Chapter 26
26
I came to a screeching halt in front of Robert’s driveway, frightening some poor man holding a leaf blower half to death. I’d driven like a maniac on the way over, nearly rear-ending a minivan full of screaming children at a stoplight. The driver, a stressed-out mom with a nasty case of bed head, had shaken her fist at me angrily before giving me the finger.
Carl was waiting for me outside. He was polished and professional, despite the early hour. I wondered when the man slept, or if he did at all.
He bowed his head. “I’m very sorry for your loss, Olivia.”
I bowed my head. I’d known people who’d died of natural causes and accidents, but never of murder. I felt like there was more that could have been said beyond, “Thank you,” but I couldn’t find the words.
“Please, follow me. Robert apologizes for not meeting you at the door.” He raised a hand toward the sun. I caught his drift. “He’s waiting for you down in the sleeping chamber.”
Carl led me underground to the chamber, then left quietly. I found Robert nervously pacing the room and I called his name, breaking his trance. Before I knew it, I was enveloped in his strong arms.
“I can’t tell you how relieved I am that you weren’t harmed. When I heard you crying on the phone, I didn’t know what to think. I can’t understand why anyone would want to hurt Liz.” I tensed in his arms, and he changed course. “How are you feeling?”
“Numb,” I whispered. “Like I’m stuck in a nightmare.”
He pulled me closer. “You’re safe now.”
“I just . . . I can’t deal with this right now. It’s too much. Liz was my best friend. She was my family.” I buried my face in his chest. “I don’t want to sound cold, but can we please talk about something else?”
“Whatever you want. I’ll always be here for you when you’re ready to mourn.” He took a step back and took in my soggy dress, mud-encrusted stilettos, and Jerry’s enormous coat. “What have you got on?”
I looked in the mirror hanging next to Robert’s bed, struck by my freakish appearance. “I was coming home from a Dignitary thing when I discovered . . .” I shook my head. “I didn’t want to go inside the apartment to change.”
“You decoyed last night?” he said, pursing his lips.
“You sound jealous.”
“It doesn’t matter now. Here, please.” He led me to the bed, where I sat down on the edge. He bent down and removed my stilettos. “I’m afraid I’ll be burned by sunlight if we leave the chamber, so this will have to do for seating. But if you’d be more comfortable, I could have Carl fetch a chair?”
“No, this is perfect.” I leaned back on the plush down duvet, exhaustion hitting me like a ton of bricks. My nerves felt like the frayed end of a rope. “You know, my client last night was a gay man. It was a last-minute booking.”
“Oh?” He tried to convey a sense of indifference, but his relief was palpable. “And what of your relentless suitor? Is he still bothering you?”
“Nick?” I said his name with unimportance. It was amazing to feel nothing for my ex: not hurt, not anger, not longing. Nothing. “You make him sound way classier than he is by calling him my suitor , Robert. He’s just some dumb guy I used to know—an insignificant blip in my past. It seems he’s finally taken the hint and will now leave me alone. I hope so, anyway. That must have been some punch you gave him.”
Robert took my hands. “Olivia, from the bottom of my heart, I’m terribly sorry about the scene I made outside the coffee house. I know you must think the absolute worst of me because of my appalling behavior, but when I saw that dumb guy grab your arm . . . I was only trying to keep you safe. I couldn’t bear to see you hurt. I know that I can be terribly old-fashioned with my protectiveness. You’re more than capable of taking care of yourself.”
“No, I’m the one who should be sorry. You were obviously right to be paranoid. Maybe if I had listened to you, Liz would still be alive.” Fat, angry tears spilled from my eyes. “I should have warned her, Robert. Maybe I do have a stalker. It’s my fault she’s dead.”
“Do not blame yourself for what happened,” Robert said furiously. “The murderer is responsible. For all we know, what happened to Liz could be entirely unrelated to what’s been going on with you. If it is, indeed, a vampire who did this, I will face justice. I promise you.”
“Thank you, Robert. I appreciate it, but can we . . .”
“Talk about something else. Right.”
“What did you do last night?” Obscene as it was, making chitchat made me feel grounded, sane. If we didn’t talk about Liz’s murder, it was almost as if it hadn’t happened. I wanted to hang on to my delusions for as long as I could.
“I worked, mainly.” Oddly, he wouldn’t meet my eyes. “What was his name, the vampire you were out with last night?”
“Jerome Bellamy. Jerry for short.”
“Oh, yes, I know him. Not well, but we’re friendly. I have one of his paintings. It’s a ghastly thing, so I keep it in a room I rarely use.”
“He mentioned that he knew you.”
“You spoke about me?” Robert was clearly pleased.
He traced his fingertips down my cheek, along my jawline, and then rested them on my collarbone. He pulled Jerry’s jacket off my shoulders and removed it, replacing it with a cashmere throw he’d taken from the bed.
“Yes, but I don’t really have a whole host of subjects I can talk about with vampires,” I said dismissively. That wasn’t entirely true, but I wasn’t ready to give in to Robert just yet.
“I see.”
I pushed a few strands of hair away from his brow as I studied his perfect face, finding only affection in his eyes. Here was a vampire who’d shown me respect, kindness, and loyalty. He’d had my back when I’d needed him, and he’d never judged me. There was also the detail of him being the most gorgeous creature in existence.
So, what was I waiting for? Why was I so afraid?
I sighed. “If you want the truth, I’ll tell you, Robert. I talked about you to Jerry because I was missing you,” I confessed, twining my fingers around his. “I’ve tried denying the intensity of my feelings, but I no longer see the point. As I learned today, life can be extinguished at the blink of an eye. So, you know what? I might as well come clean. Since we’ve met, you’ve been on my mind almost constantly. And, yeah, that scares me, but there isn’t a man on earth—human or vampire—that I’d rather be with than you.”
There. I’d said it, loud and clear. No way to recant this one.
Robert opened his mouth and then closed it.
“Would you say something?” Had I misread the situation? If so, my heart just might stop from embarrassment. “Please.”
He didn’t use words to make his stance about what I’d said clear. Instead, he pulled me up from the bed, cupped the back of my skull, and pressed his mouth against mine. With a desperate moan, I threw off the cashmere throw, parted my lips, and explored his tongue.
“Are you certain you wish to do this now? It wouldn’t be gentlemanly of me to take advantage of your grief.”
I hushed him by pressing my mouth tenderly against his. “Yes,” I whispered, nibbling on his plump bottom lip. “I wish.”
I worked my lips down from his forehead, kissing his eyelids, then the hollow spot under his jaw. I nibbled lightly at his skin, teasing him into submission. He let out a coarse moan, pressing his hips against mine. I could detect his interest, his lust, and it was growing in his pants by the second. I rubbed a hand over the moistening bulge, biting my lip in rapture. He was ready to make love, and I was ready to be loved by him.
“I’ve never wanted anything more in my life,” I purred, pulling off his shirt.
Pillows flew every which way as he threw me down on the bed. Our bodies came crashing together in a frantic tangle, and we kissed like today was our last on earth. “I’ve wanted you from the first night we met,” he murmured. “It has nearly driven me mad!”
His strong, masculine hands eased under my rear and travelled up to the spot in the center of my shoulder blades where my zipper rested. With a flick of his wrist, I was freed from my dress, my bare breasts pressing against his cool flesh. And then my panties were gone, cheekily thrown over the shade of the nightstand lamp.
I bucked my hips against his, aching to feel him inside me. Never had I experienced desire so intense with anyone. This is what I’ve been missing , I thought. This is what all the fuss is about. This is where it’s at .
And here’s something else crazy: as I watched the two of us rolling around in the refection of the mirror, I felt an unexpected stab of jealousy. I was jealous of myself , the lucky woman receiving pleasure from such an exquisite being, as if I was viewing a scene in a movie instead of my own image. I couldn’t believe this was my life, that this was happening to me .
Robert took my nipples into his mouth, drawing my flesh upward between his lips, sucking hard. Pain and pleasure simultaneously. My eyes rolled back into my head.
Abruptly, he pulled away, tracing his tongue from my cleavage to my navel, stopping at the blazing spot between my thighs. He parted me and deeply plunged in two fingers, working me from the inside out. Greedily, he lapped me up, and I thought I might die on the spot of sensory overload.
I made an animalistic moan, my muscles tightening around his thrusting digits. I gripped his hair, pushing him into me, too ecstatic to hassle with jealousy anymore. Yes, oh God, yes. Don’t you dare stop, you sexy, talented, amazing vampire. I’ll die if you do.
He eased his head back, teasing my clit with the tip of his tongue as he reached up and pinched my nipple. “You’re the best thing I’ve ever tasted, Oliva.”
I arched a brow, panting. “I want you to taste me, Robert—to really taste me.”
His eyes flickered. He knew what I wanted. “I don’t want to hurt you.”
“I trust you.” I sat back, exposing the tender flesh on my inner thigh to him. “I trust you completely.”
He lowered his head cautiously, with deliberate motion. He looked into my eyes, revealing his pointed incisors. Was I sure? He was so close that the tips of his razor-sharp fangs left behind tiny droplets of blood as they grazed my skin.
“Do it!”
He bit.
I cried out in surprise. It was gentle at the beginning, but his pressure increased as he latched onto my thigh. I gripped his shoulders, my mouth falling open in an inaudible shriek. It was thrilling, scary, and peaceful at once, a euphoric sensation I’d never be able to put into words.
His grip on my body tightened, almost dangerously, then he shoved himself away. He threw back his head and licked my blood from his lips, peering at me forebodingly with his blazing metallic eyes.
I never thought I’d be the sort of brazen woman to shriek I want you now! but there I was, doing that with absolutely no inhibition. Robert seized my ankle and pulled my body under his in one swift movement. He brought his face to mine and kissed me. I could taste my fluids on his tongue, copper and musk. And it was hot.
I fumbled with the rupturing closure on his slacks frantically. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, I managed to get the zipper down with my trembling fingers. I allowed myself a moment to marvel at his perfection. Robert may have been a vampire, but he was also all man.
Wrapping a hand around his thick, perfect cock, I leaned back and rubbed his tip around my throbbing entrance. Slowly, I eased him inside me. So deep, to the hilt, with our hips pressing together sharply. I wrapped my legs around his back, pulling him impossibly deeper, biting into his shoulder when the pleasure was too much.
And then he was thrusting. My body bounced and jerked and swayed, and I didn’t care how I looked or sounded as I shrieked like an opera singer, so long as he didn’t stop. And oh my God, how could that be? I was already coming, and I kept coming so damn hard, like another heartbeat was pulsating between my legs. I felt like I was in another dimension, like I couldn’t remember my own name even if someone tried to pay me a million dollars just to give them the first letter of it. My thoughts became jumbled, nonsensical, like my soul had left my body.
“Come with me!” I screamed, bucking hard against him. “Come with me now!”
His thrusting became frenzied. My mouth dropped open in ecstasy, and I held for dear life as he pumped himself into me. Our bodies tensed, then slackened. A few moments later, he slid out of me. I wanted to tell him all kinds of dirty, lovely things, but I didn’t trust my tongue to form the words properly.
He pressed his mouth against mine, sucked on my bottom lip. “You aren’t done already, are you, Olivia?”
I looked down, gasped. I must have been a very good girl in my past life. Like Gandhi kind of good. Because Robert was already hard again.
Grinning, I stroked my clit and parted my legs, an invitation for him to take me once more. As I shifted, some of his come, hot and pearlescent, flowed out of me. He scooped a hand up my thighs and then massaged between my legs, fingering his liquid back inside me.
I moaned at the naughtiness of it.
“It makes me so hard, baby, knowing that you’re filled up with me,” he rasped.
I smirked. “Maybe you should add some more, then.”
So, he did.
And it was amazing.