Claimed by the Immortal (The Claiming) (21 page)

Again her eyes widened. “Damien...”

“I can stop, but I don’t want to,” he answered.

She looked at him, drowsy, inflamed, unsure, but then her eyes fluttered closed.

He whipped her again, harder, and a deep groan escaped her. With each flick of leather, he throbbed himself, in time with her pleasure, feeling her need grow. He didn’t know how much longer he would be able to hold out himself, but that was the point.

* * *

Caro could scarcely believe she was allowing herself to be whipped in this most intimate fashion, but disbelief gave way quickly to the incredible pleasure every stroke of that leather brought her. Stinging, yet good, carrying her to a place beyond thought and time until all that existed was the ache he kept building with every stroke. Her internal clenching grew painful, more painful than the strokes of that whip. At any moment she would...

Then he stopped. Before she registered that the stinging slaps were gone, she felt his fingers on her, stroking her, slipping inside her, feeding her frenzy with contrasting gentleness. Again and again he just barely rubbed her, opened her, then pulled away.

The next thing she realized, his mouth was on her, licking her every fold repeatedly, dancing around the most delicate bundle of nerves, a bundle that was begging for him. She felt his tongue enter her and arched up against him, wanting him deeper, wanting more, needing more, and desperate for any way he chose to give it to her.

She could no longer tell where she was, where she ended and he began. She existed out of time, in some place where there was nothing at all but passion, need, hunger, desire.

“Damien,” she heard herself groan as if from a distance. “Please...” Never before in her life had she begged.

She gasped as she felt him nip her clitoris, a pleasure-pain so intense she felt as if she had been launched from a catapult.

He murmured something and then, at last, he slid up over her, sliding into her all too ready and wet depths, filling her body, filling her soul. He pumped into her, slowly at first, giving her a chance to fully enjoy the feelings of union.

But then he speeded up, carrying her away, erasing everything from her mind but the point at which their bodies joined, making her forget everything except that intense concentration of feeling.

Up, up, until she could no longer catch her breath. Then with one deep thrust, he caused her to shatter into a million flaming pieces as if she had fallen right into the sun.

Stars exploded behind her eyelids, her body gave one last huge clench and then she fell into empty space, drifting as light as feather down.

Chapter 13

C
aro returned to reality slowly. She discovered she was unbound and wrapped in Damien’s naked body as he cradled her close.

When she opened her eyes, the view over his shoulder told her the time. Nearly three in the morning? She felt a little shock, as she had certainly not been aware of how many hours had passed.

Her movement drew his attention. “Are you all right?” he asked.

“I’ve never been better,” she admitted frankly. “That was something else.”

A quiet laugh escaped him.

“Did it work?” she asked.

“On which level?”

“Power?”

“Oh, definitely.” He moved a little away from her and held up his arm. “See?”

Indeed she could. Those crackles of electricity she had before seen only around his fingers now danced along his entire arm. They vanished when he lowered it and drew her back into his embrace.

“Now reach out,” he suggested. “See if you’ve been enhanced.”

She did. It grew easier every time, and moments after she closed her eyes and sent her senses forth, she gasped. “I can see through Jude’s wards now.”

“It worked,” he said quietly. “We combined to create greater power in us both.”

“We combined to have one helluva time.”

He laughed, one of those rare laughs it always made her so happy to hear. “That we did,” he agreed.

Much as she didn’t want to move a muscle yet, much as she wanted to stay wrapped in him and savor the afterglow, she said, “We need to go hunting.”

“Indeed we do, but I’m not sure there are enough hours left. So relax a little while longer.”

“I thought you said this would take only a couple of hours.”

“Usually. But I wanted to share it all with you, and take my time. Are you angry?”

“Angry? How could I be after the most amazing experience of my life?”

“You make me happy,
Schatz.
Very happy. Thank you.”

“No, thank
you.
” She snuggled in closer, telling herself that if they didn’t have time tonight, they didn’t have time. He would know. “Will our power weaken by tomorrow?”

“No, it’ll last at least a few days. We’ll be as strong tomorrow night as right now. Ready to face a bokor.”

“So we won’t need to repeat this?”

Again he laughed. “We can repeat this anytime you want.”

That sounded suspiciously like a promise, but she warned herself not to take it that way. He’d already said he couldn’t give her what she wanted, that he would be returning to Cologne. She refused to think about losing him, though, because the mere thought of it made her heart ache.

Oh, crap, had she gone and given her heart to a vampire who didn’t want it?
No,
she assured herself. That wasn’t possible. It couldn’t have happened so quickly. No way.

No, she was just feeling the afterglow of the best sexual experience of her life. She was so very glad she hadn’t allowed fear to hold her back. Who would have thought that she’d respond in such a way to being bound and whipped?

The memory of the gentle whipping between her legs made her cheeks heat a little. No, that thought would never have entered her head. And now that she knew how it could make her feel, she was going to want a lot more of it. A lot.

Too bad Damien and his clever little whip would be leaving. Especially since she didn’t know if she’d ever be able to give anyone that much trust again.

She certainly couldn’t imagine having done this with anyone in her past.

Damien had opened entire new worlds to her in a short space of time, and as she rested against him, she honestly wondered what had happened to the woman who had wanted nothing more than to become a detective.

That Caro seemed to have vanished. She hoped it was only temporary, because after Damien left she was going to have to pick up the pieces of her real life. She certainly wasn’t going to become one of those women who ran shops full of esoterica simply because she had discovered the powers her grandmother had always told her she had.

But maybe she could find ways to use her newfound skills to solve crimes. At least then it might be easier to handle.

Jude seemed to make a business of this kind of thing. Maybe she could help him as she had time.

Then she realized she was planning for Damien’s departure. Her throat ached and her chest grew tight. She didn’t want to think about that now, didn’t want to be planning it. There was time left, and if she were smart, she’d set her sights on enjoying every last bit of it.

“
Schatz?
What saddened you?”

“Nothing.”

“I can smell it,” he reminded her.

“Damn your nose. It was just a passing thought. Nothing important.”

Without even looking at him she could tell he didn’t really believe her. She could almost feel him deciding whether to question her further. Maybe her senses
were
growing.

“If you’re worried about another death,” he said slowly, “we can at least hunt for the bokor tonight, although I’m not at all certain we’ll find him in time to confront him. Sadly, I have a limitation at dawn. It’d be very bad to get into the middle of the fight and then have to quit, giving him another day to prepare after he knows what he’s up against.”

“I get it,” she admitted reluctantly. “No, I see the point.”

“Then?”

“Nothing. Truly nothing.” Because there was no way she was going to admit how much she wanted him to stay for a long, long time. How little she wanted to give him up.

He’d not only shown her new worlds, but he’d filled some emptiness in her that she hadn’t even known existed until him.

But what was that emptiness? Not having a lover? Not acknowledging her powers? Or a combination of both? She supposed she would get her answer only when he left.

“You know,” he said, distracting her from her morose line of thought, “I’d believed I lost my powers.”

“Really?” She tipped her face back to look at him. “Why?”

“Because I hadn’t been able to summon them for so long. I thought perhaps centuries of being a vampire had caused them to wane. Then when I’d been near you for a few days, I could feel them start to come back. I think it was being near your powers that reawakened mine.”

“Awesome. But I don’t have that much power.”

“You have a great deal more than you yet know. Since I met you I sensed it. Apart from your beauty, it was one of the first things to engage my attention. It was at a low level, to be sure, but it was there. You have no idea how long it’s been since I met someone with innate power.”

“There must be others. What about this bokor?”

“I don’t know if his power is innate, or something he’s built through spells and practice. There’s a difference. People like you just have it, whether you ever use it or not. I was like that once. Apparently I am again, thanks to you.”

“I’d feel a whole lot happier if I knew how to direct and use these powers. Right now it’s hit and miss. I’m never sure of what I’m doing or whether it’s right.”

“Close your eyes.”

She did so, wondering why.

“Now imagine this power of yours as a light at your very center. See it. Feel its heat.”

She tried, and gradually she could clearly envision a white flame at her center. And little by little she felt its warmth.

“Some need spells and incantations,” he said quietly. “Some use them for focus. Some use them to call upon powers they don’t have themselves but can summon. A mage like you needs no spells. In fact, you can make your very own if you concentrate. So now imagine that light flowing down your arm and out of your fingers. Feel it.”

It took a while.

“Don’t try too hard—you can stymie it. It’s part of you like your blood. Let it flow.”

As soon as he said “Let it flow,” something in her seemed to shift and click into place. She lifted her arm a bit and felt the warm light moving down it to her fingertips.

“You see?” he asked.

She opened her eyes and nearly gasped when she saw faint white light shooting from her fingertips. “Oh...” she breathed.

“Now think of it doing something, preferably innocuous.”

She saw one of the candles still burning on her dresser. Pointing her finger at it, she imagined the light snuffing the flame. At once the candle went out.

“I can do it!” Amazement filled her.

“Your grandmother was right. You’re a powerful mage, Caro. Try something else.”

So she pointed her finger at her dresser again, and thought of the top drawer opening. At first she feared she would fail, but then, jerkily, the drawer pulled out.

“Woohoo!” An excited cry escaped her.

Damien laughed and hugged her close. For a moment she luxuriated in the embrace, but questions remained. “What about the bokor?” she asked. “What do I do when we meet him?”

“It’s simple,
Schatz.
I’ll fight him because I have the experience. What I need you to do is see the darkness that’s gathered around him, and imagine your light extinguishing it.”

“That sounds easy enough.”

“It’s never easy when power meets power.” His voice had grown deadly serious. “Don’t go in there tomorrow night thinking any of it will be easy. Whether this bokor has powers of his own or has simply summoned them, there will be a fight and we could lose. He clearly has a lot of experience, too.”

The warning sobered her. “Should I be scared?”

“It’s never wise to go into this afraid. Fear weakens us. But yes, things could go wrong. Very wrong.”

She thought about that. “Well, that’s not so very different from being a cop. Every time I make a traffic stop or answer a call, things could go wrong. I’m used to that.”

He ran his hand down her back, a cool touch. She liked the cool silkiness of his skin and caresses. Not cold, not icy, just cool. She wiggled closer and he sighed.

“Your warmth is like heaven to me,” he said. “Like heaven.”

So she wrapped herself even more closely around him, as if she could surround him in her warmth. It seemed to her, really, that she had little enough to offer him. He had powers she could barely imagine, he had abilities beyond the human and he was sexy with every breath he took. The world must be his for the asking.

“So I’m just food,” she said finally, because some aching, worried part of her needed to know.

“You insult me.”

“I do?” She couldn’t hide a spurt of irritation.

“You do. I may be a predator, I may need human blood to survive, but there’s more to me than a jungle cat. I give thanks for every gift of blood. As for you...”

He suddenly rolled her over so that he lay on top of her. “As for you,” he said, dipping for a quick kiss, “you’re far more than food to me. Far more. I like you. I like being with you. I like arguing with you. In fact, I like you too damn much for the good of either of us.”

With that she had to be content, she supposed. At least he wasn’t just after her blood, as he so amply proved in the next hour as he made love to her all over again, this time without bonds, this time without ceremony or ritual. This time he held her still only by gripping her wrists gently.

He still managed to carry her to the stars as he united them in the mystery of love.

* * *

Caro collapsed on the couch at Jude’s office, having agreed to do nothing foolish during the day. Chloe greeted that promise with a snort, but Caro ignored her. Tonight they would face the bokor. That was enough to keep her in line until later. Regardless of her promise to Damien, she knew for a fact that she had no intention of taking any unnecessary risk until the right time.

Chloe ordered them some breakfast, and remarked that Caro looked exhausted.

“Just sleepy. I was up all night.”

“Why do I find that easy to believe? Vampires.” But her tone was teasing. “Actually, I’m going to need some sleep today, too, since I gather tonight is the night. Jude will want everyone on deck.”

Caro hesitated. “What’s your view of working with a vampire? Or living with one.”

“Uh-oh,” Chloe said.

“What
uh-oh?
”

“Another one bites the dust. In the past year I’ve seen three women fall for vampires.”

“And?”

“They’re all married to them now. Don’t ask me how it works. I only see enough of Terri and Jude to figure out how they work it out. Basically, Terri took permanent night duty at the M.E.’s office, so they work the same hours and fit everything else in around the sun. Seems to make them happy enough.”

“And the others?”

“So far so good. A few months isn’t a great sample, though.”

Caro nodded, taking it in. “Were they claimed?”

“Oh, sweetie,” Chloe said, “now that’s the thing.”

“Why?”

“Because they were all claimings. And you have absolutely no idea how hard vampires fight it. One of our friends, Luc? He totally lost his mind when his claimed mate died. He was so far gone he kidnapped me and kidnapped another woman too to try to get his vengeance.”

“No.”

“Yes. He was willing to do just about anything to end his pain, including asking another vampire to kill him.”

“What happened?”

“Well...” Chloe smiled faintly. “However unwillingly, he got involved in a dustup we had here a few months ago. Some rogues—vampires who don’t want to obey the rules about not treating humans as cattle and slaves—tried to take over the city and run Jude out. Luc came to give us a warning and the next thing I knew, he was up to his eyeballs in another claiming. Maybe you’ll meet her. Dani.”

“And they’re married, too?”

“Yup.”

“How the heck does a vampire get married?” She knew the rules. Birth certificates, residency, filling out forms in offices that were closed by dark.

“I do a little computer magic, make the legal licenses, and then Father Dan marries them.”

“
Father
Dan?”

“Hang around with us for a while,” Chloe suggested. “Jude fights demons. He has a few clergy who work with him.”

“And they know he’s a vampire?”

“Yes.” Chloe’s eyes danced. “Not everyone thinks they’re soulless killers. Father Dan just considers it to be one of the mysteries, and I heard him tell Jude once that God has an odd sense of humor.”