A Hunter's Heart [The Hunters 1] (Siren Publishing Classic) Read online

  It was probably fruitless to expect to find Vasilecu. The vampire would have moved immediately, knowing that Matei would give chase as soon as possible, but still it made sense to check. He had made a brief search when he was out feeding but could not feel any trace. Matei was grateful he was able to remove every trace of the vampire from Charlotte’s blood, knowing that Vasilecu would have been able to trace her whereabouts and call her to him using the cankers that infested her blood and his marker.

  Getting to his feet, Matei walked back into the bedroom and lay on his side beside his mate. It felt so good to feel her warmth and know she was his. She snuggled close to him in her sleep and he watched her, his heart almost stopping at her beauty. He was tempted to wake her with a kiss but knew she needed to rest after what had happened, so instead he lay there drinking in her scent and falling deeper and deeper in love as every moment passed.

  * * * *

  Charlotte opened her eyes to find those green eyes watching her. She felt herself blush, especially when she realised she had thrown one leg over him and he was naked. Not only was he naked but judging by what was against her leg, he was aroused. She was tempted to reach across and stroke him or maybe lick him but instead she quickly removed her leg. To cover her embarrassment she asked if he had fed and she heard the laughter in his voice as he answered.

  “Yes, Iubită, I did.” He stretched and moved purposefully and she felt his erection harden against her body as he rolled closer toward her.

  She narrowed her eyes. “You will never learn, Hotshot, stop reading my thoughts.”

  “Ah, Cara, I’ve told you before that you have the most delightful thoughts. I think you should be encouraged to act on them more often just to satisfy your curiosity.”

  Charlotte had to laugh at that. “My curiosity! You know perfectly well what I was thinking and it wouldn’t be my curiosity that was satisfied.”

  He roared with laughter, lifted one hand to his mouth and kissed her fingers, he then threw back the blankets to place her hand onto his hardening cock. She was hesitant but then thought, what the heck. He is in my bed, he is naked and he obviously wants me…

  Running her fingers the length of his shaft, she could feel the strength as it hardened completely. Charlotte decided if she was going to do this she may as well enjoy herself and do exactly what she wanted.

  “Charlotte do you feel okay? I don’t want to make love to you if you are still tired.”

  Instead of replying, she lifted up onto her side and eyed the glorious body in front of her. She felt Matei start to move to hold her so she looked at his face and shook her fingers at him. “Ah ah, my turn.”

  He gave that cheeky grin with one raised eyebrow and Charlotte felt her stomach drop. Amazing how that little quirk was fast becoming something she adored.

  So back to the inspection.

  Running one hand across his pelvis and around his groin, she felt the muscles tense so she decided that a lick across the bows, so to speak, would be good. Leaning forward, she ran her tongue across his navel then down the line of hair that led downward, stopping just before his turgid dick.

  Then bypassing it, she licked her way to the top of his thigh. Deciding to get comfortable and to be able to look at his face, Charlotte maneuvered herself so she was between his legs. Matei looked as if he wanted to drag her up his body, but she shook her head then leant forward to continue her tongue’s journey.

  Now that she was in a better position to tease and explore, Charlotte place one hand on one leg and licked alongside his knee, then moving in sweeping circles upward she journeyed to the top of his inner thigh. She could feel his muscles tense as she got closer and closer to her goal. Her tongue briefly skimmed his testicles and she heard a quick gasp.

  Smiling to herself, she looked at her prize. The head was standing proudly before her and a tiny pearl drop was running down the side of the shaft. She leaned forward and licked it off, Matei’s groans more audible.

  Running her tongue along the tip of his penis, she swirled across and down the head then ran her tongue along the underside length of it and along the perineum toward his anus.

  Matei grabbed her hair with one hand, so she continued to lick across and then once more across his testicles and onto the swollen cock again. She ran her hand up his leg and felt the weight of his balls, caressing and gently squeezing them. Using her elbows to take her weight, she used the other hand to pull back the skin on the head and run her tongue across it.

  Ever so slowly, she took him into her hot mouth, her tongue swirling across the tip and into the eye. Charlotte could taste the sweet salty taste of him as she began to slide his cock deeper into her mouth, all the while caressing his balls.

  Knowing she could never fit the whole of his shaft in her mouth and throat, Charlotte decided to use her teeth and tongue to heighten his pleasure as she took his penis in and out of her mouth. Judging by the way Matei was moaning and tightening his grip on her hair, she knew he was enjoying the experience as much as she was. She stopped to look at his face.

  “Merge with me,” he groaned in her head.

  As she did, she drew a gasp, she could feel the sensations that Matei was feeling and it heightened her arousal.

  She could feel her mouth on his penis as if she were him but at the same time she could still feel her own pleasure. She gave a few experimental licks. Not only could she feel what it was like to taste him, she could tell what it felt like to him to have her tongue running the length of his shaft. How it made him squirm with desire and arousal. How it made him want to roll her over and fuck her.

  She rolled his testicles in one hand. She felt his increased pleasure at the way the balls moved with the pressure of her fingers.

  Her whole perception of foreplay changed in that instance.

  Now she had the perfect weapon and with a wicked grin at him, she lowered her head once more and took him into her mouth. Using her teeth she drew back the foreskin and licked, then slid the shaft into her mouth as far as she could before withdrawing back to the tip. Between her legs, she could feel herself getting wetter and wetter as she felt both his sensations and her own pleasure at sucking on his cock.

  As she withdrew his penis, she sucked hard and let him feel her teeth running up the outside of the shaft, her tongue licking the eye and with her hand holding the base. Overwhelming sensations greeted her and she heard herself moan in the back of her throat in time with Matei. She continued to suck and lick, his buttocks rising and falling in time with her strokes.

  “Dragostea,” he cried weakly and she could feel his orgasm building in both her mind and with the tensing of his muscles. She could tell he wanted to sink his cock into her but she wanted to feel the explosion of his seed and taste it in her mouth.

  He tried vainly to drag her away but she sucked even harder and, as he moaned, he thrust his cock as deep as she could into her mouth and throat. She felt his buttocks tense and knew he was only seconds away from exploding into her mouth and she reveled in the power.

  Her own orgasm was building from the shared experience as he thrust and pushed against her head. Both their heartbeats and breathing were synchronised as they raced toward their final goal. Suddenly she felt his whole body tense as the muscles of his cock beat rhythmically, then the salty burst of his ejaculation poured down her throat, her own orgasm swiftly on the heels of his. She continued to suck to drain his seed as he slowly stopped thrusting, a feeling of satisfaction filling her as she slowly withdrew and planted a kiss on the top of his cock, her own body still feeling the spasm from her climax.

  She planted one hand on either side of his body and looked toward his face, one hand thrown over his head and his eyes closed as he tried to bring his racing heart under control. Charlotte, too, was still breathing as fast as he was.

  * * * *

  He could feel her climbing up the length of his body to lay her sweet head on his shoulder. He wrapped his arms around her and she nestled into the side of his bod
y, enveloped safely in his arms.

  “Iubită mea”—his voice cracked with emotion—“esti respiratia mea, viata mea, si totul care conteaza.” You are, my breath, my world, and everything that matters. He did not think she was ready to hear him say “te iubesc,” but in his heart he loved her without end.

  “I love listening to your voice when you speak in your language, it is so melodic and it flows across me like a river,” she whispered. She sounded frightened by the way he made her feel. He could “hear” in her thoughts that she knew she was falling in love with this man and it scared her that it was happening so fast.

  “You need to sleep, I can feel your body tiring. I must sleep also.”

  She glanced at the clock, surprised to see it was almost nine, the blackout curtains living up to their name.

  “Lie with me while I rest,” he said to her. “I would be honoured to wake and find you beside me.”

  “I will lie and sleep with you a while longer but then I have things I must do in the house, but I’ll come back and lie with you later.”

  “Iubită, when we sleep our breathing and our heart rate slow. To you, it will seem as if I am dying or dead but it is normal for us. Don’t fear.” He reached over and lifted her chin. “Promise me you will not leave the house.”

  “I won’t, I have enough to keep me busy. You rest and I’ll speak with you tonight.” She leant over and kissed him lightly but he deepened the kiss, putting all the love he felt for this, his woman, behind it. Charlotte returned it just as passionately. This man had wormed his way deep into her heart.

  Chapter Eleven

  After she caught a few more hours of much-needed sleep, the rest of Charlotte’s late morning was spent cleaning up the studio and sorting through her accounts but often she found herself standing in the bedroom doorway watching Matei as he slept. Early in the afternoon after she had eaten, she grabbed her sketchbook and charcoals, drawing Matei as he slumbered. She was glad he had warned her about his breathing and heart rate. A few times she forgot, sure he had stopped breathing and was dead. She noticed that he seemed to only breathe once every five minutes, the same time as his heartbeat.

  Her charcoal flew over the pages as she captured his likeness. In sleep he looked even younger, his hair fanned out across the bed. She still felt guilty being with a man who looked so young despite the fact he was over a couple millennia, but the truth was this man had made her feel more alive in the few past days she had known him than anyone in her life. He made her feel cherished and special.

  Around four, she put away her art materials. After checking to make sure there was something they could eat in the fridge and cupboard, she went to lie alongside him. She looked at her wrist. The jagged tear was gone. The only trace was a tiny line marring her tattoo.

  She lifted a handful of his hair and held it to her nose. It smelt of rain and clean air, the sweet fragrance of frangipani still lingering in it. She snuggled into his side and dozed with the handful of hair clutched tight in her hand.

  She heard, before she felt, Matei coming awake. His heart began to beat in a normal rhythm, as did his breathing. She opened her eyes to watch him. One minute he was asleep, the next awake and alert. A sensuous grin on his lips, he turned to look at her. They seem to lie there forever just staring into each other’s eyes. It felt so right and Charlotte sighed in contentment.

  “Do you feel rested?” she asked.

  “Ah Cara, you spoke to me in my mind! This makes me so happy.” Charlotte had reached out with her mind, not realising that she had not spoken aloud. Up till now she had only answered him this way, never initiating conversation.

  “Yes, I am much rested, I can make love to you all night.” He gave her a sexy smirk and a wink then leant over and kissed her.

  “What are you doing holding my hair?” He laughed, feeling his hair tangled in her fingers.

  Charlotte felt herself go red. “I love feeling it run through my fingers, and why does it smell like frangipani?”

  “They are a flower I like much. The flowers of my homeland are beautiful also, the Dog Rose, lilac, and many others.”

  “I love the smell of lilacs.”

  “For you, Iubită.” He waved his hand across his hair and there was the gorgeous aroma of lilacs scented his hair.

  “Oh, this is beautiful! I love this more.”

  Just then, the telephone rang and reaching for it, Charlotte groaned when she saw it was her daughter-in-law.

  “Hello, sweetheart.”

  “Hi, Mum, when you come tomorrow night can you stop on the way and get bread rolls please?”

  “Yes, anything else?”

  “No, just going to make some lasagna with salad, and yes, yours will be vegetarian.” She laughed then said, “Hang on, Oliver wants to say hello.”

  Two minutes of childish gabbling followed then Katie took the phone back. Matei used the time to lift her shirt and begin running his hand across her breast. She tried to wriggle away but he was enjoying her discomfort too much to stop.

  “I will come with you.”

  “Sweetheart. Er…would you mind if I brought someone with me?”

  “Mum!” Charlotte held the phone away from her ear. “When did you meet someone, and why haven’t you told me before?” she demanded.

  Charlotte rolled her eyes, trying to think fast.

  Matei thought, “Tell her we have known each other for a while but you did not wish to say anything until it was serious.” She repeated what Matei had said and there was silence for a moment.

  “Mum, that is wonderful, of course you can bring him. What’s his name? What’s he like? What does he do?”

  “Wait, wait. Leave something for tomorrow and you can ask him yourself. Anyway, for now, his name is Matei and he is from Romania. He is an arrogant, ugly, spoilt and selfish man who demands I obey his every wish.”

  “Ooh, he’s there now and can hear isn’t he.” Katie laughed. “Good one, Mum. Okay, I will get Stuart to put him through the third degree tomorrow night to determine if he is good enough go out with you or not.”

  Charlotte rolled her eyes. “Oh gee, thanks.”

  Laughing, Katie replied, “You’re welcome. Night, Mum, see you tomorrow.” She shouted through the phone as she hung up, “Night, Matei, oh and Mum, don’t forget the bread.”

  Charlotte bit her lip in worry. How was this going to work?

  “Hush, Cara, it will work out fine. I shall look old and distinguished, I shall behave and not bite the children. I’ll even look every bit the arrogant, spoilt and selfish man that I am.”

  “Very funny. But honestly, Matei, I can’t very well say you hunt vampires for a living can I?”

  “I honestly own an environment protection consulting company with branches around the world, well actually I co-own it with a friend. At least your family not be surprised at us travelling when I take you to see my country, they will accept it easier.”

  “Um…you own it, oh, and just when did we talk about travelling overseas?”

  “Of course we will travel. For one thing, I am a Hunter and must, and you are an artist. I can take you to all the places in the world you have ever wanted to paint.”

  Charlotte had a momentary rush of delight as she imagined all the places she could now go to. “Really?”

  “Cara, I would give you the moon if it were in my power, instead I will offer you the world.”

  “You are worried, Cara, please don’t. All will be well. They will like me.” Matei chuckled. “If they don’t I’ll make them.”

  “Don’t you dare!”

  Matei laughed. “I won’t, my beloved, I was only joking.”

  Charlotte was not too sure but she would have to hope he would not. She was really worried at how her family would accept him.

  “Matei, what will happen if I do convert? I won’t be able to see them in the daylight, how will I explain it?” Charlotte was starting to realise just how much she would have to give up if she did convert.

/>   “Cara, I know it will be hard but there will be compensations. We will work it all out.”

  He hugged her tight when he felt her distress. Charlotte felt her life was unravelling and she had no control. Already Matei had made one blood exchange that meant there were only four left. She needed to think this through and make a decision.

  “There is no need to rush Iubită, we have time to enjoy being together, all the time in the world. I will never force this decision on you.”

  She snuggled into him and felt so comfortable lying in his arms, it felt so right. She’d put away her worries for another day.

  “You said you co-own a company, how can you run it when you sleep through the day? Is your partner a human?”

  “My partner is another Hunter, his name is Mihăiță Petran, he is also my best friend. To me, he is like my brother, we are distantly related. We have loyal staff, we pay them well and they have good benefits. Those in high-trusted management positions know who we are. The other staff, naturally they do not know we are immortals, they think the company just is handed down through the generations. Many of our managers serve in the positions through their generations.”

  “I can’t see you as a businessman.” She laughed then quietly added, “Hope you have a male secretary.”

  “Iubită, I believe you are jealous.” He grinned at her.

  Blushing Charlotte retorted, “I am not,” but she knew that she would find it very difficult to share this man, even with someone as innocent as a secretary. Wisely, he did not acknowledge that he had read her thoughts, she had felt him in her mind, but he was very happy to know how she was feeling. He gave her a hug without speaking. She definitely needed to learn to block her thoughts.

  “It will give me much joy to show you some of the beautiful places in the world. I have homes in a few.”

  “Homes? A few?” She gulped.

  “I have one here, a few others in other countries, and one in my homeland. You would like that one. It nestles in the mountains with forests all around. It is so beautiful. I have land there surrounding it. I have land in many countries. I buy large areas of virgin country to protect the land and the creatures that live there.