Chapter Seventeen

“That woman is not right in the head.”

“Well, she’s a goddess, and she’s bloody ancient.”

“Good point. It was nice of her to give me a coupon.” Emily tucked the stiff white and gold card into her painfully empty wallet. “We need to get dinner.”

“Easy thing for a vampire to do in New York.”

“Simeon!”

“There’s a butcher every other block... well, in some spots. And the posher places don’t ask questions. Want room service, Huntress? Wining and dining?”

Emily hesitated. “Well... we need a private place to talk and figure out our next move. Yeah. Sure. What’s a couple hundred bucks to the guy with the literal gold card?”

Simeon chuckled. “I’ll tell Hades that one. He’ll like that.”

“He’s not bad. And Milly’s not bad. Ugh, except I hate them! They know this isn’t your fault, so how can they punish you?” Emily squeezed into the silvery Mustang and flopped back in its deep leather seat.

Simeon was silent as he put the key in the ignition. Then, in a voice that seemed tired and old, words dragged out. “He was desperate. He made a bad deal when he was desperate, and some contracts can’t be broken. Ritz or Waldorf-Astoria?”

“Ritz.” Emily studied the man beside her, watching his features working, his eyes scanning the busy streets in front of them. She wondered what bad deals he’d made. Becoming a vampire? He loved that. He’d said so. Loved being powerful, a bully of bullies, or as he’d come to view himself, a larger than life (or death) avenger of the innocent. What a twisted mess.

Perfect for me, because I’m just as messy and twisted, only no one else knows it.

Memories of his cock slipping from her mouth as he ejaculated with a hoarse shout made her bite her lip. Messy, indeed.

Her thighs pressed together unexpectedly, without her control or forethought, as if aching to squeeze around him, to feel him pushing all of those long, lukewarm inches into the place where she was tight, wet, and suddenly unbearably achy. “I need to eat.” Emily blurted out firmly. Yes. Food. Use food to distract from thinking about vampire cock.

No. Not vampire cock. Simeon’s cock. Simeon’s body. Simeon as a person, dammit, when did I start to dissect people?

When people became bodies? When your dad drags you to see body after body, pointing out bites, pointing out bruises, telling you all the ways a vampire would torture a person?

They had to be bodies. They couldn’t be people, or I let them die. It was my fault those people suffered and died. A Van Helsing would have found the vampire first. Saved the day.

Or was it when I started to believe that I was nothing more than a body, just a living corpse, waiting until I lost a battle to fill a box in the ground?

“You okay, Van Helsing?”

For once, she didn’t blindly answer in the affirmative. She was past bland lies with Simeon. “Nope. Not even a little.”

“Well. That’s all right. We can be a wreck together?”

The flutter in her pussy spread to her heart with sudden ferocity. Damn.

Simeon licked his lips, pressed the H-Drive button, and spoke clearly. “Take me to an available open spot in the valet parking lane of the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in New York City near Central Park.”

“Oh. Excuse me, sir. I didn’t see you arrive. Do you have a reservation?” The valet bustled over to the driver’s side window with a confused but polite expression.

“Going to go in and make one now,” Simeon kept a tight hold of the keys. “This is a loaner from a very important sort of person. I’m under... special orders,” he dropped his voice and winked, “not to let anyone else touch it. Can you show the lady inside and lead me to a parking spot? A hundred for your trouble.”

“Yes, sir. Right this way, miss.”

“Get us a suite, darling.” Simeon handed the black credit card to Emily with a sneering smile. He hoped she’d know it was a show for the hired help, so to speak.

“Mmm, of course, baby.” She played her part perfectly, simpering and swaying away, but then why shouldn’t she? She’d been trained to play a hundred parts in her quest to vanquish demons. Emily could be the bait, the decoy, the lookout, the warrior, and the ruthless hunter.

When was the last time she was just... Emily?

Some part of him thought she wasn’t acting when she looked back over her shoulder—and winked at him.

God, he loved that girl.

“This is a suite? Where’s the second bedroom?” Simeon walked into the lavish room with Emily leaning on his arm, still playing the part of Mr. and Miss Rich and Obnoxious.

“I didn’t ask for that kind of suite. While you were out parking Hades’ favorite pony, I asked what suites they had available. They have lots of suites, and all of them are about the view and the bathrooms. All these suites have two bathrooms. What’s the deal with the bathrooms?”

He shrugged. “I dunno. Everyone wants to shag in the same bed but not piss in the same pot? Ain’t even an issue with us. You can have both of them, baby.”

“Well. Um. This one has a fancy Carribean marble hot tub. I think. Or was it Chilean? Or was that the special? Chilean sea bass?” Emily tossed her bag onto the handcrafted sofa and tossed herself on after it. “I don’t know. I just want peanut M&Ms and a Coke. And maybe a burger.”

“My lady asks, and she shall receive.” Simeon sauntered over to the white phone on the wall. “Room service. Two pints of blood, a pint of chocolate ice cream, a large bag of peanut M&Ms, a Coke, and a double cheeseburger. Hm? Beef blood is fine. Ooh, venison? That’s a treat, I’ll have both. They what? That’s why you’re the best. Yep, charge it to the room.” Simeon hung up and beamed. “The bloke on the phone says Coke and both peanut and plain M&Ms await you in the Honor Bar.”

“Yes!” Emily scrambled over to the little cabinet beside the massive television and grappled it open. “You sounded very polished on the phone. Used to living the high life?”

“Sometimes. And speaking of high life... Hera. She’s not quite right, like you said. But it doesn’t seem consistent. It’s like someone messed with her memory.”

“Mmhm. And Demeter’s, too. Hey! I wonder if someone could be doing the same to Persephone? You know? Making her think that she’s almost home, and whenever she sees something, a tree, a stop sign, whatever, she forgets where she is? What if she’s been wandering around lost but thinking she’s perfectly fine for hundreds of years?” Emily collapsed on the floor, a handful of chocolate spilling into her lap.

“That’d be horrible.”

“That’s like... that’s like being insane.” She licked her lips nervously and tore open the bright yellow packet of candy.

“Someone who has that kind of consistent power... that’s a god, all right. But I don’t think it’s Zeus. Studied mythology along with Latin and Greek at university, and I know the Big Twelve. Never heard of him having that power—and he swore to Hades he hadn’t touched her. So... Hm. I don’t know if the River Styx is literal or not. Don’t know if him beaming a case of amnesia into her brain would count as ‘touching’ or not. If he could even manage it.” Simeone paced around the living room of the suite, fingers tapping along the edges of entertainment centers and walls.

He needed to keep his hands off of her.

Emily followed him, the little yellow bag of candy outstretched, offering him some. “It has to be someone who would help him, though. It doesn’t seem like his own brothers or sisters—or his wife—want anything to do with him.”

Simeon snorted and took a piece of chocolate, touched by the fact that she’d share with him. “You can only charm people for so long before they see through it. He’s a bastard. A controlling bastard who throws soot on people’s nice new coats!”

“What myth was that in?” Emily demanded, one eyebrow arching in confusion.

“Hm. Nothing. Nothing. I’m going to go look at that fancy sea bass bathtub.”

Simeon escaped into a gleaming world of soft lighting and pure white marble with gold flecks. The hot tub was big enough for several bodies. He should know. Bathtubs made excellent places to leave your leftovers.

But now he wanted to be alone without any glassy-eyed exsanguinated corpses, or better yet, with someone. With someone warm, soft, and alive. Someone pink and pretty, someone who gave off the most delectable scent, the sort of scent that made his fangs and cock throb in perfect unison.

I want to fuck her. Not just fuck her hard, bending her over and rutting into her. That magic where you just stay in her, spending in her over and over, connected, hands on her face, teeth in her neck, blood in your mouth, her hands in your hair... Gloriously tangled up.

Like his thoughts. Zeus and Heatherington were awfully similar, and he didn’t care who knew it, but Emily didn’t need to hear the sordid details. And even Heatherington paled in comparison with many of the villains he’d trailed, tracked, and enjoyed butchering.

Emily definitely wouldn’t like to hear about those cases.

Still, it was a poor hunter who didn’t learn how to track his prey from studying the species.

Who would help the foulest of the foul with any task, good or bad, respectable or vile, simple or convoluted?

He first thought of Hera, the wife. Hera’s stance on Zeus was clear. She struck him as the sort that would remain married for the prestige and power of being a “queen” but would have nothing to do with helping her husband with his adulterous liaisons.

His children? They were his pawns. Pawns were frontline fodder. Pawns with brains, living pieces in someone’s games don’t always like being used.

Someone who loved him, who hoped to have some sort of power, or get something out of it...

The most devoted slave. Lover. Wife.

Slave.

“You didn’t fall in, did you?”

Emily’s voice made him jump.

“Did Zeus have any other wives or particularly devoted lovers? Ones who could control the mind? Particularly the memory?” Simeon answered, thinking back to his studies. All of Zeus’ affairs ran together.

“I’m not sure, but we’re only a phone call away from a backlog of family gossip. Dial-A-God.”

Simeon left his position on the edge of the immense tub and rejoined her in the massive bedroom area. Emily was holding the phone in her palm.

He took it and hesitated. “It could be someone they don’t know about. Or don’t remember. You saw how Hera and Demeter seemed to fade in and out of touch. But...” His gloomy thoughts lifted. “Jakob Minegold. He was a teacher and scholar. His house is practically half museum, half library. I bet he’d know or be able to look it up if Hades doesn’t know. Let’s call him before we ring Hades. He must hate to hear the phone ring. Each time... it’s not her.”

“Right.” Emily nodded. “We’ll call Mr. Minegold now.”

“Sure. Or we could wait. I mean, room service will be up soon. That’d be one hell of a conversation to have interrupted by the bellhop, no pun intended.”

Emily crossed her arms. “Oh, that pun was so intended. But, you have a good point. We’ll wait. J-just until dinner gets here.”

This is urgent. Why do we want to put off finding the answer? Simeon nodded and said nothing. “You know... once we get back... if we both get back—”

“We’re both getting back and staying back,” Emily bit off the words and spat them out like shrapnel, intending for them to leave a mark.

He grinned. “I was gonna say, we don’t have to stop hangin’ about together. Do we? Won’t be the Ritz, but there are places to eat in Pine Ridge. I bet Hades’ll give us a nice bonus. Get you a new set of wheels. We can go for drives. Out for pizza. Out for patrol.” He dropped each word casually so she wouldn’t spook.

“I’d like that.” Her voice was soft, and so was her hand, now winding through his. “I haven’t been in a fancy-ass hot tub like this in... ever. I stayed in a hotel once that had an eight-person jacuzzi by the pool. It wasn’t like this, though. This is intimate .” There was the tiniest pause before the last word.

“Mhmm.” He didn’t have any need to breathe, so why did his breath catch when she said those words? Intimate. Did she want to be intimate with him again? Did she want to make love? Would she let him inside of her?

I guess we’ll find out. His hand slid up to cup her cheek. “Room service will be here soon.”

“It takes time to fill the tub.”

“Emily... Emily, God, you have no idea how much I want you. Love you. Wanna be close to you. Intimate.” He bowed his head, expecting to rest it on hers, only to find her head twisting up to meet him, capturing his lips and leveraging her strength to knead his biceps into a puddle of aching. Want. This. Woman. “Mine.” A single snarling prayer. Let her be mine. Let her answer ‘yours’ and...

“I know I’m not good at this stuff. I... I could learn. You changed. I could change.” She spoke between kisses, short, bursting, desperate words. “I think we’re things that change.”

“You don’t need to change, darling. I’m bad for you, but—”

“No. You’re good for me. And bad to some other people. The people who deserve it. But for me? To me?” She shook her head and clawed his jacket off. “I’m starting to love the way you are with me.”

They had to wait. Had to keep it at kissing and nothing else, at least until their dinner order arrived. Her body certainly had other plans, demanding contact with warm water and cool skin at once.

We have to wait. Make a call.

When someone knocked at the door, Emily yanked herself from Simeon’s arms and rushed to retrieve their meal. When she turned around, she could hear water running.

“You ready?” he asked, popping his head back around from the bathroom door, accompanied by the scent of vanilla and jasmine trapped in steaming clouds.

She nodded, squaring her shoulders. “We can do this. I... I think I have a problem letting people get close. Even just touching me. My father taught me touch was an attack. Touch was combat. Even when we talked about good relationships, they weren’t good , just necessary. I knew that one day I would be expected to have sex for the sake of making sure there was another Van Helsing to carry on the war against vampires, unless I were captured, and, well,” she swallowed and dropped her voice, “certain monsters use humans for fun before killing them, so... I don’t know. I never cultivated good feelings about love or touch. My body wasn’t really for me, you know? It was a tool.”

Simeone’s horrified gaze made her want to flee into the hall.

“Too much?” she asked in a squeak.

“No! I was asking if you were ready to call Minegold.” Simeon rushed over to her and pulled her into a hug. “But I think it can wait a little bit. Emily... Emily, I don’t want you to feel like that with me. Your body is yours. It should feel good when I’m with you. That’s the only thing I want from you, okay, Em? For it to feel good. For you to like my touch. And if you don’t... Oh my God.” He let her go to clasp his temples, white fingers pushing back thick waves of dark hair. “No wonder you pushed me away when I kissed you that night! If I’d been you, I would have broken my jaw!”

Mortification mixed with gratitude. Emily realized she had definitely misunderstood and accidentally overshared, but Simeon’s reaction cemented the idea that he was a safe person to overshare with . “I like when you touch me now. I’m just learning it. I’m learning a lot of things.” I’m a virgin. I don’t have to spell that out, do I? “I know things. I read.” Face on fire, she crossed her arms.

“I know you do. And I understand. Look, people avoided me. I was the laughingstock when I was alive, the poor outcast with the sickly complexion and miserable voice, a poor charity case who didn’t belong with the educated, wealthy, privileged set. I was the one to pick on. We were both raised as loners for different reasons.” Simeon stuck his hand out to her. “But we don’t have to be alone anymore.” His smile was crooked and soft. “I’m not practiced at showing people I love ‘em.”

“I don’t know how to do it in the first place.”

“So, we’ll learn together. We’ll solve this bloody mystery, and then we’ll work on another problem—how two dysfunctional people make a functioning relationship.”

“Relationship?” That was a scary word.

“When people see each other and kiss, Huntress. When they do it on a fairly regular basis.” His smirk twitched, and it passed to her, making her smile.

“Oh.” That was less scary.

Simeon’s voice took on a teasing note. “They might even take baths together. Especially when the beautiful woman in the duo needs about twenty thousand hugs and kisses, and probably a few hundred orgasms to make up for the lack of lovin’ she’s had in the past.”

Forget about calls. They could wait for a few more minutes. Just a few more. She had to kiss Simeon and yank his clothes off right now. She had to press her body to his right now. It was the only thing that made sense.

Simeon got it. He understood why it was hard for her to love and let others in. He understood why she kept pushing him away.

I’m drowning in an ocean full of life preservers that I won’t touch, Emily thought as she ripped her shirt off over her head. Because one of them might really turn out to be a lead anchor when I touch it. One might be a poisonous shapeshifting demon. One of them might be perfectly fine... until I destroy it somehow.

But Simeon is mine to touch. “Mine.”

His head jerked away from hers, utterly startled. “You—”

Simeon’s words were cut off by her kiss. “Simeon? Come with me before I forget how to let someone get close again,” she whispered.

She called me “Mine.” Again. Holy hell. Well, she doesn’t know what that means. It doesn’t mean the same thing to her as it does to me.

“You want to eat first?”

“Not now.”

Simeon hurried back into the bathroom and stopped short.

His Emily was stepping into the bath, gloriously, perfectly naked, her pert backside and limber legs a work of art as she stepped over the edge of the tub and immersed herself in the frothing water. Her moan of bliss caused his cock to push the boundaries of its confines until he slipped his jeans off in a single bound, kicking boots and denim to the side of the tub. “May I join you?”

“You’d better.”

He hesitated for a second, fist gripping the marble edge. “Emily. I think that if I get in this warm, wet place, I’ll want to get inside of another one. Want to be in you. Want to make you moan more than these bubbles,” he whispered. “But even if I seem eager, we can wait. We can always wait.”

“Maybe I don’t want to wait anymore,” she whispered, holding out her hand to him.

There should be more foreplay. Simeon knew that, but he couldn’t think straight. Need to taste her before the water gets every drop of her juice, was his frantic thought. He slipped under the bubbles and kissed her calves to her knees, then emerged, gasping. “No. It’s not strictly workable, that plan.”

“What plan?” Emily giggled softly, looking at him with eager, half-lidded eyes.

“The plan to suck on your pretty little peach.”

Emily’s warmth-soaked skin turned an even darker shade of pink as her eyes popped. “My pretty little—”

He smirked. Love seeing her act all innocent and startled. It’s not an act, but no one on the outside lookin’ in would know that Emily Van Helsing, who might as well be a destroying warrior queen, she who can cleave a vamp’s head from its shoulders in two seconds, is secretly a bit shy in the bedroom. No, it’s not an act, it’s just not all there is to her, not by a long shot.

“Yeah,” he continued casually, “see, I can go under the water and not need to take a breath, but when I open my mouth to dig into that tasty little pussy of yours, all the water gets in. Makes it hard to worship you properly.”

“Oh. Well. We don’t have to do any worshiping. Like that.” Emily looked disappointed and relieved at the same time.

Silly thing. Still doesn’t get what a gift this is for the lucky man with her, not just some gift for her. It’s both.

“You need to sit on the edge of the tub and lean back. I won’t let you fall.” Simeon locked his gaze with hers. “You sit still for Simeon and let him love you.”

Emily made a long, winded sound and obeyed, to his shock. She hoisted her dripping, glistening body to the edge of the tub and he settled immediately between her thighs, kissing her damp curls as he gripped one slippery calf in each hand.

Emily’s hands were embedded in Simeon’s wet hair, kneading the waterlogged locks as he feasted on her pussy. Her own moans were lost in his. At this angle, Simeon was nestled under her, his lips and mouth in contact with all of her most secret parts, his tongue swiping greedily over her clit, alternating with sucking her folds into his mouth. With a loud growl, he bucked against her, forcing her to let go of his head for a second and grab the wall and edge of the tub like she was holding on for dear life. “Easy, tiger.”

“No fangy beasts here... not yet.” Simeon took a moment to smirk up at her before his tongue invaded her, slipping inside.

“Oh, fuck! Ohhh. Wow.” Emily tried to loosen her grip before she broke off a piece of the tub.

Simeon's tongue, pointed so that it was firm and hard, seemed longer than a tongue ought to be. It buzzed inside her, swooping up and down, in and out, driving her to the edge where she couldn’t keep track of him.

Don’t need to track him. Trust him. “Oh, God.” A low moan ripped through her, and Emily gave up and gave in, letting Simeon have her.

Simeon could feel her surrender, the way her body went limp and relaxed. In his limited experience, that meant orgasms had untied the ball of stress she carried. “Feeling good, baby?”

“Feeling amazing .”

She’s just giving in. Giving herself over to me. His fingers joined his tongue in their devotion, two slipping inside and aiming up high, dancing on a spot that could make her scream in pleasure. Make her beg. And when his lady asked, she would never be refused.

She wobbled off the ledge, and his supernatural strength kept her aloft as she reseated herself. His fingers took a sneaky detour from her soft pink insides and parted her cheeks, making sure his thumb circled on her puckered anus while concentrating on her clit.

She shivered and arched at the sensations he gave her, and he could feel her walls clamping down and her fingers digging into his scalp.

“More. More. Fuck, Simeon, more than your mouth, please!” Emily demanded in a hoarse voice, her head thrown back. Beads of sweat and steam dripped down between her breasts as she arched back.

“All you have to do is ask, princess.” Simeon rose out of the tub and pulled her up with him. Without speaking, she knew to work with him as he cupped her bottom and lifted. “Bed? Or here?”

Her hazy eyes focused and she swallowed a couple of times.

“I... I’m not sure what’s easier to clean up,” she whispered.

“Oh, pet. You don’t worry about that. I’ll clean you up.”

“I mean because—”

Simeon took the words she was nervous to say away from her. “Because you think you might bleed? Baby, that’s the best part of dating a vampire. I’ll take care of you. Of all of you.” He swallowed. “Want to know something?”

“What?”

“I was a virgin when I died. I’ve only ever made love as a vamp—and technically, never made love at all. Slept with. Fucked. Shagged. I’ve had a long time to learn, and want to know what I learned?”

“Hm?” she asked, mostly with her eyes, voice so small.

“That you’re already the best I’ve ever had, and I don’t want anything else.”

Emily curled her legs around his waist, knees digging in just above his hip bones as their mouths collided.

My naughty girl, sucking her own sweetness off my tongue, Simeon thought in an erotic haze, focusing on one naughty detail so he didn’t explode at the thought of what would happen when they lined up just right.

Simeon put down huge, velvety black towels from the bathroom on the enormous bed. He said it was because she was wet and shivering, but it was also his way of stopping Emily from worrying about staining the comforter.

She’s always the worrying type, with good reason. Wish I could reach inside and find the switch that turns her mind off for a bit. Just feel. Just enjoy.

His fingers were inside of her again as he laid beside her, kissing her. His mouth traveled to one of her perfectly plump breasts and started to trail down again, but Emily stopped him. Held him fast.

“Okay,” he whispered, reassuring them both. It’s time. She wants me. Gives me herself. “It might take a little time to feel good, okay? You tell me what you like as you figure it out, and then I’ll do it, all right, Emmy?”

She smiled at him suddenly, a beautiful, big smile. “Sounds good.”

Sounds good. Feels good. Wrapped in someone’s arms, being adored. Loved. His fingers were better at pleasuring her than her own, and it wasn’t fair that he made her a squirming wreck, a blushing, panting mess who was inching her hips up and down, fucking herself on his fingers. One of her hands came down to grip his cock, stroking him clumsily, then with more surety, loving the way his moans cracked and rippled.

“Nice and wet, baby,” he purred, two fingers lodged inside of her. “I can feel you squeezing me. Almost there.” His whisper against her neck made her adrenaline fight the pleasure.

What if he bit?

What the hell if he did?

I believe him. He’s not going to hurt me.

“Ready to try a bit bigger?” he whispered.

She nodded, letting go of his length, groaning softly when his fingers slid from her with a slick sound. She watched as he knelt over her for a few seconds, rubbing her wetness over his pearly pink-white tip. He lowered himself to her, lining up between her legs.

This is it. The plunge. The pain.

But it wasn’t. He was rubbing himself through her wetness without sliding in, the friction of his cock on her clit making them moan together. And then at last, when she thought he was just going to make her come by rubbing her overstimulated little bundle of nerves, he slid inside of her.

A long, steady, even glide that made her eyes water and shut at the stretch, but there was no pain. Just a stretch. And the more the stretch stayed—body spreading and widening around his cock, the more she liked it. The more she needed to squeeze on him. Move on him.

“God,” Simeon grunted out one word.

Emilly looked up at him, finally opening her eyes.

His face was a mix of divine suffering and bliss, some fallen angel out of marble torn between pain and pleasure.

“What’s wrong?” Was there blood? Was he trying not to bite?

“You feel amazing. I get to... I get to make love with my girl.” He looked down on her in awe, and the torture was gone. Only bliss was left.

Her hips moved forward and his answered at once, hard, too hard, making her squeak.

“Sorry! Carried away. You feel... Nothing has ever felt like this.”

Another shove of her hips, a gentler answering pulse. Simeon had supernatural strength. He held himself up easily over her with one arm and lifted his free hand to his mouth, licking his fingers as he looked into her eyes before bringing them to her pussy.

“Ahh,” Emily let out a breath, mouth falling open as he started to move inside of her while rubbing her clit.

“I’m going to make sure you feel good,” he promised.

His movements sped up and she let them, just enjoying the new sensations, pussy jumping and squeezing steadily. “Get closer,” she whispered, pulling his shoulders and bringing him to her chest. Her own hand slid between their bodies and rubbed, cheeks flooding with heat at the sodden, slippery mess of fluid where they joined together.

“You’re soaking. So wet for me. I want that. I want you to be even wetter.” He looked at her with love, but Emily saw the flash of red in his eyes, saw him lick his lips. “I want you wet enough that it flows down your thighs and I can chase the waterfall. Do you know there’s no part of you I wouldn’t run my tongue over, Emily? Do you know that you’re everything I’ve ever wanted, Van Helsing?”

“And you... You’re what I want. Shouldn’t have. But want. And you’re mine.” He had to be hers now. She’d let him in. She never let anyone in, and now that he was here... She couldn’t let go. Wouldn’t.

A ruby red glitter stayed and scared her for a fraction of a second before he grabbed her mouth with his. “Yes, Emily. I’m all yours.”

There was a missing, answering note that she was supposed to know, to say, but she didn’t. Couldn’t. Something suddenly burst in her, a different kind of pleasure, one that made her spine curl and her stomach muscles tense while her pussy spasmed in time to the rapid beating of her heart.

Simeon knew that answering call, she could tell by the savage twist of his head, the snarl that ripped from him as his hips suddenly thundered against hers and brought her to a second, shivering orgasm that was different from the first but no less exciting. This one left her staring wide eyed as he arched over, suddenly frozen except for the tremors coursing down his long, lean torso. Lukewarm wetness spread through her pussy, a flood of his juice joining hers.

“Simeon...” she wheezed.

“I love you, Emily.” Intense eyes, intense hands, grabbing her chin and her shoulder before he kissed her.

“Ohhh,” a soft wheeze escaped her when he moved to let her breathe.

“It was too fast, wasn’t it?” he whispered, worry in his eyes.

“No. No, it was so good. I want... I mean, I understand why people do it again and again.” Emily blushed.

“Mm. Agreed. Again and again.” Simeon buried his head against her neck, and his tongue tickled her pulse.

“But... We have to call. We have to figure this out. Because you’re mine. And I can’t lose you,” Emily whispered, holding him tight.

“I know. Not going anywhere. Well... Anywhere far.” Simeon rose to his knees, pulling out of her with a wet gush that made her half sit up. His ice white fingers held her forearms and she didn’t move—just watched as he kissed a path down to that soaking wet center.

Emily licked her lips. Should say something. Not going to .

“Oh, God.” she breathed out shakily as his tongue began to dance over her folds, lightly at first before diving in with those low, savage noises she’d only heard in battles. These were a gentler version—a hungry tiger, a big cat with a snarling purr.

“Ah!” A prickle of sharp fangs caressed her swollen folds.

“Sorry,” Simeon looked up at her with blood on his lips and a thoroughly debauched smile on his face.

He’s a monster. A vampire.

I’m in love with a monster—and the monster loves me.

Inner voices shouted at her to feel shame. Failure.

Simeon’s loud purrs as he slowly brought her to a third orgasm drowned them all out.