“I’m not.” He smiled playfully. “Were you so hot for me that you didn’t realize?”
I wasn’t ashamed of the fact I’d always loved sex, but it was kind of embarrassing how Scotty clouded my mind. I still wasn’t sure he even liked me, even if he was ready and willing for sexy times.
“What are we doing?” I asked him honestly.
He searched my eyes for a moment, searching for something that I wasn’t sure he’d find. Then all sexy teasing evaporated, and I got the most genuine smile he’d ever bestowed on me. The one he used for his brother, Chance, and all the other regulars at the manor.
Lifting a hand, he tucked the longer hair on one side of my head behind my ear. “We’re both wound up tight. I’m not saying I think sex is a solution to either of our problems, but I think that blowing off some steam might help you relax.
“You have to tell Sky what’s going on, Ego. He needs to know before he loses his mind worrying about you, and I’m not sure you’re going to pull out of this funk without his help.”
“You—your presence helps,” I admitted.
His cheeks went a little rosy, but he brushed my words aside. “That’s my point. If I’m helping, how much more will the man you love like a brother be able to help? But”—he smoothed his hands down my arms and grabbed my wrists—“I think you’re too tense to think clearly.”
He swallowed. “And I’m not sure how else to help you. I’ve tried reasoning, begging, and cajoling you to tell everyone, and you’re not budging. Lysandro thinks pushing into your nature, feeding with your own teeth, learning to control your speed and strength might help, but you’re not doing that either.”
He licked his lips. “So I was helping Chance out in the gardens today, wracking my brain for what might help you get over yourself, and I realized that I was trying to appeal to your vampiric side, but you haven’t embraced him yet, so I need to appeal to you as a man. So I did some research.”
His face flushed from his neck up through his forehead. “And between news reports, fan postings, your own stuff, and a lot of your lyrics, it dawned on me. You don’t just like sex. You love it, so I thought…” He trailed off, his gaze moving past me like he wasn’t quite as confident in his seduction plan as he’d tried to pretend to be. “And I’m obviously into it, too.”
It was that right there that let me drop my own reservations and take what he was so freely offering. Not for any of the reasons he’d just spouted, but because I’d wanted this man since the first time I laid eyes on him.
Evidenced by the fact that since I’d met him, I’d turned into an adolescent with his first crush, saying and doing all the wrong things. I’d never thought I’d get this chance, and if my being a vampire did it for him…well, then, I guess it was the only good thing that had come out of this mess.
Using the tips of my fingers, I tilted his face up and stared him in those beautiful eyes. “Okay.”
“Okay?” I nodded, and a slow smile slipped onto his face as he cupped my cock with one hand, massaging slowly and gently, reversing any softening that had happened. “And you’ll tell Sky where you are and what happened tomorrow?”
Snorting, I reached down, flipping him off his feet and back into the center of my bed. Some of the anguish I’d carriedsince that fateful night slipped away as he bounced, laughing hysterically.
Dropping down over the top of him, I caught myself on my elbows on either side of his body, bracketing him in. “You’re relentless, aren’t you?”
“Generally, no.” He arched one eyebrow at me. “But you’re so damn stubborn that you left me no choice.” I lowered my head, and he raised a hand, resting the pads of three fingers against my lips. “So?”
“I’ll think about it.” He studied my face, so I kissed his fingers. “I promise.”
He gave a small eye roll, then pulled my mouth to his. I wasn’t sure this would ever happen again—not with him or anyone else—so I kinda, sorta—I’d deny it if anyone else accused me of it—attempted to tap into my heightened senses.
If vampiric nature would let me smell him, taste him, experience him, beyond anything I’d ever experienced with anyone else, then I’d be a fool to miss out on even a second of it.
More conscious of his obsession with my fangs now, I lapped at his mouth, teasingly pulling back each time I felt the flick of his tongue beyond my lips.
He huffed, wrapping his legs around my waist, trying to flip me underneath him. It was a given that he wouldn’t be able to do it unless I allowed it, but I did. Of course, I did. I never wanted him to look back on this night with even a hint of regret.
“Let me feel them,” he murmured.
“What if they cut you?” I asked. I’d bitten my own tongue and lip more than once since turning. It never left any permanent damage or scarring, probably because of my own capacity to heal now, but that wouldn’t be the case for Scotty. What if I ripped his tongue open?
“You won’t. We’ve kissed already without even a nick. You worry too much. Please.”
I wanted to say no, but I wanted to kiss him more, so I allowed it as he fused our mouths together, and tried to pretend that I didn’t feel the way his tongue traced the sharp curves of my elongated teeth. It would’ve been much easier if flashes of pleasure hadn’t spiked through my whole body each time he flicked the sharp tip.
He was playing with danger, but so was I. For the first time, I felt the deep longing to sink my teeth into flesh. While finishing my tour, I’d felt the deep need for blood, but this was different. This was specific to Scotty.
I pushed him up, gasping his name, and he smiled at me with surprised wonder. “Your eyes…they’re like dark fathomless pits right now.”
This man…this brave, beautiful man. Instead of horror, instead of running from me in terror, he was…he was mesmerized by me. How was that possible?
