Page 12 of Vein & Vow (The Bouchers #1)

Chapter 11

Reese

“S he’s all bark,” I said as Beau strode toward me. “And I think she actually liked you.”

“Don’t care.” He pushed me back inside the apartment with his hand on my belly. “She was here for hours.”

“She wanted to get to know you,” I replied with a laugh, walking backward.

“She barely spoke to me,” he countered, slamming and locking the door behind him.

“Well—” I squeaked as he wrapped his arms around my waist and lifted, pressing his lips against my neck with a groan.

“That feels good,” I muttered, relaxing against him.

The heat had been a steadily rising hum under my skin, and it was exacerbated by the fact that I’d refused to be all over Beau while Rena was watching every move he made. By the time she left, I’d stripped down to my tank top, and my skin was flushed.

“What are the odds that my best friend’s grandparents were Vampire?” I asked as he lifted me off my feet. “That’s a strange coincidence, right?”

“It is,” he agreed, moving toward the bedroom.

“I wonder why she never said anything.” I’d known that her family was dead, but she’d never even mentioned that she’d ever known her grandparents.

“Her mom probably told her to keep it to herself,” Beau said, laying me on the bed so he could strip off his shirt.

My mouth watered as I took him in. We hadn’t had sex again, just exchanged blood, but I was beginning to forget why I’d drawn that line in the sand. His skin was smooth and taut over defined muscles. Just seeing the v that tapered into the waistband of his jeans made everything inside me clench.

When he reached for the top of my scrub pants, I lifted my hips to help him.

“Fuck,” he muttered, running his fingers along the lacy edge of my underwear.

“Workday,” I reminded him.

“Not sure if it’s hotter when you’re wearing these or when you go without,” he said, his fingers sliding just barely beneath the lace.

“Let me know when you decide,” I joked, stretching.

His eyes met mine as he unbuttoned his jeans, and when I didn’t protest, he slid them down his thighs, taking a moment to step out of them and pull off his socks.

“Yeah?” he asked gruffly, crawling onto the bed beside me.

I turned to meet him, and when his skin brushed mine, heat flared, making every place we touched feel like it was thrumming with a current of electricity. I’d never get used to that.

Letting out a sigh, I arched into him as his hand slid down my back and gripped my ass.

“I don’t think you fully appreciate the control it’s taking not to strip you down,” Beau muttered, pressing his open mouth against the notch of my collarbone.

“You’re the master of control,” I conceded, running my fingers through his hair.

“I know I fucked up,” he continued. “But you have to admit that this part is fucking good.”

“Very good,” I agreed with a shudder.

My nipples were so sensitive that any time he shifted, and my tank top rubbed against them, I felt it in my pussy. I clenched, trying to alleviate the ache, but it only made things worse.

“You took the birth control?” I asked as his mouth traced my collarbone.

He paused for a fraction of a second. “Yes.”

Taking a deep breath, I quickly filed through everything that had happened since we met.

“Then why do we still have clothes on?” I whispered in his ear.

Without a word, Beau pushed himself to his knees and pulled my tank top over my head. He tossed it off the bed without bothering to look where it was going, his eyes on mine.

“I’m dying for you,” he said seriously, his jaw clenching as he gently ran the tips of his fingers over my breasts, circling them around my nipples.

“You’re moving pretty slow for someone who’s about to die,” I joked, gasping as he pinched.

“Slow?” he murmured, leaning down to pull one of my nipples into his mouth. The hot, wet suction had me arching off the bed. “Or savoring?”

“Savor faster,” I ordered, making him chuckle.

He didn’t increase his speed, but he did move lower, running his lips over my stomach, his breath hot on my skin. By the time he reached the waistband of my underwear, I was trembling, arousal making my heart race and goose bumps break out over my skin.

I shuddered as he pulled the underwear slowly down my legs and kept them clenched in his fist even as he spread my thighs.

“Gorgeous,” he breathed, leaning down to kiss one hipbone and then the other, his nose dragging along the flesh between them.

My hand in his hair clenched as I gripped the sheets with the other.

I’d never experienced anything else like it. We’d had fantastic sex already and exchanging blood was incredibly intimate, but lying there while he traced every valley and groove of me with his eyes was so erotic that I was stunned. No one had ever taken time like he was, as if he was memorizing every centimeter, his hands clenching the insides of my thighs.

When he finally dropped his head, and his tongue flattened on my clit, every muscle in my body stiffened, the pleasure so acute it was nearly painful. The heat roared through me in pulses. As I panted and undulated against his mouth, my fingernails digging into his shoulders, he groaned, the vibration taking me right to the edge.

“Don’t stop,” I ordered, my voice louder and more desperate than I’d intended when he pulled away.

A second later, his hand was at my lips, two fingers sliding into my mouth, the tang of blood making my eyes roll back in my head. He hadn’t nicked his thumb but instead the side of his middle finger, and I shook as he thrust them in and out of my mouth as the fingers of his other hand thrust inside me with the same rhythm.

I couldn’t catch my breath. It felt like the room was spinning.

I whimpered as his tongue came out to gently sweep over my clit again and screamed around his fingers as he bit the crease of my thigh, coming so hard that my entire body shook. By the time it was over, he’d flipped me to my belly and pressed my knees wide, sliding inside me easily as I panted.

“You taste incredible,” he murmured in my ear, using his finger to paint my bottom lip with my own wetness.

I bit down on his finger and then sucked it into my mouth, making him let out a nearly silent groan.

“Made for me,” he whispered, slamming his hips forward.

The next orgasm wasn’t as overwhelming, but it was still leagues beyond anything I’d had before Beau. I barely had the energy to roll to my side after he’d pulled out and lay down next to me.

“Come here,” he ordered, cuddling me against his chest as he tugged the sheets and comforter over us. “You cold?”

“Surprisingly, a little,” I replied groggily. God, he smelled so good. I pressed my nose against his sternum and inhaled deeply. I couldn’t imagine ever getting enough of his scent.

His hand fisted in my hair and gently pulled my face away from his chest.

“That tickles,” he said, smiling, the corners of his eyes crinkling.

I leaned up but could only reach his chin, so I kissed him there.

“What do you want to do tomorrow?” he asked, smoothing my hair down as I rested my head back on his bicep.

“Stay in bed,” I replied, making him chuckle. “I’m not joking. We should never get dressed again.”

“That might make dinner awkward,” he joked, kissing the top of my head. “But I’m game if you are.”

“You’re so full of shit.”

“You’re right. My brothers are never seeing you naked.”

“That’s what you’d worry about?”

“I’m not worried.”

“So, you’d be perfectly comfortable swinging your dick around the kitchen with everyone there?”

“Most of them have already seen me naked,” he said with a shrug.

I scoffed as he laughed.

“Sleep,” he ordered.

I wanted to argue just to be annoying, but I was too tired. A few minutes later, I passed out.

The next two days passed surprisingly quickly, considering I no longer had a job to go to. If someone had told me on the night we’d met that Beau would be incredible company, I would have laughed in their faces, but it was true. I’d never hung out with someone for so long without getting irritated by something they’d done. Even Rena drove me crazy on occasion, and I loved her.

Love may not have been a prerequisite of a mating bond, but as I sat at a picnic table and watched Beau grab our food and tip the cook in the taco truck, I thought it might be possible for us specifically. I hadn’t seen anyone but him since Rena left my apartment. After sleeping in late, we’d driven to the coast to eat at a seafood place Beau loved. Afterward, we’d walked around the town, popping into antique stores and little kitschy shops. On the way home we’d stayed at a hotel that Beau remembered as a poor farm in the early nineteen hundreds. The entire property had been converted into restaurants, a spa, and soaking pool sometime in the 1990s. The history was fascinating, and the fact that Beau remembered it as it had been was a trip.

Today, I was showing Beau around my favorite places. We’d gone to the park I’d loved as a kid, driven by my high school where Mr. Miranda still taught, thrown rocks in the river, and finally stopped for some lunch at the greatest taco truck in the world.

“Careful, it’s hot,” Beau warned as he set my food down in front of me.

“Thank you.”

“The owner knows you,” he said with a small smile.

“I come here a lot.”

“Clearly.”

“He told me that I better treat you right.”

“And you still tipped him again?” I asked, picking up my fork.

“That’s why I tipped him again,” he replied easily.

I looked at him in surprise.

“I’m not going to complain that you have people looking out for you,” he said, digging into his food. “That’s a good thing.”

“Your mom wants to have dinner at six, right?” I asked for probably the seventh time.

“Yes,” he replied patiently, looking up at me. “Why are you so wound up about it?”

“I want your parents to like us.”

“They already like you.”

“Well, I want them to like my people.”

“They will.”

“You don’t know that for sure.”

“Are they rude?”

“Rena is—sometimes.”

“They can handle Rena.”

“Mr. Miranda and Noah can get along with anyone,” I added. “But I told them to show up at five forty-five because Mr. Miranda isn’t the most punctual person on the planet.”

“It’ll be fine,” Beau assured me.

“He’s going to be a lot,” I muttered. “You should’ve heard him on the phone.”

“We’ll handle it.”

“He bitched me out for not introducing you to him already,” I continued like he hadn’t spoken. “It’s been, like, five days. You’d think I was twelve.”

“He loves you.”

“He’s a pain in the neck.”

“He loves you,” Beau repeated.

“Yeah, he does,” I murmured.

“You’re right,” he said, taking a huge bite. “This place is excellent.”

“Told you.”

“I don’t know how I’ve never been here.”

“It’s a hidden gem.”

“Next time, we’ll get it to go,” he announced, looking me over. “It’s cold out here.”

“I’m fine.” I was bundled up in a sweater, winter coat, and the hat I’d been searching for the morning we met when I was late for work. Between the clothes and the mating heat, I was practically toasty.

“Your nose is red,” he countered.

“We need to head back to the apartment after this anyway,” I replied. “I need to get ready for dinner.”

“You’ve got hours.”

“Maybe it takes me hours to get ready.”

Beau just looked at me.

“You know I’m going to be flat on my back or on my knees or against the wall the moment I take my clothes off,” I reminded him, lowering my voice as I leaned toward him. “I’m just working that into the schedule.”

He grinned and butterflies took flight in my belly as he reached out and ran his fingers down my cheek.

“Eat fast,” I ordered, making him laugh under his breath.

Less than ten minutes later, I was glaring at him as he pulled into the parking lot of a beauty supply store a few blocks from my house.

“Seriously?” I griped as he parked. “I thought we were hurrying home?”

“You need a hair dryer,” he reminded me as he swung out of the car.

I was still sitting there with my mouth hanging open when he opened my door.

“How the hell did you remember that?” I asked as he pulled me out of the car.

“You only told me a few days ago.”

“Still,” I sputtered. Why in the world was that something he’d remembered? I hadn’t brought it up again. Since I wasn’t someone who washed their hair every day, it hadn’t been that big of an issue. The one time I’d washed it, I’d just let it dry on its own. It was kind of wild that way, but Beau didn’t seem to mind it. If anything, he’d seemed kind of obsessed with it.

The memory of him wrapping it around his fist as I kneeled in front of him had my face heating as we walked into the store.

“I’d really like to know what you’re thinking about,” he said in amusement as we headed for the hair supplies.

“Zip it,” I ordered.

He didn’t say anything else, but the hand on my back slid upward until it reached my hair, giving a little tug.

“We’re in public,” I scolded, unable to keep the smile out of my voice.

“Pick a good one,” he ordered as I checked prices.

“It’s a hair dryer.”

“Better to buy one that’s going to last and costs a little more.”

“You’re such an old man,” I retorted, squeaking when he pinched my ass.

His hand roamed as I picked out a middle-of-line hair dryer and carried it up to the front of the store. It smoothed over my ass as I walked, slid beneath my jacket as we waited in line, and tangled in my hair again for just a moment as I got to the counter.

I didn’t bother trying to argue when he pulled out his wallet. I’d tried that during the first day we were out, and I hadn’t won once. Beau was adamant. I wasn’t sure if it was because I no longer had a job or if it was just the way he’d been raised, but he hadn’t let me pay for a single thing.

“Thank you for my hair dryer,” I said as we drove home a couple of minutes later.

“Now you won’t be going out with wet hair,” he replied.

“I could’ve bought my own hair dryer, you know,” I reminded him, watching him drive. “And my own lunch and the dress I got at the antique store and dinner last night and everything else you wouldn’t let me pay for. I’m not destitute.”

“I know.”

“Okay,” I said with a sigh as we parked in front of my apartment. “Glad we cleared that up.”

I’d also come to realize that Beau liked opening my car door, so I waited in my seat until he’d rounded the hood. I was a strong independent woman, but I couldn’t even convince myself that I didn’t appreciate the little acts of service. There was something very endearing about a man who seated you first when you went out to eat, insisted on paying and tipping well, opened every door you encountered, walked on the outside of the sidewalk, and generally acted like a gentleman everywhere except the bedroom.

“We have even less time for activities now,” I informed him as I got out of the car, stopping to tip my head back and look at him when he didn’t move out of the way.

“You’ll need to take a faster shower,” he replied. His hand slid over my hip to squeeze my ass hard before stepping out of my way.

If I had any kind of self-control, I would have sauntered up to the apartment and taken my time unlocking the door, but since I was me and Beau looked like that , I practically jogged up the stairs.

I was naked before I’d made it halfway down the hall, and we barely made it to the bedroom before Beau had me bent over and was powering inside me, his fingers pinching my clit with the same rhythm as his thrusts. I could barely breathe as I reached back for him, my fingers grasping for any skin I could find as I fought to keep my balance. It was mind-blowing. Incredible. I’d thought that the first times we’d had sex were excellent, but it just kept getting better every time. It made no sense. At some point, we had to reach the pinnacle of how we could make each other feel, but I had a weird feeling that we hadn’t even scratched the surface yet.

As our bodies tipped forward, Beau’s arm came out to break our fall, landing on the mattress in front of my face. His hand flexed against the comforter, and I clenched around him as I stared at the muscles in his forearm. I couldn’t look away, whimpering with every thrust that forced me forward and every glide away that I found myself chasing.

I didn’t even realize what I was going to do before I did it, biting down so hard on Beau’s forearm that the blood in my mouth spilled down my chin.

“Fuck,” Beau barked, his hips slamming harder. “That’s it, baby. That’s it. Take what you need.”

My orgasm rushed through me so hard that my knees buckled as Beau bit down on my neck and drank his fill.

It wasn’t until afterward that I realized I was crying.

“It’s all right,” Beau soothed as he closed the bite marks on his arm. “Come on.”

I let him carry me into the shower and set me on my feet.

“I bit you,” I blurted, staring at the small marks on his arm as he turned on the water.

“Smile at me,” he ordered, stepping into the tub with me.

“Why?” I asked, backing into the spray.

“Because you just broke the skin for the first time,” he said, smoothing my wet hair away from my face. “Smile at me.”

The smile was more like a grimace, but it didn’t matter to Beau. His eyes lit up like the Fourth of July as he stared.

“What?”

“Your fangs came in.”

“My what ?”

“Don’t panic,” he soothed, his hands gliding over me. “Your canines just elongated. They’re not noticeable unless you knew what they looked like before.”

“I have fangs ?” I slid my tongue around my mouth, finding the teeth that felt different than before. He was right. They were just slightly longer, but nothing crazy.

“I told you it happened,” he soothed.

“You said it usually takes a while.”

“Baby, have you noticed anything about us taking a while?”

“Good point,” I conceded as he grabbed shampoo and started lathering my hair. Good God, even if we weren’t mated, I was pretty sure I’d stay just for the head massage.

“It’s a good thing,” he said, kissing my nose. “It means you can bite me whenever you need to.”

“Will I get anemic if I don’t?”

“No, your body doesn’t need it the way mine does.”

“Oh.”

“But you’ll still crave it anyway,” he said, tipping my head back so he could rinse the shampoo out. “Think of it like sex. People can live without it…but why would they want to?”

“Word,” I muttered, leaning into the fingers massaging my scalp.

“Fuck,” he said, one of his hands leaving my hair to wrap gently around my throat. “I want you again.”

“We don’t have time,” I argued half-heartedly as he dropped to his knees in the tub.

“Hold on to something so you don’t fall,” he ordered softly, lifting my leg until one foot was resting on the lip of the tub.

I tore down the little shelf that held my shampoo, and it put us fifteen minutes behind schedule, but the orgasm was absolutely worth it.

An hour after that, I’d finished getting ready, packed an overnight bag with clean clothes, and we were on our way back to Beau’s house.

“You keep looking at my hair,” I announced, leaning forward to turn the music down. “Does it look bad?”

“Of course not,” Beau scoffed, glancing at me. “You know you’re beautiful.”

“Meh,” I honked. “Wrong answer. You just did it again.”

“It looks different.”

“Yes, because I blow-dried and straightened it.”

“I know. I watched you.”

“Like a creep.”

“Like someone who’s seen you naked and would like to see it again.”

“No, but really,” I said, flipping down the mirror in the sunshade. “Is it sticking up or something?”

“There’s nothing wrong with your hair.”

“Then why do you keep staring at it?”

“It’s smooth,” he grumbled, staring out the windshield.

“That’s kind of the point.”

“My fingers run right through it.”

“And?”

“And I like it when they get tangled, all right?” he blustered, glancing at me again.

I bit my lips to keep myself from laughing. He was so out of sorts because he had to explain himself, which made it even cuter that he liked when his fingers got caught up in my rat’s nest head of hair. It was the first—and probably the last—time that I’d ever thought of Beau as cute . For a moment, I wished I could have known him as a child.

“Don’t worry, it’ll get all tangled again tonight,” I replied, patting his leg consolingly.

“Oh, fuck off,” he blurted.

That time I didn’t hold back my laughter.

I was still a little giggly when we finally pulled into the garage. Between the last two days that had bordered on blissful, the fact that I’d been able to ruffle Beau’s feathers, and knowing that I’d see Mr. Miranda for the first time in weeks, I practically bounced into the house.

Mattie had clearly started cooking earlier in the day because the house smelled wonderful. There was a large pot of something bubbling on the stove, a couple of freshly baked loaves of bread on the counter, and everything was spotless. She’d obviously gone to a lot of trouble trying to get everything just right.

“I’m going to run your bag upstairs,” Beau said, kissing my temple. “My parents are in the living room.”

“I can do it,” I called as he strode off without me. “Or not.”

I made my way into the living room and found Erik and Mattie sitting in a couple of armchairs with glasses of wine in hand.

“Well, don’t you look beautiful,” Mattie called, getting to her feet. “I love your dress.”

“Thank you,” I replied as Erik came over to help me pull my coat off. “Dinner smells so good.”

“It’s so cold outside. I thought stew would be nice,” she said, smiling as I thanked Erik. “It’s not fancy, but I’ve found that most people like a good stew.”

“I’m sure they’ll love it,” I assured her. “None of them are picky eaters or allergic to anything.”

“Did you and Beau have a nice time?” Erik asked as we all sat back down.

“We did! We drove to the coast and ended up staying at a hotel for the night once we got closer to home.”

“Isn’t it nice to get a night away?” Mattie asked, grinning. “Even if you’re close to home, it’s like a little treat.”

“Exactly,” I agreed. “It was fun to step away from real life for a minute.”

“I’m glad you two had some time to yourselves,” she said sweetly.

“Me and Mattie like to go a bit further afield once or twice a year,” Erik added. “Gives us a chance to spend time together without all the responsibilities that come with being home.”

“Even when the boys aren’t here, there’s still a million things to do all the time,” she explained.

“I know how that goes. I swear, the first time Beau and I spent any length of time at my house, I felt like I was cleaning the whole time.”

“Not the whole time,” Beau corrected.

I shot him a glare over my shoulder, and he grinned.

“Rena came for dinner, too, remember?” he asked innocently.

“That’s true,” I replied, turning back toward his parents. “She pretty much barged in because I hadn’t been answering her calls.”

“Uh oh,” Mattie said with a little laugh.

“It worked out, though.”

“She’s the one I told you about,” Beau said, sitting down beside me with his hand on my knee. “Her grandparents were Joe and Irene Rossi.”

“What a small world.” Mattie shook her head.

“I remember Irene having a daughter,” Erik added. “But I don’t think we ever met her, did we, love?”

“No, we didn’t.” Mattie shook her head. “When Irene and Joe were in that crash, I didn’t even think to look her up. We were all just so shocked by the entire thing.”

“It doesn’t happen often,” Erik explained. “Losing mates at the same time.”

“Or losing them one at a time, for that matter.” Mattie sniffed. “It’s not supposed to happen at all.”

“What happens if you lose your mate?” I asked curiously, looking over at Beau.

“If the bond hasn’t been completed,” Erik replied, “The Vampire waits, sometimes for centuries, for another chance.”

“Whoa,” I breathed.

“If the bond has been completed, then they live without their other half, or choose not to,” Mattie murmured, reaching out to grab Erik’s hand. “Though it happens so rarely, that it’s not something we deal with much. A mated human retains the immortality, of course, but?—”

“But living forever alone would be horrendous,” I finished for her.

“Yes,” she agreed.

“This is probably not the subject we should be discussing right before dinner with your family,” Erik said with a good-natured huff.

I leaned into Beau as his parents went off to the kitchen to check on dinner, and we waited for my family to arrive. I couldn’t imagine living forever and leaving everyone else behind without the safety net of a partner. I’d already had more than one bad dream about watching Rena get old and gray while I stayed the same age. Thankfully, with everything else going on I hadn’t had much time to dwell on it—though I knew those days were coming.

“I’m just so happy,” Mattie said, her voice drifting in from the kitchen.

“You’ve outdone yourself with this one. You should’ve been a chef,” Erik replied. “You could still do that if you wanted.”

“I don’t want to be a chef,” she said playfully.

I smiled, listening to them go back and forth.

“I’m going to have daughters,” she continued. “And grandbabies, finally!”

“Don’t pressure them, Matt.”

“Oh, you know I won’t,” Mattie replied. “They’ll come when they come. I was just so worried after the last time.”

“I told you that he’d find her again.”

“We didn’t even have the chance to meet Millicent,” Mattie said as if he hadn’t even spoken. “All we got was a black-and-white photo that Beau didn’t even realize Zeke had shown us.”

“All things happen as they should, love,” Erik said gently.

“I never imagined we’d be having Beau’s mate’s family to dinner.”

I’d never considered myself slow on the uptake. I could read a room in less than a second and knew whether or not a person was worth talking to in a minute or less. I’d been street smart and book smart, both, growing up. But it took me a moment to notice that Beau had stiffened at my side and another moment after that to understand the context of what Mattie was saying in the kitchen.

The door rang as the floor dropped out from under me.