Virgins and Vampires: Blood Falls (The Blood Falls Book 3)

“Just go with the flow,” Kris explained as the Jeep crawled down the mountain. “I’m starting us off on a trail I’ve done dozens of times. I’m in full control of the vehicle. It will get you used to everything before we try something a little more intense.”

Even though it was pretty chilly out Kris had taken off the roof, doors, and windows. The forest was easily within touching distance of my seat. It scared me how exposed we were, even though I knew I had the ability to slide into the Plane if something bad were to happen.

“You good, princess?” He shot me a devastating smile I felt inside.

“Is this name going to stick?”

He didn’t look away and I forgot how to breathe. “I like it. It suits you.”

“It does not suit me. I’m not the heir to anything.” Unlike Rhysa and Dray and dozens of others who could arguably be called something royal.

“I beg to differ.” The engine revved as he guided the vehicle carefully over some rocks and onto a more worn section of dirt. “You’re the most powerful psychic in generations. Maybe longer. That’s got to count for something.”

I bounced in my seat as the front wheels of the Jeep hit the dirt, then the back wheels. “Is it always this rough?”

Kris grinned and I rolled my eyes at my unintended joke.

“I like it rough,” he teased. “That’s where the adrenaline kicks in.”

Fair enough.

What was unfair was that controlling the vehicle meant gripping the steering wheel tightly. His already fantastic looking forearms flexed over and over again. The vein that ran down his right arm bulged and I swear it was like a beacon calling on me to lick it. I had a sudden thirst for fresh blood and only one donor would do. By letting my stupid crush lead the way I was now stuck in a vehicle, miles away from home, with a male who seemed to do nothing but turn me on in new and unexpected ways.

I hated myself.

Kris navigated us into what appeared to be a dried up creek, crawling down the rocks until he veered off onto another dirt path, climbing a little before turning and taking us down a much steeper path.

The adrenaline kicked up a notch. “Have you ever had to slide into the Plane to avoid dying while doing this?”

The Jeep lurched and turned. The wheels spun, caught, lurched forward again. “Yeah, I’ve had to shift off my motorcycle more than once. I don’t know how humans ride those things.”

That’s right. The Wrens were shifters so their relationship with the Plane was slightly different from ours. They used their shifting gifts to move through the Plane to get from one place to another. Gatlins, using psychic energy instead, moved through the Plane on what felt more like slides and tunnels, so we called it sliding.

“Have you ever done something that made you realize you’d gone too far?” Maybe if I kept asking questions my body would eventually cool down.

He grimaced, slowing the Jeep to crawl through some larger rocks. “Not yet. I hope never to hit the line. I have a feeling I might not win.”

We turned, crawling back up the mountain. The bumping and jostling got my heart rate up pretty high, especially when he attempted a climb that seemed too vertical to be safe, but I was here to experience Kris’s adrenaline magic, so I trusted that this was worth it.

Something I doubted a minute later when I was pretty sure we were way too vertical and about to die. My heart pounded in my chest, my stomach turned, and my nails bit into the skin of my palm because I was squeezing the bar in front of me so hard.

And then, just when I thought it was all over for us, we crested the top and I was met with the stunning view of Blood Falls below. “Holy shit!”

“Gorgeous, isn’t it?” The falls lit up orange at this angle and time of day.

It was like being on top of the world. All I heard was the hum of the engine and the wind. No voices. Not even Kris’s. It was easy to block out a single voice when I wasn’t fighting so many others.

I sighed and sank into my seat. “It’s peaceful.” The adrenaline buzzed through my system. “And that was an easy trail?”

“No. It’s one I’m familiar with. I wanted you to know you’re safe with me, Rain.” His gaze locked on mine again. Like he was repeating you’re safe with me with his eyes so I’d understand he really meant it.

I gulped as I once again turned fire engine red. “Was it still exciting for you?” I didn’t want him left out of the fun.

He flashed me another smile. “It’s always exciting, but today it’s extra exciting because I’m sharing it with you.” His voice got softer with each word.

Holy hell. There was intent behind all this. Maybe. How else should I interpret it? After all, he was a male and I was a female. He was older, but not by much. It wasn’t totally out of the realm of possibility he was flirting with me. Everything was easier when we were in the North. We had jobs and then when we were kidnapped we had a shared goal to escape alive. Even afterward, we were busy. When we were together it was brief and there was a point to it.

There wasn’t, technically speaking, a point to this. Kris offered, but he didn’t have to. He checked on me, but he didn’t have to. I considered him a friend, but never in the history of our friendship had he paid me so much attention. And I couldn’t completely attribute our time in the cave to this level of attention.

Solitary attention. He scared Bridge off at the Solstice so we could be alone. He arranged this—even tracked me down to make sure it happened. He wants to be alone with me!

Even though I was pretty sure I was right, I still wasn’t completely positive. So I kept to my side of the Jeep and tried to act normal even though I felt the furthest from it.

We enjoyed the quiet and the view while we drank some water and relaxed our tense muscles, then it was back down the trail, bumping and crawling, to a meadow I wasn’t familiar with. It stretched over flat land for at least a hundred yards before dense trees created a wall on the other side. “Are we still on Wren land?”

“Sato.” He tossed his sunglasses onto the dashboard and killed the engine. “We’re about five miles from the House of Sato and I’d say a good three from Wren.”

“Anything else nearby?”

It was nice to be able to see his eyes now. In the light of the trees his dark eyes appeared lighter than usual. The skin around them crinkled as he smiled. “Nothing at all.”

Peace. No one, or at least not many, for miles. It was possible I might be able to think there. I brought part of my wall down. If there were more than five minds nearby, their thoughts would echo in my mind immediately. Like turning on a video at full volume. But, to my great relief, I heard nothing but the wind through the leaves.

“Is this a good spot?” Kris asked.

“Yes. It is,” I whispered, almost afraid to ruin the quiet with my own voice. I took a breath and let it out slow. My shoulders dropped an inch as I released the tension in my muscles. “I don’t have to protect myself as much as usual here.”

“Good,” he said. “I asked the twins if distance helped.”

He brought me here on purpose…hoping it would help me. Why? All these years Kris was just one of the brothers. Funny, helpful, but never really part of my life. Did he suddenly care about me because of what we went through, or did he care about my wellbeing?

Because those were two very different things. Going through a traumatic event bonded people. We’d always have the cave and the rift. But feeling concern for me was very different from having male feelings for me. Or maybe I was misreading all of this because of my feelings for Kris. My sudden, very female feelings.

Oh, how I wish I had just a little experience with males! And feelings! I knew so little that I couldn’t tell friendship from lust. I hated not knowing things.

Kris hopped out of the Jeep, stretching his arms and legs. “This is a good place to loosen up. How are you liking it so far?” He nodded up at the mountain.

“I love it. Thank you for sharing this with me.” Stretching sounded like a great idea. The minute I tried to unfold my body I realized how tense I was. I must have been squeezing every muscle in my body. It took a moment to unbend my back, shake the tension out of my legs, and loosen my shoulders. I did all this while making my way around the Jeep to join Kris on the other side.

His eyes raked over me again and my heart skipped a beat. “We’ll make a habit of it then.”

A habit of being alone with Kris, our hearts pumping and adrenaline coursing through our veins? That sounded like a dangerous habit. Especially when he snagged my hand, pulled me close, and wrapped his hands around my hips a split second before he gave me another one of his heart-stopping kisses.

Soft, warm, and electric. That’s how it felt to be kissed by Kris. I didn’t understand why he wanted to. Was it the adrenaline? Or did he really want me? I pressed into him, letting my body do what felt right since I had no idea what I was doing otherwise.

“Rhiannon,” he groaned, but kept kissing me.

“I can think out here, Kris. I can actually hear my own thoughts.” Maybe it was greed or maybe it was gratefulness, but something inside me snapped. I turned feral, desperate for his body and hungry for his kisses. Without all the interference in my head I could actually feel what my body needed.

And it needed.

“Hey, hey, hey,” Kris cooed, his hands on my hips, pressing me back. “Slow down, princess.”

It was like a slap in the face. My cheeks went red hot as embarrassment flooded me. I misread everything.

“No…” Kris’s eyes went wide. “Don’t do that. It’s not what you think.”

Pushing me away? Seemed straightforward to me! “I’m sorry. I got carried away. Won’t happen again.”

Kris roped an arm around my waist and hauled me back against his solid, very male body. “I want it to happen again. A lot, princess. I want that sweet mouth on me all the time.”

“Then…why did you stop me?” My heart pounded so hard I heard it in my ears. Tingles crept up the back of my neck and my head buzzed until the world spun a little.

“That’s why.” He seemed to be unusually attuned to my feelings. “You lost control, not that I mind one fucking bit, but for someone who must be in control of herself at all times, losing it—I’m guessing for the first time in decades—is overwhelming. I just want you to slow down and take it one step at a time.”

A wave of nausea hit me and the world spun a little. Kris’s arms tightened around me. “Whoa there. I’ve got you.” He pressed back into the Jeep and took on my weight. “Rest.” He pressed my head against his chest and brushed my hair.

I felt impossibly heavy. As if weights were tied to all my limbs. Heavy ones. “What’s happening to me?”

“Probably a little bit of shock. Stress finally being released from your body. Too much all at once.”

It never occurred to me what holding my psychic wall up was doing to my body. I spent so much time concerned with my mental health I ignored the physical effects. “It’s so quiet here, Kris.”

“That’s why I brought you here.” His fingers worked into my hair and gave my scalp a light massage.

“How did you know this would help me?” The physical attraction I already felt morphed into something else. Something deeper. This male understood me in ways no one else did.

And he barely knew me.

“Aw, Rain. I feel silly when I say it out loud, but it helps me, so I thought it might help you, even though you’re hurting a thousand times more than I ever will. I didn’t know…I just hoped.”

“Thank you.” I cried a little from the relief. It was one thing to let my wall down inside my room. That space was specially made for me. No psychic energy went in and none went out. But it was like living alone in a box. Sometimes my own psychic energy bounced back at me like an echo. There was no wind, no fresh air, faint voices whispering far away.

This was entirely different. I was outside. I hadn’t let my wall down like this…ever.

A look flashed over his face and Kris kissed me again. Light kisses on the top of my head. Little nibbles near my lips and ears. He teased my throat with his fangs. For the first time in my life my body lit up for someone. Lust coiled tight inside me. I wanted.

Specifically, I wanted Kris.

“Don’t kiss me unless you want to, Rain,” he groaned.

“I do want to.” I pulled his lips to mine, devouring them like I was starving.

Maybe I was.

He flipped us around. Now I had my back to the hood of the warm Jeep. His fingers found the hem of my shirt and skated inside to touch my hot skin. “Fuck, Rain,” he groaned into our kiss.

“I want you.” I rubbed against him searching for something.

“And I want you but,” he swallowed hard, pushed his forehead against mine, his hands trembling, “have you ever been with a male?”

I froze, mortified that my inexperience was so obvious to him.

“Don’t freak out on me, princess. I’m only asking because I don’t want to hurt you.”

That made no sense. I scowled at him.

Then he took my hand and guided it to the seam of his jeans. He pressed my palm into his erection. “Have you,” he wrapped my fingers around what could not possibly be his cock. It was too thick, “ever been,” he slid our hands up, up, up, up, “with a male?” He rutted against my palm. “Because if you haven’t, as you can see, we have some work to do first.”

My eyes rounded, locked with his. “Is that all you?”

He nodded, both our heads moving with the action. He rutted again. “I’m not asking to embarrass you or have you confess anything you don’t want to, but our first kiss? It was special. And you’re special. And it got me thinking you might not have had a chance to live your life to the fullest just yet.”

He may not want to embarrass me but I was embarrassed nonetheless. A fully mature samhain who hadn’t been kissed until Kris surprised me in the snow? Embarrassing!

He kissed me again. “It would be my honor to find us a nice quiet place we can both satisfy our needs. Slowly. Our way.”

“It’s quiet here.”

He smiled. “And maybe here is where I’ll take you, but we need to go slow.” He pressed my palm into his erection one more time before letting me go. “Trust me, it will be worth it.”

“Why can’t we start now?” I kept trembling and I didn’t know if it was the freedom from the voices or the lust.

He took my hand and kissed my palm, then each of my fingertips. “It’s not easy for me, either. You know they call me the hermit. I don’t mind it most of the time. My family doesn’t mean anything. It’s just gentle teasing. We all do it from time to time. But it is hard—feeling like I’m alone in the world. I’m very attracted to you, Rhiannon. Have been for longer than I’d like to admit. Right now you’re body is in shock and I won’t know if we’re touching because you’re out of control or you want me. And…I need you to want me.”

I felt ashamed that I hadn’t noticed the depth of his loneliness but I understood every word he said. Those eyes of his told the truth of it. He was unguarded, vulnerable, hopeful, as he looked down at me. I took his face in my hands, showing him with my eyes that I felt the same way.

“Fuck, Rhiannon,” he whispered. “How can you show so much with just your eyes?”

I smiled up at him. “Says the master.”

That made him smile. A boyish, genuine smile that made my heart flip. “Oh princess, we just might be dangerous together.”

My adrenaline kicked back up a notch. “I certainly hope so.”