Mating Fever Page 6

  He stopped and turned toward me. He gave me a small smile. “I’m sorry about that. Thanks for caring. Not many do.”

  “Why not?”

  “I’m an outcast. Not accepted among trolls and not among humans. My master is the only one who sees me for who I truly am. I did not mean to hurt you before. I didn’t know you were coming.”

  “It’s okay. I didn’t know there was anyone here except Keaton. What are you cooking? It smells great.”

  “Cooking is a hobby of mine. I get lonely, so I pass the time watching a lot of cooking shows and reading a lot of books. My master is very indulgent with providing me with what I need. I do for him what he needs doing during the day if he bids it.”

  “How do you pass in the human world?”

  He sighed. “Many think I have a deformity. They give me looks, but in the end they give me what I want. Sometimes I can produce enough magic to do a glamour and be seen as a human. It takes much of my energy.” He turned the burner off and began plating what was in the pans. He handed it to me.

  “Please. Join me and eat dinner. The Master is out procuring his dinner for the evening. Once he returns, I will leave you for the night.”

  I took the plate and the fork that was on the counter and sat with him. His weight made the chair shift, but it held him up. The fare was chicken, baby carrots in a white wine sauce with new potatoes. I dug into it, and realized I was ravenous. The first bite was magnificent and melted in my mouth. The wine sauce coated the chicken and the carrots were crisp. I ate another couple of bites and savored each one of them.

  “Do you like it?”

  “You should be a professional chef. It’s amazing. Keaton said that you ate mostly raw meat.”

  “Thank you. Yes. That’s true for the most part, but it does not satisfy my human side. I try to balance both.”

  “That’s a good thing.”

  He nodded and smiled, showing me his sharp teeth. “Please eat your dinner. It’s nice to have company. Maybe we can speak again.”

  “I’d like that.”

  Chapter Six

  After dinner that same night, Ivan showed me to the bathroom. I showered and found a robe on the back of the door. I wrapped my hair in a towel and then slipped the robe on. Keaton’s musky scent surrounded me.

  I licked my lips and thought about the blood I had swallowed. It led me down the path that connected both of us. He was basking in the night, feeling the moon on my skin. It’s silvery energy feathered across my flesh. The exhaust from the cars irritated my nose. The blood pulsated through those who passed me. The sound filled my ears enough that I had to cover them and withdrew from his mind.

  When I did, I was back in the house and sitting in the drawing room where he had laid me down before. Ivan had added a couple of logs to the fire so it heated the room well enough. The bookcases were filled with numerous volumes behind glass. I dared not open them since they looked old and expensive.

  I went to the other double doors that were closed and opened them. Inside was his bedroom. Moonlight spilled through sheer curtains and illuminated the room. The blue and silver motif was spread throughout the room. Gauze curtains hung from the four-poster bed. The spread was dark blue with silver speckles all throughout. It looked like twilight. All the furniture was dark wood and heavy. It seemed to fit him. I trailed my fingers over the soft fabric and remembered a couple of nights ago I was here and in tons of pain. I pushed those memories away. Images of Keaton and I on the bed, making love flashed through my mind.

  Curiosity got the better of me. I opened the other door at the far end of the room and saw it was his closet. I picked up one of his shirts and slid it across my face. His scent enveloped me, and it made me feel safe. I stepped away and closed the door. I had to sit down.

  The pull toward him weighed on my soul. In reality, I didn’t know him that well and shouldn’t have been attracted to him the way I was. Then again nothing made sense. Monsters survived when there shouldn’t be any. And I was falling in love with one. I didn’t have a logical explanation for this any longer. Keaton was showing me that he cared. He was doing everything he could to not give into the mating fever that was probably consuming him, too. I hadn’t thought about him. How much pain was he in? He was doing everything for me, and I hadn’t said thank you.

  I sank down on the bed and let the cool moonlight encompass me. I thought about what it would mean to be with him. Eventually, I would become a vampire. It frightened and intrigued me.

  He was clearly lonely. I didn’t see any womanly touches in the house. It seemed it had been just him for a long time. Stephania’s words came back. She wanted me to tell Keaton what I had been hiding. That meant I had to dredge up Mark. I had to live up to my past. It was only fair to Keaton. I had to face the darkness that was part of my soul.

  A cold chill caressed my neck. I felt fingers trail down the line of the robe. I glanced around but didn’t see anyone. The fingers delved lower. I arched my back when they touched my nipple. It hardened. I sensed Keaton in the room, but he wasn’t solid to me. Lips slid over my throat and another hand slithered up my inner thigh. The moan escaped my lips.

  “I know you’re there.” The darkness in the room thickened. Everything went completely silent. Keaton’s musky scent enveloped me. He was there and yet not there. I peered further into the darkness to try and see him, but the shadows were stretched tight over everything. He was controlling the show now.

  Coldness feathered up my spine, touching my flesh. I cried out again, feeling the heat stirring in my body. Keaton slipped the robe further down my shoulders and undid the belt. My hair lifted from one shoulder and moved to the other. His teeth nipped my flesh. I felt the curve of his fangs pressing into my skin.

  “So not fair,” I murmured. “I can’t touch you.” I twisted my fingers around the coverlet and tried to hang onto reality. Subtle weight pushed against my legs to open them further. I fought it for as long as I could and then finally gave in.

  “Lay back,” Keaton’s voice dragged through the room as a breeze stirred the bed curtains.

  “Not until you show yourself.”

  “Not going to happen. Indulge me for a little while. It’s been so long since I’ve done this.” The longing in his voice tugged on my heart.

  The weight on my chest eased me back. It was too much to fight. My eyes closed. I lay back against the pillows and was allowed a moment to enjoy the softness of the bed. The bed depressed with the heaviness of another person coming to join me. Nothing appeared before me, not even the solidity of a shadow.

  “Please!”

  His lips swept over mine. “Trust me.”

  Keaton straddled me. He spread the robe away from my body. Then he took my hands and put them above my head. The belt from my robe dangled in mid air with nothing holding it and then it slipped around my wrists. The strap tightened around my hands and then the end tied itself to one of the posts in the headboard.

  His fingers trailed up my calves, and I realized that I hadn’t shaved in a couple of days. But it didn’t faze him. His light touch stroked my inner thighs. The soft caresses were on the edge of being ticklish to being painful because there was no physical presence for me to touch, and my hands were useless. Teeth replaced the lips on my leg. Keaton bit down on my skin. I arched off the bed and screamed. Wetness gushed from my pussy. His fingers pressed into my hips. His body nestled between my legs. Kisses trailed from my navel until he found my buried clit. Once his lips encompassed my throbbing bud, a groan loosened from my throat.

  I clung to the belt. He slipped a finger inside of my depths and pressed against the sensitive walls. Expecting to find the matching weight of his body, I raised my hips, but there was just air. Keaton continued to pump into me and then added another finger while his tongue flicked over my clit, manipulating me faster and faster. Cries left my throat that I’d never heard myself utter before. He was driving me into a frenzy, coaxing me higher and higher until it seemed my very nerves w
ere ablaze. My skin burned from the passion he instilled in me. White light appeared behind my eyes. It grew brighter and brighter increasing with the ecstasy he imparted to me.

  He drove his fingers deeper into me until he had three fingers inside of my pussy. Keaton stroked my clit with fierceness as he redoubled his efforts. I tried to focus on my breathing to slow down the rising tide that would sweep me away, but it was nearly impossible not to give in.

  “P-please,” I pleaded.

  He didn’t relent, and he didn’t materialize. Everything in me ached from holding on so much. No man had ever driven me crazy the way that he was. I writhed on the bed. Sweat had broken out on my skin. So close to ecstasy all that was needed to send me over the edge was a small push. And Keaton gave me that little thrust when he nibbled on my clit once more and then trailed his tongue along my moist slit replacing his fingers with his tongue. Once he did, I came.

  Keaton didn’t stop delving into my pussy. Instead, he kept on torturing me until only strangled gasps left my throat. It wasn’t until a second wave of bliss picked me up and carried me away that he relented.

  I collapsed back into the pillows and tried to catch my breath. My heart jackhammered into my ribcage. I wondered why it wasn’t protruding through my chest. Keaton’s cool presence glided over me and felt good against my flushed skin. He freed my wrists and rubbed them where the belt had been tied. He settled next to me and fanned his fingers across my chest. He was solid, flesh and bone with an evil grin on his lips.

  “Did you enjoy that?” he asked.

  I nodded, still trying to catch my breath. He kissed my cheek and snuggled next to me. His fingers snaked lower, but I grabbed his hand before he could start manipulating me again.

  “I can’t.”

  “But I want to pleasure you.”

  “I know, but you have to give me a little while to recuperate, get some water, and I wanted to talk to you.”

  He sighed but claimed my lips in a kiss. “Okay.” I heard the exacerbation in his tone.

  I grasped the bedpost to help me stand and then made my way back into the bathroom. After cleaning myself and drinking a few mouthfuls of water, I told myself I had the courage to do this.

  The images of Mark’s death stole my breath and pulled the happiness from my heart the way it had done in the past. I sank to my knees. The encompassing loss drove a forlorn wail from my throat. The world felt as if it was pressing around me, and the walls I’d built were starting to crumble. I gripped the sink. Keaton rushed in.

  “What is it?”

  Concern filled his gaze and pinched his forehead. There was no way to face him. I launched myself in his arms and buried my head against his shoulder. He pulled me close and rubbed my back.

  “Was it something I did? What just happened?”

  “No. That was wonderful.” I hugged him tighter. He picked me up and carried me back into the bedroom. Keaton laid me down gently on the covers.

  “I’ll be right back.”

  When he left the room, emptiness swallowed my soul again. I drew my knees up to my chest and began to shiver. Keaton returned with a box of tissues and glass of water, which he set on the nightstand. He dabbed at my cheeks with the tissue. His soft touch helped to keep me anchored in the present.

  “Tell me what haunts you. If I could read it in your mind, it would make it easier for me to understand.”

  Sniffling, I chuckled and hiccupped. “You wouldn’t want to see what’s in my mind. It’s a poisonous place where everything that lives there is toxic.”

  He brushed the hair from my face. “I don’t believe that. If it were so, then it would’ve manifested in you. You are perfect.”

  A small laugh tumbled over my lips. “I’m not perfect. Far from it. See.” I let the robe drop from my shoulders. There was a large scar there that marred my back. A reminder of what had transpired. His fingers traced the jagged skin that slashed across my spine and came to rest on my left buttock. It was sheer luck not to have been permanently damaged from it.

  “How did you get this?”

  “Five years ago, I dated a man named Mark Cooper. We went out for two years. We were happy. Then things went to shit. I started working late. I thought things were good, but he accused me of having an affair with my boss. He was jealous of other guys, but he wasn’t controlling or abusive or anything. My boss was going through a lot of personal problems, and the company was restructuring so I was helping him out. If it all worked out I would’ve gotten a really great promotion.

  “Anyway, one night I got home past ten. Mark had mentioned that he wanted to do dinner, but I had completely forgotten about it. When I arrived, I saw the candles and how they had burned down. The plates of cold food. I felt bad. I walked into the bedroom, and he was sitting on the bed. He had tears in his eyes and a ring lying on the bed. An empty bottle of wine stood on the nightstand. Mark said that he’d had enough and that he was going to leave. I tugged on his arm, nearly dragging him back into the bedroom. He shoved me into the wall. I lost it. I ran after him and clutched his arm again. We were in the living room.

  “He said he found evidence. Receipts for hotels and dinners, but those were from the clients I had handled for my boss. Mark thought it was all part of me trying to hide the affair. I was distraught. I grabbed one of the vases and threw it at him. He dodged it. He’d been drinking and pushed me backward. I stumbled and landed back first into the glass coffee table. He tried to help me up, but lost his footing and fell down into a shard of glass. It went straight through his chest. The phone had been knocked down near me. I called the cops. They broke the door down. I was taken to the hospital and was questioned. The courts ruled it was an accident. Ever since, it’s weighed on my conscience. I’ve pushed the memories down, hoping to forget them.

  “I almost had. I’d resigned myself to being alone for the rest of my life. And then you come along and become my vampire in shining armor.”

  “What happened was an accident. There is no curse. You deserve to be happy. You’ve suffered long enough. Forgive yourself.”

  I sniffled and nodded. “I’ve told myself that many times. But it never happens. I’ve gone out on dates before, but they all end badly. One guy, while crossing the street to meet me, was run over by a bus. Another one fell onto the third rail of the subway and was electrocuted while I watched. I could tell you more horror stories, but I’m sure you don’t want to hear about them.”

  He smoothed my hair and hugged me. “I can understand why you think you’re cursed. But you’ve just had a run of bad luck. Very bad luck.”

  “But I don’t want it to rub off on you. I don’t want you to get hurt because of the evil cloud that hovers over me.”

  Keaton smiled. “I won’t. I’m over two thousand years old. I can take care of myself.”

  “Yeah, but what if now that you’ve met me, the curtains fall down and you go up in flames. Or Ivan beheads you. Someone follows me here and stakes you. I couldn’t bear it.”

  “Nothing like that is going to happen. I swear.”

  “You can’t be sure of that. I —”

  He placed a finger to my lips. “Hush. I can take care of us. You are my life now. Don’t you know that?”

  I shook my head barely believing what I was hearing from him. He was willing to take care of me. He didn’t believe that I was cursed. Neither had Stephania. She had said all I had to do was tell Keaton and he would understand. It seemed that he did.

  He took another tissue and dabbed my eyes with it before handing it to me. Keaton swiped his thumbs across my cheeks taking away the excess moisture and smiled. I saw the absolute love in his gaze. He saw me as a jewel. It was evident in the way that he handled me. In the way that he loved me.

  “I don’t see how you could.” I backed away and blew my nose before taking another tissue.

  Keaton chuckled. “Madison, you’re beautiful, intelligent, and so full of passion that it burns inside of you. You’ve dampened the flame so much that
you haven’t let yourself experience it for a long time, and that isn’t living. You have to let yourself live. Let me take care of you. Let me love you.” He held my face in his hands and kissed me lightly, sweeping his tongue across my lips before I opened my mouth to his. His tongue tangled with mine. A small moan let loose from my throat. I rested my hand on his chest. In that moment, I felt completely safe with him. He kissed me a little longer, lazily, letting me taste him until I pulled away.

  Some weight had been lifted from my shoulders. I did feel better, but I still wasn’t sure exactly what I wanted to do. “Can I ask you something?”

  “Anything, Madi.”

  “What if I get through this mating fever and I choose not to be with you? What happens?”

  He sighed. His forehead furrowed in distress. “I hope that doesn’t happen.”