Chapter 17 Darla
Darla
After spending all of dinner schooling Yuri on how to talk to women, I had to hope that the mate bond would make Stacy more forgiving than she would be with a male she wasn’t connected to.
Poor Yuri had none of the quiet thoughtfulness of his brother Boris, and none of the flirtatious charm of his other brother Alexei.
“You know what?” Kathryn finally said. “Forget what we said. Just try to be yourself. Stacy is going to have to get used to you if you’re going to be together.”
“We will be together,” he said firmly. “My ancestors would kidnap mate and take to den for mating. I will do this if it is necessary.”
“Please don’t kidnap Stacy,” my mate said, looking slightly alarmed. “We’re already short-handed at work. Plus she’d probably stab you.”
“Guess you’re going to have to rely on your charm, big guy,” I teased.
“I must ask brothers for advice,” Yuri said. “Boris has mate and Alexei have many girlfriends.”
“We’ll do the dishes and put away the leftovers while you call them,” I said. “We really appreciate you cooking. Everything was delicious.”
“Way better than a lunchmeat sandwich,” my mate added.
Yuri wandered away and Kathryn and I worked together to clean up.
It was nice. Very domestic. I could imagine us doing this every night, if only one of us knew how to cook something more complicated than boxed macaroni and cheese.
Maybe we could take one of those couples cooking classes? I snorted at the idea.
“What?” Kathryn asked.
“I was thinking that we need to take a cooking class so we don’t starve when we move in together.”
She froze, looking vaguely alarmed. “We’re moving in together?”
“That’s what mates generally do.”
I thought she would argue but instead she turned back to the dishes. I took that to be a good sign. Clearly she was getting used to the idea. She’d been so cute this afternoon in her research mode, muttering to herself as she made notes.
At one point she’d looked up at me, her cheeks pink with excitement, and said, “This is incredible. The biochemistry is fascinating -- there are actual physiological changes that occur when mates bond. Increased oxytocin, dopamine, and serotonin. The bite creates a permanent exchange of pheromones and even some cellular material. Bonded vampires and shifters live longer. They’re more emotionally stable too. ”
I had no idea what any of that meant, but she’d been so adorably excited that it had taken everything in me not to pull her in my lap and kiss her. And judging by the knowing look I got from my sister, Bella knew it too.
After she put the last dish in the dishwasher, Kathryn turned to face me, a speculative look on her face.
“How long has it been since you had sex?”
I froze in surprise. That was not what I expected her to ask. I thought maybe she was going to suggest we watch a few more episodes of Modern Family before we go to bed.
“A few hours.” Didn’t she remember it?
“I mean before you and I met.”
I thought back to the weekend I spent with a sexy tiger shifter right after my discharge. “Six months ago, maybe seven, it was right before I moved to Seattle.”
“It’s been a while for me too,” she said. “Are there any rules against having sex with clients while you’re on their protective detail?”
“Kind of,” I nodded. “Of course everyone I know has broken that rule, including my sister. Well, and Lois. She met her mate on a job just like the rest of us.”
“Lois has a mate?” she asked, like she couldn’t picture it.
“Yeah, and she’s the girliest femme you ever met.”
Lois’s mate could not be any different than her. Other than being wolf shifters, I couldn’t imagine what they had in common.
“Huh. I kind of want to meet her.”
“Why did you ask when I last had sex?” I asked when she didn’t say anything more.
“Well, to be honest, the physical attraction between us is off the charts. I was thinking maybe we could blow off some steam while we’re here. I mean, as long as you won’t get in trouble or anything.”
“Blow off some steam?” I parroted. All the blood in my body had pooled in my core and I was having a hard time following the conversation.
“We’re two consenting adults who are attracted to each other.”
I just stared at her. It was like my brain had shut off.
“Let’s have sex,” she enunciated carefully. “I mean, I know we’ve gotten each other off already, but I was thinking we could have full-on naked in a bed sex tonight. If you’re up for it, I mean.”
Maybe I’d followed the conversation just fine.
“I wouldn’t be opposed to that,” I said lamely.
“I want to be clear though, tonight is just sex.”
I opened my mouth to respond, and she held up her hand. “I’m not saying it can never be more than sex, I’m just saying that until things settle down in my life and I have a place of my own again, I can’t commit to anything serious.”
I wondered if she’d really be able to keep things casual.
I wondered if I could. My vamp was pressing against me whenever we were together, demanding that I claim her.
It had been hard to hold her back earlier.
When Kathryn went down on me, it had taken all my self-control not to pull her up and sink my fangs in her neck.
But there’d be no biting, not until Kathryn was ready to commit to us being mates.
If we didn’t end up together, it would be incredibly painful for me.
A lot of supes went crazy if they were rejected by their mates or fell into a depression so deep they faded away.
But it was ten times harder if they’d already sealed the mate bond.
“Okay, we can do that, we can keep it just physical,” I said casually, like we were negotiating where to go for dinner. Deep inside me, my vamp was shrieking with displeasure.
“Are you okay?” she asked. “You look like you’re in pain.”
I nodded. “My vamp is cranky, but don’t worry, I’m totally up for this.”
“In that case, how about we go to my bedroom?” She gave me a smile that was pure sin.
“Let’s go to mine instead,” I suggested. “The bed’s bigger.”
When Kathryn didn’t move fast enough, I picked her up and tossed her over my shoulder, making her shriek.
“Put me down before you hurt yourself!”
Despite her protests, I could smell her getting wet. I smacked her ass, then wrapped one arm around her legs, pinning them to my chest. “Supernatural strength, remember?”
Moving down the hallway at a slow jog, I brought Kathryn into my room, closing the door behind us. We shared one long, heated look before we both started moving, practically ripping our clothes off without a care as to where it all landed.
We were both naked in record time and then we flew together. Our bodies lined up almost perfectly, her small breasts pressing against my larger ones. Kathryn cupped the back of my head, drawing my head towards her, and I slid my hands down to cup the muscular globes of her ass.
I should have expected the way my entire body lit up the instant my lips touched hers, yet still it caught me by surprise. It had never been like this before, not with anyone else. Kathryn nipped at my lower lip, demanding entrance, and I opened for her, content to let her lead.
By the time we broke apart again, we were both breathless. I lowered my head, kissing my way down to her neck, pausing to nip at the juncture of her shoulder. I sucked lightly on the spot where I’d someday mark her as mine.
Meanwhile Kathryn’s hands were exploring, moving up and down my back, my shoulders, my ass, pulling me closer even though we were already pressed against each other.
I kissed her again, walking her backwards, wanting to get on the bed before my knees gave out. When we reached the bed we collapsed onto our sides, laughing as we bounced on the comforter, making the bedsprings squeak.
“Oh my God, Yuri is going to hear us,” Kathryn giggled.
“He was going to hear us anyway,” I told her. “He can probably hear the people next door having sex. But it’s okay, supes aren’t bashful about sex like humans are, we take it all in stride.”
“I know what I’d like to take in stride,” she teased, rolling me onto my back and straddling my waist.
She pressed her pussy against the top of my mound, giving me just light pressure while she reached down and cupped my breasts, squeezing them and pressing them together again and again.
“I love your breasts,” she whispered. “They’re so perfect.”
“Not as perfect as they were when I was in my twenties,” I said wryly.
I wasn’t normally self-conscious about my body – no supes were – but something made me want to look perfect for her. It was a novel feeling, and one I didn’t want to analyze too much.
“Shush,” she said, pinching my nipples hard enough to make me gasp. They hardened under her touch. “You’re perfect.”
Bending my knees, I flipped her over so I was on top.
“You’re the perfect one,” I said, leaning down to give her a long, claiming kiss.
I kissed and nipped my way down her body, spending some time teasing her nipples into hard points before circling her belly button with my tongue. She was quivering the more she got turned on. By the time I pressed a soft kiss to her mound she was strung tight, giving me a needy whine.
“Aw baby, do you need to come?” I cooed.
“Yes!” she cried. “I’m so wet already. I need you.”
“Don’t worry, I know what you need.”
Spreading her wide with my fingers, I slid my tongue roughly through her folds, lapping up her essence and drawing her closer to release.
“Please,” she panted as I tapped my tongue against the sensitive bundle of nerves at her apex. “Please.”
I slid two fingers inside her body, crooking my fingers while sucking on her clit, driving her higher and higher until she broke beneath me.
“Darla!”
She bucked against my face, although I didn’t know if she was trying to get closer or move away from the sensation. Clamping my hands on her thighs, I suckled and licked and twisted my fingers inside her until she was completely spent, collapsing against the bed with a long, shuddering sigh.
“Wow,” she said softly, her voice full of wonder. “I thought the last time was good, but this was… this was better.”
I chuckled as she ran out of words. Moving my way up her body, I rolled her into my arms, pulling the comforter around her so she wouldn’t get chilled.
“I just need a few minutes to recover,” she said sleepily. “I’ll take care of you, I promise.”
Sixty seconds later she was asleep.