Masquerade (Vampires Realm Romance Series Book 10)

by Heaton, F E

  The man vaulted the stone balustrade of the balcony and landed close to her on the gravel. He lunged for her but she evaded him, ducking to one side, and bolted towards the large hedge maze at the end of the path. He pursued her and the thrill that shot through her as his senses locked firmly on her was nothing short of intoxicating.

  Sophis turned right on entering the maze. The tall yew hedges blocked out the moonlight and she had to use her senses to guide her through the corridors and lead her safely towards the centre. The man remained a few strides behind her, never close enough to catch her but never too far away. She knew in her heart that he could end the game whenever he wanted and would easily catch her when he’d had enough of chasing her, but it seemed he was enjoying the chase as much as she was.

  It thrilled her.

  She turned this way and that through the maze, the hem of her satin dress snagging on branches as she turned corners and tried to use her full speed. Her heels slowed her down but she was surprisingly quick in them, driven by the excitement of being hunted by the man and the fantasy of what he would do with her when he finally caught her.

  The remaining sensible part of her said that his only reward should be the kiss she had promised.

  The rest of her burned with hunger for something more.

  She tugged her dress free when it caught on a branch of the yew hedge and gasped when the man grabbed her wrist, pulled her flush against him, and pressed his lips to hers. A split-second later she was free again and running, her lips throbbing from the brief hard kiss, and he was a distant snarl. He had to try harder than that if he wanted a proper kiss. He had to catch her without her being snagged.

  Sophis laughed and kept running. The cold air chilled her bare upper arms and her breasts, and her legs where she exposed them so she could run without tripping on her dress. The man growled and a shiver tripped over her flesh, the threat in it heightening her desire and excitement as much as the sense of him hunting her.

  The moon was bright as she broke out into the centre of the maze and she slowed to a walk before turning to face the direction she had come from. The tall hedge cast black shadows on the corridors between them and she couldn’t see the man without changing into her true guise. She held her desire to allow her eyes to change at bay, not wanting the man to know which bloodline she was from, and waited. Her senses remained on high alert and she could feel his on her, locked tight on their target. She breathed hard, her bosom pressing against the tight corset of her dress, and backed towards the wide stone bench at the centre of the open circle.

  She couldn’t hear him.

  Was he coming?

  Had she lost him?

  The hairs on the back of her neck rose and a shiver swept over her arms and legs.

  From the shadows, he emerged. He stalked towards her across the golden gravel, slow and purposeful, his gaze intent on her from behind his black mask, as though she was his prey. His focus on her intensified and her instincts blared in alarm, telling her that she was in danger.

  She was, but it wasn’t danger of him hurting her, but rather danger of her losing her mind and surrendering to him and her desire to chase a moment of bliss and seek her own happiness for a change.

  He didn’t want to harm her.

  He just wanted her.

  It was exciting, and wrong of her.

  Forbidden.

  Sophis didn’t see him coming. One moment he was over ten feet away and the next she was in his arms, pulled flush against the hard planes of his body, bent backwards in his arms as he kissed her with gentle force, stealing all reason from her mind. She clutched his shoulders, drawing the black material of his jacket into her fists, and moaned as he claimed his prize, his kiss turning fierce and dominant, so passionate that she could barely keep up with the rough motion of his lips against hers.

  He was breathing hard when he drew back enough that she could see his face. The fire in his dark eyes as he raked them over her, settling them on her neck and then her mouth before bringing them back to meet hers, stole her ability to breathe and she could only stare up at him, lost and waiting, hungry for more.

  “We really should talk,” he whispered in Russian. “We shouldn’t do this.”

  His gaze dropped to her mouth again and he slowly inched towards her, as though giving her a chance to stop things from happening between them. She knew that she should but she couldn’t bring herself to do it. The attraction to him, the need to feel his hands on her flesh and his mouth on hers, was too fierce to ignore.

  Sophis craned her neck and claimed his lips. They parted and he slanted his head and delved his tongue into her mouth. She met it with hers, tangling them together and savouring the taste of his kiss. His grip on her waist tightened, his fingers pressing in so hard that she was sure he might bruise her, but she didn’t care. His other hand grasped the nape of her neck, tugging strands of her long brown hair free as he twisted his fingers in them, trapping her in his arms. She moaned and surrendered to him, and his response was to devour her mouth in a way that set her on fire inside, turning her blood to flame and her will to resist to ashes.

  He lifted her off the ground, laid her down on the cold stone bench, and covered her body with his, pinning her with it as he roughly kissed her. The hand against the back of her head shifted and he grabbed her hair, tugged her head back and devoured her neck with hard passionate kisses. Sophis couldn’t contain the moan that bubbled up her throat in response. It came out harsh, full of hunger and need. She hadn’t been with a man in so long, not since becoming a vampire, and was eager to know how different it would feel. He was so rough with her, driving her to give up her restraint and become wild like him, to enjoy the moment and the passion burning between them.

  She did.

  Sophis snaked one arm around the back of his head as he kissed down her neck and across her chest, and curled her hand over the top of his head. She tangled her fingers in the longer lengths of his dark hair and held him to her as she arched into him, eager for more. Every kiss he placed on the curves of her breasts tantalised her, sending hot waves rushing deep into her core. They gathered in the pit of her stomach, heating it through and tightening it, and threatening to steal control. His hands left her side and her head and she gasped as he tugged the corset of her dress down, exposing her breasts to the cold air. His mouth claimed one nipple, tugging the pearl into its moisture, and his hand covered the other. She bit her lip, screwed her eyes shut and moaned as a flood of desire crashed through her. Her moan became a growl of pleasure when he rolled her nipple between his teeth and then gave a teasing bite, sending sparks shooting outwards in all directions. His answering growl rumbled against her and she quivered, her hunger for him bordering on desperation.

  She was going to wake up feeling like a fool tomorrow night but she didn’t care. She wanted this and she wanted him, needed this moment of mad pleasure, and she was going to have him.

  Her gloves made the task she set her mind to difficult but it didn’t take her long to undo and discard the belt that held his sword and to pop each button on his black jacket. When she reached the last button near his groin and it gave under her fingers, she moved her hand forwards, cupping the hard length in his trousers. He groaned against her breasts and kissed across them, shifting to the other one. She didn’t realise where his hand had gone until it was against the apex of her thighs beneath her layers of skirt, cupping her through her underwear. Her eyes shot wide open and she stared at the moon, dizzy with the feel of him palming her. She swallowed and shuddered, wanting nothing more than to lay on the bench beneath him and let him do as he pleased with her, but driven by her need to touch him in return.

  He drew away from her breasts when she started on his white dress shirt and watched her fingers, his black mask obscuring his expression. She couldn’t tell if he was angry or fascinated as his eyes narrowed. When the last of the buttons gave way and the two sides of his shirt fell open to reveal the delicious taut muscles of his torso, she
slowed down, filled with a sudden urge to savour the delicacy before her. He groaned and trembled when she smoothed her palms out against his broad chest, the feel of the rock hard muscles beneath her fingers almost too much for her to bear. She forced herself to continue and lightly swept her fingertips over the edges of his pectorals to the pronounced ridges of his abdomen.

  “Devil, I love the feel of your gloves on me,” he murmured in Russian, his rough voice music to her ears, sensual and seductive.

  Sophis smiled up at him as his eyes met hers. They widened when she let her claws extend and ran them over his chest. He groaned again and bucked against her, driving his hips against the hand that still pressed into her groin. She shivered and bit her lip as the scent of his blood hit her. He stared at her, following her hand as she drew it away from him and brought it to her lips. His pupils dilated and his lips parted when she inhaled the scent of his blood on her claws and gloves, and the desire in his eyes empowered her.

  She propped herself up on one elbow and touched his chest again, following close to one of the scratches, tracking the rivulet of blood that had run down his chest towards his abdomen. The droplet ran over the curve of his pectoral and onto the hard slab of his stomach and she glanced up at him to find him watching her, his lips still parted, the beautiful look of anticipation and need on his face too much to ignore. She craned her neck, poked her tongue out, and licked up the length of one of the cuts.

  His growl reverberated through her, so low and harsh that it called to her instincts and urged her to feed. He liked it.

  He leaned back, kneeling between her parted thighs, and clutched her to his chest as she licked each cut and sucked occasionally to steal a drop of blood. He tasted so good. Strong blood. Older than her.

  “Wicked,” he whispered and caught one of her hands, brought it up to his mouth and sucked her fingers.

  Sophis licked another cut, feeling every bit as wicked as he had declared her to be, and loving it. She closed her eyes and breathed him in, and frowned when a flicker of familiarity lit up inside her.

  Did she know him?

  She pulled back to look at his face so she could see if she did, but he didn’t give her the chance. He kissed her again, fierce and hungry, his mouth rough against hers. Their masks knocked together and she wanted to throw hers aside and push his away, wanted them to know each other now before things went too far. He caught her wrist when she reached for his mask, pushed her down on the bench and pinned her arm above her head. He kissed away her desire to reveal who he was and she lost herself again as she sucked on his lower lip and nipped it, drawing a little blood. He groaned and ground against her, his weight shifting to press down on her wrist.

  Her eyes went wide when he ran his hand up under her skirt, muttering something about the feel of her stockings, and paused on her thigh.

  A wicked smile tugged at his kiss-swollen lips and he looked down.

  Sophis tried to think of something to say that would explain why she had three throwing knives strapped to each of her thighs but failed.

  He ran his fingers over each small steel blade in turn and she thought he would remove them but he didn’t. His hand shifted, claiming her hip beneath her scarlet dress.

  “I love a woman who is armed,” he said with another grin and dropped down.

  His hand left hers to trail along the length of her arm and then over her breasts, and Sophis could only stare up at the round orb of the moon as he pressed kisses to her quivering thighs. Her mouth opened in a silent sigh as he licked the front of her underwear and then sucked, tasting her through the flimsy material, and then moved on. Devil, she needed him.

  He slid his fingers into the sides of her underwear and then eased it down her legs. Her eyes drifted closed and she relaxed into the bench, lifting her feet so he could get her underwear off over them.

  He kissed her calf and then moved forwards, hooking her knees over his arms, and she opened her eyes and stared into his.

  Was he giving her a chance to back down?

  Things had already gone too far for that.

  There was a chance that she had already broken the law. She might as well shatter it completely now.

  Sophis reached for him, ran her fingers along the strong line of his jaw, and let him see in her eyes that she had made her decision. She grazed her fingers down his chest and pushed herself up on one hand so she could reach his hard cock. Her legs slipped down his arms and he closed his eyes, clearly frowning behind his mask, and bit his lip. The sound of his zipper giving way was loud in the night air and it sent a tremble through her, not excitement but nerves this time. Was she really going to do this? She had gone too far already to turn back and she didn’t want this to end. She wanted him inside her, wanted to feel his hunger for her, even though she didn’t know anything about him. She wanted to lose herself in this fantasy and not be lonely anymore.

  She wanted someone to love her.

  He was hard and heavy in her hand, and he choked as she wrapped her fingers around the rigid length of him and squeezed.

  His hands moved to her lower back and he pulled her up to him. She wrapped her arms around his neck, her legs dangled over his arms and her body poised above his. He shifted his hands down to her bottom and stared at her.

  He opened his mouth to speak but Sophis pressed her finger to his lip, afraid he would ruin the moment by mentioning talking again. She didn’t care about anything he had to say. She wanted this and was going to have it, and him. The desire and attraction she felt towards him was too powerful to ignore even for a second.

  Sophis’s eyes widened as she lowered herself and the head of his cock nudged against her. She wriggled her hips forwards and it slid inside her core. He inhaled sharply at the same time as she did and then they both stilled right down to their breathing as he eased in, stretching her hungry body, satisfying her more with every inch deeper he moved. He paused when he was fully sheathed in her, his eyes as wide as hers felt, and stared at her for a moment.

  A grunt left him when she flexed her muscles around him and he snarled and tore a gasp from her by withdrawing quickly and thrusting hard into her core. Sophis screwed her eyes shut and tipped her head back. He snarled and leaned forwards, laying her back down on the bench. She pressed the back of her head into the stone slab beneath her as he pumped her hard and fast, her legs sticking up in the air. The roughness of his thrusts and his fierce grip on her hips drove her wild with desire and she worked against him, writhing and bucking, desperate for more. She couldn’t help herself and couldn’t stop herself from clutching his hands, gripping them as he held her in place. She needed more.

  He moved deeper, slower, moaning into her ear with each long thrust. She caught him around the back of his head with her hand and craned her neck. She wanted to kiss him, needed to feel his lips on hers again, claiming her mouth as hungrily as he claimed her body.

  He lowered her legs and pinned her to the bench with his body, his full weight against her, tearing a moan from her. He swallowed her next moan and she worshipped his mouth with breathy kisses and licks. His hands caught her waist again and she wrapped her legs around his hips, holding him to her, her body so hot she felt as though the sun was touching her rather than the moon and her stomach so tight she felt it might explode.

  His mouth left hers and he kissed across her cheek, nibbled her earlobe and whispered harsh hungry things into it, and then licked and sucked her throat. Sophis held him there, each thrust of his cock tearing a moan from her throat and twisting her one turn tighter inside. She furrowed her brow and tipped her head back again, pressing it so hard into the bench that it hurt. She didn’t care. She could only focus on the pleasure, on the divine feel of his body in hers, his pelvis brushing her clit with each hard plunge of his cock, and the rush of excitement from each wet kiss he placed on her throat.

  “Stay with me,” he muttered against her throat and she clung to him, holding him close, too lost to understand what he was saying or make s
ense of it. “Don’t leave me alone here.”

  She thought he was talking about the moment, about their lovemaking, and she tried to hold on for him, wanted to do as he asked, but it was impossible. She unleashed a rough guttural growl of satisfaction as the tight feeling within her exploded, sending a hot wave of tingles racing over her stomach and thighs, and her body convulsed around his. He groaned into her ear, thrusting wildly into her, riding out her orgasm and then did the one thing she had never expected as he climaxed.

  He sank his fangs into her.

  Sophis cried out at the sudden pain and it turned into a breathless moan as he thrust into her, spilling himself, and she climaxed again. White stars danced across her eyes and she couldn’t breathe, struggled to regain control in the aftermath. Ecstasy. She floated as he drank from her, his fangs deep in her throat, and his body still buried in hers. Possessing her.

  The night air turned cold again around her, chilling her skin, and she mewled when he removed his softening cock from her and licked her throat, sealing the puncture marks. She didn’t want it to be over yet.

  Sophis slowly opened her eyes and stared at him.

  It took her a few seconds to realise what she was seeing.

  Ice-blue eyes.

  He was Venia.

  Her tongue touched her own fangs. She had changed too. It must have been in response to his bite. She was relieved they were both from the same bloodline so she hadn’t broken the law but the knowledge that he was a Venia frightened her too. What if word got out that she had shirked her duty to be with him in the maze?

  “We need to talk... take off your mask,” he husked and air whooshed into her lungs as panic swept through her.