Untamed (Vampire Awakenings, Book 3) (6 page)

A surge of possessiveness rushed through him,
she was so small, so weak; so
human
. That thought did nothing to ease the
tension building in his chest as he pulled her even closer into his
embrace and further away from the dancing bodies. For the first
time the stress he felt building within him had nothing to do with
the numerous people around him or his craving for blood, instead it
had everything to do with the fact that he meant to keep her out of
harm's way.

"This isn't usually my type of place," Emma
told him though she really enjoyed being forced so close to him by
the worst dancing she'd ever seen anyone do. Ethan pulled her back
another step as the woman's hands flailed crazily about her head.
Emma didn't know if the woman was on drugs or if she actually
thought that what she was doing could be considered dancing. Either
way, Emma was convinced the woman was going to knock someone out
before the night was over.

"Or mine," he told her. He spotted Isabelle
and Stefan again amongst the crowd; they'd managed to get a table.
Isabelle was standing on her tiptoes as she waved at him over the
sea of heads. "Do you want to sit?"

"Yes!" she shouted. She gestured to Mandy and
Jill to let them know where she was going. Ethan slid his hand away
from her shoulder but he kept it on her elbow as he steered her
safely through the crowd.

Stepping next to the table, he pulled a chair
out for her and held it while she sat. She couldn't help but smile
at him; it was such a sweet gesture and one that she'd never
experienced before. "It's crazy in here!" Isabelle shouted over the
music.

Stefan looked about as pleased to be here as
he would have been to stick his hand in boiling water. In fact,
given the choice between the two, Ethan thought Stefan might have
chosen to stick his hand in boiling water rather than endure this
noisy crowd.

"Sit," Emma urged and patted the seat of the
empty chair beside her.

Ethan grabbed the back of the chair but he
pushed it in again and moved closer to Emma as a couple nearly fell
into her chair. He tried to shake off the overprotective urges he
was feeling but he couldn't bring himself to move away and leave
her exposed again.

His gaze ran over the people in the building,
he didn't sense any other vampires amongst the crowd but he had a
feeling the three from the bar would eventually make their way
here. There were more people here, they were drunker, and it wasn't
as well lit. This club was prime feeding ground for vampires. He
spotted Mandy and Jill dancing with a couple of guys. A waitress
came by to take their order and disappeared into the crush of
people.

Ethan leaned closer to Emma as her fingers
began to tap along to the beat of the music and she began to sway.
"Would you like to dance?"

Dancing wasn't something he did often, or
even all that well, but the idea of getting a chance to hold her
was too appealing to resist. She frowned for a second before
smiling and jumping to her feet. She was small but she moved with
easy grace as she came around the chair to stand beside him.

Her hand was swallowed within his when he
took hold of it and led her out to the dance floor. He kept her
away from the horde of people as he steered her to a less crowded
section. They weren't playing a song meant for slow dancing, but
even still he wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her
against him. Her body fit snugly against his frame as she began to
move with him.

He didn't notice any of the other people on
the floor as everything within him became focused on her. Her
tantalizing scent filled his nostrils as his other hand settled
onto her lower back. The feel of her breasts against his chest
caused blood to rush into his cock. He adjusted his position so
that she wouldn't feel the evidence of his obvious arousal.

An overwhelming sensation of feeling safe and
being protected filled her as she rested her head on his chest. She
found herself tuning out the beat of the music and focusing on the
solid, reassuring thump of his heart. Maybe it was because he was
so much bigger and stronger than her, or maybe it was just the
tender way he held her, but she felt incredibly secure in his
arms.

Unable to resist, Ethan lifted his hand to
her hair and let the soft strands of it slide through his fingers.
The bloodlust that had yet to be stirred by the crowd around them
now slid through his body as the fruity scent of her shampoo
drifted up to his nose. His canines tingled; he had to fight to
keep them from extending as his gaze drifted to the vein in her
neck.

Just a little taste, she didn't even have to
know and he could take the memory from her after. The idea was so
enticing that he briefly considered pulling her from the club and
out into the night, but even as the thought crossed his mind he
knew he couldn't do that to her. Her forehead was furrowed as she
studied him with assessing eyes that he found entirely captivating.
Without thought, he bent and placed a kiss against her forehead. He
meant to pull back afterward, but his lips lingered against her
warm skin as his fingers slid beneath her chin. His lips moved
leisurely down her cheeks before brushing against hers.

Lust crashed through him, the heat of her
lips burned against his and the strawberry taste of her mouth
suffused him as his tongue swept inside. It was the first time he'd
ever kissed a human, he didn't know what he'd been expecting but it
certainly wasn't this overwhelming urge to have more, to taste
more, and yet to go easy so that he didn't accidentally hurt her.
That thought frightened him, but he couldn't bring himself to pull
away from her and put some distance between them. Turning her away
from the crowd, he backed her into a wall and pressed her against
it as his kiss became more demanding.

Her fingers curled into his forearms and
though at first she seemed hesitant, she quickly gave herself over
to him with a small sigh. The music and people around them
completely vanished as lust consumed him and he became completely
focused upon her. He was close to lifting her dress and taking her
right there in order to relieve himself of the pressure she had
created within him.

He was seriously considering doing just that
as his hand cupped her handful-sized breast. Her breath sucked in,
her teeth nibbled at his lower lip as he swirled his thumb around
her hardened nipple through the thin material of her dress. He
lifted his head to meet her passion-clouded eyes and savored in the
desire playing over her face as he continued to tease and fondle
her breast. Ever so slowly, he bent his head to hers again. He
seized hold of her swollen lips as he released her breast to slide
his hand over her belly and down to her thighs.

Emma gasped as his hands left a trail of fire
over her body. Her mind was spinning as she tried to understand
what was going on but she was so swept away by the touch and feel
of him that she wouldn't have been able to recite the alphabet
right now let alone form a coherent thought. Her heart was
hammering as his touch brought her to life in ways she'd never
known possible.

She'd never lost herself to a man, not even
to Tristan. She'd never thought it was possible to be so out of
control that she didn't care what happened, but that's exactly how
she was feeling right now, she was knowingly and completely out of
control. As his fingers brushed against the bottom of her dress and
touched upon her bare thighs, she didn't think to say no because
inwardly all she was screaming was,
yes
! Inwardly all she could think was
finally
; finally, she understood
what it was to be a woman that was touched with such feverish need
that even though she knew it was all moving far too fast, it was
still the most amazing experience of her life.

The blood pulsing through his ears made it
difficult for him to hear anything. His fingers caressed her smooth
skin as he moved his hand further up under her dress. He touched
against her panties, pleased to find that they were already damp as
he rubbed against her through the satiny material. His body was
throbbing with the need to possess her, to have her. He forgot
about everyone around them; he simply had to be inside of her, to
consume her. He was pushing her underwear to the side when she
jerked away from him.

Reality was like a slap in the face as it
crashed back over her. "Wait! Stop!" She heaved in heaping gulps of
air as she braced her hands against his chest and her gaze latched
onto his. Emma remained immobile as she waited to see what he was
going to do.

Disappointment crashed through him but he
dropped his hand away when she glanced anxiously around them. Heat
flooded her face, her lashes lowered over her eyes as she adjusted
her dress. "Emma..."

Shaking her head, she turned her face away
when he tried to grasp hold of her chin. She couldn't look at him
again; she couldn't stand to see in his eyes what he probably
thought of her right now. She didn't know what she thought of
herself
. It was one thing to get
swept up in a man; it was an entirely different thing to be about
ready to screw him in public. And she didn't even
know
him. What was wrong with her? What had she
been
thinking
?

Ethan moved his other hand away from her hip
and rested both of his palms on the wall beside her head. He may
have released her but he wasn't ready to let her go anywhere right
now, he was nervous she would run and never come back if he did.
"You must think... I'm not... This isn't something I do," she
muttered.

He stopped her with his hand against her
waist when she went to move away from him. "Emma, look at me," he
coaxed. She threw her shoulders back, took a deep breath, and
finally met his gaze. "We didn't do anything wrong."

"I don't behave like this. I don't almost
have sex with people I don't know in public places," she retorted
defensively.

The fire in her eyes dared him to disagree
with her, to say something different. "I didn't think you did." She
was still the color of a Maraschino cherry as her gaze went away
from him again. "Really Emma, I didn't. We both just got a little
carried away, there's nothing to be ashamed of."

"Yeah." Though she was having a difficult
time looking at him and she wasn't completely convinced.

Ethan leaned forward and kissed her forehead
in an attempt to soothe her a little more. His erection was still
pressing uncomfortably against his jeans, he shifted as he tried to
find a more relaxed position but he didn't think that was going to
be possible until he was inside of her. Something he had every
intention of being before he left this island, but that wasn't
going to happen tonight. Right now he had to ease her
embarrassment, not make her feel even more pressured.

"Let's go back to the table," he
suggested.

"I think I've had enough for tonight."

"I'll walk you home." She opened her mouth to
protest but he continued before she could do so. "I'm only going to
make sure you get there safely. I'll keep my hands to myself, I
promise."

He held his hands up innocently beside his
head and smiled at her. She couldn't help but smile back at him as
she brushed the hair back from her forehead. Embarrassment over her
actions remained but his tone and demeanor helped to ease it.
"Ok."

"Let me just tell Issy and Stefan that we're
leaving."

He took hold of her hand and turned away from
the wall. A few people glanced at them as he led her through the
crowd but thankfully most barely noticed them. Mandy and Jill had
joined Stefan and Isabelle at the table when they returned. "I'm
going to head back to the house," Emma told them.

"I'm ready to go too," Mandy said.

Jill looked at her drink before shrugging;
she chugged down the rest of it, and put it on the table. "Let's go
then."

Emma turned to Ethan, she was still a little
unnerved about what had just transpired between them but she wasn't
ready to say goodbye to him just yet. "You don't have to walk with
us."

"I've had enough for the night too." There
was no way he was going to let her walk around unprotected at night
when there were other vampires on this island.

"I think we all have," Isabelle said and rose
to her feet.

Ethan had been hoping to have some time alone
with Emma, but it didn't look like that was going to happen.
Isabelle's eyes focused on their joined hands, she frowned at them
before her gaze shot up to his. He could practically see the
questions racing through her mind but he had no answers for her and
he wasn't ready to search for them just yet either.

Emma stretched and opened her eyes to the
sunlight filtering around the edges of the blue curtains she had
pulled over the glass patio doors last night. She stared at the
material as the events of the night came crashing back over her.
Embarrassment curled through her, her face heated at the memory of
the wanton way she had behaved, but fresh excitement also spread
through her belly as desire pooled inside of her.

She had stopped him last night before it had
gone too far but if they hadn't been in that club, she would have
given herself to him, of that much she was certain. She shook her
head as she sat up in the bed and pulled the sheet off of her.
Slipping out of bed, she pondered what was going on with her as she
gathered towels for a shower. She'd never been sexually aggressive;
in fact, she had been with Tristan for almost six months before
they'd had sex. He'd been her first and things had gone so horribly
wrong in the end that she'd stayed far away from men for the last
year since their relationship had ended.