Younger, Bree - Burn [All American Vampires 1] (Siren Publishing Classic) (18 page)

He ran his fingers through his hair and turned to walk across the room and stare out the window, the same pose he’d been in when she’d burst in. He laughed, a short, hollow sound. “I don’t know what to say, Libby. I didn’t mean it, if it’s any consolation to you. Not like it sounded. I just…” She saw his shoulders hunch. “I just don’t need any permanent kind of relationship. It just doesn’t work for me. But you’re not just a fuck buddy. I shouldn’t have said that you were.”

She absorbed that explanation, not exactly sure what to make of it. “I’m not stupid, Ty. I don’t expect a declaration of undying love or anything. We’ve only known each other a couple of days, for goodness’ sake. But I do expect to be treated with respect and not like some piece of meat. You’re almost 250 years old, for crying out loud. Surely you’ve learned something about how to treat a woman in all that time.”

He shrugged and grinned wryly. “Obviously not.” He met her gaze. “But I do have respect for you, Lib. A lot. I should never have made it sound like I didn’t. I’m just not looking for anything more than—”

“Someone to hook up with? Look, Ty, I’m not trying to put you on the spot or anything. And if it’s just physical with you, that’s fine. Maybe we should cool it for a while. Everything’s so crazy right now it probably wouldn’t hurt for us to step back and catch our breath.” Even though she didn’t really want to, she felt it was probably for the best. She and Ty were from two different worlds. Nothing could ever come of their being together, and she’d never been a girl who could sleep around and not become emotionally involved. And no matter how he tried to explain away what he’d said, it had hurt. And she knew that he had been a player, a ladies’ man. Would he really change for her? She doubted it. “You’re right. Neither of us is looking to get serious or for any kind of commitment.”

“Cool it? What does that mean exactly?”

She licked her suddenly dry lips. “It means that we’re free to do our own thing. You have your harem. Maria, for one, obviously has a thing for you. You and I can just be friends.”

“What about RJ?” His voice had hardened.

She shrugged. “What about him? He’s good-looking and seems nice.”

“You planning on going out with him?”

She really didn’t like his attitude. What the hell did he want from her? She wasn’t. She sure didn’t need to jump from one player to another. But what business was it of his? “Maybe.”

He was standing directly in front of her before she could blink. “I don’t think so, sweetheart.”

She raised her chin. “Oh, really? Well, it’s none of your business who I see. If I want to go out with RJ or any of the other guys around here, I most certainly will. The same as you’re free to see or screw anyone you want to.”

“Did I say I wanted other women?”

She wanted to scream. “I don’t know what you want, Ty. I don’t think you do, either. But I will see whoever I want to see, whenever I want to.”

“Over my dead body.”

She laughed. “That sounds perfect.”

He wasn’t smiling. “You let that good-for-nothing vampire lay one finger on you and he’ll wish I’d staked
him
out in the sun.”

“Are you threatening me?” She couldn’t believe his attitude. Just when she’d thought they were coming to a mutual understanding, he wanted to go all he-man on her.

“Hell yes,” he growled.

“You can’t have it both ways, you moron.” She turned around and moved toward the door. “Just who the hell do you think you are?” She hadn’t taken more than a couple of steps before he grabbed her arm and swung her back around to face him.

“I’m your lover, that’s who I am. And while this lasts, we’re exclusive. Just you and me. I’m telling you, Libby, you don’t want to push me on this. You better keep your distance from any other male in the vicinity, or I won’t be responsible for my actions.”

“That’s ridiculous.” She jerked her arm free, aware that he let her go. He could easily have kept a hold on her if he had wanted to. She knew from personal experience how strong he was.

“Yeah, I know. But that’s just how it is.”

“What if I say it’s over?”

“It’s not over, Lib. Do you think I can’t smell your arousal right now? You’re so hot for me I can almost taste it.”

She blushed. “That has nothing to do with anything, Ty.”

“I think it has everything to do with it. You want me and I want you. I want to fuck you so bad right now that I’m within a hair’s breadth of shoving you face down on my brother’s desk and plowing into that hot pussy of yours.
So do not push me
.”

She was outraged. “Like I’d let you.”

His grin was pure self-confident male. “Like you’d stop me.”

Without pausing to think it through, she raised her hand and slapped the grin right off his face. Her sense of satisfaction faded at the look in his eyes.

“Oh, Lib. You shouldn’t have done that. You really shouldn’t have done that.”

His eyes held that preternatural glow she’d noticed before. She backed up a step.

He followed. Step by step. Until she was pressed up against Quinn’s desk. The desk Ty had threatened to fuck her over. She opened her mouth to yell, but his lips closed over hers and his tongue laid claim to her. She struggled…for about two seconds. But she wanted it, too. She wasn’t even going to lie to herself.

Her arms clasped around his neck, and his hands slid up and down her back, moving under her shirt so that she could feel the heat of his skin against hers.

There was a frantic urgency to his movements, and it did something to her. She tangled her hands in his hair and held his mouth tightly against hers.

* * * *

He wanted her. He wasn’t sure why she affected him like she did. All he knew was that if he couldn’t have her he thought he would go insane. Just the thought of anyone else touching her made him almost feral. And he knew…he’d been lying to Quinn, lying to Libby, lying to himself. He was in deep shit, but somehow he didn’t even care.

He reached down and pulled her shirt up, breaking the kiss to toss it aside. Looking down at her, he thought she was the sexiest thing he’d ever seen. Her hair was a hot mess on her head, and her breath was coming in quick gasps. The pulse in her neck beat hard and fast, making his mouth water at the thought of tasting her.

He turned her around, determined to hold on to his self-control. He jerked off his own shirt and pulled her against him, loving the feel of her skin against his. He moved his hands over her trembling stomach to cup her breasts, squeezing and rolling the nipples until they were furled into tight points.

She pushed back against him, and he rubbed his swollen cock against the soft cushion of her ass cheeks. He jerked open the snap of her jeans and shoved them down along with her silky panties.

He heard her gasp with surprise at his frenzied movements. When her jeans were far enough down for him, he pressed his knee between her legs, spreading them just enough for his hand to slip into the hot, moist folds of her pussy.

“Keep your legs open for me, baby, as wide as you can.”

He heard her moan as he eased one finger into her tight channel while his thumb stroked her clit. Reaching around his neck, she pulled his head down and his lips fastened to the side of her throat, sucking and licking over her racing pulse. He pushed another finger into her, fucking them in and out, preparing her for his cock. “You get me so hard, Lib. What you do to me ought to be illegal.”

His fangs dropped, and he rubbed them against her neck. He heard her moan, “Do it,” and he sank his teeth into her flesh, feeling the hot blood gushing into his mouth. Her pussy clamped tight on his finger as her climax hit her hard, her body jerking against his. After he’d taken just a couple of mouthfuls, he licked the wounds closed.

He pushed her forward until she was lying across the desk, her ass raised enticingly toward him. He squeezed those soft mounds, and then he was unfastening his own pants, pulling out his cock, and working his way inch by inch into her hot, tight channel.

He began thrusting. Her pants were bunched around her ankles and kept her legs hobbled so that she felt even tighter as he fucked her. With her hips plastered against the hard edge of the desk, he knew that she was feeling the full weight of each plunge of his cock.

He gripped her hips, watching as his cock moved in and out of her, wet with her juices. “Fuck.”

“Yes,” he heard Libby whisper, and she came again.

He saw her hands reach to grasp the edge of the desk for leverage, and she knocked several of the papers and other items off Quinn’s desk. Finally she got a hold and began pushing back against him as he thrust into her. He felt his climax coming, the chill rushing up from his spine to shoot out his cock.

“Son of a bitch,” he groaned as he came.

He bent over and kissed Libby’s back, petting her and stroking her as she lay trembling beneath him.

He pulled out and refastened his pants before helping her up. As he straightened her clothes she looked around at the mess they’d made of Quinn’s desk.

She blushed. “Oh, my God. We have to clean this up before he gets back.”

He grinned. How had he known she was going to say that? His Libby was very conscientious.
His Libby?
Why didn’t that thought send him scurrying to the door? He wasn’t sure. All he knew was that something in him had settled down. The panic had eased, and he didn’t even care that he had started to think of them as a couple. Yep. He was in deep shit all right.

He helped Libby straighten up. When they were done, he scooped her up in his arms.

“What are you doing?” she gasped, a little snort of a laugh coming from her.

He smiled. “I’m taking you to bed. I don’t know about you, but I am plumb tuckered-out. Between all the crap we had to deal with this weekend and everything else, I need a good day’s sleep. It’s almost dawn. And you need your rest.”

He strode down the hall and up the stairs to his own suite of rooms. After stripping them both, he tucked Libby into bed and climbed in beside her.

Libby scooted over and nestled against him, her head on his shoulder and her arm draped over his abdomen. It felt good to him. He was sinking fast. “Lib, are we okay?”

He felt her shrug. “I guess.”

“I want us to be exclusive.”

She rose up to peer down into his face. “Are you sure? I’m not asking for anything, Ty.”

“I’m not promising anything, Libby. A relationship between us is going to be tough. I’d just like to see what happens. Can we do that?”

He felt her smile against his chest. “Okay. But no more talk about fuck buddies, okay? That really hurt.”

He let out a sigh of relief. “Absolutely. I was just being an ass.”

“Yeah, you were.” She peeked up at him. “I can’t believe I’m involved with a vampire.”

“Does it scare you?” He heard the trepidation in her voice.

“Actually…it does a little. Okay, a lot.”

“I’ll take care of you.” He didn’t really know what else to say to that. There would be all sorts of problems and issues for her to deal with by getting involved with him. Not the least of which was the fact that someone had recently tried to kill him. He held her tighter against him. Just the thought that she could somehow get caught up in his current problems sent a cold chill down his spine.

“Speaking of vampires, why didn’t you hear me when I was outside Quinn’s office door. He did. I could tell when I walked in that he wasn’t surprised to see me. I thought you had super hearing, vamp boy.”

He shrugged. “I just wasn’t concentrating. I guess I was too caught up in what we were talking about. We have to learn how to block out things otherwise we’d be overloaded with all the sensory input.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. You know how when you’re in a crowded room, you block out all of the other noise except for the person you’re talking to. It’s the same kind of thing. You just don’t notice things that you aren’t focusing on. If I’d been listening closely, I’d have heard you. Your footsteps, even your breathing.”

“Hmm…” she yawned.

“Now, go to sleep, baby. I know you’re tired and so am I.”

“Okay.” He pressed a gentle kiss against her hair. It wasn’t long before Libby was asleep, but Ty lay there for a long time. He was relieved that things with Libby had been settled, at least somewhat, but he couldn’t stop worrying.

* * * *

Libby’s eyes fluttered open, and she stared at the darkened ceiling, wondering what time it was. Her eyes searched the room and spied the clock on the bedside table. Nine a.m. Damn, she needed to call Rocco and tell him that she wouldn’t be coming in to work for the next few days. Easing away from Ty, she quietly rose and exited the room. She felt like crap. Her whole body ached, and she wondered if she really wasn’t coming down with something.

The apartment was silent as Libby made her way down the stairs and back to the guest room she had been given. Quickly locating her purse, she pulled out her cell phone and scrolled down until she found her boss’s number.

“Yep?” Rocco’s deep baritone sounded in her ear.

“Hey, Rocco. It’s Libby.”

“Hey, Libby. How was your weekend?”