Take It Like a Vamp (20 page)

He held out a hand. “Please, don’t go. I’m being honest. With you, making love is enough. I don’t need the blood.”

Liar
. That’s what held him back, and they would never be complete if she didn’t let him drink during sex. She was part vamp already, what was the big deal?

“Do you think I haven’t noticed you pulling back when we make love?”

His eyebrows shot up.

“Crap, Nick, how stupid do you think I am?” Her hands went to her hips.

“You’re one of the most intelligent women I’ve ever met.” He was so sincere she believed him.

“Then why do you continue to lie to me? Say it Nick. You need blood.”

He shook his head. “I don’t.”

“Arrrgghh. You drive me nuts!” She needed to take a breath and to get away from all this craziness.

“I have to run an errand,” she said as she left the kitchen. Inspiration struck and she knew what she needed more than anything.

“Casey, don’t leave me, please. I’ll tell you whatever you want to know. Just please don’t go.”

She turned around to find him so heartbreakingly sad, she almost ran straight to him. Staying strong, she pointed a finger at him. “I’m going to be gone for a half-hour max. When I get back, you better tell me the truth. I mean it, or I really will be out of here.” Picking up her purse she dug around for her keys.

“You can’t drive.” His voice was a whisper.

“Yes, I can. I’ve been driving for years.”

He cleared his throat. “You’ve been drinking.”

She turned to see he held up the bottle of wine.

“Three-fourths of this is gone.”

Damn.

“Linc! Find the Incredible Hulk and one of the other security dudes. I have an errand to run, and my
husband
thinks I’m too drunk to drive.”

“Casey, we can send someone to do whatever it is. We need to finish this. I know what I did was wrong, but you have to realize I was doing it for the right reasons. So much had changed in your life, and I didn’t want to add one more thing. I planned to tell you, I just wanted to wait for a bit.”

She closed her eyes, willing herself to stay tough. “Nick, I do understand why you did it. I’m mad because you didn’t trust me enough to tell me. We’ve been friends for nine months. You know better than anyone how much I hate being lied to, even lies of omission. I mean what I said. It’s balls to the walls, buddy. You have to spill it all. You make sure no one is in this house when I get back. No one but you.”

“And you,” she pointed to Linc who had been lingering quietly in the background. “Not a word. You can ride with me where I need to go, but no talking. Peace and quiet, that’s all I want.”

She shoved Linc to the door, and she saw him bite back a smile.

In the big SUV, Cody, Nick’s driver, was behind the wheel. Pulling the address up on the phone, she showed it to Cody. “Take me here.”

He nodded, but didn’t say a word. At least they’d taken her threat seriously.

Ten minutes later they turned into the parking lot of the Dunkin Donuts. Linc was around the car and opened the door before she could reach for the handle.

Damn these men and their supernatural speed.

“You can come in, but do not judge.” She stalked into the donut store.

The kind woman behind the counter gave her a smile, and then looked suspiciously at Linc, who stood by the door.

“I want two Bavarian Kreme, two Apple Pie, a Black Cocoa Invasion, and three of the pink ones with sprinkles. And then I’d like two dozen mixed.” The donuts reminded her of her mom and that made her blink back some tears. Her mother had always been the voice of reason. She’d sit down and ask Casey one question. Do you love him? And Casey would say, yes. And her mother would say
nothing else matters
.
The rest is just stuff
. She sniffed. “And the biggest cup of coffee you have.”

The woman behind the counter had to be in her fifties. She smiled at Casey and filled the boxes with donuts. At the register, she handed her the change.

When she’d married Nick, she believed that for once in her life she’d found the right guy. But she wasn’t enough for him. He would always need more, and if she wanted to keep him satisfied, she’d have to find a way to let him bite her.

Linc offered to take the boxes from her, but she gave him the evil eye. He held his hands up in surrender.

“Home, Cody.”

The security men glanced at each other discreetly. They thought she was a bag of nuts, but she didn’t care. What hurt the most was Nick was her friend. At least she thought so, but friends didn’t treat each other like this.

He’d been on the earth for eight hundred years, but the man didn’t have a lick of sense when it came to relationships. In that respect, they were on equal ground. Her choice was simple. If he told her the truth about the blood, she would stay. Somehow she would find the strength to be what he needed, no matter the cost. She’d signed on for the long haul and she would do whatever it took.

But if he lied to her again, she was gone.

When they arrived at the condo, she straightened her shoulders and held her chin up high. Taking the top box, she handed the others to Linc. “These are for you and the guys. But if I see any of you, I will find the sharpest object I can and shove it between your eyes.”

Linc cleared his throat. “Got it.”

“Now get out of my way. I’m about to teach a man a lesson.”

As the elevator doors were closing she heard Cody say, “Man, the boss is in for it now.”

Yes, he was.

Chapter Twenty-two

Holy hell!

Nick sat on his sofa with his head in his hands. Gut twisting, he pounded the cushion with his fist. Linc wasn’t answering his text. What if they were taking her to the airport and she’d begged them not to tell him?

Linc was his best friend, but Nick knew how he felt about Casey. He would do what was right for her. And in Nick’s opinion, and probably Linc’s, that meant getting as far away from him as possible.

Casey, you can’t leave me. I won’t live in this world without you.

How could she not know how much he loved her? Repeatedly he told her. He showed her. Things had moved so fast because they were so perfect for one another.

“Sir, they’re back,” Mason announced.

“Make sure no one interrupts us until I give the okay,” Nick ordered. “Do you understand me? I don’t care what you hear.” The deadly tone in his voice left no mistake about his intention.

“Noted, sir.”

Mason closed the door behind him.

Nick paced until the door opened. Casey, a box in hand, went straight to the kitchen.

He followed her.

“Go sit down on the couch. I’ll be there in a minute.” Her voice was curt.

A few minutes later, she returned with a tray full of donuts and two cups of coffee.

“Coffee and donuts are sacred to me. Any time I had a problem that seemed impossible, my mom would take me to get donuts. Saying everything out loud always made it better. So if you, Nick Christos, want to stay my husband, you are going to eat a damn donut. Drink some coffee and tell me the friggin’ truth about your need for blood.”

Nick stared down at the donuts and back at her.

Her eyebrow went up.

The last thing he wanted was to eat, but he picked up one of the pink ones with sprinkles.

She rolled her eyes.

“What?” Damn, he couldn’t do anything right. He’d picked up the wrong fucking donut. “Do you want it?” He tried to hand it to her.

She rolled her eyes again and sat down.

“Eat the donut,” she ordered.

For a moment he investigated the pastry. Had she poisoned it?

“Once you take a bite, everything we say is sacred. Nothing we say tonight will ever go beyond these walls. Understood?”

He bit down. It was disgustingly sweet, but he chewed it as if it were the best thing he’d ever eaten. Then he sipped the coffee. This was a bit on the side of crazy, as Casey liked to say, but he’d do anything as long as she stayed.

She picked up a Bavarian cream and motioned for him to speak.

“First of all, as I said before, I bit you the first time to make you stronger,” he said quickly looking straight at her. “But it is also how I show others that you are mine. It isn’t about possession. It’s about protection. You’re mine. If another supernatural being tries to hurt you, or even comes near you without my permission, he dies,” Nick explained. “That’s why we were finally able to bind the witch’s powers. I had no proof that she killed my parents, so the Council would not grant an execution. Even though everyone knew she did it. Spouses who carry the mark cannot be touched no matter what was going on with warring factions. It’s our one unbreakable law. Children are also protected this way. Centuries ago, this was designed to keep loved ones from becoming pawns in our wars. It was considered cowardly to use a woman or a child in a bargain for power or territory.”

“Sounds reasonable to me,” she mumbled around her donut.

“Right. So, I marked you, and you saw how powerful you were.” He grinned. Watching her punch the bitch had been one of his all-time favorite moments, and he’d lived a very, very long time.

She shrugged. “So what’s the big deal?”

“You have to give me permission for the second and third,” he said. “Once I bite you again, we are bonded for eternity.”

“Well, as you said before, I’m already on my way.”

Yes, but making the full transformation is a big deal. You will crave blood and while you are difficult to kill now, it will be impossible after the third bite.”

“You already told me about that. Quit stalling, Nick. What is about blood and sex? I want the truth.”

“The bite carries a venom that isn’t harmful, but it—ahh…” How did he say this without sound like some kind of perv?

“Just spit it out, Nick.”

“It intensifies the pleasure for me and for you.”

“Okay. So why have you been holding back if it’s good for both of us? I think I’m more pissed than I was before.” She stuffed another bite in her mouth.

He sighed and sat the donut down. “It’s not as simple as it sounds. Once I bite, I lose control. The beast is set free and I become part wolf and part vampire. Incredibly strong and deadly, and until you are transformed, I can still hurt you.”

Casey bit down on her lip, which she did when she was nervous.

“But you’ve done this before with other women.” Her eyes narrowed.

Damn. He didn’t want to talk about this.

“The Barbies, as you like to call them, are trained and bred for that specific purpose. They’re much stronger than they look.”

Casey glanced out the window. “So you’re saying I’m not strong enough to give you what you need? That witch was right.”

Damn Alvinia. If he ever saw her again, he would rip her head off with his bare hands.

“After what happened in Greece, you were worried if your beasty guy showed up, you might kill me.” She sighed.

“Yes. You seemed so fragile,” he said honestly.

“But I’m not, Nick. I’m a big-boned, healthy girl. That demon thing spit venom at me, and I was only out for a few hours. I fought off that witch and her magic twice. And, maybe you have forgotten, but I just kicked her ass. So no more excuses.”

“Casey, it isn’t that I don’t want to do it,” Nick tried to reason with her. “If I hurt you, or worse kill you, I—I can’t live in a world without you in it. I’m not willing to risk losing you.”

“I love you so much,” she said.

She said she loved him. Nick’s body stilled.

“I gave you my soul the day I married you,” she continued. “And I don’t care about your past, but I do worry about the future. I can’t be with someone who has so many secrets. You can’t talk about the Council, and you’re going to war with people. And you’re a Valkie-thingy.” She threw up her hands. “I mean, that kind of says it all.”

That hurt. He took a step back. “You told me you were okay with that,” he said softly.

“In theory, yes. I thought, ’cool my own private Edward.’ Who wouldn’t want a beautiful, sexy guy who’s frickin’ amazing in bed? But the reality scares the hell out of me. If you don’t bite me—if we can’t do the sex thing…” She chewed on her bottom lip.

“I’ll drink blood from a blood bank, or I’ll use male feeders. The only person I ever want to make love to again is you. You have to believe me.”

“I can’t live like that. I won’t. There will always be something missing. I don’t understand why we should wait. I might as well get it over with now.”

She didn’t understand that her life would be forever changed. “It isn’t something you decide quickly.”

She snorted. “Why the hell not? I want to have ’real sex’ with my husband. To do that I have to be an immortal. End of story.”

“Tell me what I need to do. I’ll do anything to make this right. Losing you will kill me. Please tell me.”

“First, you have to burn that bed. And I don’t ever want to see or hear of that woman again.”

“Done. Hold on just a minute.” He picked up his phone. “Torch the master bedroom bed. In fact, get rid of all of it. We’re going to re-do the whole damn thing.” He turned his phone to show her Mason was on the line.

She put a hand on his thigh. “I sort of meant just the mattress.”

Nick clicked off the phone and sat it next to him.

“I think we should have a fresh start with the bedroom,” he said. “In fact, I’d like you to make this whole place the way you want it. You always said that Teddie’s place reminded you more of a hotel than a home. I want to make a home with you. So you can do whatever you want with this place. Or we can move—”

She held a finger to his lips. “One step at a time. There are some other things that are more important right now. I want to know as much as you can tell me about the other part of your life. Not everything, but if my life is in danger I want to know why and who is after me.”

“From now on, it’s complete transparency, except for the inner Council stuff. I talk about that outside of Council walls, we both end up dead.”

She nodded. “Got it.”

God, he loved this woman.

“There’s one more thing, Nick. We’re going to make love and you’re going to let the beast out.”

He shook his head. “I won’t hurt you.”

“No, you won’t.” She took a sip of her coffee and then planted herself in his lap. “You love me Nick. I know it, and so does your beast. You won’t hurt me. The second bite happens today. If you go through with this, then once and for all I will know you want to be bound to me for an eternity.”

She felt so good against him.

“How could you have any doubts about how much I love you?”

“No doubts, just determination. I want an eternity with you Mr. Hot Guy. That’s a deal breaker,” she warned.

So did he, more than anything else in the world. He wanted this woman to be his for eternity.

“Okay, but the minute I squeeze or push too hard, you scream. You scream with everything that you are.”

“Oh, I’m going to scream,” she whispered against his lips as she reached for his belt. “I’m going to scream a lot.”

Her hand slid down to his cock.

He lifted her hand away. “If we’re going to do this, we do it my way,” he said. “We may have to work toward you touching me during, but right now, I can’t control anything if you do. This will be over before it begins.”

“So you’re a monster who has a pre-jack problem. We can work with that.” She pulled her blouse over her head.

Nick rolled his eyes. “I do
not
have any kind of sexual dysfunction,” he announced. “I have a wife who is too hot for words, whose touch can set me off.”

She gave him an angelic look. “I had no idea I had so much power,” she said sweetly as she lay back on the couch and pushed off her jeans. Her black bra and panties, followed.

Nick sucked in a breath.

“So I can touch you anywhere except for Mr. Big Man.”

Dear God. She’d named his penis. “Yes, and I can touch you,” he said as he bent down. His eyes never leaving hers, he slid his tongue across her heat.

“No fair!” Casey arched her back and moaned. That was all he needed. He worked her hot nub until she moaned repeatedly, shuddering around him. This woman was everything he needed and more.

The beast was just below the surface snarling for release.

“Please, Nick,” she begged. “Please.”

The beast growled within him.

Sitting on the couch, he pulled her on top of him. Sliding herself slowly down his shaft, she dug her fingernails into his shoulder, ripping at his flesh. So hot, wet and slick. She squeezed her softness around him and pumped him hard and fast. Her breasts thrust before him, he sucked a nipple into his mouth and she groaned. Her pace increased.

The wall broke and the beast descended.

Nick drew blood before he realized his fangs were even out.

“Ahhh,” Casey moaned against him, increasing her speed and slamming against his thighs as hard as she could. Nick drank the sweet nectar from her breast and the beast roared.

Picking her up, he moved so they were on the wall, her hands above her head as he pounded into her harder and harder. Chunks of plaster flew around them, but she only begged for more.

She threw her head back as he pistoned into her. Nick was no longer himself, his body an instrument of pleasure for his woman. They spun around the room, fucking hard and fast. The beast wanted her to roar with him. Her arms reached around his neck and she hissed as he bit into her neck. She screamed at the top of her lungs and her orgasm sent tremors through his body, the connection between them so tightly wound that he too found his release.

The wound on her neck healed as they gently slid to the floor.

“Holy hell,” she whispered raggedly.

Nick’s eyes popped open, and he moved her so he could examine her. “Are you okay?” Her eyes were still closed and her breathing was heavy.

“Understatement of the year.”

He relaxed against the wall.

“Um, Nick.” She sighed contentedly.