Succubus Kiss The Complete Series Page 34

  Abruptly moving to pull my top off, Randal leaned back and I was able to catch a glance at his face again. His eyes were hooded with lust while still darkened by hunger. Fear constricted my lungs at the sight of it. I wondered how he would be able to hold himself back, but also if I wanted him to. My body sparked with both anxiety and excitement.

  Randal’s bright eyes shifted to mine, and he arched a brow. “Don’t worry. I am in control.” His lips twisted into a devious smile before they brushed against mine. “Even though I am certain I must appear a blood-lusting fool, I can assure you I will not bite you…unless you ask me to.” His fingers traveled to my panty-covered center, where they moved in a torturously slow rhythm I was positive would push me to the brink in no time.

  I dug my nails into his back and ground against his fingers, wishing they would slip past the fabric without having to ask. At this point, I couldn’t care less if Randal bit me. As long as it didn’t mess up his thrusting power or cause me any pain, I was good. All I wanted was him inside of me.

  “Do what you want,” I breathed without a second thought. “As long as it doesn’t hurt, I’m okay with it.”

  He pulled back as though he couldn’t believe I was giving him permission to feed from me. “Are you certain?” A challenge reflected in the depths of his eyes struck me, sending an erotic shiver down my spine. It was almost as though he was saying I couldn’t handle what his feeding from me would make me feel.

  “Absolutely.” My heart beat triple time as the word slipped past my lips. This was something taboo, something forbidden, and something incredibly erotic. Was I really as okay with it as I was pretending to be? I wasn’t sure. “But like I said, only if it doesn’t hurt,” I added, just so we were clear.

  “When a vampire bites someone they care for, it never hurts.” A wry hint of a smile curled the corners of his mouth. “It is where the term ‘love bite’ stems from, I do believe.”

  His thumbs hooked into the sides of my panties as he shifted his weight off me. I froze, my muscles growing tense as I worried he would dive forward and pierce my skin without warning. Instead, he pulled my panties to my knees in a fluid motion, his stare unwavering. I released a breath and maneuvered beneath him so he could get them all the way off. Once they had been discarded to the floor, I reached to level the playing field by removing his boxer briefs, but he gripped my wrists, freezing me in place. My heart kick-started.

  “In time,” he whispered as he pushed my knees farther apart.

  I stared at him, waiting to see what his next move would be. He bent forward until his head was between my thighs. The sensation of his lips grazing against the flesh of my inner thigh made my stomach coil, but the prick of his teeth puncturing my skin made my back arch up off the mattress.

  Pain and pleasure intermingled to form a new sensation. It was white-hot and riveting all at once. Randal’s fingers found their way to my slick center and proceeded to finish the task they had abandoned moments before while he continued to suck greedily and lovingly at the same time. My hands fisted the sheets as I struggled to control myself, wanting to enjoy the building in my core longer than a few seconds, but not knowing if I could hold out.

  I knew one thing for certain: Sex after this would never be the same.

  Chapter 2

  “Would you be interested in walking to Breve with me?” Randal asked as he set down the book he had been reading. His voice seemed loud and jarring as it cut through the silence of my apartment. “You have submerged yourself in work for the last few hours.”

  I shifted to glance at the clock on the bottom of my laptop screen. It was a little after seven. He would probably be leaving soon. Maybe buying me a chai latté was his way of making sure I was okay with him having drunk from me earlier. He seemed guilty, and I felt awkward about the entire situation now that it was over. In the heat of the moment, I had been fine with it, but now a weirdness had settled between us. It made me thankful the guys I fed from never remembered.

  Nevertheless, he was right. I had been working for hours. There were only four more tiny tweaks the author asked me to make to her cover, and then I was finished with it. If I completed it tonight and emailed it to her, I would beat my record by completing a custom cover in less than two days. My goal for the next one would be to finish in a solid day. Doing so played into the theory I had. Once the word spread about my quality and quick turnaround time, things would pick up a hell of a lot more. While I might not need more business, I wanted it. Graphic design was my chosen profession. I didn’t want to work at Spark, bartending for the rest of my life, and going back to school seemed out of the picture due to my succubus nature. Been there, attempted that. While I did have a handle on seeing auras now, a girl could only put up with so many horny assholes at one time. Sure, there was always online schooling, but…

  Designs by Kenna was picking up. I already had ten orders placed for custom covers to get out by the end of the month. Plus, the demand for my dark and sexy pre-mades happened to be on a gradual increase. I wondered if I could talk Randal into posing for me. It didn’t get any more sexy paranormal than him. Something shirtless with dark edges and mysterious shadows. It would probably sell quicker than any of my others had.

  “I could take a break.” I glanced up from my computer screen, giving him my full attention. He had that strange look in his eyes still, the one that had been in place since our bed session.

  I knew why. I had been pretty much avoiding him. My covers served as a distraction, same as Randal did, and when I was finished with one, I moved on to the other. However, I wasn’t sure what his problem was. Either he was attempting to figure out what was going on with me, because at this point I was positive he knew there was something, or else he was trying not to think about how he had fed from me. If I had to guess, I would say it was a combination of both.

  “Are you hungry at all?” Randal asked. “We could always choose someplace to eat at instead.”

  “Not really.” I wrinkled my nose at the idea of food. The concoction Lexy had given me was only supposed to curb my succubus appetite, but it seemed to have affected my regular one as well. Since drinking the tea, I hadn’t been eating the way I normally would.

  “Tea from Breve it is then.” He stood and started toward where he had left his dress socks and shoes.

  I brought my eyes back to the cover I had been working on and clicked save.

  “Sounds good.” I put my laptop into sleep mode before setting it on the coffee table and then stood. “Let me go get changed.” I was still in my pajamas.

  After pulling on a pair of jeans and changing into a decent shirt, I applied some lip gloss and slipped on a pair of flip-flops. Randal was waiting by the front door, adjusting the cuff links on his dress shirt, when I started down the hallway.

  “Ready?” The hint of a smile twisted his lips.

  As I swiped my keys off the little table beside my front door, I met his stare and flashed him a wide smile. “Sure, let’s go.”

  It was still daylight when we stepped outside. The extended hours of sunshine was one of the things I loved most about late spring. I had always thought I was a fall season kind of girl—jeans, sweaters, scarves, and boots had always been my favorite style—but over the last year, I’d become partial to warmer weather.

  “Are you all right with walking to Breve, or would you rather we drove?” Randal placed his hand against the small of my back as we exited the breezeway of my apartment complex. It was a gesture I had come to except, and grown to love. There was something sweet and protective about it that made warmth surge through me.

  Since Breve was only about a fifteen-minute walk from here and it was a beautiful night, I didn’t mind walking. “We can walk.” The fresh air might do me some good. Walks were always something I enjoyed when my head was muddled with too many thoughts. Maybe in the short distance from my apartment to Breve we could air out the awkwardness between us, and maybe I would be able to gather my strength to keep every
thing else going on in my head to myself.

  Randal’s cell chimed with a new text as we came to the curb. I watched him pull it from his pocket and respond while we started across the street and continued in the direction of the little Italian coffee shop. From the creases that formed between his brows, I was sure it was something work related. I’d picked up on a few more of his tells over the last few days.

  “Everything okay?” I maneuvered around a couple waiting with their dog to cross the busy street.

  “Of course.” His arm brushed against mine as he pocketed his cell. “There are a few things I need to attend to at Red River, and Bianca is being slightly impatient.”

  Of course she was. Bianca seemed like the type who lacked any patience.

  The smell of coffee, rich and spicy, hung in the air once the sign for Breve came into view. While I wasn’t a coffee drinker, I still loved coming to the place. The chai latté they served was amazing.

  Randal motioned for me to slip through the door first. It was propped open, allowing the mouthwatering aroma of freshly brewed coffee to trickle out into the street. An older couple slipped through with their coffee cups clutched in their hands before I stepped inside. While we found our place in line, I watched his thumbs fly across his cell screen as he responded to another text.

  He was busy, and there were things he needed to do. I would have to suck it up and force myself to make it through the night alone. I could do this.

  Once we ordered—a vanilla chai latté for me and a black tie for him—we moved to the only table available. It was tucked in the corner, close to the entrance and the front window. As I moved to sit at the little table, I caught a glance at my reflection in the window. My red succubus aura seemed to be losing the battle against the wraith more each day. His silver was like a poison killing off my vibrant red.

  “Is there something bothering you?” Randal asked.

  I tore my eyes away from my reflection. His cell was gone again, and his full attention was directed toward me. “No, why?”

  “You seem a bit distracted.” Skepticism pooled in his eyes.

  “I’m fine.” I smiled while removing the lid from my cup and setting it aside. “But I could say the same about you, you know? You’re the one who seems distracted. I’m not the one getting multiple texts each minute.” I was teasing him, but it was more than that. It was an attempt to toss the conversation from me to him, and I thought I had done so gracefully.

  “I apologize.” He flashed a lopsided grin and nodded his head. “Things at Red River have been a bit much for Bianca the last few days.”

  I brought my latté to my lips to hide my bitter frown. I wasn’t sure I believed anything would be too much for Bianca to handle. In fact, I was willing to bet it had more to do with her not wanting Randal to spend so much time with me. Arabella had mentioned right before Randal and I left for Avalon Bay that Natalia had been Bianca’s best friend. She more than likely didn’t care for me because of that, and her sudden need for help at the nightclub they shared seemed like a ploy to get us apart.

  Once again, the two of us became caught in an uneasy silence.

  “Tomorrow is Monday.” Randal popped the top off his coffee and held it close to his lips while blowing on it. “I remember you mentioning being off work. Is that still true?”

  There was something swirling in his eyes I couldn’t name. “I guess so. Landon hasn’t texted me with any changes. Why?”

  “I may have something planned for us.” He smirked over the rim of his cup.

  I tipped my head to the side. “What did you have in mind?”

  “You shall see.”

  Was he planning to surprise me with a trip of some sort, because now didn’t seem like the time. “Are we going somewhere?”

  “Yes and no.” He set his coffee down and leaned forward on his elbows. “I’m not giving you any more information other than the dress is semiformal, this is something that can benefit us both, I suppose, and we will need to be there by nine tomorrow evening.”

  I took a sip of my drink while I processed his clues. Where would he take me that I would need to dress up? And what could possibly benefit us both? My tea burned the tip of my tongue, but I still took another sip. It tasted too good not to. “Okay. I have no clue what you have planned.”

  “Even with the hints I have given?” He arched a brow.

  “Yes.”

  “Good. They were not intended to aid you in figuring anything out.” He leaned back in his chair with a satisfied smile. Two teenage girls giggled as they passed our table, exiting the shop. I knew it was because Randal looked mouthwatering sitting there. His sculpted features and mesmerizing grayish eye color had them drooling.

  My lips quirked upward as I watched the dark-haired girl of the duo make a fanning motion with her hand. My stare traveled with them out the window until they were beyond my view. The color of my aura caught my attention again, reminding me of what I was up against and making part of me envious of the girls’ carefree attitudes and bubbly personalities. While I had never harbored a rainbow and sunshine personality, my life hadn’t always been so somber either.

  “There is something bothering you, but for some unknown reason, you refuse to make the slightest bit of effort to tell me what,” Randal said, breaking our silence.

  I made the mistake of shifting my gaze to him. His eyes were gentle and soft, but his lips were pressed into a thin line as he stared at me. “I’m fine.” His eyes narrowed as little sparks of annoyance brightened their color. I let out a sigh, knowing I had to offer him something. I couldn’t keep trying to deflect his attention elsewhere. “Well, as fine as can be expected, I guess.”

  My heart picked up pace as Randal moved his coffee to the edge of the table, his stare unwavering from mine. His palms met in front of him, and he interlaced his fingers, giving me his undivided attention. “Continue.”

  Continue how and with what? What was he hoping to hear? I raced to latch onto a partial truth I could give him for a suitable answer. “I’m getting anxious the closer the waning moon gets.”

  I glanced around to see if anyone was paying attention to us, not wanting someone to overhear the direction our conversation was headed. A few were paying attention to us, mainly human females, but one group of three standing in line stuck out to me, mostly because of their midnight blue auras. They were vampires, and I hated how fixated they were on us.

  “It’s more than that,” Randal whispered. His eyes searched mine as if he were scouring the depths of my soul for the real answer.

  I dropped my gaze to my cup. A few granules of sugar caught my attention along the tabletop, and I moved them around with the end of my index finger so I wouldn’t have to look him in the eye any longer. “It’s not.”

  I sucked at lying. Bree had always told me this, so I knew it was true. While I had learned a few tricks for when I needed to lie to her about something, it was obvious they didn’t always apply to others, especially not when the person you were attempting to lie to was an ancient vampire with a knack for reading body language.

  “There’s something you are keeping from me.” His voice was low. He shifted in his seat, but I still didn’t look at him. “Since meeting with Lexy Bloom, there has been something off about you. The only time you appear happy is when we are making love, or you are throwing yourself into your work, whether it be bartending at Spark or one of your designs.”

  It was the first time someone besides Bree had talked about Designs by Kenna as anything other than a pipedream hobby. She had always been supportive, but even my dad had his reservations about the graphic design business when I’d tossed the idea out to him. Even so, I didn’t like how close to the truth Randal was with his statement.

  “Am I supposed to just stop everything, put my entire life on hold, because of this thing?” I wasn’t being snippy. I was trying to get at this conversation from a new angle, because the direction he had been spinning it would put me in a corner I didn’t wan
t to be placed in.

  Randal’s words were too close to the truth. Being intimate with him was the only time I was truly happy and enjoying myself; it was the only time I could forget. As for submerging myself into both of my jobs, they were another distraction, another thing to occupy my mind so I wouldn’t dwell on my predicament.

  “No one is expecting you to do such a thing, least of all me, but I can sense there is something you are hiding from me. Was there something else Lexy told you about the spell, something you haven’t mentioned yet?”

  My grip on my cup tightened. I leaned back in my chair, hoping to hide the gesture. How had he guessed? And why was he always so damn persistent? “I’m not thrilled with the details she gave me.” It wasn’t a lie; it was the truth. Maybe my theory with Bree would work on Randal after all.

  The color of his eyes seemed to sharpen as though he were zeroing in on my answer and picking it apart. “Such as?”

  My lips pursed together. I thought of something I could offer that would seem sufficient, something I may have forgotten to tell him besides the terrible price the spell came with. “How painful it will be for not only me, but her as well. It’s not going to be an easy spell, Randal, and she did say there’s a chance I might not survive. So, yeah, I’m a little freaked out by it. Keeping occupied is the way I’ve chosen to handle it. It’s nothing personal.” I took a sip of my drink, hoping that would be enough to satisfy him.

  I focused on feeling the warm liquid slip down my throat and pool in my chest, right where I knew the wraith was. In my mind, I imagined the warmth causing him to shrivel inside of me.