25. Brandon

25

brANDON

M orelle gazed into his eyes for a long moment. "I might not have much experience in this or anything else, but striving for perfection is never a good thing. It's paralyzing. The head priestess used to say that only the Mother of All Life was perfect and that mortals should be satisfied with just doing their very best."

"The priestess was a wise female, but given that we are immortal, that does not apply to us. We can strive for perfection and achieve it."

Why was he even arguing the point when he actually agreed with Morelle and her teacher?

Maybe because she was right, saying that the quest for perfection was paralyzing. He was waiting for her to get better, for them to get to know each other, and for their relationship to deepen because he was afraid that without all of these conditions fulfilled, he would disappoint her.

It wasn't a baseless fear, though.

She was a virgin in the truest sense of the word. She'd never been touched or caressed in a sexual way, and he'd been the first male she'd kissed. Jumping ahead all the way to sex was premature, even if she was pushing for it. She needed time to grow, to get accustomed to being touched and touching, so the progression was natural and not forced.

Just as Brandon thought that Morelle was going to rebut his statement, she cupped his face in her hands and kissed him, pressing her tongue through his lips and wrapping it around one of his elongated fangs.

All Brandon's carefully maintained control threatened to shatter as a bolt of arousal erupted from his fang and shot straight to his groin. He knew that he should pull away to maintain the boundaries he'd set, but when her hands moved to the back of his neck and pulled him closer, he felt helpless to resist.

"Princess," he murmured against her lips. "You should stop."

"Why?" She pulled back just enough to look into his eyes. "I'm not as fragile as you think I am, and I know what I want."

The conviction in her voice and the fire in her eyes made it even more difficult for him to resist, but he knew he was right, and if he succumbed to her demands, they were both going to regret it later.

I love you , he wanted to say. I've loved you since I first saw you . But saying those words was as premature as consummating their love. Instead, he kissed her, pouring all his love and longing into it.

She responded with equal passion, her hands exploring his bare chest.

Perhaps it was time to move to second base, as the teenagers liked to say. It was a dangerous idea because it would stoke the fire already raging through his veins, but Morelle needed a gradual progression in her introduction to intimacy.

His hand wandered over the exposed back of her nightgown, down the length of her spine, and as he cupped her bottom, she arched into him, pressing her mound to his straining erection.

Letting go of her mouth, he trailed kisses down the side of her face until his lips found her neck, and he nipped at the sensitive skin beneath her ears before dragging his teeth down, his fangs gently scraping but not breaking the skin.

She shivered, but it wasn't from fear or pain.

The slight danger excited her.

When she slid her hand down his front, aiming for the bulge in his pants, he wanted to let her grip him, yearning for her touch, but what if it proved too much and he couldn't stop?

What finally convinced him was the realization that Morelle needed to explore and that, eventually, he would have to let her touch him, and it wouldn't be on the same night he took her virginity.

When her hand made contact with his erection over his pants, he breathed hard against her neck and then kissed her again. She didn't move her hand, which he was thankful for because he would have erupted in his trousers if she had.

Still kissing her, he pulled the shoulder straps of her nightgown down, and as he cupped her perfect breasts, they both hissed. When she pushed on his chest, he thought she wanted him to stop touching her, but he was wrong.

Moving as fast as any immortal, she straddled his lap, with her nightgown bunched up around her narrow waist and her beautiful breasts with their needy little nipples exposed.

"Touch me more like this." She lifted both his hands and put them on her breasts while grinding her center over his erection.

"I'll do better than that." He wrapped his arms around her and pushed up against the pillows so that his mouth was in the perfect position to close his lips around one of those ripe berries.

Soon, he was suckling, kissing, and gently nibbling, and she was furiously grinding against his length while moaning and groaning so loudly he was thankful for the state-of-the-art soundproofing in the village.

When he switched to her other breast, sucking her nipple deep into his mouth, Morelle got bolder, driving her hand between their bodies and below the waistband of his pants.

Right as her fingers brushed against the sensitive head, he let go of her nipple and gripped her wrist before she could continue any further.

"Not tonight, sweetheart," he hissed before resuming his assault on her abandoned nipple. "Tonight is about you."

She murmured some incoherent objection, but he was having none of that.

Slipping his hand beneath her bunched-up nightgown, he rubbed his finger over the gusset of her panties, nearly exploding when he found it soaked through.

"You are so wet for me," he murmured against her nipple.

"I want you," she hissed. "Give me what I want."

He chuckled. "So bossy, Princess." He kept rubbing her over her panties, collecting moisture before dragging his fingers up and pressing his thumb to her clit. Circling it gently, he let go of her breast and moved to the other, repeating the suckling, nibbling, and kissing.

"Brandon," she pleaded.

As he tugged aside her panties, her breath hitched in her throat, and when he pressed his thumb directly over her clit, she threw her head back and moaned loudly again.

He found her entrance and lingered, circling it with his fingers.

"Please," she whispered.

He wondered if she knew what she was asking for and was acting on instinct or if someone had given her the Kra-ell equivalent of the birds and the bees story.

He slid his finger just past her entrance, afraid of going any deeper and hurting her, when as she moaned and rocked her hips, his finger slid a little further. He used his other hand to grip her ass and keep her from moving, but then Morelle suddenly shuddered, threw her head back, and released a keening moan that nearly sent him over as well.