Chapter Fourteen

Romance

He shut the door slowly, the heavy wooden frame creaking loudly on its splintered hinges. He knew how late it was and had no doubts that Juliet had fallen asleep. He'd gotten caught up looking for a person to drink from and ended up in a city over thirty miles away, forcing him to flit back. As he approached the parlor he saw her curled up on the sofa where he normally slept. Quietly he lifted her up, intending to take her to the bed, but the way her hands reached for him indicated that she was partially awake. He gazed down at her, her pale eyes were half lidded and she smiled and nestled herself into his arms. Mika sighed, suppressing his own smile. There was no room on the sofa for both of them. He set her back down gently and extinguished the hearth fire, then picked her up again, heading for the only bedroom on the same floor.

Lord Highland's room was the only one with thick velvet curtains to black out the sunlight, the only light source in the room was a set of wall hanging candelabrums, the sort of which Mika hadn't seen since he was a lad. He had asked Juliet about the state of her manor and especially the Lord's bedroom and she had confessed that Lord Highland was eccentric when it came to keeping things as they were when they were first created. The manor was well over a hundred years old, and he hadn't allowed any upgrades to it aside from reinforcing the frame and other structural safeties. Juliet kept the room well maintained, except for the chessboard in the west corner that he and she had played on occasion, and the piano at the far end of the room, which she had admit to 'refusing to touch in her father's memory.' Mika remembered this as the first time Juliet had referred to Highland as simply her 'father' and not her 'father figure' or something similar.

Cradling Juliet in one arm he pulled back the covers on the enormous four poster bed and set her down on top of it. Without warning, a half asleep Juliet began to remove her own clothing, and Mika blushed as if he'd never seen a woman's natural form before. Clad only in her small underwear and a camisole top, the petite girl turned onto her side, further extenuating her curves to the Vampire's roaming eyes.

Walking around to the other side of the bed, Mika made sure to draw all the curtains in the room tightly, until he was certain no light would get through. He began disrobing and stopped after he had removed his shirt. He never wore any sort of undergarment, disliking the restricted movement, and had been sleeping in his pants for some time now, but as he glanced over at Juliet's form as she stretched into another sleeping position, her back arched, pushing her breasts into the fabric of her shirt and showing off their rounded forms, he began to unbutton his fly, cursing his luck and praying to the Vampire Gods to control his actions. In what seemed like agonizing slow motion, his trousers fell to the floor and he slid under the covers next to Juliet.

He resisted the urge to pull her close to him, as practiced as he was in the art of seduction; romance was on a completely different level of difficulty. He had been developing feelings for the girl for months, he couldn't deny it. She had an alluring innocence about her, and to be honest he found himself intrigued about her past. Never had he intended to become emotionally involved with her, but now it was hard to keep his eyes off of her. Her smile made him smile; the sound of her heartbeat quickening quickened his. He wanted to protect her; he wanted her by his side. Juliet Andères was not the type of girl to love and leave, and he knew this. The thought of leaving her put pain in his heart. No, he wasn't an expert when it came to love and romance, but now that he had found a woman he wanted to be with he knew he had to do everything right. Taking advantage of Juliet while she slept was definitely not the best course of action in this case. The Vampire sighed and relaxed into the bed, putting his arms behind his head. For now, this was enough.

Or at least that's what he was trying to convince himself.

Even without his near-perfect night vision, Mika could see Juliet's iridescent eyes gazing down at him. She had pushed herself up on her hands, and from her spot across the bed she was watching him keenly. He was about to apologize for his nudity when she crawled over to him and sighed, her voice heavy with emotion, "You're a very handsome man, Mika Ver Leth."

Mika took a deep breath, his body becoming hot under Juliet's unwavering gaze and closeness, he opened his mouth to speak but was stopped when Juliet placed her hand on his broad chest and began trailing her fingers along the lines of his muscles. He heard her sigh as she rested her head on his shoulder. Instinctively his arms came around hers, he brought his head down and their foreheads touched.

She kissed him then. It was a light, cautions kiss, full of hope and unexplained emotion. The kind a woman gives when she's afraid of being rejected, but he had no intentions to reject her. He sighed into the kiss quickly and pulled her body even closer to his, causing Juliet to gasp and give Mika entrance into her mouth. As soon as his tongue touched hers she visibly softened in his arms and allowed him to pull her on top of his chest, where he broke their kiss and allowed her to lean back. All previous thoughts on how to handle the 'wooing of Juliet' had dissipated from his mind.

He gazed up at the woman before him. "Juliet-" he began, but she didn't allow him to finish. Instead she shimmied down his chest to his waist, carefully lifting up the blanket that precariously covered him.

He watched as she stared at his manhood, the throbbing vein catching her eyes more than the rest of it. It was so large; she thought that it would take nearly both her hands to hold it. Slowly she reached for it, but he stopped her and pulled her back up to him, leaning up to meet her and showing off the strength of his core, connecting their lips once more. "Not yet," he sighed, dragging a fingernail down the front of her camisole, effectively shredding the fabric and then tossing the garment aside.

For a brief moment, Juliet wondered how things had turned out the way they had. There'd been no discussion, no exchange of mutual feelings, nothing but crawling into bed together for the first time. Was this a mistake? She wondered for a half second on stopping their actions before it was too late. Then Mika's hot tongue trailed down her neck and her shoulders, making her shiver and sigh. His tongue continued its Southern excursion, stopping at her breasts and laving at her nipple, eliciting a surprised moan from her, and all questions, and doubts were gone. There was only this moment, and this gorgeous male suckling on her nipples like he'd been born to do it.

She moaned as his hand trailed down her body to her underwear. The other lifted her a few inches until she was sitting up on her knees, giving his mouth a better angle on her breasts. The thin material of her panties sliced easily and it joined her camisole in tatters on the floor. He could smell her arousal, and it made him growl in satisfaction. His fingers slid delicately around her entrance and she gasped at the sensation. Nobody had touched her there save for herself, and even then her ministrations were only to drive her to climax, but here he was, basically tiptoeing around her sensitive nub and touching her everywhere but, making her more sensitive with every soft touch. She gripped his head to her breast, desperate for more of his tongue and began to grind her hips into his hand. She could feel him smirk against her chest as he released her nipple and crushed his lips to hers, leaning forward even more until he was sitting up fully.

She could feel it then, her bottom was right next to his manhood and it pulsed in time with her heartbeat. Juliet had never been so close to a man before, so intimate with a man before, and as he broke their kiss, she cast her gaze downward, suddenly ashamed at her naiveté. She had no idea how to proceed. Mika's fingers stroked her cheek sensually and she met his gaze, his soft, loving gaze and her heart melted. She held his eyes until she couldn't take it anymore and threw her arms around his neck, pushing their bodies together and whispering to him all her feelings.

"I l-love you," she cried. Why was she was crying? "And I'm so s-scared you don't love me back-k."

Mika wrapped his arms tightly around the petite woman, feeling her heartbeat next to his and sighing painfully into her hair.

"Stubborn girl," he growled. "You still assume to know how my heart works…" gently he pulled her away from him and tilted her chin up, forcing her to look at him. The tears still flowed freely from her eyes, and he wiped them away. "Juliet." She focused on him, on his deep ebony eyes that seemed to draw her very soul from her body, willing the tears to stop until finally they did. He breathed heavily, physically holding himself back from cradling her in his arms. "If you think yourself so wise when it comes to my emotions then you should know already that my heart is yours."

Her reaction was immediate, throwing herself into his embrace once again and crying tears of joy and relief onto his shoulders. He held her face in his hands and kissed away her tears, trailing down to catch her mouth and whispering his 'I love you's over and over for reassurance until finally the tears stopped and were replaced with heavy sighs of need. He trailed his kisses down her neck, placing one on each breast, leaning her back before continuing down to her stomach to the precipice of her legs, letting her fall back onto the mattress and maneuvering his way over top of her. He panted with arousal as he looked over the woman below him. Her raven locks splayed about the covers, forehead speckled with sweat. There were tear streaks down her cheeks, but the look in her eyes was defiant. He knew he didn't need to ask if she wanted to proceed just by that look. Her chest rose and fell in time with his, and she watched his eyes as he appraised her. His hand made its way between her legs, spreading them slowly, but Juliet let them spread unabashedly, giving him full view of her. He locked eyes with her as he moved a finger towards her entrance, and he noticed her shiver. Slowly he pressed his finger inside her and marveled at the tightness that pressed down on it. He leaned over Juliet, kissing his way up her body as his finger worked its way further inside her. She was sighing and moaning quietly and he smirked and wiggled his finger inside her, causing her to inhale sharply. No sign of a hymen, he thought, Juliet must have taken care of that herself. The image of Juliet pleasuring herself stirred something primal inside Mika, who didn't want his woman going without him any longer, and he positioned himself at her entrance. The movement snapped Juliet out of her daze and she looked up at him, her eyes glazed over with need. Their hips rocked together in instinctive arousal, causing Mika to groan and lower himself to her.

Gently his lips touched hers and he pushed his way inside of her. She gasped into his mouth and he tangled his tongue with hers. He could feel her wetness, the tightness, the heat, and it very nearly sent him over the edge. She gripped his shaft with such strength, he could tell he was stretching her and filling her with his size. Her arms wrapped around his neck as he moved her leg seeking hold on the curve of his hips. He broke their kiss and hissed at the sensation of her, gazing down at her half lidded eyes.

"Gods Juliet," he sighed into her neck, her nails raked down his back. She clenched around him and moaned his name over and over; unable to think of anything except him and the way he filled every inch of her with his size. She couldn't hold on much longer, and as the pleasure welled up inside of her she clung to him, silently screaming into his chest, back arched. The intense pressure on his shaft caused Mika to come as well, spilling his seed within her with a curse, and she continued to milk him for minutes afterward.

Panting and stinging from the scratches on his back, Mika leaned up; shaft still planted deep within her, and towered over Juliet, who shivered with pleasure beneath him. It was the most pleasure he had ever received, he couldn't deny it, and he griped Juliet's hips and hoisted her up to him, capturing her lips in a fiery kiss. She moaned into him, arms still tangled around his neck, and ground her hips into his shaft, which was hardening quickly inside her. She gazed at him with a smile and he smirked. The rest of the night, and most of the morning, was lost to the scent, the sound and the feel of the first true lovemaking either of them had ever experienced, until they collapsed in satisfied exhaustion. Hearts filled to the bursting with emotion and tangled in each other's embrace, the fell asleep with no worries and no wants other than to wake up next to the person they loved.