Wicked Games - Moon Kissed Part 29

He owed Ivan an apology. He owed Bella one, too. But he'd been taken off guard. He'd expected her to tag along behind this vampire, learning how to drink blood. Then to find her dancing so suggestively with a stranger?

Okay, so it was not suggestive in Bella's mind. But to him, any closeness she experienced with another male disturbed him. Would he never learn?

And yet she had never danced for him. Would she ever give him a private concert? He'd love that. It was a part of her that still belonged to the mortal realm, a part he wanted to preserve as much as she probably did.

"I need to apologize," he started.

Ivan stepped into the street. "It's fine. It's not going to be easy."

"You were supposed to teach her."

"After she mentioned she was a dancer, I thought this little aside would relax her. She was very nervous."

"Yeah, well, I'll take her home now."

"She hasn't taken human blood yet. I'll want to supervise. Why don't you come along. We'll find a donor and she can get over her hesitation."

"I can't do that. I can't..."

"Watch? You don't have to. But having you close by may mean more to her than you can imagine."

Ivan pointed to a lone man walking down the alley. He looked young, in his twenties-perhaps he was a college guy-and clean.

Bella's only requirement.

She glanced to Severo. He approved with a barely perceptible nod.

The threesome loitered at the alley entrance, Bella between Severo and Ivan. She hadn't spoken to Severo since he'd dragged her out of the club. Now, though, she looked to him and gave him a not-quite smile.

"You're not going to watch?"

Severo shook his head. But he was glad to sense that she was as uncomfortable with this as he was. And then he admonished himself for such thinking. Of course she was uncomfortable. She was new at this.

And here he stood, partic.i.p.ating in something so far from his comfort zone. It opened the doors of memory to another vampiress, dressed all in black, looking pale and hungry.

But Evie had once saved him.

He knew Bella would never harm him or his kind. He had to look beyond the past. Give her his presence and be strong for her.

"I'm ready," she said to Ivan and stepped down the alley.

Though his arms reached out to pull her back, Severo did not call out. He would simply be here, in case she should need him. A witness. A supporter.

"I can do this," he murmured.

The skirt swung from her hips and about her knees. Long legs in spike heels put Severo in instant l.u.s.t mode. Those legs should be wrapped about his hips right now.

Yes, even as he fought the repulsion, he craved the woman he had fallen in love with. She was sashaying so s.e.xily toward another man. A human she would put her hands on and talk to sweetly. She would take a part of the mortal stranger inside her. So deeply.

The act of drinking blood was wickedly s.e.xual.

Severo s.h.i.+fted his shoulder around the corner and pressed his back to the wall so he could not watch. He knew Ivan would step in if Bella needed a.s.sistance.

"She takes to this so easily," he said hoa.r.s.ely.

"The hunger overwhelms the most rigid inhibitions," Ivan told him. "I know you don't want to be here, Severo, but you need to watch. It'll show you what she is."

He knew what she was. Severo had seen vampires drink blood from victims time and time again. And he'd seen them murder and maim for no reason other than for the macabre joy of it.

What of the blood on your hands?

Those vampires he'd killed tonight had deserved to die.

"She's not like those you hate," Ivan whispered. "She never will be. I'm going closer. She needs guidance."

His back against the wall and his eyes closed, Severo listened, trying to hear beyond his own pounding heartbeats.

Bella cooed to the man, who said things like, "You're hot" and "My place is close."

Jerk, Severo scoffed.

It was a strange departure from that first night he'd rescued her, while the vampires had searched the warehouse. Her heart had pattered like a bird's. Then she'd been so frightened. Now she was so eager.

Releasing his clenched fists, Severo reminded himself that this was part of the deal. She had to come in close contact with humans, unlike him, who put as much distance between them and himself as possible.

And now he had a vampire in his life. A longtooth.

The taint of blood carried to him. Beer and fast food littered the human's scent. Unappetizing. He wondered if Bella liked the taste. It would kill him if she did.

Turning, he crept around the building. Bella was silhouetted before the man, whose legs buckled. Ivan stood on the other side, his hand to Bella's shoulder.

It was like some kind of twisted s.e.x scene. A menage a trois Severo had no desire to join. And yet...

When she tilted her head back in pleasure and the moon glinted on her pale neck, he wanted to know that pleasure. Her pleasure.

To touch the luscious rise of her b.r.e.a.s.t.s. And perhaps to be the one to kick the other man aside.

As it was, the man slid down the wall and collapsed. Bella began to topple as one of his legs twisted between hers, but Ivan caught her. She tugged free and swung about to walk away.

As she approached Severo, the drunken grin on her face bemused him. A trace of her forefinger wiped away a drop of blood from the corner of her mouth. She thrust the finger between her red lips and sucked, smiling as she came upon him.

A strong blood scent forced Severo backward. Yet arousal had widened her pupils. G.o.d, she was gorgeous.

Bella grinned a sloppy smile. "I'd kiss you," she said, "but you wouldn't like it." She wandered off, swaying but sure-footed, toward his Mercedes.

"She's drunk," Severo hissed as Ivan joined his side.

"It'll be that way the first few times she takes human blood," the vampire said. "It's overwhelming in so many ways. She is not used to it and needs to be cautioned not to take too much, or she might accidentally kill."

"Christ."

"If you love her, you'll go with her the next few times."

"I can't do that."

"Then she will kill." Ivan strode off.

And Severo beat a fist against the brick wall.

Chapter 22.

F or the first time in ninety years he was prepared to welcome a longtooth into his home.

Not exactly prepared. How did one prepare for such a thing? Since his hatred against them was so ingrained, he wasn't sure it could ever be truly siphoned from his blood.

Severo drove the Mercedes toward home. On the pa.s.senger seat, Bella lolled in a blissful state as the blood swoon lingered. Her skirt was hiked high on her thighs-another inch and she'd reveal things only he should see. He liked those long, slender gams.

Better, he liked imagining what lay beneath the flirty ruffles.

And that image gave him hope that it was all going to be all right. He still desired her. Nothing has changed, he repeated silently.

"Ivan said you should drink once more before going home tonight. That it would sate you for at least a week."

"Sounds good to me," she offered sweetly.

She was no longer silly drunk, but relaxed and in a strangely heightened state, what he'd normally call arousal.

"This may be cruel, but I have to ask," he said. "Do you get off on it?"

She sighed. So much pleasure in that sigh. "You know vampires swoon from the blood."

Yes. He also knew the swoon was o.r.g.a.s.mic. And surely she and Ivan must have shared some swoons. His grip tightened on the steering wheel.

"But get off?" she said. "No. That would imply I get some kind of thrill from a stranger. It merely serves a need. Though I had wished you were standing beside me instead of Ivan."

For a moment, he had wished the same thing. Because standing at the end of the alleyway, listening to his lover's sweet coaxing and the human's moans, Severo had gotten hard. From the temptation Bella offered with her sighs and touches. From the kiss he'd struggled to label sweet when he knew it was now dangerous.

"Let's go down Poplar." She pointed out the street. "It's not far from where I used to live. It's quiet, but we may find a college kid walking around this late."

In the quiet neighborhood, they found a new development. Bella approached an acceptable candidate with the same sensual daring she'd exhibited downtown.

Severo parked and followed, but by the time he gained on them, Bella was holding the man close in front of a green Dumpster in an alleyway. Blood scent filled the air. Both her hands on the rim of the Dumpster, she sucked at his neck. The guy initially stroked his hands over her hips, but quickly his hands dropped to his sides and he let out a long, appreciative moan.

His jaw tensing, Severo forced himself not to interfere. The guy was giving blood, so he deserved the swoon. And he wouldn't get far with Bella if he did try to put the moves on her.

Was this what his life had become? He must accompany his lover each time she sought blood in order to ensure no one touched her overtly?

h.e.l.l, he'd have to get used to it. He couldn't go along every time. It would kill him. And it wouldn't be fair to her.

Bella needed this. And he grew hard as he imagined stroking the hair away from his lover's face to reveal her blissed-out expression.

Yet he could not touch her. He didn't want to disturb her. He didn't want to touch what he could not approve of.

Christ, but he breathed as heavily as she did. When the unconscious victim slipped from her and settled onto the ground, Bella remained, leaning against the Dumpster, hands fitted to the rim, her legs spread.

She smirked and licked her lips. There was no blood. She was surprisingly neat.

"Ivan taught me the persuasion," she said. "Makes them forget I was ever here."

Looking over her arm at him, she sent him an air kiss.

"Don't look at me all judgmental like that," she said.

"I'm not judging you, sweet." It wasn't worth the wasted thought. Besides, he'd gone beyond that. Her bold and s.e.xy position had made him consider taking her from behind. "I'm admiring you. A gorgeous vixen of the night."

"You're turned on?"

"Yes."

Before she could react, he stepped up close behind her, b.u.mping her, and placed his hands over hers on the Dumpster. He fit his erection against her derriere, pressing, making her know what watching her had done to him. Kissing down the back of her neck, he bit at the thin fabric covering her torso and licked along her shoulder.

Sliding a hand up her thigh, he swept his fingers across her silken skin and found her panties. The lace, crisp and barely there, gave easily at his tug. She wasn't wet-which pleased him; the act of taking blood was not so s.e.xual, after all-but with but a few flicks of his fingers, she was there.

Stroking her and rubbing his erection against her, he brought her to a swift o.r.g.a.s.m. Her quiet murmurs entered his ears as music.

Her shudders he drew into his body. He hadn't come, but he didn't need to. Experiencing her bliss did it for him.

"I'll take you home now," he said, and lifted her into his arms and carried her away.

A light dusting of snow whitened the brown gra.s.s behind the mansion. Bella had headed right for the shower, mumbling something about brus.h.i.+ng her teeth.He'd done it. Watched his lover take blood from another man.

And it had turned him on. How sick was that?

Or was it sick? He'd shared an intimate new part of Bella. Something she would keep private from the world, except for him. He could only love her for allowing him to witness her new ritual.

And he did love her. That would never change. But right now it felt tenuous. Yes, he was unsure. Would she want to bite him?

And how could he refuse her when he knew the one thing vampires required to become close to their mates was sharing blood?