Chapter 18 Maeve
Maeve
Sitting with the female vampires was…interesting. If I hadn’t known they were vampires, I wouldn’t have…known. I’d never expected them to be as human-seeming as me. Granny had never imagined that sometimes the monsters were even more dangerous by appearing so harmless.
More than harmless. An image of Francois appeared in my mind. He was so much more than harmless. He was seductive, his voice inviting me to touch him.
To love him, a tiny voice in my head whispered.
But I ignored that. There was no way I could love a vampire. And certainly not one I’d just met. I’d only ever wanted to prove their existence.
Part of me still did what to prove that… My thoughts ground to a sudden halt. Part of me wanted to prove it? All of me did, right?
It was all I’d ever wanted, to end my days of just being a kook. A weirdo with a paranormal blog. Another person sitting at home, making a collection of tinfoil hats.
But now there was another pull inside me, a desire to help the vampires remain hidden…to protect them. Because what was the alternative? Humans with pitchforks and flaming torches?
Automatic weapons and flamethrowers, more like.
And the vampires would fight back because…who wouldn’t? If I proved their existence, I’d be starting a war that would play out in every country all the world. Could I take on that kind of responsibility?
I sat farther back on the couch and let the women’s chatter wash over me. I wasn’t sure I even wanted to think about it right now. And especially not knowing that there were other types of paranormal beings. I glanced at Ciara. An actual wolf-vampire hybrid.
But these were more than stories to me now, more than a belief or even a specimen. They were all people with lives and loves of their own.
I closed my eyes briefly, before a door banged down the corridor, and I opened them again to see what was going on. Francois strode into the room, and my breath caught at the stark beauty of the man, even though his anger was clear to see.
I stood as I took in the dull red of his eyes and the slightly sharper edge to his cheekbones—not because I was concerned, though.
My interest was merely professional curiosity, the part of my brain that still hungered for the information I’d sought all my life.
And it had nothing to do with how beautiful he looked like this, either…
“What’s wrong?” I asked the question to his back as he walked past, not even close to slowing down.
“Nothing.” His answer was stark and short and his tone should have put me off and sent me scurrying back to my safe seat on the sofa…but it didn’t.
“There is something. It’s bad for you to keep things inside.”
He laughed, but there was no humor there. “Trust me, I should have been keeping a lot more in for a very long time.”
“No.” I grabbed his hand as it swung behind him with his stride, and his fingers closed around mine for a moment.
“Maeve.” But it was only mild warning in his tone, and I clutched his hand tighter when he might have tried to shake me loose.
“Where are you going?”
“My room.” He laughed shortly again. “Well, anywhere that isn’t in the same space as a Dupont vampire. Even if the room I end up in isn’t truly mine.”
He slowed as we approached a doorway, and the room we entered was dark. So dark I could no longer see Francois in front of me, and I tightened my hold on him like I needed to be sure he was still there.
I felt safe with him. Instinct told me he’d never hurt me. And there was no rational reason for that. Just a bone-deep knowledge that had no reason to exist.
Then he moved so fast that I couldn’t react, and my gasp pierced the silence in the room. The wall was hard against my back, and my heart thumped wildly.
Francois’s body molded against mine, a knee between my legs, his chest pressed to my breasts as he dropped his mouth to my ear. “J’ai envie de t’embrasser.”
My lips parted in response. Even my rudimentary understanding of his language meant that I knew he’d just told me he wanted to kiss me. Memories of the way he’d kissed me before flooded back, and my knees weakened.
He’d kissed me like he wanted me, owned me...like he meant it. I craved the touch of his lips against mine, the feel of his tongue in my mouth, and I grew wet at my thoughts, my chest rising and falling with my increased breathing rate.
His fingers touched my cheek, and his nose nudged mine, but he stopped, and I held my breath as I waited.
“What are you doing?” I finally offered a hesitant whisper as we both stood like time had frozen us in a moment of perfect anticipation.
A low growl rumbled through him, and his eyes glowed the dullest of reds, barely distinguishable from the rest of the dark. “I can’t stand to not be around you. I want so much more, Maeve.”
I nodded, a movement he surely couldn’t see. So much more. I wanted all of that, too. I wanted to strip my clothes off and offer myself to him, the ultimate sacrifice. A human tribute for a crazy vampire prince. A giggle bubbled up my throat, but I forced it back down.
Now really wasn’t the time to laugh in this man’s face.
“I’m really no good for you, but I can’t help…” He leaned closer. “I want…”
I closed the gap between us, kissing him before he could talk himself out of the move. I’d never taken control before, but I didn’t regret this as my senses swam with awareness of Francois, his scent in my nose, his hands in my hair.
It was like before but so much more. The dark stole my sight but heightened everything else. My body thrummed with twin pleasure and need, and I moaned quietly, surprising myself at my sudden expression of arousal.
But the sound galvanized Francois, and he clutched me closer before dropping a hand to my right breast, his thumb finding my nipple beneath my clothes and stroking it.
It was exquisite torture, having his touch so close but not absolute.
I pressed closer to him, still offering myself, and as his knee rose higher between my thighs, I ground against his leg a little, craving the movement and friction.
“Do you want me, mon ange?” There was a grin in his words, the hint of a tease—like he might stop if I gave him the wrong answer.
“Always.” It hadn’t been what I intended to say, but apparently, it was exactly what he wanted to hear and he nibbled a line of kisses along my jaw before devouring my mouth under his, something wild in the way his lips moved over mine this time.
I laid my palm against his chest, coaxing him to become gentler, even though the thrill of being wanted raced through me.
Without warning, he lifted me into his arms and strode across the room. Furniture still barely contrasted against the gloom, but I could make out darker shadows around us. He approached one of the shadows and lowered me onto a soft, blanket-covered bed before climbing on beside me.
His hand skimmed my breasts again, and I waited a moment, looking in his direction, searching the dark for his face. Then his lips crushed mine again and I spun back into sudden bliss. His hands molded my body under my clothes like he was learning my shape.
He nuzzled my neck, breathing deeply as he did. “You’re not ready,” he murmured. “I can’t allow myself.”
“Ready for what?” My voice came out breathy and expectant.
He chuckled, the sound a little dark. “Sex with a vampire.”
Even in the dark, my cheeks heated. “And what if I am?” Surely, I was more than ready. My body cried out for his touch. I craved him. I arched toward him, trying to pass that message on.
But he moved away, and a flash of panic squeezed my chest. I opened my mouth to protest, but he spoke first.
“Just need to remove these.” He sounded distracted, like he was talking to himself, and his fingers trailed along my waistband before he tugged awkwardly at my button. “Damn thing,” he muttered.
I almost giggled, but my heart leapt into my throat as he started to draw my jeans down my thighs and that nearly choked me instead.
“What are you doing?” I could barely make my voice heard.
“Rien,” he said.
But it didn’t feel like nothing. It was a whole lotta something as he lay down alongside my bared legs and pressed a kiss to my stomach. I automatically sucked it in, and he chuckled again, but lighter this time.
“Relax, mon ange. I’ve got you.” A tearing sound followed, and cool air hit my clit as he discarded my now ripped panties.
“Hey…” I started to protest—those were good ones.
But I sucked in a deep breath when he pressed a finger gently between my legs, as though he was looking for something.
“Ah… Oui… Still they hide. Such a little bud…”
“Huh?”
“Rien.” He brushed me off again before skating a fingertip between my folds. “So wet.” He drew the moisture up to my clit and rolled it gently.
Then the sheets rustled as he changed his position again, and his warm breath fanned over my already heated skin as he gently pushed my legs apart.
“Belle, très belle.”
I fought the urge to clamp my legs back together as the ends of his hair teased the sensitive skin on the inside of my thighs. He leaned and placed a kiss there, and I caught my breath, holding it as I waited.
I’d never had a man between my thighs like this, and there was something undeniably sexy about it.
But fuck, maybe he’d been right. I gasped at the first touch of his tongue on me.
Perhaps I wasn’t ready. I reached down for something to hold on to, an anchor, and wove my fingers into his hair as he drew his tongue over me again, touching so many nerves in one small place that it should have been impossible.
He repositioned my legs, wrapping his arms under my thighs as he drew me closer and sucked my clit between his lips, flicking it with his tongue. I writhed against him and forced myself to breath, each exhale a pant before I caught the next gasp of air.