Immortal Craving (Dark Dynasties) (21 page)

“Okay,” she said. It was pretty much all she could manage without losing it right then and there, and she had no intention of doing that. So much for
soon is all I have but it’s yours if you want it
. She turned away and went stiffly to the bed, carefully laying out her pajamas. It gave her hands something to do, even if her mind was a million miles away.

She reached over and curled her hand around Grimm’s hand-sized paw, stroking her thumb over the fur. It helped a little, but not enough. It was stupid, she thought, to get this wound up over a guy she’d known for a week. A very
weird guy, she reminded herself, who had all kinds of problems on top of being a five-hundred-year-old vampire.

A guy she hadn’t been able to get out of her head since she’d met him.

She’d even started thinking about the pros and cons of vampirism for herself, really thinking, which was something she hadn’t put a lot of thought into even after Lily had been turned. Suddenly, it had become a diverting and tantalizing what-if game.
What if we fall madly in love? What if he wants to be with me forever? What if he accidentally bites me during wild monkey sex on my kitchen floor? How would that go? How would I handle it? Is that what I would want?

Well, he was leaving. Nonexistent problem solved. She hadn’t felt quite this ridiculous in a very long time.

“Bailey,” Tasmin said softly. He slunk up right beside her again without making a sound, a fact that suddenly irritated the hell out of her.

“Why can’t you just call me Bay like everybody else does?” she snapped, refusing to look at him. “I’m named after my mom’s favorite liquor. Seriously, it’s not like everyone has shortened some ethereally beautiful song of a name.”

“I like your name,” he said, and his voice was still heartbreakingly gentle. Why couldn’t he just fight with her, she thought? Maybe he was actually a big jerk underneath the sweet, slightly arrogant exterior. That would make her feel better, now that he was taking off.

Or not.

Then his hands were on her shoulders, and what little fight she had in her vanished, leaving her with nothing but a hollow ache. She closed her eyes.

“I understand that you have to go,” she said softly. “I really do. My feelings about that aren’t your problem, okay? But I’m tired, and upset, and I need to sort that out, so it would be better if you just let me alone right now.”

“I know,” he said, and the words cut her as deeply as a blade might have.

“Then go,” she said, both a command and a plea. But his hands didn’t leave her shoulders.

“I can’t,” he said, and there was something so close to breaking in his voice that it made her turn. What she saw in his eyes when they were face-to-face made words impossible. He was so ancient, she realized. And so incredibly sad.

“Whoever left me in that cave put a demon inside me,” Tasmin said. “That’s what it is, Bailey. Not a spirit… a demon. It kept me alive, but at a price. It’s something I can’t control. I know I’ve killed innocents, Bailey. If I don’t try to do something, that won’t end. It can only get worse. I won’t risk you.”

Bay drew in a shuddering breath. It suddenly felt far more real than it had outside, when the blow had been softened with a kiss. Through no fault of his own, Tasmin had been turned into a ticking time bomb.

“What happens if she can’t get it out?” she asked, her voice barely a whisper. “What then?”

“Then she thinks it will kill me. And that… would be for the best, Bailey.” His expression was heartbreaking. “I used to fight with honor. I won’t be a tool for this
thing
.”

What he was saying made perfect sense—and it was one of the hardest things she’d ever had to hear. Especially because she understood more than he said out loud.

“You’ll have
them
kill you, won’t you? The Empusae. If whatever they try doesn’t work.”

Slowly, he nodded. “If there is nothing else to be done, yes. I can’t live like this. It isn’t living. Not when I’m afraid to feed, to walk among humans… to be alone with you.”

She couldn’t find the right words to say, if there were any. Instead, she went with what she felt, knowing that it might be the last time she had the opportunity. Without a sound, she slid into his arms. Tasmin pulled her closer, burying his face against her neck. She could feel him trembling, and though she’d been holding herself nearly as tightly, she stroked a hand down his back, through his hair, trying to soothe what nothing truly could.

“If things were different…,” he breathed. “I think about you all the time, Bailey.”

His words, his arms around her, made her response easier. “I think about you all the time too,” she admitted as he eased back, gentling his hold on her. Bay rested her cheek against his chest, soothed by the slow, steady beat of his immortal heart. “I didn’t think I would. I’ve never had a hard time saying no to any of the vamps around here. I just wasn’t interested.”

Tasmin’s hand rubbed a lazy circle on her back.

“You’re surrounded by vampires,” he mused. “You’re Lily’s closest friend. And you’ve never even considered being with a vampire? Not even for a single date?”

She smiled, thinking about how strange it must sound. “Nope. Not even for dinner and a movie.”

“You can’t tell me they haven’t asked. You’re beautiful.”

Bay blushed, and she was glad he couldn’t see just how easily he could affect her with an offhand compliment.
He didn’t sound like he was trying to flatter her. He mostly sounded like he couldn’t quite believe her. Which, considering that vampires were well known for their beauty, she didn’t blame him for.

“A few asked. The ones brave enough to risk the wrath of Lily. Warnings go out on a regular basis, believe me. But I always said no.” She paused, trying to figure out how to explain the heart of it without offending him. “Up until you, Tasmin, I’ve kind of tried to avoid the whole vampire…
thing
.”

The chuckle that rumbled through his chest surprised her. She tilted her head back to frown up at him, wondering why he found it so funny. His grin was boyish, open. A glimpse of the man she wished he got to be more often.

“What?” she asked.

“I was just thinking how frustrating you must be for them. So accessible, but so unavailable.”

“To them,” Bay said. “Not to you.”

His smile faded, but the warmth didn’t as he watched her quizzically. “And I’m more grateful for that than you could possibly know, even if I don’t understand it. I am what they are.”

Bay shook her head slowly. “No. You’re different than any man I’ve ever met, mortal or vampire. You’re you. That’s all I see. That’s why I’m here.”

She could see what the words meant to him, and was glad she’d given him the truth. Tasmin said nothing, only pulled her back tightly against him, tucking her head beneath his chin. As they stayed entwined, what had started as comfort quickly turned to need. Her nerve endings sizzled everywhere her body touched his, his breath
against her neck sending delicious waves of sensation shivering over her skin.

Her desire for him unfurled like the petals of some night-blooming flower. Bay welcomed it, refusing to question something that felt so right when everything else seemed to be falling apart. Nothing outside this room was right anymore. Everything was changing; nothing made sense. All her best-laid plans were going up in flames.

But she had Tasmin, at least for tonight. And though he might never know, she needed him at least as much as he needed her.

“Be with me tonight,” she said, and he pulled back to look at her again, his eyes burning like twin suns.

“But what if—”

“I pulled you back once before,” Bay reminded him. “I can do it again.” She rose up and pressed a soft kiss to his lips once, twice, savoring the way his mouth felt on hers.

“It might not be what you imagine, Bailey,” he said softly, every electric brush of his mouth against hers contradicting that. “I want you. But… I am not… I have not…”

It took what he was implying a moment to sink in, since one graceful hand had drifted up to cup her breast, his thumb circling her nipple through the fabric with a slow and maddening rhythm. She opened her eyes to find his expression open, earnest… and worried.

“You’re a virgin?” she asked, barely able to believe she was asking that question of a man who could kiss like sin itself. But he nodded, a faint flush blooming in his cheeks.

“I didn’t even live one mortal lifetime,” he said. “It seemed we were always fighting, and as the Ptolemy began to hunt us, it became more difficult to leave the
forest. It wasn’t for lack of interest. But the chance simply… never came.” She could feel him tensing again, and sought to banish his worries immediately.

She would be his first. It was a beautiful surprise, and one she intended to cherish.

“Whatever it is will be amazing, because it’s you. Be with me,” she said, her breath catching in her throat. Bay could feel his body stirring, hardening against hers. Did he have any idea what a gift he had been to her? And now, to give her this…

“Please. I need you.”

“You need—ah,
meri jaan
, if you only knew.” Tasmin pressed his forehead to hers, his breath feathering her face, her mouth. He shifted ever so slightly, and her hair tumbled down around her shoulders. His hands delved into it, and she leaned into his touch.

Then his mouth was on hers again, doing things he had no business knowing how to do. It started sweetly, almost reverently, as Tasmin tasted her, stoking a slow-burning fire deep within her that never seemed to go out, dancing only for him. The kiss turned hotter, harder, as his tongue rubbed against hers in a slow, sensuous rhythm and his hand kneaded her breast more firmly, every rub of his thumb against her taut nipple causing a pulse of pleasure between her legs.

“You hide your virginity awfully well,” Bay said, then gasped when he guided her hand to cup his rigid cock, straining against the fabric of his jeans.

“I spent the better part of a century thinking about sex, even if I wasn’t having it,” Tasmin said. “That goes further than you’d think.”

“You’ll have to demonstrate,” Bay said, barely managing
to get the words out. Her clothes felt too tight, her skin too sensitive, and every errant brush of Tasmin’s body against hers brought her closer to madness. She pressed the heel of her palm against his erection and stroked it slowly, feeling it pulse beneath her hand. Tasmin’s eyes rolled back in his head, and he exhaled on a groan.

He said one word.

“Bed.”

Bay looked at the creature still asleep on it. “Yours,” she replied.

Together, they stumbled into the hallway, earning an amused look from a dark-haired Lilim woman leaving one of the bedrooms. Tasmin ignored her, catching Bay’s hand in his and dragging her into a room only three doors from her own. The room was pitch-dark when he slammed the door, and she had a brief moment of trepidation until Tasmin had caught her in his arms again. Then there was nothing but his hands, his mouth, and the ragged sound of their breathing mingling in the darkness.

He guided her backward until the back of her thighs hit the edge of the bed. Bay pulled her shirt, then the T-shirt beneath off as quickly as she could with shaking hands. The cool air against her bare skin had her breaking out in gooseflesh, quickly forgotten when Tasmin pulled his own shirt off in a rustle of fabric.

She pulled him back against her with a broken sigh, reveling in his hot, openmouthed kisses while her hands roamed over the hard planes of Tasmin’s chest. He quivered when she ran her fingertips over the ripples of his abs, then laughed breathlessly.

“Tickles,” he said.

“Want me to stop?”

He groaned. “Gods, no.”

Then his hands were in her hair again, trailing down her bare back, fumbling with the apparent mystery of her bra clasp. She smiled against his mouth and undid it for him.

“Here,” she said.

She thought there might have been a murmured “thank you,” but couldn’t be sure once his hands were on her bare breasts. His hands had been wickedly clever when her shirt was on. Now, with nothing between her skin and his, they were pure bliss. He filled his hands with her breasts, rolling the tight buds of her nipples between his thumbs and forefingers. Bay arched into him with a broken moan.

She fumbled with his jeans, only barely managing the buttons while he tormented her. Finally, though, he released her long enough to reach down and unfasten the last two. The boxers he wore were stretched taut over his cock, and Bay pulled him against her with a slow, torturous roll of her hips.

“Ah,” Tasmin breathed, and she felt his knees start to buckle, nearly taking them both down.

“Hang on,” Bay murmured. She slid down to sit on the bed and pushed back, wriggling quickly out of her pants and underwear and tossing them into the darkened room. Tasmin followed her. Her eyes had adjusted enough to the dark that she could see the contours of his body, could see the lean muscles flex as he fumbled his jeans and boxers off. When he rose, gold eyes glowing catlike in the dark, Bay drank in the sight of him.

Whatever else he was, there was nothing about Tasmin that wasn’t beautiful.

He crawled onto the bed, elegant, leonine grace as
he moved in to pounce. Bay slid back toward the pillows, breath coming hard and fast. Then he was over her, on her, every inch of his skin pressed against hers. The sensation was overwhelming at first, and Bay surged up against him. He moaned, kissing her hungrily, and Bay could feel the hot silk of his cock pressing insistently into her lower belly.

Tasmin trailed his kisses lower, making a hot path down her neck, over her collarbone, until he sucked one nipple into his mouth and began to torment her with hot, wet pulls.

Bay cried out, arching her back to allow him better access. Her legs parted further where he was settled between them. Tasmin lavished first one breast, then the other with attention, flickering his tongue over the hardened tips of her nipples until she was teetering on the verge of a shattering orgasm. Bay’s breath came in harsh little pants, her fingers tangled in the dark silk of his hair. When he finally raised his head to look at her, she couldn’t speak, could barely think.