"Do I have the word Charmer tattooed on my forehead or something?"
"What?" Adrian's whisper was no louder than mine, but the touch of his breath on my ear sent shivers of delight down my arms.
I leaned closer to Adrian, so we wouldn't interrupt Gigli from chastising a recalcitrant sylph. "Why is it that everyone we meet seems to know I'm a Charmer just by looking at me? Is there some sort of mark on me that I've never seen before? How do they know?"
"Members of the immortal world see things differently than mortals," he answered, his lips brushing the curve of my ear.
I fought the need to turn my head and kiss him until his fangs dropped, contenting myself with nibbling on his earlobe as I mumbled, "Yeah, but Seal isn't an immortal."
"He has submerged himself in our world long enough that he sees things as we do," Gigli answered, having shooed the flighty sylph out a door. It didn't close all the way, the pulsing throb of the music drifting in to wrap around us. A shock of electricity zapped through me at the sound, sending my heart racing as my libido shifted into overdrive.
Gigli gave us the eye. "If you two would like a room, I would be happy to oblige. Other than that and the plane tickets, there is little more I can do for you."
The alacrity with which both Adrian and I stood up at her offer, not to mention the wave of desire that washed over me as his scent teased my nose, gave ample evidence to the fact that although Adrian might have every confidence in my ward-drawing skills, I had a long way to go yet.
"Ward's fading. Need charm book," I gasped, never taking my eyes off the blazing blue of Adrian's eyes. I clutched the small green book when it was placed in my hand, following him when he grabbed my wrist and dragged me toward a side door.
"Room?" he asked Gigli.
"Seventeen is free, or if you'd prefer, I can let you have the presidential suite. It has a hot tub."
"We'll take it," Adrian yelled as he hauled me out the door into another hall, Gigli's laughter trailing behind us.
This hallway was different from the other; the walls here were lined with what looked on first inspection to be your standard erotic photography, but as I stood before one picture while Adrian opened a door marked Pr?sidentensuite, I realized that the three participants in the picture were transparent, and one seemed to have an extra set of arms.
"Is that what a poltergeiiiiiiii - "
The door to the presidential suite slammed closed behind me as Adrian literally tossed me onto the huge bed that dominated the room.
"Are you ready for me? Tell me you're ready, Hasi," Adrian demanded, his voice rough and deep as he tossed his satchel and coat onto a nearby chair, quickly pulling off his boots and sweater.
I ripped my jacket and sweater over my head in one move, frantically squirming my way out of my jeans and shoes as he peeled off his pants. "I was ready hours ago. Come to me now, my wild stallion!"
"Stallion, eh?" he asked, falling into my waiting arms, his body hot and hard and wildly aroused. He slid to the side, his hands skimming down my breasts and belly. "You think me a stud now?"
"Oh, yes, you're a wonderful stud, a manly stud, my stud," I cried, wrapping my arms around him and trying to pull him back onto me where I wanted him.
"If I am to play stallion to your mare, we must do this properly," he growled, winding an arm around my waist.
His mind filled mine with images of what he intended to do, stirring my desire to a fevered pitch as he flipped me over, pulling me up onto my knees.
"You don't think you're going to... oh my God, you are!"
Adrian spread my legs, positioned himself, and thrust hard into me, all in one swift move. I hadn't lied, I was more than ready for him, but the force of his invasion coupled with the unusual angle, and the arousal he felt that spilled into me, sent me spiraling into an immediate orgasm. I was aware of his fingers biting hard into my hips as he pounded into me, acknowledged and matched the blast of need and desire that swept through him, but it was all I could do to stay on my knees and not collapse with the strength of the pleasure that his touch brought.
"Is this what you wanted?" he growled, leaning over my back to nip my ear, his voice as erotic a touch on my skin as his heated flesh.
"I want you," I gasped, my body humming like a top. Within him, the darkness was chased away by the brilliant warmth of our joining. Wave after wave of ecstasy swept him, catching me in its wake, merging me with him until we were caught together, unable to separate. "I don't care how we do this, I just want you. I will always want you."
His shout of exultation rang in my ears as he pulsed deep within my still quivering flesh. I collapsed under his weight, sated within an inch of my life, and yet already wanting him again. Despite the wonder of the moment, despite the overwhelming joy we had shared, something seemed to be missing, something hadn't been right. "You didn't bite me! You didn't feed off me!"
He pulled himself from my body, leaving me more than just bereft over his withdrawal - my heart threatened to shatter at the fact that he no longer wanted to bond with me in the most elemental way a Dark One could.
"Hasi, Hasi," he murmured, pulling me into his arms as he stood. "Do you really believe I no longer need you? You are my life, my breath, the blood that runs in my veins. I could not exist without you."
"Then why..." I started to ask, feeling the truth in what he said, but confused by his actions.
"What we did only took the edge off our hunger. Now begins the main course." He laid me down on a thick white pelt that served as a carpet before a small fireplace. I glanced around the room as he knelt to make a fire with wood stacked neatly nearby. Skylights showed the moon and stars flickering between occasional clouds, the room itself lit by candles scattered on several small tables. The bed and a long couch were the only other furniture in the room.
I turned my attention to the wonderful play of muscles in Adrian's bare back as he lit the fire, smiling as I realized his mind was filled with a wicked intent that I wholeheartedly endorsed. "The main course, hmmm? I'm positively famished, so I think you should let me go first."
"I believe that can be negotiated," he answered, turning to me with a smile that made my heart lurch. The firelight gilded the smooth, warm brown of his skin, kissing his hair until it glowed more red than brown. His eyes were dark, so dark I couldn't tell their color, but even without touching him, I could feel the passion in him, the depth of emotion that he felt for me.
"I love you," I said without thinking.
He blinked.
"And what's more, you love me."
His nostrils flared... in an adorable way.
I smiled. "I can feel your emotions, and I'm not even touching you. Looks like you were right about my brain healing itself bit by bit."
"Hasi," he said, then stopped. I didn't need to open myself to him to recognize the regret in his eyes.
"No," I said, pushing him onto his back. "I don't want to hear anything about you not surviving your encounter with Saer. I don't want you being noble and selfless. I want you to love me as much as I love you, Adrian."
Despair lapped at the lingering arousal that still filled him. He closed his eyes against the pain, and I kissed him, part of my heart contracting with the knowledge that he sincerely believed we had no future. The need to force an admission of love from him warred with the desire to show him just what it meant to love someone. In the end, I decided to accept what he was willing to give me, and leave the worry about our future for another time.
I slid down his body to his feet, parting his legs, trailing my fingers along the top of one foot to his ankle. His leg twitched.
"Are you ticklish?" I asked.
"Evidently," he answered, opening his eyes. They were indigo, dark with passion and arousal. I smiled a wicked smile, one that had suddenly entered my repertoire after I'd met him. "Who knew vampires could be ticklish? I'm definitely going to be straightening out the Buffy people about a few things."
He sucked in his breath when I bent over his ankle to flick my tongue along the bone.
"Tell me what you like," I murmured against the curve of his calf as I nibbled and licked my way up his leg.
"Everything. I like everything," he said, a tad desperately, to my ears. I slanted a glance upward, studying the long length of his body, pausing for a moment to admire the thickening source of so much pleasure. His hands were clutching the rug on either side of his hips, the tendons on his neck standing out with strain. He groaned, his Adam's apple bobbing with the effort needed to swallow.
"Good. Because I like everything about you." I turned my attention to his other leg, kissing and nibbling my way up it, gently scraping my nails up the sensitive inner flesh of his thighs.
He trembled beneath me as I slid upwards, rubbing my cheek against his thoroughly aroused penis. "Do you, perhaps, like this?" I asked just before I lathed my tongue across the fleshy sack beneath it.
His hips shot upward. Christus, Hasi! How can you ask me that? Your touch sets me afire.
I smiled at his straining nether bits, pulling away for a moment when I realized what had happened. Adrian? I heard you! In my head I heard you!
There was no answer, no feel of him sharing my thoughts again. He opened his eyes and looked down his chest at me. "What's wrong, Nell?"
I looked down at him. His legs were spread wide to accommodate me romping between them. No part of him was touching me. I spread my fingers on his belly. Adrian?
What is it, Hasi? Why are you so shocked?
My lips curved as they pressed against the firm flesh of his stomach. I can hear you again, but only when I'm touching you. I just guess that means I'll have to touch you. A lot.
The groan of utter pleasure echoed in my head as his eyes rolled back when I took the rampant part of him in my mouth. My tongue went wild swirling, savoring the taste and feel of him, the power he held in strict check as I did my best to drive him beyond wild into uncontrolled.
You always make me lose control, Hasi. The touch of his mind was so pleasurable, it made me aware of how much I had missed it. You make me desire things I cannot have. You make me hope.
I shifted upward, bending to kiss him deeply. Taste yourself on my lips, my sweet Adrian. Taste my love for you.
He groaned again as I sank slowly down upon him, my body accepting his intrusion with a cry of pleasure so profound it filled me and spilled onto him, mingling with the hunger that was quickly rising in my mind. It was his hunger, but I shared in it, reveled in it, celebrated it in the only way I knew how.
His hands were on my breasts, teasing them until I was overwhelmed with the need to feel his mouth on them. Nell, my beautiful, wondrous Nell. I need you so much, my glorious one. I need everything you have, Beloved. I need all of you.
My movement against him, which had been measured and controlled in my determination to make this precious time we had together last as long as possible, changed as he sat upright, his mouth on my breast, his tongue and teeth taking over the sweet torment that never seemed to end.
I will always be yours, my love. Every last bit of me. I will never leave you. His fingers were clasped on my behind as he urged me to a faster pace. The hunger rose between us, blotting out everything but his need for blood, and my desire to give it to him. Take it, Adrian. Take from me what only you can.
His teeth sank into the swell of my breast, the pain sharp enough to startle me for a second before it melted into a pleasure so intense, I swore we left our bodies. He drank, the rapture he felt from feeding mingling with the sharp pleasure of another orgasm. As it burst upon me, I was consumed with the desire to share myself with him fully, irrevocably, eternally. It was right. We were right. We were meant for this.
Hasi, no! he shouted in my mind as I sucked his ear-lobe into my mouth, biting it with my canine. You must not take my blood! You must not Join with me!
It was hot and sweet, unlike the occasional rusty tastes of blood I'd had from a bitten tongue or lost tooth. I swirled my tongue over his abused earlobe, sucking it to get another precious drop. Adrian exploded beneath me, his ecstasy as I took his blood pushing him over the edge. Coming on the heels of my own orgasm, sharing his feelings as he pumped life into me at the same moment he took it was enough to send me spinning again, my body clenching hard around his, my fingernails scraping the flesh of his back as we were locked into a seemingly endless spiral of pure joy.
What have you done? His voice drifted lazily through my head as we collapsed onto the soft rug, lying together, our bodies still bound as our hearts beat the same frantic rhythm. One of his hands stroked gently down my back, the other held me tight to his heaving chest. You do not understand what you have done, Hasi.
I understand that you're the man I want to spend the rest of my life with. I understand that you need me. And I understand that without you, I won't have a life.
He closed me out of his mind, gently but firmly pushing me back so that I could still feel his emotions but not read his thoughts. I didn't need to read them, though - the regret and sadness that stained the happiness of our Joining were enough to tell me that he still believed he would not survive the next meeting with his brother.
"Hey! I thought we Joined?"
Adrian stirred as I prodded him with my toe. I refused to allow myself to be distracted by his sheer masculine beauty as he slept before the now-dimmed fire, the light of the candles casting a golden glow over his skin. He slept on his back, one hand on his chest, his face relaxed and so handsome it all but stole my breath. The dark smudges of lashes parted, and a cool, icy blue regarded me standing before him wrapped in a peach-colored towel.
"You took a bath without me?"
I smiled to myself at the accusation in his voice. "The sun is going to go down in an hour. We have a lot to do, and you were sleeping so soundly, I figured you needed the rest more than you needed to frolic in a soapy tub. Besides, we have to have something to look forward to."
His eyes went dark as he propped himself up on one elbow, his hand caressing my bare calf in a way that had me shivering with want. "Do you honestly believe that we need to save such treats against potential boredom?"
"No," I said, dropping the towel to kneel beside him. "I don't think there's enough time in all eternity to get bored with you. I have a feeling you're going to be infinitely interesting."
"Mmm," he agreed, pulling me down across his chest, his mouth moving over my breast with a warm, wet heat that immediately drew answering fire in other, more secretive parts of my body.
"Adrian, my love, we don't have time," I protested, albeit weakly, as I tried not to melt onto him. My hands ignored my commands to stay put and stroked a path down the thick ropes of muscle on his arms. His teeth grazed my nipple before he turned his attention to the other one, his mind and body humming with simultaneous satisfaction and unfulfilled need.
"To hell with the time," I murmured, giving in to our shared desire.
My feelings exactly, he thought, his mouth moving lower on me as he positioned me beneath him. His hair trailed like black skeins of silk down my belly as he parted my legs, my entire body tingling as his stubbled cheeks brushed against my sensitive flesh. I gave up trying to hold on to a thought, and allowed my being to merge with his.
"Why did you ask if we Joined?" he questioned my shoulder an eon or two later. "You made the choice to take my blood despite my pleas for you not to. Your regret now - "
"I don't regret it," I interrupted as he levered himself upward to peer down at me with suspicion. "Not one bit. I might be a reluctant newcomer to your world, but you truly are everything I've ever wanted in a man. Other than that whole eternally damned thing, that is, and I'm fairly certain we'll be able to work that out somehow."
"Then why did you ask me if we were Joined?"
I kissed the furrow between his brows, and accepted his hand when he got to his feet. "Because," I answered, wrapping the towel around me. Adrian didn't seem to feel the least bit self-conscious as he stood before me starkly male, his body all hard lines and muscle, but I was much less perfectly made than he. "I looked while I was in the bathroom, and nothing seems to be changed. In me. Does it take a while before the effect is seen?"
"Effect? What effect?"
"The Beloved effect. Or whatever you want to call it. Look." I smiled and pointed to the left side of my face. "See? It's still lopsided. And my leg and arm feel the same, too."
His frown deepened until enlightenment suddenly dawned in his eyes. Then his face went stiff, as if a mask had dropped into place. "You believed you would be made perfect when you Joined with me."
"Well, yeah! Isn't that part of being immortal?"
"No." His voice was a harsh whisper that disturbed the silence of the room, but it was his eyes, his expressive eyes, that haunted me. Shuttered and flat, they were empty of all emotion. "In the case of a Dark One and his Beloved, immortality merely refers to an inability to die of natural causes. It does not mean that physical imperfections are eliminated."
"Well, hell!" I stormed, my hands on my hips as I glared at him. "Why didn't you tell me that?"
His entire body went still as I tossed my hands into the air and marched toward the bathroom. "I mean, shoot, you could have mentioned that! Here I was hoping that I'd be fixed up when we finally Joined, and now what do I have to look forward to? An eternity of having a weak arm and leg, and a face that isn't quite symmetrical. Lovely. Just lovely."
It wasn't until I was in the bathroom that I realized something was seriously wrong.
"Adrian?" I poked my head out the bathroom door and looked at him. He stood where I had left him, just as if he was a life-sized statue of an ancient Greek god. "Since you got me all dirty again, I thought it's only fair if you clean me up."
He said nothing, staring at the space I had formerly inhabited.
"I'll clean you up, too. There's bubble bath! Adrian? What's the matter - oh, my God!" I walked toward him, vaguely wondering what was wrong with him, but as soon as I came within a few feet, his pain swamped me, almost bringing me to my knees.
I realized then the mistake I had made.
"Adrian, touch me." I stood in front of him, feeling the full weight of his anguish. Without waiting for him to comply, I leaned against him, wrapping my arms around his waist, nuzzling the sweet spot behind his ear. Feel me. Feel how much I love you. Feel the truth, my sweet Adrian. I didn't just Join with you so I would be made whole - I did it because you are now my life. I can't possibly be happy without you.
The brush of his mind against mine was tentative, fleeting, as if he were afraid to merge with me. I smiled into his neck and welcomed him as his velvet touch filled me with such contentment, I couldn't begin to express it with mere words. Instead, I laid my soul open to him, allowed him to feel for himself the depth of my emotions.
You want to be made whole, his thought filled my head, a whisper of regret trailing the words.
Yes. I'd also like to be twenty pounds thinner, have longer legs, and get rid of that annoying birthmark on my back, but if it's not to be, it's not to be. I'm sorry you misunderstood me, Adrian. I was just a little disappointed to find out how things work, but in the end, what's important is that we are together.
His arms went around me as he accepted the truth, his body hard against mine. He held me tight for a moment, his mind closed to me as he fought with his inner demons. I didn't press him, just held him in return, and prayed like mad that I would find a way to prove him wrong about his lack of belief in our future.
Our bath, by necessity, was quick.
"We must be off," Adrian said as he dressed in fresh clothes from his satchel.
"Do you have anything but black clothes in there?" I asked, unable to keep from watching him as he pulled on yet another pair of black jeans. "It looks really good on you, but I'd kind of like to see you in something blue - a blue silk shirt, maybe. I bet it would set off your eyes."
"I am the Betrayer," he answered. "I do not wear colors. Black symbolizes the absence of my soul. It indicates the stark nature of my being, and signals to all that I am outcast, an exile."
"You are the ex-Betrayer, and you have a Beloved. That means you are getting your soul back, so you can wear whatever you like," I pointed out, dragging my gaze from him to the clothes Gigli had left for me, along with a tray of bread, cheese, and white wine. I plucked a pair of undies from the bed and pulled the tag off before donning them. "We won't even go into the fact that black is very stylish and makes you look incredibly masculine. Thank heaven Gigli bought me a new pair. Hand-me-down underwear is just too icky for words."
Adrian made no comment, but his eyes followed my hands as I slid into the ankle-length silk chiffon skirt and matching beaded crochet sweater.
Ten minutes later I had brushed my teeth (silently blessing Gigli for thinking of that necessity), combed my hair, and sat down to consult the book of charms she had given me earlier.
"This is ridiculous," Adrian fumed as he paced by the couch where I sat. "It will not work. You will cease this immediately and let me do what I must. We have no time to waste on such foolishness."
"It's not foolish. You're on the brink of reclaiming your soul - we're not going to risk losing it now." I turned the page, nibbling on my lower lip as I scanned the Latin text for something that looked like it would serve us. "Let's see... killing someone. Nope. Way too evil. Um... dismemberment. Ick. Turning victim into a wraith. What's a wraith? Is it bad?"
Adrian nodded.
"Bad bad, or just semi-bad?"
"A wraith is a spirit that has been sent into limbo for eternity."
"Ouch. OK, no go on the wraith curse. Hmm. Here's a charm to lift a curse that leaves the victim with the head of a dog and the body of a snake."
I looked at Adrian. He rolled his eyes.
"Right, that one's out as well. Oooh, here's something: a charm for lifting a curse that renders its victim helpless. Hmm. Doesn't sound like the person cursed is injured, just made helpless against the person who orders the curse. I bet that would work."
I looked up as Adrian stopped in front of me, his hands on his hips. "Even if I agreed to allow you to use your power against the Eisenfaust member - which I have not - the fact remains that you cannot curse someone without invoking a servant of a demon lord, and I doubt if you have the strength or ability to control a demon."
"I'm sure I don't," I said with a smile. "But you do! You can call up a demon for me, and I'll use it to curse the Eisenfaust guy."
He shook his head before I finished the last sentence. "Dark Ones cannot summon demons."
"They can't?" My hopes fell. I knew he was right, knew I didn't have what it took to summon a demon. If we didn't have a demon, I wouldn't be able to cast a curse, and that meant Adrian would end up putting himself at risk by having to turn a mortal. "Damn! Why not?"
"Our bond to the demon lord is too great. Servants cannot summon other servants."
I frowned, on the verge of throwing down the book and giving in to a good old-fashioned hissy fit when his words filtered through my frustration and disappointment. I leaped up from the couch, kissing the tip of his nose. "You're a genius!"
He stepped back as I snatched the book in one hand and his satchel with the other. "Nell - "
"Don't you see?" I stopped at the door to grab my coat. "You said yourself that I needed to have a servant of a demon lord to cast a curse. We both assumed that meant a demon, but until we lift that curse from you, you 're a servant of a demon lord! I can use you instead of a demon. Come on, the sun's down. Let's go find this Eisenfaust bully and turn him into a helpless blob of German Mafia jelly."