Bitten by the Beast

by Alexa Riley

  I stand there a moment and look around. This place is more than beautiful, and I wonder about the rose garden Kane told me about. It’s a dream house, really. It’s unlike anything I’ve ever seen in my life or ever thought I would. It reminds me of a grand estate built in the nineteen twenties.

  I wander around, taking all of it in until I’m back at the library once again. I step inside, hoping to see Kane, but it’s empty. Even the fireplace that was once lit is now cold. I sit down in the same chair Kane put me in and I wonder what the hell I’m doing. I’m trespassing this time, but still I sit here, unmoving.

  “Juliet.” My name is whispered, and my head snaps up to see Kane standing in the doorway of the library.

  I stand. I don’t know how long I stare at him before I’m fumbling my excuse. “I was looking for my phone,” I tell him.

  “That’s a lie,” he says, his voice deeper now.

  “I really can’t find it,” I offer lamely.

  It’s true, but I’d forgotten all about it once I’d stepped back into the house. It’s not the only thing I’ve lost today. I think I’ve lost my mind and my sense of self-preservation. Like a flash he’s in front of me. Before I know what’s happening, he’s pulling me into him as he leans down and kisses me.

  His lips are softer than I thought they would be. I’m frozen as I try to catch up and move my mouth against his. His hands come up and he pulls the ponytail from my hair. I feel his tongue graze mine and he tastes like chocolate. My hair falls free around us, and he digs his hands into it. He holds me steady as he bites at my bottom lip and I gasp. A thrill runs through me as he licks the stinging spot there before sliding into my mouth. He pulls my hair a little harder, making my head tilt back so that he can dominate me. I’m lost in his kiss and owned by his hold. It’s unlike anything I’ve ever felt, and I’m dizzy with lust.

  I wrap my arms around his neck, meeting his kiss, and he groans. He sounds almost desperate as he pulls his mouth away from mine. I cry out at the loss, but he doesn't stop. His lips move to my neck and he licks and sucks my delicate skin. I’m lifted up in his arms, and I wrap my legs around him. I’m holding on tight as he makes my body come alive with every touch.

  Bite me, I think when I feel his teeth graze me. He sucks on the place below my ear and nips at my neck. He lets out another loud groan as I try to move against him. I shamelessly hump him until my back hits a soft surface and I know we’re on the sofa.

  “What’s happening?” I breathe. My mind is so fuzzy I can’t catch up, but I’m not sure I want to. But just as fast as he was on me, now he’s standing across the room with his back to me. One of his hands is planted on the wall and he’s breathing heavily.

  I sit up and bring my fingers to my mouth, still feeling him there. I lick my lips. What happened? Why did he stop?

  “Kane?” He doesn’t answer me, but before I even say the words, I already want to take them back. “Maybe I should go.”

  “No,” he snaps. The word is a command and it makes me tingle all over when it should scare me.

  “It’s really late…or early. I haven't been to sleep yet,” I admit.

  “You’ll sleep here. I don’t want you in cars with strange men,” he tells me finally as he turns a little to face me.

  He holds a hand out, and I walk towards him. An invisible thread pulls me to him, and I swear my body is no longer my own. I should go, but when his hand takes mine those thoughts leave my mind and there is only him once again.

  “Did I wake you up?” I ask as he leads me out of the library. He doesn't seem concerned that I came into his house without permission and wandered around.

  “No, I was just going to bed and I smelled you.”

  “Smelled me?” I glance over at him, but the house is dark. With no lights on I can barely make him out.

  “Heard you,” he corrects.

  “I didn't want to leave.” His hand tightens around mine. “But…she…wanted me to leave, and I thought maybe you told her to get rid of me or something.”

  “I didn't want you to leave either. It doesn't matter now. I would have found you today, but it looks like you came back to me.” I can hear an almost wistfulness to his tone. He makes it sound romantic.

  “You would have come looking for me?” I push, wanting more.

  The idea that someone cares enough to come looking for me makes that ache I was feeling completely disappear. I’ve never had that before. Except maybe out of obligation. It was someone's job to look for me when I was in the foster system because they didn't want to lose their paychecks or explain why they were missing a kid.

  “I would have found you.” He says it with so much certainty I believe him.

  He pushes open two double doors that lead into an enormous bedroom. He puts his hand on the small of my back and walks me in. This room feels warm and safe, just like Kane. I turn around to smile at him, and that’s when I see his entire face for the first time.

  Eight

  Kane

  “You’re beautiful,” Juliet says as she reaches up and touches my face. I don’t flinch or shy away from her touch. Instead I lean into it.

  I close my eyes as her delicate hand caresses me, and it’s unlike anything I’ve felt in a century. It’s hard to recall time before the change, but I don’t think anything in my life could compare to her touch. I’ve been hiding for so long, but since the moment she walked into my home all of my walls have been crumbling. Suddenly I’ve got an eternity in front of me and I want her by my side.

  I need to explain to her what I am and the life that she’ll have if she stays with me. But I can already feel our bond connecting, and no matter what I’d say to her it would be painful for her to walk away from me. I could stop now and force her to go, but eventually we would end up this way. Juliet was destined for me, and there is no stopping it.

  “I wish I were better for you. That I was somehow whole.” I wish that I were human too, but then again, would I have this connection to her if I were just a man? Can it only be this powerful because I’m a vampire? I can’t imagine feeling so strongly for anything as I do for her, and no matter what form she is in, she will always be the one.

  “You’ve hidden your face from me this whole time, but when I look at you all I see is the man I want. How is that possible?”

  “Our souls were connected in the stars long before you were born, my love.”

  I pull her close to me and carry her to the bed. When I place her down on it I take off my suit jacket and dress shirt. I lean forward and place my lips softly against hers, and I feel her hands on my bare chest. How many times did I try to dream of who my mate would be? I certainly never thought it would be a human, but here she sits, more beautiful than my imagination could conjure.

  “I’ve never done this before,” she whispers as I kiss my way down her neck.

  “Neither have I,” I say, grabbing the hem of her sweatshirt and pulling it off of her.

  She doesn’t have a bra on underneath, and her pink-tipped breasts are bare before me. My teeth ache to taste her, but I push the feeling down and summon all my control.

  “Lie back on the bed, my sweet Juliet.”

  She does as I ask, and I gently pull her leggings off her. When those are gone I run my fingers along the lace of her panties before I slip them over her hips and toss them on the floor.

  I stand back and look at the innocent virgin before me. Her hands twitch to cover her naked body, but I hold my hand out to stop her.

  “Let me look at you,” I whisper as I take in every inch. I’ve waited for this moment for so long I don’t want to rush it. Even if I just got into bed with her now and slept, it would be the perfect night. To just feel her against me. It’s a foreign want after trying to keep everyone at bay to suddenly want someone so close.

  “I need you,” she calls to me, and I can’t deny her.

  I slip off my pants and briefs before I climb onto the bed naked with her. My hands shake as I touch her feet and the
n slide my palms up her calves and thighs. A trail of heat follows every touch, and it’s as if I’m softly branding her as mine. Or maybe this is how mates feel when they touch? I’ve never met a couple, so I don’t know. But the times of hiding away in this mansion are over. Now I feel an urge to go out and see the world. See all the things I’ve been missing because I was too worried about what I looked like. Juliet’s hands on me make me feel wanted and loved.

  “I’ve waited for you for so long,” I whisper as I kiss the inside of her thigh, and she spreads her knees.

  The scent of roses is strongest here. I use my fingers to spread her pussy lips then press my nose against her pink flower before I run my tongue between her glistening folds. She tastes sweeter than I had anticipated, and her sugary nectar melts on my tongue. My hands go under her ass and I lift her up as my mouth begins to love every inch of her.

  “Kane, oh god, what are you doing?” she moans as her hands dig into my hair.

  “I want to mark you,” I growl as the urge becomes stronger. She’s mine, and I want to have her in every way. I turn my head to the tender skin in the crease where she’s so delicate. I run my teeth along the edge there, and then my tongue. “Just a small taste,” I whisper.

  “Please,” Juliet begs as she rolls her hips upward to reach my mouth.

  Her untouched skin is so tender that when I lean down, all I have to do is barely touch her with my teeth and I leave a tiny scratch. She flinches only slightly before raising her hips once again and offering herself to me. The tiny red bead is calling to me, and I lean forward to swipe it away with my tongue. When the flavor hits my mouth, my eyes roll in the back of my head and it takes my breath away. It’s like someone has given me a shot of adrenaline and I lean forward to have another taste.

  My finger slips inside her pussy as I bite down just a little harder so that I can taste more of her. The sweetness is overwhelming, and her pussy is so tight. I can feel her virginity as I slide them in and out of her. I wonder what her virgin blood will taste like? Will it be different there?

  “More,” she moans when I take my mouth away from the cut and lick her clit. The taste of her pussy and her blood combined is enough to make my cock unbearably hard.

  I give her one last lick before I slide up her body and press my cock to her opening. “You’re mine,” I say to her before I thrust into her wetness and sink my cock deep.

  I feel her nails on my back and she cries out. I kiss her softly before my mouth moves down to her breasts and I begin to suck her nipple. She’s so tight, but her body is becoming entwined with mine. I can feel all of her emotions as if they were my own now. I can sense that she isn’t in pain and isn’t scared, but excited and yearning for more. She likes the feel of me in her and likes my mouth on her nipple. When I graze my teeth along the underside of her breast, she is at the height of her anticipation. I realize we are sharing thoughts and feelings because I’ve tasted her blood and now we are connected.

  I slip free of her body and slide back down. She begins to tell me to stop, but I quiet her.

  “Shhh. Just a taste.” I run my tongue between her folds and into her pussy.

  I can taste a hint of her blood, and it’s like a drug to me. When I’ve had my fill and she is on the edge of release, I move back up her body and slide my cock into her. She’s wrapped around me tightly as I hold myself deep. I want to thrust in and out of her, but I don’t want to leave her warmth.

  “Make love to me,” she whispers as she looks up at me with so much devotion.

  Slowly I pull out and then rock back into her. She moans and closes her eyes as she’s lost to the sensation. My lips go to her neck and I pinch her nipples. She’s everywhere around me, and the only thing I can smell is her sweet scent. She’s invaded every part of me, but it’s not enough. I will never have my fill of her.

  “My beauty,” I say as I look down at her perfection. “You were made for me.”

  Her legs tighten around me and her pussy grips my cock. “I’m close.”

  My hand leaves her breast and trails down to her stomach, where I rest my hand on her belly. Could I get her pregnant? This isn’t something I know anything about. I don’t want to think of the possibility in case it’s something we can’t have. But as I watch my cock disappear inside of her, the only thing I can think about is cumming into her womb.

  I let my thumb slip lower and onto her clit. The slick pad of my finger presses against it, and that’s all it takes for her back to arch and for her to scream my name. The sound echoes through the room, and I feel my own body tighten in response. Pure instinct is telling me I have to cum now, and I can’t hold back a second longer.

  My cock swells inside her and I grunt as I hold myself deep and release. Her pussy grips me and demands I give her more. I do as she commands, and my body feels like it’s being drained. There is so much cum that it spills out around my cock and down her ass onto the bed.

  “Fuck!” I bellow as my knees become weak and I nearly collapse on top of her.

  Before I lose all my strength, I roll us over so that Juliet is on top of me and I’m still buried deep inside of her. My cock is still hard and I thrust up because I can’t stop making love to her. My body might have just been drained, but it’s already recovering and demanding more.

  “Again?” Juliet looks at me with wide eyes as she sits up and feels my length as hard as before. Her hips rock back and forth a few times, and she moans in spite of herself.

  “We’re only getting started, my love,” I say as I grab her round hips and sink deeper.

  Nine

  Juliet

  I open my eyes and feel a big body wrapped around me. I thought I dreamed everything, but Kane lying next to me is proof that it’s real. Even though most of it seems too crazy to be true. I want to turn in his arms to look at him, but his weight is too heavy. I have to use all my force to finally get him to move enough for me to be able to roll over. He sleeps like the dead.

  The only light in the room comes from the candles on the fireplace. Kane lit them after our third round of sex. Or was it the fourth? I’d wanted more light in the room to see him better. He was a little hesitant at first, but when I said please he moved quickly to give me what I wanted. Too quickly, in fact.

  There are a lot of things about Kane that aren’t adding up. Things that should be scaring me. Like when his eyes flashed and they appeared to be different colors. The way he could move his body and how he could read my mind. It’s like I was in his and he was in mine. Our connection was so deep that it couldn’t be real. Sex must be messing with my head.

  I reach out and run my finger down his face, feeling the scars. I wonder what happened to him. Not just the pain that caused the scars, but also the pain of locking himself away from the world. I know that’s what he was doing with how he shielded his face from me.

  I don’t think the scars make him ugly by any means. Maybe it’s wrong to find them sexy. But between them and his size, I’m drawn to him. He’s like a scarred warrior who’s always ready for battle. He could handle anything, and it makes me feel safe. It’s a feeling I’ve never had before, and oddly I have it here in his arms. I could feel the pull to come back here last night and I always trust my gut. It’s kept me safe my whole life.

  Suddenly Kane’s eyes fly open and his arm locks around me. It nearly takes the air right out of my lungs.

  “Sorry,” he rushes to say and loosens his hold. I watch the black that had taken over his eyes retreat. Or at least that what it looked like. But maybe it’s the light from the candles playing tricks on me. “I thought maybe I dreamed you.”

  I smile. “I was scared I’d dreamed you, too,” I admit. I lean up and brush my mouth against his. He wastes no time flipping us so I’m under him and he kisses me back. He knees my legs apart and easily thrusts inside of me. Last night's love-making still coats the inside of me. It has my body wet and ready for him, and I moan at the sensation. I thought with it being my first time only hours ago
and how big he is, it would hurt more. But all I’ve felt is pure pleasure. It’s addictive and consuming.

  “Yes,” I whisper as he thrusts in and out of me.

  It isn’t long before we are both cumming once again. I’ve lost count of how many orgasms he’s given me. He drops down but doesn’t allow his weight to hit me as he kisses and licks my neck. I’ve noticed he always likes to have his mouth on me. Not that I’m complaining.

  “Are you sore?”

  “Sore is not what I am right now. I’m pretty sure this might be what heaven feels like,” I laugh. My whole body is buzzing in delight. Then my stomach lets out a loud growl and I laugh again.

  Kane’s face grows even more serious. “How could I forget to feed you?”

  He shakes his head and pulls out of my body. I moan as his hard cock slips free. That’s another odd thing about Kane. The man is always hard. Isn’t it supposed to go down at some point?

  I hear him mumbling about taking better care of me and something about me being human. I sit up and watch him move about the room as he gets dressed and talks to himself. I have to fight a laugh because it’s adorable and also sweet that he’s so worried about taking care of me. Another first for me. I was always the care-taker when I was growing up, making sure the other kids around me were fed and doing what they were supposed to.

  “I think you took pretty good care of me last night,” I tease, leaning back to rest against the headboard. My breasts are bared to him and I don’t have a care in the world. My shyness when it comes to Kane completely dissolved last night. How could it not when his mouth has left no inch of my skin untouched?

  He licks his lips as his eyes roam over my breasts as if he’s never seen them before. “You’re very distracting,” he tells me, coming to stand beside the bed.

  “Are you complaining?” I raise an eyebrow because I like teasing him for some reason.

  “I’d never complain about you,” he says, making me laugh. “I just need to make sure you don’t distract me from taking care of you. I’m going to feed you now. I’m sure the housekeeper can make something.”