by Lyons, Rene
Knowing she was close enough to climax that all he had to do was nudge her a bit further, he wanted to turn her desperate whimpers into cries of passion. Smiling against her body wickedly, the warrior in him came to the forefront and pushed aside his civility. Like when he used to charge into battle, he strengthened his resolve and pressed forward, driving her to soaring heights with his entire mouth and a few fingers.
The cry he pulled from her when she reached orgasm echoed throughout the quiet manor.
Beyond thought and words, Allie shivered as wave after wave of pleasure washed through her. She finally understood what she’d been missing.
If anyone was going to bring her body to such pleasure she knew it would be Sebastian. The man worked magic with his mouth, as she imagined he could. Reality set in a second later, shattering her bliss when Sebastian lifted his head from between her legs. She thought she might die of shame right then and there.
No man ever did to her what Sebastian had just done. She felt laid bare right to her soul and completely vulnerable. Though not an unpleasant sensation, she was still embarrassed nevertheless…
Until she saw the cocky grin on Sebastian’s face.
He quite literally glowed with pride. Or rather his eyes did, sparkling with enough satisfaction to chase away the last of her shame.
“Aren’t you the smug one?” she teased breathlessly, still feeling the effects of her orgasm.
He leaned over her with an arrogant grin still on his face. “Hell yes. And aren’t you the well-pleasured lady?”
She smirked back at him, caressing the side of his face. “Yes I am.”
He kissed her lightly on the lips, such a delicate touch it made her heart constrict. “You’re mine, Allie.”
“I’ve always been yours.”
His mouth worked, yet no words came from him. Instead, he licked his fangs, staring down at her with eyes hooded with desire. “I want to fuck you so badly I ache.”
A small whimper caught in the back of her throat at his raw need. She felt how heavy and swollen with desire he was when he settled on top of her. She cradled him between her legs, her own body undulating with need. When he pressed against the juncture of her thighs and rubbed the tip of him over her already sensitive folds she shivered deliciously.
Allie ran her fingers over his lips. She touched his fang, deliberately pricking her finger to draw forth a few drops of blood, which she let fall into his mouth. His body jerked at the moment he tasted her blood, his eyes sliding closed as he let out a low growl that raised the hairs on the back of her neck.
“You give to me,” she whispered to him as he ground his pelvis into her, “I give to you.”
“Allie…” Her name came from him in a broken groan. “I need you, sunshine. Now.”
His eyes flew open, his stare hot and hungry. Allie knew she was in for one hell of ride.
Dropping his head into the hollow of her throat, he slowly slid into her until she sheathed him fully. She cried out at the feel of him deep inside of her as her body stretched to accommodate him.
Her nails gouging him, he sucked in a sharp breath, releasing it on a low groan. He nipped her shoulder as he rocked her body with long, hard, steady strokes. No gentle coupling, this was two bodies coming together in a desperate mating. Animalistic, raw, it was everything Allie knew it would be and more.
Sebastian took what she offered him, panting wildly as he pumped into her body. She brought her legs high up around his waist, allowing him to go deeper with each long stroke into her. She squeezed her legs together, wishing she could hold him inside her forever.
He grabbed at her thigh, his fingers biting into her flesh and held it against his hip as he buried his face in her neck. She felt herself begin to shatter as he pumped his body into hers. The pleasure was so intense, Sebastian was the only clarity in a world gone hazy with desire.
His fangs grazed her and she shivered deliciously. He lifted his head, hovering over her pulsating vein. She tensed. Waiting…
Anticipation thundered through her, causing her heart to race and her breath to come out in great rasps. When he made no move, Allie writhed beneath him, grinding her body into his. She felt as if she hovered on the threshold of something as incredible as it was frightening.
She placed her hands on his cheeks and brought his head back down to her neck, tilting her head to give him better access. He went to pull back but she held him fast.
“Please, Sebastian,” she begged brokenly. She wanted—no, she needed—to share this with him. To give him her blood and a small piece of her life.
And then his teeth were on her, grazing the sensitive skin of her neck and she nearly came undone. He thrust into her body as his mouth opened. She went rigid, waiting for pain even as she clung to him and whimpered his name as if it were a prayer. She felt Sebastian’s body racing toward his release with each long stroke into her, his rhythm growing more frantic. She could also feel the hunger flowing from him to her, a horrible ache in her gut.
He lifted his head and drew back his lips. Allie closed her eyes and dug her nails into his back, terrified it was going to hurt, but not scared enough to make him stop, which she knew he would with nothing but a word from her. She had enough faith in him for both of them.
He brought his head down, his fangs piercing her and she screamed—not in pain, but ecstasy as her body found its release.
Liquid ecstasy, that’s what her blood tasted like. Warm, full of life, it flowed into him as Sebastian pulled it from her neck, wanting to stop but knowing if he did he’d die from the need for more. He felt her body shaking, her fingers digging into him. Her broken cries were sweet music as he felt her coming around him in a wonderful flood of warmth.
Her energy and life infused him with glorious heat as he continued to pump into her body, taking what she offered like the greedy bastard he was. She was a force he couldn’t resist, her blood a drug he needed to survive.
Incredibly, he felt her cup the back of his head, holding him against her in a tender embrace. As she allowing him to take a part of her into his body, he gave her a piece of himself as well when he climaxed into her, dying all over again as pleasure so intense erased centuries of darkness, cold, and pain.
With a harsh cry, he pulled his mouth from her neck. The brilliance of her spirit flowed through him, warming him, bonding them in way no earthly force could.
If he still possessed his soul, he knew without a doubt she would have laid claim to it right then. For what it was worth, she already had his heart—dead though it was.
Spent, the hunger sated, Sebastian collapsed on her. Her heart beat wildly against his still chest. Her ragged breath fanned his burning flesh as her blood worked through him. Her hands stroked his back. Comforting him. Calming him.
He wished this moment could be suspended in time indefinitely.
He heard Allie whisper something brokenly.
He pulled away, afraid his weight was crushing her, and stared down at her to see her eyes were filled with unshed tears.
“Oh God, I’m so sorry, sunshine.”
Those words were ripped harshly from his throat, which was still coated with her blood.
She shook her head and offered him a weak smile. “There’s nothing to be sorry for, baby. I wanted you to do it.”
No? How could he not be sorry seeing her smeared with blood?
He felt like a fucking monster who stole her blood. He was the same as the filthy renegade who robbed a piece of her life in order to preserve his own foul existence.
He felt her body trembling, the loss of blood chilling her right down to her bones. Tears wetted her pale cheeks. “Then why are you crying?”
She looked at him curiously. “Didn’t you hear me, Sebastian?”
He shook his head. This was the first time his vampire hearing failed him.
A look of such tenderness came over her that if he still bore breath in his body, he would have been robbed of it.
Her fingers sp
layed over his back and she gave him a gentle hug.
“I love you, Sebastian.”
Chapter Thirteen
“I hate you.”
Amanda spat it out as Stephan tenderly stroked her cheek. The grotesque mockery of affection pulled her out of the stupor she’d been blessedly drifting in and out of over the last hellish days.
“Ah, you’re back.” His voice was like a low rumble of distant thunder, ominous and evil.
She hated his voice, with its aristocratic English accent and low, hushed tones. She hated his face, perfectly handsome. She hated the feel of his smooth hands on her body, like that of a lover’s right before the pain came.
She hated everything about him except his honesty.
No matter how cruel he was to her, how much he hurt her, he never gave her false hope. No, from the night she found herself in this Hell, he made sure she knew she’d never make it out alive.
The hope she held to was of her own doing, a torture all its own as the days and nights blended together in one long stretch of misery.
Amanda stared at the ceiling blankly, the stench of her blood and filth thick in the small sweltering room. She’d give anything for a burst of fresh night air to relieve the stink and remind her of the life beyond her prison.
To ensure no sunlight invaded his lair, Stephan had the windows boarded shut, black sheets nailed over the wood. She wished she could see the sunlight once more before she died, but she knew she’d never get the chance.
This was where she was going to die, in the dark, surrounded by monsters.
And God help her, she wanted that death if it meant the pain would stop. Yearned for it with everything she was. Prayed for it over and over, until her plea became a never-ending chant inside her mind.
“Just kill me already. Please.”
Amanda never thought she’d beg for death. In her innocent mind she always believed death was the worst thing that could happen to a person.
Over the last long days she realized how wrong she’d been.
Her captor’s hands on her made her skin crawl. Beyond fear at this point, she didn’t think twice about slapping his hand away. He tsked at her, giving her an insulted pout.
“Do I have to restrain you again?”
Stephan allowed her ropes to be removed only because she’d lost her fight. She shook her head frantically, afraid he’d tie her back up. He smiled, obviously loving her fear. Out of the corner of her eye she saw his fangs. A shiver of disgust passed through her.
Amanda turned her head and stared down at him, resting his head on her shoulder, an arm draped over her stomach. The other was tucked between them. This was the sort of embrace two lovers would share.
She wanted to vomit from the intimacy of it.
Blinking her tired eyes into focus, she shivered when he lifted his head and faced her. He looked wrong, not like the monster she knew him to be. To her delirious way of thinking he had no right to be so boyishly handsome. He should look like a demon. He should be ugly, twisted and grotesque. He shouldn’t have such nice brown hair or incredibly full lips. His voice shouldn’t be so rich and smooth. He shouldn’t look like a knight who stepped right out of the pages of history.
Amanda choked back the bile rising in her mouth at his touch. She stared deep into his glacial silver eyes and saw no mercy in their depths.
Over the past days he tortured her ruthlessly, doing it all with a charming smile on his handsome face. She didn’t know if her body could take much more. God knew her mind couldn’t.
“I want to die.”
He laughed, sliding a fingertip over her swollen and cracked lips. “Do you, sweet Amanda? I don’t think you do,” he purred softly. “You know what I think? When you trap yourself inside your mind, all you dream about is going home. You think I don’t know you dream of your family, but I do. Oh yes, love, you still hold on to the hope I’ll let you go.”
His hand trailed down to her bare breasts. He grazed her raw nipple and she cried out in pain, her body so battered that even his gentle touch hurt.
His hand went lower to her belly. He drew small circles over her skin.
She did the one thing she ceased doing days ago.
She wept.
“But we both know the reality is, I’ll never let you leave here alive.”
“Why me?” Her question was a broken whisper of despair.
He smiled sweetly, his fangs gleaming. “We went over this too many times already, pet. You know I had to see if what I need is hiding somewhere inside of you.”
“But I don’t have it.”
“I know.” His fingers traveled even lower. Amanda stiffened with dread. “But it was such fun to have you as my guest. I’ve enjoyed you very much.”
The finality in the way he said that gave Amanda hope her release was coming.
His hand cupped her intimately. He touch was repulsive, and so icy a chill passed over her.
No one ever touched her in such an intimate way other than this monster. He stole her virginity in one brutal thrust of his icy body the first night she was here. Since then, he used her again and again, until her body was beaten and raw. Until her soul was broken.
He rolled on top of her. Through her tears she saw the familiar look of hunger come over him. Yet this time, she saw more in his frosty gaze than merely bloodlust.
Finally. She saw it. He was going to end this.
He came into her then, pushing his body brutally into hers. She held back her scream of agony as the pain splintered all through her. He grunted and bared his fangs. Grabbing her wrists roughly, he pinned them over her head. The abuse lasted only moments, yet to Amanda it seemed to go on forever. She wanted to cry but her tears were gone. Wanting to scream again, her voice would not come.
All she could do was lie there helplessly and be used.
When he spoke his voice was the harsh growl of a demon. “Are you ready?”
She looked at him gratefully and nodded. “Thank you,” she said that softly only a breath before his teeth pierced her throat.
Amanda’s last thought was of her mother’s smiling face.
She carried that vision with her as the monster took her from her suffering and finally gave her peace.
Chapter Fourteen
Allie laughed softly at Sebastian’s astonished stupor. By the look on his face, she had the distinct feeling if he’d been standing when she told him she loved him, he would have fallen right on his ass.
“Too bad I don’t have a camera handy,” Allie teased weakly, her voice a hoarse whisper. “The look on your face is priceless. I bet the boys would love the chance to see it.”
All he seemed able to do was sit in amazement. “You can’t mean it.”
“Yes I do.”
Stretching out on the bed, every part of her ached. The cold she felt from the inside out was something she knew the Templars suffered the last seven hundred years.
How awful to always be this cold.
Sebastian sat next to her on the bed. The sheet was tossed aside—thankfully onto her—leaving him to hang out in all his naked glory. The man definitely had no shame. Not that he needed any. With a body as gorgeous as his, covering it with clothing was a crime.
She finally had a clean view of his incredible tattoo. Black and gray work, the design was a classic Dark Ages dragon crawling down his shoulder. The tail wrapped around his neck, ending behind his ear.
When she sat, Allie dragged the sheet with her. Clutching it tight around herself, she wasn’t exactly as immodest around Sebastian as he obviously was around her.
She placed her hand on his knee, shocked at how warm he was—as warm as any living being. Her life lent him a temporary reprieve from the cold. That alone made it worth it for her to put aside her reservations when it came to him feeding from her.
“I wouldn’t have said it if I didn’t mean it,” she assured him. “Not to sound pathetic, but the truth is, I’ve been half in love with you since I first saw you.”
The incredulity in his tone pulled at her soul. “How can I not?”
Sebastian was quiet for so long, Allie grew incredibly uncomfortable under his intense stare. He seemed to be trying to see past the surface of her and glimpse into her heart.
Without a hint of warning, he grabbed her by the back of her head. She sucked in a startled breath when his hand fisted in her hair and he pulled her head toward him. From the look on his face and the hungry gleam in his eyes, for a moment she swore he was going to eat her. Instead, his mouth came down on hers in a kiss meant to claim. To dominate.
She’d never forget this kiss.
Dizzy with passion when he released her, Allie was still in her right mind enough to raise a brow at the undeniable male arrogance oozing off of him. She wanted to say something witty, but was too dazed to form a single coherent thought.
Allie finally learned what it meant to be “kissed senseless”.
“You make me believe miracles are real.”
Nothing else he might have said would have made her feel more cherished. “Sebastian…”
Medieval warrior, damned vampire, Templar, label him whatever you wanted and it would make no difference. He was an incredible man and she adored him no matter what he was or the things he’d done in his past.
He’d been judged enough. Now it was time for him to be accepted and loved.
Throwing herself at him, she wrapped herself around him, bear-hugging him for all she was worth. He pulled her onto his lap cradling her. This time, it was her turn to steal some warmth from him.
He tucked her into him, resting his chin on her head as his fingers idly danced over her arm. Nearly lulled to sleep by the tender touch, she snapped awake when he spoke. “Did I hurt you? Before?”
Surprisingly he hadn’t. Not like when that other vampire took her blood. “Nope.”
His hand petted her hair, lulling her into a totally relaxed state. “Why did you let me take your blood?”
