Chapter 201
Jorick leaned close to kiss Katelina, but stopped a hairsbreadth from her lips. A smile spread over his face and he dipped his mouth to her jaw. Warm kisses fluttered against her skin and trailed down her neck. He paused at the mark he'd made. His tongue ran over the small ridge of scar. A shiver raced down her spine at the contact and she wrapped her arms around him.
He nipped at her mark and she tensed in anticipation. His lips on her neck did as much to turn her on as they would in more intimate places. Though there was pleasure to be derived from the physical act of sex, the real pleasure came from the bite; the connection between her mind and his, a pleasure that could be gotten by no other means. That was what made sex with a vampire overwhelming and addictive.
She felt his fangs scrape the scar. He released her before he broke the skin, saving the most intimate contact for later.
He tugged her shirt over her head, and tossed it aside. His hands moved over her naked back and his lips crushed hers. She melted against him, her body flowing effortlessly into his, molding against his hard chest. She slipped her fingers under his shirt and he pulled away long enough to cast the garment aside.
He captured her lips, but abandoned them too quickly, first for the soft skin of her neck and then for her shoulders. A low moan reverberated in her throat as he dropped the straps of her lacy bra and traced his tongue over the round curve of her breasts.
"Jorick." Her hands moved over his back. His skin was like a smooth ocean punctuated by small bandage islands. She skimmed around them, and traced the contours of his muscles with her fingertips.
He kissed his way back up her shoulders to her neck. His hands were large and warm as they wrapped around her breasts and his thumbs traced over her hard nipples. His teeth scraped against her skin and she could feel his desire, as thick and hot as her own.
She moved her hips against his and murmured his name again, her voice more urgent. His erection pressed into her thigh, and she dropped her hand to open his pants and tug it out. She wrapped her hand around it and felt a flush of satisfaction as he moaned and ground his hips into her.
As one they moved towards the bed. She backed into the mattress and fell back onto it, Jorick on top of her. He kissed her deeply, then slid away so she could pull her legs up. When he came back, his clothes were a heap on the floor.
She reached for him, but he ducked away and unfastened her jeans. She wriggled out of them impatiently, now naked except for the bra hanging from her arms. He left it where it was and settled into the hollow between her legs, sliding easily into position. She moved her hips, urging him on, but he stopped, teasing her, and lowered his lips to her neck. One hand supported her head and he shifted to trace the other over her stomach and then dipped it between her thighs. She gasped as his fingertips exploited her most sensitive spots, teasing her, tantalizing her and driving her closer and closer to the edge.
"Oh, Jorick," she sobbed, desperate for more, for him. She bit her lip and tasted blood. Strangely, the flavor fueled her excitement. She caught his mouth with hers, the kiss hard and sloppy. His tongue darted out and licked the blood from her lip. He moaned with matching desperation.
He moved his hand away and quickly dropped his hips into place. She wrapped her legs around him and pulled him into her. Her back arched as he filled her and she moaned his name as he thrust deeper. She gripped his back. The muscles moved and tensed beneath her eager palms. His lips wrapped around her throat, just above her right collar bone, and she could feel the pressure of his fangs against the tender flesh.
Though she urged him on, he hesitated, as if savoring the building desire. Impatiently, she bit his shoulder, at first teasing. The feel of the flesh between her teeth sparked something and she bit harder. The coppery taste of blood splashed onto her tongue. Jorick stiffened in surprise and then let out a heated moan. Something stirred in her subconscious; dark primitive memories of a thick, spicy liquid slipping down her throat. Instinctively she clamped down tighter, her need and desire overriding everything else.
Her heart pounded in her ears. Over the sound of it she heard Jorick give a strangled cry. Then, he sunk his teeth into her and the world turned into a shimmering place of ecstasy. Strange images flashed behind her eyes, foreign things that moved too fast for her to understand or comprehend. She could feel him everywhere, inside, outside, all around her, hot and pulsing.
Lost in the sensation that his bite brought, she didn't notice her teeth grind into him, forcing his blood into her eager mouth. As it burned down her throat, the flashing images began to sharpen and grow clear. The muddle of voices and words turned into something she could almost understand. A desperate part of her subconscious pushed her onward, telling her that she was so close, that she was almost there, almost done, almost-
And then it stopped as Jorick ripped away from her. His chest heaved and his eyes were clouded with a mixture of passion and bloodlust. "What are you-" She got no further before he came back. His hungry teeth pierced her again and she was lost to the tides.
Though much of the driving intensity was gone, the pleasure was still overwhelming. Seconds crashed into one another and minutes disappeared in a smear of moans and sweat. Then the world exploded and she was left floating in a sea of ecstasy.
Jorick buried his head in her hair, his breathing hard and ragged as he gasped for air that he didn't need. She opened her eyes and looked down to see his pale shoulder. The skin was sealed; healed by her blood, but a bright smear of crimson told the story.
She wiped at it and fought the urge to lick her fingers.?What in the hell is wrong with me?
"Nothing," Jorick said softly. He tightened his arms around her. "You're just getting a taste for it."
"A taste for it?" Her eyes went wide with horror and her cheeks tinted pink. "What in the hell?"
Jorick sighed against her and then moved to rest his forehead against hers. His dark hair fell around them like a curtain that shut out the rational world. "It happens. It's nothing to be embarrassed about."
"Who the hell said I was embarrassed?" She tried to jerk away but there was nowhere to go. "I don't know how I'd have a taste for it. It's not like I've had a ton of it!"
He cleared his throat uncomfortably. "You've had more than you think. Ever since the Linking you've been- when we..." His eyes skipped away, uncharacteristically uncomfortable, as though reluctant to share bad news. "When we make love, you've been ingesting small quantities."
"Of what? Of your blood? I'd have noticed that!" Would she? Once he bit her the world faded away. Would she know if she was- but she did know. She'd known all along, whether she wanted to or not. Her cheeks burned and she looked away. No matter how bizarre her surroundings,?she?was at least normal, but now -?How is drinking someone's blood during sex normal?
"I do it," he pointed out to her unspoken thoughts, teasing. When she didn't answer, he turned serious. "It's all right, little one, so long as you don't take too much at a time. That's how a linking is done, after all."
"It can't be that easy, and it doesn't hurt!" He looked confused and her embarrassment doubled as she stuttered out, "I don't know- I mean- I just thought that- you know, a linking would-"
He slipped his arms around her and nuzzled her cheek. "It isn't meant to be a painful process, Katelina. I've told you before that you don't need to be near death for it to work. I imagine it could be possible to get caught up in the moment and then regret the consequences later."
She choked on the implications. "Well it would be easy to get rid of. You just need another vampire's blood."
A strange noise ground in his throat and his hold tightened in an almost hostile way. "No, it isn't. Depending on whose blood you're drinking, it's tantamount to cheating."
"You're saying I had an affair with Kateesha?" she asked dubiously.
"No, but killing her is different than approaching someone to get rid of a linking. It's the intent that matters."
"Is it?" The intricacies of vampire relationships gave her a headache.
Though he didn't move, she could feel his body tense. "Who would you ask?"
The conversation was veering into territory she couldn't deal with. "I don't know. No one. It was hypothetical. I don't want to go around drinking a bunch of vampire blood." She stopped herself from adding that it was horrific enough to know she'd been drinking his.
Whether he plucked the thoughts from her mind or was just tired of the conversation, he pressed a kiss against her cheek and pulled away. "The sun is rising. The drapes are enough to keep it out for now, but I'd better block it before it gets much higher."
She nodded mutely and watched as he slid from the bed and stacked the furniture in front of the window. Unbidden, her mind slipped back to the Citadel and a conversation she'd had with Verchiel about what he called vampire junkies.
"They get addicted to vampire blood. You can drink it for years without being turned or linked, as long as you don't drink a huge quantity of it at a shot. Things get complicated, though, when they start drinking off of various vampires. All those mixed allegiances."
The idea still made her shudder and she suddenly wondered what in the hell she'd gotten herself into.
