Her lip tugged between her teeth as she stared up at me. Finally, she nodded.
My fingers found her zipper. Her eyes fluttered closed as I unzipped it, revealing inch after inch of perfect skin. Now that the gown was undone, I slid its single strap off her shoulder. I couldn’t resist pressing a kiss to her bare shoulder. Thea moaned. The sound spurred me forward and I drew the dress’s bodice down to expose her breasts. Her nipples pebbled as air brushed over them.
“You are so fucking beautiful,” I growled. Closing my mouth over the furl of one, I plumped the other with my hand. Thea gasped and grabbed hold of my hair as I worshipped her breasts. Her heart began to beat faster, making it easier for me to see a bluish vein pulsing under her pale skin. My fangs tried to protract, but I fought the urge. I wouldn’t feed on Thea. Not in this state. Not ever. But the effort it took to hold back made my mouth ache. I continued past her breast, away from the tempting pulse of her blood and toward the only other way to sate my blood-lust.
I circled her navel with my tongue, earning a whimper that told me she wanted this as much as I did. But before I could progress lower, her fingers circled my wrist.
“Your gloves?” Her eyes questioned me.
That was too complicated to explain at the moment. All I managed was a grunted, “I can’t.”
I kissed her hip, intent on making her forget the leather gloves I wore. It was safer for both of us if they stayed on, given our mutual problem: fraying self-control.
“I want your hands on me,” she pressed, attempting to wiggle her fingers past the cuff of my left glove.
“No!” I thundered, jerking it away. With one swift motion, I pressed my palms to her thighs and spread her open for me. I wouldn’t give her time to process my rejection. Instead, I sank between her legs and offered a distraction instead. But as I pressed a soft kiss to the inside of her thigh, one thought rose above the blood-lust roaring in my veins: Thea Melbourne was going to be the death of me.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
THEA
“If you won’t–”
My objection fell away as his lips brushed the soft skin of my inner thigh. He paused, as though giving me a chance to finish my thought. Maybe he was waiting for me to reject him. Maybe I should have.
But I didn’t.
I’d demand some explanations later. Venom. Gloves. My confusion muddled my brain almost as much as whatever he had done to me. Still, each time he touched or kissed me, my head felt a little clearer and the fire burning at my core flamed brighter.
“Yes, pet?” His breath whispered over my swollen, feverish flesh, and I gasped. He chuckled and resumed his descent, blazing a trail of desire in his wake. My eyes clenched shut, savoring each delicious touch. I didn’t know what to expect. I didn’t care. I only wanted to find out what he would do to me next.
He stopped, his mouth hovering over my sex until I dared a glance. For a split second, shyness overcame me. No one–man or vampire–had ever been this close to me, had ever touched me this intimately. I was so caught up in the haze of his venom that I’d failed to grasp how exposed I was. The top of my dress was bunched at my waist, and thanks to the slit in my skirt, my lower half was nearly bare, too. All that remained between us was the thin lace of my panties.
Julian kept his gaze locked on mine as his fingers grabbed the flimsy elastic band that held that final barrier in place. He lowered himself, his eyes never leaving me until he disappeared from sight. I pushed onto my elbows wanting to see what was about to happen.
“Do you have any particular attachment to these?” he asked as he fiddled with my panties.
My mouth went dry at the implication in his words, but I managed to shake my head. He bent his head, blocking my view, and then I heard the sharp snap of rending fabric. Cool air rushed against the warm wetness between my legs, and I swallowed a gasp as I felt the ruined lace flutter against my thigh.
He’d ripped my panties off me–with his teeth.
Thank God I couldn’t have his babies, because I was pretty sure my ovaries had just exploded.
“I’ll buy you more,” he said, not sounding the least apologetic.
“Okay,” I squeaked, wondering if it was wasteful to hope all my current and future underwear purchases suffered the same fate.
Julian smirked as he bent the final fraction of an inch, and our eyes locked. The darkness had left his, but in its place burned the fire I felt inside me. I held my breath as his mouth closed over me and then his tongue dragged clean up my center.
“Ohhhhhh.” It was nothing like I expected. Warm, promising waves broke over me as his tongue delved past my folds and found its target. He began to coax with languid circles and my head fell back against the mattress. But each turn of his tongue brought me closer to some unknown edge. Each demanded a little more pleasure from me. A new trembling overwhelmed my limbs, seizing control of me and slowly erasing the painful need I’d felt only moments ago. He devoured me until, at last, my hands clenched the sheets, and he carried me over. I shattered beneath him, ripped into a hundred pieces that knew nothing but this.
I couldn’t move. My arms and legs didn’t seem to be working properly. In fact, they now seemed to be made of jelly. Julian straightened to his full height and licked his lips. None of the heat had faded from his eyes. He might not be under the effects of venom, but something else plagued him.
“You taste even better than I imagined,” he said in a low voice that sent desire coiling inside me again.
He had imagined tasting me? I bit my lip, trying to dredge up even a morsel of resistance to his flattery. Instead, I found myself twisting around and crawling to the edge of the bed. I could think of nothing but my need to give him the release he’d just granted me. Julian made no move to stop me. Instead, he watched as I knelt on the bed before him. My fingers shook slightly as I found his belt and unbuckled it. Then the button of his pants. I pushed them down, revealing his boxers. Taking a deep breath for courage I plunged on, and his cock sprang free. I paused a moment to stare. I didn’t have much to compare him to other than a few accidental glimpses of Tanner coming out of the shower. That was enough for me to know Julian wasn’t just bigger than average. He wasn’t even on the same chart as average. I’d been too feverish to appreciate his body before. Now I couldn’t look away from him. His torso was pure muscle that narrowed into sharply hewn hips at the center of which rose his cock. I couldn’t imagine how it would fit…anywhere.
Maybe it was a good thing Julian refused to claim my virginity. Now that I’d seen him naked, I felt even more intimidated than when I found out he was a vampire. But I was determined to return his favor. Not simply because it seemed like good manners, but because I was dying to give him an ounce of the pleasure he’d given me.
The trouble was: I didn’t know how to do it. I wrapped my fingers around his length and tried to figure out what to do next.
“You don’t have to,” he said softly.
I turned my eyes up to him. “It’s not that,” I admitted. “I don’t really know…” My head fell, shame flushing my cheeks.
A hand slid under my chin and lifted my face to meet his. “You’re embarrassed.”
I nodded.
“Why?” He waited for my answer, curiosity sparking in his blue eyes.
“Because…” I sucked in a deep breath and plunged forward. “You’re like a thousand years old, and you’ve probably been with thousands of women who knew what they were doing–and what if I mess up and hurt you?”
Julian’s face contorted for a second, and I braced myself for a storm. Instead, he laughed. “I’m sorry,” he said quickly. “I think I should be the one worried about hurting you. I’m the one with fangs, remember?”
“I’ve got teeth, too,” I reminded him stubbornly.
“Noted.” He tilted his head to the side and smiled. “And Thea, I haven’t spent the last nine hundred years bedding every female I met.”
