Friday's Excerpt Winner

//Get up.//
Amanda murmured something in her sleep, stirring slightly. But she did not wake.
Clearing his throat, Turel tried again, this time out loud. "Amanda…."
Her eyes flew open. The first thing she saw was his face, blurred in the haze of sleepiness.
"Get up, Amanda."
She mumbled something rather crossly, and rolled over. Clearly she had very little desire to get out of bed.
Leaning over, he put his hand on her back. "I know that you're tired, but I need for you to get up."
His touch sent liquid fire searing through her system. Great, just what I need, she thought with annoyance. Now she was irritated at being woken up and she was horny. What a fantastic combination. When she was human, Amanda did not deal with mornings very well. She supposed since her body clock had done a 180 upon becoming a vampire, she was not going to do evenings gracefully either.
Reluctantly, she rolled over to face him. "What?" she asked groggily, her voice barely above a whisper.
"Get up, and get ready to leave." His voice did odd things to her stomach, and made her thoughts fuzzier.
"Leave?"
"Yes, I'm taking you out. Do what you need to do in order to get ready." Jesse gestured towards the rest of the room.
"Out where?" She slowly sat up, and looked dazedly around the room. Out, like to a restaurant? Something fancy? Was she supposed to dress up?
"Just dress in normal clothing. What you would normally wear every day. Nothing fancy."
Amanda merely gave him a look. She hated it when he answered her thoughts like that.
Staring at her in return, he inquired, "Well, are you going to get up?"
Dear gods, what a pain in the ass. //Oh, bite me.// She hadn't intended her retort to come out quite like that, but it did anyhow. A split second later it occurred to her that this wasn't exactly the appropriate thing to say to a vampire. Well, another vampire.
"I mean—oh, whatever." She made a noise that was between a groan and a remark that sounded like "meh", and plopped back down on the bed, pulling her pillow over her head as she did so.
Jesse calmly sat down on the bed beside her. "Am I going to have to drag you out of bed?"
She fought the urge to give Jesse the middle finger. After all, it probably wouldn't get her anywhere, and besides, she was too tired to move. What time was it, half past sunset? Maybe if she lay still, he would give up and go away.
Suddenly she felt a strange, discomforting sensation in the center of her chest, as if something had reached inside of her and squeezed. The grip was so strong that if she still had the need to breathe, she would've gasped. As she lay there, attempting to analyze the feeling, the grip became a tug.
Amanda bolted upright, clutching her chest. What the fuck…? When she glanced at him, his expression was completely blank, and she couldn't read him at all. Oh, he can block me out but still read me? Hardly fair.
"Good, you're awake. Now get up already."
Her jaw tightened. If this was going to be a regular routine as part of her new vampire life, she missed being human already.
//I haven't decided on your regular routine yet. Why don't you take a shower while I think about it?//
A shower sounded superb to her, but his "deciding" on her "regular routine" most certainly did not. She glared at him as she made her way to the bathroom, and gave into her earlier urge, sending him a strong image of her giving him the middle finger.
Amanda thought she heard a chuckle as she slammed the door shut behind her.
After going through a few cupboards, she found a towel, and set it aside. She tossed her clothing aside in mere seconds, and turned on the faucet in the shower.
The hot water was ecstasy on her back, and she closed her eyes as it came pouring down her skin. Every pore of her skin was alive and dancing as she savored the delight of the long sought-after shower. She could not remember when she had last bathed, and figured that it had been far too long for her comfort. Fortunately whoever saw fit to place her in this room had also stocked the bathroom with soap, shampoo, and even conditioner.
Amanda took the soap in her hands and began to scrub away at her body, relishing in the sensual feeling of clean water and suds washing away the grime and sweat from her skin. She could not recall the last time a shower felt this good. It was as if she were bathing in the sacred springs of Delphi, where the god Apollo had blessed the land and its oracle as hallowed ground. Who would've thought that purification would be such bliss? Only those who did not comprehend the god, she decided.
She was in the process of applying soap to her legs when familiar, gentle hands began to slide across her back. Amanda yelped in surprise.
"Oh, hush," she heard Jesse say. How did he get into the room? She hadn't even heard him enter. Didn't she lock the door? She couldn't remember. The power of thought was rapidly being stripped away, washed away with the suds that went down the shower drain.
"I'm not going to hurt you," he told her. His hands made his way onto her head, and she could feel him gently kneading through her long hair. Soap, she noted. No, it was shampoo. She closed her eyes as he continued to give her hair a gentle cleansing and scalp massage. Involuntarily, she leaned back—and promptly backed directly into Jesse, who was standing behind her in the shower, as nude as she was.
"I haven't exactly been fair," he murmured into her ear, "so I'm going to make it up to you."
"'Fair'?" she echoed, laughing. What an understatement.
He began to carefully rinse her hair, his hands slowly stroking her head, neck, and back as he guided the water to remove the last of the shampoo from her scalp. Amanda fought desperately against closing her eyes or leaning back, but found it increasingly difficult to do so. The presence of his naked body behind her, his hands on her bare skin, and the water streaming down was entirely too sensual for her to withstand without reacting. In spite of herself, the back of her head came to rest gently on his chest as the water from the shower head continued to pour over them.
Something exquisitely slippery and soft caressed her breasts. It was Jesse's hands, lathered in soap. He kneaded her skin, teasing her nipples, and drove her out of her mind as he stroked her breasts. She could feel the soap running down over her body from his hands as he continued his slow, sensual torture over her stomach and hips. A moan escaped from her lips.
His fingers danced between her inner thighs, stroking the sensitive skin with his soap-filled hands. Amanda felt the briefest of caresses over her most sensitive folds from the tips of his fingers before he bent over and leisurely continued his way down the insides of her legs. It was torturous song and delight, filling her with mindless, radiant joy. Continuous feeling and sensation reverberated all over every inch of her skin, and before long she could feel moisture between her legs that she knew was not from the shower. It mingled with the soap, the water—everything was blending together in a warm, liquid haze. The pleasure pulled her underwater, and she willingly surrendered to the tide.
Jesse gently massaged her thighs, her calves—then made his way back up to knead her back and buttocks. She continued to melt, becoming one with the water and the sensations which were threatening to drown her. His hands worked their way over her shoulders, her arms, and over every part of her body. When she felt his fingers sliding over the back of her neck, she cried aloud in ecstasy. He continued to rub her neck, the sides of her face, and her head before gradually making his way down the strands of her hair to her lower back.
One of his hands slid down to slip between her upper thighs. One finger entered her, then another. The sounds coming from the back of her throat sounded partly joyous—and partly agony. Amanda found herself leaning forward on the shower wall in front of her as his fingers slowly pumped their way in and out of her. In the experience of the intense pleasure her mind opened, and she could feel his desire towards her, and his enjoyment of how wet she was inside—as wet as she was on the outside—as well as the feeling of the inside of her delicate skin.
His left arm snaked around her neck, and his wrist pressed against her mouth. It was wet, but not with water.
//Drink,// she heard him command. Lyrael did not hesitate, but sucked away at the wound he had made on his wrist as he rapidly thrust his fingers deep inside of her. Before long her sucking matched the tempo of his hand as he continued to mercilessly penetrate her body. She was beyond thinking; her mind was fluid as the water that came pouring down over them and the blood that flowed down her throat.
When the tidal wave came, it crashed over her and filled her with its piercing glow. Her knees buckled, and only the wall in front of her plus Jesse's strong arms kept her from falling into the tub in which they stood. She could feel his lips pressing against her back repeatedly, showering her in passionate kisses as she had been rained upon by the water which continued to gush out of the shower head.
//We should get out before we run out of hot water.//
Amanda agreed with him, but could neither think nor vocalize it. The delicious haze was still running through her as he slowly helped her out of the shower, and lovingly dried her off with the nearby towel. They sat on the floor for a long time, with her lying against him, her eyes closed in dreamy bliss.
~ Copyrighted 2007 by Adrianne Brennan ~