Once Forbidden (8 page)

Unhesitant,
Sarah complied.

Devlin
braced his weight on his hands and drove inside her hard now. This position
kept her open to him and allowed for the deepest penetration. He continued the
powerful strokes, and she began to shudder with her climax. “That’s it, love. Come
for me.” Devlin reached down between their bodies and found the hard nubbin of
her clitoris and pinched it gently between his thumb and forefinger.

“Oh
God,” Sarah said on a moan. “Please, it’s too much.” He was so deep inside her,
and her body jerked with the force of each powerful thrust. His fingers were
working magic, but it was all too much.

His
lovemaking was always intense, but this was different. It was almost as if he
was trying to brand her body with his own. The force of his determination was
palpable and a little frightening in its intensity.

Devlin
ignored her, continuing to move strongly inside her while he rubbed her clitoris;
first gently and then harder until she yelled with the force of her release.

Her
release brought him closer to his own, and he clenched his teeth and groaned as
his seed shot inside her.

Sarah
was crying softly when Devlin gently eased her legs down and rolled to his
side, keeping her with him.

“What’s
wrong, love?” Devlin asked, his voice filled with concern.

“It
was too much,” she whispered.

Devlin
frowned now. “I hurt you?”

Sarah
shook her head. “You didn’t hurt me.”

Devlin
kissed her now, very gently. “When two vampires make love, Sarah, it’s more
intense than when humans make love. We have enhanced senses.” He should have
made love to her slowly and gently, damn it. He cursed himself for frightening
her. “I didn’t mean to overwhelm you, Sarah.”

She
smiled through the tears falling down her temples. “I liked being on top.”

Devlin
wrapped his arms around her and rolled to his back, automatically putting her
on top with the move. He smiled at the shocked look on her face as he grew
inside her again. Letting her test her wings would do more to center her than
any words he could say. “You’re on top. What are you going to do now?” Devlin
cupped a breast in each hand, flicking her nipples with his thumbs.

Sarah
arched her back. She loved his hands on her body. Sarah decided that if she
liked her nipples touched, he might, too. She flicked one of his nipples with
her nail, watching his face carefully, and saw his eyes dilate. She smiled and
did it again.

Devlin
pulled her down so he could suckle at her breasts. He laved them gently with
his tongue and drew one peak deeply into his mouth, sucking gently.

Sarah
felt the pull from her breasts to her core and moved then, slowly, over him.

Chapter Ten

Devlin
and Sarah spent the next several days working on her new abilities. He knew
that he had to teach her. Devlin told Sarah that he needed to teach her how to
protect herself. To do that, she needed to understand her new abilities and
learn to master them. They were now sitting in his living room. He was sitting
next to her on a leather sofa, his feet propped on the table in front of them.

“Devlin,
I don’t understand,” she said irritably. “I am thinking of your kitchen, but I
can’t make myself appear there!” Sarah was frustrated. She just couldn’t do
this!  “I can’t do it!” The lover of only hours before was now in the role of
teacher, and she wanted to hit him!

Devlin
glared at her and put his hands on his hips. “You
can
do it, Sarah. You’re
not concentrating hard enough. Close your eyes again,” he ordered.

Sarah
returned his glare with one of her own. “I might love you, Devlin, but I don’t
like you very much right now!”

Devlin
grinned at that. “Tough. Do what I said. Close your eyes.”

Sarah
huffed out an irritated breath and closed her eyes. Instantly, she thought of
taking a hammer to his thick skull, though—she was certain that wasn’t the
image he wanted in her head.

“Damn
it, Sarah!” he roared.

Sarah
opened her eyes and gasped in horror. Devlin was holding a hammer in his hands.
“What happened?”

“Instead
of the kitchen, you thought of braining me?” he said incredulously.

Sarah
suddenly giggled. She put her hands quickly to her mouth to stifle them, but
her eyes were lit with humor. “I’m sorry,” she finally choked out between
giggles.

Devlin
sat the hammer down very carefully on the table. “Sarah, you can obviously do
this—if you get a hammer to materialize.” She didn’t know it, but making
objects materialize was a skill some older vampires he knew had never mastered.

Sarah
stopped chuckling. “I really didn’t mean to hit you,” she said.

Devlin
sighed. “I know, love. Strong emotion is needed for this exercise, though. Close
your eyes again, love,” he said gently.

Sarah
nodded and closed her eyes again. She heard his voice coming to her softly.

“Think
of opening the refrigerator, Sarah. You want a soda—you want it more than
anything in this world. Go get it.”

Sarah
tried to concentrate, she really did. Where she really wanted to be, though,
was back in his bed. She was tired of the teacher and wanted her lover back.

Devlin
smiled when she disappeared before his eyes. He closed his own and went to the
kitchen, but was surprised that she wasn’t there? “Sarah!”

“In
here,” came the reply.

Devlin
stalked into his room and put his hands on his hips. “Well?” he said, his brow
rose in inquiry.

Sarah
sighed. “I tried, Devlin. I thought about the silly kitchen, but then thought
that I really wanted to be back in your bed.”

Devlin
walked over to the edge of the bed and sat down next to her. “Well, at least
you got to another room. Enough of that lesson for now. He brushed his fingers
over her brow, rubbing the crease of irritation away. “This is important, love.
I only want to make sure that you’re safe.”

“I
know,” she grumbled. “But I didn’t think it would be so hard.”

“Only
at first,” he assured her. “Then it gets easier.” He took her hand in his,
squeezing it gently. “You’re doing well.”

Sarah
frowned at that. “You’ve been yelling at me for hours.”

Devlin
smiled and kissed her pouting lips. “No I haven’t—well, not much. I’m sure I
only yelled when you tried to brain me with a hammer. Remind me never to make
you truly angry with me,” he teased.

Sarah
smiled at that. “All right. What’s next on the agenda?”

Devlin
grew instantly serious. “I want to work on mind control for a little while. It’s
one of the hardest things to master, but with the Hunters after you, it’s
important. Let’s go back to the living room.”

With
a nod, Sarah stood. Devlin was still grasping her hand and she smiled at him. “Are
you sure I can learn all this?”

Devlin
stood. “I’m sure. Think of the couch, and take me with you.”

Much
to her surprise, in the next instant, they were both standing next to the couch
again. “Did I do that, or did you?”

Devlin
grinned. “You did.”

“I
did?” she asked, not quite sure she believed him.

“You
did,” he assured her. He sat down and tugged her onto this lap. “Now, let’s
talk a few minutes.” Sarah nodded and he continued. “You know I can get into
your mind. It’s how we shared your dreams.”

Sarah
blushed. “Yes.”

“It’s
easier to get into a mind than it is to block a thought. What I want to work on
first is blocking. You have to be able to block your thoughts. Vampires can
always sense when someone is trying to read them.”

“How
do I block them?”

“Think
of it as a shield. You want to put a shield around your mind.”

Sarah
nodded. That made sense to her—but likely wouldn’t be as easy as it sounded. She
felt him in her mind then. He was chuckling at her in her head.
“What are
you laughing at?”

“That’s
good, Sarah. I was going to move on to that next. We might need to communicate
with our minds. Now, block me out of your mind.”

Sarah
tried a mental shove. Her head started to hurt as she tried to shove him out.

“A
shield, Sarah,” he reminded her gently. “You can’t shove me out, you need to
keep me from thoughts you don’t want me to know. Shield them.”

“My
head hurts.”

Devlin
rubbed her temples gently. “I’m sorry, love. We have to do this.”

He
continued prodding inside her mind carefully. Sarah concentrated on a force
field around her mind—an invisible barrier. Still, though, he was inside her
head. “Get out!” she finally shouted.

Devlin
broke the connection. “Do you have a shield built?”

Sarah
rubbed her forehead, trying to ease the ache building there. “I don’t know. I
don’t like this, Devlin.”

“I
know you don’t, Sarah. We’ll take a break soon, I promise.” He probed again
gently into her mind. He got to the surface, then hit a wall and smiled. “That’s
my girl.” He backed out and hugged her.

“I
did it?”

He
nodded. “You did indeed, love. You’re a quick study.”

She
relaxed against him. “So, now what?”

“We
need to rest, love. All this practice will wear you out.”

Sarah
nodded and closed her eyes a moment. “Okay.”

Devlin
kissed the top of her head. “Still mad at me?”

Sarah
shook her head. “I was just getting frustrated.”

Devlin
stood up, Sarah still in his arms, and carried her into the dark bedroom. He
placed her on the bed and removed his clothes then climbed in next to her. “Try
and sleep, love. We’ll talk later.”

Sarah
cuddled against him, her head resting on his shoulder. “This is nice.”

“Very
nice,” he agreed. He hugged her tightly. “Sleep, love.”

“Okay,”
she whispered, closing her eyes. “I love you.”

“I
love you.”

Devlin
felt her relax against him a few moments later and knew she was asleep. He was
exhausted, but his mind was racing. She had learned quickly. There was no doubt
in his mind that she’d master her new skills very quickly.

But
he was worried. There was danger surrounding them. He could sense it. Sarah
couldn’t—at least he didn’t think she had. He needed answers—but first, he
needed to sleep.

Chapter Eleven

It
was dark when Devlin awoke. He touched Sarah’s cheek softly and she smiled
against his fingers when he moved them to her lips. “Hi,” he said huskily.

“Hi
yourself.”

“How
are you feeling?” he asked.

“Rested.”

He
chuckled. “Then let’s get up and see what we can accomplish with finding the
Hunter that attacked you, love.” He wanted nothing more than to keep her in bed
and love her for hours, but it would have to wait. Keeping her safe was more
important.

Sarah
sighed. “I don’t know who he was. How are we going to find him? He was just a
man. I don’t even know how he got in the apartment. The door was locked.”

Devlin
jack-knifed into a sitting position. “Explain.”

She
shrugged. “I was in my room and he just walked in the door with the knife. I
don’t know how he got it. I suppose he could have broken the locks.”

“We
need to go check, Sarah. And we need to get you some clothes.” He bent to the
side of the bed and picked up the robe that had been discarded hours earlier. “Put
this on, and I’ll get dressed.”

He
climbed from the bed and dressed in black quickly. He had a bad feeling, but
didn’t want to worry her until he knew for sure what was going on. When he was
dressed, Devlin took her hand in his. “Just flow with me. I’ll drive,” he said,
not wanting to take the chance of her getting lost. “Don’t try to get there
yourself.”

“Okay,”
she said, sensing his urgency.