His rough hands slid down to her bare neck and shoulders to her waist and then slowly raked their way back up over her stomach to cup both breasts. His thumbs toyed with Helena's nipples through the thin black lace of her bra. His touch was like being struck with a searing bolt of erotic electricity.
Stunned by her body's potent reaction. Helena broke the kiss and sucked in a sharp breath. Their eyes locked, and in that fleeting moment of silence, something happened. A wordless exchange of raw emotion. Acknowledgment of their connection. Time seemed to stand still as she felt his light-his soul-mingling with hers. She was inside him. He was inside her. For that one fragile instant, everything between them was pure, honest, and strangely primal. Two living creatures connected.
The bond.
Then, like a dust storm whipping through the wide-open desert, the moment of clarity was swept away. Her mind fogged with a blaze of raging lust.
Niccolo, as though caught in the same mindless storm, effortlessly lifted her body and plastered her to the wall with his weight, wrapping her legs around his waist. The hard ridge of his erection pushed against her. He growled and ground his hips between her thighs, sparking bursts of flutters into the depths of her core.
He took her breath away.
Oh God, now she couldn't remember why she'd ever left him. She needed him. More than air or sunlight and beaches, definitely more than garlic. Hell, she just needed him. She flung her arms around his neck, silently inviting him to take everything from her.
"Please, Helena," he panted in between smoldering thrusts of his tongue. "I'm sorry … for the way I behaved … I wasn't … myself. Please come back. I promise … everything will make sense." He continued rubbing his thick erection through her pants, thrusting his tongue into her mouth in time with his hips.
His rough touch and grinding through her jeans almost pushed her over the edge. What does he do with those hands to make them so rough? she wondered in a fleeting thought. Ask him later. Yes, later. "Don't stop...please, don't stop," she moaned with a breath.
His pace quickened. She couldn't believe it, but she was so close, almost there … Something about this man drove her insane. He was a walking aphrodisiac.
"Yes!" she gasped, nails digging in deep through the fabric of his sweater into his shoulders. Pulses of ecstasy ripped through her body.
Niccolo's solid frame suddenly froze, his whole body taut and straining against hers, still pinning her to the wall. He groaned loudly, clearly lost to the thunderous release crashing through him.
Absurdly, Helena felt proud. She had been able push this experienced, sexy vampire over the edge. They weren't even naked.
Brow glistening with sweat, he made a soft chuckle in her ear and peppered her cheek with light kisses, "Not once in my entire thirteen hundred years has a woman turned me into a raving, hormonal lunatic such as you've done to me." He slowly released her, and she lazily slid down the length of his solid frame. He bent his forehead to hers, cupping the back of her head. "What you do to me, woman. Santo, you're addictive."
Ditto. "How did you find me?" she whispered.
"I will always find you, Helena. You are mine now. Not just by vampire law. We are connected by the same bonds that forged the universe. Do you not feel it?"
She sucked in a breath. Yes, yes she did. What did it really mean? "Please, tell me what's going on. What just happened?"
He pulled his head back. Hardness struck his eyes. "I will tell you everything I know after your transformation, I promise. Please, come back with me now. We'll still have the wedding ceremony in six days."
Helena felt like she'd been slapped by reality's cold, unwelcome hand. She was such an idiot! He had no intention of telling her anything. Nothing had changed.
Helena let out a quick huff and bent down to grab a t-shirt from the rainbow colored pile. She slipped a pink tee over hear head, grabbed the clothes, and slipped her feet into her Uggs. She pulled the latch to one side and stepped out of the dressing room.
"Helena," he scolded in a whispered voice, "where are you going?"
Someplace where you can't hurt me again. She turned on her heel. "I told you. I don't want to be with you, so don't even think of following me again. It's over."
She suddenly found herself caged between two arms, the same ones she'd just been helplessly clutching in ecstasy moments earlier.
Niccolo was staring down at her with pure frustration. "You do not mean that, my sweet. I know you are lying."
Yes. Maybe. Crap! I don't … "No. You're the one hiding behind wall after wall of rules and vows, and I don't know what other crap-excuses."
"I've never lied to you, Helena. Never. I simply cannot tell you what you want to know, but that doesn't mean I do not care for you. What do I have to do to prove myself? Why don't you trust me?"
"Trust you?" She wanted to scream. "Trust you?" Oh, wasn't that nice. He wanted her to trust him, yet … Helena paused for one short moment, then, "If I'm so goddamned important … break one of your stupid rules!"
"But I cannot, there would be-"
"Consequences? Shocking answer." Helena rolled her eyes then snapped her arms away. "Goodbye, Niccolo. It's over. You and I aren't even the same species, and we're definitely not meant for each other. The universe made a mistake."
Niccolo snarled, "The universe does not make mistakes."
"Oh yeah?" Helena retorted. "Tell that to the … to the … " Oh, heck. Why can't I think of anything? "The dinosaurs!"
Niccolo frowned. "You compare our relationship to-"
"Ma'am? Were you calling me?" the store clerk called out, approaching quickly.
Niccolo squeezed his hands on Helena's shoulders, but his look of anger turned to confusion.
Had he just tried to sift her away?
"Ma'am?" the young woman came around the corner just as Niccolo disappeared.
Helena placed her palm on her flushed cheek. "Um-no. I'm good. If you don't mind, I'm going to … " She paused, realizing how strange her words were about to sound, but she hadn't had time to put her own garments back on. "Wear the t-shirt and bra now. They're really comfy." She handed the rest of the new clothes to the clerk and tried to pull herself together.
***
Helena chucked her overflowing shopping bags in the backseat and then slammed the door shut.
Andrus turned the engine and gave her a suspicious look. "You smell like..." He shifted into drive.
"What?"
"Nothing, but-did something happen inside?"
Could he really smell … that?
He crinkled his nose. "Your face is red and your scent is … "
Oh, God. He can! Kill me now! Giant bomb, falling tree, spontaneous combustion … anything!
Even worse than her embarrassment was the fact that she herself couldn't understand what happened. Her soon to be ex-accidental-vampire-husband just appeared in the fitting room. They went nuts, dry-humped like a couple of wild, horny bunnies, he tried to sift her away, and then she told him to pound sand.
Yes, a proud, proud moment in my life. If only that could go on my Facebook timeline!
She had to find a way to undo this, this … thing between them before his emotional grip tightened further. With Niccolo she was exposed, vulnerable. She'd fallen for him hard and taken an enormous leap of faith. But like everything in her life, it hadn't turned out. No father, no husband … no true love.
Going back to the pity party again, are you? You should be grateful. Life gave her some very wonderful people-her mother, her friends-and a great education with a bright future.
But that man … he just gave you a taste of something more. Are you forgetting the connection you felt? Could she really live her life without experiencing it just one more time? She craved it. She craved him.
She brought her fingertips to her lips and savored the memory of his delicious.
He doesn't love you. He'll hurt you, she reminded herself. He's controlling, arrogant, and too closed off. Not what you want from a man.
"Niccolo tried to take me," she finally confessed after a few seconds of stewing.
Andrus slammed on the breaks and reached for something below the seat. Helena threw out her arms to avoid slamming into the dash.
"He was here? Now?" Andrus screamed.
Helena grumbled and slid back into her seat. "Yes! But he's gone. Okay? And did you have to do that? I'm mortal, remember?" She pulled the seat belt strap across her chest and buckled in.
"What did he say?" He released his hand from whatever was under his seat.
"Nothing. He wants me back. I said ‘no.' It's over." But it wasn't. She knew it. He was not the sort of creature to give up. Bonds forged by the universe …
She sighed loudly. Andrus needed to drive a whole hell of a lot faster to that archive if she was going to find a way to undo this bond.