Part 5

I bumped into something, and realized peripherally it was Ivy's couch.

Couch? I thought through my haze. When had we moved to the living room? Oh... yes, Ivy. She must have carried me...

I smiled against her lips, and my butt touched one of the couch's arms.

Once, Kisten and I had used her couch for a similar reason, getting our mingled scents all over the piece of furniture. Despite Kisten's best efforts to cover the smell up, when Ivy had returned home she'd been all kinds of pissed. She could probably smell us all over the couch for weeks, and I'm sure it had been torture of the worst kind being able to smell me mixed in with her own scent on the couch. That it had been Kisten I'd done it with and not her must have killed her every time she walked by the couch and smelled Kisten and me.

Damn, I really am a bitch...

My smile faded as the thoughts flitted through me. I hadn't wanted to hurt her like that; I just hadn't been thinking. Though, perhaps I had subconsciously wanted to get my scent on her couch.

With my emotions warring against each other, Ivy took the moment to break us apart. Not for long, of course, as she maneuvered us around to sit on the couch.

Her movement had been quick, though, the predator in her vampire nature coming out in her excitement. Between her speed and the graceful, fluid movement, I ended up on my back instead of my butt, with Ivy on top.

Somehow, I suspect she did that on purpose.

It seemed she wanted to rectify that little problem where mine and Kisten's smell was on her couch but not hers and mine.

Sensing the direction of my thoughts, she gave a wicked grin that flashed her small canines, and I shivered at their silent promise.

My left leg was sort of propped up on the arm of the couch while the other hung over the seat and rested on the floor. And here I was, a mess of red tangles and flushed cheeks staring up at the most incrediable person I knew. Her hair fell around her face, and her black eyes stared back with such unrestrained love I wanted to kick myself. Hard.

She practically had me pinned, with one palm pressing against my right hip and her other hand pinning my left arm above my head, our fingers intertwined. Ivy was hovering over me, looking very much like the predator she was.

I reached up my free hand to touch the perfect skin of her cheek, my thumb rubbing. From there I moved my thumb to her lips, delighting in their softness. Her breathing was steady but shallow as she scented the air between us, acutely aware of every shift.

For all my brazeness earlier, I was at a loss of what to do now. I'd never been with a woman before, though I dare say I knew the basics.

But this was Ivy. She had experience where I had none, and it scared me on too many levels to count.

What if I didn't live up to her expectations? What if I moved too slowly for her? What if I couldn't go through with it?

Bit late for that now, huh, Rachel?

I know she had been hunting me since we had tag-teamed at the pub, she'd even admitted it herself, so what was stopping her from simply leaving once I gave in and the hunt was over? Could I handle that rejection? Was I really feeling that serious about her?

Wow, this was such a bad time to start thinking and then acting.

There were so many questions, so many doubts, and I began to rethink what I was doing. Maybe I really was just trying to find the next big high... and all I had at my disposal was Ivy's feelings. I knew she couldn't best her instincts if I was a willing victim, and that I was manipulating her even now. That thought made me feel guilty, knowing I had maneuvered her, unfairly, into this position.

Yet, underneath all the questions and doubt, I could still feel my blood humming like it was charged with electricity, and my heart clenched at the heated look that Ivy was pinning me with.

Doing what I did best, I buried my doubts and forged ahead, figuring I'd deal with the consequences later.

"Ivy," I whispered, my voice coming out deeper than I'd meant for it to. She didn't move, didn't waiver, just waited, poised. I tried again, "Ivy..." And I floundered, not knowing where to take my line of thought. And that look she was giving me wasn't helping. "Dammit, Ivy, do something!" I finally whispered, my touch falling to her shoulder.

At my words she surged forward as if I'd hit a play button, and I had to fight my instincts to keep from kneeing her in the stomach- afterall, I was used to trying to keep her from attacking me rather than actually letting her get her way.

It wasn't my neck she was going for this time, and I gave a muffled squeak against her mouth as she forced the kiss aggressively.

Leaving me panting as she pulled away, she leaned over my neck to pour hot breath over my bites and I squirmed in her grip, the wounds pulsing with waves of pleasure until my head swam and I couldn't think clearly. I felt her lips on the hollow of my throat between my collar bones even as I felt the hand on my hip slide up under my shirt to play across my stomach with a tender firmness.

My sight danced with stars as the bite wounds and my vamp scar hummed pleasantly, the occassional graze of her teeth sending spikes of adrenaline and need to stab deep and pool between my legs.

I squirmed more, knowing I couldn't break her hold on my wrist even if I tried.

One of her fingers strayed, brushing against the covered underside of my breast and I hissed, arching my back.

There was a pause, as if she was waiting for me to push her away, and when I didn't, her fingers slid under the fabric of my bra, between my breasts, and felt her shift her weight. She tucked a knee between my legs, effectively straddling one of my thighs without touching me.

"Rachel..." Her voice was liquid silk, washing over me in a thick, comforting current. It was questioning, and I looked up to meet her gaze. She was making sure I was still okay with doing this...

Using my second sight, I could see my aura coating her, protecting her. And it was Ivy who was on top of me, her stance dominating but not aggressive, not the predatory vampire who terrified me. But I knew it could all go wrong so easily. I could push her away or tell her no and trigger the predator... and she'd lunge right back into my neck until she bled me out.

I hadn't been planning on stopping now. And knowing Ivy was still in control spurred me on. I gave her a smile in answer, and something shifted in the air.

Ivy bowed back to my throat, not biting for blood, but biting instead to pull a moan from me. And she got one, too, as my free hand unconsciously found the top of her jeans.

Her touch was more firm than it had been before, but not rough like when she'd gotten out of control.

A shiver brought goosebumps as her fingertips ran up my sternum, then came back down over my right breast with excrutiating slowness. She cupped me in her palm and then sent a finger to graze my nipple. It responded immediately to her touch, sending a wonderful dropping sensation to pull through me, and I felt a deep aching begin.

Ivy immediately smelled my arousal and gave a low rumble, acknowledging it.

Oh, God, I thought amid the swirl of emotion, save me from myself.

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