“Bet you liked it,” he shot back, sauntering toward the house.
My mouth dropped open, and I swayed on my feet as I watched him walk away.
After lunch, we spent the day working on more things around the property. My dad had already fed the chickens and gathered the eggs—that was his responsibility, and it never deviated—but we completed the nasty task of cleaning out the coop. Then we broke down some pallets and stored them in the barn to reuse at some point, trimmed back the rhododendrons my mom had planted that were taking over one side of the house, and cleaned the leaves and debris off the concrete patio out back.
As we worked, the mating heat grew worse and worse. I could hack it. I’d once broken my forearm before having to hike four and a half miles to a rendezvous point, but that didn’t mean I enjoyed it. I’d always thought that the mating bond symptoms were bullshit. God or the universe or fate or whatever could’ve manifested a pull between two mates without making them feel like garbage. It felt a little counterproductive, if I was being honest. How the hell were you supposed to get to know your partner if you had horrendous flu symptoms? If I had to guess, that was probably the point of the whole thing.Who cares if you know them? Bang them! Bang them now! Complete the bond, and then it won’t matter if they’re a sociopath because you’ll already be tied to them for all eternity!
I was glad that Aunt Halle had explained the cum trick to me when I was a teenager, though at the time I’d been supremely grossed out. The science of it was a little fascinating, but when Vampires completed the mating bond with their mates, it took three things to really do it. First, he had to actually finish inside her. No condoms allowed. Second, he had to take her blood. And third, she had to ingest some of his too. If any of those things were missing, it would soothe the heat for a while, but the bond didn’t take, and you’d have to do it again. According toAunt Halle—who’d been correct—if youswallowedyour mate’s semen, it had the same effect, soothing the heat for a while at least. You just needed that semen inside you somehow, I guess.
I thought I was hiding the discomfort pretty well, all things considered, but I couldn’t hide the sweat. Some of it could’ve been attributed to working outside, but when Daniel dropped his rake and followed me into the barn, I knew I hadn’t fooled him.
“Good Gods, woman,” he chastised, stalking toward me. “I’ve been waiting for you to say something for over an hour.”
“About what?” I asked innocently.
Daniel laughed as he got closer. “If I feel this bad, you must feel ten times worse,” he replied. “But you’re good.”
He reached for me, and he hissed as his hands slid beneath my hoodie and gripped my waist. “You’re skin’s so hot.”
“I’m good?” I asked, reveling in the feel of his cool hands against my overheated skin.
“Good at hiding it,” he clarified, brushing his lips against mine.
I barely held myself back from tackling him to the dirt floor.
“It would bother me,” he continued, his lips gliding along my jaw. “If I didn’t know how impossible it is for you to hide anything when I’m touching you.”
I groaned as his lips reached my ear and then my neck.
Do it. Do it. Do itpounded in my head like a drum. It wasn’t a conscious thought. It was instinct.
“All those noises you make,” he whispered against my neck as his hands dropped to the front of my pants, unbuttoning and unzipping them so slowly I nearly screamed at him to get on with it. “You’re so loud, mate. So responsive.”
“You’re talking an awful lot,” I replied as he tugged my pants and underwear down to my knees. The rush of cold air felt like nirvana for only a moment before the heat slammed into me even harder.
“Because when I talk to you,” he said, leaning back to look into my eyes as his fingers pressed between my legs, the calloused tips gliding easily over the slick skin. “It makes you wet.” His fingers curled up, and I rose to my toes, a gasp bursting out of me as his fingers thrust inside. “And I like it when you’re wet.”
He held me there with just that one point of contact, his gaze never leaving mine, as he used his fingers and whispered words to drive me to the edge, and then over it. By the time we were done, I’d come so hard that tears ran unheeded down my cheeks.
“Gorgeous,” he whispered, using his free hand to wipe them away. “Do you feel any better?”
“Not much,” I confessed, my voice hoarse.
His expression fell.
Reaching down, I ran my hand over the front of his pants and squeezed my fist around his arousal.
“You’re not feeling any better either,” I pointed out.
“I’m all right,” he choked out, his fingers thrusting one more time inside me before he reluctantly pulled them away. He kept his eyes on mine and lifted his fingers to his lips, sucking them inside as I traced a finger over the end of his cock. His eyes fell closed as he shuddered.
They popped back open when I shoved him back a couple of feet and dropped to my knees.
“Rosie,” he murmured, his hands finding my hair. “Baby, don’t kneel in the dirt.”
I let out a ghost of laughter at his weak attempt to dissuade me. Unbuttoning his pants, I tugged them down his thighs. He must’ve taken off his boxers at some point, because he was bare beneath them, and my mouth watered at the sight of him. Apparently, every inch of his body reallywasperfect.
I took my time discovering what made him tick. He loved it when I cupped his balls, squeezing them just enough for himto feel the threat there. He made a little noise in the back of his throat when I laved the tip of him with my tongue. When I sucked him into my mouth and focused on the head of his shaft, he brushed the hair away from my face gently. When I took him back into my throat, his hands tightened into fists.
