Chapter 22 Kathryn
Kathryn
“Then don’t be a bodyguard,” I said.
“It’s not that simple.”
“I think it is,” I replied. “You’re good at medicine. Why not do that if you like it better?”
We were interrupted by a large gurgle coming from my stomach, making me remember I hadn’t had lunch. Given that it was nearly eight p.m. I was starving.
“You need to eat,” Darla said.
“Let’s stop for food and talk over dinner.” When she looked a little hesitant I added, “We can go to Chipotle. They’re open until ten.”
Twenty minutes later we were sitting at a table in Chipotle, chowing down on burrito bowls. I’d never seen anyone as excited about a fast food place. As worldly as she was, Darla was also charmingly sheltered after growing up in a tiny town and then spending so many years overseas.
“This barbacoa is so good,” she said happily. “I might have to order some more.”
“Talk first,” I said firmly. “You’re having doubts about being a bodyguard?”
She nodded. “Yeah I was thinking about that conversation we had about me following my sister’s plan. You asked me what my dream was.”
“And?” I prodded.
“I want to stay at the hospital. I haven’t mentioned this to anyone, but Dr. Evans offered me a job, and a nice signing bonus.
I love working with this team and I really want to take it,” Darla said.
“But I don’t want to disappoint my sister.
Or Lois. The agency invested a lot of money in training me. ”
“Couldn’t you be a contractor like Yuri?” I asked.
“What?”
“You could work at the hospital and take occasional freelance jobs at Sapphic Security, the same as the bears do.”
She considered that for a long moment, then her face broke out with a bright smile. “You know, that could work.”
“Great. Now finish your barbacoa bowl. It turns out that fighting crime makes me horny.”
Darla made a choking noise. “Good to know.”
She shoveled down the last few bites of her food. “Let’s go home.”
When we got to Darla’s apartment we practically fell out of the SUV in our haste to get out. She grabbed my hand and sprinted for the door, avoiding the elevator and instead jogging up to the third floor. By the time we got to her front door, I was breathing heavily.
“I can’t run like this right after eating such a big meal,” I laughed. “Do you want me to puke?”
Instead of answering, Darla shoved the key in the lock and dragged me through her apartment, not stopping until we were in her bedroom. I had a quick impression of a mostly empty space with no decorations or personal touches anywhere. We’d need to change that if we were going to stay here.
“Get naked,” she ordered.
“Oh, you’re getting bossy now?” I asked teasingly.
She paused, studying me. “You like it,” she said smugly. “Your heart is beating faster.”
I playfully smacked her shoulder. “No fair using vampire tricks on me.”
She pulled me closer, giving me a kiss that left me breathless. When we pulled away, her fangs were showing. I reached up and touched one with the tip of my finger. Supernatural physiology defied everything I’d been taught about how bodies worked, yet here I saw it with my own two eyes.
I grabbed the hem of her tank top, tugging it upwards, then Darla maneuvered out of her sports bra.
“There’s no sexy way to get out of these damned things,” she grumbled.
I laughed as I took off my own shirt and bra, then shucked my pants and underwear.
“I don’t know, that little bounce you did while you tugged it over your head was kind of hot.”
Rolling her eyes, Darla grabbed me by the waist and lifted me off the floor, tossing me onto her bed. I pushed up on my elbows.
“Why is your bed so small?”
“It’s just me here,” she said, shucking her pants.
I was momentarily distracted by the sight of her pussy. Then I spread out my arms, touching both sides of the bed.
“This is what? A double?”
“Yeah.”
“And no comforter?” I pressed, noticing the bed only had a top sheet.
“I don’t get cold,” she shrugged.
“You deserve to have nice things,” I said firmly. For some reason I suspected that she didn’t really believe that.
“There’s one nice thing I’d like to have,” she teased, her gaze going to the juncture of my legs.
I giggled. “Well come join me in this tiny little bed.”
She took a leap, flying through the air and somehow landing on her hands and knees with me underneath her. She lowered herself slowly, then brought her lips to mine. When she licked along the seam of my lips, I opened for her with a sigh of pleasure. Her tongue swooped in, tangling with mine.
As we kissed, she slid one thigh between mine, rubbing it against my mound with firm pressure.
“That feels good,” I gasped. “Keep doing that.”
I could feel her wetness on my hip as she ground against me, using her thigh to create friction bring me pleasure.
“How do you feel about strap-ons?” she asked against my throat.
“I’m not opposed. Do you have one?”
“No.”
“Maybe we can get one at Target,” I suggested.
Her head shot up to stare at me. “You can get sex toys at Target?”
I laughed. “Well, probably not a strap-on. But I know a good shop we can visit.” I lifted my head and nipped her chin. “Later. Tonight we’ll have to do this the old-fashioned way.”
Darla grabbed my hands, bringing them up to either side of my head, palms up.
Her hands came to mine, pressing them against the bed and using them for leverage as she continued to grind her muscular thigh against my pussy.
The pressure was exquisite, and I could feel my body barreling towards orgasm quickly.
One thing was wrong though.
“I want us to come at the same time,” I pouted.
She shifted slightly, digging her toes into the mattress and sliding her pussy against my leg before sliding upward to slide her thigh against my core, bringing us both pleasure.
“We will, mate. We will.”
Her words were slightly garbled and when I glanced up at her, I realized that her lips were a darker red now, her fangs in stark contrast, the whites of her eyes turning red.
“I see you,” I whispered to her inner vampire. “You want to mark me, don’t you?”
Darla’s movements slowed. “I won’t mark you,” she said. “Not until you’re ready.”
She winced as if she was in pain.
“What?”
“My vamp is clawing up my insides,” she admitted. “Usually we’re pretty much in sync, but she’s not happy about waiting.”
“Then don’t wait,” I said.
I watched a series of emotions chase across her face. “What are you saying?”
“When I saw you laying on the floor in that lab and I wasn’t sure if you were dead or alive, I was kicking myself for not telling you that I love you.”
“What?” she repeated, as if she thought she’d misheard me.
“I love you and I want to be your mate. I want you to mark me.”
She looked like she couldn’t believe her ears. “Are you sure?”
I nodded. “I’m looking forward to having the increased oxytocin, dopamine, and serotonin from the mate bond. And better immunity. Do you know how many germs I get exposed to in the ER?”
She gave me a long look, then shook her head, giving me a rueful smile. “My life will not be boring with you, will it?”
“Never,” I said. “Now quit messing around and make me come.”
She started grinding against me in earnest, still holding my hands by my head.
I was completely at her mercy like this, and I loved it.
I closed my eyes, giving myself over to the pleasure.
I felt a jolt run down my spine and then I was coming, crying Darla’s name out as I shuddered and pulled against her hands.
I was still shaking when she groaned, “I’m coming,” and then I felt the rush of moisture on my thigh as she sought her pleasure on my body.
Darla moaned loudly, then she lowered her head, staring into my eyes. I nodded, reading the question there, knowing that she was checking one last time for my consent. In a flash, she sunk her teeth into my shoulder with another growl that was more animal than human.
I felt a sharp pain as her fangs pierced my skin, followed by what could only be described as euphoria.
It was like every nerve ending in my body lit up at once.
I could feel Darla - not just physically, but emotionally.
Her love, her devotion, her fierce protectiveness all flowed through me along with a pleasure so intense it bordered on painful.
And underneath it all, I could feel her vampire, that primal part of her that recognized me as hers, that would protect me and cherish me for as long as we both lived.
The mate bond snapped into place like a lock clicking shut, and suddenly I understood what Darla had been trying to tell me.
This wasn’t just attraction or love. This was souls recognizing each other. This was forever.
Darla released my neck, licking the wound to seal it. While I should have been grossed out by her lapping up my blood, I felt only pleasure and a sense of peace I’d never experienced before. Later the doctor in me would try to figure out how the act of her licking me healed my skin so quickly.
Darla rolled onto her back, bringing me with her. She was panting heavily, her eyes closed, and I snuggled up under her arm, resting my head on her shoulder with my arm around her waist and my leg hooked over hers.
After a few minutes, I started to feel the chill. When I shivered, Darla sprung up.
“Crap, I have a blanket here somewhere, hold on.”
She was back in an instant, wrapping the blanket around me and pulling me into her arms again.
“Are you okay?” she asked softly.
There was a hint of vulnerability in her voice that also echoed through the mate bond that was already growing between us.
“I’m more than okay,” I told her, giving her a squeeze. “I’m happy.”
Her eyes searched mine. “Yeah?”
“Yeah.”
She took a deep breath. “Is it too early for me to ask about us moving in together? Because I’d like nothing more than to wake up next to you every day for the rest of my life.”
Moving in together. A month ago I would have run screaming from that suggestion.
I’d always been so careful to keep my relationships casual, never letting anyone get too close.
But Darla wasn’t just anyone. She was my mate.
The person I wanted to wake up next to every morning for the rest of my life.
The mate bond hummed with a sort of calm energy at the thought, and I realized that what I felt for Darla had moved beyond just physical attraction or even the supernatural connection.
I loved her. Not because fate said I should, but because of who she was.
She was it for me. My doubts faded away in an instant.
“I’ll move in with you,” I said, “but I have a couple of conditions.”
“Name them.”
“I need a comforter. And a shower mat,” I ticked off on my fingers. “And decent towels. Maybe a framed print or something.”
“We can get all that at Target, right?”
I laughed. “Yeah.”
“What if we bought a place?” she asked tentatively. “This place is kind of small for two people. I have some money saved up, and Dr. Evans offered me that signing bonus. I always wanted a place that was all my own, you know? Some place with a little yard where I can have a garden.”
“Yeah. That sounds nice. Really nice. As long as we invest in a decent bed.” I shifted. “This bed is not only small, it’s also uncomfortable.”
“I got it at the thrift store,” she admitted sheepishly.
“I have so much to teach you about creature comforts,” I said, stretching up to press a quick kiss on the corner of her mouth.
“Well, we’ll have a lifetime for that, mate.”
“Yes we will.”