Page 24 of A Vampire Bewitched
Releasing her hair, he worked his way back up to her mouth as he ran his hands up over her back until he found the bottom of her sweater. Pushing it up, he slid his hands underneath it, unable to keep himself from touching her velvety, soft skin any longer.
Chapter 13
Emma was on fire, her entire body pulsing with heat. She’d had a heart stopping moment when he’d first grabbed her, but as soon as he’d kissed her she’d responded to him instinctively.
He held her so tight, she was probably going to have bruises tomorrow, but she couldn’t care less. She was completely surrounded by him—his hardness, his smell. Like soap and wilderness and pure male. She’d never felt anything like this. Not that she’d had much experience, but something told her she never would again.
His fangs scraped her lips, but she barely felt it. His tongue thrust into her mouth, distracting her until she kissed him back, moaning softly at the welcome invasion. At the sound, he ground his hips into her so hard she could feel him pulsing against her belly. Her nipples tightened against his chest until they hurt, her stomach clenched deep, and a rush of wetness soaked her panties.
Nik pulled his head back, and she moaned in protest, then stiffened when he held her still and struck, his fangs sliding through her lower lip.No!But the pain lasted only a fraction of a second, and was soon forgotten as he drank from her, every pull sending stabs of pleasure straight to her core.
Holy shit. He was drinking her blood, and it wasnothinglike what she had experienced with the grey monsters. Shocks of sensation streaked through her, and she wished she could somehow get closer. She wanted to crawl inside of him until they were one person. Sliding her hands up his hard chest, she did the next best thing. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she pulled him closer.
Releasing her lips, he pulled her head to the side and kissed his way to her throat, pausing over the artery there, and a small shiver of fear ran through her. But he didn’t bite her, instead kissing his way back up to her lips as he ran his hands over her back and down to her waist. She felt him push underneath her sweater until he was touching her bare skin, and she sighed with pleasure against his mouth at the feel of his hands on her. She wanted him to rip off their clothes until they were skin to skin. Wanted to feel him run his eyes and lips all over her.
Panicking, she tried to push him away. “No! Stop!”
Nik growled dangerouslyand hung on as something tried to pull Emma away from him. He was running on pure animalistic need, and it wasn’t until he felt her small fists banging on his chest and shoulders and heard her frantic voice, that he realized something was wrong.
“Nikulas!! Stop! Let go of me!”
What the hell?
He loosened his arms from around her just enough for her to get a good shot at his jaw. Her uppercut knocked his head back, surprising him enough that he let her go. She squeezed out from between him and the fridge and ran to the other side of the room.
Nikulas spun around to go after her, but stopped short when he saw her cowering in the corner of the counter with her arms wrapped around herself. The sight knocked some sense into him better than any punch could.
His ardor cooled instantly as he stared at her big eyes and swollen lips and messy hair. What the fuck was he doing? Licking his suddenly cold lips, he tasted the remnants of her blood.
MINE!
He gripped the sides of his head with his hands as he began to pace back and forth in front of the fridge. No. She couldn’t be his. No, no, no, no, NO!
He thought it was just folklore. Like every other vampire, he’d heard the stories of how just one taste of their blood would reveal your fated mate to you. The one you would do anything for, the one you’d die to protect without a thought for your own safety, the one who would possess you completely. However, though vampires hooked up with humans on occasion, he’d never seen a true mating in all of his hundreds of years of being a vampire. Like everyone else, he blew it off as an old wives tale.
But the compulsion raging within him told a very different tale. The way her blood blazed through him confirmed it. His entire being protested even the few feet of space separating them, and it took every ounce of his control to keep himself where he was. He craved to feed her, to protect her, to spoil her, to make her laugh, to hear her cry out in ecstasy over and over. But mostly, he craved to feed from her.
He craved to love her.
Nik stopped pacing and met her anguished gaze with one of his own. No. No way. No fucking way this was happening. For her safety, and his sanity, he would not, could not, go there.
Even if it killed him.
Emma sawthe pain and confusion in his eyes from across the room. Feeling like she owed him some sort of explanation, she felt shame heat her face as she managed to stutter out, “I’m sorry. I just…I have these…I don’t like people to see me.”
“I’m sorry, Emma,” Nik began at the same time, “I shouldn’t have done that…I…what?” He stopped speaking as what she was saying registered on his face. “What did you say?”
She just shook her head at the floor, and refused to say anymore. How could she possibly express the hurt, the shame she felt every time she looked at herself? How could she ever let someone else see that?
Peeking up at him from under her lashes, she saw him glance at the clock on the stove to her left. It was way after midnight. He shoved his hands into his hair to push it off his face. He looked torn, his eyes going back and forth between her and the clock.
He paced a few steps away and turned his back to her. Emma watched, until she realized what he was doing. Embarrassed to catch him adjusting himself, she quickly looked back down at the floor.
He turned back around and leaned back against the fridge, crossing his arms, all James Dean cool. “I’m sorry, Emma. I just…I lost control.”
Understatement of the year.
“It won’t happen again.”
