12. Nic

Chapter 12

I staggered back, away from Leia, one of my hands on her shoulder to ensure she didn't slide completely to the floor. I pressed my other hand to my neck, to the jagged wound my mate had created. A thin stream of blood trickled between my fingers, but that would stop soon enough, and my body would heal.

I looked at her, and she grinned sleepily. "Leia. What?" I had no coherent thoughts. "What was that?"

She shrugged. "It just… It felt right."

Holy fuck. Right? It had felt fucking amazing. I'd never let anyone drink from me before. Never wanted to. But now… I wanted her to do it again. Again and all the fucking time.

But no… No, we couldn't. Oh, shit. I scrubbed my palm over my face.

"Leia?"

She glanced up, her eyes sleepy and a little unfocused yet bright, like she'd drunk too much alcohol.

"What was that?" Maybe she didn't realize what she done… What she'd started.

Except… What she's started was perfect. She was turning. She'd requested it, and I hadn't stopped her. I'd let her. I wanted it, and in the moment, all my reasons and fear felt so silly. So meaningless in the face of what could be.

I didn't have to think or overthink now. The process was started, and perhaps that was for the best. Maybe this was the ultimate way to protect her in the inevitable battle to come.

It wasn't perfect… but what had really been holding me back besides fear? She hadn't been truly angry for a while now—not in a way that it was still a valid excuse.

Now, currently we had love and passion and desire… Wasn't that all we needed? Wasn't that why a man turned his mate? I had everything I'd been telling Leia we needed. We could just finish this now.

Perhaps it would be perfect.

Because who really defined perfection but the people chasing it?

I lifted Leia from the table and held her against me as I sank into the armchair. I just needed a moment. Both to come down from the unexpected exhilaration and to figure out what to do next.

Leia giggled a little. "Wow," she murmured.

I chuckled. Wow, indeed. But now there was a lot more to determine now. "Do you know what you started?"

In response, she flung her arms around my neck. "Can we do it again?"

My cock twitched at the idea Leia might bite me again. "We need to have a talk first." I smoothed her hair from her face and kissed her temple. We had to talk about finishing it.

Well, when I could get her to focus on me. Her attention was everywhere but where I needed it to be, and I chuckled at her.

"I didn't know it would feel like this…" She peered around the room like there were things only she could see. "Look at all the colors. Is everywhere always so bright?"

"Leia…" I almost sang her name in an effort to bring focus back to me.

When she did turn to meet my gaze, she gasped and pressed my cheeks between her palms. "When did you get so beautiful? You… You…?"

"Sparkle?" I supplied.

She laughed. "No. But you're amazing."

I laughed as well. "I think you're a little blood drunk." I paused as she leaned forward and pressed a quick kiss to my lips. "But Leia, there are some things we need to discuss."

She shrugged her shoulders in an elaborate but sloppy gesture. "Does this mean I'm not going to die?"

"What?" Again, I could only look at her. I didn't think I'd had chance to explain thralls… Had I inadvertently told her what she might become? Surely not. I had more self-control than to worry her like that. "What do you mean?"

She shrugged again. "The thrall thing. We both know it will kill me, right?"

I clasped her tighter to me. "I would never let you die."

And surely that was the truth. But when my two alternatives had been her death—either by being in thrall to me or by being so overtaken by anger she knew only bloodlust—what would I actually have done if she hadn't taken matters into her own hands? What could I have done?

"You wouldn't have died on my watch. You won't die." I couldn't let her. Particularly not now that we'd started the process that would turn her. But did she understand what had happened?

"Why did you bite me?" I tried to sound merely curious. Like her response didn't matter.

But it did matter. It really mattered.

She scrunched up her face like she was puzzled. "It just felt right. Like something my body did. I didn't think a whole lot about it."

I almost sighed my relief. She hadn't planned this—the true mate bond had driven it. The same true mate bond I felt, that was growing even now. Surely fate wouldn't allow for the true mate bond to trigger so completely if it would end badly?

It was another sign that the time was right for her turning at this very moment.

"Am I vampire now?" Her eyes were round and large as she looked around the room again then back at me. "Is that why everything feels so weird?"

I smiled down at her. "Sadly, no. It's not quite that easy."

"Then what?" She scrunched her face again, and I ran the tip of my forefinger down the bridge of her nose like I could smooth it out.

"We need to do it again."

"Oh, yeah." She looked beyond me, like she was remembering something. "He said…"

"Who said?"

She shook her head. "It doesn't matter."

But I already knew. Probably Sebastian had explained the process to her a little bit. But just the renewed thought of my brother sharing this with my mate made my gums ache and my claws appear with the need to rip out his throat.

"Nic?" Leia touched my face and peered closer at me, like she was examining my eyes. "Are you okay?"

I nodded. "Yes." Then I shook my head as I made my decision. "But we need to finish this process."

"Hmm?" She was engrossed in playing with my hair, ruffling the short strands forward and back with her fingers. "Finish what?"

"Turning you."

She stopped her movement then twisted to me almost in slow motion. "What?"

I used her shrug from earlier. Casual, loose, sloppy. Lazy. "We've started to turn you, and we can't walk that back, so we need to finish. Are you okay with that?"

She nodded. "Yes, I just didn't think… right then." And she tilted her neck for me. "Do you go first or do I go first?"

I laughed again. "No, not here." I couldn't let the backdrop of refrigerators humming be the soundtrack in my mind when I thought of turning Leia.

"My room?" She lifted an eyebrow.

"Mine is closer." I grinned at her, and she smiled back, although her cheeks pinked.

"You sure you're okay?" I checked in with her again, although her obvious embarrassment was cute.

"Yes." She nodded. "I think maybe this was the way it was supposed to be."

Before we had chance to think any further, I carried her from the room and down the hall. Her heart rate increased until it was the only thing I could hear—and it called to me in a way it had never done before.

Anticipation of what was to come chased me all the way to my bed, where I laid her down and just looked at her for a moment. She was an exquisite work of art created just for me.

Hell, I was old. So old, some days I didn't want to put a number on it anymore. And I'd been alone for a long time. Leia had brought an end to all of that, and tonight I'd make her mine forever.

My anticipation became a full case of anxiety, like I was an untried youth. What the hell was I doing? Would I get this right? I'd done many things over my lifetime. But never this.

I almost didn't know what to do first. Lie down with her? Remove my shirt? My pants? Undress her? So many choices… So many things to get wrong. I should have laid her on the bed. I should have stood her with me, started more naturally.

Well, fuck. Now I actually looked like I didn't know how this part went. I'd turned people before. Just never my mate. I'd never cared so much about an outcome, about preserving the things I loved most about her humanity even as she changed.

Before I could overthink it anymore, Leia sat up.

"Nic?"

"Yes?"

"Are you okay?" She climbed from the bed and walked to me before raising her arms and clasping her hands loosely behind my neck. "Do you need a hand with anything?"

She grinned as mischief lit her gaze, and she pressed herself suggestively against me.

My cock jerked, and I closed my eyes briefly. When I opened them, I tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear.

"I think I've got everything under control," I murmured before I bent toward her and took her lips in a gentle kiss.

Leia was eager and would have intensified the moment right away, but I wanted this slow and right. It was the first and only time for both of us. I kept the pressure of my mouth light and teasing. But there was also something earnest because this was the start of a promise. My promise to honor her every day of our lives.

I broke off briefly. "I love you," I murmured.

She winked. "I know."

Then she pressed her lips against mine again and flicked her tongue against the closed seam. I resisted at first, but she was insistent, and finally I opened my mouth, slipping my tongue out to tangle with hers before allowing her entry.

She made a soft sound of contentment, and I grinned. May she always be so easy to please. Her kisses were everything—soft and gentle, and other times firm or even commanding when she wanted to take the lead, and I surrendered to her. We had an immortal lifetime to play.

I hadn't done much but pull my pants back up in my blood room, and my shirt still hung open. Her hands found my chest, her palms smoothing over my skin. My heart beat wildly beneath her touch, but if she knew, she didn't say anything.

She pushed my shirt from my shoulders, and I let it fall to the floor behind me as Leia kissed along the edge of my jaw. Small, wet kisses, where her tongue darted out every so often to send an electric charge through me. She drifted the kisses down my neck, paying extra attention to the still-healing bite she'd created, and I tensed as she flicked her tongue over it, like I'd done to her so many times to quicken healing. Soon, she'd have that power. She continued downward, holding my hips for balance as she kissed from my collarbone to my sternum and down over my heart toward my abs.

As she traveled lower, she sank to her knees in front of me, and I caught my breath. She brushed her hand against the bulge of my cock as it strained at my pants now, desperate for her attention. I wove my fingers into her hair, but not for domination, just to reassure myself she was there.

"Nic?" My name was a request for permission and I nodded.

"Please."

She unfastened my pants and teased my zipper open, freeing my cock. For a moment, he just looked at it. Then she kissed the underside of the head before looking at it again. She began by licking around the head then the length, and she used one hand to shove my pants out of the way so she could cup my balls and roll them gently in her palm. She rose up a little higher and took the fleshy end of my dick into her mouth, her tiny teeth barely noticeable, but the threat of a bite was there, and I shivered at the trust and intimacy of Leia kneeling before me with my cock in her mouth.

It was an act of worship, and I tugged on her hair a little as she bobbed her head, taking more of me into her mouth. Every time she pressed back down, she took a little more, and the hand on my balls moved so she could wrap her fingers around the base of my cock so she could stroke the remainder of my shaft.

There were too many sensations to experience them all, and pleasure blocked most of the rest of them out, anyway. I watched Leia until she turned her gaze to me, and the sight of my cock moving in and out of her mouth was almost too much.

I drew away. "I don't want to finish like that."

The mischief returned to her gaze. "And could you?"

I nodded. Hell, yeah, I could've, but not today. "One day," I murmured, as I helped her stand and pressed my lips to hers again as I took hold of the hem of her T-shirt and lifted it upward, skimming her ribs and delicate, lacy bra.

I teased my fingertip over the fabric, and circled the darker areola before bending forward and sucking her nipple into my mouth. It pushed against the fabric, and I tapped against it with my tongue.

Her hands were in my hair this time, her nails pressed to my scalp as her breathing became irregular. I reached behind her to undo her bra, and it fell away from her body, revealing her to me.

I inhaled sharply. "Beautiful," I murmured before leaning forward to toy with her nipples with my tongue again.

My hands were on her hips, but when she wobbled, I lifted her and put her back on the bed before shedding the rest of my clothes completely and joining her. I kissed her again, taking my time as I moved my lips over hers.

I skimmed my hands over her body, savoring her warm skin, then followed the path I'd created with my mouth, pressing soft kisses to her as I moved downward. She wriggled a little.

"Nic?" Her voice was a question.

"Shh," I whispered. "Let me take my time."

She sighed as I repositioned myself lower down the bed, and lifted one of her feet. I restarted my kissing at her ankle before moving up her lower leg and the side of her knee. She froze as my lips touched the inside of her thigh, not even breathing for a moment.

"Leia?" I needed to make sure she was okay with this.

When she didn't answer, I glanced along her body to find her watching me, her eyes wide.

I nuzzled my cheek against her soft skin. "Is this all right?"

She nodded, and I smiled then continued my kisses, lapping against her with my tongue and hearing her breathing hitch as I worked my way higher. I waited a moment for her to relax, and when she parted her thighs, I grinned against her. It was a small movement, but it was permission and acceptance all in one.

I probed gently forward with my fingers and a groan rumbled through me. "You're so wet, Leia." And she smelled fucking amazing.

I circled my forefinger around her clit and she moved against me, undulating slightly, setting the rhythm she wanted me to follow. But I wanted to tease her a little more first.

"Not so fast." I chuckled softly. "I'm not finished taking my time."

I kissed higher up her thigh before replacing my finger with my tongue and sucking her clit into my mouth.

She gasped and arched her back, offering all of herself to me.

I nudged a finger inside her, and she moaned, the sound vibrating right through her. When I glanced at her, her eyes were closed, her cheeks flushed, her hair a cascade of soft brown as she raised her arms above her head, elongating her body. She looked like a queen.

My queen.

I lapped over her with my tongue again as I moved my finger in and out of her body before adding a second.

"Nic." She brought one of her hands to my head. "Nic, I want you."

I stopped what I was doing so I could reply. "Are you sure?"

She nodded, and the sound of her movement rustling against the pillows filled the room like a soft whisper. Everything this woman did invaded my senses. My body was already tuned to her. Her heartbeat echoed through me like I'd acquired a second one, and her excitement seemed to thrum through me, too.

I moved back up her body, kissing as I went again, until we were face to face. "Hi."

"Hi," she replied, the word barely a breath.

I kissed her again. I'd never tire of kissing her. She parted her thighs wider beneath me then wrapped her legs over my hips. I nudged forward, easing into her slowly, stretching her body as I pushed in. I stopped for a moment, waiting for her to signal she was happy to continue, but mostly because I wanted to enjoy this moment.

I drew back out before entering farther, then again, as I tested my self-restraint and control. My instincts screamed at me to slam into her, to take what was mine, but this was too special to do anything but go slow and remember every moment.

Leia gasped as I set a steady rhythm, thrusting in and out of her body. She caressed my neck with her fingers, lingering over the nearly healed bite marks she'd created the first time, breaking my rhythm as her touch sent a jolt of desire through me.

"Who bites first?" she whispered.

I shook my head and chuckled. "I don't think it matters as long as we each have the blood of the other in our mouths at the same time."

"Can I?" she sounded hesitant, but the memory of her first bite thickened my cock, and I nodded.

I lowered my head, offering my neck to her, and she anchored her fingers in my hair. When she bit me, there was no hesitation, and immediate euphoria surged through me. A growl rumbled through my chest as something primal took over. I moved more rapidly inside Leia, and the soft sound of her sucking and swallowing was the most arousing thing I'd ever heard.

She released me as suddenly as she'd bitten down, throwing her head back as her body tightened and pulsed around mine, squeezing my cock rhythmically inside her.

My mouth was on her neck immediately, and I pierced into the skin just above her pulse, inhaling the familiar, floral scent of her skin as the first drop of her blood touched my tongue.

She gasped and her body tightened in waves again.

With the taste of her on my tongue and reaction to our blood exchange, I couldn't hold back. I gave one last thrust and held still, her blood running down my throat as I released inside her. I'd never felt anything like it. I crushed my lips to hers, our tongues sliding together, mixing our breaths and our blood as I rode the wave of exhilaration.

It was everything I'd never known I was missing.

Leia was fully mine at last.