“And you’re used to girls throwing themselves at you rather than legging it away from you. Speaking of which, how did your consorts take it?”

“As I expected.”

“Would I be right in thinking that Joy took it the worst?”

The memory of her plea entered my mind.

“What? You’ve got a weird look on your face. What did she do?”

“Nothing worth talking about.”

“Your expression says otherwise. What happened?”

I sighed. Sam would no doubt find the truth shudder-worthy but I didn’t want to lie to her. I had a feeling that she would know if I did anyway. I rolled off her and back onto my side. “Joy, um, guessed that I was getting rid of them because it was you who I wanted, though she actually thinks it’s to make you my only consort.”

“And...?”

“Joy can make herself into a perfect replica of someone, so she offered to morph into you as often as I wanted and then things could stay as they were.”

Sam grimaced but I couldn’t read her expression. She twisted her body to face mine. “But you said no?”

“You sound surprised.”

“I am. I mean, as creepy as Joy’s little offer sounds to me, it’s probably a decent one from a bloke’s point of view. You could have kept your consorts and still, sort of, shagged me.”

I kissed her neck as I spoke. “It wouldn’t have been you, so it wouldn’t have been real. She wouldn’t ever kiss me like you do. Or tease me like you do. She wouldn’t have had your scent, your voice, your blood, or your mind...And I wanted every part of you.” I looked up at her then, shrugging. “I guess that makes me a greedy, spoilt brat.”

Again her expression was unreadable. She brought her face to mine and gave me a long, soft, searching kiss. Nothing like any kiss I’d ever had before. And just like that I wanted her again. I slid my hands around her and pulled her close, aligning her body to mine. I explored every curve and line all over again, but this time lightly and not so insistently, and never invasive.

Wriggling and squirming in frustration she said, “I’ll tell you what, you don’t tease me so much, and I won’t fight you this time.”

“I’d say ‘not a chance’, but I did notice that my caging-in techniques need some work. Not surprising seen as I’ve never had to use them before.” I rolled us so that I was on top of her again and I arranged myself securely over her. “Let’s see if we can get you calling out my name again.” I kissed her again. “Sam?”

“Hmmm?” she murmured through another kiss.

“Promise me you won’t go back into that state of denial again.” She seemed just as surprised to hear me say that as what I was to hear me say it. I decided that it should be another one of those things that I knew was important but didn’t bother to try to understand. Whatever it was, it meant enough to me to voice it.

Her fingertips traced my cheek. “No more denial. It’s too late for that now anyway.”

This time when my lips came down to hers they moved fiercely and urgently. I then trailed my hands down to the backs of her thighs, raised her hips to mine and surged deep inside her.

Chapter Thirteen

(Sam)

Even though I wasn’t one for sprawling all over the bed in my sleep and I usually curled up in a foetal position, I still like to have my space. But when I woke up, I found myself nestled into Jared like a bird under the wing. I even had an arm draped over him. Usually I kept my arms huddling against my chest. Sure, I remember us getting into this position; Jared on his back with an arm curled round my waist, holding me to him as reverberations from more orgasms subsided. But how had I fallen asleep like this? And how had I actually slept the entire time like this?

I could try telling myself that I’d just been so wiped after such an eventful encounter with Jared – he had the stamina of a Trojan. Or I could try writing it off as a result of my stomach being so tanked before I fell asleep – I’d swallowed a decent amount of his blood in addition to some NSTs. I could even pin the blame on the bed – it was without a doubt the comfiest bed in the world. But if I was honest, I would admit that the situation was nothing to do with any of those things, and everything to do with the fact that it was Jared who I was with.

But I’d never tell him that. Just like I’d never tell him that he was by far the best shag I’d ever had; his ego was bad enough already. No one had ever touched me the way he had, hands exploring every part of me like he was learning and marking me. No one had ever been so intent on pleasuring me in every way possible or gotten so much satisfaction from that. And then there was the way that he had looked at me...like every tiny flicker of emotion I felt was important. Sometimes something blazed in his eyes that I would have mistaken for possessiveness if it weren’t for how certain I was that this was just about sex for him.

God, I’d forgotten what real sex was truly like. Sex with Victor didn’t count as real as far as I was concerned. I, me, wasn’t part of it. The desire he made me feel wasn’t real. As such, I hadn’t had an orgasm in years. Jared and his teasing had me climaxing again and again. In truth, I’d loved the teasing just as much as I’d hated it. It was beyond my understanding how he managed to hold back for as long as he had that first time; the hunger had been so evident in his expression. In fact, I couldn’t understand why he had felt the need to restrain himself at all. Yeah he’d said he wanted to drag it out, but I didn’t get why that would matter to him. Then again, Jared didn’t operate in the same way that everyone else did.

Like electrifying my clit and G-spot, for instance...That just wasn’t normal. But God it had felt so good. It had burnt and sizzled and sent shooting sensations through me that were the perfect balance of pleasure and pain. As if I hadn’t already been on fire just by having him kiss and touch me! Over the edge I’d gone.

Never had I thought he would make me lose control enough to call his name. But taking into account everything he made me feel, how could I not have? I hadn’t just called it out that one time either. Every single time he had been inside me, without fail, he’d reduced me to such a rapturous state that I would have called out anything he wanted. But after the first time I hadn’t needed asking again anyway. He was just as smug about it every time.

The smugness was partly why I’d joked after our first round of sex about it all being a mistake. I’d just wanted to bring him back down to Earth, but I really hadn’t expected him to react so badly at the idea of it. Too many things about him I just didn’t get. I got him, just not all of his reactions concerning me. I mean come on if Joy could have morphed into me at his leisure then it was a shock that he hadn’t even tried it. Surely a girl-obsessed bloke wouldn’t be so fussy and would prefer a collection of consorts to this casual shag. I really hadn’t, and still don’t, know what to think of it. In a way, it had somehow managed to sound sweet, especially when he had said that he wanted every part of me. Shrug. Well, now that he’d finally gotten what he wanted his interest may have expired. It’d be a shame; we seemed to have this weird instinctive understanding of what the other liked and wanted, and it made us good together – in bed, I mean. Just in bed. Honest.