20. Cyan
Chapter 20
Cyan
T avi’s heartbeat was the first thing I sensed as I woke up. The rhythmic thumping was steady and grounding, rousing me like the caress from a soft hand. Never before had I been pulled from sleep so gently.
We were in the same position we started in, her head on my chest, my arm running down her back, hand resting in the dip of her waist. Her hair spilled over my shoulder and the pillow. It partially covered her face, so I used my free hand to push it back.
She looked so sweet in her sleep. There was a sharp vigilance about her when awake. I liked that she was hawk-eyed and always aware of her surroundings. It had been especially clear the other night when she introduced me to the other humans. She was protective of her friend Amy, fiercely so. It was evident in her posture and how she always kept one eye on the surrounding humans.
This soft, sleepy Tavi had to be a side of her that hardly anyone knew. It suited her in a way I didn’t expect. All the muscles in her pretty face relaxed. Her eyelashes were a medium brown color, slightly lighter than her hair. I felt privileged to be one of the few who saw her like this.
I blew out a soft scoff at that thought. Privileged? More like undeserving. This was me, after all.
But I found myself unable to care anymore. I was too weak, too selfish to do the right thing. Getting injured on patrol was all it took to shred my flimsy resolve, the so-called integrity I’d tried to convince myself I had. It was laughable that I even tried.
Her blood had tasted so fucking good, like utter heaven. And I’d never slept so deeply or well until she crawled into bed next to me.
I wanted to have Tavi. To keep and claim her, even if I ended up breaking her in the end. That was just the piece of shit I was.
She stirred in sleep, her cheek brushing against my chest and a soft breath blowing across my skin. The gentle signs of life sharpened my awareness, and my hunger awoke.
My fangs extended with a dull ache and they pulsed in my mouth. I didn’t need to look at myself to know that my injuries were gone without a single trace of a scar. Her blood had healed me, but now I needed it to feed me.
The sound of her heart beats echoed in my empty stomach. I shouldn’t take from her, not so soon after I’d just fed. But she was here, warm and soft with her skin on mine.
And she was my blood mate. All other blood was quite literally ruined for me. Nothing would sate me but her taste.
My fingers circled where they rested on her waist, then I slowly began to drag them up her back. Tavi stirred again, letting out a gentle sigh.
“Tavi.” I brushed my lips against her forehead.
“Hm?” She wasn’t fully awake yet, but started to move and stretch. I got harder every time she moved and touched me.
I continued to rub her back until her eyes opened. She gazed at me sleepily, blinking a few times.
“Good morning.” I couldn’t help but smile down at her. She was so fucking adorable. “Isn’t that what humans say when they first wake up?”
“Mm, is it morning?” She rubbed her eyes, and fuck, her sleepy mumbling voice was doing thing to me.
“We slept almost all night, so I think so.”
All at once, Tavi seemed alarmed. Her vision sharpened as she pressed herself up. “Is this okay? I’m sorry, Cy. I didn’t mean to stay the whole night.”
“Get back here.” I tugged one of her arms until she flopped down next to me. “It’s more than okay. I want you here.”
She relaxed, although her expression remained tentative. “How do you feel?”
“Good as new, thanks to you.”
Tavi smiled, and I had the fleeting thought that I wouldn’t mind seeing her lying next to me like this every morning and evening.
“How about you?” I returned my hand to her waist, pulling her a little closer. “I didn’t take too much from you, did I?”
“No. I feel fine.” She shoved a hand under the pillow, getting comfortable. “I had some snacks and juice last night. And I think sleeping helped.”
“Good.”
We said nothing for a few moments, but she must have noticed how long my fangs were. She must have realized how intently I was staring at the long, graceful slope of her neck.
“Cy?” Her pupils dilated and she licked her lips. “Do you need more?”
A part of me wanted to say no, that I could wait. She should have another full day at least to recover from the first feeding. And truthfully, I could wait with little consequence. I was hungry, but it would be another two days or so before I started to feel significantly weaker.
But she was here, now. And I was already so weak to her warm skin, her sleepy smiles, and her heavenly taste.
“You offering?” I drawled, making sure my fangs were revealed in my lazy smirk.
Tavi blushed and I had to hold back my resulting hiss. I knew she couldn’t help it but there was no bigger temptation than seeing her skin deepen with color because of that beautiful, hot life force under the surface.
“If you need it, I’m here,” she whispered.
I sensed her pulse quicken and her breaths coming in shorter. Oh, she wanted me to take from her. My brave, self-sacrificing little human got turned on from it. She was hoping for it, craving it.
How could I deny the beautiful woman in my bed what she wanted most?
I rolled over, pressing up to my hands until I hovered over her. Placing a knee between her legs, I pressed her thighs apart until she straddled me. Tavi stared up at me, eyes wide with anticipation and just a hint of fear.
She was dressed in a large T-shirt and shorts, and I had sweatpants on. None of that was getting removed. I would be drinking from her, not fucking her. Even I wasn’t enough of a bastard to use her like that.
But if I was…if we were both naked and I could thrust inside her while I drank from her, this would be a hell of a view while I did that.
Tavi’s hair spilled out over the pillow, blood-flushed lips parted and tilted up to me like the most delectable offering. I lowered my face to hers, hovering a hair’s breadth away because I was so fucking weak for her and she had no idea.
“It’s not just your blood that I need.”
She barely had time to draw in a sharp inhale before I closed the distance with a firm, devouring kiss. I swallowed her surprised little cry with a stroke of my tongue, delving into her warm mouth. She licked my fangs, careful to avoid the points and my cock hardened to steel. I wanted to thrust, to let her feel what she was doing to me, but I kept my hips pulled back.
Tavi’s arms went around me as we kissed, and that kind of affection from my blood mate was almost too much to handle. I had to remind myself that she had no idea, and she’d never want me if she knew the truth of what a piece of shit I was. But her soft hands stroking past my ribs, running over the muscles in my back, digging in with her short little nails, felt so good and right. The sweetest fucking torture.
Our last kiss broke and I turned Tavi’s face to the side, taking in the sight of her jaw and neck. Instinctively I could sense her vein, knew exactly where it was and how the pulse fluttered under her skin. I kissed the corner of her jaw first, tasting her with my lips despite my fangs aching to sink into her.
“Perfect,” I muttered, lowering to my elbows as I kissed the spot under her ear. “You have no idea how fucking perfect you taste.”
“Cyan…” She breathed my name so sweetly, her legs sliding up my hips as if to trap me in place. If only she knew she had me hooked with no need to touch me at all. All she had to do was say my name like that, and I’d be on my knees.
“I won’t hurt you.” My lips were finally at her neck, her pulse thrumming so insistently like the vein itself was trying to kiss me.
My mouth trailed up and down a few times, zeroing in on the perfect spot at this angle, nuzzling into the warmth of her skin. When I found it, I kissed her there and dragged the tip of my tongue over the exact place I’d strike. My saliva acted as a mild analgesic and would dull the pain.
Tavi squirmed underneath me, but not as though to get away. Her thighs squeezed my hips, one foot running down my calf. My blood mate wanted it, wanted more .
I struck, sinking my fangs in and sealing my lips over the bite. At the first taste of her on my tongue, I moaned. Everything slowed, and my senses tuned out all but the heady, nourishing wine in my mouth and the soft body underneath me.
Each pull on Tavi’s vein thrummed in time to my own pulse. There was a slight pressure on my erection but my hands were on either side of her. Sweet fate, was she touching me through my pants? My hips rolled in lazy thrusts, seeking more of that pleasure. Sharp pricks of pain raked up my back and through my dulled senses, I could hear Tavi’s moans and whimpers.
Not too much, some hindbrain instinct told me, the one that remembered I needed to keep my blood mate alive and healthy. Stop soon.
I pulled my fangs from Tavi’s neck, quickly licking over the puncture wounds to heal them closed. A few drops of blood escaped and I lapped them up, leisurely kissing and nuzzling at Tavi’s neck and shoulder even after the blood was gone. She just smelled so fucking good, and she was so warm, soft and beautiful…
“Cy,” she choked out, her voice pained. “Cyan, please.”
I pressed up, immediately worried at the realization that nearly all of my weight had been resting on her. “I’m sorry. Did I hurt you?”
Tavi’s face was in a grimace, her chest heaving with ragged breaths. “Don’t stop. I need to come, Cy. Please, please let me come.”
Looking down, I saw that my erection rested directly on top of her mound. Through the fabric, I could feel how wet she was, and the firmness of her clit right on the edge of release.
Huh, so that was what had been touching me. Or rather, I had been touching her, thrusting against her heat and the soft, supple pressure of her body underneath me. After being so careful not to at first, I became mindless at the first taste of her.
Tavi trembled so hard, she was practically vibrating underneath me. She needed to come so badly, she was nearly in tears.
“Shh, easy.” I moved to the side of her, propping myself up on an elbow. Taking her chin, I brushed another kiss against her shaking lips. She was so flushed, panting so hard. “Of course I’ll take care of you. After the incredible gift of your blood, how could I not?”
I released her chin, running my hand down her body. Her hips canted up the moment I slid under the waistband of her shorts, silently begging for my touch. Her ragged, desperate breaths caressed my lips while I hovered above her, watching every reaction on her face.
Tavi whimpered as my palm slid over her mound, bypassing her aching clit. I wanted to feel how wet she was first, feel how much my feeding really turned her on and…oh, fuck.
She was absolutely drenched. Delicate skin burned hot and was slick with arousal. Just from one brief feeding. My fingers immediately became slippery as they explored, stroking and rubbing everywhere but her clit.
I could only marvel as I gazed down at her, squirming and panting under my ministrations. She was so fucking perfect for me. Not just her blood, but her. I had never wished so badly that I was good enough, that I was worthy of this fearless, beautiful human.
At this point, Tavi had walked back from the edge a little bit. She was still desperate to come, but not to the point of pain. Her expression turned to adorable frustration that I hadn’t given in to her demands. She rolled to her side, not breaking eye contact as her hand slid inside my sweatpants and gripped my rock solid length.
“I’ll make you come first.” She said it like a threat. “You wouldn’t let that happen, would you?”
My laugh turned to a moan as she squeezed me on an upward stroke. “Go ahead. I’ll never leave you wanting, Tavi. Not even after you make me shoot off into your hand. The longer I draw you out, the bigger you’ll explode. And I want to see you come apart.”
Her brow furrowed. She really didn’t expect me to call her bluff. It was so fucking cute, I laughed as I kissed her, swallowing her moan as I inserted a finger into her hot, slick pussy.
“Did you really think I would be out of commission as soon as you got me off?” I slid another finger inside her, relishing in her expression as I filled her. “I’m not one of your human men, Tavi. I don’t roll over and fall asleep once I’ve come. And in case you forgot,” I brushed a fang against her ear, making sure she felt the point, “vampires are known for what we do with our mouths.”
My two fingers inside her curled as they stroked in and out. I smothered her next moan with another kiss while I swept my thumb over her clit. It wasn’t enough pressure to get her there, just enough to ratchet her up to the edge again. She tightened her grip on my cock and found a rhythm, despite being thoroughly distracted. I helped her along, fucking into her tight little fist.
Tavi’s scream of anguish when my fingers pulled out almost made me feel sympathetic. Almost.
“Shhh, easy. Relax.” I kissed her forehead, grinning while she glared daggers at me. “Just making things a little smoother here.”
She watched me grip my shaft and stroke, spreading her wetness all over until my cock was glossy with her arousal. Her eyes followed as my hand returned to her cunt, dipped inside for more of her beautiful slick, and painted my cock with it.
I’d decided I wouldn’t fuck her, and this was probably only the slimmest of technicalities, but my selfish mind still tried to justify it. This wasn’t sex, just…sexual fun. My cock was coated in her, but it never went inside her. I had been on top of her, kissed her, touched her, but at least our bodies hadn’t been connected like that. The air was electrically charged with our passion and heat, but it wasn’t that serious.
“I swear you’re trying to kill me,” Tavi groaned as she resumed stroking my freshly-slicked cock.
“No.” I kissed the bridge of her nose, smiling.
That simple, two-lettered word could not begin to sum up the maelstrom inside of me. No, I’m drawing out your pleasure for as long as I can as if that’ll make up for how selfish I’m being. No, I’m edging you and building you up to the most explosive orgasm you’ve ever had because I’m inevitably going to let you down. At least you’ll have this as a positive memory.
“Let me hear you say please again.” My forehead pressed to hers while my hand returned to her warm, welcoming pussy. “And my name. Say it, Tavi.”
“Cyan, please. ” Her hips bucked and thrashed against my hand. “Please let me come. Please, please, please.”
Fuck, she was so good. So sweet, pliant, and giving. Her hand kept up a steady pace on my cock, twisting around the head in a way that made me shudder. I was close too, and the arbitrary line I’d drawn of sex versus not sex grew even more blurred. I wanted to come when she did. I wanted to tip over the peak of my pleasure because she had reached hers.
My thumb pressed to her clit and massaged around in a tight circle while my fingers dragged along her inner walls. I could almost imagine I was inside her, fucking the slick, hot hold of her cunt instead of her hand. I never wanted anything else so badly in that moment, to feel her in that way just once.
“Cy—”
Tavi’s voice choked off on my name the moment she came apart so beautifully. She broke, clenching around my fingers as she shattered into a million pieces before my eyes. It was the hottest, most beautiful sight I’d ever seen, so much that my own release shot through me like a cannon as I watched her. I spilled over her fist, onto the bedsheets. Through her own release, she kept pumping me, wringing it all out of me until I was spent.
Somehow, despite having no bones in my body, I managed to find a towel to place over the wet spot on the mattress. That could be cleaned up later, when I had more than a few brain cells firing.
I collapsed on the towel, drawing Tavi into my arms. Her skin was so warm and her pulse thrummed in a rapid, but gentle beat. It almost felt like she was purring. She nuzzled into my throat, hands stroking over me. Neither of us spoke. There simply weren’t words to describe what happened, or this feeling in the afterglow.
Not that it was sex. I didn’t get cuddly after sex. This was…us. Me and Tavi, on a whole other level from the debauchery and bloodlust I knew too well.
“Cyan?” Tavi’s voice was soft, hesitant. She drew back as if to look at me.
“Mm-hm.” My eyelids were heavy as I brushed a kiss over her hairline.
There was more hesitation before she spoke again.
“Are we blood mates?”