I Only Have Fangs For You

CHAPTER 22

Sebastian was impressed with Mina. She learned how to handle human vibration very quickly. Far more quickly than he would have thought possible given the fact she'd been a vampire for so long and had never been able to control it before. He'd thought it would be harder for her. But she was a quick study.

Then he thought about the way she had just so provocatively rubbed against him. Mina was a quick learner in many areas.

Once he reached the bar, he glanced at the other patrons who waited for drinks. He guessed it would be a good ten minute wait. And frankly, Sebastian wasn't that thirsty. He definitely had other things he'd rather do than stand here.

The lesson was a success. He knew she was handling the reverberation just fine without him. He forced himself to finish this lesson, because he wanted Mina to be comfortable with herself and with the world around her. That was important to him. But now that the lesson was done and a success, he wanted to teach her things that were far more fun-and involved far fewer clothes.

He weaved through the throng back toward where he'd left her, but he didn't see her. He scanned the crowd. Then he sensed it, a prickling of fear, Mina's fear, an emotion of hers he knew too well. But still he couldn't see her.

Then a humongous man, at least 6 5", in a studded leather jacket, moved, and Sebastian realized the hulk was looming over Mina. Mina stared warily at the man, but what made Sebastian more nervous than her expression was that fear, thick in the air like a giant fogbank swirling all around her.

Sebastian strode toward the man, restraining himself from shoving the giant away from her.

"Excuse me," he said instead.

The hulk turned slowly, eyeing Sebastian with an unimpressed scowl. Despite the man's size, Sebastian was equally unimpressed.

"What do you want, buddy?"

"Leave my woman alone," Sebastian stated.

The man crossed his tree-trunk arms over his massive chest. "I don't see anything on her that says she's yours."

What a damned Neanderthal. Sebastian wanted to just punch the idiot and be done with the situation. But then he looked at Mina's wide, frightened eyes and decided against it, afraid violence would be too much for her.

"Well, despite the fact that I have indeed neglected to scrawl my name all over her, she is mine," he said with a small polite smile. "So I'd advise you to leave now."

The man raised an eyebrow, then reached out and snagged Mina's wrist. She gasped, and Sebastian felt her fear spike.

"If I go, I'm taking her with me." The giant eyed him as if to say that there was no way in hell a man an inch or two shorter and a good seventy-five pounds lighter was going to stop him.

Mina made a small noise, and Sebastian acted purely on instinct, lunging at the guy. He easily knocked the giant away from Mina and landed a punch before the jerk even saw the blow coming.

Sebastian couldn't help smiling with satisfaction as the giant's hand flew up to his nose, pressing his fingers to the flow of blood that ran from both nostrils.

Broken, Sebastian thought smugly. Definitely broken.

Unfortunately, Sebastian's satisfaction was short-lived. Distracted both by his smugness and Mina, he didn't sense the other humans behind him until they had grabbed his arms. The hulk, surprisingly fast for his huge size-and broken nose-punched Sebastian square in the face. The blow didn't hurt, but Sebastian did hear a crunch.

His nose. Figures.

Highly irritated by his lack of awareness, Sebastian threw off the two men restraining him with a little more strength than necessary. Both men flew through the air, smashing against the wall over ten feet away. They crumpled to the ground, dazed and with the wind knocked out of them. Sebastian spun back toward the Neanderthal.

The man's expression was no longer indifferent. Now it was almost comically alarmed as he gaped from Sebastian to his fallen friends and back to Sebastian, unable to believe what he'd just seen.

Well, it would have been comical if Sebastian's actions hadn't drawn the attention of most of the bar. A crowd had formed around them, and Sebastian could tell from the other patrons' expressions that they too had found Sebastian's fighting skills to be more than a little unusual.

Damn. It was never wise to draw that kind of attention. But he hadn't been thinking about appearing normal. He'd only been thinking to protect Mina.

Surprisingly, however, it was Mina who seemed to gather her wits first. She hurried to his side, tugging at him.

"Let's just go."

He looked down at the two men, still huddled on the ground. They would be okay. They'd be hurting for a while, but they'd survive.

Sebastian glared at the hulk. He was the only one Sebastian had really wanted to injure. Mina tugged Sebastian's hand again, and he allowed her to pull him away from the growing crowd of onlookers. But Sebastian couldn't resist taking a step toward the huge man as he passed. The giant jumped back like Sebastian was a poisonous snake about to strike.

Sebastian snorted. Ha, that ass would think twice before he touched someone else's woman. Sebastian grinned to himself, which quickly turned to a grimace as he tasted the blood trickling from his nose. He wiped the droplets away with the back of his hand, and then let Mina lead him outside.

Mina didn't release him, as she hurriedly tugged him away from the bar, not looking at him, just hell-bent on getting them away from the place.

"Mina, stop." Sebastian dug in his heels.

She stumbled to a stop, but she didn't look at him.

"What's wrong?" he asked, leaning forward, trying to see her face.

Finally she looked up at him and he could see tears in her eyes, making them glitter like polished sapphires.

"You were right," Mina said, barely able to look at his battered face.

"Well, I often am," he said with a slight smile. "But I'm not actually sure what I'm right about at the moment."

Somehow he managed to look cocky, even with a broken nose. The realization didn't make her feel any better, however.

"I panicked and you got hurt," she told him.

He frowned at her. "You think that was your fault back there?"

"I shouldn't have panicked," she said miserably. "I should have handled it."

"You could have," he agreed. "You are a vampire and that makes you physically strong enough to deal with a jerk like that."

He stepped closer to her, touching her cheek, brushing a wisp of her black hair back from her face. She fought the urge to nuzzle her cheek against his large palm.

"But you didn't have to," he said quietly. "I wanted to protect you. That guy was a damned Neanderthal."

His words made her insides turn to quivering jelly. He wanted to protect her. She couldn't remember anyone wanting to do that for her. She waited for it to not be real-that somehow Sebastian would be a fantasy. The embodiment of all her childhood dreams.

She gazed up at him, and he tucked another loose strand of her hair behind her ear, his fingers strong and yet so gentle against her skin.

"I hate that look," he told her. "You look like you want so badly to trust me, but you don't. Not quite."

She blinked, stunned that all those feelings were there in her eyes. The exact feelings that were in her heart.

"Does it hurt?" she asked gesturing to his nose, not wanting to discuss her insecurities any longer.

"Not bad. Is it still bleeding?"

She shook her head. Then she smiled slightly and gave him a pained cringe. "It's very-crooked, though."

Sebastian fingered the bump there.

"I knew that bastard broke it," he said, disgruntled.

She moved closer to inspect the injury, her body brushing against his. His hands caught her waist as she rose up and gently pressed a kiss to the bridge of his nose. Then to his cheek, then to his mouth. She wanted to care for him the way he had her.

But she was only allowed a couple more gentle ministrations, then he tugged her tightly to him, deepening the kiss, and all her tender thoughts fled. She just wanted him. This man who'd protected her. This man who made her feel alive. And safe. And lo-

She pushed the word away, putting all the emotions inside her into her kiss. They stayed like that, locked in each other's arms, their lips clinging together as if they would die if they had to part.

Then a group of loud young humans passed them, cheering and hooting at their behavior. Only then did they seem to realize where they were. On the sidewalk in a dubious part of the city.

Sebastian stared down at her, a stunned look in his golden eyes.

"How do you do this to me?" he murmured almost as if he was talking to himself.

She didn't know what she did, but if it was anything even remotely like what he did to her, she was humbled.

"Should we go?" she asked, her voice breathy, her eyes heavy-lidded, dazed.

He nodded.

They walked only a block, when Sebastian suddenly veered into a dark alleyway. He continued deeper into its litter-strewn depths until they were concealed in the shadows of a rickety fire escape.

"What are we doing?" she asked, confused.

"I have to touch you," he said, his voice low, desperate. "Just a little."

She didn't consider telling him no. She had to touch him too. The need crackled in the air between them.

Sebastian sucked in a breath as her hands moved to his sides, sliding over the sinew of his torso. She stepped closer to him, her face turned up to his, and he didn't hesitate to take her invitation.

His mouth fell on hers, his touch not tempered with any restraint or gentleness. She moaned, reveling in his hunger, his urgency. The same need raged through her.

One of his hands moved to cradle the back of her neck, the angle opening her mouth to him. His tongue swept over hers, hot and insistent, each brush stoking the hungry desperation inside her.

She made a small noise in the back of her throat as his fingers tugged at the knot at her waist. He managed to yank the material free, and he found the already opened front of her dress. His hand slid inside, stroking her, finding the swell of her breast, kneading the aching flesh.

Her hands massaged over him. The broadness of his shoulders, the hard, perfect muscles of his back, covered in a layer of thin cotton. Her fingers strayed under the material, wanting to feel his bare skin. Velvet over rippling steel.

"Mina," he growled against her lips. He started to pull back as if he realized how quickly their passion was spiraling out of control. She sank her fingers into his muscled back, anchoring him to her.

"No," she said against his lips. She didn't want to stop. Not yet.

He hesitated, but then growled again. His lips molded to hers, opening her, tasting her. Her arms came around his neck as she strained to get closer to him. Wanting all of him.

She barely registered as he shifted them, only vaguely aware of coarse hardness against her back. The relentless tease of his hand at her breast, grazing over and over her hard nipple was far more distracting. Breath-stealing. Wonderful.

Humid air clung to her skin as he loosened the rest of her dress, exposing her throbbing breasts. He gazed at them for a moment, before dropping his lips to kiss one of the taut peaks. Having first one, then moving to the other painfully pebbled nipple.

Her head fell back against the hardness at her back as he licked and suckled first one nipple, then when she thought she would scream out from sheer need, he turned to the other, repeating the process.

"Sebastian," she cried as he worked the hardened nub between his amazing lips.

She felt his smile as he pressed a kiss to the side of her breast, then she felt his hands going to her skirt, gathering the material upward. More humid, heavy air brushed her bare legs and grazed the tight curls of her sex.

She gasped, raising her head to watch Sebastian sink down in front of her. Her fingers tangled in his hair as he brushed his full lips against her thigh.

She whimpered as his breath stirred the curls. He nudged her legs apart, then just as gently, he parted her. Then his tongue touched her, intense, incredible fire licking between her thighs.

She cried out, her head falling back. Her arms came out to her side, her palms pressing into the rough wall behind her. Her fingers dug into the coarse bricks as she arced her hips forward, demanding more pressure from Sebastian's amazing mouth. He gave her what she wanted, his tongue relentlessly flicking over and around her throbbing clitoris.

She called out his name, her head still raised toward the sky. At first she didn't recognize the wetness on her face, on her bared breasts. The warm roll of moisture was just more torture on her already sensitized skin. All she understood was Sebastian's touch. His fingers holding her open, his tongue delved into her. Her own urgent need.

Then Sebastian was gone.

She stared down at him, disoriented by the sudden loss of his touch. He looked up at her, his eyes golden in the dim light. Intense, searching.

"Sebastian, what is it?"

He glanced up at the sky, and for the first time, she realized the moisture on her skin was rain. It was pouring. She hadn't even known.

She laughed, the sound sudden, surprised.

Sebastian frowned at her as if maybe she was going mad. Maybe she was. She tugged at his shoulders until he rose. Her fingers went to the button of his jeans, fumbling with the damp material. He caught her hands, stopping her.

"Mina, I don't want anything we do to ever remind you of that night."

She gazed into Sebastian's golden eyes. Warm eyes. Beautiful eyes. Nothing about this man would ever remind her of that night. Not again.

"I want this," she said, pressing her mouth lingeringly to his. Rain clung to his lips. To her lips.

Her fingers began to fumble with his jeans again. He stopped her clumsy fingers, but this time to unfasten them himself.

She watched as he released himself, his penis jutting proudly from his parted zipper. She touched him, the rain making the smooth skin slick. A glistening idol in the dim light, dusky and dazzling.

"Are you sure?" he asked, his voice strained. He didn't want to stop, but she knew he would if she said she'd changed her mind. That alone was enough to make her absolutely sure.

She nodded, then kissed him, nipping the lush softness of his bottom lip.

Sebastian groaned and shifted so she was pinned between the wall and his hard, hot body. Instead of feeling fear at the trapped position, she reveled in the weight of him. His hard muscles, his powerful strength.

His lips found hers, and she could taste the uncertainty on his lips. Concern for her. She linked her arms around his neck, her mouth plundering his, showing him the intensity of her need.

He responded with a groan as his hands came up to cup her bottom, lifting her until his hips were wedged between her legs, his erection tight against the wet flesh of her sex.

He held her that way, kissing her, his hips grinding against her, his penis stroking her swollen clitoris until she was writhing between him and the wall.

"Sebastian, I need you inside me," she breathed against his ear.

Easily he levered himself away from her, still holding her aloft. He positioned himself, inching into her with a glorious deliberate glide until he was buried deep inside her. Stretched and full and complete.

"Baby, you feel too good," he gritted, staying perfectly still inside her.

"Is there such a thing as too good?" Mina asked, squirming, needing him to move. Needing him to end this ceaseless yearning inside her.

"With you? I think maybe." Something flashed in his eyes, an emotion she didn't quite understand. But she didn't get a chance to question him, because he began to move, his erection pulling out of her until only the swell of the head remained inside her. Then thrusting back in filling her totally, completely. Each thrust a maddening friction, over and over until he was driving into her with violent force.

She arced against him accepting every thrust readily. Reveling in it. Until her desire ripped through her, every nerve, every cell disintegrated into pure ecstasy.

"Sebastian," she shouted and she felt him tense against her, his own release overwhelming him.

She lifted her face toward the sky, the rain washing over them. Pounding against her tingling skin, as relentless as Sebastian. As perfect.

"I love you," she murmured against his wet skin.

Sebastian stiffened against her, and Mina wanted the words back, but she realized that would be like getting the rain back into the clouds.