Chapter 20 #2
I thought of Kayla. A vampire. Sebastian’s mate. “Yes?”
“Kayla, Leia… Sam… Have I mentioned Sam?”
I half shook my head, unsure what he meant or why the other women mattered.
“They were all human—”
“I know.” He’d said that before, right? Or had I just heard it somewhere else?
“Before,” he finished, the word heavy.
Awareness dawned, but I asked the question anyway. “Before what?”
He ducked his head before meeting my gaze again. “Before being claimed.” Then he sighed. “I’m probably doing this part all wrong, but I don’t know how it’s supposed to go. I don’t know when to ask or what to say.”
“You’re asking if you can claim me?” Something about saying those words aloud sent a jolt of excitement spiraling through me.
Being claimed by Jason… I grew wet just thinking about it. Like my body knew what it wanted even before Jason had finished his awkward explanation.
He nodded. “It’s almost all I can think about. But it involves a blood exchange.”
Even those words excited me, and I’d never have imagined that would be possible. Some of the other wolves were a little bloodthirsty, nipping each other in play or passion, but that side of my wolf was truly dormant.
Except now it wasn’t. I wanted to bite Jason.
I looked at him while I processed this new information. We’d bite each other. “During sex?”
He nodded again. “Yes.”
“Okay.” It was a tiny word and it sounded so casual. But I meant it as affirmation and consent. I pressed myself closer against him, and he stilled.
“You sure you’re okay?”
I nodded and chuckled, suddenly ready for this delay to end. I couldn’t think of anything that I wanted more than Jason Martin inside my body. “Please kiss me.”
No one had ever kissed me the way he did. It was like an addiction. I was addicted to the man who’d declared me his mate.
He smiled softly and nodded before he resumed kissing me, and his hands wandered farther up my torso before skimming the fabric of my bra.
“Can I take your shirt off?” he murmured.
I nodded. It felt good to be respected by being asked, but at the same time, he didn’t need to question his every move. I was here with him, and I wanted his touch on me. I wanted everything he was about to do to me…to give me. I even wanted to taste him.
He drew my shirt up and over my body, and where the fabric trailed over my skin, it left goosebumps.
“Are you cold?” He slid my bra strap from my shoulder and pressed a kiss to where it had been. “Are you cold here?” He kissed the start of my collarbone. “Or here?” The swell of my breast. “Here?”
I threaded my fingers into his hair, holding him closer as he slid his tongue over my skin, and my breathing picked up again. He reached behind my back and unhooked my bra, and I wriggled slightly as it loosened, my first instinct being to press the fabric back against me.
But he slid it away. “Beautiful,” he whispered, and some of my embarrassment dropped away as a weird mix of pride and validation took its place.
This man found me attractive.
He played the pads of his thumbs over my nipples before capturing one in his mouth.
I arched toward him, offering more of myself.
His tongue flicked against me, and my desire was sparks inside my body lighting flames that licked my insides with heat.
This was incredible. Fire flickered along each of my nerve endings, and I shifted my thighs, rubbing them together, to try to relieve some of the tension building between them.
Jason murmured my name as he stroked my arm with his hand, and he pushed gently against me, reclining me back on the bed. He kissed the edge of my jaw as one of his hands trailed along my waistband.
“You’re wearing too many clothes,” I whispered, suddenly shy.
I didn’t mean to tell him to undress. But neither did I want to be the only one of us who was naked in this situation.
He chuckled. “That’s easily remedied.”
I closed my eyes and fabric rustled. Then he pulled me to him and my breasts pressed against his naked chest. I gasped at the contact, and his tongue teased mine, coaxing me to relax against him.
His hand was in my hair, and I pressed mine to his cheek, almost breathing him in. His scent was amazing. I couldn’t get enough.
He nudged my legs apart with his knee, and my clit pulsed for a moment. My body craved his touch. The noise of the teeth separating on my zipper as he drew it down was loud in the quiet, and I held my breath at the sound.
That was the sound of me about to lose my virginity. I almost giggled at the thought, but I bit my lip. It seemed inappropriate to giggle right now.
I lifted my hips as Jason slipped my jeans and panties down my thighs. He trailed his fingers over my skin, and I parted my legs for him again.
I stiffened at his first touch. It was like it sent a bolt of electricity through me, and I sigh-whispered my mouth when he did it again.
“You like that?” I turned toward the sound of his voice, my eyes still closed, and I waited, wanting him to kiss me.
As if he could read my mind, his lips pressed against mine, and his finger rolled my clit again. I pressed toward him, tilting my hips as I reacted to his touch, seeking more of it.
“I like it,” I whispered. I wanted so much more of it. But first… “Take your pants off…”
Fabric rustled again. My fingers itched to touch him. But would he want me to? I let my hand fall to his thigh. So close to where I wanted to touch that one small movement would put me right there.
He caught his breath. Was he waiting?
“Can I…?” I barely made a sound as I asked the question. Was I supposed to ask? I didn’t know.
At first, he said nothing, and I waited. Maybe he didn’t want—
“Yes.” His answer was firm. “You can. Always. I’m yours to touch.”
I stroked my palm upward over his skin. Would he like it? Would he tell me if I didn’t? I hesitated. Then I touched the soft skin of his balls and he exhaled quietly. I did it again and he pressed his lips to my forehead. Then I took his cock into my hand, smoothing my thumb over the tip as I did.
He pressed a little harder against my clit. I stroked him from base to tip and he responded by rolling my clit just the way I liked it. I whimpered a little and he chuckled.
“More?”
“More,” I agreed.
Then I closed my eyes. Taylor had been right. Total trouser snake. Hot and heavy in my hand. I pushed away the errant thought of my best friend and focused on Jason’s body once more.
Every one of his touches excited me, and I began to move against him, urging him on. Even his dick in my grip excited me, and I smeared the bead of precum over the head, his breathing rate increased, and the noise excited me further.
There was something about this moment—his scent, the sound of him, his touch on me… I lost myself in all of it. Only pleasure existed. My muscles started to tighten. He inhaled a sharp breath and held it as everything released.
My body pulsed and Jason kept his finger on me, just light pressure, but I pushed against him, riding my orgasm as it washed through me.
He pressed more kisses to my inner thighs.
He moved away and I tightened my hold around him.
“Where…?” Was he done now? Where was he going?
But he slid down my body and chuckled, the sound low and sexy. “Just got to check a couple of things…”
I held my breath as he settled himself between my parted legs, and his finger probed my folds before he kissed the inside of my thigh.
That a man was there at all… I released my breath at the intimacy of it as I pushed a hand into the soft strands of his hair.
He sucked my clit into his mouth, and I gasped, arching toward him at the sudden sensation. He pressed his tongue against me, and I whimpered, my fingers tightening in his hair.
Fire raced along my nerves, and my whole body grew warm under his attention. There was a gentleness to him that I hadn’t expected, and I gasped again, my body greedy when he pushed a finger inside me. I wanted more. I wanted him to fill me up.
“So wet,” he whispered. “I just had to be sure.”
I squirmed as he curved a finger inside me, and pleasure rocketed through me.
“Like that?” He raised his head a little.
“Yes.” But I couldn’t quite form that word and it came out on a hiss of air.
I tugged at his hair now, trying to move him, but the man was a boulder. I wanted him. He didn’t need to play anymore. He pressed more kisses to my inner thighs.
“I’m ready.” I didn’t know what else to say. Was he waiting for me to declare it? But he laughed softly and moved.
Jason waited before positioning himself over me, and his dick nudged against my entrance.
“You okay?”
I nodded. I wanted this. Fuck, I wanted this. I’d never wanted anything more, and it felt so right.
When he entered me, I’d expected pain, but none came. My body stretched as he pushed slowly inside before he retreated and pushed inside again.
I’d never imagined something so intimate. A man’s body inside mine.
His movements picked up until he was thrusting into me, and I whimpered my pleasure.
“Ciara.” He murmured my name, and I bared my neck to him, rolling my head as though driven by ancient instinct. I knew what he wanted.
And I wanted to give him all of me.
“I want you to bite me,” I said. I’d never been surer of anything.
At first, he just rested his fangs against my skin, and I tingled with the anticipation of it. I jolted with the shock that I was actually okay with this. But nothing had ever felt more right. It was natural to want this. He was my mate.
The tip of his tongue touched my skin and I reached to cup the back of his head, pressing him closer.
“Ciara,” he whispered, and my skin tingled. “Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
Then there was a sharp pain but that disappeared and was replaced by sheer ecstasy. I floated as his mouth pulled at my neck, with every suck he took.
An unexpected orgasm charged through me, and I groaned as my body held onto his. Suddenly, he raised his head and he groaned softly too.
“Bite me as well,” he said, and he offered me his neck.
Fuck… I wanted to. Like my dormant instinct had been there all along. I wanted to feel the warmth of his blood in my mouth. But could I? Could I do what I needed to do with my blunt, human teeth?
But instinct took over again. This man was my mate. I wanted to mark him. I wanted to take from him.
Completion beckoned to me, and I answered that call, pressing my teeth to his vein until blood trickled into my mouth. But the small trickle wasn’t enough and I pressed harder then sucked, drawing deeply.
I’d never imagined it could feel like this. No wonder the mated wolves sometimes bit each other. Even the taste. I couldn’t have imagined it. I’d expected old pennies, but beneath the earthy copper, it was sweet, and it seemed to light me up from inside.
I could almost feel the life force, our connection. Liquid strength.
Jason cried out above me, and his dick surged forward, thickening as he came inside me.
I drew on his vein one last time before releasing him and pulling away. Funny. The bite marks were more like punctures than I’d expected, and I probed at one carefully with a fingertip.
He shuddered. “Feels good.”
“Hmm.” My noise was part satisfaction, part curiosity. This wasn’t how I’d expected my first bite mark on his neck to look.
First. The word filled me with excitement.
Satisfaction loosened all of my muscles, and drowsiness suddenly claimed me.
Jason chuckled. “Have I bored you?”
“Hm? No?” But I was still too tired to open my eyes.
What we’d just done weighed on me, but in the best of ways.
It was like it anchored me, holding me together.
I was someone else now, someone new and different and worthy in ways I’d never considered.
Those weren’t really thoughts. Just things I was suddenly aware of.
Unchangeable things. Unquestionable things.
So what if I was a shifter mated to a vampire? I was human enough that it didn’t matter, right? And we’d deal with any fallout from my pack… From Conri, together. I’d see my brother tomorrow. Explain to him. Tell him that this was the right course of action for me.
The only course of action I could bear because Jason was mine as surely as I was his.
The blankets rustled as Jason withdrew from my body and lowered himself to the bed. The loss of him was a physical reaction as he drew away and turned me toward him, wrapping me in his arms. I yawned and snuggled in closer to him, basking in the warmth of his skin.
“No, I… Not bored.” I waved a hand and stifled a yawn. “I’m just… I’m just tired.” I couldn’t explain anything else, but I felt him kiss me on my temple before he drew the blanket over both of us.
“Sleep then, my sweet Ciara. I’ll be here, keeping you safe.”