Chapter 314
Katelina woke the next evening in Jorick's cool arms. The electric light that seeped around the edges of the door gleamed on the smooth planes of his skin. She traced the patterns on his cheek with her fingertips and brushed back errant strands of his midnight hair. With everything that had happened lately, it was as if she'd forgotten how beautiful he was, even though he'd been right there in front of her; as if she just hadn't had time to notice him or the butterflies that fluttered in her stomach at his nearness. Like an old married couple, his face had become a familiar feature on the tapestry of her day-to-day life, one she'd glanced at but had forgotten to enjoy.
She snuggled closer to him and ran her hands up his strong back. The muscles tensed and flexed beneath his skin and his arms tightened around her. She expected the usual gasp; the sudden intake of air that signaled he was waking, but there was only cool breath on her neck. He was already awake.
"I have been," he said softly.
She pulled back to drink in his features. His dark eyes and long eyelashes, his perfect nose, his intense, dramatic eyebrows. The soft smile that curved over his lips. "You should have woken me."
He stroked her cheek with his fingertips. "You were tired. Besides, I was enjoying myself."
"You enjoyed watching me sleep? Come on, Jorick. Even I know that's something from a cheesy romance novel."
His eyes twinkled with mirth. "You're saying I'm not good enough to be the romantic hero?" She rolled her eyes and he laughed. "All right, no. Not watching you sleep, but being near you. We haven't been alone together since Russia, and I've missed you."
It was her turn to tease him. "And what have you missed about me?"
"I've missed you, Katelina." He pressed a kiss to her forehead. "The smell of you." A kiss to her cheek. "The feel of you." He nipped playfully at her neck. "The taste of you. The sounds you make when-"
Though he left the sentence unfinished, he ran his tongue over the scar of her mark and his meaning was clear. Goose bumps shivered up her spine and she moaned softly.
She felt his lips draw into a smile. "That's the sound." Before she could think of a suitable reply, he caught her lips with his. His kiss was cool, like his skin, but it excited her just the same. She parted her lips and his tongue slipped inside to explore the recesses of her mouth, drawing another soft murmur from her.
She wrapped her arms around his neck and tangled a hand in his hair. As if that was a signal, he deepened the kiss and skimmed his palms up and down her sides, stroking the sides of her breasts through her pajama top. She wriggled beneath him, and he slid his hands under her shirt to find the naked skin beneath.
Katelina arched her back instinctively and he dropped his mouth from her lips to her neck. He trailed kisses to her collar, and then leaned back and pulled her shirt over her head. He dropped the garment onto the bed, then cupped her naked breasts in his hands. He kneaded the mounds and teased her nipples with his thumbs. She moaned and tried to catch his mouth with hers, but he dropped his lips to her breasts. He took first one in his mouth, and then the other, moving back and forth between them; sucking, massaging and kissing in turn.
Her stomach tightened into a heavy knot and a dull ache started between her thighs. She unconsciously ground her hips against his leg, urging him onwards, and he smiled against her skin. She imagined him quipping something about her impatience, but the words didn't come. Instead, he pulled away and stripped her of her panties and pajama bottoms, leaving her naked in the strange bed.
She thought suddenly of the other vampires. They could be anywhere; on the other side of the wall, on the other side of the door. At any moment they could burst into the room with one excuse or another. The imagined humiliation was too much to bear.
"Then we should hurry," Jorick murmured. He leaned back against the headboard, in almost a sitting position, and pulled her onto his lap. His clothes lay on the floor where he'd discarded them the night before, and the light that leaked around the door highlighted his lean, muscular body. She balanced on his legs and licked his pale shoulder, trailing her tongue along his collarbone as she shifted into position. Some part of her mind had a handful of concerned objections, but they were drowned out as she felt his erection between her thighs.
She slid over him slowly, letting him fill her. The darkness throbbed around them and she forgot her fear of eavesdroppers and interruptions as he thrust his hips. The spot over her mark tingled with anticipation, and she leaned closer to him, trying to force herself into his mouth.
He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her to him, his body sliding against hers as they moved in rhythm. She felt the cool moisture of his mouth as it wrapped around her and then he bit. There was a moment of pain as his fangs cut through her skin, but it faded away into a kaleidoscope of pleasure. She could feel his hands on her back, but also it seemed as if they were in her hair, on her legs, her shoulders, her breasts; everywhere at the same time. He was inside her and outside her, surrounding her in a cocoon of bliss as she rocked against him, harder, faster.
The craving started small, then quickly burned through her until her teeth ached to feel his flesh between them. With no coherent thought, she snapped at his shoulder, but in their current position she couldn't reach it. She was vaguely conscious of a low, angry growl that came from her throat, and she tried again, with more force. Her teeth scraped his warm skin and the contact inflamed her passion. She tried to pull away from him, but he was too strong and he held her in place, his blood lust as wild as her own. She snarled again and shifted enough to bite him in the tender flesh under his ear. She felt him stiffen for a moment and then he moaned and what little remained of the world melted away for her.
The moments slid past in a blur of blood flavored frenzy as she built toward her climax and then the universe exploded and left her shuddering and shaking in the aftermath.
Jorick released her neck and she sagged against his naked chest. She could hear his heartbeat thundering against her ear, accompanied by his ragged breathing. He tightened his arms around her and nuzzled the side of her face.
"I love you, Katelina."
"I love you too," she murmured. She licked her lips and tasted his blood there. Though the act was a blur, she'd obviously bitten him again. How many more times would she do that? Until she was something like Kai; not human but not vampire either, a mortal hybrid with half the abilities?
Jorick answered her thoughts. "Kai isn't a hybrid, he's on his way to becoming a vampire and he's had a lot more blood than you have."
She didn't look at him. "How do you know?"
"Because he's been drinking it a lot longer than you have."
A knock sounded on the door and she dove under the covers with a cry. Jorick chuckled, then called, "Yes?"
Oren's voice was muffled. "Are you going to join us, or stay in bed all day?"
"We'll be out momentarily," Jorick answered. Then, with a wink, he added, "How is your human this morning?"
Oren sputtered. "That - that woman is not my human! Just because she's following me doesn't mean I own her! We're not all chomping at the bit for an inconvenient mortal to drag around!"
Jorick snickered as Oren stormed away, then he stretched. "I'd ask you to get the light, but you'll only argue." He slipped from under the blankets and switched it on. The bulb hummed and flickered to life, throwing Jorick's naked form into sharp relief.
Katelina clutched the blankets and watched as he scooped up his clothes and moved to the luggage. He rifled through it to produce another shirt and pair of pants that looked exactly like the old ones. "You can get up now, little one. Oren is long gone."
"I know." She edged out from under the blankets and moved self-consciously towards the suitcases. "What's he going to do about Etsuko?"
"What is there to do?"
"He could tell her to go away."
Jorick paused to study her. "Do you think he should?"
"Someone should, before she gets her heart broken."
"You don't think they'd make a good couple?"
Katelina popped open her suitcase and pulled out her clothes. "Hardly. There's no way Oren would ever be- I mean he isn't- He's not the romantic type. He's too self-centered."
"He was married before," Jorick pointed out. "He might surprise you."
"Sure, if he didn't hate humans."
"He doesn't hate humans."
She pulled on her panties and shrugged into her bra. "He has a funny way of showing it."
Jorick slipped on his shoes and ran his fingers through his hair; all that was necessary for him to look perfectly groomed. "I thought he was doing better."
"Then you thought wrong." Though Oren wasn't as condescending as he'd once been, he was still far from friendly and Katelina couldn't imagine him in a relationship with a human. Ever.
Jorick caught her face in his warm hands and met her gaze. "Humans aren't necessarily humans forever." Something shifted in his eyes and he let her go. "Now get dressed and let's find some breakfast."
