TESSA: THE BELOVED
Chapter 8: Retrace
Tessa's POV
I woke to the vision of the most beautiful golden eyes I had ever seen. I lay on my back, completely nude from the night before, the covers deftly hugging my shoulders. Supported by his arms, Omari hovered above me, his dazzling smile spread wide across his face.
"Hey." He whispered, leaning down to brush his lips sensuously back and forth against mine.
"Hey, yourself." I stammered, totally spellbound by the gleam in his yellow eyes.
Wrapping my arms about his shoulders, I pulled him unyieldingly against my chest. He groaned against my mouth and placed his cool palms under my shoulders. I arched my back slightly, letting my long, ebony tresses trail down to the silky sheets below, as his icy, marble lips tasted the flesh of my décolletage. A fiery, all-consuming desire ignited within my core just at the sensation of his touch against my skin, and I had an inclination that I might not make it down for breakfast that morning.
"Ugh." Omari grunted, placing my torso back on the bed. His now obsidian eyes blazed with a reciprocating passion. "Last night . . ."
His words faded, and he melted against my chest, resting his head just below my collarbone.
"I know." I sighed, sweetly kissing the top of his blond head, and then combed my fingers affectionately through his hair. "It was . . ."
"Beautiful." He finished my sentence, kissing my shoulder. "I'm just speechless. I've never felt this way about anyone . . . or anything."
"Me either." I smiled, closing my eyes and remembering the way Omari made love to me the previous evening. Passionate and wild yet still full of love and caring. I couldn't have asked for a better first time with him. It was just as he'd summed up in one word . . . beautiful.
"Not even Dean?" Omari lifted his head, his eyes searching mine, his right eyebrow arched.
I slapped him on the arm. "Not even close."
"Good." His lips parted into a broad grin. "So . . . about me biting you . . ."
"Yeah, about that." I laughed, nuzzling his neck and placing a few light kisses on his collarbone.
"Did I hurt you, Tessa?" Omari pivoted my chin, so that I was face to face with him, his eyes full of concern. His eyes then warily drifted to the minute imprints now marking my chest. "Did you feel any pain at all?"
"Well, at first, I did, but then . . . oh-my-God." My eyes rolled into the back of my head just at the remembrance of the orgasmic euphoria that rocked through my body while his venom flowed through my veins.
"I'm not sure I understand." Omari's eyebrows furrowed in confusion, and then I realized I was dry-humping his leg. "Tessa?"
"Oh, sorry." I immediately halted my sexual assault of his leg, my cheeks flushing with heat. "Omari, you have no idea how it felt. The venom streaming through my veins. I'm a little embarrassed to admit it, but it was the most exhilarating aphrodisiac."
"I'm surprised it didn't kill you, but I'm glad it had the opposite effect." He chuckled, leaning down to plant a soft kiss on my scars. "I don't know what I would've done with myself if you had died in my arms. I just couldn't control myself."
"I didn't die, okay?" I rose up, letting the covers fall from my shoulders. "It was the best night of my life, Omari. It was everything I had hoped for and more. Please don't ruin this moment."
"I'm sorry." He tilted his head toward my shoulder and rested it there. "It's just . . . you are everything to me, Tessa. You know that."
"You are everything to me too, Omari." I relaxed my head on top of his. "We know now that your venom can't harm me, so please don't beat yourself up about it anymore."
"You're right." He laughed. "You've always been right. I won't worry about it anymore."
"I think Hell just froze over." I mockingly joked, laughing hysterically, and Omari proceeded to assail my stomach with tickles until I could no longer stand it.
"Ok, ok, I give!" I finally surrendered to him, lying back against the covers. His rock-hard body soon fell on top of mine.
"Omari?" I spoke after stroking his back in silence for several minutes.
"Yes, my beloved Tessa?" He answered, staying completely still against my chest. My eyelashes desirously fluttered in response. I loved it when he called me that.
"You remember when Dean saw Sarah Rose for the first time after her trip to Rome?" I asked, closing my eyes and pressing my head deeper into the pillow.
"Your father told me he imprinted on her." My eyes immediately flew open.
"So you know what imprinting means?" I pulled up his chin, so that I could see his gorgeous face as he answered my question.
"Yes, your father explained it all to me. Why?" He replied, his expression tender.
"I . . . well, I think I may have kinda imprinted on you on the rooftop last night." I blurted out in one breath, looking away as to avoid his reaction.
"Really? I thought it was only supposed to happen to males, the first time they see their soulmate."
"That's what I thought too, but maybe I had a delayed imprint. I felt something when I looked into your eyes. It was magical, like I was truly seeing you for the first time." I lightly traced lines on his back with my fingers, relishing in the smooth feel of his skin.
"You know." Omari rose from my chest, wedging his body in between my legs, and I felt his erection pressing into my pelvis. I immediately became aroused. "I think it was about one year ago to the day that I realized my life would never be the same."
"What do you mean?" I managed to stutter, that same burning desire overwhelming me.
"Tessa, I fell in love with you, hopelessly, unfalteringly. The moment I realized that I loved you, I knew I would never be able to love anyone else as much as I love you."
I smiled at his words, cupping his chin with both palms, and brought his lips into mine so that I could worship them more thoroughly.
*************
"Why do I have to learn how to shoot a gun, Omari?" I shrugged my shoulders in frustration as he placed the loaded silver Beretta in my right hand. "I've already demonstrated that I can kill these bastards in one shot."
"Mmhmm." Omari mocked, walking behind me and placing his hands on either side of my waist. His lips met the flesh just under my left earlobe as he whispered. "If you call several misguided rounds one shot, then I agree with you."
The sensation of his lips made me accidentally pull the trigger, sending a bullet ricocheting off the floor and just past Emmett's head. My uncle was standing several yards away and firing his own gun at a separate target. I winced as the bullet landed on the opposite wall of the recreation hall, piercing a small gargoyle on the nose.
"See what I mean." Omari teasingly scoffed, rubbing his temples.
"What the fuck, Tessa?" Emmett pulled off his headphones and unnecessarily checked his arms and shoulders for any sign of a flesh wound. "I didn't know you had it in for me, princess. Remind me to stay away from you the next time you're armed."
"Sorry, Em." I cupped my mouth with my hand to mask my laughter, watching my uncle shake his head and return to his blaring heavy metal music.
"I think I may have distracted you just a bit." Omari returned his hands to my hips as I backed into him once again.
"Just a little." I smiled, gripping the gun with both hands in front of me.
"I'll behave." Omari's breath was on my neck, unintentionally adding another distraction to my already overactive libido.
He reached up and placed both hands around mine as they held the chrome Beretta. My violet eyes unwaveringly focused on the target several yards in front of me. My mind was elsewhere of course.
"Have the target in your sights?" Omari asked, and I managed to nod in reply. "Ok, when you're ready, pull the trigger."
I felt his smooth lips gently ghost the nape of my neck, and my fingers involuntarily fired the handgun, hitting the target dead on the bull's eye.
"Well done, Tessa." Omari released me, chuckling quietly to himself.
Unperturbed, I lowered the gun and faced him, a smirk etched across my face. "Well, I won't have you behind me to help me on Thursday . . . so maybe I should try it without your oh-so-helpful assistance."
Not allowing him a second to respond, I turned around, pointing the gun unshakably at the target. Pressing my finger to the trigger, I discharged the remainder of the bullets into the bull's eye. As I examined my work, I noticed the target was now branded with an almost completely-rounded circle in the middle.
"That's my girl." Omari pulled me to him from behind, wrapping his arms around my waist. "By the way, that was very sexy."
I smiled, letting the gun drop forgotten to the marble floor, and placed my right hand on the back of his head. His lips began a trail of featherlike kisses down my pulse point as I pressed them further into my neck.
"Oh, my God. You guys did it." Emmett annoyingly boomed as he watched our little public display of affection.
Omari quickly let me go, and we both burst out laughing despite the fact that I was trying my hardest not to let it show. Mortification soon sunk in, and I knew full well that my uncle was never going to let me live this one down. Emmett's proud grin stretched from ear to ear as he walked up to where Omari and I were standing in the middle of the hall.
"Emmett, I don't know what you're talking about." I shot him a death glare, trying to get him to shut the hell up, my hands defiantly on my hips. "Omari was only showing me how to use the gun."
"I bet that ain't all he showed you how to use. Am I right?" Emmett fist bumped Omari's shoulder.
"Emmett!" I screamed, completely exasperated.
My uncle looked from me to Omari and then back again, exclaiming, "Oh, you so did!"
"Grrr." I gritted my teeth, retrieving the Beretta from the ground and removing the magazine.
"High five, man!" Emmett held up his palm in expectancy in front of my vampire.
Watching me with careful eyes, Omari hesitantly reciprocated and slapped my uncle's waiting palm. I rolled my eyes. I'd make him pay for that admission later.
"Woot!" Emmett hooted. Then, he was serious, clasping Omari's hand and pulling him roughly against his chest. "Listen and listen well, my friend. You hurt her and I'll rip your . . ."
"Emmett!" I vehemently yelled at my uncle. "Leave my boyfriend alone or I'll be forced to rip your balls off!"
"Just looking out for my niece. Sheesh!" Emmett dramatically grabbed his crotch and then stomped off, pulling the headphones back over his ears. "Women! You try to protect them and what do they do?"
My uncle's ranting continued to reverberate off the walls of the recreation hall until he disappeared down the nearest passageway.
"Well, that was most embarrassing." I walked over to Omari and handed him the silver gun along with the empty magazine. "Was it as good for you as it was for me?"
"The best I ever had." He said in jest, taking the items from my palms with one hand, and drew me into his embrace with the other.
"Why don't we continue this lesson in my bedchamber?" I invitingly hooked my leg around his hip, peering into his golden eyes with nothing but pure longing.
"You read my mind." Omari brought his lips to mine, lifting me so that I could fasten my other leg around him. The action sent the gun and the magazine loudly crashing to the floor.
"Hmm. Hmm." Someone exaggeratedly cleared their throat, and I groaned in aggravation.
"Remember what I said about your balls..." I broke free from Omari's delectable lips to speak before devouring them again.
A thunderous chuckle resounded throughout the hall.
"No, I don't, Tessa. Care to remind me?" My eyes widened in humiliation as I recognized my father EJ's voice from behind me.
"Dad!" Immediately dismounting Omari, I furiously began to wipe his taste from my lips with the back of my hand. "It's not what you think."
"Sure, sure." He heftily snorted. "I'm thinking it's exactly what I thought."
My father walked up to our position and graciously offered his right hand to Omari, who shook it without delay. It was a silent, unspoken truce. My mortification instantly vanished without a trace, and my eyes were almost flushed with tears at the sight.
"Anyway." My father sighed, withdrawing his hand and running it through his short, dark hair. "Anton and Regina are arriving later today with the remains needed to make more bullets. I'm so delighted that they've decided to come to our aid."
"That's wonderful, Dad!" I smiled inwardly and outwardly, recalling the last time my family had welcomed our Siberian friends, the Children of the Moon. It was only five years ago this December.
"Yes, I'm very pleased. They were hesitant at first, but Marcus persuaded them to assist us. They are extremely wary of other immortals discovering the secret hidden beneath their skin." My father returned my smile, and I obliged him with a gentle hug, placing an arm under his left.
As he held me to him, my dad kissed the top of my head, resting his lips there.
"Are you sure about this guy?"
I pulled back, staring intently into his emerald-green eyes.
"I've never been more certain of anything, Dad. He loves me and I love him."
"I know." My father pulled me to him again, and then I felt him relax his head against mine. "If he makes you happy, then you have my blessing."
"Thank you, my king." I heard Omari respond, and my father affectionately squeezed my shoulder before releasing me to my vampire.
My father cleared his throat, bringing his fist to his mouth, and then relayed, "The guard is assembling in the Great Hall to discuss our plans of attack against the half-breeds, and we need you two to be in attendance."
"Of course, Dad." I replied as Omari's arms wrapped around me from behind.
"Good. Tessa, Omari . . ." My father bowed before us and then took his leave, rendering me all alone with my vampire.
I spun around to face Omari, his arms encasing me with such tenderness. His cool forehead pressed against mine and instantly warmed as it met my skin.
"Rain check?" I proposed, opening my eyes to gauge his reaction.
His golden irises mirrored my own, and he gave me one lingering kiss on the lips, entwining his fingers with mine.
"Tessa, I've waited centuries for you before. A few measly hours aren't going to faze me."
And with those words, Omari took my left hand into his right, providing it with a soft kiss, before leading me to the Great Hall and our awaiting companions.
***************
"I believe the best course of action would be to wait until Joham is ready to strike." My grandfather Jacob Black began once the Volturi guard was assembled in the throne room. "That way we can swoop in and take him out. His children will have no choice but to surrender to us then."
Everyone waited patiently while my father, the king, mulled the idea over in his head, his fingers lightly stroking his chin.
Omari's rigid arms wrapped around my waist from behind, warranting us several curious stares from members of the guard, including Kelli, who didn't look rather pleased. Her callous expression left me with a bitter taste in my mouth. Maybe she had a little thing for my vampire. Hadn't she had her fill of my relatives yet? I didn't care if her immortal gift was that of persuasion, she was not about to pounce on my Omari or she would have hell to pay. I forced myself to look away and divert my attention to the matter at hand. I might have clawed her pretty little eyes out right then and there if I hadn't.
"Sounds rather drastic, but I'm willing to do what is necessary to protect Volterra and its citizens." My father turned to my aunt, pivoting slightly in his throne. "Alice, what do you see happening if that is the course we take?"
"Everything goes blank, EJ." She gasped and brought up her hand to cover her mouth. "I can't see anything after that."
"Are you sure, darlin'?" Uncle Jasper put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "Try again."
Alice closed her eyes tightly and then opened them, staring out into nothingness. After a few seconds, she stumbled slightly backward, but Jasper caught her in his arms.
"Alice? Alice, what did you see?" My uncle pleaded with her as he held her bridal style, rocking her back and forth.
"Oh, Jazz." Alice buried her head in his chest, sobbing invisible, nonexistent tears. "I can't see anything. Maybe I'm losing my touch."
"I'm sure that's not it, darlin'." Jasper tried to calm her, rubbing soft circles on her back, and looked in my father's direction. "EJ?"
"This is very puzzling indeed." My dad peered out over the crowd gathered in the Great Hall and slumped in his throne. A dumbfounded look materialized across his face.
"Maybe because she can't see the half-breeds clearly, she is coming up empty handed." The vampire holding me in his embrace spoke up, letting me go and walking up to the front of the guard. "I think Jacob is right. If we take out Joham just when he is prepared to attack, they will be caught off guard and leaderless. They will have no one but you to answer to, my king."
"Hmm." My father appeared deep in thought and then stood up from his throne. "I wholeheartedly agree."
My uncle Jasper set Alice back on her feet, and a glimmer of hope flashed across her face. Omari glanced back at me with a tender smile, and I mouthed "thank you," giving him a flirty wink. He nodded in return.
"Excuse me, master EJ." Afton, one of the faithful guard members, entered the hall, the heels of his boots pounding hurriedly to my father's throne in the utmost haste. "Our Siberian guests have arrived."
"Excellent, Afton. Please bring them before me." My father replied, and Afton followed his orders, exiting and returning with two familiar companions.
The male had short, red hair, dressed entirely from head to foot in black leather, and his female mate donned a matching leather jumpsuit. Her long flowing reddish-blond hair cascaded daintily about her shoulders. However, my attention immediately fell on her corpulent blue eyes, the deepest shade of indigo I had ever seen.
"Anton, Regina, how nice of you to pay us a visit at this most opportune time." My father EJ descended from his throne to greet our guests, shaking the couple's hands and kissing Regina on her right cheek. "It's been awhile, my friends."
"It sure has, my king." Anton replied, graciously bowing in front of my father. "We've brought the bones as you requested. Our elders were not too happy we had agreed to hand them over to you."
"I understand their reasoning. It's not easy to give of one's dead, but it is all for the survival of our society. We cannot let all that we have built crumble for the sake of a twisted vampire and his perverse plans." My father argued his point, and Anton nodded in agreement. "Omari, will you take several members of the guard to Carlisle's laboratory and start working on the bullets while I make sure our guests are properly accommodated?"
"Certainly, my king." Omari gave a swift sigh in my direction, and my heart instantly crashed in my chest in disappointment.
After my father had chosen about dozen members of the guard to aid Omari in his mission, Omari led the assembled group from the Great Hall. I followed closely behind them. I guess our time alone together had to wait a bit longer than expected.
************
Later that evening, Omari and I walked hand in hand from the laboratory down the passageway to my bedchamber. After five agonizing hours into the night, we along with the help of the guard had fashioned approximately six hundred Immortal Bullets to use in the battle. Omari had assured our companions that we had achieved our goal for the night and dismissed them to their separate living quarters.
The sound of our boots thumping against the stone floor added to the tension hanging in the air around us. It had been almost twenty-four hours since Omari and I had connected in the most intimate way possible. My insides were practically screaming for our bodies to be reunited once again.
As we reached my door, Omari paused, bringing my hand to his lips.
"Tessa . . ." I could sense the worry in the tenor of his voice as he whispered my name. I secretly hoped he wasn't going to change his mind about ravishing me once we crossed the threshold.
"Something wrong?" I nervously questioned, placing my free hand on the door handle, and felt my heart beat all the way to my ears in panic.
"No, it's just . . . I thought . . ." Omari let his voice falter as he obligingly opened the door and entered my room before me.
"You thought what?" I almost bit my tongue in apprehension, following him into my bed chamber.
Suddenly, after the door was shut behind us, he plastered me forcibly against the doorframe, flicking his tongue vigorously into my mouth. Then, he abruptly detangled his lips from mine, surrendering me breathless.
"I thought we'd never get out of there." He gave me a devilish grin, his left eyebrow arched, frantically removing his leather jacket.
"Ugh." I cried out in yearning, craving nothing more that to feel his naked body pressed against mine once more.
Without saying another word, Omari planted delicate kisses along my jaw line and then down to my décolletage, clutching one of my breasts in his left palm. When he reached the zipper at the center of my cleavage, he took it into his right hand, his lips trailing down my chest all the way to my waist as the zipper slowly unraveled.
He came onto his knees, reaching up to glide my jumpsuit from my shoulders. The leather material slithered down the sides of my torso, and Omari continued to guide it from my needy body. After ridding me of my boots and throwing them to the side, he motioned for me to skim down the door into a squatting position. I was ever so happy to oblige. He placed his arms between my legs and under my thighs, taking on my full weight so that I needed no other support. Omari had superhuman strength of course, and in the bedroom, any desirable position was a possibility. His hands strongly clasped my bottom, holding me in midair, and propped my legs on his shoulders.
"Oh, God, you smell amazing." Omari moaned between my legs, deeply inhaling the scent of my arousal. "May I?"
"Please." I whisperingly begged, almost gasping at the thought, and tilted my head slightly backward in anticipation.
Omari slowly kissed up my left thigh, his tongue just grazing my delicate flesh. I squirmed at the sensation and impatiently bucked my hips toward him.
Unable to take the tension any longer, I forced his head to my moist center, and he snickered, the vibrations of his laughter almost sending me plummeting into bliss.
Softly, Omari traced my folds with his tongue, teasing me just above the spot where I wanted him to be. I pressed his head closer to my core in urgency, pleading with him to taste me even deeper.
Sensing my need, Omari plunged his tongue into my pulsating heat and then lapped it up and down my clit rapidly at vampire speed. My body writhed in intense pleasure as he repeated this pattern several more times. I soon soared over the edge of my peak, gripping the edges of the doorframe in sweet release.
"Oh, God, Omari!" I cried out in sheer unadulterated rapture. "Bite me now. Please!"
At that same moment, I felt the sensation of teeth nibbling the inside of my right thigh, and then Omari buried his dagger-sharp teeth into the artery that dwelled below the skin there. My eyes fell into the back of my head as he gripped me tighter at the pulse point, generously feeding on the blood he found so desirable. I powerfully climaxed once again, that familiar euphoric feeling sending me over the fucking moon.
Omari shortly relented, sealing the blood flow with his venom-laced tongue. He then pulled me ruggedly into his arms so that I was now straddling his waist. He turned and practically threw me onto the bed, and I knelt in front of him, sticking my ass out for him temptingly.
I heard him release a sensual growl and then the sound of him unbuckling his pants behind me. I had never been taken like this before, but I was ever so willing to try it, especially with him. My body literally throbbed from the hunger growing deep inside of me.
Several seconds later, Omari excruciatingly stalked his hands up the back of my legs, placing a soft kiss on the small of my back. Positioning himself between my legs on the bed, he drove himself into me from behind. We both purred in unison at the feeling of our bodies coming together as one.
After the ecstasy of initial contact dissipated, Omari began to steadily thrust against my ass, grasping my hair and twisting it over my left shoulder, leaving my neck exposed to him. As he penetrated deeper inside me, I had to grab one of the pillows from the bed to stifle my screams. The sensation was so intense; I could barely stand it as it hurled me closer and closer to reaching the pinnacle of satisfaction. As animalistic as it was, it felt so right to be with him like this. I almost burst with overwhelming pleasure.
Then, he swiftly seized me by one of my breasts and jerked me against his stone-hard chest, his body still connected to mine. Running his tongue greedily along my pulse point, he sunk his teeth into the flesh of my neck. It was more than enough stimulation, fiercely heaving me toward my climax, and then I felt his teeth yield from my veins. The venom surged through my body as the contractions of my orgasm continued for several more minutes. He continued to deliver small, gentle thrusts against my bottom, guiding them with his hands clinched on the sides of my hips. His erotic movements made my eyes vanish somewhere in the back of my head, and it felt as if I were virtually soaring high above the clouds. I could almost feel the wind whipping about my reddened cheeks.
"Tes-sa, yes!" Omari forced me back down to a crouch by my neck, ramming himself into me until he met his release. "Fuck yeah!"
He pulled me back against his chest and pivoted my body so that I was facing him.
"I love you." He whispered, licking the excess blood from his pale lips, and then kissed the twin piercings along my neck.
"I love you too." I said in return, and his eyes met mine. I could see flecks of deep crimson now rimming his irises.
He lay me sweetly down on the bed, climbing on top of me, before bringing us both to heaven once again.
Attn: The battle is up next, but as requested I gave you another sexy "bloodsucking lemon." LOL A good song to play while reading this chapter (well, mostly the lemon) is Marilyn Manson's "If I Was Your Vampire." Thanks for reading as always. Please review!
