Page 21 of Immortal by Morning (Argeneau #37)

Abril was gone before Crispin could comment, heading up the hall off the living room with Lilith quickly rising to trail her.

Abril and her shadow, Crispin thought with amusement as he continued to play. The dog seemed to follow her everywhere, no

matter who else was in the room with them when she left. He couldn’t blame the Lab. He’d follow her around just as devotedly

if it wouldn’t make her think he was a weirdo creep.

He smiled faintly at the idea of trailing her everywhere, tongue hanging out and arse wagging. But then he moved on to pondering

what Abril had been about to tell him. It was obviously going to be an explanation for why she liked animals better than people,

but now he was wondering what that reason could be.

Mistreatment or betrayal by a person or people was the most likely answer, he decided.

Perhaps a best friend, a family member, or even a lover.

That last possibility made him scowl. He was no fool.

She had no doubt had lovers by now in her life, but thinking about that made jealousy rear its ugly head inside him.

Which was foolish. Others may have kissed, touched, and made love to her, but he already knew none of them would compare to him.

Any pleasure she’d experienced in the past in these phantom lover’s arms would be nothing next to what he and she enjoyed together.

That wasn’t because of any great skill on his part.

It was just guaranteed because they were life mates.

Just thinking about the pleasure he’d already enjoyed with her and what was still to come made Crispin hard. Unfortunately,

his cock growing and shifting was enough to dislodge his towel. While the left end of the towel lay across his lap, the right

side didn’t and dropped away leaving his outer leg and hip exposed. Crispin was quick to grab the fallen end and pull it back

up. He then stood to rewrap it around himself more securely, wincing as the soundtrack from the game announced that the distraction

had cost him a life. It was game over for him.

“C’est la vie ,” he murmured to himself and decided he should go check on his laundry. It should be done about now, he thought, and headed

up the hall wondering where Abril had gone.

He got the answer to his question when he walked into the laundry room to find the washer door open, and her just turning

on the dryer. She’d shifted his laundry over for him. He was just about to thank her for that when Abril suddenly jerked around

in surprise, her hand actually going to her chest.

“Oh, you startled me,” she breathed, letting her hand drop away even as her gaze began to move down over his body in the towel.

There was no mistaking that the first shock of fear he’d caused had passed and she was experiencing something altogether different in response to his presence.

Crispin could hear that her heartbeat had sped up.

Her breathing had also become short, shallow breaths, and he could smell her excitement in the air.

It was as sweet as nectar, drawing him toward her as he said, “I did not mean to startle you.”

A sound came from somewhere in the vicinity of the back of her throat that might have been a response. He wasn’t sure. He

was only sure of one thing. “I want to kiss you.”

The words came out on a low growl as he continued forward. Although, he wasn’t even aware that he’d moved until she took a

step back and raised a hand as if to stop him.

Stopping at once, he waited, uncertainty plaguing him. He knew she wanted him, so why was she stopping him? They were life

mates. Life mate attraction was irresistible.

“I’d like to kiss you too,” Abril admitted softly and he started forward again, only to freeze when she took another quick

step back and added, “But...”

She didn’t complete the thought for a moment, as if waiting to be sure he wasn’t suddenly going to jump on her, and then she

swallowed and said, “But I don’t want to have sex.”

Crispin’s eyes widened and horror slid through him at the words. Kissing would lead to sex. There was no doubt in his mind

of that.

“Okay?” she asked her expression a combination of hope and pleading.

Crispin hesitated. He wanted to say that was fine, that he understood.

And he wanted to promise that they wouldn’t have sex.

Unfortunately, he couldn’t guarantee that.

He very much feared he didn’t have the self-control to be able to say with any confidence that kissing her would not lead to touching, and ultimately sex. No immortal would.

“I mean,” Abril said when he remained silent as he tried to think what to do, “making out is one thing, but it just feels

too soon for sex. Okay?”

Crispin hesitated again, but for a much shorter period this time before asking, “What is making out?”

That seemed to startle her. “You don’t know what making out is?”

“I do not know what you consider to be making out,” he corrected. She had eased his worries with the term making out . While it had been millennia since he’d bothered with such things, he did have younger siblings still interested and engaging

in dating and such, so he was familiar with the term. But even amongst those siblings it meant different things. “For my youngest

sister making out is just kissing and holding.”

Raising his hand, he let one finger glide down her arm and felt her pleasure as it shimmied through her, through them both

really. Moving the one step necessary so that no space separated them, and her nipples were brushing against his chest through

her top, he added, “But for my youngest brother, her twin, it is kissing.” He bent to place a kiss just below her ear and

heard her sharp intake of breath as he felt a shaft of the excitement she experienced race through his own body.

“Licking,” he said next, and licked then began to suckle at her neck, just managing to keep himself from biting her too.

“Caressing.” His voice was a hungry growl against her throat as he let his hand move to close over her breast and knead gently.

“Oh God,” Abril breathed, arching into the caress.

Crispin had started this with the intention of going through a long list of the things he wanted to do with her. Everything

up to, but not including, penetration, which was his brother’s idea of making out. He should have known better than to think

he could manage that though. Crispin was already struggling with wave after growing wave of passion as they poured over him.

He was fighting desperately not to rip her clothes off and drag her to the floor with him.

Thinking of the floor made him realize they were in the laundry room which had a hard tile floor. If they fainted and fell

here—

Pulling his mouth away from her neck, he released her breast to take her hand instead and turned to head out of the laundry

room, pulling her with him.

“What’s happening? Where are we going?” Abril asked with confusion as he tugged her up the hall toward the living room.

“What is happening is that we are going to make out in the comfort of your bedroom rather than on the cold floor of the laundry

room,” he growled.

Abril didn’t protest his plan. She let him pull her through the living room into her bedroom and close the door before Lilith

could follow. It was when he then turned to take her into his arms, that she put her hands up again and backed up. “No sex?”

“No penetration,” he corrected. “Anything and everything you want, but no penetration.”

Abril’s eyes widened, and she swallowed thickly, then demanded, “Promise me you won’t get caught up in this and end up taking

it too far. I’m not on birth control. I do not want to get pregnant. Promise me.”

“I promise,” he growled and was on her before she’d even fully lowered her hands. Abril did not protest. When his mouth covered

hers and urged it open, her lips parted at once and she welcomed his tongue with her own.

He kissed her so thoroughly they were both moaning within moments. As caught up as he was in the kiss, he wanted more, and

Crispin quickly undid her jeans, then pushed them off over her hips. Abril gasped into his mouth as they dropped to pool around

her ankles, then gasped again when he caught her by the waist to lift her out of them and carried her to the bed. He never

stopped kissing her, but came down on her even as he lowered her to the bed. Abril kissed him back, her legs wrapping around

his waist and that was when she froze, panic eradicating the passion that had been flowing between them just a second earlier.

Crispin didn’t have to ask why. He’d lost his towel at some point between the door and the bed, and his uncovered erection

was now pressing against her, knocking at the door so to speak.

Breaking their kiss, Crispin muttered, “Sorry,” then untangled her legs from around him and shifted to the side so that his erection pressed against her much safer outer leg.

When she lay still, uncertainty coming off her in waves, Crispin pushed her T-shirt and bra up and out of the way to have at her breasts.

It was an attempt to distract her, and reassure her at the same time, and seemed to work.

She began to gasp and moan again, her back arching, pushing her breasts upward in offering.

Crispin accepted the offer, his mouth closing over one nipple to lathe and suckle, then moving to the other to do the same.

Abril was clutching at his shoulders, her head twisting, and legs shifting restlessly. But he wanted the wild passion they’d

had in the pool. To accomplish that, he nearly slid his hand between her legs to touch and caress her, but then decided he

wanted to taste the juices he made flow instead. Abril muttered a breathless protest when he gave off playing with her breasts,

and then stilled as he slithered down her body until he could get off the bed and stand beside it. Catching her by the ankles

then, he pulled her to the edge of the bed, then dropped to his knees on the carpet. Abril was completely silent and still.

He didn’t even think she was breathing as she watched him adjust her to his satisfaction. Once he had her right where he wanted

her with her bottom half off the bed, her knees on either side of him, legs spread wide leaving her open to his attention,

he bent his head to give her that attention. Abril cursed and bucked wildly, but he simply held her thighs open and in place

as he devoured her.

Crispin would have liked to explore and lick every inch of skin on her body, but knew he wouldn’t have got far before passion had overwhelmed them both.

So, he’d hoped by going right to the glory, he’d at least get to explore her there thoroughly.

Sadly, that was not to be, however. He was barely able to taste her before he felt the orgasm taunting him on the edges of his awareness.

Helpless not to claim it, he plunged a finger into Abril even as he continued working her with his tongue, then cried out with her as passion overwhelmed both of them and pulled them into darkness.

Abril was still asleep when Crispin woke up. He’d shifted in his sleep so that he was now curled up on the floor at her feet

rather than slumped with his head between her thighs. Probably a good thing, he decided. Otherwise, he might have just started

in licking and kissing her nether regions once more and ended up unconscious again. While the thought was tempting, the idea

of kissing and licking his way across every inch of her body before sinking himself into her and driving them both toward

orgasm still had a hold of his mind. But there was only one way he could do that.

Getting silently to his feet, Crispin took a moment to gently shift Abril so that she lay properly in bed. He then fetched

a throw from the living room, and settled it lightly over her before shutting off the bedroom light and leaving the room.

Lilith was nowhere to be seen. Guessing she was in the kitchen with Roberts, he glanced at the clock in the living room to

see that they hadn’t been out long. He still had time before he had to replace Roberts... and he intended to enjoy every

minute of it. He just had to grab his pants from the dryer, and decide which guest room he was going to use.