Chapter Three

I killed the engine when we reached the front of his apartment complex. For a moment, he sat quietly behind me and did not say a word. My entire body stilled in response as he yanked the helmet off and thrust it between me and the handlebars. He was pissed at me. He broadcasted his emotions loudly, and his anger felt like the sting of early morning sunlight on my skin.

“What the hell was that all about?” he demanded, practically leaping off of my motorcycle. “You dragged me out of there like a dog on a leash! Were you trying to get away from a psycho ex-boyfriend or something?”         

I nearly laughed because he couldn’t be farther from the truth if he tried. It was another reason why there never could be anything between us. I could never tell him the truth about me because it would either scare the hell out of him, or he would refuse to accept it and think I was nuts. I couldn’t decide which reaction would be worse. Once again, I wished I had the power to teleport, so I could zap myself into my room, curl up in my bed in a fetal position, and rock myself to sleep.

“Listen, I think you’re a beautiful woman, and we could probably have a really nice time together, but I think you might be into some shit I’m not ready to deal with.” He buried his hands into his hair and took a deep breath. “I mean, I just got out of a serious relationship...”

“Whoa, hold it,” I said, putting my hand over his mouth before he could launch into a grocery list of why we couldn’t be together. “I’m not asking you to move in with me. I’m not even sure I want to sleep with you. God knows my life is complicated enough without you in it.”

He kissed the hand that covered his mouth and moved it to his cheek. “Then why do I feel like I’m going to die if I don’t kiss you right now?”

And that was all it took. One moment I was sitting astride my motorcycle, and the next, I was in his arms, and my mouth was hungrily devouring his as though I meant to eat him alive. He tasted like beer and coffee and something that was him and him alone. When I speared my tongue into his mouth, he groaned and crushed my breasts against his chest.

He began to kiss me in earnest now, exploring my mouth with his own tongue as he ran his huge, warm hands all over my body. I tilted my head and stood on the tips of my toes so our lips would fit better together, then I began to grind myself against the concrete hardness of his cock. His lips drifted to my chin, my neck. He nipped my collarbone, as his hands found their way under my shirt and unlatched my bra. Suddenly, those clever fingers were squeezing and gently twisting my nipples, and I longed to have his mouth there.

“Whoo! Take it off!” a group of young punks yelled as a car whizzed by, blasting their horns.

It was like a bucket of cold water had been thrown over us. I shook myself out of my daze, but Sebastian was looking down at me with something primal and animalistic in his eyes. “We should continue this in my apartment.”

At that moment, I could have chosen to leave. I could have said no, hopped on my bike, and left the human there on the sidewalk, frustrated and unfulfilled, his cock straining excruciatingly against his chinos. I slid my hand up to his inner thigh, cupped that hardness, and knew I wasn’t going anywhere. “Let’s go, then.”

With a wicked smile, he took my hand and led me to his front door.  The second we were inside, he pulled off my hair ribbon, which held my braid in place, and watched in awe as two feet of hair cascaded around my shoulders like a black waterfall. He took a lock of it in his hand and inhaled deeply. “Jesus,” he muttered. “Even your hair smells delicious.”

He hauled me into his arms again, yanking my halter top over my head and tossing it over his shoulder. With a growl, he bent his head and latched his mouth onto my breasts, suckling powerfully, and pulling my nipples between his sharp teeth with a deliciously painful pressure.

Meanwhile, my unusually clumsy fingers had managed to unzip his trousers, allowing his painfully engorged cock to spring free. I pulled away from him for a moment, so I could look at it in its full glory. With a gasp that was almost reverent, I sank to my knees in front of him as though I were a church girl worshipping in front of a statue of Saint Michael, the warrior archangel.

It was long and thick with a large purplish head at the tip. It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. I gazed up at him, and he was staring at me with equal parts of anxiety and hunger. Keeping my eyes on his face, I leaned forward and touched my tongue to the slit at the head, tasting the pearly drop, tasting its silky saltiness. He groaned in response, so I took the head between my lips and dragged my mouth along its length until I reached its base. When he hit the back of my throat, I gently cupped his sac and squeezed lightly as I pulled my mouth from the root to the tip, curling my tongue against the soft, velvety skin.

His knees buckled then, but my strength kept him from toppling over. “Oh, God, if you don’t stop, I’m not going to last,” he gasped, clenching his fingers in my hair in an attempt to pull me up.

I smiled with my womanly power as I took his cock once again and slipped it into my mouth, swirling my tongue around the head. He went wild and even tried to pull out of my mouth, but my grip on his rounded, muscled ass kept him in place. It was a glorious feeling, hearing this beautiful man beg for mercy, and knowing that I could just stop—really stop—and he would probably burst into tears. It was a new feeling for me. A vampiric male could keep his emotions deep in check so that one would never really know what he was feeling, but this man... with this man, I felt like a goddess.

Finally, I let his cock escape my mouth and got up to my feet. We stared at each other for a moment, his chest heaving with deep breaths, then he reached out to rub his finger against my lower lip. I couldn’t think of anything to say, and he was equally speechless. I pressed myself against his body, and he wrapped his arms around me, touching his lips to my forehead.

“Let’s go to bed,” he whispered into my ear. He put his arm around my neck and swooped to put his other arm on the back of my knees. With effortless grace, he lifted me and carried me to his bedroom. “Let’s do this right,” he murmured.

He set me down gently on the bed and, with a wry smile, began to peel my pants down my legs. When he saw that I was not wearing underwear, his smile widened into a grin but quickly disappeared when he saw the guns strapped to my ankles. “What on earth...” he said with wonder.

“Like I said, I work security,” I said, sitting up and unstrapping the guns from my ankles. “You’re not going to let my toys scare you, are you?”

“Of course not,” he said, warily reaching for the holster that held my guns and setting them on his bedside table. His eyes returned to the V between my thighs, and I spread my legs welcomingly for him. “You shave?”

“I wax,” I replied, feeling decidedly more wicked than ever. “You like?”

“I love.” He settled himself between my thighs and pressed a kiss on the spot below my navel. “You are absolutely incredible.”

He chuckled and lifted himself from between my legs to lay his body next to mine. As lightly as a feather, he began to run his fingers from my neck to my thighs. “You know,” he said against my throat. “I think you might be the most beautiful woman I have ever met in my entire life.”

I propped myself on my elbow and touched the cleft on his chin. I didn't know why, but I felt nothing but tenderness for this man. I still wanted to sink my fangs into his jugular, of course, but I couldn’t remember another time when I laid in bed with a man and felt absolutely at ease with him. But then again, no one has ever given me a reason to feel tenderly before tonight, either.

He began to kiss my breasts again, taking his time as though they were the most succulent fruits in the world. Slowly, he swept his fingers from my stomach past my navel, then paused on my labia. Teasing, taunting. The tips of his fingers hovered in sheer torture.

I bit my lower lip so I could stop myself from yelling at him to get on with it. Raising myself on my elbows, I threw him a look of challenge.

“I haven’t heard you say my name,” he murmured against my mouth. “I’d like to hear you say it before I fuck your brains out.”

The crudeness of his words and the huskiness of his tone almost did it for me. I was ready to beg this man. I pushed past the tough guy act and read the desperation and need in his eyes. He wanted me as much I wanted him, but I’ve had several hundred years of practice. I could play the game like a champ. “And what would you do if I don’t? Will you kick me out of your apartment and wank off to hardcore porn on the internet?”

Amusement glittered in those eyes. “Are you kidding? I’ve got a whole hard drive of porn. I don't need to go searching.” The tip of his long, smooth finger grazed my clit ever so softly, and I sucked in air harshly through my teeth. “Why do you want to play this game, baby? Just say my name, so we can get on with the fucking.”

I licked my lips slowly, and his gaze dropped to my mouth. “What’s with this need for me to say your name? You need your ego stroked, baby?” I dragged my foot up his leg, his inner thigh, and gently prodded his sac with my big toe. “Wouldn’t you want me to stroke something else?”

He smiled wickedly, took his cock in his hand, then leaned over to brush it against my pubic bone. I could already feel him inside me. “Humor me,” he whispered.

I lifted my hips to meet him, but he only raised himself out of my reach. I could play the game for hours, but there was a primal need inside me that needed to be satisfied at that moment. I looked deep into his eyes and said, “Sebastian.”

“I love the sound of my name on your lips,” he said huskily as he dipped his head to give me the most searing kiss and plunged his fingers deep into my body at the same time. “Jesus, you’re so wet.” He slipped his fingers out of my vagina and brought them to his mouth. “And so goddamned sweet.” He grabbed my face between his hands and rested his forehead against mine. “Forgive me, sweetheart, but I can’t wait anymore.”

And then he thrust his cock all the way into me. For a moment, time stood still, and I could feel nothing but his cock moving in and out of my cunt and his harsh breath in my ear. I began to raise my hips to meet his thrusts, and soon after, we were moving in a smooth, graceful rhythm that left me gasping and ordering him to do it harder, faster. He braced himself on his elbows so he could look into my eyes as he plunged himself in and out of my body.

I dragged my feet up the back of his legs and pressed them on his muscular buttocks, raising my hips at the same time. Suddenly, he was so deep inside me that I cried out with the sheer pleasure of it. I was a small woman, and his cock was so big that a sliver of pain accompanied the pleasure. It was the most exquisite, delicious pain I had ever tasted. I wanted more of it.

His thrusts began to come faster and faster, so I knew he was about to come. I was right there with him as I began to feel that molten warmth spread from the pit of my stomach to my breasts and thighs, like velvet lava. It was an all-encompassing feeling that reached from my scalp to the tips of my toes and made every inch of body sing. He pushed his cock into me one more time, then his beautiful body tensed, and he poured himself—his soul—into me. As soon as he was spent, he collapsed on my body and buried his face in my hair.

“Just give me one second,” he said hoarsely.

And then I couldn’t take it anymore. I forgot about asking this frail mortal. I forgot about everything. I was starving for him. I licked at the spot where I had been staring all night long, that throbbing blue vein in his neck, and felt my fangs descend from my gums. I pierced into that soft golden skin, and his warm, silky blood began to flow into my mouth and down my throat. He groaned as I drank, but I soothed him by rubbing his back with my hand, effectively holding him in place for my feast. A bright light exploded in front of my eyes, and I was coming again. My cunt clenched around his softening cock like a vise grip, and he groaned again.

When I had my fill, I had the insane urge to roll over and go to sleep. I licked at the wound I had made on Sebastian’s neck, and it instantly closed. In a few moments, it would disappear like it was never there. There would be a slight hickey in the morning, but he would just look at it in the mirror and chalk it up to a love bite.

“Am I crushing you?” He lifted his head to peek at my face.

I couldn’t tell him that I could lift five times his weight. I rather enjoyed his weight on me. He was hard and hairy in the right parts. He smelled of life, sweat, and man. I plunged my fingers into his hair from the back of his head as I studied his visage. There was an expectant look in his eyes as though he wanted to know if he had pleased me or not.

It was... cute.

“There’s a nice breakfast place on Adams Street that we can go to tomorrow,” he said, rolling off of me and taking me along so that I was now on top of him. “They serve the best pancakes and the eggs... heaven.”

And that was when sanity returned. My hands froze on his chest and the events of the past three hours flashed before my eyes in rapid-fire sequence. The fog in my brain lifted, and two very alarming notions became clear to me at once. One, I had sexual intercourse with a human. Two, he didn’t know I was a vampire and therefore expected that I would stick around till the sun came up when I really should be in my own bed, in my windowless room, and a deadbolt on the door.

It really was the most significant disadvantage of sleeping with a human. In the morning, he expected one to get up and frolic in the sun with him.

He must have sensed my hesitation just then because he said, “Or not. We could just stay in bed all day tomorrow if you want. Who needs food?”

I glanced at the digital alarm clock on his bedside table, and the time was ten minutes before two AM. “I must go,” I said, climbing off of him. I picked up my pants from the floor and began to slip them on. “I had a good time.”

He sat up in his bed, pulling the covers to his waist, as though he was suddenly shy. There was something about this human that I particularly liked, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. It wasn’t just his body or his pretty face. I felt a sense of protectiveness toward him, and it thoroughly annoyed me.

I felt compelled to say something to ease the discomfort that drove a wedge between us, but I couldn’t think of anything. It was fortuitous that my mobile phone chose to vibrate in the front pocket of my trousers. My clumsy hands struggled to get the damn thing out. I pressed the answer button.  “Chang.”

“It’s Fiona,” said the soft, husky voice on the phone.

Damn. “Trouble?”

“Yes, the four-legged furry kind. With big fucking teeth.”

“I’m on my way.” I disconnected the call and slipped the phone back into my pocket. For a moment, I was disconcerted because I couldn’t locate my shirt and bra.

“They’re in the living room,” my human muttered.

“Right.” I grabbed my holster and dashed out of the room. I picked up my bra on the floor and put it on. I was just pulling down my halter top when he walked out of the bedroom with a towel wrapped around his slim waist.

“We didn’t use protection.”

I was re-attaching my holster to my ankle. I looked up at Sebastian and saw the grim expression on his face. “What are you talking about?”

He shrugged. “Pregnancy. Diseases.”

“I am unable to reproduce,” I replied, slipping my leg off of the back of his couch and setting my foot down on the carpet. A full-blood vampire could only breed with another full-blood. A half-breed couldn’t reproduce at all. “And I carry no diseases.”

He raised his eyebrows. “How do you know that? Have you ever been tested? You jumped into bed with me after fifteen minutes of knowing me. How do I know you don’t do that with everyone else?”

He was hurt and felt compelled to lash out. I could understand that. “I hope you’re not casting aspersions on my character by implying I’m a woman of loose morals.”

He laughed dryly. “I’m not implying anything. All I’m saying is that we don’t really know each other, but we had sex anyway and didn’t use protection.”

“I didn’t hear you complaining when you had your cock in my mouth.” Usually, I wouldn’t care about what a mere mortal had to say about me, but his words made me feel... uncomfortable.  I was no puritan, but I have only been with fifty males in my two thousand years. That is one male every forty ears. In the vampire community, I was considered a virgin.

I suddenly had the urge to punch his handsome face and knock his teeth out. “If you’re so concerned about it, go to a clinic and get tested. I’ll even pay for it.” Bloody humans and their bloody fragile bodies. “But believe me when I say that I carry no diseases.”

He glared at me for a few moments, then relaxed and parked his gorgeous butt against the sofa. “I accept half of the responsibility. I should have put something on, but... I don’t know. The heat of the moment or something.” He lowered his eyes. “I just lost control.”

I nodded to acknowledge this. The passion that swept us was like a wildfire on a dry, brittle canyon. I, too, had lost control, but I couldn’t admit it out loud. Everyone knew how much I valued it and how vital it was to my job. The Huntress was not allowed to lose control.

“I really must go.” I pushed my hair out of my face and tucked it behind my ears. “There’s trouble at the club.”

Genuine concern flashed in his eyes when he looked at me. “I heard. Anything I can do to help?”

I thought of Garret St. John, the enforcer for the Wolf King, and how easily he could snap the human’s spine across his knee. I felt vaguely nauseous at the thought. “No. It’s nothing I can’t handle. You should stay here and... umm... go to sleep or something.”

He insisted on walking me to the door. “Are you sure you’ll be alright?”

“I’ll be fine. I can take care of myself.”

“Alright,” he said after a moment. “Will you at least tell me your name?”   

It was out of my mouth before I could even really think about it. “My name is Chang Yanmei, but you may call me Mei.”

“That’s a pretty name.”

I inclined my head. “Thank you.”

“Listen, what I said earlier about...”

I put my hand on his arm. “Forget about it.”

He rubbed the back of his neck in an obvious sign of discomfort. “Is there... I mean, I’d like to call you sometime.”

I felt ridiculously happy at his words for a few seconds, but the feeling went away only to be replaced with dread. I turned to face him with a heavy heart. When our evening together began, I had no intention of erasing his memories, but I could see now that there was no way around it. He was looking at me with the enthralled gaze of a man in love—in lust—and I simply couldn’t have that. I cupped his gorgeous face between my hands and ordered him to look into my eyes. “Repeat after me, Sebastian,” I commanded softly. “You never met me.”

“I never met you,” he answered robotically, his eyes flat and emotionless.

“Good lad,” I said with a queasy feeling in my stomach. I stood on the tips of my toes and pressed a kiss on his lips. “After I leave, you will lock the door behind me,  go to your room, slip back under the covers, and fall into a deep sleep where you will dream of a perky, little blond in a cheerleader’s uniform. Do you understand?”

“I understand.”

I pulled the door close, and as I walked away, I heard clean snicks of locks being turned and deadbolts pushed into place.