Bonds of Blood [Lords of the Expanse] (Siren Publishing Classic)

by Honor James

  “You won’t be in the way, but you may want to ask Aleina for some reading materials to take along. It will be a long and, for the most part, boring trip. I don’t want you to be bored while we’re traveling,” he told her. Shifting his hand, he cupped her cheek. “How was your day? Did you find anything that you liked from the clothier?”

  “I did. I found a lot of things that the clothier made just for me.” She smiled and nodded. “I hope that I got things that you will like as well, Andries.” Stepping closer to him, she laid her hand on his chest. “I very much like it when you touch me, Andries,” she whispered softly.

  Stilling, he stared at her and fought to keep the question contained, but it just kept trying to come out until it popped out. “You like my touch?” he asked and winced inside of his head. Clamping his teeth together, he shook his head. “Ignore me, I’m tired,” he said but he didn’t move back and his thumb, of its own accord, began to move over her skin slowly.

  “Yes, I like your touch, Andries.” She smiled up at him. “I love your touch. I seem to crave it.” She looked up and into his eyes. “I want to keep this moment forever, Andries,” she whispered and laid her hand over his hand, holding him close to her cheek while the other lay over his heart, gently caressing his chest as she did so. “Have you had lunch?” It was a soft question. She hadn’t wanted to break the moment, but she wanted to know if he needed food.

  “I ate at the meeting,” he murmured, watching her carefully as he felt his body reacting to her. “You should eat if you haven’t. I don’t want you missing out on a meal. I’m going to go and lie down for a while. I need to go by the shipyard and ensure my crew knows when we are departing. If you’d like, we can go together so I can show you around a bit and then, if you are of the mind to, we could have dinner out.” He had no idea why he was offering any of it except that it seemed to be a compulsion with him to try and please her.

  “Aleina shoved food at me while they were marking and picking out the gowns. She said I needed it while I argued with the clothier.” Xandra grinned. “He didn’t appreciate me wanting my neck line above my”—she flushed—“well, you know. I would like to go with you, Andries. I would like to see the shipyard and what you do, please?”

  “Do you have something to wear out if I choose an establishment of a higher end?” he asked cautiously since he had no idea if the question would offend. He also hadn’t a clue what she actually had for clothing after her morning session. Pulling her in closer to him, he lowered his head, his nose brushing over her temple gently as he breathed her in.

  Turning her face up to him, she smiled. “If you would like, you can see what I have and choose something. I have several very nice dresses that I was assured would be the height of fashion and would be good no matter where we went.” Her body was pressed against his now as she took another step closer to him. She felt every inch of him pressed to every inch of her.

  “Later,” he breathed, feeling his teeth elongate. Gods, he should have more control than this, and yet he was behaving as a youth would. Sliding his hand around her neck, he buried his fingers into her hair, tilting her head so he could press his face to her neck. Inhaling her scent, he licked at her pulse, his body jumping from low heat to full flames instantly. Closing his eyes, he shuddered. “Push me away, Xandra,” he said, demanding her to tell him his behavior was unacceptable.

  Her fingers tightened in his shirt as she leaned her head to the side in offer to him. “No, I need you too much to push you away, Andries. Please.” She wanted this. She needed this. His very touch was sending fire along her veins, forcing her heart to thump hard as it worked to move that blood through her body, the blood that called to her husband.

  Growling softly, he gently rubbed the flat of his incisors over her flesh. “It won’t just be a taste this time, Xandra,” he whispered against her pulse. The blood flowing through her veins was like a song, and it was singing to him loud and clear. “And it won’t be just your blood, either.” He growled, his voice was turning too animalistic, the beast taking over more control. “I want all of you. I swore I’d give you time, but I find I cannot. I ask you again, push me away from you, Xandra,” he begged softly, knowing if she didn’t, he wouldn’t be letting her go any time soon.

  “I give you all of me, Andries.” She rubbed her cheek against his and then moved her head to the side once more. “I accept you as you are and need you. Please, I don’t want to be without you, Andries. Show me.” It was a soft release asking him for all he had to give, giving him leave to take from her the blood in her veins and the innocence of her body.

  Putting his arms around her, one under her bottom, Andries lifted her into his arms and carried her to the bedroom. Closing the door with a push of his foot, he set her down moments later by the bed. Releasing her, he slid his hand around her waist and over her stomach. Meeting her gaze, he let her see him as his desires rode him hard, his pupils long, thin slits of black, his eyes darkening as he became more and more needy. Gently he turned her and began to undo her dress, tugging it from her body, his hands moving slowly over her warm flesh.

  There it was. His pupils became mere slits just as Aleina had said they would. She moved her hair over to the side and she turned to look at him over her shoulder. “Please touch me,” she whispered. He was touching her already, but the feeling of it was blissful to her. “Please never stop, Andries.”

  “I won’t,” he promised her quietly, leaning in to nip at her shoulder gently, ensuring he didn’t touch her skin with his incisors. Lifting her from the mound of her dress, he settled her on the bed before he stepped back and pulled at his uniform with motions that were anything but smooth. Stripping quickly, he stood for a moment and let his gaze move over her before he stalked toward her. Crawling onto the bed with her, he kissed her thigh, her hip, her ribcage, and then nuzzled the underside of her breast. He was more the beast inside than man, and the beast liked to play with its partners, which was why Andries had always been careful before her. But with her he could be who he really was, and if she couldn’t accept it, then he knew he was never meant to have anyone.

  Her fingers buried into the short dark hair and held tight to the strands. “Andries.” She gasped out as her head fell back, her leg moving to rub up his thigh and the curve of his waist. “That feels so good.” Licking at her breast, he carefully sucked at her nipple, pulling it into his mouth between the long teeth. Sliding a hand up her leg, he gently touched her pussy, lifting his head to whisper soothing words as she jolted. When she calmed, he rubbed at her slowly, letting her acclimate to his possessive touch, and once again, returned to her breast, needing to taste her again.

  She moved slightly, rubbing herself more on him and needing more as well. “Please.” The feeling of his fangs on each side of her nipple was making her pant. “Oh please.” Her pupils were dilated with hungry need as she looked down at him, watched him. She loved to watch him, loved the way that his eyes glowed with feral heat and needed, wanted more.

  Sliding a long finger into her pussy, he gently stroked her as he moved to her other breast, giving it the same treatment as the first. Lightly he scraped his long teeth over her skin, ever aware of just how little pressure it would take to bring blood welling to the surface. Looking to her, he watched her watching him and pressed a second finger into her cunt. He knew she was innocent, had felt that barrier just moments ago that told the truth of all things, and because he wasn’t a complete monster, he wanted her to be ready. Pressing a kiss to her heart, he moved down her body, his tongue lapping and licking at all the flesh he could find.

  She was shaking as he made his way down her body, her voice a sigh of pleasure. “Andries.” He spread her legs wider, giving him more room to work between them, his fingers stroking slowly in and out of her slick pussy.

  Kissing the soft flesh just on the inner side of her thigh, so close to the heat of her pussy, he could feel it on his cheek. Her scent was ripe in the air, filling it and his lungs with her n
eed. Licking her flesh slowly, he nuzzled her curls with his lips, and then spreading her wide, his fingers damp, he laid his mouth to her clitoris before licking along her labia.

  She shuddered violently as he licked the broad side of his tongue up and then back down her hot pussy. “Andries.” Surely what they were doing wasn’t allowed, right? Whatever, because if it was, she couldn’t see how people would ever leave their beds. “Again, please.” She begged for more of his masterful attention.

  Closing his eyes slowly, he breathed a small sigh of relief that she wasn’t protesting what he was doing. Vampires were sensual and highly sensory beings. To him this was pure bliss. Doing as she asked, he looked up her body to watch her face as he licked at her again, sliding the fronts of his incisors up her swollen pussy, dipping his tongue deep into her and wiggled it around slowly.

  She felt the long incisors as they gently moved over the swollen and sensitive pussy. It didn’t hurt. However, it did excite her in ways she never dreamed possible. “Again, please.” She was panting and reached a hand out to touch him. She caressed his cheek gently and watched as his eyes seemed to close slowly and then open again with fire in them.

  He couldn’t seem to resist her soft commands, and again, he did as she asked, applying just a hint more pressure before he moved up to suckle at her clitoris. Pushing two fingers deep into her pussy again, he stroked her faster, spreading them to help stretch her until he could push in a third. When she tensed, he patiently waited, flicking his tongue over her clit and teasing her gently with his teeth.

  She felt her body clenching and then stretching to accommodate him. “Please.” She begged slightly as she moved her head to look up in his eyes. “Andries, I need.” She had no idea what she needed, but she needed. She knew that.

  “Soon,” he promised quietly as he moved his hand again, pressing deep into her body, stretching her even more to fully accommodate him. “I don’t want to hurt you any more than is normal for your first time, Xandra.” Kissing her inner thigh, he licked along the artery he could feel just under her thin skin, breathing her in. Shifting, he continued to stretch her as he shifted up her body, pausing to kiss each of her breasts gently before laying over her. “How are you feeling?” he asked her, his eyes locked with hers.

  “Marvelous.” She breathed out on a sigh and bit her lip. “Incredible and needy. Like I’m burning up and wanting more. I don’t understand it, but I need, and each time I feel your teeth pressing against me”—she gave a shiver—“it makes me all the more needy.”

  Her vocabulary was disintegrating slowly, a sure sign that she was close to the edge. Pressing a kiss to her jaw, he slid his tongue over her skin, tasting the faint sheen of sweat her flesh held. “Do you want more?” he asked her, his lips to her ear. He was close to not caring if she said yes or no, but he wasn’t there yet.

  Sliding his lips over her skin, he shifted and, moving his hand, he gently pressed his cock into her sopping-wet pussy. Pressing slowly into her tight cunt, he paused as he contacted with the small, thin, weak little barrier inside of her. “Hold on to me, Xandra,” he whispered and, when she clutched at him, he thrust his cock into her as he sank his teeth into her throat.

  The moment was there, and when he pressed not only his cock into her slick pussy, but his fangs into her throat, she cried out but moved her legs to wrap tightly around his hips to hold him close, and her fingers bit into his shoulders as she cried out his name in a combination of pain and pleasure.

  Her hold on him had his control slipping even more until all he could do was feel. Thrusting into her over and over again, each push harder, he drank from her throat. On that matter, he kept his wits about him, knowing that if he took too much he’d kill her. Suckling softly at her throat, he pushed her body to its limits with his baser animalistic needs.

  She moved closer to him. “Andries.” She begged, pleaded with him as her legs tightened around him and tugged him deeper. Her arms wrapped tightly around his head and held him to where he was feeding from her.

  Too much, he was taking too much, and that faint, nearly unnoticeable stutter warned him off. Forcing his teeth to retract, he laid his tongue to the twin marks on her throat to help the wounds clot. When he was sure she would perish from bleeding out, he lifted his head to see the marks were sealing. Pressing kisses over her face, he made his way to her lips and then, skipping across to the other side, kissed his way around. “Xandra,” he breathed her name as he kissed her hard.

  She was lost to him, his kisses. The reverent way he held and took her was almost loving, and when he breathed her name before kissing her once more, she shuddered her surrender and felt her whole body stiffen as she succumbed to the orgasm that had been building with a force of nature. His lips melded to hers kept her from screaming. Instead she clung to him, and the moaning sound was heard as their bodies slapped together over and over again.

  Growling low in his chest, the sound built and moved up his body to pour from him to her. A few more thrusts and he spilled his seed as he followed her into the abyss, his body taut as a wire, and then he sagged over her. Resting his cheek to hers, he closed his eyes as pure feeling, nothing but absolute ecstasy rolled over him again and again. Breathing in her scent and his combined in the air, he knew that she now was truly his in every way, perhaps. For a few minutes he lay over her and then, while he still could, he rolled to his back, keeping her pressed tightly to him as he did so.

  Gasping for air, her head on his chest, she ran her hands possessively down his arms and captured his hands with hers. Twining her fingers with his, she lay there until she was finally able to speak. “Thank you, Andries. That was beyond words.” The feeling of him still locked deep inside of her, the knowledge of what they had done, the heat of his body, and his heart thudding against her ear had her eyes drooping sleepily. “Do you need me to move?” She was thinking that if she fell asleep, she didn’t want him to suffer because she was lying on top of him.

  “Stay,” he told her in a rough tone. “You weigh nothing and I…like the feel of you lying where you are. Stay,” he said again, moving a hand to touch her back, stroking his fingers slowly over her damp skin. Shifting slightly, he tugged at the blankets that were all askew. Finally he got one untangled for the most part and pulled it up and over them. “Sleep, Xandra. You should rest now.” His tone was just short of an order, the hint of tenderness the only thing that kept it from being too brusque.

  Pressing a kiss to his chest, she lay her head back down once more. “All right. Good night, husband,” she whispered softly and let her body relax fully on him. “I very much enjoyed what we did. I would like to do that again, when I’m more awake, please?” She yawned softly and sighed. She didn’t know what one was to say after they had experienced what the two of them shared, so she left it where it was.

  Smiling faintly, Andries watched her as she drifted into sleep, and not too long after, he joined her with a feeling of inner peace. Later he’d wonder on that, but at that moment he did not care.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Waking to the feel of lushly warm and sensual female skin, it took Andries a moment to remember where he was and why there was a female in bed with him. Turning his head, he checked the time and realized they needed to get up and moving if he was going to get to the ship before the shift change. “Xandra,” he called to her, pushing her hair from her face and frowning again at seeing the mutilated ear. Her father would pay for that in blood even if he had to wait a lifetime. “Come on, wife. We need to get up and moving, or I won’t be taking you with me for the month I’ll be on the ship.”

  Her eyes slowly came open and the frown was evident. “We just went to sleep, Andries,” she grumbled even as she began to move. “And I’m moving, so don’t even take my complaints as me wanting to remain behind, Andries. I wan…” She trailed off. “Wait, did you say month? Well, there is most certainly no way that you are getting away from me for a month, Andries.” Looking up and into his face, her features
softened as she reached out to touch his cheek, lightly stroking her fingers over it. “Good morning, husband. Did you sleep well?” The pleasantries came suddenly. The softness of her body was instinctual, but the feelings she had were all hers for him.

  “It is evening, wife. That is why you feel as though you just went to sleep. We did,” he told her quietly, watching her under hooded eyes. “We need to go to the shipyard and ensure that my rooms are readied for you as well as all the supplies are taken aboard, and then we are going out for a meal.” Sliding his fingers up her arm to where her hand lay on his cheek, he pulled her hand to his lips and kissed her palm. “I slept quite well, thank you for asking,” he said. “We should get moving though, Xandra. I slept longer than I had originally planned, so we need to dress and get going quickly or the shift will change and I will miss who I need to speak with.” Though at the moment he had no urge at all to move, he realized, lightly rubbing her fingers over his lips.

  “I just need a few moments to shower and change. Will that be all right?” Because she didn’t know if leaving while still feeling his hands on her body would be such a good thing for her peace of mind. She wanted him. She needed him, and she never wanted to let him go. The pull to him was so strong she was certain she was going to never be able to allow him to leave her side. “Do you want to shower with me?” She offered quietly, “It will help expedite our getting cleaned up, if you wish?”

  “I don’t believe that would be wise, Xandra,” he told her, knowing that it would be very unwise. “We might become distracted,” he explained when her face fell. “We have things to do and I do not intend to ever rush our times together.” Stroking her fingers lightly with one of his, he gave her a hint of a smile. “Go and bathe. I will use the bathroom below stairs and await you there unless you require assistance dressing.”