Page 48 of Love Lives
"Sure." Aldrich laughed. "I get it." He began to look for Tupperware to fill the soup into, but I got up and dragged him away from the counter.
"There'll be time for that later."
"Oh?"
"Just follow me." All the way up the stairs, I kept my hand around the vampire's wrist. He could have broken free easily if he'd wanted to, but he didn't. Not that I'd ever expected him to. He wanted to be touched by me, didn't he?
The oddest thing was that I wanted to touch him in return. I wanted to know what his skin would feel like underneath my fingertips, what his lips would taste like, how his tongue would feel sliding against my own... sliding up and down my dick. I swallowed, a flush of heat rising underneath my skin.
What was this? Since when did I have the hots for vampires? Was it a dhampir-thing? Or was it a me-and-Aldrich thing? It didn’t matter what it was. It was undeniablythere. And maybe it would be stupid of me to act on it, but I was going to, anyway.
"Care to tell me what you're up to?" Aldrich asked.
I shut the door to our room behind us. "I think you deserve a reward for that soup."
"Oh?" Aldrich cocked an eyebrow at me. His gaze slid over me, then to our hands. I still hadn't let go of him.
I tilted my neck, my heart beating in my throat. "Kiss me or bite me. Your choice."
The corner of Aldrich's mouth quirked up in a way that was so undeniably him I almost had to smile too--if I hadn't been too tense to smile. My nerves weren't helped by the fact that Aldrich leaned in a little more closely. His breath ghosted along the line of my jaw as he spoke. "You should already know what I'm going to pick."
"The bite?" At least, his lips were moving toward my neck...
"Nah." The vampire's smile turned predatory. He lifted his hand--and mine along with it, then brought my knuckles to his mouth. "Both."
That was all the warning I got before his fangs descended and sank into my wrist. I yelped--in the short second that I had before I lost my voice to whatever magic his bite injected into my veins. My pulse sped up, my mouth went dry... and at the same time, all the rest of mesettled.
This was right. This was exactly the way things should be.
And those lips felt sinfully good against my skin.
I wanted to feel them other places. I wanted to pull Aldrich against me. I wanted his tongue in my mouth. I wanted... so many things.
My body grew hot. Before I had any time to lose grow frustrated with the lack of action, Aldrich dropped my wrist, breaking the spell--at least the one that was related to his fangs. Without wiping his mouth, he went in for a kiss. His hands grabbed mine, our mouths pressed together and I yielded as he pushed me back against the wall.
It wasn't at all like the awkward kiss we'd shared the night before. That one had left me cold. This one, though? I couldn't get enough of it.
Not even the taste of my own blood on the vampire's tongue was enough to deter me. I squeezed his hands, interlacing our fingers. Our tongues rubbed together. My blood grew hot, flowing through my veins like lava, calling out for the vampire to take more of it. It made no logical sense for me to want this, but I did. I craved it. Craved him.
When Aldrich gave me a chance to breathe again, I was panting. There was a noticeable bulge in my pants too, digging into the vampire's thigh. I wasn't alone with that problem, though. Aldrich had a sizeable response to it. I licked my lips, tasting both him and my blood.
Aldrich rested his forehead against mine. "Told you I'd get what I want."
"Don't be so smug about it."
"I'm feeling very smug, though." He grinned and kissed my nose before glancing down my body. He clearly liked what he saw too, because his grin only grew. I kind of wanted to wipe that smile off his face, but didn't know how when I also just wanted him to kiss me again. I wanted him to bite me again too.
Who could have thought it would be so addictive?
"Are you just going to admire me all day?" I teased him.
"Nah, I like to look with my hands." At the same time that the words left his mouth, he tore my shirt off. Literally.
I gaped at him. "Are you going to replace that? What if that was my favorite shirt?"
"Was it?" Aldrich didn't even look up at me. His gaze stuck to my now-exposed belly as if he had every intention to devour me.
"It could have been," I insisted.
