How was it possible for six words to send her already racing heart into another gear?
"What do I do?" she asked.
"Well," He took her hand and led her to the couch. "We need to get the tricky part out of the way first." He sat and pulled her down on his lap. His chuckle at her squeak brought heat to her face. "That is such a lovely color on you."
"I... Do..."
He put his finger over her lips. "I'm going to distract you first."
The image of Bianca sitting where she was flashed in her mind. The way his lips had moved over her skin...
A slight bloom of heat curled in her blood and he smiled. "You remember."
She also remembered the scream. Would he... She swallowed hard and nodded.
Nikolas.
He would be watching.
She twisted before Elliot stopped her, his breath caressing her skin. "Don't worry about him, Chevonne. If he chooses to bond, he'll be holding you soon enough and I'll be forced to watch."
She could be about to die. Him watching her with someone else shouldn't be her overwhelming though at that moment. Another quick nod and she turned back to face the one going to bite her. His kiss took her by surprise and she closed her eyes, willing herself to get lost in it.
His hands cupped her face, holding her still while he brushed his lips over hers, soft as a feather. The barely-there touch sent chills across her skin and the bloom of heat expanded within her. One of his hands crept up the back of her sweater, softly stroking her flesh and she shivered as the chills grew. His other hand held the back of her head, fingers winding in her hair and he deepened his kiss.
Her arms moved, sliding around his neck and she sighed against his lips. The fingers in her hair tightened and slowly pulled her head back. His lips left hers and trailed her skin, moving to her ear, brushing the sensitive skin at the base of the lobe. The flames grew higher as he ran his fingers down her spine before moving to her hip, holding her tight against him.
"Elliot," she whispered, running her fingers through his hair, holding his mouth against her.
"I love how you say my name." His breath stroked her as surely as his hand and she burned.
He caught her lip in his teeth and she trembled. Not in fear, but in desire. He tilted her head further back and trailed his tongue over the vulnerable flesh of her throat. Her fingers gripped his hair. The flames were an inferno and she was dying. She couldn't keep in the moan as his hand on her tightened.
He let go of her hair to move the mass from her neck and his tongue continued to trace patterns on her skin as her head tilted, exposing more of her for him to devour. His breath was deep as he paused. What was he waiting for? She was burning alive.
Her hips moved over him and his growl poured gas on the flames. An instant later, she felt his fangs drive deep into her flesh. She let out a scream as she tried to pull away. His hand cupped her head, holding her tight, keeping her from escaping the agony and she shoved once at the chest she was being held against. Once. Then the pain faded, replaced by a sea of pure pleasure. The hands she had been using to push now pulled and she arched against him. His arm held her tighter as he groaned against her neck. The feeling of his mouth on her, searing her with its heat, was exquisitely beautiful and she curled around that sensation.
His fingers clenched, digging into the soft swell of skin of her bottom and she cried out.
His mouth pulled hard against her and her eyes squeezed tight. She wound her arms around Elliot's neck, holding him against her throat.
A hot trail of her blood trickled down her skin and even it felt incredibly sensual.
"Elliot." There was a voice. A voice she knew.
The one holding her groaned again, biting harder and she moaned at the intensifying pleasure. Higher she flew. Higher.
"Elliot, stop!"
"No," she cried out, holding him tighter, fingers weaving through his hair. She didn't want it to end.
"Stop!"
She felt the shudder run through his body before his fangs eased from her flesh and she could have wept from the disappointment. "No," she whispered as his tongue swept the side of her throat and she knew she was healing. It was over.
"Did I hurt you?" he asked.
She shook her head, unable to speak through the unfulfilled ecstasy he left her in. Then she nodded.
His arms wrapped around her and pulled her against his chest. "I meant physically."
She shrugged. "A little." She couldn't meet his eyes. Not when she did everything but beg him to take her life. "But it wasn't as bad as I was expecting."
His next question was directed at Nikolas."Did I take too much?"
She did look at him then. "You can't tell?" The smear of her blood from the corner of his lips didn't bring the fear that she thought it would. Why should it? She wanted him to do it.
"Most of the time, but Chevonne, I have to admit it. I've never, in my long life, tasted anyone like you. It was so easy to get lost in that taste. In the way you feel." He touched his lips to her head.
Nikolas sat beside them on the couch and cleared his throat. "Almost." He glanced at Chevonne's throat, his eyes as black as hers. "You might want to take care of that."
She frowned. "He healed me."
"Not that, lovely. The mess he made."
She glanced down at the end of the trail of red.
Nikolas stood up suddenly. "I've got to go out. Will you not do anything stupid while I'm gone?" He took in both Elliot and herself with his look.
"What's wrong?" she asked, not wanting him to leave. He had grown important to her as well.
"I can't be in here when you drink. Your scent is already driving me crazy. When you drink from him, that's going to skyrocket and I promise you that I'll do something stupid." He took a deep breath and she could see the tremor run through his body.
"Is it my..."
He shot her a look that dried up her words. "It's a combination of things. And I really don't think you are ready for what's on my mind." He ran a hand through his hair "Fucking hell."
She got to her feet and Elliot stood, wrapping his arms around her chest. "Let him go, Chevonne."
"If I did something wrong, I apologize."
Nikolas gave her a wicked smile. "No, you did everything right."
Elliot spoke again. "I'm going to take her elsewhere for this. When the others come back, please assure them that she lives and that Jonathan might want to stay away from this room for a couple of days."
Nikolas nodded once before turning and almost running from the room.
Elliot bent and swept Chevonne into his arms.
~~~
"How do you want to do this?" he asked as he he kicked the door closed behind them. He set her on her feet and kissed her forehead.
"What do you mean?"
"You can drink from a few places. One being the wrist. You've done that. Another is the throat, like I did to you."
She bit her lip and his eyes focused on it. "Which way do you prefer?"
He looked back up at her with a wicked smile. "I'll show you."
He took her hands and he walked backwards to his bed. He sat on the edge and slid back. He let go of her hands and tugged on the belt loops of her jeans. "You have to come closer, Chevonne."
She threw her leg over his and crawled up on the bed. He didn't lay back and she sat back on her feet, straddling his body. His arm circled her hips and he slid her up to him, body flush.
"Are you ready?" he asked and no, she wasn't. But at the same time, if felt like she was born for it.
She nodded.
"I want to hear you say it."
"Yes. I'm ready."
"Good. Now, don't be afraid. I have to cut myself, okay?"
She looked deep into his eyes and touched her lips to his. "I'm not afraid."
She pulled back and caught his smile.
"No, you're not, are you."
A quick shake of her head and he laughed. "Fine." He held a finger up to the vein in his neck and as she watched, a wicked looking claw emerged from beneath the nail. No, she wasn't afraid. She was fascinated. She took his hand before he made the cut and and her fingers slid along the sharp edge.
He pulled his hand away and she looked up at him. She could feel the confusion on her face before his lips met hers in an violent kiss, deep and punishing, but oh so thrilling. On and on it went and just when she thought she would die from lack of oxygen, he lifted his head, a look in his eyes that she couldn't read. A look that was forgotten as he ran that claw over his skin and the glistening red flowed from the wound.
He touched the back of her head and she lowered it, sealing her lips around the ruby fount. There was no fighting the taste, because it tasted like him and it crossed her mind that she knew him in ways that others never would. This was intimacy that not many others could claim to know.
She wound a hand around his neck and through his hair. And he did the same to her. They held each other as she swallowed his life. A gift. A bond he could have said no to. She pulled against his skin, filling her mouth over and over.
One moment, it was a peaceful, amazing moment of realization. The next, it wasn't.
His heat that had surrounded her was suddenly filling her lungs as she moaned against his skin. The hand on her waist pushed against her and she could feel him swell against her core. The seal of her lips broke from his skin as her body arched with overwhelming lust. She watched as it healed before he pressed against her once more. Her hips rocked and his groan made her smile.
He said that it would feel like she was drugged, if she did things... while on his blood. That might have been true the first time. But, what were his words? This wasn't that.
Yes, she felt different. But not the way he was talking about. More wanton, certainly, but not out of control.
Letting go of him, rising up on her knees, she crossed her arms and gripped the hem of her sweater. His hands stopped her.
"Are you sure? Because there will be no stopping. And you—"
Pulling a hand free, she put a finger over his lips. "I've never been more sure."
He let her go and she pulled the sweater up and over her head. He pulled it from her hands and her hair fell over them. His hands were dark against her pale skin and she looked up at his words. "Have I ever told you how beautiful you are?"
"Not in so many words."
"That's because even that word pales in comparison to you."
His hand smoothed up her back, pulling the straps of her bra down then down more until she was bare before him. His hand shook a bit as it traced the path of her blood, before abandoning it to cup her breast, thumb teasing the tight nipple. Her head fell back, fingers holding his shoulder as his lips closed around the other.
His touch was going to drive her insane. While she was mostly in control of herself, that didn't mean that she wasn't high on vampire blood. The expanded sensations were still there and she was going to die.
Shifting, he held her hips, pushing her down on him while his tongue slid over her skin, cleaning up after himself. She held his head against her as her hips moved over his body.
Not sure how she got there, she looked up at an Elliot that caged her body.
"You're going to end me before I've begun."
"Then you better begin, or I'm not going to make it until the end." She slid her arms around him and pulled him down to her. "Finish what you started when you had your teeth in me," she whispered against his lips.
His growl set her over-stimulated nerves on fire and he was pulling on her jeans while she yanked at his shirt, buttons flying. Her mouth ran over the flesh she exposed as she slid the ruined material from his shoulders. She grazed a nipple with her teeth and her name was harsh in his throat.
"I love how you say my name," she whispered, looking at him as she ran her tongue over his skin.
"I—" He broke off with a curse and briefly she wondered what he was going to say before she was on her hands and knees, rough fingers pulling her jeans down, ripping them, and those same fingers squeezing the flesh of her bottom.
"Jesus," she groaned into the bed and his breath was hot against her as he laughed. Teeth ran over the soft skin and her back arched. "Elliot... Please..."
"Don't worry. I will."
Her breath was harsh as he slid a finger deep inside her, a finger that he hooked and stroked that hidden bundle of nerves. Her back bowed as she clenched the blanket in her fists. Faster, he stroked her and she could feel it, welling up inside her and then she was swept away. He didn't stop though, drawing it out until she was panting and twitching.
He pulled away and she collapsed, rolling onto her back. As spent as she was, simply watching him take off his pants had the flames burning hot again. He looked at her and she opened her arms and he knelt between her things. Positioning himself, he leaned forward, touching her lips with his and pushed inside her.
She locked a leg around him and pulled, matching his rhythm. He quickened his pace and her fingers curved into the skin of his back and she didn't try to hide her groan.
His eyes closed and she watched as he swallowed, muscles of his throat flexing capturing her. But that was only for a second before he shifted, adjusting her position and he touched everything inside her.
"Elliot!" she cried out, eyes slamming shut as she reached the pinnacle. Wave after wave of pure bliss crashed over her and she dug her nails into his back.
He moved again sliding his hands under her shoulders, holding her tight. His head touched hers as he groaned, rhythm lost, and he grew still.
She opened weary eyes and looked up into soft brown. His lips brushed hers before he rolled to the side, carrying her with him and she took a chance, laying her arm over his chest, palm over his pounding heart. His fingers ran through her sweaty hair and she smiled as she closed her eyes.
~~~
"Wake up, Chevonne."
Elliot's words wove through her dreamless sleep and she stretched, before she reaching for him laying beside her. He wasn't there and her hand dropped. Fingers took hers and she opened her eyes. Rolling over, she found him standing over her, already dressed impeccably.
"How long did I sleep?"
"All night and day."
She sat up, wrapping the sheet around her and groaning at the stiffness in her body. "I'm sorry. I should have gone to my room."
His fingers touched her cheek and she looked up. "You were exhausted. The bonding itself takes a lot out of you." His lips curved into a smile. "The extra activities did too. I'm... glad you stayed." He held out his hand. "Come, let's get you a hot shower. Samuel is preparing your dinner."
She should be starving, but the thought of food wasn't a pleasant one. "I'm not really hungry," she said, getting to her feet. "But the shower would be amazing."
He took her hand and led her to the bathroom. Leaving her standing, he started the water. She stared at the bench in the large glass enclosed shower. He legs were already shaking and she was surprised by how weak she was.
"I thought the bond was supposed to make me stronger," she said. "Did we do something wrong?"
He stood and turned to her. "No, we did it right, but, until you recover, you are anemic. Fatigue is a symptom as well as weakness and loss of appetite."
"Why would I be anemic? I drank from you."
"Yes, however, my blood can't replace what I took from you. My blood is basically...dead, though there are some healing properties. Mine doesn't have the oxygen that you require. I breathe, because it's a reflex and to detect danger. It's not something I have to do." He pulled the sheet from her and his eyes traveled her body and she forgot her questions in the heat of his gaze. "You look..." He shook his head and she couldn't help the smile that touched her lips.
Touching his shoulder, he looked at her. "You look... as well."
He laughed and pushed her under the water. "I don't know how hot you like it, but take your time." Before he closed the door, he ran a finger down the curve of her spine. She shivered despite the heat of the water and looked at him over her shoulder.
"It's big enough for two."
He shook his head. "It would defeat the purpose if I were to join you." He closed the door and she watched through the steamed glass as his figure walked away.
~~~
Two hours later, they were on their way to Chevonne's apartment. She had eaten at Elliot's insistence, and it seemed to make no difference in her energy as she dozed with her head on Jonathan's shoulder. She sat in the back of the car with him while Elliot drove and Nikolas rode beside him.
There was a bit of apprehension about retrieving those book. Would they feel evil again? They had been hidden away for a few days now. Was it something that grew? Or was that still her mind playing tricks on her?
The feel coming from his closet. His empty closet. She sat up and twisted in the seat. "I donated your things to charity."
The concern at her sudden move changed to amusement and he grinned. "I know. I've been back."
"I'm so sorry."
He shrugged. "You didn't know."
"I wish I did."
"No, you don't."
She turned and stared at the back of Nikolas's seat. "Had things gone the way they were supposed to, would you have continued to let me believe you were gone?"
""That wasn't the plan. If it was, I wouldn't have told you about them, about us in the first place."
"Why did you?"
He took her hand and she met his eyes. "It was a half ass attempt to warn you, and honestly, I thought you would be too tipsy to remember. We had a lot of wine that night, and that probably contributed to me spilling the beans. But I knew you wouldn't believe me, and for damn sure never thought you would follow me." He squeezed her fingers. "Why did you?"
"Because I thought you were playing with me. I followed you and never thought about why you were so cautious. And it just now crossed my mind that if you were hunting a vampire, why in the hell would you do it so close to sunset."
"Because I wasn't hunting, I was meeting."
She leaned her head back. "I know. Now."
"Why did you come to my grave?"
She smiled. "Because whiskey gives me courage and I thought I would be doing you a favor."
"I did this to protect you. And I damn near killed you."
"Did you know?"
"I had flashes of being closer to sanity. Like, I knew you were there, sometimes, but there was nothing I could do to stop myself. Not when that thirst hit me, over and over. It took that knowledge away. If Elliot hadn't shown up, I would have taken your life."
"I'm pleased to have been of service."
The words were dry and she looked up, meeting Elliot's eyes in the rear-view mirror.
"How did you know?"
"I'll answer that question later. We're here."
"Around the corner is the ramp to the garage."
A few minutes later, Nikolas opened her door and helped her from the car. It was cold in the garage and it helped push away the drowsiness. He tucked her hand into the crook of his arm and she led the way to the elevators. She didn't miss the way all three of the vampires kept looking around, checking out every square inch that could be seen. That warmth filled her as she realized they were watching out for her.
Five floors didn't take long and with the opening of the doors, Jonathan stood from where he was leaning against the steel rail of the car.
He took her hand and pulled her closer as she looked down the hallway.
Her parents, the people that tried to kill her, stood in the hallway, arguing with Ramon.