Rebirth Read online

  The vision in front of him placed her hands on her stomach. He placed his hands over hers. Her eyes flew open in question.

  “Don’t like my dance?”

  “I like it a lot.”

  She needed only to glance down to see the truth of his words. His cock had grown so hard, it tented his khakis. “I just want to participate.”

  “You want to take my clothes off me.”

  “I do.” He nodded even as he became aware that he’d scented something else besides her clean smell. After two hundred years, he could all but ignore the call of blood except when he needed to eat. He’d fed recently. Tonight should have been about sex alone. Maybe it only illustrated excitement at finding Dorika’s soul after all the time that had passed.

  In any case, his fangs wanted to taste her. Or, he amended, I want to.

  Cursing, he let go of her and stalked to the window. Control. He needed it right that second. If he lost it, he’d also lose the chance to be with her forever. He had to appear human until she knew him, knew he would never harm her, that even if he took her blood it would not cause her one second of pain.

  His unknowing soul mate walked softly behind him.

  She caressed his back, her hands stroking his muscles. Her touch did nothing to ease the rise of his erection or the stirring need to feed from her.

  “Why don’t we start again?”

  If only such things were possible. He laughed, a bitter sound to his own ears. No one got a second chance. Not really. She squeezed his shoulder and using every bit of self-will he possessed, he kept his canines from elongating as he moved to regard her.

  “I’m Carly Penn.” She held out her hand. “Do you want to have a one-night stand with me or shall we just talk?”

  “Carly Penn.” He hadn’t heard her last name before. “I’m Agoston Barabás. Everyone has called me Gus. My whole life, in fact. Even my mother called me Gus, and her family considered that very odd indeed.” She placed her hand in his and they shook like new acquaintances. “I’m sorry if I did this wrong. I’m usually much better at casual encounters.”

  Because nothing about this could ever be considered casual to me. Never again.

  “It’s the accent.” She grinned. “Must make the ladies hot. What is it?”

  “Hungarian. I am originally from Hungary. Although I’ve traveled around a lot since then.”

  She sat down on the chair by the window, regarding him silently for a moment. “My brother is a werewolf so I’m not a fool about these things. What are you really, Gus? Because being in this room with you right now, all of my paranormal mojo bells are going off big time.”

  Chapter Two

  Carly had to give credit to Madame Eve. If she had paranormal clients running around in her database, giving one to Carly had been a stroke of genius. She could deal with it, unless, of course, he shifted into something yucky like a rat or a spider. Then she’d need to call off the night before it even began.

  “I have to say, I am intrigued by your question.” He raised his hands in a questioning gesture. “What gave me away?”

  He appeared so dark and mysterious, exactly the type she would have picked out of a catalog if she’d been allowed to put together her perfect physical specimen of a man. Not to mention, something about him called to her emotionally.

  In her current state, she had wanted fast and dirty without too much talking. Instead, she’d gotten a man who seemed to like to converse. She swallowed. That could be good or bad.

  “I’m not sure. I just know. Like you knew what I did for a living. I have a sixth sense for these things, ever since Joe became a werewolf.”

  His eyes blazed. “Werewolves can be fine when they control themselves. Otherwise, they can act like vile, horrible creatures.”

  “My brother was a vile, horrible creature before he became a werewolf—it was called puberty. The werewolf problem actually mellowed him out a bit.”

  Gus snorted, a sound she wouldn’t have expected. She grinned, loving that she’d both amused and surprised him.

  Why does he draw me like this? It seemed like she’d known him before and she knew that couldn’t be. She would have remembered meeting him.

  “I’m a vampire.”

  Okay. She stood up. Vampire? That was preposterous. Shifters changing from humans to animals and back again, that she could accept. She’d seen it. Even believed in demons and angels since now didn’t seem the time to question what happened after death, considering she would soon be crossing over into that world. But vampires?

  “That’s a very popular thing to be right now. Very hip with the teenage market.”

  Gus nodded. “So I have heard, although I have not seen any of those movies.”

  “I think they were books first.”

  “Naturally.”

  She put her hands on her hips. “You’re a vampire. For real?”

  He nodded. “Why would you doubt it?”

  “Maybe because you don’t look like a vampire?”

  “Really?” He didn’t hide a small smile and it made him appear younger, less burdened. “How should a vampire come across?”

  “I don’t know. If fiction is to be believed, it should be somewhere between gruesome and glittery.”

  “I’m glad I don’t fit into either of those categories although there is a world between them, wouldn’t you say?” He stepped toward her and she watched, transfixed, as two fangs protruded from his mouth. “Believe me now?”

  “I do.” She swallowed, her heart pounding hard against her ribs. Madame Eve would never have sent her there with someone who would cause her harm. Unless, of course, the other woman didn’t know. “Are you intending to hurt me with those two very long teeth?”

  He shook his head, his eyes becoming even darker than their near-cobalt color. “Never.” His fangs retracted. “I have not killed in almost two hundred years.”

  She probably wouldn’t live thirty-nine years and the man had lived that long? Life wasn’t tit-for-tat, she knew that, but still the idea that he’d been on the earth seeing and doing so much for so long made her own existence seem even shorter.

  “But you, ah, killed before that?” The room heated up to the point of sweltering. With the need to move suddenly pivotal, she walked to the small bar that sat against the wall on the other side of the room. “Would you like some water? I need a drink.”

  He sighed. “I would not have told you yet about my being a vampire had you not asked. I do not want you to fear me.”

  “I’m not afraid, simply overwhelmed.” With shaky hands, she poured a glass of water from the pitcher into a small cup. For the moment she’d assume nerves caused her dry mouth, and not the big C. Not tonight. She insisted on having the night free of that kind of worry.

  “Overwhelmed by me? I thought you were used to the paranormal?”

  “I am.” She faced him. “Just the furry variety of it.”

  “I’m not furry.” His voice was low, sultry. As he traveled toward her, his steps seemed to glide over the carpet. Her mouth dried again. She’d have to get another glass of water. Fast. “I’ve waited for you. I know you don’t understand what I mean by that quite yet, but you will. You should fear nothing from me. I wish to give you pleasure.”

  “Oh, don’t get me wrong. I want the pleasure. I’m just not sure I want the biting and the blood sucking. And you said you haven’t killed anyone in a long while. Presumably, you killed before that. What if you slipped up?”

  And why did she care so much? Death was charging in her direction either way. Maybe death by vampire would be a preferable way to go.

  He rubbed his thumbs across her cheeks. “I won’t. I promise you. My mouth will cause you no pain.”

  As if to prove his point, he leaned over and kissed her, caressing her with his lips. She shuddered all the way from her head to her toes, melting against him. Before that second, she’d always thought it cliché. People didn’t actually melt. Now she knew the truth and clichés could be gloriou
s.

  He pulled her even closer, his hard cock pressing against her. Apparently vampire men get turned on exactly like human men. She squirmed until her hand slipped between them and stroked his hard length through his pants. He groaned and power surged through her veins. A creature of the night who had lived for thousands of years had given her control over him. A girl could get a big head from such a thing.

  He hissed, dragging his mouth from hers to lick the side of her neck, always a sensitive spot for her. She shivered. Her clothes suddenly became too burdensome and she wanted them off.

  “Gus, undress me.”

  Pulling back, he grinned. “As my lady commands.”

  His big, strong hands tugged at her sweater until he yanked it over her head. She’d never much cared for the foreplay associated with having sex. She’d always been more of a ‘let’s get to the completion of this so you can go home’ kind of a person. However, as he stared with what seemed like wonder at her breasts, she thought she might dissolve into a puddle on the floor.

  “Do you like this bra?”

  She couldn’t remember which one she’d worn. Glancing down, she saw she’d put on a plain black cotton bra. Good for comfort but not so horrendously ugly she’d have to worry about her date thinking he’d been given a dud. “It’s fine.” She narrowed her eyes, not following his train of thought. “Why?”

  “I wish to tear it from your body.”

  She gulped. “Really? You could do that?”

  “I am very strong.”

  She got giddy at the thought that he could be so aggressive and so controlled at the same time. Where had this side of her personality come from? Certainly, she’d never seen it before. “Do it.”

  With a sly smile, he ripped the front of her bra. She heard a snap seconds before it dropped from her body. Her large breasts fell down onto her chest. He dangled the bra from his index finger like he’d found a new toy he didn’t intend to lose.

  “That didn’t take any effort on your part.”

  “None.” He scooped her up in his arms and in two strides had her beneath him on the bed.

  Clearly, he didn’t lie. She traced her fingers up and down the lean, well-defined muscles through his shirt. He needed to be undressed. At least as naked as she had become. It seemed only fair.

  “I want your shirt off.” She yanked at it and finally he got it over his head. Her hands hadn’t deceived her. He looked like some kind of male swimsuit model. Her own not-fat-but-not-quite-flat stomach didn’t compare.

  “What?” He stroked the side of her face until she stared up at him.

  “You are so much more beautiful than me.”

  “Nonsense.” His hand traveled down her throat, past her breasts to her stomach. “You look like every fantasy I have had in the last thousand years. Your body screams sex and all I want to do is obey its instructions.”

  The last thing she should care about at that juncture was her appearance, but Gus’s words did make her smile. Why did she want to please him so much?

  Instead of answering, she kissed him hard. He met her mouth with his own intensity as one of his hands stroked her nipple.

  Between his thumb and his index finger, he began a slow, sensual assault on her breast. She writhed beneath him. Never had she been so hot and still partially dressed. Her panties were soaking wet and all the vampire had done so far was touch her.

  Gus had never felt more like a sixteen-year-old novice than he did right then. Not even when he’d been sixteen. The woman made him crazy. He wanted to be inside of her, and he wanted it right that second. Many lifetimes had taught him patience, and he relied on all of those life lessons more than he ever had before.

  “Has anyone ever told you that you smell fantastic?” Really? I say the most asinine things.

  “No. Did anyone ever tell you that you smell like sandalwood?”

  He shook his head. At least she didn’t seem to mind the stupidity flowing out of him. In fact, her eyes were heated with passion. He didn’t usually pray, but he asked the universe to help him keep her that way.

  “Pants.”

  He blinked. Apparently the ability to follow conversations had left him, which was no surprise considering how hard his cock had gotten. “What?”

  “We need to take off your pants.” She grinned.

  “And your skirt.” Yes, she needed to be naked. Immediately, if not sooner.

  “That would be necessary for us to continue this. Assuming you want to.”

  “Are you kidding?” He kissed her again, loving the softness of her lips. She smelled like cinnamon and tasted like cherries. Two favorite flavors that he remembered. It had been a very long time since he’d eaten.

  The fabric of her silk skirt didn’t hold a candle to the softness of her skin beneath his hands. In all of his years, he had never touched anything as delicate as Carly. Yet he had no doubt she also possessed steel, saw it in her dark depths. The woman had the heart of a warrior.

  “I kind of thought you might want to continue.”

  He grinned. When had he last been so happy? “You’d be correct.”

  Gus pulled at the waistband of her skirt until he’d removed it. Her legs were long and slender, shapely and sexy in all the right places. He ran his hands down them—they would be his new plaything.

  She wore black satin panties. He squirmed, anxious to get them off her so he could revel in what he would find beneath them.

  “No. Not until I get you undressed, too. We’re going to be naked together.”

  “If you insist.” He wanted that too, if only because he’d be inside of her that much faster.

  “Let me help you.” She tried to move but he stopped her.

  “No. You stay just like that, spread out before me like a package I’m dying to open.”

  Her cheeks turned a delicious shade of pink. “I don’t usually like to be vulnerable.”

  He raised an eyebrow as he removed his pants. “But now you do?”

  “I keep having the strangest sensation like I know you from somewhere, even though that’s not possible.”

  At some point, he had to tell her why she experienced that sensation. Somehow, he’d find the ability to explain how they had known each other, how her soul had once belonged to him. But not right then. No, he had other more pressing concerns, mostly including losing himself in her sweet warmth. That and making sure his fangs stayed right where they belonged—inside his mouth. Never before had the need to bite—to claim—been such a desperate urge during sex.

  “You are so beautiful. I almost don’t know what to do with you.”

  She laughed, a low guttural sound that spoke of sex and power. “I’m sure you’ll remember shortly. You are rather beautiful yourself. Are all the undead as handsome as you?”

  He shook his head. “I don’t know if I’m beautiful or not, but I can assure you that there are plenty of vampires out there who I would certainly not classify that way.”

  Her eyes sparkled. “Then I guess I really lucked out that Madame Eve gave you to me for the night.”

  Overwhelmed with gratitude to whatever force had brought them together, he found he couldn’t put his feelings to words. “Yeah, how about that?”

  He touched her undies and she didn’t stop him. With one finger, he glided the silk down her legs until she no longer wore them. Like a man possessed, he traced from her big toe to her thigh until he reached her pussy and nearly stopped breathing.

  She was completely hairless. He knew women in this time period waxed or shaved, but seeing her bald…. Never had a more erotic sight existed. Fear made him dig his fingertips into his palm.

  “Gus?”

  “Sorry, I became momentarily transfixed by you.” His fangs threatened to erupt again and he pushed them back. “You are so unbelievable.”

  “I like how I affect you. I have to admit, it’s a real ego boost.”

  His rock hard cock had become unbearable. Freeing himself from his briefs, he laid on top of her. Rea
ching between them, he stroked her, starting on the outside of her bare pussy and moving inward until he stroked her clit. He played with the small bundle of nerves rolling it between his thumb and index finger.

  She closed her eyes. “Oh, God. Yes.”

  He wanted to give her whatever she desired. She leaned up to kiss him and he captured her pleasure in his mouth. She tasted like passion. Her hand captured his erection and she stroked him from balls to tip.

  Together, they pleasured each other until she cried, “Please, Gus, no more. I want you inside of me. I want to feel you now.”

  “I want to make you come like this first.”

  She writhed beneath him. He wanted to give her multiple orgasms, he would do so. He added another finger in her hot core and she came apart.

  When she finally opened her eyes, her gaze spoke of heat and determination. “You’re a bully. Did you know that?”

  He laughed, joy infusing his soul. “Do you mind?”

  “Not in this case.” She emphasized her point by squeezing his balls. He groaned, grateful to whatever strength he still possessed that he didn’t spill in her hand. “But payback will be a bitch. Later.”

  “After I have had my chance to be inside of you, I will not object to any retribution you wish to make.”

  “Like I’d give you any chance to complain.” Her tone told him she expected him to obey when the time came. He’d walk over hot stones for her—no small sacrifice considering fire had the unfortunate ability to end his life.

  Kissing her nose, her forehead, her chin, he rose above her until he was positioned at her hot center. “Ready?”

  “More than.”

  With one thrust, he entered her. Her muscles clenched around him, welcoming him home. She cried out, a word he didn’t recognize, like a combination of a curse and an oath.

  He whispered in her ear. “Okay?”

  “Yes.” She rose up to gently bite his throat. He groaned, it too closely resembled what he wanted to do to her neck. But it spurred him into action.

  He rammed, in and out, and she met each thrust, grasping and milking him, absorbing the very essence of their lovemaking.