“Stop it!” she screamed, turning away from his eyes which were so powerfully possessive that she squeezed her eyes tightly.
“Look at me!” he commanded and his voice—the power.
She spun to face him, dark locks flying.
He released his grip. “It’s you, Donja, not her, it’s always been you, I just couldn’t find you.”
Her tears which she had controlled up to this moment fell but as they streaked her cheek she was once more reminded of her mother’s pain. She belted him with her fist. “Then stop making me hurt my mom, I can’t take it,” she sobbed as he pulled her tight and his lips crushed into her own. She beat him with her fist repeatedly but he held her tighter, kissing her so deeply that her fist relaxed, and after a moment of push and pull deep in her mind, her body betrayed her. She moaned in his mouth, his taste igniting her in flames. She met him stroke for stroke and his hands grew bold ravaging her body. He pulled up on her dress bunching it to her waist, his fingers sliding into her thong, down her hips, his tongue impossibly deep in her throat. His hands which embraced her skin like liquid fire were so hot that she shivered.
She raised her leg, bending her knee to his thighs and then with her mind swirling, he dropped his hand to her hips sliding farther and farther and it was over. “I need you,” she begged as her hands found his face and then she ripped at his shirt, as he kissed her harder. She returned the passion and when her knee rose between his legs, he kissed so hard she could not breathe. She pulled at his shirt sliding it off his shoulders as he licked her face. Her fingers found his belt and in a hurried frenzy, she unbuckled it and loosened his trousers. She unzipped, his body trembling and with a slight push they fell to the floor. He stepped from them and tore at her dress, raising it up over her head, locks spilling upon her breasts, snuggled tight in a black lace bra. He spun her and unbuttoned the bra, placating her shoulders with hot, wet kisses. He scooped her up, nude in thigh high boots, his hot lips to her neck and she rocked her head, locks dangling as he kissed down her collar bone to her chest. His body heat, now matching a fire’s embrace, penetrated her skin. He squatted and with a slight bounce, leapt straight up, her arms tight around his neck and cleared the upstairs bannister. He marched the expanse of the room, into a dark hallway. He paused outside the door, his nose in her hair, and then he opened the door, striding for the bed, supported by a lavishly detailed twentieth-century headboard. He lay her down so gently and it was then with her lustful eyes trailing his chiseled chest, following the trail of dark hair down his rippled abdomen to behold his throbbing desire that a gasp, induced by sudden fear, escaped her.
My God, I can’t...
She dug her heels into the red satin sheets, scooting backward and just as she was about to protest what she feared physically impossible, he grasped her ankles and pulled her to him. His lips found her abdomen, kissing and licking and then as his hands slid beneath her hips and he lifted her to his hungry lips, spiked boots thrust over his shoulders to his back, she no longer cared. A moan of some intensity escaped her as she clutched the sheets tight in her hands. Her breaths came in hurried pants as his tongue unlocked sensations which until this moment, were nonexistent. She rode the waves and then as he rose with golden eyes and fangs which were moist and glistening, she felt an internal need so primal that she was no longer hindered by fear. He rose over her, raising one leg then another, unzipping her boots as he placated her skin with wet kisses from her toes to her thighs. He ran his tongue up her abdomen and then—his lips found her own, his body sliding upon her, muscles bulging as their fingers entwined. She felt his presence, breaking past her defenses, deeper and as they merged, she screamed, eyes tight and dug her nails into his back. He stroked her, gently at first as she bit at her lip for the pain was great…far greater than she imagined, but as his kisses found her neck and chest, the pain began to change and then…a stroke of something, never-before felt. Her body molded to him and by no will of her own, her hips expanded, taking him in. With closed eyes, her fist clutching the sheets, she rocked her head and arched her back. He ran his tongue around her jaw, to her ear and then his fangs found her neck and as he bit down, her eyes popped wide and her body exploded, matching him in waves of fluidic motion.
Later, exhausted, spent and snuggled in his arms, with her cheek on his chiseled chest, she listened to his heartbeat as the last of her passion ebbed. She closed her eyes, the intensity of this new-found pleasure, greater than she could ever have imagined.
He gently stroked her hair and after what seemed forever with her mind adrift and her body like a temple of eternal bliss, she heard him whisper, “I love you.”
She raised her head and as she stared into his smoldering eyes half closed and framed by thick dark lashes, every painful memory was washed away. Chill bumps embellished her skin and in that moment as the world disappeared she replayed it in her head as if hearing it for the first time.
“I love you.”
Once is Never Enough
Upon a plush rug in front of the fireplace, Donja and Torin sat, eating cheese and crackers while sipping red wine from crystal goblets. Dressed in one of Torin’s white silk shirts which was way too big and hung to her knees, Donja, mesmerized by the flickering flames, listened to his romantic tales of Italy. Outside the windows the deluge, spawned of demonic fury, engulfed the house, darkness succumbing to ghostly gray as lightning etched the ebony skies.
“It’s nigh on three a.m.,” Torin whispered. “We’d best get you home. I would think your mother’s worried.”
“No, not yet, I…I was hoping,” she mused, her voice all but lost in the romantic background music, “that perhaps we could…hmm, have a repeat of…”
“Again?” he whispered with a soft kiss to her arched neck, “that’s three times already,” he breathed igniting her in flames as his trailing kisses placated her skin, down and across her shoulders. He raised her hands, kissing her palms, sultry eyes watching her face. “Are you trying to take advantage of me?” he whispered.
“Do you mind?” she asked in a barely audible voice, a bit giddy from wine. She pulled her hands free of his grip so that she could caress his chest. She trailed her finger as well as her eyes, from his chest, down his abdomen tracing a roadmap of soft dark hair that ended in paradise.
“Not at all,” he moaned. He lay back on the rug and pulled her atop him. He fought her loosely falling tresses and found her lips, powerful hands sliding down her sides, underneath her thong, palms like hot embers cupping her hips before softly guiding the silky garment down her thighs. His hungry kisses intensified.
She met his tongue, stroke for stroke gyrating atop muscles of steel.
“You’re so hot,” he moaned with smoldering, half closed eyes, his hands in her hair, “and your scent,” he said with subtle growls emitting from his chest, “it’s killing me.” He pulled his hands free of her thick locks and cupped them behind his neck, biceps bulging. “Take your pleasure,” he whispered, his chest expanding into wedges of layered steel sloping dramatically across the ripples and valleys of his tight abs. He locked his hungry eyes upon her face, “and if you don’t mind,” he whispered with his body temperature soaring, “I’d just like to watch.”
Donja sat up, straddling his rock-hard abs and with arms high, lifted the shirt, which slid over her head, dark locks cascading her shoulders on to her chest. She slid her hands behind her buttocks fondling him as a growl of some intensity rumbled from deep in his chest. Fangs inched from his thick moist lips, his eyes like boiling pools of melted gold, illuming her skin.
“So beautiful,” he whispered, the deep rumble of his masculine voice mesmerizing. She sank to him with measured pants, her heart stampeding.
“Don’t close your eyes,” he moaned as she rocked her head, hands pressed to his abdomen. “Look at me…let me feel your pleasure, eye control,” he whispered seductively, “work me, baby, talk to me, give me your heart,” he moaned as his hands found her hips.
A gas
p escaped her and as she locked onto the golden lights leeching from his eyes, teasing her skin, she found herself completely lost in the fantasy lying beneath…so damn handsome, a flesh and blood mechanism built for satisfaction. She gyrated her hips, corded muscles forcing her to scream, her breaths escalating unto hurried pants, nails buried in his skin. He began to shudder as she had found his trigger and in that moment with his body blazing, he sat up, and her legs encircled him. He scanned her body chasing the red tide which was exploding from her pulsating heart, up her throat like a raging river. She arched her neck, locks cascading her back, inviting him home. He locked his eyes on the crimson flow and his breaths turned erratic. He growled, strumming her to a fevered crescendo and then, while holding her so tightly that their heartbeats merged, his fangs pierced her skin. She screamed, electric current surging her veins and with the flickering flames dancing upon them, he methodically ushered her, stroke by fluidic stroke, unto ecstasy’s door.
While lying face to face, she watched as the golden glow of his enchanting eyes evanesced unto dark ebony pits reflecting the flames. She exhaled, her breathing lessened as the last of the earth-shattering sensations ebbed from her body.
In like a lion, out like a lamb.
She took a long breath and like exhausted dancers the applause faded, the spotlight dimmed, the audience departed and with such, they melted upon each other, warmed by the fire’s embrace. She closed her eyes, his scent now occupying the room.
Her phone beeped, shattering the moment. She turned her head and cast a look.
“Go answer it,” he breathed with a quick kiss to her lips. It’s been beeping every fifteen minutes for the last two hours.”
“Really? I didn’t hear it.”
“You were a bit preoccupied,” he whispered with a quick kiss to her nose. “Tell her you’re safe; tell her we lost track of time waiting out the storm and that you will be home within the hour.”
“But I don’t want to leave you, not now, not ever.”
“But you must. She’s your mother. Now end her misery and then get a shower, because you smell like me.”
“Not just you,” she laughed. “Say it. We smell like sex.”
“Yes, we smell like sex, but you also smell like me. Iridescents emit a strong odor, it’s primal. I hope you don’t mind.”
“Mind? I love it, hmmm, so sensual like—sandalwood, yes,” she whispered, “sandalwood. That’s exactly what you smell like.”
He kissed her again just as the house fell to darkness and the music stopped.
“Well now,” he sighed heavily, “that’s a good excuse for being out all night. We lost power. Now answer your phone.”
Donja rose to her feet, nude with her locks falling softly. She fumbled in her purse and found her phone. She tucked her hair behind her ears, leaning into the fireplace for light, fingers flying over the screen. “Darn, she sighed, there’s no signal, the tower must be down.”
“Hmm,” he moaned with a furrowed brow. “We’ve broken all the rules, first the Council and now your mother. Let’s get you home, there’s gonna be hell to pay—from both.”
~~~
Pulling up to Hampton Manor in Torin’s black Land Rover which luckily, they used for the trip back for the roads were near impassable with downed trees, powerlines and debris, Donja glanced to the clock. Six fifty a.m.
Damn.
Lisa and Carson met them at the door.
“This is unacceptable, Torin!” Lisa blurted. “How dare you keep her out all night.”
“She tried to call you,” Torin sighed, his voice a bit rueful, “but the winds were dangerous and unfortunately, we lost power. My landline was dead and even the towers were down so our cells were useless.” He met Lisa’s fury, attempting to disarm it. “I’m sorry that you were worried, I fully understand, but I had to keep her safe, so we waited it out.”
“We lost power here about two a.m.,” Carson said, “it was quite the storm.”
“You can say that again,” Torin replied.
Donja swallowed hard. “He’s right, Mom,” she said, “it was just too dangerous to try and get back. I’m sorry I worried you, but I want you to know that I’m safe with Torin,” she whispered, unable to control her eyes which strayed back to his face. They shared a look, which seemed to linger a bit too long and sensing Lisa’s anxiety, Torin broke the tether. “Mr. Hampton, you have several trees down on your drive and I had to drive through the meadows and a ravine to get here.”
“Oh wow,” Carson said. “Is it passable?”
“Not without danger and you’ll need four-wheel drive, but if you’ll grab your chainsaw, I’ll help you clear it out.”
Carson scratched his head. “I don’t have one.”
“No problem, I brought mine just in case. Come on, I’ll help you and the good news is you’ll have a nice stack of firewood for the winter.”
“Thanks,” Carson said as he and Torin headed toward the Land Rover.
Watching them leave, Donja turned to Lisa and without warning, hugged her. “Mom,” she whispered, “I’m in love.”
“In love, oh honey,” she said painfully. “Are you sure of that?”
“Yes, yes, yes,” Donja beamed, bouncing up and down, “hopelessly, beyond the shadow of a doubt in love. Oh, Mom,” she gushed, “I can’t live without him…I just can’t.”
Shocked, Lisa hugged her tight, eight hours of walking the floors worried beyond words, fading. She fought her tears then pulled back studying her face. She swallowed hard, brushing Donja’s locks from her cheek. They locked eyes and in that moment with unspoken words flowing between them, Donja shivered. “I love him,” she whispered softly.
Lisa exhaled. “I can see that,” she said with a near whisper, “and I don’t like it. It’s scaring the life out of me.”
“Be happy for me, Mom, please, I love you.”
Lisa hugged her tight, sobbing, and after the longest time, she whispered, “I’ll try, it’s just the age differences, it scares me, not just you and Torin, but Gage and Makayla. I love you both…I just don’t want either of you hurt.”
Inside the house with light afforded by candles, Lisa and Donja sat in the golden glow drinking coffee while a silver coffee pot atop the propane stove percolated.
“I didn’t even know you had one of those old-fashioned coffee pots,” Donja said.
“Some things you never get rid of in life, but you will soon learn that when you set up your own kitchen,” she paused, “in your own home.”
Completely caught off guard by her words, Donja spoke up. “And I want you” she paused, “no, I need you with me every step of the way.”
“I don’t know about that, you seem pretty much in control, actually more so than I ever imagined.”
“Not really,” Donja mused, sipping her coffee. “To be honest, it’s just a guise because I’m scared, happy, excited, worried, oh gosh, about every imaginable emotion one can harbor, but the one thing I am sure of,” she said as their eyes met, “is my heart.”
“That’s important,” Lisa whispered, tears welling in her eyes.
“Don’t cry,” Donja whispered.
“I can’t help it.” Lisa blubbered. “My little girl seems to have become a woman overnight, it’s not easy.”
“Well your little girl still needs you. Will you help me plan the wedding?”
“Err—yes, I suppose,” she stumbled over her words. “Is it to be soon?”
“Yes.”
Lisa’s brows furrowed. “You’re not…”
“No, of course not…but I could be.”
“Oh Donja.”
“Mom, you know how it feels to be in love, you can’t control those emotions. Let the cards fall where they may, it’s not so bad, you were pregnant with me at seventeen.”
“Yes, I was, but that doesn’t mean you should follow in my footsteps.”
Donja slid her hand across the table and gripped her hand. “Why not, there are none better to follow.”
<
br /> “Okay,” Lisa smiled gripping Donja’s hand. “We can get this planned quickly.”
“Good.”
Hearing the front door, they glanced as Carson and Torin approached.
“We got it cleared,” Carson said, “thanks to Torin, who’s strong as an ox.”
“Well, I’m a bit of a mess so I’m going to go now,” Torin said as he planted a kiss on Donja’s cheek. “I’ll call you later, I have a meeting to attend, and if you’re up to it, we can have dinner tonight, perhaps with the two of you,” he said to Lisa and Carson.
Lisa smiled weakly. “That would be nice, perhaps seven?”
“Sounds good.”
“And of course, my son Frankie will be with us and Makayla as well if she doesn’t have plans.”
“Family,” Torin smiled, his eyes sparkling, “what a beautiful word.”
~~~
It was a relentless shaking that roused Donja from slumber and she slowly came to realize it was Makayla.
“Wake up, its nigh on four o’clock and you’ve been asleep all day. I’m dying to find out what’s happened because your mom is talking wedding. I’m beyond shocked.”
“Ugh!” Donja grumbled as she stretched like a cat, then sat up, rubbing her eyes. She tried to swallow but it stuck in the back of her throat. “My God, I’m so dry I could spit cotton,” she complained.
“Here,” Makayla said offering up her Diet Coke.
Donja sipped, then swished it in her mouth and swallowed.
Scooting closer on the edge of the bed, Makayla, wide eyed like a kid at Christmas, blurted. “What happened? I want every gory detail!”
Donja licked her lips, his kisses rekindled. “Oh God,” she declared with a hoarse voice. “I’m in love.”
“No way!” Makayla shrieked. “Girl, you were so hot when you left here I thought you might kill him.”
“I tried, but that man can kiss, and his hands,” she moaned, her voice clearing, “he worked me like a sculptor with clay.”
Makayla’s eyes narrowed. “You slept with him, didn’t you? I can see it in your eyes.”