Sex Shifters and a Vampire: An Unlikely Christmas Match (2 page)

Chapter Two

Kimberly planned to have a hell of a good time with Conrad. She’d been excited about their relationship since she first learned about him.

Two hundred years old, Conrad rarely had a woman for longer than a month, but over the course of his lifetimes, several visited his bed. Conrad rarely drank from a vein even when he desperately sought a sip of blood. Some believed he feared intimacy like mortals once feared the black plague or vampires shuddered with the mere mention of a stake through the heart.

Like it or not, Conrad would eat her up like his last meal. He might as well accept what he had coming because Kimberly couldn’t wait to spread her legs and let him have a real fine time.

Kimberly graciously accepted the cup of coffee Conrad handed her after they returned to his house. She noticed the way he traipsed around the galley kitchen, acting like a caged animal, pacing the parameter of the domestic area.

“I don’t bite,” she teased.

“I do,” he reminded her.

She clapped her hands. “Oh, goodies! Maybe we can get started quicker than I expected.”

He arched a brow. “What do you mean?’

She threw her arm over the back of the curved-frame chair. “You’re going to be crazy about me. And I can’t wait.”

“Ain’t gonna happen.”

“Let me guess, you don’t find me attractive?”

He looked her up and down, and she enjoyed the silent appraisal. “It’s not that,” he admitted. “My life is too complicated right now.”

“You don’t want a mate?” She knew he didn’t. Quite frankly, she didn’t care.

“Not really.”

“Don’t need the headaches?”

“Definitely not.”

“Don’t have the patience?”

“No.”

“The time?”

“Absolutely not.”

“Can’t find the energy for some of the most erotic fucking of your lifetime?”

He gasped.

“That’s what I thought,” she said smugly, sitting back in her chair and enjoying the ambiance. “I’ve never been in a home decorated for the holidays. This is quite unusual. Do you celebrate Christmas?”

“Yes, every year.”

“Hmmm…mind if I ask why?”

“It’s a holiday the humans celebrate and one I firmly believe in.”

“You can’t go to heaven,” she stated flatly.

“I don’t believe that.”

“You should. You can’t die.” She sighed. “Or at least, you won’t meet your demise like a normal human.”

“Maybe not, but one day, the world will end, and when it does, I plan to go to heaven then.”

“I see,” she muttered, eyeing the scattered holly above the mantel. She certainly had her work cut out for her. Conrad apparently didn’t believe in the old vampire customs. Rather than argue or contradict him by presenting evidence to prove her point, she enjoyed the pretty tree with its festive ornaments and bright lights. The smell of pinecones filled the room, and she couldn’t help but feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

“I take it you weren’t interested in a horse?”

She shrugged. “I wouldn’t say
that
.”

Conrad sat across from her. “I can tell you one thing right now. I’m not interested in a man.”

“Do I look masculine to you?” she asked, standing and making a show out of rubbing her hands up and down her curvaceous sides.

“Doesn’t matter because we both know, there’s still a man inside you somewhere.”

“Conrad,” she began, “let’s not be difficult here. Come on now. You can’t possibly look at me and think penis and hairy chest?” She fingered her nipples through the thin red blouse she specifically chose for this kind of demonstration. She wanted to leave a memorable impression and certainly had the rack for show. Her boobs were anything but small.

“You know what I saw back in the barn.”

“Oh, you mean this?” she asked, transforming into her male counterpart and, without a second to spare, returning to her female form. “Is that what you’re afraid of, Conrad?”

“That’s why
you
don’t turn
me
on,” Conrad responded firmly.

“Is that the only reason?” she asked, determined to prove him wrong one way or another.

He frowned. “I don’t want a mate.”

She pursued him then, stalking forward until she stood in front of his chair. She used his shoulders for leverage and took a seat on his lap, allowing her legs to dangle parallel to his hips. “Okay, I can wait. I’ll give you time to get used to the idea of me. What do you say I stay in woman-form long enough for us to get to know one another?”

“Still not interested.”

“You’re trying to hurt my feelings,” she hummed, eyeing his kissable, full lips. “You might change your mind.”

“I won’t,” he deadpanned.

Rubbing her neck with both hands, she dug into her skin, scratching at the tiny veins she felt protruding under her rough massage. “Oh, I think you will, Conrad,” she whispered, giving herself a quick slice with the sharpest nail she had, wincing when the blood trickled down her collarbone.

A hiss filled the air, and Conrad’s teeth extended like a boulder shoved them forward. Sharp fangs curved over his bottom lip. “No!”

“Yes, Conrad,” she said softly, looping both arms around his neck while showing him what she had to offer. “You didn’t play fair, lover. You left me no other choice.”

She deliberately provoked him with bloodlust. Going as far as tracing the blood drip with her fingertips, she brought her thumb to her lips and licked the pad. Certain of the enriched red stain enticing a vampire’s intimate kiss, Kimberly tossed her head back and moaned in a guttural voice so expressive, she shook from the internal trepidation.

Conrad’s tongue darted in and out of his mouth. The heavy burden of desire weighted down his eyelids, giving him a more sensual appearance. He couldn’t deny the carnal knowledge he so obviously possessed so surely he wouldn’t try. His entire body expressed his understanding, the way he went rigid under her touch, losing his more composed and stoic balance.

Without a doubt, she’d won. She ground her covered center against his steely rod, concealed only by his jeans.

“No!” he cried out again, doomed by the fated match of a shifter mate and defying his destiny as much as possible by a verbal declaration that wouldn’t matter after he tasted Kimberly’s blood.

Conrad’s lips moved closer to her neck. The blood trailed from her vein to her shoulder, leaving a thick pattern as it colored her skin. When his tongue met her flesh, she held him to her neck, tossing her hair behind her back.

“That’s right, darling,” she cooed. “Let me feed you.”

She bumped her pussy against his cock again and indulged in the feel of his hard penis penetrating the material. “See, Conrad, a
wo-man
always knows best.”

* * * *

Conrad fed until he slurped out the last drop of a well-stocked vein. Sex shifters were difficult to bleed to death. That’s why he was greedy, or at least, that’s what he told himself.

By the time he regained some sensibility, Kimberly was ripping at his clothes, rubbing her hot little pussy against his cock with determination, evidently eager to find a way to please him and discover her pleasure, too.

When he closed her open neck by long laps to the initial puncture, he gripped her forearms and attempted to push her away.

“Enough,” he said, holding her at bay.

With a firm grip around his neck, she closed her hands in a chokehold. “Conrad, you took what you need, but do I look like a sated lover?”

“We aren’t lovers. I don’t even know you.”

“That insignificant fact didn’t stop you before,” she quipped, thrusting her body against his and then sliding her hand down the front of his pants.

He pulled her arm away from his trousers and stood, which was quite an effort. His cock was well inspired. After a feeding, he wanted to find physical relief, but he wasn’t interested in a mating season.

“What do you expect me to do? I fed you. Now, it’s your duty to take care of me.”

“What don’t you understand? I don’t want a mate!”

“Okay, sure,” she said, leaning down and kissing his lips. “It’s your call. If you don’t want a mate, don’t take
me
.”

Conrad closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Her mouth had an intoxicating flavor. He couldn’t resist her sweet and tender affections.

Unable to deny himself, Conrad captured Kimberly’s lips and took them in a moment-stealing kiss, sliding his tongue in and out of her delectable mouth. Licking the seam of her lips, he became blinded by a building lust and found her too irresistible to let go. He looped his arms around her body and inhaled her renewed scent. Their blood mixed together made him drunk, practically high, much like an addict drawn to his or her favorite drug. He savored her, relished in explicit notions and realized then he was strung out on a feeling.

That’s when everything changed in an earth-shattering second.

“It’s always your call,” Kim said, the husky male tone returning. Kim nibbled and bit at Conrad’s lips.

Kimberly’s rugged cowboy counterpart shot Conrad a wicked grin. “Damn, boy. You taste better than you look.”

Conrad swallowed over and over again, trying to catch his breath. What the hell had he been thinking? That kind of erotic kissing came from a man!

“Let me get a good taste of you,” Kim offered, dropping his hands to Conrad’s belt. “What do you say, Conrad?”

“I say no, and no means no.”

“What are you…a walking teleprompter for a supernatural ‘just say no to mating’ commercial?”

Conrad stared at Kim, and Kim returned the favor, or at least he eyed a certain part of Conrad’s body. “Let me suck your cock, Conrad. I’ll only ask once.”

Conrad’s damn prick twitched.

“You know you want to sink that thing between my cheeks. Come on now, try it. What do you say?”

Conrad swayed. No thanks to his heavy cock, now well veined and ready to entertain, he wasn’t even sure he could walk away. Clearing his throat, he finally managed a weak rebuttal. “Show yourself out.” Then, he turned his back to one hell of a man, a male he found attractive, compelling, and oh so sexy.

“When you pull that thing out later tonight babe, you’ll see my face. Stroke for stroke, I’ll be there with you. Me, Conrad, only me.”

Conrad grumbled and kept on walking, but when he topped the steps and started for his bedroom, Kim’s kiss still burned his lips. Worse, his heart or perhaps the vacant space where a true beating mortal heart should have been, ached with emptiness, a pain he’d never experienced. Conrad then realized an unavoidable truth.

He was a mated vampire, and like it or not, he was undoubtedly suited for falling in love.

Chapter Three

Conrad had never been with a man. Conrad couldn’t remember ever wanting to be with a man. He’d never considered lying down with a man. And fucking one? Well, that was out of the question.

“Now, damn it to fucking hell, I can’t stop imagining myself with a man!”

Until his outburst, he’d only been faintly aware of the phone ringing in the distance. He stumbled downstairs and fumbled around the kitchen counter searching for his cell phone. “Unknown Caller” was displayed on the screen.

“Hello?”

“Conrad?”