Chapter 47

ARIC

She was more beautiful than I had imagined. She was soft, fragile, and so warm. It had been clear to me since she’d fallen asleep on me how I felt for her—something I’d never felt before.

My old emotions, my desire to protect her and keep her from harm, had come back, and with them, a desire to touch her, to hold her in my arms and lose myself to her.

I wanted her. I wanted her more than I had any human or even pureblood before. I wanted her to be mine, and I wanted her to want me.

I felt my heart beating unlike it had ever beaten before. My penis, caged in my pants, was swelling and straining against the fabric of my trousers.

As I removed her towel, she didn’t stop me. I could smell her arousal. I could hear her heart racing. I let the towel fall from my fingers and gazed at her.

I took in her light brown skin, her plump, soft breasts, her toned body, the flare of her hips, the roundness of her bottom, and the dark dampness between her legs that was just calling for me.

I could no longer control the color of my eyes. They were blazing bright red.

I could see the lines of her veins under her skin. The pounding of her heart filled my head, and the scent of her blood parched my throat.

I wanted to take her, right there, right then, to make her mine, to turn her and keep her forever by my side.

She was gazing up at me, her whole frame trembling, but she stepped closer.

I couldn’t hold back any longer. I reached out and wrapped my hand around her waist, sliding it to her back, pulling her against me. She let out a quick gasp, blushing deeply.

I felt her breasts pressed against my chest, her pebbled nipples hard against the rough cotton of my shirt. I ran my fingers down her neck, down her arm, and over her hips, cupping her buttocks in my hand.

She was extremely soft and warm to my touch. I felt every single hair rising on her body, the flush of her blood, the thick scent of her arousal. I dipped my head to rest my face near her throat.

Every single part of my body wanted to toss her on the bed and take her, to drink her blood while I made her orgasm.

“Aric.” Her voice interrupted me from my reverie. I let out a grunt, keeping my face buried in her neck. Her hands moved slowly, under my shirt, up my chest, to my shoulders.

Her touch, so warm, sent wild tingles through my body. She pulled away from me slowly, and I let her escape my grasp, keeping my gaze on hers. She stepped away, still completely naked.

I watched her moving, the goosebumps rising on her skin, and the flush in her cheeks.

She grabbed at her pillow and pulled a satin pink nightgown out from under it.

She pulled it over her head, though it didn’t leave much to the imagination, cut low on her chest, hugging her hips, and riding high on her thighs. My mouth was watering. My cock was rock hard.

She was still holding my gaze as she sat down on her bed, kneeling, her legs just slightly apart. I was trembling. I could feel my heart beating more than it ever had in my life.

“Eleanor.” I stepped toward her, letting the scent of her arousal and her sweet blood fill my head.

“Aric, we could never…,” she murmured.

I stopped, staring at her. She was pursing her lips, breathing heavily. I could see her hard nipples pushing against the fabric of her nightgown.

“I apologize. I thought you wanted to,” I breathed. She bit down on her bottom lip.

“It’s not that I don’t want to, Aric. I do.” Her eyes were wide. She almost looked like she was about to burst into tears.

“But it’s not like this makes any sense. First, you’re a pureblood vampire!

“And if my memory serves, which I know it does, you’re a Mcnoxnoctis and part royal, making you one of the most respected and feared vampires. How do I fit in there?

“You’ll get very bored of me. I’m weak. You’d have no fun with me.” She was glaring, daring me to contradict her.

“I remember what Eloise looks like. You could be with someone like her, and you should be. I’ll snap like a twig, Aric. Secondly, is this going to be some weird one-night stand? How would that even work?

“Are you just going to leave me torn to pieces, ~figuratively~? And there’s Logan. I can’t do this to Logan.” She was shaking her head.

I could feel my body vibrating in anger. My eyes were blazing red, and I couldn’t hold back my fangs.

I knew what that boy meant to her, but to have her, dressed like that, sitting a yard from me, her arousal still thick in my nose, talking about another man?

I wanted to rip his head off. I wanted to destroy any memory she had with him.

“Shouldn’t you be looking for a pureblood to marry and have children with?” she continued.

“Shut up now,” I told her.

She blinked at me in surprise, then her eyes widened. I recognized fear, the one expression humans gave me most.

I moved toward her, and she inched back on the bed, her heart racing. She was glancing around, looking for something to defend herself with. The pillows weren’t going to make a difference.

When she turned back to me, I was standing over her.

“Aric?” she squeaked, her eyes brimming with tears. Very slowly, I lowered my face to hers, my hunter’s instincts relishing her fear, her broken breath, her heaving chest.

“Eleanor, I have been on this earth for almost five hundred years,” I told her, moving close to her. She fell back on the bed, gasping.

I pounced on top of her, straddling her and pulling her arms up above her head in one swift movement. Her back arched and her breasts thrust toward me. I could smell her arousal getting stronger.

Probably for the best that her fear also turned her on. My face was very close to hers.

“I have seen wars, peace, thousands of starry nights, and I have not seen a woman, not felt about a woman, like I feel about you.

“I have sat and watched as the human race has destroyed itself because of rage, jealousy, pride; I have watched generations born, generations die.

“I have seen how desire and longing have torn humans to pieces. How through great sorrow, wonders have been built.

“I told you I would not make the first move, Eleanor, but you have not been pushing me back all night. You have been moving toward me.

“And my whole body anticipates you. Since the first moment I saw you tonight, I have known you’re the one I’ve been waiting for.”

I thought for a second that her heart had stopped. Then it started pounding so loud it was the only sound in the room. I was completely lost in her eyes.

She wore an expression of pure disbelief. I loosened my grip on her arms, and she moved them very slowly back to her chest.

“I-I don’t know what to say to that,” she whispered. I smiled at her. I felt my fangs retracting. I enjoyed the expression of utter confusion on her face. I sat up, moving off her.

She rolled over and sat up, staring at me.

“You don’t have to say anything,” I assured her. “It’s normal for you to be confused.”

“How are you so certain?” she asked.

“Because I’m old, and I know what my emotions mean when I feel them, and I do not enjoy wasting my time with fruitless maybes and ifs. But I can wait for you if you need it.”

“For how long,” she asked.

“As long as you need. I have much more time, and I’m more patient than you are,” I informed her.

She nodded slowly in agreement. “I don’t know what to do,” she admitted.

She shifted slightly, the silk moving over her body, exposing herself. I reached out and stroked her cheek lightly. She trembled, her heart racing.

“Take your time,” I insisted. “I will be here waiting for you.”

“I have decided one thing,” she told me with the smallest, cutest smile.

“What’s that?” I asked, smirking.

“I’ll take that job in Toulouse.” She grinned.