Buttons

Lucas bent down and pressed a kiss to her forehead followed by a trail of kisses on her cheeks all the way down to her warm neck, concentrating his exploration on the hollow between her neck.

The natural scent of her skin was like warm vanilla and he could not get enough of the feel of her soft skin. His hands roamed along her back and her shoulders, touching and feeling, caressing and holding.

He was still standing at least, and as long as he avoided her lips, he would not succumb to the intense feels and devolve into a pool of jello at her feet.

Candace was gripping his long blond hair, breathing with shallow uneven breaths. Her excitement was propelling him to new heights.

He began seeking out the pulse points, picking up on the strong scent of…

Blood.

Lucas exhaled a ragged breath.

He had avoided her lips only to encounter the warm living blood running through her body.

He could smell the blood running through her arteries and his blood began to boil. He was a lion, but he was also a blood bat, and right now that blood bat side of him was craving her warm blood.

Lucas licked at the creamy warm expanse of her neck as if he was priming it for the ultimate soul kiss.

His fangs began lengthening, even as he fought down the sudden primal urge to pierce her with his sharp teeth.

He could hear the pounding of his own blood, running through his head. His mouth opened and he hissed with anticipation.

At the last moment, Lucas pulled back.

What was he, stupid?

She had barely arrived and he was already getting ready to bite her. He needed to control himself or she would hate him for always.

With nowhere else to hide, he rested his head on her shoulder and admitted defeat. He needed her so badly for everything. Emotionally, physically, mentally, bloodily.

He groaned. Was bloodily even a real word...

Candace smiled, unaware of the internal struggle that was raging inside Lucas.

"Thank you for the welcome kiss. I should have known."

"You should have known what?" He asked with a ragged breath. That he was a noobie? A terrible kisser?

Lucas hugged her body close to his and looked away, trying to hide his fangs.

She laughed. "I've seen you kiss so many women in your movies that I should have known you'd be completely professional at it."

"What?" He could barely comprehend what she was saying. It was coming from so far out of left field he could barely comprehend.

Suddenly he was embarrassed that she had seen him kissing all those women, even though they were all just acting out scripts in a show.

He was about to explain to her that none of that was real, and that he was just doing his job, but Candace had already jumped onto that train of thought and it had taken off from the station.

"I don't think I ever told you this, Lucas, but I was always a fan of yours." Candace pulled back from his embrace, her eyes bright with excitement.

"Your romantic scenes in your movies, especially your kisses are amazing! They always had the power to melt my insides because your kisses are always tender and so full of emotion."

For a moment, Lucas didn't know what to think.

She thought—she thought his movie kisses were tender and full of emotion? She thought he was a practiced kisser???

He couldn't believe she was standing there telling him that her insides melted when he kissed other women. That just sounded so strange to him.

And here he was, not just melting from her kiss, but actually exploding into a million tiny shards of pleasure.

Lucas looked at the waves crashing onto shore to hide the confusion in his eyes.

What did he know. This was the first real kiss he'd ever experienced.

She reached for his hands and pulled him towards the bed.

"Come. Let's just hang out here and watch the surf."

He followed her to the bed and sat down next to her, not sure what to do next because she still had a hold of his hands.

Well, at least hanging out and watching the surf was easy and not so soul-shattering.

"I can't believe we have such an amazing view." Candace was murmuring into his ears again. "It's just…"

She looked at the sliding glass doors with a troubled look.

"What?" Lucas turned towards the glass panels. Didn't she just say she liked it?

"It's wide open like this. Anybody could just walk by and see us in bed…"

Lucas shook his head and laughed. "This is our private beach. Nobody is allowed on this beach. They have other beaches to enjoy, just not this one."

"I see." She smiled. "So I could just be completely naked and walking around in his room and no one would be able to see?"

Lucas blushed and looked away. "No one but me."

Candace smiled. "Would it bother you very much if you saw me naked?"

He took a deep breath. Yes, of course it would bother him very much, but he couldn't say that to her.

"No." He lied, but he never got to say much more as Candace reached for his shoulders and pressed him down against the bed.

"Good answer." She smiled. Her fingers began touching the neckline of his button-down white shirt.

Lucas' breath got caught in his throat again as Candace slowly began unbuttoning the topmost button.

What was he supposed to do? Was he supposed to unbutton her shirt too?

But her shirt didn't have a—any buttons.

It was a pull-over which meant that as soon as he pulled it over her head, she would be…completely exposed and he would be able to…

He took a deep breath.

She was already down to his fourth button. Two more and his shirt would be completely unbuttoned.

Oh Lord. Only two more buttons and she would be able to…to do what?

He froze as she finished unbuttoning his shirt.

"Hmm. You're blond but your skin is much darker than your brothers." She reached out and touched his abs.

He gave a swift intake. Her hands were running up and down the muscles of his abdomen as if she was memorizing every detail.

And then her hands moved higher and Lucas stopped breathing.

Her fingertips began drawing circles around the areoles of his nipples, and then she began rubbing the tips of her fingers onto his nipples causing his body to jerk and tremble.

Oh God, what the hell was wrong with him???

He was a man, for crying out loud. How was it possible for his nipples to feel all these sensations?

A groan broke free from his throat as his lids lowered with passion.

"Hmmm. I want a taste," she murmured and lowered her head onto his chest.

Lucas shut his eyes as her lips touched his male breast, grazing it slightly as she slowly took his entire nipple into her mouth.

"Haaaaahhh…" he breathed gently feeling her tongue and lips suckling him gently.

He reached out and combed his fingers through her long honey blonde hair as she continued to suckle his nipple with her mouth and fondle the other nipple with her finger.

Just when he thought he couldn't contain all the feelings inside of him, Candace's hands wandered lower and began unfastening the top button of his pants.