Without Limits: A BWWM Collection of Passion and Desire, page 47
“Yes and instead of in three nights at the castle, we’re actually going to have another elimination tonight.”
“But…but this is absurd,” Bridget stammered, standing up and facing both men. “Jax already eliminated her.” She folded her arms across her breasts.
“Well, now I have a second chance,” Karen said.
Bridget sat and glared at Karen who only smiled at her.
“That’s for Jax to decide—again,” Davis told them. “All we’ve done is given Karen here a chance to plead her case. She has. Now it’s up to Jax.” He paused and glanced at Kevin. “Where is he?”
“He should be here any minute,” Kevin said.
Well, speak of the devil…or vampire, Serissa thought as Jax stepped through the open door.
“Great, now that Jax is here,” Davis said, “let’s get this show on the road.” He turned to Jax. “The women have been briefed. Are you ready?”
“Yes.”
The production assistants rearranged some of the furniture so the women could stand in the center of the room. Serissa had eyes only for Jax. His pallor didn’t look so good. The red in his aura was closer to normal, but that strand of deep purple was still there. Not as vibrant as before but there nonetheless. She didn’t know what he’d done to feed his hunger but there were no dark threads, so he hadn’t taken a life to sustain his own. Nor did he take fresh human blood. Perhaps he’d used animal blood to sate his thirst.
“Serissa.”
She blinked when she heard her name called. She’d been so intent on trying to read Jax’s aura, she didn’t realize they’d begun. Stepping forward, she stood in front of him and he took her hands. She used the connection to try to read him further, but as usual he blocked her probes of his psyche. When she looked into his eyes she could see the threads of purple there that had not been present before. It pissed her off. Jax was hers and someone was playing games with him.
Serissa didn’t even hear the question. She just smiled and said yes. When he drew her close and hugged her, she opened her senses and smelled him. Trying to get some idea of what he’d been given and coming up empty. She needed to get a sniff of that wine glass still in the room.
Jax pulled back and handed her a card. She glanced at it, knowing she was expected to read it out loud. “Would you have dinner with me tonight?” She looked at him and smiled. “Yes. I’d love to.”
After she returned to her place beside Bridget, the other woman squeezed her hand and smiled. While Serissa missed Avery, in a way she was glad Avery was no longer with them. She tried not to think of Jax choosing her best friend. It didn’t feel right to her to be jealous of Avery, even though Avery had told her early on she and Jax could never be anything more than friends. But Serissa couldn’t deny the relief she felt now that they were down to the wire and she was gone. Still she missed her.
But when Jax called Karen’s name and handed her an invitation, Serissa wanted to scream. Instead, she turned toward Bridget and gave her a hug.
“I’m sorry, hon,” Serissa said.
“I hope he picks you and not Ms. Bitch,” Bridget whispered. They both grinned. It had been their name for Karen throughout the show.
Dinner was an absolute nightmare. Karen tried to manage the conversation, and Serissa let her. She was furious at both Karen and Jax for letting the other woman back. Plus she hadn’t been able to get a better look at the wine glass.
Then she frowned as she stared at Jax again. His aura was reacting to Karen’s nearness, specifically the purple threads would flare every time she touched him. Serissa had her answer now for sure. Karen had put something in that wine and Serissa suspected she knew what the spell was or rather its type.
Not a love spell. No one can force someone to love where they don’t want to. Lust was another matter, a more basic animal emotion everyone was subject to, and what most confused by calling it a love spell. A spell could be crafted to exaggerate the base emotions. Goddess alone knew what affect, if any, it would have on a vampire. Add to that Jax was also attracted to Serissa too. Whenever he touched her, his aura flashed an intense blue. The connection between them was very real. Serissa just wasn’t sure if it was strong enough to counter whatever Karen had done to him.
At times during dinner he’d hold her hand under the table and stroke the inside of her wrist. As much as his touch caused her heart to race, Serissa wondered if he did the same to Karen who sat on his other side. But damned if she’d let Karen get away with manipulating Jax’s emotions. Once they were away from the cameras, she’d have to tell him the truth—tonight. She was falling in love with him, and if they were to stand a chance together, then he had to know who she really was.
“Ladies, Jax.” The sound of Kevin’s voice had her looking up. “Sorry to interrupt dessert, but you all are going to have a big day tomorrow and an early start. I’m going to have to take Jax away from you now, but you’ll both see him tomorrow morning. Then one of you will have an evening date with Jax tomorrow. So say good night.”
Serissa was glad about the change in plans. They both had dessert with him and the dancing part of the evening got cut. She suspected that was Jax’s doing. He probably wasn’t feeling too good. During dinner he wasn’t his usual self, a bit quieter.
Karen groaned as Jax pushed the table away from them and stood. They sat in a circular booth. He bent to kiss Karen good night first. Karen wrapped her arm around him, trying to pull him back down to her but he untangled her arms from around his neck.
Then he turned to Serissa and took her hand in his, stroking her wrist like he’d been doing all night. He radiated delight. Serissa couldn’t help but respond to him, but she also saw the red deepening. He was hungry again. That’s twice now in one day. Never, not once during the last month or so had she seen him like this.
Could this be the effect of Karen’s work?
She scooted out of the booth so he could leave, knowing Karen wouldn’t budge. He kissed Serissa quickly, wished both women goodnight, and then left.
Just as they started to leave too, Kevin stopped them. “Ladies, I have two envelopes in my pocket.” Which he then pulled out. Their names were on one of each. He handed the envelopes to both women. “Jax knows what’s in the envelopes and put your names on the appropriate ones.”
Karen turned hers to open it.
“Oh no, wait until you’re alone or on the elevator. It sets up the schedule for tomorrow,” Kevin told her.
Kevin and two cameramen escorted them to the bank of elevators. The hotel was huge, sectioned off by towers, east, west, north and south. The women were in the east and west towers, but Jax was in one of the other towers and Kevin wouldn’t divulge which one. He placed them in their respective elevators to take them directly to their sections and wished them goodnight. One of the cameramen got on with Karen and the other with her. For a moment she’d forgotten they had an audience. Ignoring the cameraman, as she’d been told to do, she opened her envelope and smiled.
Chapter Ten
Jax got to his suite and took a quick shower to try to calm himself down. Whatever the fuck Karen had done to him was affecting his hunger. He thought taking the blood earlier would be enough to hold him until his brother arrived with more in the morning. Now he wasn’t so sure. But he did feel better away from Karen. Thank God he didn’t see her again until tomorrow, after his brother arrived. Hopefully he’d be more in control then.
He knew now it was Karen who had done this to him. She too was a witch. What the hell were the odds, not one witch on the damn show but two? With both Serissa and Karen together, he now understood what he was dealing with and knew what to look for.
Serissa would never do something like this. The woman’s soul shone out of her eyes like diamonds, while Karen’s was dark. Every time she touched him, his hunger for blood spiked. It was all he could do to make it through dinner with a smile on his face. But touching Serissa helped center him. Every time he touched her or caressed her hand it negated whatever Karen had done to him. He’d wanted Serissa before this mess and he wanted her still. The hunger he had for her was not just one of the blood or lust.
After he came out of the shower, he changed into midnight blue silk pajama bottoms and a matching robe and returned to the living room area. All the lights were off except for a low wattage lamp in the corner. It cast a soft glow around the space. Enough to see that set in front of the couch on the low table was a bottle of Champagne in an ice bucket. He’d just popped it open when he heard the click of the door closing and turned around.
Raising the bottle into the air slightly in salutation, he said, “Thank you for joining me.”
Serissa smiled and moved into the room toward him. “Thank you for inviting me.”
He loved the way she moved. The lighting cast her in shadows. She still wore the sexy white dress clinging to her curves like he’d like to. He poured a glass of the bubbly and held one out to her. Jax poured one for himself too but left it on the table. In his present state, he wasn’t sure what effect alcohol would have on him. And even though he would do nothing to harm Serissa, he’d need control tonight but something told him with the beautiful woman in front of him, control wasn’t going to be easy.
She took the glass from him then glanced around the room. “Where are the voyagers?”
He smiled. Oh, yes, the producers wanted to film this part but he was having none of that. Jax needed to know if what he’d been feeling for her was real. She was the one whose thoughts he’d followed that day. If he got inside her once he could do it again. Needed to do it again and in all ways. He just had to be sure.
“I managed to ditch them. I’m sure they’ll have us recreate something for the camera, but tonight it’s just us.
She raised her glass toward him. “I’ll drink to that. Aren’t you having any?”
“No. Not yet. But please go ahead.”
Serissa smiled and took a healthy swallow. “I’m sorry about the repeat performance later.”
Jax watched her move over to the sofa and sit. Something was wrong. She’d never been nervous before around him but she was now. Could it be she was having second thoughts about him, about them being together? He ached at that thought and followed her to the sofa. He placed his arm along the back of it and took the glass out of her hand, resting it on the table.
Turning back to her he touched the side of her face. “So soft. Your skin is so soft.” He lowered his head and kissed her, closing his eyes just as their lips touched so he could enjoy the sensation of her all the better.
She opened her mouth to the gentle probe of his tongue, granting him entrance. The kiss might have started out gentle but it turned into something else. His hunger rode him tonight and not just for her blood, although that was there too. He could hear it rushing through her veins to fuel the beat of her heart. His sped up to match hers, and soon they thumped in unison.
Jax wasn’t sure who pushed away from the kiss first, but he was glad. He needed to tell her, honestly who and what he was before going any further. No more lies or deceptions. Serissa had to want him for who and what he really was. He only hoped she could accept him.
“Serissa, there’s something you need to know before we go any further, and I hope to God we’re going far, but I need to be honest with you. I’m falling in love with you, and...” The tears pooling in her eyes stopped him from telling her the rest. He used his thumbs to wipe the ones that had fallen onto her cheeks.
“Oh, Jax, there’s, there’s something I need to tell you.”
He smiled, guessing what that was. “I already know. You’re a witch.”
She pushed away from him. She paused. “Of course, your mother. She told you.”
This time it was his turn to frown. “You know my mother is a witch?”
“Of course.” She grinned. “Power recognizes power and I thought she told you but when you didn’t say anything to me I wasn’t sure.”
“Do you know the rest of it?” he asked curious.
“That you’re a vampire, since I first met you, but none like I’ve ever heard of.”
Now he grinned. She already knew the truth and she was still on the show and here with him. He hoped as he’d never hoped in a long time. “That is because there are none like us. Sunwalkers is what we call ourselves.”
“But I don’t understand. How?”
Then he told her how. How after hundreds of years of experiments, his brilliant mother found a way for them to be able to tolerate the sun, and even better, not need to feed from a live source or even feed as often.
“By the goddess, Jax, that’s wonderful.” She threw her arms around him and this time she initiated the kiss, but it was over much too soon for Jax before she pulled away again. “Wait a second. Why would you go on a television reality show? Isn’t this a dangerous thing for you to do?”
“No, not really. There is no one other than my family who know what I am, nor can anyone else tell from watching me on a television show. And any other vampire isn’t likely to say anything. How did you know I’m a vampire anyway?”
“Auras. I read auras.”
He nodded. “That explains it. But still in spite of the wonders of digital colorization, you can’t see my aura from my image. You’d have to see me in person or read my mind and none can do that at least.”
“Okay, but still why take the risk? You know Karen is a witch? And she put some sort of internal hex on you. Something you drank. I’m thinking the wine.”
“Yes, I know all about Karen.”
“I don’t believe she knows you’re a vampire or she would have adjusted what she’d given you.”
“Don’t worry, after tomorrow she’ll be gone.”
Serissa smiled and began to say something, but he was done talking. Done hiding from this woman who had touched his heart with but a thought. “I came on the show for you, Serissa. To find you.” He told her about following her stray thought.
She laughed, but this time when his lips touched hers neither one of them pulled back. Wrapping one arm under her shoulders and the other under her thighs, he lifted her from the sofa. Never once did their mouths break contact. He took them straight to the bedroom and placed her on the bed. He had to pause to stare at her a moment as she lay on the comforter, so beautiful. Using the power of a vampire, he unlaced the ties of her halter-top and pulled it down until her perfect beasts were exposed. Her dusty nipples, surrounded by delicious caramel colored skin, pebbled as he watched. He planned on tasting every single inch. He began to take his clothes off.
Chapter Eleven
Serissa knew she should finish undressing, but she didn’t want to miss a thing. As Jax removed each piece of material barring her view and revealed what stood before her, she inhaled, only then realizing she’d been holding her breath. His body was a study in art. Broad shoulders and perfectly circular nipples separated by sparse chest hair forming a trail for her gaze to travel, tapering down to a slender waist. And straining toward her was his long thick cock. It pulsed as she stared.
Why was she staring when she should be getting naked too? Serissa smiled and shimmied the dress the rest of the way off, snagging her underwear while she was at it and tossing them all to the floor. Wonder of wonders, Jax’s thick length grew even more as the absorbed each other.
“Are you just going to stand there and stare?” She raised the cover and shifted under it, but he grabbed the end of it and shook his head from side-to-side before pulling the comforter all the way to the bottom of the bed, exposing her once more to his hungry gaze.
“Oh no,” he said. “I want to see all of you. No more hiding who or what we truly are.”
Jax sat at the side of the bed and raised his hand. The edges of his knuckles gently grazing her cheekbone before trailing down to her neck. She turned her head slightly to allow him better access. The vein in her neck pulsed in time with her heart.
“Do you want to bite me, Jax?” she asked, the thought causing her pussy to pulse.
“I promised to be honest with you. For you to see me and accept me as I am. So, oh yes, I want to.” He stroked the side of her neck. “But I won’t. Not if you don’t want me to.”
She turned her head to stare at him, to gauge the truth of his response. His hand continued its downward movement to the side of her breasts, but his gaze remained on her face. She saw the true hunger of his nature, but she saw the tenderness too and his need for her. His aura blazed bright red.
“Let me think about it.”
He nodded and merely lowered his head to kiss around the plump part of her breast. Yeah, as romantic as some books made it seem, this was reality. While she loved him and knew he wouldn’t hurt her, still the thought of him biting into her neck, feeding off her blood…? Hmmm…kinda kinky now that she thought about it.
When his mouth finally latched onto one of her nipples, she lost all semblance of a rational, thinking being and became one of pure physical need. It caused her back to arch so he could suck her more fully. Need had her using her hand to hold his head to her breast. The sensation of him suckling her caused a moan to rise from her throat.
But Jax didn’t just stop at one nipple. He shifted to the other breast and she felt the bed dip slightly as he lay down fully beside her. The fine hairs on his chest brushed against her skin as he used one of his hands to stroke a line straight over her stomach. While his touch might have been light, it had her stomach muscles quivering and her nether region wet in anticipation. His fingers continued their journey until he touched her just there and her body arched up into his touch as he inserted one of his digits into her core.
“Oh, so wet and responsive,” he murmured as he licked at her areola while inserting yet another finger inside her. “Are you ready for me, Serissa?”
“By the Goddess, Jax. Any more ready and I’d be in a puddle.”
He stopped and their gazes locked. His nostrils flared and his lips were slightly parted as he continued to move his fingers in slow and steady strokes in and out of her dripping sex while Serissa rocked her hips into him.
