Chapter 26 Maeve
Maeve
My breath sounds were harsh in the quiet darkness of wherever I was. I reached out, instinct driving me to find someone else to share the sudden loneliness with, but the sheets beside me were cool and empty. No one else was here.
Muffled footsteps shushed outside the door to the hallway before it opened on silent hinges, letting a vertical chink of light slice into the room.
“Mon ange? Tu dors?”
I automatically relaxed at Francois’s quiet voice. “No, I’m awake.” I struggled into a half-sitting position before reaching for the lamp on the nightstand next to me.
I blinked in the sudden light then smiled at Francois as he approached the bed with a tray. My stomach rumbled at the aromas of sweet pastries, bacon, and coffee.
“I think this should still be suitable for this stage in the transition,” he said, “but every one seems so different from what they’ve been telling me.” He grimaced.
“Too much advice?” I was only half teasing. The other vampires seemed to have a lot of opinions between them.
“Oui.” He bent and placed the tray next to me. “Chef has sent some food…of course.”
I glanced at a plate of perfect beignets and couldn’t prevent my grin. “Of course Chef has sent food. It might be his last chance, right?”
“Oui.” Francois sighed before grabbing a beignet for himself and tearing the corner off in an angry bite. Then he sat down, perching on the edge of the bed. “How are you feeling?”
I paused as I considered his question, almost running through a mental checklist before I gave him my answer. “Yeah, actually. I feel great.” It was kind of amazing. I hadn’t expected to feel so good. “Maybe being a vampire is going to suit me?”
But he frowned. “Are you sure?” The concern lacing his voice was sweet but unnecessary.
“Yes. A bit sore between my legs, if that’s what you mean?” I raised an eyebrow at him. “Might benefit from a kiss better?”
He chuckled drily.
“The pain in my arm is gone.”
He leaned forward and rested the back of his hand against my forehead and lifted my arm as though he was a nurse about to measure my pulse rate. He examined it then looked at me.
“Your fever is gone, too. And where’s the bite mark?”
“Hm?” I glanced at the smooth skin. The holes were completely closed as though they’d never been there in the first place. “Oh, it’s gone. That’s good, right?” I lifted my arm and showed it to him like he hadn’t already seen.
He took hold of it again and ran the pad of his thumb over the smooth skin as though the bite had simply become invisible and he might be able to feel the evidence of it if he just touched me.
He furrowed his brows. “How did you heal it? It’s completely gone. But so fast…” He met my gaze again. “How did it happen?”
I shrugged. I hadn’t done anything. The process had taken control of it all.
“Part of my transition? Does it matter? It’s gone now.
There’s the whole vampire turning magic thing going on, right?
My body remaking itself or whatever.” I twisted my arm to look at it again.
“Nope. We didn’t miss anything. Just my normal arm.
” Just as I fucking liked it, really. Wearing an Ancient’s bite hadn’t filled me full of joy.
He touched my forehead again then cupped his hand around the side of my neck. “And you’re really not hot at all anymore.” He moved the tray out of his way like he needed to reperform a full exam. “Lie down, mon ange.”
I swatted him gently away. “What are you doing? I feel great. Isn’t this a good thing?
Look, bring the tray back and I can finish eating, you can relax, and later…
” I paused, hoping to build some suspense.
“Maybe I’ll let you do that thing with your tongue again.
” I grinned expectantly, but he didn’t take the bait.
Instead, he turned more still than I’d ever seen him. It was as if he’d just vacated his own body and I hardly dared move, myself.
“Francois? Are you okay?” I resisted the urge to wave in front of his face. I’d never seen that done in a way that didn’t seem rude. But the gesture was never more appropriate than it was here.
In a blink, he was back with me, and he looked at me as his eyes grew wide. “You’re not turning. You’re not becoming a vampire. How is this even possible? Your body has rejected the venom.” He stood abruptly, but I grabbed his forearm and yanked him back to the bed.
He hit the mattress hard. “Oof.” Then he narrowed his eyes.
“But you’ve gained strength, I see.” He leaned forward, peering into my eyes like I somehow lived inside my body now and he was trying to see the real me.
“Do you have a thirst for blood? Would you like to slash a human neck open?” A hint of fang peeked above his lower lip at that last suggestion.
I laughed and shook my head. This whole thing was ridiculous.
None of my research had ever suggested that people bitten by vampires—two vampires, in fact—and weren’t killed by said vampires just carried on living their normal lives.
And on top of everything they’d told me, transition was almost inevitable, surely?
“This is silly. I feel fine, I look fine. I am fine.”
He shifted closer and drew the sheet from my body, revealing all of me to him. His eyes heated at my nudity, and anticipation rippled over my skin. After last night, his attention was welcome.
In fact, I craved it.
He touched me, skimming his fingers and palms over my skin, and I pressed toward him.
“Maeve.” He rarely used my name, and he pushed out a frustrated breath. “I’m not groping you. I’m looking for anything amiss. I want to make sure you’re as well as you think you are.”
I blew out a sigh of my own. “And what if I want you to grope me?”
He looked at me for a moment then shook his head and chuckled. “We’ll have to get to that. And I have no idea how you’ve done it, but I think you’re still human—even with that extra display of strength.”
I tilted my head like I was considering what he’d just sad.
But I didn’t really care. “Right now, Francois—” I spoke slowly to get his attention and like I was explaining something to someone having trouble grasping the concept.
“I’m naked.” I smiled. “And I don’t want to think about vampires or Ancients or even mates.
I just want you. It’s like I can feel you here.
” I cupped my hand over my chest where a strange new awareness of something was growing.
It made me both jittery and satisfied, although right now the jitteriness was winning out over the satisfaction. I needed to do something.
I needed to do Francois.
“It’s making me want you even more.” I toned it down for him, but I was pretty sure he got the message.
His eyes flared a vivid red, and he sprang toward me, pressing me to the bed and parting my thighs with his knee as his lips claimed mine.
I grinned and pulled back, nipping his lower lip as I did. “Oh, no. Turnabout is fair play.”
Almost without thinking about it, I flipped us over. Then, before he could react, I straddled him and ground a little against the hard ridge already evident in his pants.
He reached up, pressing his palms over my breasts. “I feel a little overdressed,” he murmured.
I shrugged. “We can fix that.” And I took his shirt in my hands and tore it open.
“Mon ange,” he grumbled. “That was my favorite one. They don’t make them like this anymore.”
But I moved over his hard cock gain and he fell silent, closing his eyes as he parted his lips.
“What was that? I didn’t hear you.”
He shook his head. “Nothing.” He breathed out. “Just keep doing…that.”
“Gladly.” I rolled my hips again before placing my hand on the buttons keeping his cock in his pants.
I nudged my hand over the bulge and it jumped at the touch.
Francois opened an eye. “Please,” he murmured, and I grinned as I unfastened his pants and took his cock into my hand, enjoying the weight of it as I lightly caressed the soft skin.
“Lift.” The command dropped from my lips as I rose and he followed me with his hips so I could push his pants farther down his thighs.
He dropped back down and I took hold of his shaft before running my hand to the base and positioning myself above him. Then I hesitated. What the hell was I doing? I’d been a virgin until last night, and now I was up here changing positions and behaving like I knew what I was doing?
But I hadn’t grown up in a vacuum. I knew what to do. More importantly, my body seemed to know what to do, and I was already moving up and over him. I was wet already…so ready, and I teased my clit with the head of his cock, smoothing it over my body in soft strokes that made sparks jump inside me.
Francois murmured and pushed his hips up, and I chuckled.
“I’ve got this one, thank you.” But I took pity on him and positioned the tip of him by my entrance.
I slowly lowered myself, stopping as I allowed my body to accommodate him, basking in the feeling of fullness he brought me. I didn’t move immediately once I had settled onto him, instead taking a moment to look at him and the desire in his expression as his hands moved over me.
This man wanted me in a way I’d never been wanted before.
I lifted up and he began to thrust with his hips.
I giggled. “Someone’s impatient.”
But I didn’t stop him. We moved together in rhythm, and I worked my hand between us to smooth my fingertip over my clit. He groaned as he saw what I was doing, and his thrusts became more forceful, nudging my finger against my body until I began to tighten and fought to still move in time.
He gripped my hips, helping to lift me, and I applied more pressure to my clit, chasing my orgasm as he chased his.
My breath came in ragged, irregular inhales until I almost couldn’t suck any more air in. I held still as Francois slammed upwards one more time, and my whole world throbbed, breaking me apart before I snapped back together.
He grunted and his cock twitched inside me, and I flopped forward to lie against his chest, his cock still hard inside me.