He laughed, throwing back that gorgeous head before kissing me again. “Most of the myths about my kind are crap. However,thatparticular ritual would have blocked me from your cabin. Except, you’re not the owner. I am.”
My jaw dropped. “Get the hell out!”
Steve apparently found this even funnier. “I’m not going to, especially since this is my cabin. I bought the top of this mountain years ago and developed it. I never wanted any of these idiots calling me and whining because I was the owner, so I told everyone who came here that I was the handyman. The only calls I get are for the occasional snow plow issue or a cracked water line.”
“You slinky minx,” I said with admiration.
I was quite aware, all of a sudden, of just how comfortable I was in Steve’s bed, how good the man - uh, vamp - I just couldn’t say the word, how good he smelled. His big hand was cradling the back of my head, smoothing my tangled hair.
My lumberjack, handyman, heroic,oh, just say it, Aura!… vampire ran his hand down my neck, the rasping of rough fingertips against the thin skin there making me shiver. Two fingers trailed over the loose neck of my borrowed t-shirt and trailed over a nipple, rubbing it until it tightened.
He pulled his hand away from my breast and slid it down to my hip with a reluctance I found quite flattering. Shaking his head, he sighed. “Go to sleep, baby. You need more rest.”
As his hand drew away, I tried to hold onto it. “Are you gonna be here, lumberjack Steve?”
I felt him turn me on my side and pressed his long body behind me, settling my ass in the cradle of his hips, his furred chest tight against my back. “I have you. Go to sleep.”
So, I did.
Chapter 7: Just A Taste
In which Aura finds that caring and terrifying aren't that far apart.
Steve…
The pitch-black sky lightened to vivid, rich indigo, then to streaks of lavender and gold as I reluctantly pulled free from Aura, standing and stretching hard enough to feel my muscles creak. She was deeply asleep, mouth slightly open and so sweet.
I should have stayed with her yesterday. I never should have left her, even if she tried to shoot me. Finding her handcuffed to the bed, hand and leg torn up but still standing and courageous enough to wield the knife she had pulled from her own flesh?
She had never been more beautiful, more powerful. How she could not see what a warrior she was? I looked over at her again, the light slowly coming through the windows and making her skin glow.
I wanted to keep watching her. I wanted to look at her beautiful face, and kiss away her wounds. But that campfire feeling was coming over me, my skin twitching and prickling like the sparks from a fire.
Sunrise was close and I walked to the windows to pull the blackout curtains. I always waited until the last possible minute. Until the pain of the light on my arms and chest was almost too much to take.
Just for one glimpse of the sun.
Aura…
When I woke again, I could see the stars through the bank of windows in Steve’s bedroom. Stretching luxuriously, I felt his warmth and bulk pressed against my back. And an unmistakable hardness snug against my ass.
A bulky arm slid over my waist, pulling me closer. “How do you feel, sweet girl?”
Experimentally moving my arms and legs, I shook my head. “I feel … great. But I shouldn’t? I mean, I got stabbed yesterday.”
Steve was big enough that his chuckles jolted me. Sliding his thigh between mine, he lifted my leg a little higher, running his fingers along my (formerly) wounded calf. “Looks good now.”
Scrolling through all my midnight research about vampires, I blurted, “Did you…. Um. Crap. Did you feed me blood?”
His rough hand continued stroking along my skin. “What if I did?”
I could feel the puff of warm air as he spoke, kissing my shoulder. “You feel real,” I whispered, “you feel alive. What are you?” He took my chin and tilted it, looking me over.God, his eyes were so blue...I thought,iridescent, so clear.But then I remembered Vantablack, and his gaze dipped as I stiffened.
The light bristle of his beard stroked along my throat as he kissed it. “I think you know what I am,” Steve said, his amusement clear. “And I’ll keep you safe. I’ll take care of you.” His fingers traveled down the front of me, circling my nipples and enjoying how they stiffened so eagerly.
He smiled, those juicy lips smirking slightly as his fingers continued down and pressed on my clit, open and bare from his thigh spreading mine.
“How good do you feel?” His voice was rougher. Deeper.
