Game over.
Catija's heart stuttered to a dead stop. For the space of a heartbeat, they stood still and silent. Then he lunged. Screaming, Catija stabbed downward hard and fast, meeting little resistance as she sunk the metal into his shoulder blade. However, it did not deter him. Razor-sharp fangs sunk into her neck, hard and deep. Catija opened up her mouth to scream again, but nothing came.
The force, the pain of his bite, brought tears to her eyes and stole the air from her lungs. Blindly, her hands pulled on the handle of the dagger, trying to dislodge it so she could strike him again. When it didn't move, she tugged at the fabric of his coat, pushed at his shoulders and his head in an attempt to break free. He clasped a wrist, forcing her arm behind her where he'd wound his around her. Panicked, feeling her life force seeping out of her, Catija raised her free hand, raking her nails over his face, clawing for freedom. However, he easily restrained that hand, as well.
The band of his arm tightened around her waist with each pull of blood he drew from her body. Slowly, a soft blue light rose like vapor from her skin. Her power. Again, Catija tried to fight, tried to squirm away. But the arm around her only tightened like a constrictor with each effort, until she couldn't get any more air into her lungs.
As he drained the life and energy from her body, the only coherent thoughts streaming through what was left of her conscious mind were of Alexia. Images of her as a small child, vibrant and happy, passed in front of her eyes. Of her long, bright hair, her chubby cheeks, dark eyes shining with glee from behind long, graceful lashes. A sob stuck in her throat.
Lotharus finally pulled back, his grip on her relaxing. Unable to move or hold herself up, she hung bent over his arm, boneless and weak. Panting in small, quick breaths, Catija used her last vestiges of strength to meet Lotharus's gaze. He grinned and she instantly wished his heinous smile would not be the last thing she saw on this earth.
Summoning the last of her strength, she narrowed her eyes on his face, proud of the gashes her nails had rent on his once pristine features. Knowing how deeply that would upset him. "Go ahead," she breathed. "Finish it."
He smiled and ran his hand over her mauled throat. The Queen hissed in a breath as he dug his claws into the wound, nearly making her black out from mind-numbing agony. "All in good time, my love."
ALEXIA RAN HER FINGERS through Declan's thick hair, down the nape of his neck, over the broad bridge of his shoulders. Slick and hot, his mouth claimed hers. On contact, she felt something inside her bend and snap. Winding her arms around his neck once more, she pulled on the back of his head, dragging him closer, harder, against her. The delicious weight of him on her sent a familiar jolt of vertigo splintering through her aroused body. Every time he touched her, swept his tongue in her mouth, tangled it with hers, her head spun and the world fell away beneath her.
Her fingertips grazed his columned throat at the same time he glided his hands down hers. A trail of goose bumps followed in his wake. Again, his wing lifted her up to meet him, rubbing that deliciously hard length of him against her. A lightning crack of pleasure soared through her body. Warmth flooded her core. The skintight leather pants she wore proved to be a thin barrier, the only barrier between them. And she wanted it gone.
As if he'd read her mind, he slid the pants down her legs, replacing them with the heat of his body. She yearned for his touch, his blood, and arched her hips in invitation. Something smooth and cool wound around her back, pressing her flush against his naked body. Entranced, she allowed the wing to cup her in its embrace, allowed the dragon to wedge that very potent and intoxicating male part of him inside her. Without a moment's hesitation, she took him in.
Her hands roamed over his smooth skin, almost hot to the touch, as he moved gracefully above her, moved skillfully inside her. The heat of her desire threatened to scorch her, engulf her. And she didn't care. Everything felt right. More right than she'd ever imagined being with another person could be. She trusted it, trusted the fire between them, almost as if it were fated, meant to be. They were meant to be....
Alexia moaned, the deep, primal sound awakening her from sleep. As she slipped into consciousness, the first thing she noticed was how utterly warm she was--from the tips of her toes to her ears. Unwitting, a drowsy smile curved her lips and she nestled deeper into the mattress. A frown tightened her brow. The bed felt...different, silky.
Her eyes shot open wide. Some cognizant part of her brain struggled to discover which of the many unfamiliar sensations she was experiencing had woken her. The silken expanse of the sheets sliding beneath her arms and face. The thin air, crisp and pure and with no hint of saltwater lingering in it. The long, solid mass of warmth radiating from the body lying beside her. Or the possessive hand splayed across her abdomen. Declan.
She took a breath and held it. Where was she? What had happened? She couldn't recall anything past the fight with the horde and dragons. Closing her eyes, she fought to remember, fought to sift through the thick fog in her mind.
Cloud.
Sky.
Falling.
Her stomach lurched at the memory. She'd fallen.
Had he caught her?
A low groan rumbled by her ear and the body beside her shifted. His front curved tight against her back in a move that sent even more heat through her. The arm around her tightened, pulling her against him, and the potent, masculine scent of him curled around her. A clean and spicy smell, different and yet still Declan. He held her for a minute or more before he woke. She could tell the moment he did. The hand on her belly stiffened, as if shocked to find itself there, before it fell away.
"Sorry," he mumbled, rolling to his back.
A wave of bereft cold seeped across her. Some part of her wanted to reach back and tuck him against her, if only to experience one moment of waking up in his arms.
Then she was. Her hand reached back before her mind could stop it, landing on his bare chest. An electric jolt shot through her arm at the contact. Ignoring it, she slid her hand farther to his side and pulled. His body came without fight. The delicious weight of his arm fell back around her.
"Just hold me. Please."
She heard him pull in a breath at her plea. Not wanting to force him to do anything, she tucked her hands beneath her cheek and waited for what he'd do. At first, he didn't move. Then fingers brushed her collarbone. His hand swept her hair aside, exposing her neck and shoulder to his view. His stubble-roughened chin nuzzled into the crook of her neck. Then his mouth, those soft, warm lips she'd dreamt about, covered the side of her throat. Alexia's eyes fluttered shut and a tremor of lust skated along her spine.
On a primal urge, she arched back, grinding her bottom against him. Long and impossibly hard, his erection nestled in the curve of her hip. His mouth opened, sealing against her neck in a searing, open-mouthed kiss. Instantly, desire hummed along her skin and razor blade-sharp need clawed through her abdomen. She gasped, amazed how her body responded to the stark want and longing in his touch.
One large hand covered her hip bone, pulling her to him as he rocked forward. Alexia reached out, twisting her fingers in the satiny sheets in front of her at the force of the next wave of passion coursing through her. He didn't relent. His hungry mouth blazed a trail to her ear, taking the shell in his mouth. On fire for him, she tried to turn to her back, to see him, to touch him, but his grip on her tightened, keeping her in place. Alexia closed her eyes, a tremble unfurled down her spine, as his mouth continued its hot, sweet assault on her sensitive neck.
Strong and firm, his other hand slid upward, skating over her bare abdomen. Only then did she realize her corset was gone, replaced by a cotton bandage wrapped around her middle. Declan's hand skirted the wound, reaching up instead to cup her breast. His hand enveloped her flesh, kneading it. His long fingers twisted the tip of her achingly erect nipple, rolling it between them.
When she again pressed back against the hard length of him, a shiver raked his massive body and he exhaled an expletive into the tang
le of her hair by her ear. At the raw need in his voice, Alexia whimpered, feeling alive and on fire, yet somehow still hollow and incomplete on the inside. As if only he held the key to her sanity, her body and her soul. Only he could bring her into being, bring her back from the precipice where the scales of her existence teetered.
"Declan," she said in a voice not her own.
He stilled and lifted his head from her neck. "What do you want?" he panted. His fingers ran along her cheek, down the curve of her neck he'd just sampled. "Tell me, little vampire."
Alexia turned toward him. This time he let her fall onto her back, let her come into his arms. Her breath caught at the sight of him hovering above her, the handsome features, the deep indigo of his eyes and the delectable curve of his mouth. Yes, that's what she wanted. "Kiss me."
His eyes moved over her face, as if trying to read her mind. Then he swooped, his mouth covering hers. Alexia sighed at the contact and parted her lips, eagerly allowing him inside. Slick and hot, his tongue ran along the seam of her lips before stealing between them in a sampling lick.
Alexia lifted her hand, cupping the side of his face. The muscles beneath her palm flexed, his powerful jaw working hers open with each demanding spear of his tongue. When he finally pulled back, Alexia was breathless and quivering. She threaded her fingers into the hair at his nape, unwilling to let him get even an inch away from her. The soft curls slipped through her fingers. His panting breath feathered against her lips, warming her mouth.
"Now, what do you want?" He breathed the question against her lips. She arched her back, squirming beneath him. "Touch me."
At her request, he moaned and tilted his head slightly, angling over her. But instead of touching his lips to her mouth, he rocked forward, his hips grinding against hers. Long and iron hard, his erection nestled between her thighs. She let her knees fall wider and he collapsed into the frame of her willing body. One large hand wrapped around her, flattening on her tailbone. The back of her mind yearned for his wings to unfold and aid them as they had in her dream. However, his next move proved he didn't need the help. With a dark groan, he forced her hips up harder to meet his next dry thrust. A gasp fell from her lips, her fingers curled into his biceps.
Still, his mouth hovered over hers. His heated gaze watched her reaction to his every touch. It was maddening, erotic and driving her insane.
DECLAN RAN HIS HAND along the flat of her abdomen and back up, his knuckles skimming her breasts. Miles and miles of smooth skin met his perusing hands and he couldn't keep them off her. Although her wound had already begun healing, he avoided that section of bandaged flesh, allowing his fingertips to barely brush the velvety soft skin on either side of it.
He bent, his lips pressing against the flesh of her cheek, her jaw. A shuddered moan slid from her, and her body undulated beneath his mouth in a delicious wave. Lust, hard and rampant, stampeded through him. The blood in his body drained from his light head to his throbbing erection. Damping it down, he focused on pleasing Alexia.
His mouth traveled down the slim column of her neck, tracing the line of her collarbone and back again. Paying special attention to the soft hollow at the base of her neck where, each time his tongue flicked out, a kittenish purr would hum out of her.
Slowly, his hand slid past her rib cage, lifting to palm one breast as his mouth fell to the sensitive skin between them. Alexia arched into his hand, driving the hard nipple into the center of his palm. His head spun and his mouth watered. Feeling the weight of her in his hand, he kissed his way to her breast, placing an open-mouthed kissed on the soft skin before taking the erect tip between his lips.
Long fingers curled around the back of his head. He closed his mouth over her tight, raised nipple, twirling his tongue around the tip while mimicking the move with his fingers on her other. The hands in his hair tightened and a gasp flew from her lips.
Smiling, Declan continued his path down her body. He brushed his lips lower, grazing her ribs, her belly, her hip bones. Slowly, he slid his flattened palm into her leather pants. A little voice told him he was moving too fast, so he shifted his hand to slip back out. Her palm covered his, stopping him.
"Don't stop," she said with a sigh. Heat and arousal softened her eyes and her usually fair skin was flushed a delicate pink. Although she looked every bit like she was enjoying their love-making, he had to be certain.
"Are you..." The words stuck in his throat when she gripped his hand and pressed it under the leather for him. His heart stuttered and a low growl vibrated in his throat at the feel of her. Beneath his hand, her flesh was blistering hot and utterly bare. Not a strand of hair blocked his probing fingers from feeling the velvety softness of her sex.
"Gods," he breathed against her neck as his fingers slid between her moist folds. "You're already so wet for me."
ALEXIA HAD NO IDEA what he was talking about, but she didn't care. All she knew was she had never felt like this before. She needed him, needed his kiss, his touch, and she needed them all right now. More than blood, more than the damned crystal, more than her next breath.
"I've got to..." he murmured.
The bed shifted beneath his weight as he moved lower. Cool air blew across the heated flesh of her side where he'd lain. Firm hands gripped her waistband, shrugging her out of her pants. The fabric swooshed off her legs with the strength of his pull. A bubble of apprehension rose within her at being laid so naked, so bare, before him. She ignored it.
When he positioned himself above her thighs and forced them wide, her eyes shot open. Edging his body between her legs, he hooked one of her knees over his broad shoulder and sank down. She couldn't help the bubble from forming this time and propped herself up on one elbow to look at him.
"Declan, what..." Her words turned into a gasping sigh as the flat of his tongue laved up the seam of her sex in a languid lick.
"Declan," she cried out, a trace of uncertainty evident in her voice.
His dark head lifted. "Just relax, Alex. I would never hurt you."
Alexia chewed her bottom lip and held her breath, waiting. His piercing blue eyes never left hers as he opened his mouth, his tongue lapping up the length of her again. Alexia's thighs trembled and her arms shook as the aftershock of bliss rippled through her body from head to toe. Hot and wet, she'd never felt anything more delightfully wicked in her life.
He cocked a brow at her. Those sea-blue eyes of his danced in a way that made her racing heart trip over itself. "Do you trust me?"
At her wordless nod, he wrapped his arms tighter around her thighs, bringing her closer to his mouth. The playful tug had Alexia's bottom slipping against the sheets. She fell back against the bed with a giddy laugh that died in her throat the moment she felt his head between her thighs.
Fingers parted her folds, exposing her heated flesh to his gaze. Her stomach clenched, waiting, anticipating and craving the next pass of his mouth. She didn't have to wait long.
Blistering hot, his mouth pressed against her. She bit the inside of her cheek to keep from crying out. Declan slid his tongue against her again and again, groaning as if she were the sweetest delectable he'd ever tasted. Fevered, hungry, he devoured her, consuming her in a maelstrom of desire. Alexia clawed at the bed, the cool sheets slipping through her fingers.
With aching precision, he swirled his tongue against the apex of where she ached. The sensitive button seemed to pulse and thicken with every pull of his lips, growing more responsive with each flickering pass. When he fastened his mouth around the nub, drawing it between his teeth, balls of light peppered her vision. Every muscle in her body tightened and then melted until she was rigid and yet boneless at the same time.
Trembling, she pressed against him. He moaned, his tongue entering her channel, spearing her. Alexia gasped, her back bowing off the bed. A large hand flattened over her belly, holding her in place while his other joined his mouth between her legs. He focused the attention of his tongue back on her clit, letting his finger slip into its
place.
"Declan." She almost screamed his name as another wave of pleasure swelled inside her, lapping her insides like a tongue of fire. Her cry seemed to spur him, for he began pumping his finger in and out of her in rhythmic pulses. Her body bucked with each one. Greedy, her channel clenched around his finger, hugging and sucking him into her body. He slipped another in on his next pass, stretching her deliciously while his wicked tongue kept swirling over her clit.
In that instant, she couldn't think, couldn't see. Every muscle in her body stiffened. Her lungs seized so she was unable to breathe and her fangs stretched painfully long. The constant hum of a thousand wings in her lower belly increased. They began beating frantically against her inner walls, as if trying to break free. Then, in a moment of blinding ecstasy, the pressure surged and she exploded. She couldn't keep back her cry this time. It sang out of her. Without Declan's strong arms keeping her grounded, she was sure she would have floated to the heavens.
Shaking, gasping for air, Alexia lay limp atop the bed, unable to move. She registered Declan untwining his body from her legs. Felt the smooth brush of his warm lips upon her belly, on each rib, her breasts, her collarbone, behind her ear. The mattress dipped as he finally lay next to her, a heavy arm wound protectively around her waist.
As she floated back to awareness, the steady drumbeat throbbing inside her began to ebb. The heady wings of passion she'd flown upon slowly released her back to earth and at once she felt taken over by both wonder and vulnerability.
"I never...I never..." She looked over at him, lying beside her, and frowned. "What did you do to me?"
The corner of his lip did that curvy thing and another flutter tremored through her belly. His warm palm covered her stomach and began making small, flat circles on it as if he'd sensed the riot he caused within her.
"I hope I just pleasured you." His voice was deep, thick and confident. But his eyes held the unmistakable hint of doubt. Alexia's heart ballooned and a shy smile passed her lips. She'd never felt womanly, or much like blushing, but knew she was doing both.
Shadow of the Vampire Page 15
