Reawakening (10 page)

“I admit it, okay? I’m insanely, unreasonably, frighteningly attracted to you. I
want
you to fuck my brains out. Right now. I want you to do everything you promised earlier. But … first I just need to get to know the real Rom you’re hiding underneath that hard, tough exterior. And I don’t think that’s too much to ask.”

Once again he cupped her face, the heat in his now burning eyes unmistakable, but he silently regarded her for several long moments before speaking.

“Fine,” he said softly, but firmly added, “But I want you to come home with me. We need uninterrupted time together and there’s no better place than my home.
Our
home.”

Why did that one little stupid word send flutters through her belly?
Our
.

“I—”

“Sarah, don’t say no.”

She sighed. “I’m not saying no. I’m just saying … not today.” His eyes hardened again and she quickly added, “I have plans to see my parents tomorrow up in northern Wisconsin. I haven’t seen them since the … kidnapping, and I’m not cancelling.”

He nodded; his eyes alight in understanding. “I’ll take you.”

“That’s a kind offer, but Thane is taking me. It’s all been arranged.”

Fury flashed in his eyes and his grasp on her tightened slightly. Before she knew what was happening, his lips crashed upon hers again. They were bruising, possessive and claiming. While it should scare her, instead it sent an unexpected thrill zinging through her blood. As quickly as his mouth was on hers, it wasn’t.

“You will not be accompanied by another male. Ever. Again. You’re mine to protect, beauty. I will take you and that is
not
up for discussion.”

As much as she already hated the domineering, controlling Rom, she liked the fact that she felt equally as safe with him. However, she wasn’t sure she’d be able to convince her parents she’d fallen for someone as militant as Rom, versus how easy it would have been with the laid-back Thane. Mind made up, she did the only thing she could. The only thing she really wanted to.

“Okay,” she whispered.

Chapter 12

Sarah

Desperately needing the advice of her sisters, she’d convinced Rom to give her a few hours of breathing room. He insisted this evening they have a private dinner brought to the bedroom he was using in the main house and she’d reluctantly agreed. She wasn’t sure it was really wise to spend time alone in a cozy secluded room complete with a king-sized fluffy bed and a deep-seated Jacuzzi tub, when these erotic and sexual feelings she had for him swirled around like an EF5 tornado. Of course, she wasn’t really sure that the location mattered. Time alone with Rom was just a little unnerving altogether. But she’d said yes, and there was no way he’d let her back out now.

Sarah and Kate sat in her bedroom and they’d patched Analise in via FaceTime. She’d told them about her morning, but was no longer laughing. Quite frankly, she was scared shitless. Rom was intense to the ‘nth’ degree and the fact that she was his Moira was more than unsettling. It was downright petrifying.

“I’m not surprised, sweetie,” Analise quipped. “I told you he wanted to throw you down on the table and fuck your brains out right there last week. I haven’t spent a lot of time around Rom, but I do know that vamp doesn’t react like that to any woman. He’s cold … like a machine. I hadn’t seen one emotion cross his stony features before that day.”

She thought about that last comment. Rom was anything but cold, nothing like a machine. More and more she was convinced that something happened in his past to make him emotionally barren. Or make him
want
to be anyway. This morning she’d seen a plethora of emotions. Passion, lust, fury, disappointment, frustration. And even pain. Those aren’t the reactions of an emotionally absent person.

“He looked at you like Dev looks at me, or Damian looks at Analise. I knew it was only a matter of time,” Kate added.

And that was the thing. The one thing that had bugged Sarah about all of this was that Rom had simply vanished. For an entire week. From what Kate and Analise had both said, their mates wouldn’t let them out of their sights for a moment. Dev even later confessed to Kate that he’d followed her all over the city for several days, never taking his eyes off her for a single second.

“What did he say when you asked him why he left?” Analise asked.

“He hedged. He just said he had some things to take care of is all.”

Kate added, “Why he left for a week without returning is certainly a puzzle, but I’m sure he had good reason, Sarah. It doesn’t really matter anyway, because he’s back and from what you said, he’s not letting you out of his sight now.”

Still … something was off. “He’s just so … intense,” Sarah uttered, more to herself than anyone else.

“They all are, sweetie,” Kate replied in empathy. “Honestly, it’s exhausting sometimes.”

“And suffocating. I feel like I can’t even go to the goddamned bathroom without the third degree. And sometimes a girl just needs a few minutes by herself to breathe. Or fart.” Analise chimed in.

They all laughed. Analise had once again effectively lightened the mood. She excelled at that.

“He wants me to go back to Washington with him.”

And Sarah was torn here as well. She
wanted
to spend time with Rom. Saying no wasn’t much of an option, because she knew how difficult it was to get her mouth to form that word when it came to him, but she was scared to leave the safety of the mansion. It’s not that she didn’t feel safe with Rom, just the opposite. But she felt comfortable here, like she had purpose. What would her purpose be in Washington, so far away from her sisters? She knew she couldn’t stay here forever, but at the same time, she couldn’t be somewhere where she had nothing to do.

“You should go,” Kate cajoled.

“Absolutely,” Analise agreed.

“I know, but what about the shelter? What about the girls? They need me.”

Kate grabbed Sarah’s hands in hers. “Sarah, you’re attracted to Rom, right?”

“God yes.” No point denying the obvious. Both of her sisters knew exactly what she was going through, hormones and emotions being put through the ringer.

“Then you owe it to yourself, and Rom, to go. Besides, if he’s anything like Dev or Damian, he may act like it, but he’s not really going to give you a choice. Yes, the intensity of the attraction is unnerving and doesn’t make sense, but does it really need to? It is what it is. Embrace it. Go with it. We’ll work something out with the shelter. Analise makes it work from Boston. Stop making excuses and go be with your man.”

“And let him fuck you until you pass out,” Analise laughed, but Sarah’s thighs clenched at the thought.

“Is that all you think about Analise?” Sarah asked.

“Has there ever been a stupider question?” she replied seriously. “You
have
seen my mate, right?”

Just then Damian’s face appeared on the screen behind Analise’s and she squealed as he did something to her neither of them could see. Not that Sarah wanted to.

“And with that ladies, I’d like to reclaim my mate so I can grant her wish and fuck her until she passes out.” The screen went black as Analise laughed.

Well then.

“I’d better get back to Dev. He has something top secret planned for tonight and I need to get ready. Not that I can look sexy in anything with this growing belly.” Kate got off the bed and started for the door.

“Kate, can I bother you for just a couple more minutes?” She’d really wanted to talk to Kate about her strange dream.

“Sure sweetie.” She came and sat back down on the bed.

“So … I had a very strange dream the other night and I’m not really sure what to make of it. I had a conversation with a woman about Romaric.”

“Really? What did she say?”

“Well … that’s the strange part. She wanted me to tell Rom that she was sorry.”

“Sorry for what? Who was she?”

“I don’t know. I woke up before I could ask any of those questions. But that’s not really the part that bothered me.”

Sarah stalled so long, Kate prodded, “What is it, Sarah?”

“Looking at her was almost like looking into a mirror. Except for her hair color, which was darker, we could have been sisters.”

And what exactly did that mean? Because Sarah knew dreaming of this girl wasn’t simply coincidence.

Mystery girl was somehow tied to Rom’s past.

Chapter 13

Mike

Waking up with Giselle in his arms was unlike any feeling he’d ever had before. After cleaning the pipes in an ice-cold shower, he’d thrown on a pair of sweatpants because his normal buck-naked nighttime attire would definitely make it hard to honor his word of simply holding her.

As it was, having her almost naked form pressed up against his all night had been fucking excruciating. He’d given her one of his t-shirts to sleep in and it barely covered her firm, toned, black lace clad ass. Which she’d so generously gifted him a nice glimpse of when she bent over, neatly placing her clothes on the chair in the corner.

Glancing at the clock, he noticed it was already well after noon. He wasn’t sure if Giselle was awake or asleep, so he lay quietly, lightly running his fingers up and down her back. A back he wished was bare so he could feel her soft skin under his rough hands. His dick was painfully hard, so it looked like another cold shower was in the cards this morning. Correction, this afternoon. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d slept this late when it hadn’t been courtesy of the brown bottle.

He really had to piss, but he wasn’t about to move. He was afraid to break this peaceful spell that had been woven around them. Would Giselle wake up with regret, or had they finally moved past all of that shit? Would she admit she wanted him as badly as he wanted her? Would she trust him enough to let him into her complex mind? Or her heart? Or would she wake up, piss, moan and yell and walk out on him again, all the while trying to convince herself that he’d tried taking advantage of her vulnerability.

She stirred and he tightened his grip on her. If she was going to Mrs. Hyde on him again, he wouldn’t make it easy on her. It was time they talked and figured out where this fucked up relationship was going, because he was done trying to convince himself that he didn’t want her. He
did
. God help him, but he so did. And it was time
he
made himself vulnerable for once and let her know it. He wanted more than her body. He wanted her affection. He wanted her
love
.

Her body was sprawled across his, like he was her own personal body pillow. Her bare leg was thrown over his polyester covered one. It was precariously close to his hard on, so much so that if she moved just slightly there was no way she wouldn’t notice his raging want for her. Of course, he could just blame it on morning wood, but they both would know that for the lie it would be.

He knew she was awake when her fingers started lightly moving against his bare chest. The moment a nail grazed his oversensitive skin, his cock jumped and, noticing, her head tipped up, eyes meeting his.

“Hi beautiful,” he rasped thickly. In the next thirty seconds, he’d better either get out of bed or breaking his promise, she would end up underneath him and filled to the brim.

“Hi yourself,” she whispered.

Their gaze was smoldering and he felt her heart beat faster against his chest.

“Jesus, I want you Giselle,” he mumbled, unable to help the lust-filled words that tumbled freely out of his mouth.

At that, she closed the small gap between their mouths and kissed him with a hunger that matched his own. As hard as it was, he let her take the lead, but he wasn’t going to sit idly by either. His right hand cupped her cheek as his left ran lightly over her naked torso, which was now bared thanks to the tee that had ridden up.

Never breaking their fused mouths, she climbed on top of him, straddling his hips. Her hot pussy was now perfectly positioned over his throbbing cock and he just about blew when she began to gently roll her hips. His hands now roamed over her trim thighs, making their way underneath his t-shirt she wore so fucking well. Slowly, giving her time to stop him if she wanted, he made the long ascent to her perfect, weighty bare breasts.

Testing the shape and feel in his palms, they both moaned and she increased the tempo of her pelvis. He rolled her erect nipples between his thumbs and forefingers and his mouth actually hurt with the need to taste them. He wanted his lips and his tongue and his hands all over her tight, toned body.

Breaking the kiss, she sat up, gripping his gaze with hers. Reaching down, she slowly removed the shirt, leaving her completely naked, save for the supremely sexy jet-black panties she wore. His breath caught at how fucking beautiful she was and the longing he saw in her bright blue eyes. Surprising him, she took one of his hands and placed it over her lace-covered sex.

“Touch me,” she pleaded. Didn’t have to fucking ask him twice.

He desperately wanted her under him, but it was clear she was directing this show and he was simply happy to be the star. Slipping underneath the drenched fabric, he ran a thumb through her soaked slit, which caused her head to fall back on her exquisitely exposed shoulders.

“Fuck, Giselle. You’re so wet,” he groaned.

He circled her engorged clit lightly with his wet digit before taking another pass through her liquid center. She rolled her hips faster and he was as close to coming outside of a woman’s body as he’d ever been. And at this point he didn’t even care. He angled his hand so he could slip two fingers inside her snug pussy, while increasing the pressure on her most sensitive nub. Feeling her tight walls clamp down on his fingers, he knew she was close.

Her hands reached up, displacing his remaining one with hers as she cupped her ample breasts and began plucking her nipples.
Jesus, that was hot.
He felt his balls tighten and the telltale tingling at the base of his spine. He was seconds away from coming and he was not going to do it without her.