“Maybe not,” she said. “But you were never purposely cruel to those you fed on either.”
“I am now. It is something I try to keep suppressed, but sometimes it slips free like it did with that woman earlier. You would be better off with Ronan and the others.”
“I’m better off with you, and that’s final.”
Physically stronger, he could force her back to Ronan’s, but what good would it do him? She’d hate him if he did, and being bound to a mate who despised him for the rest of their lives sounded like the worst kind of fate. “Simone—”
“This is not a negotiation, Killean. I accept everything about you, and we will not be separated.”
Before he could reply, she stomped past him and into the bathroom where she slammed the door behind her. Never in her life had she slammed a door, but it felt good. Simone found herself smiling as she stepped in front of the mirror to wash her face and regain some of her composure.
When she emerged, Killean sat on the edge of the bed looking a little shell-shocked. She would have felt sorry for him if she wasn’t still annoyed with him. It must be difficult for a vamp of Killean’s age to adapt to anything new, and Killean had given up the existence he’d known for centuries with Ronan, become someone he wasn’t quite sure of, and acquired a mate all within a week’s time.
He’d also expected her to be more of a pushover, but then, so had she.
Lifting his head, his golden eyes locked on hers as he held his hand out to her. “Come here.”
Simone hesitated; she longed to take his hand, but she didn’t want him thinking she was giving into him.
“We’ll stay together,” he said. “For as long as we can, but there might come a time when you have to go somewhere safer, and you’ll go because if something happens to you, Simone…”
His voice trailed off as the possibility of losing her threatened to choke him. He’d never wanted a mate, and certainly not one who was a hunter, but now that he had her, he would do anything to keep her, even if it meant she ended up hating him at some point. For now, he could give her the assurance they wouldn’t be separated.
Some of Simone’s resistance melted, and she took his hand; he pulled her forward until she stood between his legs. Taking her other hand, he clasped them both behind her back and smiled at her. The last of her irritation melted when that breathtaking smile lit his eyes.
“To tell the truth, I’m glad you don’t like me feeding on other women,” he said.
Simone was uncertain how to take that when his eyes were gleaming mischievously. “Why?”
He kept her wrists clasped behind her with one hand while he rested his palm on her hip and gave her a small shake. “Because it means I make you as crazy as you make me.”
Simone grinned at him and tugged one hand free to brush back a strand of dark brown hair falling across his forehead. Her fingers lingered on his temple before sliding down to trace his scar. He stiffened a little but didn’t knock her hand away, and though the smile slid from his lips, his eyes still twinkled.
“You drive me insane,” she told him.
“You have to be a little insane to be with me,” he murmured as he clasped his thighs against her sides and his hand rested on her ass.
“I agree. I was perfectly poised, well-mannered, and rational before you, but you make me throw out all my training in an instant.”
“I like you ill-mannered and ill-tempered,” he teased.
“You’re incorrigible.” Simone’s fingers stilled on his cheek when his smile returned.
“Come now, dear hunter, you know I much prefer you wild and improper; I think you prefer yourself that way too.”
“I do,” she admitted to him, and to herself. “I really do.”
Releasing her wrists, Killean rose in one fluid motion to stand before her. Simone would have taken a step back from the abrupt movement, but his hand cupping her butt kept her from doing so.
Lowering his mouth, his lips brushed hers as he spoke. “I think it’s time to unleash some of your wildness now.”
CHAPTER 36
He spun her around and, catching her, drew her against his chest. Simone didn’t have time to react before his hand slid around her waist and locked her in place. His lips nuzzled her ear as his other hand skimmed her breasts. Her legs went weak when he cupped one breast while he nipped at her ear.
She had no idea how he could make her go from wanting to choke him to wanting to shred his clothes from him so fast. He really had made her a little insane, but she relished the insanity as she never felt more alive than when she was in his arms.
Releasing her breast, his hand ran down the front of her shirt before slipping between her legs. He cupped her there before rubbing his fingers and palm against her in a way that had her hips finding the rhythm of his touch.
Killean nipped at her ear again before running his tongue over the outer edge of it. Grasping the button of her jeans, he tugged them open before pushing the zipper down. He dipped his hand inside her underwear and groaned when it slid through her wet curls. His mate was the most enticing woman he’d ever encountered; Simone had yet to learn how irresistible she was, but she would, and he’d be in deep shit when she did.
He couldn’t wait.
Simone gasped when the tip of Killean’s finger entered her. The heady evidence of his arousal pressed against her back as his fangs skimmed her neck. Reaching over her shoulder, she clasped the back of his head and guided it to her throat.
Simone cried out when he bit her; she gripped his wrist and rode his hand as she neared release. Then his hand was retreating, and she was left aching for more as his fangs retracted from her throat.
“Not yet, my sweet,” he murmured.
Before she could voice her disappointment, he propelled her across the room to face the wall. Killean grasped her hands and placed them on the wall.
“Keep your hands right here,” he commanded before tugging her jeans and underwear down her toned thighs and over her shapely calves. He lifted one foot to slide off one side before removing her pants.
Kneeling behind her, he ran his hands over her calves and smiled when she shivered in response. He massaged his way further up her legs, spreading them apart as he worked over her thighs and between them. Her legs nearly gave out when he gave her sex a long, slow lick before cupping her ass and slipping his hands inside her shirt.
“Lift your arms,” he said.
Simone removed her hands from the wall and lifted them so he could pull the shirt over her head. He released her shirt before unhooking her bra and tossing it aside. His erection throbbed as his gaze ran hungrily over her shapely backside. She was exquisite.
Simone turned her head to watch as he simply stood and stared at her. She was completely exposed to him, yet instead of feeling weak, she felt cherished.
“You’re beautiful,” he murmured.
When she began to turn toward him, he gripped her hips to keep her facing the wall.
“Don’t move,” he said.
Curiosity over what he intended gripped her, and she discovered she didn’t mind obeying this command as he released her to shed his clothes. She hadn’t known it was possible to undress so fast, but he was naked behind her before she could do more than blink.
A smile curved her mouth when he stepped closer. “What’s so funny, minx?” he inquired.
“I didn’t know anyone could strip so fast.”
His chest brushed her back as he settled one hand on her hip and gripped his shaft with the other. “That’s only the first of many things you’re going to learn is quite possible when it comes to the two of us.”
He slid his cock between her thighs and teased her entrance with its head.
“I look forward to them all,” Simone said when he slid partially inside her before burying himself to the hilt.
Instead of beginning to thrust and putting them both out of their misery, he remained still within her. Their breathing fell into a matching rhythm as
Killean clasped her hands and lifted them to place them on the wall with his fingers entwined in hers. Unable to stand this torment any longer, Simone pushed her hips back.
His warm breath tickled her ear when he spoke. “Don’t move.”
“Killean!” she protested, but it died when he pulled one of her hands from the wall and brought it to his mouth.
Sucking her finger into his mouth, he ran his tongue over it. When her head fell back to rest on his shoulder and her hips pushed back, he nipped her finger and growled a warning. He pulled her finger from his mouth and planted her palm on the wall.
“Don’t move again, Simone, or I’ll leave you aching all night.”
She tried to protest his words, but it came out as a whimper. He leaned slightly back, and his tongue left a trail of heated kisses across her shoulder. Moving her hair aside, he kissed her nape before cupping her ass in his palms.
Simone panted for air as everywhere he touched became electrified until her entire body felt like a live wire. Her head fell forward until her forehead rested against the wall. It took all she had not to shove demandingly against him and plead with him to end her torment, but she didn’t want it to end. She was caught in a purgatory between pleasure and pain; one she enthusiastically embraced as his hands explored her backside before slipping around to her front.
Killean was torturing himself as much as her, but the more he explored her, the more he enjoyed prolonging their release. He caressed her nipples before sinking his fangs into her shoulder. She moaned in response as the muscles of her sheath clenched around his shaft.
Releasing her breasts, he skimmed his knuckles down her flat stomach and over the curve of her hip before sliding a hand between her legs. Simone wiggled against him when he stroked her clit.
“Don’t move,” he whispered.
“Killean.” She was unable to hold back a protest.
“Don’t. Move.”
Blood trickled from the punctures she put in her bottom lip when she bit it. So lost to his torment, she hadn’t realized her fangs had extended.
The scent of her blood on the air tantalized his nostrils; he clasped her chin and turned her head toward him. When the white-blue color of her eyes met his, something more than the emotions of lust and possessiveness tore through him. This beautiful woman had willfully bound her life to his, and in doing so, she’d made his lonely and tormented existence fade away as if it never existed.
Leaning forward, he licked away the drops of her blood before claiming her mouth in a kiss. Her legs wobbled, and for a second, he thought she would collapse as he pulled his shaft out of her before sliding in again.
Simone’s fangs latched onto his lip, and she clasped the back of his head as she instinctively found the pace of his tongue and body. Something within her came undone as she drank deeper from him. She wanted more—no, she needed more.
But what more did she need?
Then, Killean grasped her hands and returned them to the wall. When his movements became harder and more demanding, she eagerly met each of them. He was far more forceful with her than he’d been before, but she yearned for this complete loss of control.
Then he was pulling away from her, and before Simone could respond, spinning her around. He gripped her hips and lifted her. Simone wrapped her legs around his waist as he sank himself inside her and clasped her wrists against the wall.
She gazed into the fiery color of his eyes while he remained unmoving inside her. The power he exuded crackled against her skin. He could snap her as easily as she could break a toothpick, but she felt no fear of this formidable man who battled to keep himself restrained from attacking others. He could be a threat to so many, but never to her.
Killean savored the beauty of her swollen lips, flushed face, and heaving breasts. The proper hunter he first encountered was gone, and in her place was a vampire who craved her mate. Killean held her eyes as he slowly began to thrust into her again.
Simone watched his muscles flexing against her while he moved with fluid grace. His body fascinated her; he fascinated her, and she wanted to experience more of him. She jerked against his restraining hold on her wrists.
“Let me touch you,” she said, and Killean released her.
Her hands settled on his shoulders before sliding down the front of his chest. She grazed her nails over his flesh as his eyes burned into hers.
“Harder,” he commanded.
For a second, she didn’t understand, but then he grasped her hand and scraped her nails down his chest. Her nails left reddened streaks on his flesh.
“Harder, Simone.”
She hated the idea of harming him, but something inside her couldn’t resist the hoarseness of his voice or the excitement she sensed building within him. She scratched him again, but not enough to draw blood.
Killean shuddered as pain and ecstasy mingled together until the Savage part of him was slowly relaxing. Apparently, it didn’t matter to the demon who felt the pain as long as it experienced some.
“Harder,” he commanded. He expected her to balk, but Simone licked her lips and obeyed him.
This time, her nails drew blood, and Killean released a sound of bliss that made her half crazed. Then she realized what she’d done to Killean. She had only a second to be disturbed about it before he clasped the back of her head and drew her mouth to the ruby rivulets trailing down his chest.
“Yes,” he groaned when she licked the blood away before sinking her fangs into him.
Killean thrust harder into her as he felt himself spiraling out of control. Her pulse quickened as her muscles gripped his cock tighter, and through their bond, her need for release battered him like a hurricane battered the shore. Sinking his fangs into her throat, he plunged into her once more and was unable to stop himself from coming when the intensity of her orgasm tore his release from him.
CHAPTER 37
Killean lay in bed, staring at the ceiling as Simone slept soundly beside him. So exhausted by what they’d exchanged, she hadn’t stirred in hours, but he didn’t dare sleep; not while they were still vulnerable.
He inhaled the mingling scents of sex and blood on the air as he tried to sort through his tumultuous thoughts. What they’d exchanged earlier was something he’d never experienced before. He’d never gotten off on pain before; he was not one of the purebreds who sought it out after fully maturing. He’d always preferred blood and death.
But now, this new, twisted creature he’d become sought to experience the suffering of others, but also thrived on it being inflicted on him too. And though there had been some hesitation in the beginning, Simone had grown more comfortable giving him what he asked for when he took her again.
Would she regret what they’d done when she woke? Would his need get worse as time progressed or would it ease if he refrained from killing humans? And if it did worsen, would Simone eventually balk and run screaming from him when his demands went from drawing his blood to something more extreme?
She’d yet to back away from anything thrown at her, but he couldn’t expect her to keep following him down this rabbit hole of increasing depravity.
Resting his hand on her hip, he gazed at her beautiful face, slack in sleep and so innocent. She was more a tigress than the timid kitten he initially believed her to be. Her proper demeanor had hidden a passionate woman who would have remained hidden if she’d continued her sheltered existence inside the hunter stronghold. Now that it was unleashed, she was more than willing to embrace it and explore it further.
Her openness was one of the things he loved about her.
The realization startled him as he stared at the woman in his arms. A woman he’d initially despised because of the circumstances of her birth. And now he wouldn’t trade her for anyone or anything; hunter or not, she was the best thing that ever happened to him.
He’d spent the years since the death of his family wondering why he survived when they died. They’d all been better than him. Animals followed his sister Betty
around like she was the Pied Piper. She’d possessed an affinity with all things four-legged, and the only time she wasn’t holding something furry was when she was sleeping.
His other sister was the most loving vampire he’d ever encountered and would run across fields to hug someone. He’d never met anyone who possessed the amount of compassion she had. His brother had been so strong, and someone Killean followed like a puppy as he tried to emulate everything his brother did. And his parents, so in love with each other and so happy. The rare times they raised their voices at one of them was when they’d done something wrong, but their patience was something Killean never possessed.
But, after all these years, he realized why he survived—for her. The events of that night forged him into the man he was—one capable of doing whatever was necessary to save and protect her. Killean would never again question why he wasn’t dead too or wish that he’d died with them; he finally had a reason for living other than death.
He would be the man she deserved.
He ran his finger briefly over her lower lip before kissing her, releasing her, and rolling carefully away. Setting his feet on the ground, he stared at the sun poking around the edges of the tan drapes covering the window.
After burning and healing so many times yesterday, he needed to feed again. Because he was her primary source of nourishment, Simone’s blood wasn’t enough to ease his hunger.
Scowling at the sun, he rose and padded naked over to the window. Pulling back a sliver of the curtain, he avoided the sun’s rays as he peered out at the town. Cars packed the busy streets, while people strolled the sidewalks. There was an endless supply of food out there, but it did him little good in the daytime.
He could call the office to order dinner again, but if a woman arrived, he couldn’t feed on her. Releasing the curtain, he stepped away from the window and glanced at Simone before walking into the bathroom. He turned on the light and slipped inside.
He left the door cracked open to hear any noise as he turned on the shower and stepped beneath the spray of water. When he finished, he toweled off, redressed, and returned to the bedroom. Simone remained sleeping while he paced from one side of the room to the other while his hunger grew with every passing second.
Bound by Darkness (The Alliance, Book 3) Page 23
