by Ginna Moran
“So good. Thank you. It helps,” I say, sliding from Bronx to rest my head on Mikkalo’s chest, knowing he wants my closeness after giving me his blood. His hands tighten around me, and I sink harder into him, so I don’t risk meeting his eyes.
It doesn’t stop Bronx, though. Bronx’s eyes bore into me, studying my attempt to pretend I’m fine. I avert my gaze to the road in front of us, despite his furrowing brows. He doesn’t call my ass out on the fact that I usually drink way more. I think Everett realizes it too, because he narrows his eyes a bit when I glance back at him.
“You can have more if you want,” Mikkalo says, running his hand up my arm. They all know me so well.
I open my mouth to make an excuse, but a beep rings through the air, and Bronx takes control of the car to navigate through a well-guarded gate. There is security everywhere—more vampires than I have ever seen protecting the property, none of them I recognize.
A man with a giant-ass gun beams a light into the car, double-checking our identities. I glimpse at him for a second. His eyes rove over me as he scrutinizes my face. I try not to react, feeling gross under his gaze like he wants me to get out of the vehicle so that he can devour the rest of me with his stare.
Mikkalo gives him a warning growl, tugging a dagger from the dash compartment to point at him. The vampire backs up from the window and motions us to continue on. There are three more checkpoints along the road to the mansion.
Corona greets us outside, bowing deeply to my guys. I ignore him completely from Mikkalo’s arms. Brooklyn materializes in the doorway, a dozen comments crossing her pinched face. She doesn’t say anything, but I bet if I weren’t surrounded by my guys, she’d probably blame me for everything.
“My estate is your estate,” Corona tells Bronx, sweeping his arm toward the monstrous house. He remains expressionless, though his eyes quickly flick over me. I should be used to it. Every vampire I’ve ever come across can’t help showing me attention, but it still pisses me off.
“Glad you said that,” Jameson says, speaking up. He manages to grab Corona’s complete attention, which helps suppress my nagging need to fly at the guy and inflict as much pain upon him as possible before someone manages to rip me off. “Our girl requested that you spend the duration of our stay here in the room you kept her in. I think it’s a pretty fair request, all things considered.”
Corona tightens his jaw without a word. His eyes flash silver, his annoyance as clear as my anger.
“That’s absurd,” Brooklyn says, huffing out a breath. “She is not the head of your coven and that sort of request is completely unreasonable and disrespectful to our coven’s generosity.”
Mikkalo tightens his hold on me, feeling my body tense. I glower at Brooklyn, though Bronx’s hulking form mostly blocks me. She’s lucky I’m feeling pretty in control of my deep-seated nature and don’t hiss at her or some shit.
“It’s fine, dear,” Corona says to Brooklyn, putting his arm around her.
“But father, abiding by such a preposterous request gives the impression that you’re beneath the donor. It’s not only demeaning, but it will also weaken your stance as the head of our coven.” Brooklyn glowers at me, her perfectly arched brows lowering on her forehead.
It’s so weird to hear her speak to him that I ignore what she says, focusing on the whole dad thing. They look far too close in age for him to ever be called her father, unless it’s some sort of game to them. I shiver at the thought. No thanks. I don’t need those images in my head.
“What coven?” Jameson says, flashing his fangs and pulling me from my twisted thoughts about their term of endearment. “Last I checked, there were only a handful of you left. Without the backing of a large coven, the Anderson name does not hold enough power to properly run a city in our region.”
She hisses at him.
I growl at her.
Bronx gets between all of us. “Settle down. I’m sure Gwen was joking about the basement, but I do request Corona keep his space. You too, Brooklyn. Gwen’s been through enough and needs time to heal without the reminder of your coven’s prior offenses.”
I clear my throat, now fully hell-bent on making my feelings clear. “I wasn’t kidding.”
Bronx turns his attention to me, his lips pursed. I can tell he just wants to get settled and focus on other things, but I can’t. I can’t get past this situation. “Gwen—”
Holding my hand up, I cut him off. “No, Bronx. It might be easy for you to try to pretend that everything about this situation is normal and fine, but this asshole murdered my brother. He tried to imprison me. He wanted to use me not unlike the Barons. So, yeah. I’m really fucking serious about where I want him to stay.”
“Your brother turned against you, you little bitch,” Brooklyn says, her sharp words feeling as if they cut me open. “You cannot blame my father for taking advantage of the situation.”
I open my mouth to respond, the edges of my vision shadowing, but Mikkalo relocates me. I land on my back on a bed, disoriented from the sudden movement. Dizziness washes over me, and I scramble to get to my feet, my stomach still not in a place to be put through this kind of turmoil.
Thankfully, I don’t get sick.
Mikkalo stands in front of me, steadying me on my feet. I can’t stop my face from reacting. I glower despite my anger not being directed at him. I’m angry with Brooklyn. Bronx too. I mean, what the actual fuck to both of them? Bronx for not backing me up and playing down my feelings like they’re unwarranted by saying I’m joking and Brooklyn for standing up for a guy she is fine committing treason against. I guess that was before all this shit happened but still.
“Not cool,” I say, sinking into his open arms. I’m so angry that I can’t stop from shaking.
“I’m sorry, Gwen. I didn’t want to risk you starting a fight that would end with Brooklyn’s blood on your hands. Or Corona’s. That would make me extremely jealous.” Mikkalo brushes my hair out of the way to massage his fingers into my upper back, just touching the bare skin peeking from my dress.
I hug him closer, groaning into his chest, breathing hard in an attempt to engulf myself in his scent to try to settle my nerves. “You’re fine. It was...Bronx.”
“I’m still sorry. I know this whole situation is shitty as hell.” Mikkalo nudges my chin to tilt my head up to him. He presses a kiss to my forehead before brushing his lips to the tip of my nose to smooth out my frown. He continues lower to softly kiss my mouth, and I hum and pull away.
“Don’t get carried away. I’m not sure you want to kiss me like you usually do right now,” I say, pouting my lip. If I can taste the lingering sweetness of vampire blood, I’m sure he can.
He chuckles. “I’m used to the taste of my brothers’ blood on your mouth. Your mouth is delicious regardless.”
I shake my head, twisting a smirk into a half frown. “This is different.” Going down is far better than coming back up. I should know.
“Nah. I think you underestimate my need to see you smile. To take care of you. You have no idea how badly I want to help you relax and forget the world outside of us.” Mikkalo kisses me again, sneaking his hands up my dress, feeling the smooth, bare skin of my ass cheeks. “Especially knowing that there’s nothing under this dress.”
“Who knew my naked ass would be the thing to save me?” I say, trying not to think about the fact that it gave me an advantage in fighting Ronan.
“Gwen...” Mikkalo’s soft smile disappears. My chest clenches at his sudden broody face. My guys spend so much time concerned over how I feel about shit that I go through that they suppress their own feelings. I know tonight wasn’t easy on any of them.
I pull Mikkalo closer and rest my cheek to his chest to listen to his heart beating. “I’m sorry how things happened tonight.”
“You don’t need to apologize.” He tugs me to the end of the bed so that we can sit down together and savor each other’s closeness. “You’re not to blame for anyone else’s actions.”
&
nbsp; “I killed your friend.” I swallow as I say the words, my throat tightening. I’m pretty sure if I had any friends, I might be upset if one of them killed them.
“This might sound fucked up, but I prefer that you killed him over the alternative. I can’t lose you, Gwen. I’d rather see our region fall to pieces or ignite in flames than risk a future without you.” He twines our fingers together, holding my gaze. “We might have claimed you as ours, but we also picked you over everyone else. I hope you know that.”
“And I picked you.” Because it’s true. I might want to try to save the rest of my brothers, but if it came down to it, I’d pick my guys. I’d pick me. I don’t care how selfish it is. Growing up as a supposed gift to humanity only to discover that the Barons think I’m some sort of prize for them leaves me really fucking bitter.
“You brought my brothers and me closer together than I ever knew we could be. Our coven has never been stronger.” He bows into me for another kiss. “Which is why I always want to prove my love to you. My devotion.”
I smile. “Mikkalo...you know you don’t need to prove anything. I already know.”
His words help loosen the knots in my stomach, and I snuggle him close, kissing him tenderly. He reacts to my affection, devouring every ounce of it like I’ve starved him the last few days as I spent my time with his brothers.
“I’ve missed you,” Mikkalo murmurs, trailing his finger along my jaw. He gazes into my eyes with an expression that fills me up with everything I seem to need. I love the good weight of his stare and how it sends warmth and contentment washing through me.
I shift from next to him and onto his lap to give him my full attention. He can’t resist playing with the hem of my dress, his desire for me growing with our closeness, how only fabric separates us from being together how we both want.
I rest my arms on his shoulders, only allowing a few inches of space between our mouths. “I’ve missed you too. Missed being with you. Alone. You have no idea.”
A smile crosses his lips, his dark eyes lighting with the gesture. “Well, Jameson is prepping your dinner, so we have some time if you’ll let me show you that I do have an idea. If you’re feeling up to it.”
I shiver at the thought, my body reacting with excitement. “Have you forgotten how tough I am?” I tease, sucking his bottom lip between my teeth. “I’m already feeling better. We definitely should take advantage of this alone time. I’m not sure I can wait...another hour?”
Purring from his throat, he squeezes my hips, guiding me to grind against him to feel what I do to him. “Everett will kick my ass if you’re lying,” he says, searching my face, his eyes trailing away from mine to drink in the rest of me.
I ease up a bit to rub his bulge. “I’ll make it worth it.”
He hums in his throat but doesn’t make the first move. So I do it for him.
Easing off of him, I stand between his legs and hook my fingers to his shirt. I wince at the dull pain of lifting my arms, wishing my body would heal quicker. Mikkalo notices my reaction and grabs my hands before I can reach for his pants next. He studies my face, trailing his gaze to the rest of me like he can see beneath my skin.
“I’m fine, Mikkalo. Just sore,” I say, knowing why he hesitates. “I promise. But I could be better...”
Mikkalo hooks his fingers to my waist. “You’re bad.”
I bite my lip. “I know. Now let me continue. I’m undressing you first.”
He hums his desire. “Damn, you’re so sexy when you talk to me like this,” he says, reaching out to nudge the strap of my dress off my shoulder.
I bend down to unfasten his pants, the motion feeling like someone just punched a bruise. I wince at the sudden pain, annoyed as all get-out. Mikkalo sits straighter and gives me a thorough once-over, just as intense as Everett does. I squirm under his attention, failing to remain expressionless.
“I’m fine,” I say again. “Don’t look at me as if you’ll break me.”
“I’m not looking at you like that. But you’re setting off my need to do what I can for you. You have to let me take care of you first.” Mikkalo motions for me to join him on the bed. “Come here. Let me give you more blood. Neither of us will enjoy this if you’re too stubborn to admit you’re hurting.”
He rests his back against the headboard and helps me nestle between his legs. I lean against his chest and turn my neck to meet him for another kiss. Easing me up a bit, he bites his arm and holds it in front of my face, gently hugging me to him. I’m surprised he chooses this position to allow me to drink, because I know how much he enjoys watching. I flare my nostrils at the scent. My stomach growls like crazy for the first time since we left the Crescent Coven’s mansion. Now that I’m not a mess or on edge, the stress wears off. Mikkalo’s touch definitely helps.
“I was starting to worry you didn’t like my blood anymore,” Mikkalo murmurs, moaning softly as I glide my tongue over his arm. Now the position makes sense. He was afraid of my reaction, so that’s why he’s not watching me.
I squirm between his legs, feeling his cock awaken even more against me, his desire so palpable that it sends a rush through me. “Definitely not the case. Like I said, I’m feeling much better.”
“Yeah?” he whispers, nudging the other strap of my dress off my shoulder to kiss my skin.
“Mmmhmm.” I savor the sensation of his tongue gliding over me. It never ceases to amaze me how good such a little thing could be.
“Then taste me.” His words come out deep, sultry.
I can’t resist any longer, my body begging me to hurry up to satiate the burning desire and need within me. I draw Mikkalo’s arm to my mouth, licking the stream of blood threatening to spill. The subtle spiciness of his blood sets me off. I suck hard, and Mikkalo tightens his fingers to me, hugging me around my waist. I swallow and brush my tongue over his puncture wounds, practically making out with his arm. I can’t help it.
He tastes so incredible—rich and velvety, satisfying.
His blood tingles down my throat, filling my belly with warmth. I had no idea I was this hungry, my mouth fully intent on devouring him. Mikkalo’s moan hums against my shoulder, his hand mapping across my body like he can’t help himself. I already feel tons better, the ache in my chest easily ignorable as his hand trails down my clavicle and to my breasts. He slips his hand into my bodice, grazing his fingers along my nipple. He gently pinches, and I cling onto his arm and sink more into his chest.
“I might need to call one of my brothers if you need more,” Mikkalo says, sliding his other hand across my hip.
I shift and wiggle, so turned on by his blood and touch. I don’t want to stop.
He hikes up my dress with his roaming hand to touch between my legs. I bend my knees a bit, spreading my legs wide enough so he can explore wherever he wants. I can’t stop myself from moaning as he rubs my clit under his fingers, playing with me in such a way that I push more into him. It makes me suck harder, and he moans louder. I lose myself to the pleasure he arouses in me.
“You’re so beautiful,” he whispers. “I want to give you everything you need, but...I think you need more than what I can give you now. Let me call Jameson.”
“Nu-uh,” I murmur against his skin.
It takes Mikkalo slipping his finger inside me to get me to release his arm. I sink against his chest, wiggling my body under the pressure he creates. He holds me still with his now free arm, exploring my body while kissing my heated skin.
“I’m sorry I got carried away,” I say, with a moan, my chest heaving with my gasps. “You taste so good. Everything is so good.”
He glides his tongue up my neck to my earlobe. “If you’re still hungry...”
I shake my head, squirming more under the incredible pressure he creates, opening myself up more for him by hanging my legs over his. “You’re what I need right now.”
I tip my head back, and Mikkalo kisses my throat. He whispers his love for me into my ear, working me over with his fingers, feeling
how much he excites me. I enjoy the sensation of his touch, moaning softly, barely able to stay still.
“I want you so much,” he says, digging his fingers into my thigh. “I need you too.”
I moan my agreement, wanting nothing more than for him to get me out of my clothes already. “Show me.”
Shifting me to lie down, Mikkalo helps me out of my dress. He loses his pants next, and I stroke the length of his shaft, his boner practically throbbing as he flexes it under my fingers. I don’t play with him long, fully needing to feel his closeness. He spoons me from behind, resting his raging hard-on between my legs, just teasing me with his tip as he continues to rub my clit, making my whole body tingle.
“Is this okay?” he asks, adjusting himself to align with my body.
“So good.” My words come with a moan, and I reach behind me to dig my fingers into his hip.
He starts slow, just testing and teasing me, not letting me experience all of him just yet. I wriggle in anticipation and arch my back, pressing my ass harder into his pelvis. Moaning, Mikkalo squeezes my leg to hold me in place so he can thrust deeper inside me. I pant with the motion, my moan sounding every time our bodies completely meet. Our hearts beat wildly, and Mikkalo kisses the side of my throat like he can’t help tasting my skin as he slides in and out, the pressure building from the position so intense that I grip the blankets just to hold on.
His love and desire crash over me, igniting mine even more. He knows exactly what I like, pinching my hip with one hand while caressing my nipples with the other. Neither of us cares how loud we are or that we’re not in Crimson Vista. Nothing in the outside world can ruin such a perfect moment as we express our love for each other in the way we both crave and want and need.
Rolling me onto my stomach, Mikkalo manages to enter me even deeper, and I scream out in pleasure into the pillow. His intense passion collides into me in the best possible way as he embraces his deep-seated nature as a vampire, experiencing the same pleasure I do. He picks up his pace, thrusting just right that my body buzzes with my oncoming orgasm.
