Moonlight: The Big Bad Wolf (Black Swan 4) (20 page)

"Elora?" Baka ventured with caution. "Is something wrong?"

"They..." She waved a hand at Jean Etienne. "... are the reason why The Order exists. All this trouble... And it was a giant cosmic fucking joke accident." Baka reached out and let his hand curl around her shoulder. She searched his eyes, looking uncharacteristically vulnerable. "Do you know what they did to me?"

Baka swallowed hard and nodded. "You know I do. I was there. It was unspeakable. Do you know what they did to me?"

Her eyes seem to clear up a little and she whispered, "Yeah. There's nothing funny about vampire, huh?"

He smiled. "I once said something similar to Kay when we were in Ireland."

While Jean Etienne studied their exchange closely, they had all but forgotten he was there until he spoke. "So. You are lovers, no?"

They both looked at him like he was crazy and, in perfect unison, said, "No!"

He held up his hands, palms outward, as if to say, "Don't mind me. And don't shoot me either. I'm just an innocent immortal vampire with a French attitude."

Elora turned to Baka. "I'm going to check on Helm."

As she started toward the door, Javier noticed her and bounded into her path to intercept her. He smiled and cocked his head to the side. "Hello again. You never answered my question."

"What question?"

He stepped closer, his eyes drifting down to something about her neck that seemed to fascinate him. "If I bite you, will you squeal deliciously for me, my love?"

He reached out to touch her hair. At the moment she didn't have extra patience for vampire. She responded to his overture by lifting him above her head and hurling him into the opposite wall over twenty feet away. He grunted when he hit the wall, and sank to the floor. The other three boys, er, boy vamps, laughed so hard they couldn't make a sound. One slid off the couch and onto the floor so he could hold his ribs while rolling about. The other two leaned on each other.

When the one on the floor was able to speak, he pointed at Javier and said, "Dude! The chick slammed you into the box and set you on your can! Totally!"

Javier didn't bother to get up off the floor. He was laughing as hard as the others. It appeared that they didn't need any encouragement from artificially enhanced blood to have a good time.

Elora looked at Baka over her shoulder. "This Cirque de
Dénouement
used to be a perfectly respectable clandestine facility." Again, she turned toward the door, talking to herself under her breath. "So this is retirement." Closing the door behind her she heard one of the "boys" say, "Whipped, man." She had to wonder if Rammel had programmed their video feed.

Honestly, every single part of the day had made Elora feel bone tired. Even the fact that Ram had been so uncharacteristically quiet and distant at dinner. It had just been one of those days when things seemed "off".

When Helm went down for the night, she withdrew to the cocoon sanctuary of a long, hot bath and even dozed off for a bit. When she woke, the water was still warm but no longer hot the way she liked it. She wrapped a bath sheet around herself and went to her closet to get a nightgown. She felt more than heard Ram come up behind her. When she reached for the gown his fingers closed around hers and interlaced.

There was no question that the male standing behind her was her mate. The aroma of musk and wild fern was strong in the enclosed space and nobody smelled like him. It was as intoxicating as ever. He stepped closer behind her, rested his hands lightly on her waist, and pressed his mouth to the nape of her neck.

The fatigue she had felt melted away and was replaced by a sudden desire to turn and encourage the silent seducer. She knew his feel and knew his smell so she was hardly surprised to find her mate when she turned to weave her arms around his neck, but she was surprised by the event.

Ram was a great lover. He should be. He'd certainly had enough practice, but sex with Ram was typically playful. He had a ritual pattern that included a series of leers and innuendos, usually during dinner, followed by signals of touch that throughout the evening gradually advanced to suggestions about outrageously acrobatic positions, or costumes, even laundry baskets.

This.
This was something different.

There had been no verbal foreplay. No provocative ramp up. He just stole into her closet after her bath and silently put his arms around her while she was still warm, damp, and completely relaxed. When she had turned around to face him, one look at his face told her that he was not feeling playful.

He pulled back just far enough to grab the hem of his Nine Inch Nails tee shirt and pull it over his head. Normally he would take the time to smirk and enjoy watching her visually feast on his beautiful body. But that night, without taking his eyes away from her face, without the slightest hint of humor, he quickly divested himself of boots and jeans and boxers. The look of purpose and sexual intensity on his face caused her to feel suddenly shy, as uncertain as the day she'd waited for him in the New Forest cottage with her heart beating fast with the hope the beautiful elf would return to his childhood retreat and claim her.

When there was nothing left between them but the oversized bath towel, she realized that she was clutching it to her chest with a death grip. He didn't try to take it from her. He just began slowly backing toward their bed, pulling her with him as he went. It was a journey of a few feet that felt like miles to Elora.

Since the near totality of what she knew about sex had been learned from Ram, she didn't know how to respond or behave.

Rammel urged her onto the bed and lay down beside her, ducking his head to place a gentle kiss on her shoulder before his fingertips feathered down the side of her face and along her jaw. He was staring at her mouth like he'd never kissed her before. When he ran his thumb over her bottom lip with the lightest of touches, she drew in a small gasp that made his eyes jerk up to hers. He cocked his head slightly while he studied her face and her reaction. Likewise, she was desperately trying to read what she saw in his eyes, and failing.

He gently urged her to relinquish her hold on the towel she still clutched to her breast. Even when prying her fingers open, one at a time, she saw nothing of the usual lift of his beautiful mouth. No sexy smile of challenge. No cocky grin. No groan of approval.

When she gave up the towel and lay bare to his gaze, she felt like he was seeing her naked for the first time. The way his eyes ran up and down her body made her want to curl up and hide from his view, but she forced herself to remain passive. Feeling stripped of the role she'd grown comfortable playing, she drew in a ragged breath that, again, made Ram's eyes come back to her face like he was looking for something there.

He began a torturously slow path of kisses and touches, progressing down her body, avoiding her nipples because she was still nursing. His tongue slowly swirled in her navel and her clit jerked, probably more from the erotic sight than the sensation. She was squeezing her thighs together to ease her arousal, but he nudged her legs apart as he slid further down her body. It felt like he'd been teasing her for hours.

She alternated panting and moaning as he nuzzled and nibbled at the fiery red pubic curls. She had taken hold of handfuls of his silky hair and had just opened her mouth to beg when his tongue slid slowly up her slit and flicked across her swollen nub.

Breath was frozen in her lungs when the first wave of climax extinguished all thought. Rammel's demeanor and behavior were confusing. His careful and intense lovemaking had made her feel awkward and off balance, but it was also working her up to the point where it didn't take much encouragement to bring her to orgasm. She was ready.

Gently, but deliberately, Ram settled himself into the cradle of her thighs. Using his muscular arms to hold himself just above her breasts, he kissed her long and deep. She responded with a renewed series of moans that punctuated the slight arch of her body, pressing him closer in ancient feminine invitation. Of their own accord her legs drew up to encircle his waist and lock him in their embrace. At the same time she reached down with her hand to encircle the engorged evidence that he wanted to be inside her as much as she wanted him. When he felt her touch, he closed his eyes for a second and sucked in a shaky breath.

She guided him to the spot where she wanted him. He entered slowly like the sweetest torture, keeping his eyes locked on hers. The drawn-out friction of his first unhurried withdrawal made her hiss air between her teeth. That was followed by a powerful thrust that was so unexpected she cried out in surprise, then felt embarrassed about the sound she had made.

He knew her so well there was no hiding any part of herself from him. He placed his lips next to her ear. "Do no' be embarrassed with me. Ever. I'm the elf who loves you. All of you. Exactly as you are."

Elora's body betrayed her feelings about the pent up emotions and his declaration with an involuntary sob. As she felt the first tear run down her cheek and onto her pillow, her mate said again in a voice that was little more than a whisper, "I love you." Those three words were repeated with every advance of his body and every retreat from hers, winding her feelings tighter.

"I love you. I love you. I love you."

She cried openly, not having known that lovemaking could be so thorough that it was soul-baring. Feeling exposed to her core, she came harder and longer than she ever had known was possible. Ram's hands were still on either side of her, lifting his upper body so that he could watch her from that position. His release followed moments after, looking down at her with a flush that measured the heat of their coupling. She watched, mesmerized. As the powerful arms holding him up started to shake while he came, she reached up and cupped his face, just needing to complete the connection by touching him and feeling his feverish skin underneath her hands. His eyes, turned to their darkest blue, reflected the dim light so that they seemed to shine from within.

"I love you, Ram," she whispered back to him. He collapsed to the side of her with his face in the crook of her shoulder so that she wouldn't see his own eyes watering.

After a while he rolled them onto their sides so that they were facing each other. They lay quietly looking at each other. When Elora parted her lips to speak, Ram's eyes traveled down to her mouth and back up again.

"Tell me what this was about." She waited for the wisecrack. It never came.

Finally, still not smiling, he said, "You complainin'?"

"You know I'm not. That was..." She paused, trying to find the right thing to say.

"What?"

"It was more than making love, wasn't it?" She watched a parade of emotions flicker across his face.

"'Tis me feelin' shame for no' bein' a good mate to you." Elora opened her mouth to protest, but he put his fingertips against her lips. "When I said I wanted to leave our home and come here, you tried to tell me 'twas no' what you wanted. And I did no' listen.

"I was set on havin' my way, sure that no price is too much to pay to keep you safe. Today, when we were at the werewolf's home, I knew I made a mistake. I want to protect you." He cupped her face and brushed away a lingering tear trail with his thumb. "But I want you happy more. Do you want to go home?"

Her eyes threatened to spill again. "We just got here," she whispered.

"'Tis neither here nor there." She looked like she was trying to find an answer in his eyes. "Tell me what you want. You have my full attention and I'm listenin'."

She swallowed hard. "I don't want to put our baby in danger."

Ram nodded slowly.

"But I don't want him to grow up in captivity either."

"Captivity," he repeated. "Then 'tis settled? We're goin' home?"

Elora pulled in a rush of breath and blinked repeatedly to keep from breaking into sobs. She hadn't let herself feel either how much she hated the current arrangement or how much she wanted to be home. "Sir Hawking. I have never loved you more."

"I..." It sounded like Ram's voice was going to break. She nestled in closer, pressing her body into his to encourage him. "I'd never do anythin' to hurt you. When I think what might have happened on Helm's birthday... I can no' stand the idea of livin' without you."

She felt his fingers tighten on her skin like he was holding on for dear life and knew that it was subconscious.

"We're smart enough to figure this out, Ram. We know that life comes with risk. We just have to manage the level of risk that we can live with."

"What are you thinkin'?"

"Since we're here, I say we give Monq a chance. He's a genius, right? That justifies giving him a few months to make our miracle. I can make this work that long, especially since it seems to relieve your stress and worry. If it looks like it's going to drag out beyond that, we'll need to come up with a fall back plan.

"Meantime, I need to get trotted out more often. I want to go into the city and visit some of the other museums, spend time in the Soho galleries, check out clubs in Greenwich, go to plays and concerts. We're living so close to New York and, if all goes well, that's a temporary thing. Let's get the most out of it while we're here."