by Raven Steele
Her pupils expanded then returned to their normal size.
I slid my finger across the large, throbbing artery in her neck. I opened my mouth, feeling saliva drip from my eyeteeth. Gripping her arms tightly, my teeth pierced her flesh over that blood-filled artery in her neck, and I moaned as warm blood flowed into my mouth. I held her to me, squeezing her to force more blood upward.
“Sarah?” a voice called from downstairs. “What’s taking so long?”
When the woman grew weak in my arms, I dropped her and inhaled a great breath. The sound of footsteps came toward me. Two sets. One heavier, one lighter. I stepped back and prepared to greet them, running my tongue over the last of the woman’s blood on my teeth.
The man reached the top of the stairs. He saw me first, his mouth dropping open. Then his eyes lowered to the woman he probably loved on the floor. The Kiss inside me surged when it witnessed the man’s horror.
“Mommy?” a tiny voice said. A girl, maybe seven years old, stepped out from behind her father.
Her father pushed her behind him. “Stay back, Tracey.”
But Tracey ignored him. She dropped to the floor and crawled toward her mother.
“What do you want?” the man asked me. His eyes darted around the kitchen as if searching for a knife.
Tracey shook her mother’s shoulder. “Wake up, mommy.”
“There’s a knife behind you,” I said to the man. “Go ahead and grab it.”
He didn’t waste a second. Gripping the handle of the butcher knife, he growled, “Get the hell out of my house.”
My expression darkened. “Not until I’ve had my fill.”
“Why are you bleeding, mommy?”
“Go downstairs,” the man ordered Tracey, but he was too busy watching me to follow through with the command.
I motioned him forward with a single, curled finger. He yelled and rushed at me with the knife swinging over his head. I easily jerked it from his grip and spun him around until his back was pressed against my chest. He squirmed, reaching back to punch me, but all I had to do was crack my fist against his head. He slumped over, unconsciousness in my arms.
Tracey stared up at me with tear-filled eyes. The Kiss loved the sorrow it saw in them and couldn’t wait to feed from her.
“Be a good little girl,” I said, darkness clouding any reasoning ability, “and stay still while I eat your daddy.”
Her bottom lip trembled. “Please don’t eat my daddy.”
“But I must! His blood tastes too good. Would you like to try?”
“Samira.” A dark voice, commanding.
I snapped my head to the living room. Mateo stood in the center, his hand up in a stopping motion. “Let the man go.”
Chapter 31
“Glad you could join me,” I said to Mateo. “Come, drink with me. Then we can fuck on the blood-soaked floor.”
He took a slow step toward me. “This isn’t you.”
“But it is. I’m finally free. Do you know what that feels like?” I narrowed my eyes. “No, probably not. You’re still Korin’s bitch. You couldn’t kill him, could you?”
Unfazed by my insult, he said, “I know the real Samira is in there.”
“If you’re referring to the weak person I was before, she’s gone.” I jerked the man’s head to the side and plunged my fangs into his salty skin.
Mateo’s words had caused a stirring inside me, but it was barely a tickle at the back of my mind. The woman he remembered would never return. The Kiss was in charge now, and I’d never felt better.
“What about Faithe?” His words broke through my feeding and sent a shock of sadness through my system, the kind the Kiss hated.
I lifted my head, feeling the man’s blood run down my chin. “Don’t say her name.”
“Faithe loved you,” he continued. “Faithe believed you had a destiny.”
I tossed the human in my arms to the side. Tracey screamed and ran to her father.
“I told you not to say her name.”
He leaned forward and slowly and dramatically said, “Faithe.”
Growling, I darted to him. He met me half way, our bodies slamming into each other. He spun me around, but I maneuvered, flipping him over my shoulder. He crashed on top of a coffee table. After a dazed pause, he jumped up, staring at me.
“I love you,” he said.
I snarled and kicked at him, but he darted out of the way, appearing behind me. He gripped the back of my shirt, pulling me to him. His teeth sunk into my neck, pulling my blood into his mouth. The motion stunned me and I froze, a shiver rolling over my back as the thrill of my blood in his mouth sparked the bond between us.
Unexpectedly, he shoved me across the floor. I flew forward, slamming against the sofa, then flipping over it to land on the cushions.
He stared down at me from across the room, heaving, lust in his gaze. “Come for me, Samira. I know you’re in there.”
I growled, and in one motion leapt from the couch and rushed toward him. I crashed into him again, but this time my lips were upon his, taking in everything about him. He kissed me back just as fiercely, then shoved me hard. I stumbled back, growling, then kissed him again. He forced his tongue into my mouth, and I sucked hard, moaning. He pushed me again. This time out the door and on to the front porch.
It banged shut behind him. I sprinted at him again and found his mouth, harder this time. He grabbed my sides, hefting me up, and I wrapped my legs around his waist. Our tongues tangled and he ground his hips into me.
“I love you, Samira. Even this dark side of you.” His voice held anger and a ragged desperation. His eyes, heated and burned with lust. “And I’m going to show you how much this side of you turns me on.”
His hands on my side dropped, and I collapsed to the porch, my feet slamming into the wooden boards. Fast as lightning, he twisted me so that I was against the cabin wall, my face mashed into the wood. “I am going to fuck you, right now. Exactly how I like it. And you are going to let me.” His hand gripped my pony tail, shoving my head to the side. “You will let me control you. You need it. You need me.”
I moaned, writhing against the cabin as his teeth sunk into my neck, his hands pressing against me harshly, pushing me against the wall. Heat flooded my chest, my thighs, my whole body.
“Tell me, Samira. You want this. You want me to screw you into submission.” His hand went around my waist, squeezing me to him now.
“Yes,” I moaned, unable to stop the lust coursing through my body. I leaned back against him. “I want it.”
“You will have it, except,” he paused, drawing out the tension. “I don’t have everything I want right now. You must give me something first.”
“What do you want? I will give you anything.” The need to have him take me was all consuming as the Kiss absorbed every emotion. I needed more.
“I will take you when I feel a piece of her. Just a sliver is all I need.”
His request startled me, and something shook in my core. A distant memory of how great we were together surfaced. With it came emotions. The Kiss promptly devoured them. I turned my head and glared at Mateo. “She belongs to me now.”
“You’re wrong. She belongs to me.” He shoved me against the wall again, and this time his hand slipped up my shirt. He grabbed my breast, pulling on the tip. My breath caught, and I moaned. He moved to my ear, his fingers playing with my nipple. “We are so good together. Remember, Samira, remember how you begged me to take you last night? The power we held. It was so strong it shook the house. You want that power, don’t you?”
The Kiss surged, eager and willing. “Yes.” His hand squeezed my breast, and he leaned into me, his chest pressing me against the wall. His teeth scraped my neck, and his tongue snaked out, a tease, a temptation. I wanted his hands on me. I wanted to feel him between my legs. “Take me. All of me.”
“Oh, I will. But the only way to obtain that kind of power is to give her back to me. You know that. Let me see her.”
“You cannot ha
ve her. Take me first.”
“I will not. You are not in control here, I am. And you must do as I command.” His hand slid down the front of my pants, feeling me, every part of me, shooting liquid fire through every vein. His voice softened. “It would be so good. We are powerful, together. Stronger than you are alone.” His lips moved to my ear, kissing it softly. “She is mine, she is my anima gemella, my one true love. I will give you what you want when you give me what I want.”
“No.” My voice wasn’t as certain as a warmth bled into me. Not lust, but love. His passionate voice moved over me, until it dissolved into a soft buzz the Kiss devoured.
“Samira, passerotto mio, my little bird, you are mine, and I am yours. We have fought too hard to be together to give up now. Fight for me, fight for us, for your destiny.”
The light ignited again, but this time it burned brighter. I squeezed my eyes shut, chest heaving from the war waging inside me.
“Come back to me, mio amore. Mi manchi. Ho bisogno di te.” I miss you. I need you. “Together we are everything. Apart we are nothing.”
The Kiss withered, giving in, knowing he was right. We were more powerful together. “I will, but only if you promise to fuck me.”
Mateo pushed against me harder. “I swear it.”
I blinked as the Kiss released me and Mateo groaned, his lips pressing to mine in a passionate kiss. “There you are.”
I returned his kiss, swallowed up in the emotion of his desire for me. His hand gripped my side, softly, his kisses slowing, but that’s not what I needed.
“You promised me,” I snapped.
He choked out a laugh but, in quick motions, my pants were at my ankles and Mateo was fucking me against the wall. I groaned, leaning back against him, loving the way he pounded me. Power pulsed through us, our bond strengthening, and the Kiss devoured everything. Pressure built from all sides, as the physical act of our passion collided with the strength of the Kiss. It built and billowed, pressing up against my chest, my skin, my head.
I struggled to breathe, my heart hammering in my chest so hard I feared it would burst. Fire and ice collided, fighting for dominion over my heart, my soul, my everything. I suddenly choked out, trying to break the tension but it wasn’t enough. It built up, getting louder, until I was grunting, then crying, then screaming.
When suddenly, something broke inside me. Love came pouring, rushing in, flowing through my body like an ocean of endless emotions. It welled up, filled my whole body, then overflowed. The Kiss devoured it, but it kept coming, endless and eternal. Mateo’s love.
He pushed further into the bond, pouring his love into me, replenishing me even as I was being emptied. The Kiss ate and devoured, over and over, absorbing everything Mateo gave until it was too much. His love was everlasting, continually flowing, never ending, but it was becoming too much.
The Kiss sucked in a breath and then… stopped. It could take no more. It was full and satisfied.
I cried out, letting go of everything as my orgasm washed over me. Mateo pulled out and gently pulled up my pants as well as his own. He grabbed me and pulled me into his arms. I sobbed, tears streaming down my face, his love still pouring into me.
It was too much.
“Stop,” I sobbed. “I’m okay, I’m back.”
Sitting down, he kissed my face, my cheeks, the top of my head, pulling me into his lap, as he slowly pulled his love back. “It’s okay, tesoro mio.” His hands were gentle, caressing, pulling my hair from my face, wiping at my tears. My crying turned into laughter and real happiness. It had worked.
I was astonished, and yet, my love and devotion for this man was even stronger now. He’d brought me back from the brink.
Suddenly, I shot up, straightening my back, as I remembered the family in the cabin. Reading my thoughts, he placed me on the floor, smiling. “It worked.”
“It did, but…”
He leaned forward, stretching his lithe, muscular body to kiss me. “They’re okay. You didn’t take too much, and I’ve already healed them and erased their memories.” He stared into my eyes. “See, even with the Kiss in control, you didn’t kill them.”
I bit my bottom lip, staring at him with adoration. “You saved me.”
“Let’s go back,” he whispered in my ear. “There’s still an hour before sunrise, and I want to spend every second of it making you scream my name.”
Mateo was true to his word, pleasuring me in all kinds of ways. And as the sun rose and my bones felt the tug of the sun’s light, I dozed off naked in Mateo’s arms. It wasn’t just me content and at peace. The Kiss was, too. Like a black cat against a warm hearth, it had curled up inside me, calm and at ease. I hoped it lasted.
The next night, I woke up hungry for blood and full of rage. I threw open the coffin lid, nearly snapping it in half. Next to me, Mateo groaned and sat up. I eyed his naked body up and down, my fangs growing as I took in his sexy form. “I need food.”
“There’s blood in the fridge,” he said, his eyebrow raised and a small smile at the corners of his lips. He was teasing me.
I gave him a cool gaze, the need to feed ferocious, but not enough to tease him back. I gripped the side of the coffin, pulling myself up. “That will work.”
He growled, gripping my arm. “Get back here.”
I grinned as he yanked me down on top of him, humor in his eyes. He flashed me a heated gaze, tilting his head to the side. He didn’t have to offer twice. Straddling his hips, I bent down, my teeth sliding into his neck. His breath hitched and fire sparked between us. His hands slid to my waist, clasping me to him as he grew hard beneath me.
I drank from him like a tortured man lost in the desert, and yet, it wasn’t enough. I groaned. “More.”
Mateo flipped me so that he was on top of me, my face down in the coffin. I moaned, tilting my hips back, ready for him. He slid up inside me, then leaned his heavy weight onto me, his hand going to my throat. He clasped it, drawing my ear to his mouth as he thrust inside me. I loved every second of it. Once again, his love infused into me, pouring into me like a tidal wave, burning through the Kiss. He whispered and moaned, unable to stop his declarations of love and passion.
His phone buzzed, then mine, a slight distraction but nothing compared to the drumming of the Kiss absorbing everything he was giving me.
Once again, he gave and gave, the Kiss devouring and feeding on his passion and lust, his appetite and desire for me, until it was full and we’d both gone over the edge.
His kisses grew soft and gentle. I turned around, holding him, touching him, reveling in his love. His eyes were so full of devotion and happiness, and I pushed my own through the bond so that he could feel it, too.
He collapsed on top of me, with my arms around him, my face in his hair. Contentment buzzed through us.
“I’m enjoying this new development,” I said, a smile tugging at the corners of my mouth.
He shifted his body, pushing up to face me, his arm wrapping around the crook of my neck, his fingers sliding through my hair. Doubt touched our bond.
My eyebrows furrowed. “What’s wrong?”
His tongue slid across his lower lip, a sign of hesitation. “What if one day, I won’t be enough?”
“Stop.”
“Or what if you grow hungry, and I’m not around?”
“Mateo. We’re just now discovering how to make this work. Don’t force trouble where there is none.”
His fingers traced my cheekbone. “I just want to foresee any problems.”
I twisted my head to catch his fingers into my mouth, already growing hungry again. I paused the motion. “Are you telling me there will be times you won’t want to have sex with me? Or feed me?”
“Never.” He scowled, his eyes on my mouth, which continued sucking on his fingers. He was growing hard again. My own desire billowed in my stomach, burning between my thighs.
“Are you planning on leaving me soon?”
His gaze burned into mine. “Never.”
/>
I removed his fingers from my mouth. “Are you certain?”
“I followed you to the end of the earth, mio amore. I would never leave you now that I have you.”
I grinned, sliding his fingers down my body to my breast, and his eyes darkened with lust. “Then let us not worry about the future.” I straddled him again, leaning down to scrape my fangs over his neck. He moaned, both hands clasping me tight as I swiveled my hips.
“Only promise me,” he gasped as I latched onto his neck again, “promise me if I’m not available, you will find another way to feed, before it grows too late.”
I jerked back to stare into his eyes. “What do you mean?”
His gaze was intense but consumed with desire and lust. He wanted me again; my own thirst matched his. He truly was my anima gemella, my perfect match.
“Nothing special, tesoro mio, only that you will make sure to feed before your hunger grows out of control.” He gripped my hips and slid inside me in one smooth motion, his eyes still staring intently into mine. “Promise me, Samira.”
I groaned, loving the way he filled me, need and hunger clawing at me. I closed my eyes, clasping his hips tight. “Yes, Mateo. Harder.”
He suddenly stopped, and I growled and opened my eyes.
“Promise it.”
“I swear it. I will feed from someone else before it gets out of control.” I wrapped my arms around his neck, and my legs around his hips, tilting mine to force him inside me deeper. “Now take me again, before I lose my mind.”
Chapter 32
Mateo parked the car in front of the great Silver Claws mansion. Not far away, two dozen unfamiliar bikes parked in a row.
“Who could that be?” Mateo asked.
“Do you hear that?” I asked, tilting my head, focusing my hearing. Something was going on behind the house and by the sounds of it, it wasn’t good. We followed after the noise, and just as we rounded the corner, we both stopped abruptly. I sucked in a breath at the sight before me.
Shifters, so many I could barely count, were in an epic battle. Blood misted the air and bodies followed the motion. I spotted Samantha and Marge among them. I continued searching until I found Briar. She was at the center, fighting a shifter I hadn’t seen before. Luke was next to her, also fighting someone I didn’t know. When did he get here?
