She sighed and rested her head back on his chest, wrapping her arms around him. "It's just all so weird to me. I never would've imagined an angry cook would go as far as getting me kidnapped for revenge." She lifted her head to prop her chin on his chest. "Is that a common thing here? Do I need to always be on high alert?"
Running the backs of his fingers down her cheek, he answered, "It's usually not that bad, no." For a beat, he wondered if he should share everything they'd discovered from the four males. But then he decided he would. Even Leo had said Reika had a right to know, and Stone didn't want her hearing it from anyone else. As difficult as it was for him to be open and completely honest, he was going to bloody well try his best for his bride. "If not for the French vampires, the cook never would've been able to afford hiring the bastards who took you."
She searched his gaze. "What do you mean? What French vampires?"
Apparently no one had thoroughly explained the threat to her, and Stone chastised himself for keeping her in the dark. "There is bad blood between the British and French vampires." He quickly explained how the British forces had killed nearly all of the French vampire females during the Napoleonic Wars and finally added, "Now that the French have amassed significant resources again, they're bloody well bent on getting revenge. And part of their plan is funding anyone who wants to hurt Leo and our kind because it'll weaken his leadership and hold. I also wouldn't put it past them to try and fuck up the alliance with the shifters and fae witches."
She searched his gaze. "So they're pretty dangerous then. Does that mean I'm basically going to be a prisoner in one building or the other until they're dealt with?"
He shook his head. "I don't think so. Given we have four of the five males who took you—and I have people looking for the ex-cook and her niece as well—they know we'll be on high alert regarding your safety. I doubt they'd risk it when there are far easier targets." He leaned down and kissed her nose. "And I'm going to be your personal guard from now on. No one will ever take you away ever again, as long as I breathe."
She raised an eyebrow. "I thought vampires couldn't lie? There's no way you can guarantee that."
"Even if I'm half—and the no lying restriction is less severe—I'm telling the truth. I will bloody well do whatever it takes to keep you from living in fear." He hesitated a beat, but then pushed on. "I want you as my bride, Reika. And I hope someday soon, you'll agree to be my wife so I can protect you with my name as well. I may be the bastard son of a whore, but my connection to Leo has some clout to shield you."
She traced his jaw and Stone leaned into the touch. "I don't care where you came from, Stone Riley. The male in front of me is amazing, strong, kind, and even gentle, although he hides it most of the time with scowls and grunts." He scowled deeply on purpose, and she laughed. "And there's a sense of humor dying to come out, too, I think. But…"
He brushed hair off her face. "But what?"
She moved a little until her face was nearly even with his. The gleam in her eyes made his cock come back to life. She whispered, "I think I need to try things out with a certain male, like a test drive in the bedroom department, just to make sure we're compatible."
If "test drive" meant some sort of trial, then all he wanted to do was flip Reika onto her back and show her how bloody well they'd fit. And yet, he still remembered her shaken and terrified the day before. "I very much look forward to showing you we are, but not until you're recovered."
She raised her chin. "I'm fine, Stone. My lady parts are all in working order. And they didn't touch me, beyond tying me up. I'm not traumatized, if that's what you're worried about."
Trying not to think of Reika's cunt and how much he wanted to taste her, he focused on her face. "Right now, you probably feel obligated to me for rescuing you. And when I finally claim you, I want it to be because we merely want each other."
Reika sat up and rolled her eyes. "I've wanted you pretty much since the first day we met, silly. So I guess it's up to me to get the ball rolling."
He scowled, but then she moved backward and tugged down the blanket, exposing his naked body and very hard cock laying against his stomach.
She smiled as she stared at him, and Stone resisted a groan. "What are you going to do, Reika?"
As she traced circles on his sensitive head, Stone arched his hips into her touch. He barely heard her say, "Claim you first and hope you'll do the same for me."
Before he could ask what she meant—Reika wasn't a vampire, not even half, and had no need to claim—she wrapped her small, warm fingers around his cock and squeezed.
Any lingering rational thought or objections fled instantly.
Then she leaned down and flicked her tongue against the tip of him, and Stone's restraint broke. Threading his fingers through her sleep-tousled hair, he growled, "More."
She smiled smugly up at him a beat, fire dancing in her eyes, before lowering her mouth and taking him between her lips.
And as she licked, and sucked, and tortured him slowly, Stone groaned, and kept murmuring, "Yes, fuck, just like that," and all around losing his bloody mind.
He suffered her sweet torture, waiting for the moment he could flip her onto her back and give her the best kind of revenge—with his mouth on her cunt.
ChapterEleven
It'd been a while since Reika had taken a guy's dick into her mouth. She'd never really enjoyed it before, mostly because getting a guy to do the same for her was like pulling teeth.
But with Stone, his scent, and taste, and even the way he demanded more of her, made her wetter than she'd ever been in her life.
Maybe it was from her growing feelings for him, or how such a guarded male was allowing himself to be vulnerable with her, or a combination of the two. But making him squirm and writhe was turning her on like nothing else.
When she finally pulled back to circle his tip with her tongue, Stone growled, tossed her on her back, and spread her legs. Her grumpy half-vampire slowly pulled up her long nightgown thing, each inch of the material against her skin deliberate, stoking her heat and making her burn for more than the whisper of fabric.
If him making her hot just with small brush of fabric wasn't enough, the look in his eyes, one of reverence and fire, made her even wetter, and she ached to feel him inside her.