A little shiver of excitement skittered down my back as he kissed the hollow behind my ear. "Yes, but if I hadn't been so stupid about believing you, none of this would have happened. I would have been paying attention rather than fighting you every step of the way."
"Mmm. You smell sweet and spicy, like a woman waiting to be satisfied." He pulled back enough to look into my eyes, which were brimming with tears of guilt. "Portia, I forbid you to feel guilt at what happened. There was no avoiding this. Bael cannot punish you without bringing the wrath of the Court down upon your head, and he would not risk such an action."
"Your eyes are almost black again. That doesn't make any sense. How can eye color change? Never mind, it's not important. What is important is the fact that you've lost your soul because of me."
He laughed and nipped my earlobe, his hands roaming over my back and behind. "You never cease to amaze me. I'm surprised that given your skeptical nature and scientific training, you believe in souls."
"I'm agnostic, not a solipsist," I said, a familiar tension building within me at every nibble of his teeth, every touch of his hands. "Logic dictates that if there is a way for your soul to be taken from you, there must be a way to return it. I swear to you now that if it's the last thing I do, I will get you back your soul."
"Smart, sexy, and so delicious," he murmured against my shoulder as my bathrobe parted and slipped down my arms. "I hunger for you, sweetling. Tell me you still want me."
He was hungry. It was growing in him, an unnamed hunger for me, for something that only I could give him. It swelled and spilled out until I shared the hunger, shared the need for physical relief. I ripped his shirt off, heedless of the fact that I was destroying an otherwise nice shirt, rubbing my hands on his chest as he sucked the spot behind my ear that made me see stars.
"Theo, I hate to bring reality into...oh, yes, right there...but I don't have any condoms. I'm all right as far as birth control goes, but do you have any health issues I should be aware of?"
"No. So good," he said against my skin, his breath ragged. As if I wasn't aroused enough, the sound of his harsh breathing pushed me higher. "You taste so damned good, I want to...I don't know what I want. More. I want more."
"You can have all of me," I said in between kisses to his bare shoulder, my hands busy on his belt buckle and zipper even as his hands slid down my behind to the crotch of my teddy. His fingers brushed heat-soaked, sensitive flesh as he undid the snaps. I writhed against him as he peeled the silky teddy off, tormented not just by his burning touch, but by an overwhelming need so foreign, so different, that it shocked me.
I wanted to bite him.
I limited myself to little nipping love bites, nibbling his delectable ear as I pushed his pants and underwear down over his hips.
"Di immortales," he groaned when I wrapped my fingers around his incredibly hot penis, sucking on his earlobe and wishing I could just consume all of him.
He stood still for a moment while I explored the velvety hot hardness, then I was on the bed, Theo crawling up the length of my body, his eyes as black as night. "I hope you're ready for me, Portia, because I don't think I'm going to be able to last much longer."
"Ready, oh-so-willing, and as able as humanly possible," I answered, pulling him down so I could taste his delicious mouth again.
"Salus invenitur," he whispered into my mouth. I sucked his lower lip, sliding my legs around his hips, cushioning his weight and glorying in the sensation of his bare flesh on mine.
"Oh, yes," I cooed, my back arching as he sucked a hard, aching nipple into his mouth, his tongue swirling around it with velvety heat. I'd never felt any pain so exquisite as that, and almost cried out with joy as he guided himself into my body. My mind shut down at the sensation of him parting my waiting flesh, of the feel of his chest against mine, of his mouth on my shoulders, licking the spot where my neck joined my shoulder.
"Portia, I have to...I have to..." Theo groaned as his body stroked into mine, a sudden white hot pain flaring outward from the spot he was kissing. I was flooded with emotions and sensations that didn't make any sense, but were so profound in nature that I just accepted them.
Theo reared back, his eyes shocked, his lips crimson with blood. "Per imperium, what have I done?"
As he spoke, long canine teeth flashed white against the blood.
"I don't know, and right now, I don't give a damn! Just don't stop!"
"This isn't right. I can't...not like this..." His eyes closed, pain written on his face, so intense that it spilled out onto me. "You'll hate me."
I tried to pull him down so I could kiss him, but he resisted. "I don't hate you, Theo. For Pete's sake, I'm damned close to falling in love with you! Don't stop or you'll kill me!"
"You don't understand," he said, turning his head away. "You don't understand what I am now, what Bael has made me."
Vampire. The word echoed in my mind. I ignored it.
"I know that you need me." I turned his face so that I could look into his beautiful black eyes. "I know that there's something I can give you which will ease the pain inside. And I know that we are meant to be together, Theo."
Regret, sorrow, and sadness swamped me as he started to pull away, but I wouldn't let him. I wrapped my arms around him, yanking him back down onto me, kissing him with a passion so deep I was left shaking.
Theo resisted, hard and unyielding...until my tongue invaded his mouth. The taste of my blood was in our mouths, and at it, Theo went wild. He pulled my hips up, pounding into me with a force that knocked pillows from the bed. His mouth was hot on my flesh, pain sharp and hot fading quickly into a sensation so intense, I could swear I felt the pleasure it gave him. I closed my mind to the knowledge of what he was doing, and gave in to the tension that wound tighter and tighter within me.
Theo exploded into an orgasm that pushed me over the edge, his body racking with the need to pour life into me, at the same time he took it. I gave him everything I had, gave him my pleasure, gave him my warmth, filled the empty dark spots where his soul used to be, and accepted from him pleasure that lifted me from the mortal plane and sent me flying.
I was vaguely aware of Theo's weight lifting off me as I floated down, but a great, languid sense of peace and well-being washed over me, leaving me unable to move despite the desire to comfort what I could feel was a profound sense of unease in Theo.