“We should probably get home before it really starts pouring.” I stood, ignoring the rain splattering against my face and the thoughts cluttering my head. I heard Dorian stand, but couldn’t look at him. Instead, I began walking. Once we got back to his place, I could occupy myself with trying to find answers. Charles was the first one my list, and then Aiden. I was hoping the VC might have explained why they made him drink from me. The bond left me angry, but not at Aiden. The VC had something up their sleeve. I just needed to find out what it was, and why. Surely they couldn’t be that angry over losing a lowlife like Ian.

I glanced over my shoulder, and stopped when I saw Dorian staring up at the beautiful building. All of the other people rushed around him, hurrying to outrun the coming storm. He was a picture of solitude staring ahead at the towering church. Turning, I walked toward him. Everything else faded into the background as I made my way to him. I was captured by the loneliness seizing his face. It only took moments, but my short walk toward him left me with the realization that Dorian was deeper than I gave him credit for. I no longer saw a man who slept around and spouted off sarcasm like it was his first language. All of the one night stands were nothing more than an opportunity to share a small piece of his life with someone else, a moment when he wasn’t alone. Amara had told me that the lifetimes had hardened his heart, but maybe his detachment from the world was for protection.

I stopped beside him and admired the architecture too. Slowly, I reached my hand out to the side and clasped his.

“The St. Louis Cathedral,” Dorian said.

“It’s beautiful.” Thunder boomed overhead, lightning striking through the gloominess of the sky. “We should get back.”

Dorian turned toward me. His face was calm, masking what he was feeling inside. “I take souls, guide them to the hereafter. I’ve done it for as long as I can remember, never asking questions.”

Another crack of thunder sounded, the rain picking up. “Dorian, we can talk back at your place. It’s not safe to be out here.”

The wind was picking up, bending tree branches with its ferocity. The square was now completely empty.

“I never questioned the departure of a soul until yours,” Dorian said. “I couldn’t watch you go.” He was shaking his head as if his words astonished him. Tears filled my eyes, hidden by the rain. My mouth was open, words failing on my trembling lips. The air in my lungs constricted with his vulnerability.

He stepped toward me, his hand going up and his fingers burying themselves in my wet hair. With his thumb, he brushed the droplets away from my cheek. His eyebrows scrunched together, as if pained by something. Like the lighting above, Dorian struck, claiming my mouth with an eagerness that awakened every nerve ending in my body.

Wrapping an arm around my waist, he held me tighter. His tongue slipped between my lips and I felt my body sag against his. We drifted to a place where only he and I existed. I no longer heard the booming thunder, the smack of rain hitting the concrete or the feel of it against my skin. There was only Dorian, his hands on my body, his mouth on mine and the delicious sensations he stirred within me.

He sucked on my bottom lip, his tongue rolling over the plump flesh before delving back into my mouth. I wrapped my arms around his neck, needing him even closer. The barest sliver of space between us was too much. I needed to feel all of him against me as I tasted the sweetness of his mouth.

The slamming of a door startled me back to reality. My eyes popped open and I stared in amazement at being inside Dorian’s home. He didn’t allow me to analyze how we had just been in Jackson Square one minute and at his place the next. His hands were currently tugging off my jacket, my shirt and my jeans. They all fell to the floor in a wet heap. Dorian used one arm to lift me. My legs instinctively wrapped around his hard waist as he carried me down the hall and to his bedroom.

Chapter Fourteen

Dorian released me and I slid down his body, my feet hitting the floor. He reached over, making sure to keep a hand on my waist, and turned on the small bedside lamp. When he was standing in front of me again, I reached up and slipped his sunglasses off so I could see his eyes. The reverberating thunder outside was like a soundtrack to the thunderstorm rolling through his eyes.

“You’re shivering,” Dorian said softly, trailing a finger down my arm. “Are you cold or nervous?”

“Both, I think.” I was standing in my bra and underwear after having wet clothes on, but I was also nervous because I knew without a doubt I wouldn’t stop Dorian this time. Tonight I would throw all my rejections about relationships out the window and just take what I wanted, and I wanted Dorian.

“Close your eyes.”

I did as he instructed. Fingertips grazed my shoulder, down my arm until it was lifted up. Dorian took one of my fingers and traced it across his bottom lip, his teeth nipping softly before placing a kiss there and moving on to the next. I heard the rustle of clothes and then my hand was traveling over the hard ripples of Dorian’s stomach. I couldn’t help myself, I peeked through one eye. Dorian was looking down, watching my hand touching him. When he looked up, I snapped my eyes closed, unable to stop from chuckling.

Dorian let my arm fall to my side and then his hot breath and wet lips were on my shoulder, ascending toward my neck. His seduction chased the cold away, heat consuming its place. With one hand he fisted my wet hair and gently tugged my head to the side for better access to my throat. A moan slipped from my lips, each kiss searing my skin.

I felt him peel the strap of my bra off my shoulder and my breathing hitched. Anticipation for what I had wanted for so long caused time to slow to an unbearable crawl.

“Dorian,” I breathed.

“Hmm, say my name.” He pressed another kiss to my neck and my eyes popped open.

“You did not just say that,” I laughed.

Dorian stood up straight, staring down at me. “When my name is a sweet whisper on your lips, you can guarantee I’ll beg to hear it again and again.”

All I could do was smile. Dorian took my hand, leading me to the bed. We were in the room where I had first woken up. The world outside of the shuttered windows was dark as the storm moved in.

“Lay back,” Dorian said as he gently pushed me down. I stretched out along the down comforter, my body his to claim. Dorian placed a knee between my legs, crawling onto the bed so he towered over me. My eyes absorbed the broadness of his shoulders, his chest and the rippling muscle of his stomach.

He leaned forward, his hair brushing against the swell of my breasts as he pressed a kiss to the mounds. My hands moved up his arms, to his shoulders until my fingers were burying in his hair. He slid down my body, pressing kisses here and there. I held my breath when he stopped at my black cotton panties. Had I known I would be naked in front of him I would have chosen something a little sexier.

Dorian hooked his fingers under the hem of my underwear. My heart was racing like that of a frightened animal. I was anxious and nervous, both emotions fighting for attention. Dorian had been with countless women. The measly three sexual encounters I’d had left me feeling inadequate.

When Dorian raised my leg, his mouth hot against my skin, my mind snapped back to reality. His kisses made a path down my calf and toward my inner thigh. Something white caught my peripheral vision. Rolling my neck, I checked out the other side of the room but didn’t see anything. I shrieked when I felt the pressure of Dorian’s mouth against the cotton of my underwear. We made eye contact down the length of my body, a smile playing on Dorian’s lips.

“I bet you taste as delicious as you look.”

I propped myself up on my elbows so I could see him better. I hoped he didn’t notice the flush coloring my cheeks. “You don’t need to…” I loved when Aiden did it, but I knew Aiden, was comfortable with him. With Dorian it felt too intimate, which was silly because sex in itself was intimate.

“Oh I think I do,” Dorian said, pressing another kiss against the fabric covering the very spot that was quivering for him. “I’ve wanted to taste you from the moment I saw you.” He slowly tugged my underwear down.

Another glimpse of white raced out of the corner of my eye. I snapped my legs shut, sitting up and staring around the room. Now that it had my full attention I could detect it was a spirit.

“Dorian?”

“Hmm?” He was sliding an arm around my back and working the clasp of my bra.

“Stop it.” I shrugged him off. “Something is here.”

Dorian let out a frustrated breath. “It’s Eddie.”

I quickly grabbed a pillow, hugging it to hide my body. “Eddie, you better show yourself right now.”

White mist hovered in the air, growing thicker until Eddie was standing in the room.

“You better have a damned good reason for bothering us,” Dorian bit out. He enveloped me in his arms. Geez, how much had Eddie seen?

“I didn’t want to bother you but…the vampires are here.”

“What vampires?”

“The blonde woman and the dark haired man,” Eddie explained. “They’re out on the patio.”

Dorian and I looked at each other. “What do they want?” Dorian asked.

“More importantly,” I said. “How did they know I was in New Orleans?” The last time we had seen Lauren she was fending off rogues. It seemed like ages ago.

“I don’t know, but I followed them like you asked and they led me here.”

I looked up at Dorian. “You told Eddie to follow Lauren and Aiden?”

“I thought after the bond it was the smart thing to do. I don’t trust either one of them.” He looked over at Eddie. “Give us a minute.” Eddie disappeared in an instant.

Dorian tugged the pillow out of my hands. “I’m going to go kill your ex and then we’ll pick up where we left off.” He stepped away from me and I hopped off the bed, grabbing his arm.

“Don’t you dare,” I warned.

Dorian grumbled, but nodded. “Okay, I won’t kill him but if he just came here to track you down, then nothing will stop me from taking you right in front of him.” A wicked grin spread across his face, and he leaned down to kiss me again. In no way did I like an audience when I was with a man, but his words excited me.