Part 12 (2/2)

Gritting his teeth, he concentrated on doing what he'd promised. Taking care of Nicole. He created a mental list to help him through the next few minutes. Hair, body-explain that she's going to become a vampire-then s.e.x. He picked up the spray nozzle attached to the faucet and gently started shampooing her hair. Shared a vision with her of how he planned to personally inspect and clean every inch of her flesh.

Moaning, she arched into his touch. ”Oh, dear G.o.d that feels wonderful.”

Zane couldn't help but agree. Every movement she made brought her wet flesh in contact with some part of his body. The explanation of what this night would entail had better come first. ”Nicky, sweetheart. I have to talk to you about something.”

She stiffened in his arms. ”I don't want to talk about the kidnapping now, Zane. Please.”

”It's not the kidnapping we have to discuss,” he murmured. Rinsing her long curls, he thought about how to approach the subject. Lathering her back with soap, he vigilantly inspected her for injuries. Every bruise and cut was seared into his memory. Mike had taken her because of him.

Nicole turned to face him. ”Don't, Zane. Don't think of him. I'm fine. He didn't cause any lasting damage. I may have a few nightmares, but I'll get over this. You came to my rescue.” She leaned in to kiss him. And he wrapped his arms around her and poured his soul into the kiss.

Soapy hands explored, each teasing the other. Their skin flushed with eager antic.i.p.ation. He lost track of his mental list of should dos and primal urges took over, shattering his best intentions. He wanted to talk to her, to explain. But his body had other ideas. So he used his mind to share with her his emotions, his great need for her. The love he felt and how everything would work out between them.

It wasn't as if she had a choice anyway. They'd die without each other.

She caught that thought, going rigid in his embrace. With their growing mental connection, it was getting harder to keep things from her. Very soon it would be next to impossible without a great deal of concentration. Something the growing mating fever made impossible. She pulled away and met his gaze. ”Zane?”

Sighing, he reached up to run a thumb over her lips and along her bruised cheek. ”You are mine, Nicole. In very rare instances, a vampire can form what is called a true bond. We have done so. Our souls have united. Tonight, I will make you a vampire.” He waited for her to say something. Anything.

He felt her tentative touch in his mind and opened to her. Let her see what this would mean. That they would die without being bound by blood as well as by their souls.

Quietly she studied him. ”So we're together because of the ruby, it somehow forced us to form this connection?”

She'd gotten more from his mind than he'd intended to share.

Zane vehemently denied her conclusion. ”No. No, Nicky. My friend Vlad told me the stone doesn't make the connection, it increases it. Speeding up the process that might have taken weeks and making it stronger. It didn't decide our fate. We'd have bonded eventually as our souls recognized each other. It's why I haven't been able to think of anything but you. Haven't wanted to be anywhere but by your side. Something else you need to know-if I'd been mortal, if I'd been given a choice-I would have chosen you as my mate. Never have I felt...”

What? How could he describe something he couldn't find the words for? Love? It was such a mortal word for his emotions. It didn't describe how he could spend hours just watching her sleep. This was something that consumed his every moment. Every thought.

”Oh Zane!” She leaned into him. Kissing him with her mind open, sharing her emotions with him as he'd unintentionally projected his own thoughts.

Breaking the kiss, he had to be sure. Had to hear the words. ”Then you don't mind becoming a vampire?”

Nicky wrinkled her nose. ”The whole drinking blood thing is a little offsetting. But I have to say an eternity with you might make up for it.”

”Ah sweetheart, you have no idea how wrong that statement is. You think the s.e.x was great before. And don't deny it-I've been in your mind enough to know that you think we're fantastic together. But just wait, baby. True-bond s.e.x will rock your world.”

Laughing, Nicky poked him in the ribs. ”Then start rocking, big guy.”

Her words released the tension he'd held in his soul. The fear she wouldn't accept this. That tight knot unraveled but he refused to let her rush him. When his hands had washed away every trace of her ordeal, he stood with her in his arms. He chose to dry every inch of her flesh with the towels instead of simply waving his hand. Her tugs on his hair and her impatient plea told him his mate wasn't happy with his attention to detail.

Using his lips and tongue to trace every inch of her body, finally he turned her to face the mirror. After arranging her hands on the counter, he skimmed his own down the plane of her back, over her magnificent a.s.s. He couldn't wait any longer. Taking his shaft in his hand, he teased her folds. Felt her body's moisture envelope him. Angling her hips upward, she stood on her toes. Zane slowly pushed the head of his c.o.c.k into her clenching warmth. ”G.o.d that feels wonderful!”

It was his last, semi-coherent thought. He became an animal, unable to sink deep enough. To plunge in and out of his mate fast enough. A small part of his mind ensured her cries were screams of ecstasy, not pain. Saliva surged into his mouth, his skin felt tight. Heat moved in his veins and his gums ached with the sudden press of his fangs. Releasing the inner beast he'd kept chained, he used his hands, his mouth and teeth and c.o.c.k-every inch of his body to claim parts of her. Sinking his fangs into her neck, he drank her blood. Eyes wide, he watched everything in the mirror.

Nicole was magnificent. Head thrown back in the throes of pa.s.sion, her blue gaze hooded. With his mouth fastened to her neck, he became fascinated with the sight of her blood-flushed b.r.e.a.s.t.s, bouncing to the rhythm he set with his hips.

Wrapping one arm around her, he palmed one large globe and tweaked her nipple. She shattered around him, her tight sheath milking his c.o.c.k. Zane released her vein to roar in ecstasy.

It wasn't enough. He wanted her mouth on him. On his flesh. Taking his blood and making it part of her. Not yet. First he wanted to give her more. After all, he'd promised wild vampire s.e.x and he was determined to deliver. Withdrawing from her, he quickly guided her from the bathroom to his bed, pulling back the black-satin comforter to expose the soft Egyptian-cotton sheets. There he arranged her as he'd seen her in his fantasies. Long, black hair spread on his white pillow.

Feasting on her flesh, he bit and licked his way over every luscious inch of her. She cried out at the first press of his mouth on her s.e.x. The sound melting into a slow, sultry moan as his tongue played with her tender folds. He was merciless in his demands- wanting to hear her scream from the pleasure he gave her. She was his. For now and all eternity they were bound as one. Burrowing his tongue deeper between her soft thighs, he reveled in the sharp twist of his hair as she grabbed his head and held him to her, trembling as he stroked her toward release.

”Oh my G.o.d,” she whispered tightly, panting. ”Oh Zane...yes...”

Driving her up, letting her crest and fall, he started over again, gorging on her cream as he'd filled his veins with her blood-until he couldn't take it anymore.

Rising up, he took a knife from the bedside table and sliced a thin trail of red across his chest. Pulling her into his arms, he guided her mouth to his flesh and willed her to lick and suck. Through their mental bond he ensured that her urgency, her soul-deep need, mirrored his own. He saw the hunger in her eyes, felt the wild craving grow with every taste of his blood. Hearing the truth of her yearning in her throaty moans, he'd make sure she always had an open vein to feed from.

Until...eventually...her teeth were sharp enough she could take what she needed from him without help.

Living in the sensual fog of Zane's making, Nicky lost track of time. She thought maybe several days had pa.s.sed since he'd sequestered them in his bedroom. Opening her eyes, she decided she could finally breathe without wanting to physically attack Zane.

Until that breath carried the intoxicatingly erotic scent of his skin. Her sense of smell had become unbearably sharp. And Zane smelled so good.

Her fangs dropped down, filling her mouth. The motion didn't hurt anymore. Rolling over, she wrapped one leg over the very tired male sleeping next to her and grinned. He'd created a monster. One who was only too happy to slake all these urges he'd awakened in her. If she were nice, she'd let him sleep.

She'd rather be naughty.

Rising over the mountain of male flesh, she scooted down his body. Taking his growing erection in her hands, she smiled at his instant and very ardent reaction. ”How does this feel?” she purred, stroking him from b.a.l.l.s to head and back again. Looking up to gauge his reaction, she was sure she couldn't hide the wicked gleam in her eyes. Through their mate bond, she knew precisely how it felt. Breaking eye contact, she slid her tongue along the length of his shaft, wrapping her lips around the head of his c.o.c.k to suck him deep into her mouth. Sc.r.a.ping his shaft with her fangs, she lost herself in the taste of him.

It was sheer pleasure to know he was hers for now and always. This incredible man who had turned her world upside down from the moment she'd met him. Linking with his mind, she shared her emotions, just as she willingly shared her body. She loved him. So much. The gift of an eternity with the man brought tears to her eyes.

”Ah, Nicky. Don't cry.”

His urgent pull on her hair demanded she stop what she was doing. Her slick flesh sliding over his, she moved up to meet his mouth in a searing kiss. Until the urge to find his neck with her lips overwhelmed her. The instant her fangs broke through his skin, Zane hissed, arching sharply into her bite. Nicky drew gently, slowly, knowing that would drive him crazy. She used her tongue to lap at the twin openings in his skin.

His blood was hot and tingly, sliding down her throat to fill her with a heat that soon became a roar of rapidly escalating eroticism. Hitting her so fast she moaned from the intensity, warmth boiled through her limbs and into her core, pulsing hard. The swift, stunning reaction happened every time she tasted his blood. Inside she was molten, going liquid and boneless...wanton.

When she tried to pull away, Zane placed his palm on the back of her head. His large fingers spanned her skull, burrowing through her hair. He held her to him, ensuring she wouldn't stop feeding. Already she could feel Zane's blood mixing with her own. The red lava had changed her. Made her stronger, more alive and a thousand times more sensitive to his every touch. He finally let her move her mouth from his neck to gasp for air.

Flipping her over, Zane crushed her beneath him as he claimed her lips in a heated kiss. She met his every thrust, going wild when he shared how he felt at the ungentle prod of her tongue slipping inside his mouth, tracing the length of his fangs. He liked it when she did that.

Without breaking contact with her lips, he rose to his knees and took himself in hand, guiding his thick erection between her parted thighs. She arched up to meet him, a tremor rocking her as he played the head of his p.e.n.i.s over the wet core of her body.

His teasing was too much to bear and the l.u.s.t for blood had turned to l.u.s.t for something more. Tilting her hips, she used her new strength by settling her hands at his hips and pulling him to her. Nicky gasped as he came down and seated himself to the hilt.

Their mental connection ensured she felt what he felt. Her body beneath his, her s.e.x tight and hot, a molten vice around his c.o.c.k. Nicky moaned.

”Christ!” Zane bit out.

Nicky smiled. It was good to know her reaction to the intense craving between them wasn't lost on Zane. His astonishment over their bond somehow rea.s.sured her.

Knowing that he was amazed, that this thing between them was more powerful than anything he'd ever imagined, allowed her the freedom to enjoy everything so much more. He was connected to her, as she was to him. Sharing mind and body, their pleasure mingled, grew. Everywhere their bodies touched, sensations spiraled. Nicky gave herself up to the shared pleasure.

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