by Laura Kaye
This time it was her mouth that claimed his. His fang pinched her lip and she moaned. Then she wrapped her tongue around the other fang and flicked it repeatedly.
His mouth tasted like danger and ecstasy.
Embracing his nonhuman side so wantonly felt decadent, but also like the most natural thing she’d ever done.
Kael fisted his hands in her hair but couldn’t decide whether to pull her away or hold her there forever.
Definitely forever.
Now that he’d accepted the magic weaving around them, he felt it down deep. Being with Shayla this way was as right as breathing, as drinking blood. Her tongue curled around his right canine and he sucked in a breath and growled. His fangs were so fucking sensitive and her tongue was relentless. Pre-cum slicked the skin of her stomach where he thrust against her. She lifted a leg and wrapped it around his thigh. The sweet scent of her arousal exploded into his senses.
Called him home.
He groaned, then grabbed her shoulders and forced her backward until her body met the tall column of the iron poster on the bed. It took a little effort and even more resolve to release her from the kiss, to give up her stroking of his fangs.
But his patience was too damn close to running into the negative. And this time he wasn’t chancing making a mistake.
Shayla gasped as her back bumped into the cold metal, which he imagined got colder as he pushed the robe the rest of the way off her arms.
“Arms up and grasp onto the post.”
Breathing harder, she responded immediately and the pose perfected her posture and lifted her breasts.
“Yes. Yes, Shayla. Beautiful.” He hummed in appreciation and pulled the belt off his robe, then shrugged out of it altogether.
Desire and need drew a low growl from his chest as he reached up with the silk tie. Seconds later her hands were secured to the bedpost above her head.
Kael ran his nose up her cheek to her ear and inhaled deeply. “I don’t want to drink from you just yet—” He licked the shell of her ear “—so we’re going to keep your hands up there where they won’t be able to urge me to do something I’m not ready to do.”
He nipped her earlobe and she rubbed her cheek against the scruff on his jaw. The intimacy of the small gesture tugged at something inside him, something that had been dormant for so damn long. He leaned back to find her gaze intense and aroused, her teeth biting her bottom lip.
He narrowed his eyes at the sight. “And so long as I can’t bite you, no biting yourself.” His thumb pulled the plump skin free of her teeth then rubbed across it. He couldn’t begin to allow himself to imagine her doing the biting. “Fuck.”
Now that she was so exposed to him, he took full advantage of what he wanted to do: worship her. Prove to her that he could be good to her and do right by her.
He started by caressing her breasts which he’d admired so greedily all night. They filled his hands with warm weight and he licked and kissed and suckled her pebbled nipples deep into his mouth. He worked back and forth between them, his fingers massaging and tugging the mound his lips weren’t worshipping. She moaned and pushed herself further into his mouth and squeezed her thighs together.
Good. He wanted her as ravenous for him as he was for her.
Kael smiled at her squirming and dropped to his knees. Giving no warning, he pulled Shayla’s legs out from under her and lifted them over his shoulders until her thighs rested on them. Her gasp of surprise morphed into a guttural cry when he anchored his mouth against her swollen, wet lips. He sucked and licked and penetrated her with his tongue. Her juices flooded his senses and coated his throat, taking the worst of the edge off his demanding thirst, but it wasn’t enough.
It would never be enough, with her.
Shayla whimpered and pleaded between cries and moans. “Kael,” she rasped, igniting a wave of his own pleasure at her free use of his name. “Ka—” His name trailed off into a throaty scream as her orgasm exploded around his mouth and radiated through the rest of her body in a series of muscle spasms. Her euphoria was magnificent.
“More, Shayla. Again.” Making sure her sensitive flesh was well coated with his soothing saliva, he nicked her swollen lip with his fang. She screamed and bucked when he surrounded the cut and her clit with his lips and sucked her flesh and blood over and over again.
Kael’s body was in heaven and hell.
His cock swelled and leaked against his thighs. His sac, high and tight, ached for release. But her taste was so fucking rich and luscious—and, Christ Almighty, her blood was thick and warm and totally life-giving—he couldn’t give any of it up without at least one more fast flow of her cream down his throat. And he wanted her delirious and boneless with pleasure.
Her keening and clenching muscles told him when she was on the verge. “No, no. I…I can’t. No more. Mmm, Kael…oh, God, don’t stop—”
Her babbling cut off abruptly as her orgasm stole her breath. Her thighs squeezed his face and her whole body thrashed. Kael supported her entire weight to insure the restraints didn’t harm her wrists or shoulders. But her ecstasy was glorious and unleashed a raw feeling of masculine pride in his chest. He devoured every bit of her release, relished her sweet taste, her complete submission to his will.
And what he willed was her pleasure. Tonight. Forever.
When Shayla’s body calmed, she sagged against him. Kael eased out from under her, rose and, with a quick flick of his wrist, removed the bonds. She collapsed into his arms, her movements so fluid someone seeing her might’ve thought her drunk.
“Shh, dearheart. I have you.”
She nuzzled her face into the crook of his neck. Competing reactions erupted. The gesture was sweet and comforting, and tugged at his heart. But the proximity of her mouth to his throat also spiked his arousal as it conjured imaginings of her opening her mouth, drinking.
Taking him into her.
Sucking in a breath that failed to calm, Kael lifted Shayla into his arms and gently laid her atop his tartan robes on the bed.
And damn if she didn’t look like that was right where she belonged.
Shayla blinked her eyes open and found herself sprawled out on the bed. Her arm brushed something soft and comfortable, and she recalled Kael spreading out his robes. She stretched and fought the urge to curl up and snuggle into them. His scent lingered all around her.
Kael.
She turned her head and found him. His hard body pressed against the length of her side. A light sheen of sweat covered his brow and his tongue dragged over his bottom lip like he was tasting her there. A passing thought urged embarrassment, but she was too blissed-out to feel anything but gratitude and contentment, especially when he looked at her with such hunger.
Teasing, dragging fingers caressed her from throat to pubis. His voice was rough, raspy, full of gravel. “Are you ready for more, Shayla? I don’t mean to rush you, but I—”
She reached out and pressed three fingers against his full lips. “Don’t even think of apologizing for needing me.”
He hitched an eyebrow and kissed her fingers, then pulled them away. “Was that a command, milady?”
She blushed. “Take it how you will.” She bit her bottom lip to restrain the smile threatening to erupt.
He growled. “What did I tell you about biting yourself?”
The animalistic sound, tension in his voice, and flashing gold behind his dilated eyes thrilled her and reawakened her body. “Well, someone ought to,” she whispered.
It was quite possibly the most brazen thing she’d ever said. And she didn’t regret it one bit. Not when his mouth dropped open and his fangs elongated. She squeaked as he easily pushed her further up on the bed and crawled between her thighs.
“Just someone, Shayla? Anyone?” He braced himself with one arm while his other hand rubbed the head of his cock through her slick folds.
The sensations left her dizzy and breathless. “You.”
“Say it again,” he growled. His muscles trembled and his eyes n
early glowed.
Her heart thundered against her breastbone, deep need making her crave his body in hers. She almost couldn’t hold herself still the urge was so intense. “You. I’m yours.”
“Your body?” He pushed the thick head of his cock into her wet pussy and stilled.
She groaned and looked down between them. The erotic vision of his shaft entering her body made her core clench. He bit out a curse in what sounded like ancient Gaelic. Her gaze flew to his. “My body is yours.”
“Yes.” He pushed in further and Shayla moaned at the incredible stretching and filling of the invasion. “Your blood? Who can claim your blood?”
Shayla found it difficult to speak through her panting. “Only…you.”
His weight fell upon her and he braced himself on his elbows near her shoulders. One of his hands tangled in her braids and lifted her head up for a searing kiss. Finally he pulled away and trailed kisses to her ear. Under her hands, his taut muscles radiated leashed power. “Your virginity, Shayla, your womanhood,” he rasped.
“Yours,” she pleaded.
His body exploded in movement.
He thrust his hips until he was fully seated within her.
Shayla cried out, her body pulled between pleasure and pain. But he didn’t give her time to feel the latter, because then he threw his head back, roared in a sound that could only be described as ecstatic triumph, and dropped his face to her throat.
He bit her, burying his fangs deep within the yielding flesh of her neck.
Shayla was overwhelmed, awash in competing sensations. The speed of Kael’s actions surprised her and his pleasured shout drowned out her gasped whimper. His bite seared her throat. But all of that seemed as if in a different lifetime, because the very first sucking pull of his mouth against her throat removed every bit of pain from her body.
Euphoria. Complete and utter.
His movements possessed her, claimed her. He wrapped his body over hers as he hunched and thrust between her thighs. His hands cradled and held her as he moaned and sucked at her throat. Her body broke out in a sheen of sweat and she was slick everywhere, easing his way as he slid his massive taut frame above hers. She wrapped her arms around him and dug her fingers into his shoulder blades, his lats, his ass, as she tried to anchor herself to reality.
The suction at her throat pulled through her whole being until her toes curled against his calves. Surrendering entirely, her legs fell all the way open and she ground her center against his hammering thrusts. Each suck of his mouth throbbed in her pussy until she was mad with need.
Shayla whined and pleaded and nuzzled his hair and writhed beneath him. Kael growled as he fed and the sound vibrated through her chest.
Impossibly, her body detonated again.
She arched against his robes while her muscles clenched and pulsed around his length. For a split second, she went insane with the pleasure. Her mind couldn’t handle it. The world disappeared in a floating blissful haze as she shuddered and moaned and gasped for oxygen.
It was glorious. And totally overwhelming.
Kael licked the wounds closed on her neck and looked down at her. “That’s right, Shayla. So good. You are so fucking good.”
Her heart swelled at his praise. She had nothing to compare him to, of course, but he was proving himself an amazing lover—passionate, attentive, and impossibly sexy.
She couldn’t imagine needing—or wanting—anything more than him, than what he was giving her.
The fear of losing him at the end of the night burst into her brain and stole her breath for just a moment. It was true. It could happen. So she shoved the useless emotion away and focused on the incredible vampire still atop her. She wouldn’t waste a moment worrying. She would burn every touch, every sensation into her memory.
In case that’s all she had come morning.
Satiation surged through Kael’s system. Her powerful blood fed his muscles and reinforced his humanity. Shayla was magnificent beyond his hopes and expectations. Her body was decadence personified. Her eyes blazed with life and acceptance. Her hands held and touched him and made him feel.
And her words, the longing and…familiarity with which she called out his name.
It was their first time together, but it felt as natural as if they had always been.
Her orgasm all played out, Kael withdrew from her and sat back on his haunches. He pulled her into a sitting position and kissed her, long, languid twists of lips and tongues that spoke of much, much more than lust.
Shayla’s hand curled around his still-hard cock, her grip tentative at first, and then surer, harder. Kael gasped, and their gazes collided.
“You haven’t…” She looked down to where she stroked him.
He shook his head. “I’m not done with you yet, Shayla.”
Her eyes widened as her cheeks pinked. Her heartbeat tripped into a sprint loud enough for him to hear and pronounced enough to cause a vein to jump at her throat. “I see.”
“Do you now?” That vein had him licking his lips. “Turn around,” he whispered against her mouth as he leaned in for a deep, lingering kiss. “I want to watch you as I claim you.”
Trembling, Shayla moved until her back was to him. He pressed a large hand against her spine and she fell forward onto her hands and knees.
“It’s so much deeper this way. And I want every inch of you.”
He pushed home and they both groaned. He went slow, tormenting them both with his restraint. When he’d first entered her, Kael the Fair had disappeared in favor of a nearly feral vampire who craved blood and carnal pleasure in equal amounts. That raw male remained in him, just under the surface. But Kael wanted to draw this out, wanted to revel in every sweet sensation. It had been so long since sex had been about more than just slaking a physical thirst.
Wrapping his arms around her abdomen, Kael pulled Shayla into a kneeling position over his lap. Every bit of his skin screamed for contact with hers, and this way he could hold her as he took her.
And there was another benefit as well. He cupped her chin and guided her eyes across the room to where their movements were reflected in a huge gilded mirror hanging on the wall.
“Watch,” he commanded.
With one hand, Kael fondled and teased Shayla’s full breasts. Using his other hand and his massive thighs, he set a hot, satisfying pace gliding in and out of her velvety heat and chasing what he knew was going to be massive orgasm, one that hopefully delivered a revelation that would change the rest of his life.
Shayla urged him on with her searching hands, first gripping his hips, then reaching back over her shoulders and tangling in his hair. She murmured a string of whispered encouragements full of belonging.
The energy in Kael’s body congregated in his groin, tightening his muscles and stealing his breath. “Shayla,” he panted as he thrust and observed the beauty of their joint movements, “I want you. I want you.”
It was a chant, a prayer, a plea to the fates.
“Yes.” Her hand fisted in his hair and she reclined her head and kissed his cheek. “I…want you…too.”
“Please,” he cried, begging her, imploring the ancient blood magic that joined mates together. Unable to wait a moment longer, he sank his aching fangs into the yielding flesh of her throat.
His body was wound so tight from the intensity of the whole night with her, this time the first hot pull of her life-giving fluids unleashed his orgasm. He clamped down tighter—his mouth on her neck and his arms around her body—as he bucked against her. His cock pulsed again and again, releasing his seed deep within her. He devoured her blood, unable to stop sucking but knowing he needed to. She would already be drained from her earlier blood loss and the sheer vigor of their lovemaking.
Finally, he eased his fangs from her neck and licked her wound, his body still shuddering Around him, the room seemed to spin. He anchored himself to Shayla, held her close and prayed.
As the last streams of his cum filled her, Kael felt i
t: a sharp tingling radiating out of their still-connected loins, up his chest, and down his arm to his right hand. He gritted his teeth against the biting burn and squeezed Shayla in reassurance when she cried out at the sensation.
“It’s okay, dearhreart,” he managed. “It’s okay.”
Her head went slack against his shoulder and she unleashed a deep, sleepy sigh. He tilted his gaze to the ceiling and whispered strained, fervent words of gratitude in the ancient language.
He laid her down on the bed and stretched out alongside her. She immediately turned her body toward his. Their gazes met for a brief moment. The corner of her lip raised in a half smile. And then she fell asleep.
Lifting his hand, Kael admired the intricate mating mark, a series of symbolic knots that wrapped around the front and back of his hand. He was amazed by it, in awe. His heart ached with fullness and hope. Long-lost joy flooded his mind, enlivened his soul. Joy not just for the chance at a mate again, but because it was her.
Shayla.
Her beauty and grace and strength had already breached his heart.
He fingered the unique pattern, different from the one he’d shared with Meara. Its disappearance from his skin upon her death had been salt in the devastating wound of her loss. Never again. His life would be first and foremost about protecting Shayla’s.
Assuming…
He shook his head and focused on the decadent sight of her luscious curves, curled up against him, so trusting and vulnerable in her repose. He wished she would awaken so they could join hands and see the way the marks flowed from his right to her left in a continuous, conjoining pattern. But as her heart settled into a normal pace again, he resolved to let her rest and recuperate.
Hopefully, there was no rush. They would have all the time in the world.
As long as she wanted him the way he wanted her.
Completely. Totally. Forever.
Chapter 8
Shayla was deliciously dazed, sated like she could never need anything again in her whole life. She stretched against the soft covers and her muscles ached in a way that reminded her how she and Kael had used one another so thoroughly. She rubbed her eyes, trying to remove the grogginess from her head.
