Millie sat, folded in one of Theo's large sweaters watching the people around her. A small smile formed on her lips. Kit, Jay and Vin were in an animated discussion about something—she wasn't sure what about but they were lively. It wasn't so much the conversation that interested her but the reactions that they gave to it. Bastian was sitting by the window, silently, watching.
He was a solemn person, she gathered, never saying much, or really anything, but Theo respected him, trusted him; he even held a certain fondness for him. It was also obvious that Bastian was very loyal to him. Millie sensed that he would, given the chance, trade his life for Theo's.
There was only ever Kate, the one person who she trusted above all, the one person she knew she could count on in any situation. It pleased her now to know that she could count on the people in this room to—as they were doing now—try and help her figure things out.
Theo moved toward her and pulled her into the shelter of his arms pressing a kiss to her temple. Millie snuggled into his warmth as Kate took a seat opposite to her, the others moving in to form a small circle.
No one said anything and the tension in the room built.
"Everybody's so serious," Millie jested with a small laugh, but their faces were still tense. "Seriously guys, lighten up."
No one did.
Theo took a deep breath before starting. “We think that going to talk to the Ancients is possibly the only way to find answers now."
"So what’s with the meeting?" wondered Kit.
"Because this is a last resort and we're going to see a particular group. There is a hierarchy even among Ancients." Millie wasn’t even surprised.
“The Ancients are an elitist bunch of bastards,” added Drake earning a snicker from Jay and Vincent.
“Thanks buddy,” Theo started drily earning a slight, unapologetic nod, the mood in the room considerably lighter now, thanks to the cuddly teddy bear that was Drake. “The Old Ones. They were there from the very beginning even before us. They don’t really care to mingle with humans, they think its beneath them. Anyway they keep to themselves hidden away in Romania. If there is some way to break the bond between you and Micah they will know about it.”
“Will they help us?” she wondered.
Kate nodded. “They will. Micah is threatening to upset a balance. He threatens the anonymity of us Immortals and they won’t want that. They like living in the superiority of our race.”
“Sounds like a fun bunch,” supplied Kit sarcastically “No wonder you guys left.”
She was trying to feel hope of any kind, or maybe she wasn’t. She knew that if she hoped for a miracle and didn’t get one that it would hurt all the more. But she put aside the feeling of despair that was ebbing close to the surface because more than the fact that she wanted this to work, Theo and Kate needed it.
He was kissing her and she felt it all the way to her toes. There was a gentleness in him that was at odds with the storm that she knew raged under the surface of his control. She broke away from him, her fingers tracing the line of his lower lip. His eyes were burning with lust and her heart stuttered. Millie touched her forehead to his.
“Make love to me,” she whispered.
He pulled back, his abstruse gaze boring into her face and she wondered what exactly he thought about what she’d just said. Even if she could feel the potent gust of emotion—one of which she hoped had been desire—that rushed into him and over her she still wasn’t very sure about it all and nerves flooded her.
When he made no more towards her but rather seemed phlegmatic about her proposal she stepped closer her fingers tunneling to the thick, tawny strands of his hair down to the base of his neck where she tipped his face to her. She traced his lower lip, and felt a surge of satisfaction at the way his eyes darkened. He wanted her just as much as she wanted him, if not more. She always saw it, knew it, he just needed a reminder of it.
“Millie,” his voice was strangled, pleading but she caught his protest with her lips.
Theo caught her hips and gently tossed her unto the bed beside him. She landed with a soft bounce, and a giggle bubbled in her throat, that turned into a gasp when his lips claimed hers again. His body was warm and hard next to her, his mouth ravaging hers. Millie caressed his biceps his muscles tensing under her fingers. A surge of pleasure ran through her, she was the one who brought him to this point. Her hands trailed down his chest until she met with his tapered waist, her fingers daring to dip lower.
“Stop,” he commanded hoarsely, catching her hand and pressing it into the mattress next to her head. “You need to heal.”
“I’m fine,” she countered rising her hips off the bed to press into his. And it was true she was already completely healed, her skin back to being completely unblemished.
“I don’t mean physically. You’ve been through a lot and trust me I want you so much right now I’m holding unto my last shred of sanity to stop myself from stripping you naked and tasting every inch of you. But you need to be sure.”
“I am sure,” she tried again lifting her head to kiss him, but he moved and dodged her.
“You need time to—”
“Don’t tell me what I am.” Impatiently she sighed pushing him off her to sit up, tucking her feet beneath her body. “I know what I am, and what I want. Don’t reduce what I know about myself or how I feel; to what you think is right for me. I know that you're worried, but I know what I want and right now that is to be with you Theo. I want you like this. You and me.”
He rose on an elbow and twirled a lock of her hair around his fingers studying her. Her hair was messy, thanks to his impatient hands, her lips swollen from his kisses. She was no doubt beautiful, even more so now that she was all mussed. It was her eyes, he reflected, well mostly her eyes that grabbed him every time he looked at her.
Millie gave a resigned sighed and twisted to face him. It mortified her that she had asked him to sleep with her and he refused. She wasn't going to beg him so if he didn't want to she wasn't going to push, but her words froze in her throat. She never really understood the term smoldering until now. Theo's eyes had darkened to deep amber, the hunger she saw in them all-consuming.
He rose slowly, predatory his eyes never leaving hers. He framed her face in his hands and tilted it up to meet his before brushing his lips against hers. His kiss was soft, teasing. He wanted to go slow, seduce her, make her beg him for the pleasure that he alone could give her.
The kiss deepened, Millie’s hands creeping up to his neck, her finger linking behind his head. He tucked her body next to his and traced the outline of her lips with his tongue, savoring her taste in long drugging kisses until she was left breathless.
He could've done away with her clothes in one thought, but he was going to take his time and unwrap her. Theo peeled off her t-shirt and unhooked her bra dropping it carelessly on the floor. His breath caught as he looked down at the picture she made, fully aroused and half naked on his bed.
"You're so beautiful," he whispered reverently his fingers trailing down the valley of her breasts.
"You make me feel beautiful," she answered shuddering with each of his gentle caresses.
He kissed his way down the length of her body, his hands memorizing the curves and dips of her slender frame. He caught her hardened nipples between his teeth biting gently drawing a long moan from Millie her fingers tunneling in is hair as he lavished the same attention to the other breast. Before long he was going lower, his mouth, wet and warm marking a trail and her body tightened in anticipation.
Theo’s tongue dipped into her navel and she giggled her hands pushing him away. She didn't even know that she was ticklish there. Everything he did, he took his time making her yearn for more. He hooked his fingers in her pants and underwear and tugged them down. Millie raised her hips so he could slide them off her.
She was nervous, he realized. Her body tense and her breaths soft and shallow, waiting for him to do what he wanted, it was like she was just observing. He rose over her and claimed her lips again, catching her lower lip between his teeth tugging softly.
"Take off my shirt Millie," he gently commanded.
She obeyed, her hesitant fingers gently raising the hem off his shirt over his head. Her fingers traced over his pectoral and ab muscles, her eyes alight with curious exploration.
"You're beautiful too," she returned.
Theo smiled moving down her body again, trailing wet kisses over her torso.
He kissed the inside of her thigh, then the other, leisurely learning her body making no real attempt to douse the fire that he had so skillfully ignited in her. At the first stroke of his tongue pleasure shot through her body like lightening she bowed off the bed her fingers gripping the bed sheets into tight fists.
When her orgasm ripped through her tears leaked from her eyes. She lay limply, satisfied, surprised. This is what she’d been missing, the feeling of connecting with someone like this. A feeling she had feared that she had lost. Theo hovered over her and Millie looked up at him with heavy lidded eyes dancing with pleasure. She rose to meet him, heated skin teasing the other enticingly. He hooked his hand under her knee opening her for his intrusion.
She was slick with need so that when their bodies joined it was a perfect union. Her body molded to his, accepting so readily all of him. Millie gasped, her fingers clutching unto his biceps, the feel of him shooting shards of intense pleasure through her entire body, much different, more intense than what she had just experienced.
Theo kissed her deeply his body hovering over hers, hips thrusting rhythmically into hers, but something in her needed to be protected. She couldn't remain. Her breaths were uneven her mind splintering. She couldn’t remain present in the moment. Micah and Theo had somehow blurred together until she wasn’t exactly sure where she was. She squeezed her eyes shut to stop the burn of her tears taking measured breaths, chanting in her head that she was with Theo; but even that seemed to do nothing to help her.
Maybe Theo was right. Maybe she did need more time. Was all of this to prove another point? Was she so broken that she couldn't be with anyone like this. She hated herself for it. Hated that she was going to separate herself from what was supposed to be a beautiful moment with Theo, just as she had done for so many years, as she had done with the others.
“Look at me,” it was a soft command from a comforting voice. She shook her head, all signs of pleasure slowly leaking out of her. “Millie, baby look at me,” he whispered planting kisses along her jaw line. Millie pried her eyes open to stare up at his handsome face. There was warmth in his eyes, no judgments. “It’s me. Just keep looking at me. Stay with me.”
She nodded slowly, framing his face with her hands, her thumbs tracing his lower lip. Millie could feel the build; feel the flutter in her stomach that remained just beyond her reach. She wanted it, wanted him. She moved, awkwardly at first until she found his rhythm.
“Theo,” she half whispered, half moaned as her body spasmed around him clutching him in a tight fist.
He had never in his life fed while having sex; he could do both with one person, but never at the same time. To him it just seemed to intimate, but the feeling to do so now was so all consuming that his fangs hurt. He pulled back to study the beautiful creature under him, her eyes were closed and pink tinted her skin. He could smell her blood, feel her heat and he wanted, he craved.
With her body milking his, he couldn't fight his impulses and his fangs sank into the side of her neck. Another orgasm rocketed through her body and she screamed. He gripped her hips and rode her orgasm to his own just before blackness swallowed her, Theo following closely behind.
Millie woke with the sun slanting across her skin. She felt wonderfully loose and languid. She looked up at the ceiling and smiled she had no idea that she could feel so well rested on just four hours of sleep but she did. She reached for Theo but her fingers met with an empty space. She frowned, he was always gone before she woke up, but she could tell that he was still in the house.
She kicked off the sheets and practically danced across the room, happiness painting a silly smile on her face. If today was all she had then she was going to enjoy it, she wasn't going to let the ugliness of what her life was interfere with this moment.
She gathered her hair and loosely knotted it atop her head moving to the sink. Her body froze, eyes widening in shock as she beheld her reflection. She moved closer to the mirror eyes glued to the mark that spread from the side of her neck to the curve of her shoulder. Her fingers trailed the faded brown pattern in panic and confusion.
Theo felt her instant panic and with just a thought appeared in his bedroom only to find an empty bed. Frantically he turned and relief slammed into him when he saw her in the bathroom standing in front of the sink. She was naked her fingers holding her right shoulder—the one he couldn't see—her face taut with confusion.
"What happened?" He asked and she jumped, turning to face him.
Millie watched as his face changed from worry to awe when his gaze landed on her mark. He moved toward her, his eyes never leaving her shoulder.
He should have recognized the signs, but it had been so long since an Ancient had found a True Mate that he never thought that in the spectrum of things that he could possibly have one. His fingers reverently traced the intricate pattern that covered the side of her neck down to the curve of her shoulder. It looked to be nothing more than a series of swirling lines but his name was hidden in the pattern and to him it was the most beautiful thing that he had ever seen.
She turned back to study the mark. “I don’t understand. I don’t, I’m not. I’m—”
He came up behind her. “You’re mine. Say it.”
Her violet eyes met his piercing golden ones in the mirror. Millie hated the idea of belonging to anyone. She wasn’t a piece of property that someone could own but with Theo it wasn’t ownership. With him it wasn’t belonging to, it was more that she belonged with.
“Say it,” he prodded again. “Say you’re mine.”
“I’m yours,” she agreed.
He bent his head and kissed the spot. Millie leaned into him a moan sounding from the back of her throat. His hands cupped her breasts and she arched into him, his fingers gliding over her soft curves. "I was going to fix you breakfast. Well, tell Jay to fix you breakfast," he amended when she only arched an eyebrow at him "But now I'm hungry."
Theo’s hand slid down the flat expanse of her stomach dipping lower to brush against her core his fingers teasing her. His clothes were gone and he pressed his front to her back. He was lighting a fire just under her skin and she squirmed against his hand, but he removed it all too soon drawing a protest from her lips. He took her hands and placed it at the sides of the sink.
“Don’t let go,” he instructed only releasing her when she nodded.
He spread her legs and entered her slowly. He wasn’t gentle, but then this wasn’t meant to be gentle. This was primal, bodies meeting in the most basic of ways; he took her hard until she could only feel. Her orgasm was building inside her but it remained hovering just beyond her reach. Millie met his eyes in the mirror, he was watching her. Watching their bodies as they moved together.
Sultry heat moved through her body. She had never before found the idea of someone taking her blood as erotic; in fact she downright hated the idea. But now as she watched him she could feel his need to take her like this. And she wanted. She tilted her head to the side in offering. Millie heard his sharp intake of breath, saw the hunger in his eyes and excitement pulsed through her.
“Please,” she breathed.
Theo kept eye contact with her, never breaking their gaze as his fangs sank into the delicate skin at her neck. Millie’s fingers clutched the sink with so much force that it broke, rubble showering at their feet. His paced increased and Millie screamed, pleasure so acute it bordered on painful blasting through her making her knees buckle and her body tremble. Theo held her upright as he erupted violently inside the tight vice of her body, her name a harsh shout on his lips.