Damn him for being so cool and under control. I swallow down my desire despite the way my clit still throbs from the lingering effects of his kiss. “So, you go around getting women hot, then tell them to go to bed aching for more?”
Something dangerous flashes across his eyes. In an instant, he closes the distance between us and wraps his arms around me. “I’m not perfect, Lori. I want you and lost control. I could never wish to cause you discomfort.”
My heart is beating so fast, I have to swallow to make words come out. His thick cock presses against my middle even through our clothes. I feel the way he wants me. “No?”
Gold flecks and hints of green spread out like fireworks in his beautiful eyes. “Lick my fang, sweetheart.”
“But that just made me want you more.” I flick my gaze to the long white fangs that curve over his bottom lip, and they grow longer at my gaze.
“The vampire elixir shifts with my mind. When I want to influence someone, the elixir can create a thrall or impress a suggestion into someone’s mind. For your daughters, I suggest calm sleep. My desire for you brought you pleasure before.”
“What will it bring me now?” Blood rushes away from my brain directly to my nipples and clit, and all three ache with longing.
“Release.” His voice is low and alluring. “Pleasure.”
“What about you?” As much as I need what he’s offering, I’m hesitant to take without giving anything in return.
His smile reaches those wildly unique eyes. “I will be fine.”
It’s difficult to resist any pleasure that comes from Ion, even with the idea of this strange delivery. “I would like to give you pleasure as well.”
Lowering his forehead to mine as he did after the kiss, he closes his eyes. “Oh, Lori, you cannot know how your existence in the world has already been a boon to my mind and body. You are pure and good, and everything about you calls to the man and the monster inside me in ways I have not felt in many lifetimes.”
“Then why tell me there can be nothing between us?” It’s hard to look away from his fang and what it offers.
“That’s not what I said. There is already much that we share; desire and friendship are important.” His incisor glistens.
“Those are good, and I do need to rest. It feels like forever since I had a good night’s sleep. Maybe I should just go to bed and stare at the ceiling until I can’t keep my eyes open.” I close my eyes as my aching pussy tightens, wanting more. “I can find my own pleasure.”
Another growl. “Lori, I am begging you to let me give you this one thing. Please, run that pretty pink tongue over my fang. Do this for me.”
Locked in his gaze, I shift my attention back to his tooth. Easing forward an inch, I run my tongue over the sharp edge. A tiny sting of pain follows as it nicks me, then I lick upward to his lip.
He moans low and long as his cock jerks between us. Tightening his hold, he sucks the tip of my tongue. “So sweet. Perfection.”
At once, pleasure rushes through my body. My nipples tighten, my uterus tightens, and an orgasm of epic proportions rocks me. My vagina clenches with the onslaught of pure rapture. A cry falls from my lips and is muffled by Ion’s cool lips. My legs are weak, only his arms keep me from collapsing as wave after wave of more exquisite release than I’ve ever experienced crashes around and through me.
I make noises that sound as if they’re coming from someone else and can only grip Ion’s shoulders to keep purchase with reality. As the sensations ebb, I flutter my eyes open and find him staring at me in a way that could give a girl ideas about forever, despite the fact that he just told me that would never happen.
Cupping my cheek, he kisses me gently. “Sleep now, sweetheart.”
The fog that’s been hovering at the back of my mind since my daughter’s kidnapping—if I’m honest, perhaps since the twins were born—forces its way forward, and I let Ion lift me in his arms as the world fades away to darkness.
Chapter Five
ION
It’s been weeks since the kiss, yet the memories are a constant in my mind. It was a kind of torture to watch her sleep and ease away her nightmares without any more intimacy that night. She should have a human man to care for her and share a normal life with her. I will see the twins through this difficult time and make sure their mother sleeps. After that, there can be no place for me in the Manning family.
I’m lucky to have my own family, even if I’m distracted by thoughts of Lori most of the time.
Today, my granddaughters and their mates have invited me to a picnic and hunt in the woods northeast of Harmony Glen. Max is a Sasquatch and lives in a fine cabin nearby with Tilda, who is out running in the woods with Mari.
We hunted together for a while, and I’ve had my fill of both fresh meat and the thrill of the chase. Now, the nice glass of wine in my hand and the quiet company of my old friend Sam and new friend Max suit me very well.
Max tends a small fire. Winter draws near in Harmony Glen. I am not bothered by the cold, but both Max and Sam are warm-blooded.
I study the stone, arranged with nine others around the fire. “Were these here when you bought this property, Max?”
