Raven Mask (Camren) Book 2

Chapter 21

By the time I finished brushing my teeth and emerged from the bathroom, the bed looked like a really good place to sleep.

Lauren sat propped against the pillows, still wearing her silky pajamas.

"You look comfy," I casually noted.

She sank lower, arms reaching above her head as her fingers laced around the wooden beam that connected the bedposts. The gesture reminded me of her bound wrists and I stifled a shudder of pleasure.

Lauren stretched, lifting her body slightly off the mattress. The last few buttons on the midnight blue shirt were left undone, falling open as she teased me with a glimpse of her pale, flat stomach. "Oh, I am," she purred, twisting her hips slightly in the stretch, showing off her hourglass figure, "very, very comfortable." Her voice was breathy. The look she gave me managed to convey more desire than her words.

I was wearing The Two Points shirt she'd given me, which was long enough to cover my black bikini-cut underwear. "Guess what I forgot?" I put a sway in my walk.

Lauren held a hand out and I took it. "I am glad you forgot them."

"You would be." I laughed as she pulled me into the circle of her arms. Burying my face in the bend of her neck, I inhaled the scent of her.

"You are tired?" she mumbled against my hair.

"Mmm-hmm," I breathed. "I got up early to go to work. Not all of us spontaneously combust in sunlight."

She laughed and swatted my thigh, gently. When I jumped, expecting more than a playful swat, she laughed again. "Do you plan to work tomorrow?"

"I told Stein to call me if she needed me. There's no point. I don't intend to juggle any more cases until I've figured out what happened to Jacob and where Beatrice is." Lauren nodded, then twined her silk-clad leg around mine.

"If you wish to go to sleep," Lauren drew the tips of her fingernails lightly across my exposed thigh, "I shall understand."

"I don't mind touching right now, but I don't think I'd survive a repeat of last night. I might not spontaneously combust but I might spontaneously pass out again."

Lauren stopped moving. "Ah, yes. You did spontaneously pass out." She grinned. "I do not think the bed would survive a repeat."

I laughed. "No, I don't think so." I snaked my arm around her back and played my fingers over the dip the position had created at the base of her spine.

Lauren kissed me and I returned the kiss, exploring her mouth until my head reeled and I was dizzy with desire.

"How did I ever say no to you?"

Her accent sent a shiver of pleasure through me. "You were scared and being quite stubborn."

"True enough." I brushed my lips across her cheek. "So were you."

"I was reasonably determined."

"Oh, really? Is that what they call it?"

"Yes."

I had to fight not to shudder when her breath tickled my neck.

"Why did you tell Vanessa if I gave my permission, you'd let her sink her fangs into me?"

Lauren nipped my neck. I jumped, letting out a sound that was uncomfortably close to a girlish yip.

"Oh, Camz, you have been too long in your hiding amongst the humans."

I frowned. "Dinah told me biting isn't always erotic for a vampire."

"She is correct. At times feeding is just that." She propped herself up on one elbow, gazing at me with those silvery eyes. I traced her jaw with the tips of my fingers.