Queens and Monsters Awakening (The Blood Falls Book 1)

by India Amare

  I showed him how to open the front of the hardcover and he whistled. “Damn. This is really good. I’m sorry you needed it but really glad you have it now.”

  I had a feeling a lot of my childhood survival instincts were going to be useful now. “Thank you for the phone.”

  “Thank you for accepting it. What about weapons?”

  A good question. “I have the daggers Bethany gave me, but nothing else. Nothing hidden.” I used to keep a pocket knife in the sole of an old shoe but didn’t feel the need for that in college. I could do it again. “Hold on.” I retrieved the knife from under my couch. It was in the open position, so I released the lock and flipped it closed.

  “Why do you have a knife under the couch?” Dray arched an eyebrow.

  “What if someone jumped me as I came home and pushed me onto the couch to assault me? I would at least have a chance of reaching underneath and grabbing a knife to protect myself.” I guess someone as large and capable as Dray didn’t have to run scenarios of how they would escape or defend themselves in various situations. He probably didn’t check the shadows before he approached his door, key firmly in hand, glancing over his shoulders before twisting the lock and going inside quickly, immediately locking the door behind him.

  “That’s a very specific scenario.” His eyes narrowed.

  “It’s never happened to me, but it’s common enough. Catch someone unaware at their door, force your way inside where neighbors can’t see you, get or do what you want, and then leave the victim behind. The way this room is set up I figured an attacker would either take me to the couch or the ground. Either scenario puts me within reach of the knife.”

  His lips thinned and he nodded, following my movements as I retrieved a pair of loafers from the closet. I sat at the table and pulled out the insole, then used a razor blade to carve out a compartment in the soul of the shoe big enough to hide the pocket knife.

  “You’ve done this before,” Dray murmured.

  “Yep.” I slid the insole back into place and added the loafers to the bottom of my bag.

  “Damn.”

  I shrugged. “One of the homes I lived in, the family loved really old spy movies and shows. I started getting ideas from there and Nancy Drew books.” I folded my hands behind my back feeling incredibly vulnerable.

  Silence fell between us for so long I finally looked up from my feet to find Dray staring at the floor too, his body very tense and his jaw ticking. “I keep thinking about myself,” he finally said. “How you affect me, my family, how you might ruin me.” He pulled his gaze up from the floor. “The Universe keeps shoving us together and I keep ignoring it. I keep denying it. Even when it’s screaming at me to stop, I use protecting my family as an excuse to keep away from you.”

  I felt smaller and smaller with every word out of his mouth. It was impossible to focus on anything but the words affect, ruin, deny, stop, screaming and not see that Dray didn’t want me in his life. Sure he felt an obligation to make sure I was safe, but the last thing he wanted was to be attached to me in any way. Maybe the earth could open up and swallow me whole? Or a big random bolt of lightning could hit me from above? Anything to make this stop.

  “I never let myself think about you,” his voice dropped to a whisper. “What you’ve been through and what is still in front of you. That you’re alone.”

  That was the final straw. I started toward him with all my fury. “I am not alone. People care about me. Olivia for one and, even if you hate it, Gigi too.” I stabbed his chest with my finger.

  He grabbed it up in his larger hand and yanked me against his solid wall of muscle, knocking the air out of me. “You misunderstand me,” he growled.

  I slowly drew my gaze up to meet his and lost my breath all over again at the storm brewing in them. “Then what do you mean?” I barely got the words out.

  His other arm wrapped around my waist, holding me to him. “I’m not drunk or high, Rhysa. I’m completely fucking sober.” He paused, his eyes darting between mine as he took in a slow deep breath. “Tonight when you drink from me, I want all of you.”

  I froze, tried to pull back, but he held me firm. “I’m not a pity fuck.” God, did he really think I’d swoon in his arms because he deemed me worthy after realizing I hid knives and money to protect myself? Hell no.

  He growled again, displeased with my protest. “You know exactly how badly I want you.”

  “Do I? No. I know how much you don’t want me. Sure you get hard around me but arousal isn’t the same as wanting someone.”

  He released me and stepped back. “Only you would block out all the times I’ve begged for you.”

  I need you. The memory flashed through my mind. The pain and desperation on his face as fresh as the last time it happened.

  “Again, you weren’t exactly in your right mind at the time.” I paced as far away from him as I could get in the small space.

  “Why do you think I avoid you at all times? Stay as far away, even in a crowded room? All I want is you, Rhysa. All the time.” He held his long arms out wide. “I’m not fighting it anymore. I want you. I want to be inside you when you drink from me.”

  Oh god. My entire body shivered at the idea. “And tomorrow?”

  “You leave. I have no idea what happens next but I do know I’m not going to pretend I don’t want you.” He took a tentative step toward me. “You need to drink from me tonight. Give yourself the power to make your own choices at House of Axl. Whether we do anything else is your choice.”

  I felt the effects of a week without blood. Gigi offered but I waved her off thinking I’d be fine, but now that Dray was asking me to think into the future, to a home I didn’t know and family that were strangers, my thirst magnified. I could deny him, but at what cost?

  If I said no, I’d be at the mercy of whatever situation I was walking into.

  If I said yes, I might lose control.

  Did I want to lose control? Would being with Dray be the good things the Universe seemed to promise? The first time was unforgettable, and every wild moment between was a heady rush that felt worth the price of admission.

  “I’m willing to see what happens,” I squeaked out. He prowled closer and closer.

  “You know what will happen. What happens every time we’re alone together.”

  My chest flushed. “To be fair, I’ve only been alone with you.”

  He came to a stop in front of me. I pressed my back into the wall. “I have never reacted to anyone the way I react to you. I lose my damn mind just being near you, Rhysa.”

  Tomorrow I would walk into the wolves’ den on purpose. Tonight I could have ecstasy.

  There really wasn’t a choice.

  Please, he begged.

  Would I always give in when he reached into my mind? “Yes.”

  He pressed into me, lowering his lips to my cheek, jaw, and neck. His hand skated below the hem of my shirt and touched my skin. “Fucking finally,” he hissed. He moved his forehead against mine, eyes screwed shut. “Tonight nothing else matters. There is no past, no future. No right or wrong. Just be with me.”

  I wanted nothing more than to forget everything but Dray. I ran my hands up his biceps, over his shoulders, looping my hands around his neck as I went up on tiptoes to lick his throat. I wasn’t in the mood to waste a second and I wanted to catch him a little off guard.

  “Yes,” he groaned, his hands wrapping around my hips.

  I sank into his skin, drawing his blood for the first time in ages. Lust and greed seized me as my body heated and the power surged between us. Dray grew hard as he held our bodies together, then lifted me up to wrap my legs around his waist. He moved across the room quickly to the bed, laying me down on my back.

  I broke away, breathless, turned on, and desperate for more.

  “My turn to taste you,” he groaned, lowering his lips to my throat. Dray took his time kissing me, then licking away the potential for pain, before he took from me.

  I hissed as he
sucked, arching off the bed as my body searched for his. I needed him, needed to find relief from the surges of desire racking my body. The only relief I found was in rubbing against his erection and the drag of fabric as my breasts strained to break free of my bra.

  I was so lost in lust the last time we did this that I didn’t savor any of it. This time I was just as wild for more, but also aware that there was no rush. So as he sucked, I moved up and down his hard length, wondering what it would be like to take him inside.

  He moaned against my throat. His hand skated over the skin of my stomach, pushing the fabric up enough to palm my breast. After a moment he sighed and pulled away.

  He sat up and pulled his shirt over his head. While I was free, I did the same. “You shiver when I touch you.” His eyes drank me in.

  “I can’t seem to control any of the ways my body reacts to yours.”

  “You did a damn good job of resisting me in the wine cellar.” He shoved his jeans to the floor and adjusted his cock in his boxers, the head exposed above the band.

  Like everything else about Dray, his cock was not small. Another shiver of anticipation raced over my skin.

  “I want to undress you while you drink.” He sat against my headboard and held up his wrist. “Come here.” A command I felt in my core. I climbed onto his lap, straddling his hips. “Good.”

  At this angle my breasts were in his face. I took his wrist and drank as he dropped kisses on my skin. His fingers danced along the top of my bra as I drew his power inside me. Then he pulled one cup down and kissed me. The combination of pleasure from his lips and blood made my eyes close and my body arch into his.

  My bra snapped free. Dray kissed me everywhere, drew circles around my nipples with his tongue and teased me into senselessness. “Watch this.”

  Another command I was incapable of denying. I released his wrist, licking his skin and then my lips, and turned my attention to his mouth. He bared his fangs, capturing the tip of my nipple between them.

  I gasped and then sighed as a wave of ecstasy relaxed me from head to toe. He released it and sucked it all into his mouth, soothing the pleasure pain, then did it again. My clit throbbed and my core grew wetter. I couldn’t look away, fascinated that the pain seemed to slip away, leaving the only sensation behind as pleasure.

  “Our saliva takes all pain away,” he said as he switched breasts. “Not just our bites.”

  “Oh…” I sighed, rubbing against his length. This was a fun detail I hadn’t thought to look forward to. I watched with fascination as he teased my nipple with flicks of his tongue, the action sending jolt after jolt to my core, pushing my pleasure higher.

  And then he bared his fangs and clamped my other nipple. I felt the fresh pain mirrored in my clit and ache for more from my other nipple. My hips began rocking as I became more aroused. He drew the sharp tip of his canines until my nipple sprang free.

  “Orgasm intensifies the power you gain from drinking.”

  “I remember you saying that.”

  He placed his hands on my hips and rutted against me hard. “More orgasms the better. Then he skated his hands up my sides, over my breasts, and into my hair, pulling me down for a real kiss. “And there’s nothing more powerful than a shared orgasm. I want you to have them all tonight.”

  Could I?

  “You’re samhain. Yes you can.” His eyes glinted with promise. “So take what you want from me. This is just the appetizer.”

  Another shiver skated down my spine. I was so turned on I could barely think of anything but more. More kisses, more blood, more pleasure. So I took a draught from his throat to prepare for whatever came next.

  “Feeling good?” He weighed and plumped my breasts in his hands. “I love when you rub up against me. I’m going to be so hard for you.”

  “So good.” Like I was floating through the clouds naked, air washing over my skin.

  He nuzzled my left breast with his nose. No licking or sucking this time. Whatever pain relief he’d provided was now worn off. He captured my nipple between his teeth at the same time he clamped my other nipple between his fingers.

  I arched, crying out in pleasure as my core tightened hard around nothing. He used his teeth to tease the very tips of my nipples, moving back and forth with no cadence or rhythm I could find. Each new sensation was unexpected, I began to pant and rock faster against his cock. Then he sucked my left nipple into his mouth to finally soothe, all while plucking the right mercilessly. He tongued my nipple, flicked it back and forth until I saw stars, then traded, finally giving my right nipple relief.

  When he tugged on my left nipple the pain was now dulled again and all I felt was waves of pleasure cascading down my body from my nipple through my core to my clit and back again. I wound tighter and tighter, the tips of my ears burning, my fingers digging into Dray’s skin.

  “I’m coming. I’m coming!”

  He pulled me down and sank his teeth into my throat, sending my orgasm into the stratosphere in a flash of bright white light. I couldn’t breathe, couldn’t move. All I could do was come and let Dray drink from me.

  When I finally relaxed, he laid me out on the bed and removed my leggings, then dove between my legs to lap up my arousal. It dulled some of the sensations. Something I’d probably be grateful for when our bodies finally became one.

  “You taste like heaven,” he murmured between my legs, sounding a little drunk. Maybe many things were pleasurable to samhain besides sex and blood? Because Dray surely seemed to be losing himself while pleasing me.

  I gave myself over to it, a new pleasure beginning to build in me as his lips moved over my center and his tongue lapped at me and inside me. His hands began to roam over my clit, searching for each spot that brought me pleasure, then over my hips to my hands where he interlocked our fingers.

  “Hold on.”

  For what?

  He licked my inner thigh and sank his teeth into my skin. I bucked against him as something similar but very different flowed through me. It was somehow more pleasurable and more powerful than his previous bites. When I calmed a little, he released one of my hands and moved back to my center, teasing in circles and then moving slowly inside with his large fingers, stretching me, all while he pulled draughts of blood from my body.

  My naked breasts tingled as sensation returned. At first I enjoyed the spikes of awareness, but then I became greedy and teased them myself while Dray filled me with another finger as he drank. My clit ached for attention he seemed to have no intention of giving.

  “Touch me,” I begged.

  But he didn’t. He kept up his torture. I needed to come in order to end this ache. So I plucked at my nipples the way I liked, harder and harder as my orgasm began to bear down, then rolled them hard. My core began to flutter around his fingers. Dray kept up his slow strokes and his long sucks until I shattered.

  “Fuck, I’m coming again!” I’d never come twice this fast before and I marveled at this new ability.

  His strokes slowed and he licked away from my thigh, but he didn’t remove his fingers as he moved up beside me. “Feel good?”

  “How?” I panted. “Why did that feel so intense?”

  His eyes roamed over me like I was the most amazing treasure in the world and I was all his. “You mean drinking from there? It’s more intimate.”

  If everything before felt good and that felt amazing...I was a little scared of how good it would feel to come with Dray.

  He pumped his fingers slowly inside me. “Don’t come down from the high. Stay up there.”

  “Then I think it’s my turn to drink.”

  His eyes glinted. “How about you take me right here,” he tapped his throat, “while I take you right here.” He thrust his fingers inside me harder and faster.

  I arched off the bed, hissing. “Yes. Please? Yes.”

  He finally withdrew his fingers and I felt the loss immediately. All of me tingled for more of everything, but especially for his cock to fill me. He moved
off the bed and stripped his boxers down his leg. His cock bounced in front of him, even bigger than I imagined.

  I gulped, desperate and ready.

  “You look like you’re going to devour me,” he murmured kneeing up on the bed.

  “I want to.”

  “Good. The feeling is mutual. I feel like I’ll die if I don’t have you, Rhysa.”

  My name on his tongue was a pleasure all its own. “What about a condom?”

  “We don’t have human diseases. And neither of us is fertile. Besides, I’ve heard human condoms don’t hold up to samhain fucking.”

  I shivered. The word fucking had never sounded so good before. “How do you know we’re not...fertile?”

  He smiled. “We’d know. For one, you’ll smell it. And for two, we’d be fucking all day and all night until we passed out. Then we’d wake up and do it again.”

  That sounded amazing. “Isn’t that what we’re doing now?”

  He shook his head. “No, this is nothing in comparison.”

  Ohhhhh… Damn. Well then.

  “So we’re good to go?”

  He moved over me. “Yes. But you can call Gigi if you want to make sure I’m not lying to you.”

  I knew he wouldn’t lie about this. “Please don’t mention anyone but me in this bed.”

  “Nothing outside this room exists,” he reassured me as he looped his arms under my legs and positioned me right where he wanted me, then moved between my legs. “I can’t wait to sink into you.” He dipped down and nuzzled my breasts again, taking each nipple into his mouth for a long suck that brought me right back to arousal. “I can get commanding during sex. Are you okay with that?”

  Was I okay with that? Would it lead to more mind-altering orgasms? Hell yeah I was okay with it! “I can deal with it.”

  His hand moved down my body and hooked around my hip. “I’m going to go slow at first. I want to feel every inch of fighting my way into your tight little pussy. Feel your body take me until you surrender.”