off, my arms
still don’t move too well and I’d call Louisa, but I don’t think she would be
pleased to see you here, somehow.”

Her voice was another surprise; throaty,
breathy with barely disguised need. Good Lord, she sounded as though she ought
to be in a porn movie. Heat crept into her cheeks at the thought and without
thinking she pressed her burning face into his back. That felt so good, he was
so cool and…

The realisation of what he must be hit her at
the same time as the eerie howling coming from the surrounding woods made her
tremble.
Oh good god, she was cuddling up to a vampire, surrounded by
werewolves.
If this wasn’t a dream then she was seriously fucked. Hell,
even if this was a dream…who had dreams like this? She would have to check
herself into a mental asylum; she was going nuts. The hysterical bubble of
laughter that escaped before she could stop it had Lucas swing around. Seeing
the fangs she had known would be there was just too much. But before she could
give in to the darkness claiming her, he hauled her up to him again, his eyes
green jewels boring into her.

“Oh no, you don’t, not again. You
will
remember
me this time. Me--Lucas, and you
will
be mine and forget all about that
wolf.”

With dizzying speed he wrestled her out of her
clothes and into the bath and before she could even blink he was standing over
her naked and proud, the moonlight glinting off his fangs as he joined her in
the bath. With ease, speed and effortless strength that only served to remind
her that this was no human man holding her, he lifted and turned her any which
way he needed to. The sponge he used to clean her seemingly washed the bruises
away as though they were mere smudges of dirt, until her body looked as though
last night’s assault had never happened.  His movements slowed at her sharp
intake of breath and he abandoned the sponge, his hands cupping her breasts,
just visible over the waterline, his voice a low murmur in her ear.

“I told you, my blood would help, mon chere. I
would never hurt you.”

****

Lucas felt the change in her at his whispered
words and he stopped pretending to breathe, when she turned round in front of
him, her expressive eyes searching his face. One trembling hand reached up to
his mouth, her fingers testing his fangs and she flinched when the sharp tip
penetrated her soft skin, the spot of blood visible as she withdrew increasing
his need for her tenfold.

Her eyes huge, her body trembled in fear as she
waited for his reaction and he forced himself to be gentle, when every cell in
his body screamed his need to taste her, to bury himself to the hilt in her
soft flesh, whilst her blood soothed his parched throat.

“Are..are you going to bite me?”

“Non, mon chere, not unless you want me to, but
I would taste you and see if you’re as sweet as I dreamt you’d be.” With
infinite slowness, giving her ample time to pull away, he brought her finger to
his mouth and swiped that single drop of blood away. He heard her sharp intake
of breath, her heartbeat going into overdrive, when he took that finger and
sucked, the tiny spurts of blood against his tongue making him groan his
desire.

“Why doesn’t it hurt?”

“Because I don’t want it to, mon chere.” He
smiled at the silent O her mouth formed and her eyes grew larger still, desire
making them almost black. Encouraged by her response he ran his fangs lightly
down her wrist and along her arm, before settling over the rosy tip of her
impressive breasts and, biting, slightly sucked the nipple into his mouth, her
incoherent moans spurring him on. His smile deepened when her hands went into
his hair, tugging him closer, her hips moving in tune with every nip, suckle
and stroke, his tastes of her blood threatening to crush his ironclad control.

He chuckled at her moan of protest, when he
released her.

“Lucas, please…”

“Oui mon chere?
Qu'est
ce que c'est?
What do you need, this?” and he gave his attention to the
other breast, her laboured breathing and erratic movements telling him how
close she was once again.

“I love how responsive you are, chere, how
beautiful,” and with one swift move he settled her on his lap, her long legs
either side of his hips, holding her just above his cock. ”Are you ready for
me?”

His eyes searched hers and his heart soared at
what he saw in the chestnut-coloured depths, before she buried her face into
his shoulder and the sharp nip of her small teeth broke the last of his restraint.

****

Marnie could hardly breathe at the sensation of
him inside her and he gave her no time to adjust, before thrusting deeper. His
hands on her hips, guiding her, setting a ruthless pace; every slide of his
cool, hard penis inside her sent her further into sensual oblivion, opening her
wider as his movements grew faster still, until all she could do was hold onto
his big shoulders. The water sloshed around them, his grunts in her ear
interspersed with French words she didn’t understand. Pressure built higher and
stronger inside her, his hands seemingly everywhere at once, pushing her body
further and further towards that brink, until she couldn’t tell where she ended
and he began.

She whimpered her need into his shoulder and a
change of position brought with it the first of her orgasms, which made her
bite hard into his flesh to mask her scream, yet still he kept going, pushing
her over that edge time and again until she thought she was going to pass out
from sheer pleasure.

“Please, Lucas, I can’t…” her whispered protest
was cut off with a ruthless kiss, his fangs scraping her tongue. A new kind of
excitement built deep inside her, when he broke the kiss and slid his mouth
down to the sensitive skin of her neck. One hand in her hair angled her head for
better access, as he went still inside her, the other hand finding her clit and
exerting gentle pressure with slow maddening strokes, designed to drive her
once again wild with need.

“Lucas, please…”

Their bodies shook with need and still he did
not move, his eyes searching hers with a silent question. At her whispered
“Yes,” he sank his fangs into her neck, his low growl, coupled with one last
forceful thrust deep inside her, sending her body into oblivion. Heat flowed
from her neck through her veins and down her body, until it all centred in her
clitoris, her whole body contracting around him, pleasure surging through her
with every beat of her heart, the water turning red around them.

She was dimly aware of his own growled release,
before darkness claimed her.

Chapter Six

 Marnie woke up alone in the middle of a huge
bed, satin sheets sliding over her sensitive skin, causing her whole body to
tingle with sensual awareness.  Her hand went to her neck as memories of the
most erotic dream she’d ever had invaded her mind and she froze at the soreness
there.
Oh, good lord. It hadn’t been a dream?
The eerie howling that
carried on the night breeze through the open windows brought the reality of her
situation back with frightening clarity and she froze, taking in the naked man
standing with his back to her.

She took a moment to appreciate the view in
front of her before Lucas turned around slowly, his eyes connecting with hers
and she stopped breathing.

The howling sounded closer this time and broke
the spell between them, as she jumped, her eyes darting to the open French
windows.

“Relax, mon chere. They’ll be hunting all
night.”

He had moved closer whilst talking and the bed
dipped next to her, his hand slowly lifting her hair away from her neck. She
couldn’t stop the involuntary moan escaping.

“Not too sore, I hope?”

She shook her head in response and he chuckled
at her whispered question of “I’m not dead, then?”

“If you are, you’re the most beautiful and
vibrant corpse I’ve ever seen.”

“That’s not funny…”

“I wasn’t joking, chere. In fact, I was
beginning to wonder. How are you feeling?”

The sudden intensity in his hypnotic eyes send
a shiver of unease down her spine and she pushed away from him, bringing her
knees up to her chest. Come to think of it she did feel bone-weary, and
shifting away reminded her how sore she was in her nether regions.

Lucas’s expression became closed off when she
shrunk away from his touch. With movements too quick for her human eye to
process, he bit into his hand and held it towards her.

“Drink. It’ll help.”

Bile rose in her throat instantly, remembering
the last time he had forced her to drink his blood and her shrill voice bounced
round the quiet room.

“No, I don’t want to.”

He moved closer, his smile hypnotic and
compelling. Marnie found herself leaning in to him as though held by a strange
sort of spell, as her bones felt liquid and her heartbeat slowed. The loud howl
right below the window made Lucas’s hand clamp down on her mouth, the spell
broken instantly. They sat very still, listening to the sounds of rustling and
scratching, which eventually moved away.

The French curse mumbled into her neck, and the
barely-controlled violence she sensed in the man crawling to the window to
stare across the night sky, his hands formed into claws, made her swallow
nervously. Another memory stirred, clambering to raise itself out of the
darkest recesses of her brain. Perspiration broke out across her top lip, as
she screwed up her nose in concentration, but it was useless. All she achieved
was giving herself the beginnings of a migraine, the tell-tale throbbing at her
temples making her feel sick and exhausted.

“Here, at least have something to drink and
eat. I’m afraid I was a bit hard on you. I’m sorry, mon chere. I’ll be gentler
next time.” Lucas was next to her again, his face worried, a large pitcher of
glass in one hand and a platter of cold chicken and salad in the other.

She couldn’t look at him as heat rose in her
cheeks, remembering exactly what she had let him to do to her. She grabbed the
water, gulping it down like a woman drowning.

“Easy, chere. Easy. You don’t want to make
yourself sick.”

His low voice washed over her, soothing and
arousing at the same time. Mortification at her traitorous body rose anew, her
gut churning as the smell of chicken assaulted her nose and she slapped the
hand offering the chicken leg away. “I...I can’t. Please, just leave.”

The cool hand in her hair made her shiver with
fright, a vision of Ion’s face swimming in front of her eyes.
God, what was
she doing?
Pushing against the granite-like chest in front of her achieved
absolutely nothing and she growled in frustration at her weakness.

“You need to leave, don’t you see? You can’t be
here. He’ll kill you, and me probably, if he finds out you’ve been here. Oh,
God, we should never have…what was I thinking? This isn’t me. I don’t do things
like this…I don’t even know you.”

Lucas’s amused chuckle vibrated through her.
“Au contraire, mon chere, I would say you know me very well indeed after that
bath. And I’m not afraid of a little wolf.”

“Then you’re a fool!”

The whole bed shook with the force of his belly
laugh and Marnie could only stare up at him in wonder.

“Chere, really it’s very sweet of you to worry,
but I’m over three thousand years old. Do you really think a little pack of
shifters is going to be able to put me down? Besides, I’m a friend of the pack.
It’s how I got here so easily.”