Stone In Love

Chapter 53

"Arggh!"

Vincent held me steady as my scream echoed inside the rec room. Thank goodness for soundproof walls. 

"I don't understand why the transformation is so painful for you," he said. "Maybe you have a low tolerance for pain."

As the nausea subsided, I glared at him. "Fuck off."

Vincent took a cautious step back. "I didn't mean to offend you, Reese. I'm just saying, gollums tend to have higher thresholds for pain, that's all. I'm sure it will get easier for you."

I waved his comment away. I didn't want to argue with him. "My pain threshold is fine. Let's just do this."

"Okay, baby. Relax. We've got a full four hours to spar. I don't want you tired." His mouth turned up into a wily grin, a rare expression for him, and my hunger spiked. From the moment he had taken on his gollum form, I'd been suppressing the desire to jump his ass and ride him all the way to the Hudson.

"I'm baby, am I?" I raised my eyebrows as I stalked toward him seductively, cursing my awkward clawed feet as I stumbled over the padded floor. "Shit! How the hell do you walk in these things?"

"Years of practice, but we're going to focus on hand to hand combat tonight. Even if you're on your back, you should know how to use your claws."

"Oh, so that's how it works." I gave him no warning whatsoever before tackling him full force, knocking him onto one knee. He didn't put up much of a fight, although based on his wide-eyed expression, he had not expected the maneuver. Recovering swiftly, he took me to the mat, flipping me onto my back. Despite the pressure on my wings, it wasn't an unpleasant position to be in, especially with his hard-on pressed against my hip.

"The element of surprise is one tactic in a gollum's arsenal, but you need to be ready for retaliation." Vincent spoke over me, just inches above my face, and his fangs reflected white against the florescent lights. He made me horny as hell, and it messed with my concentration. "If we were fighting in the street, you would have a much longer recovery period after a tackle like that. Tell me. How would you handle this situation if I were a demon?"

With my libido and my adrenaline doing the dance with no pants, I did the first thing that came to me. I grabbed his shirt and pulled his head down to kiss him, hard and deep, thrusting my tongue past his lips despite the threat of fangs. Vincent gave in to his urges for a few beats before yanking away and wrapping both hands around my neck in a very menacing position. One swipe of his claws and my libido would be history.

"Uncle," I whispered, wriggling under the force of his powerful hands, and he released his hold as he sat back on his heels. I pushed up onto my elbows, preparing for his lecture, probably something about my female wiles doing nothing against a demon who wanted to kill me.

"Shit, Reese. You've got skills I wasn't... Maybe it's just me."

"What skills?"

He shook his head. "I don't know how to explain it. It's something that happens every time you kiss me. My judgment takes a hike and I..." His eyes looked through me as he appeared to have an epiphany.

"Yes? And you...?"

As I waited, I watched Vincent's face turn the color of the bleached stones of the Parthenon, although this wasn't much different from his regular skin tone. "The kiss of submission." He whispered the words as if they might injure him, and his eyes zeroed in on my face. "Your demon nature... You're using your kisses against me. That's why I'm so helpless when you... Holy fuck!"

Vincent pushed off the mat and stood, staggering backward into the padded wall. As I watched him recover his poise, his words sunk in. If I truly had demon parentage, that meant I could use all the skills in their arsenal, including the kiss of submission. Holy fuck was right.