by Cynthia Eden
Hard. Wild. Rough.
There was desperation in his kiss, and so much lust.
The sounds of the wolves were all around them. The thudding of their paws on the snow. The howls that broke the night.
It was cold out there, bitterly cold, but she barely felt the ice around her. Right then, she was burning hot.
Drake lifted his head. Stared down at her. “Don’t ever do that again.”
Um, that wasn’t a promise she could make. She’d keep fighting, until the threats to him were gone. She wasn’t the running type, not anymore.
He kept a tight hold on her, smearing his blood over her clothes, and he turned to face the wolves who’d gathered around them. Smoke drifted in the air, but most of the flames were out, for now.
“Find them,” he shouted. “Hunt them!”
Some wolves were already in the woods, hunting. But vampires were good hunters, too.
“Find them,” Drake said again, and his voice cut through the night, “and kill them.”
The wolves howled.
Paige knew that the final war between the vampires and werewolves had begun.
Chapter Four
She could have fucking died.
Drake pulled Paige through the main house, making sure not to let her go, not even for an instant. The woman wasn’t getting away from him, hell, no.
When he’d looked up and seen her on that wall, with that vampire bastard attacking her…
He’d roared her name.
Then the vamp had shot him. The silver had burned, ripping and tearing through him as he fell to the ground. When Drake had looked up again, it had been to see Paige tumbling right over the edge of the wall.
Drake rounded the corner and shoved open the door that led to his quarters.
“Drake, look, I–”
In an instant, he spun on her. “You knew they were attacking.”
Did she look paler than before? It seemed so. Even the red of her lips had faded to a light pink. She stared up at him and gave a slow nod.
Shit. Why couldn’t she have lied? He didn’t want to know that she’d set him up.
Because then he’d have to punish her.
He headed to the left. He had blood on his hands, and he’d already smeared that blood on her. When he touched her again, he wanted his hands clean.
All he could smell was blood. His blood. The blood of the wolves who’d been attacked. The blood of the bastard she’d staked. And…
Her blood.
She’d seemed paler than before.
He whirled back to face her. As she stumbled, he picked her up and held her close against his chest. She’s a vampire, but she can still die. The scent of her blood was too strong. “Where’s the wound?”
She lifted her arm to her shoulder. Her hair had fallen forward, covering the injury, and he swept the mane back, then cursed at the sight of her flesh.
A bullet had torn through her shoulder.
Why the hell wasn’t she healing? Vampires usually healed fast enough when they were injured.
She wasn’t healing.
He took her into his bathroom. Put her down next to the shower that could easily hold three people, though he only preferred an intimate two. Then he tore open her shirt and tossed away the scraps of material so that he could see her wound.
But…it wasn’t the only wound that he found on her body. There were faint white lines on her flesh, snaking up her stomach. Sliding down her left arm. Scars. Old injuries.
Vampires didn’t scar. Those marks…she must have gotten them while she was still human.
He knelt on the marble tile so that his eyes were level with hers. “What happened to you?”
She bit her lip and glanced away. Then, voice whisper-soft, Paige said, “Nothing that matters now.”
Every single thing about her mattered.
He put his hand on her shoulder, being careful not to touch the bloody wound. She still flinched.
Because he’d hurt her…or because he’d touched her? She’d once begged for his touch. But that had been long ago.
Another damn life.
Locking his back teeth, Drake gritted, “Why aren’t you healing?”
She shrugged and still didn’t look him in the eyes.
He reached behind her and yanked on the water in the shower. The water thundered out in a hot rush and steam began to drift in the air. He didn’t worry about another attack interrupting them, not then. He’d put extra guards on sentry duty. The vamps wouldn’t be getting close again.
They’d just be dying soon.
“Too much blood loss can kill a vamp.” He knew because he’d killed his share that way before. A slow, painful death. Some folks deserved that kind of death.
Some didn’t.
The vamps who’d killed his family? They’d deserved every single moment of agony that he’d given to them.
“It’s almost stopped bleeding,” she told him. “I’ll be all right.” She glanced toward the water.
He put his hand on the curve of her waist. “You need blood.” No way to get around that. She’d been hurt, and she’d bled too much. For a vamp to get her strength back and heal, she’d need to drink.
“Yeah, well…” She gave a rough laugh that was nothing like the light, happy peal she’d once had, “Something tells me that wolves don’t exactly keep extra blood bags around for the vamp company that comes calling.”
No, they didn’t.
But if she needed blood…his gaze locked on her mouth. Her full lips. Her white teeth. Her delicate fangs.
A vampire bite is hell. Agony. Pain and degradation.
How many times had he heard that line from other wolves? Too many.
So why was he even thinking about offering her his throat?
Because it’s her. And because she saved your ass out there. No matter what else she might be doing or planning, Paige had stopped the vamp from firing that silver into his heart. A few more inches to the right, and Drake knew he would’ve been dead.
She’d saved him and wasn’t that worth a few drops of blood?
He caught her chin. Lifted her head. Her gaze found his, finally. The water flowed behind her, and that steam heated the air. “Take from me,” he told her. When an alpha gave an order, that order was obeyed. No question.
Her brow furrowed. “Um, take what?”
He caught her fingers–damn, her skin was soft–and lifted them to his throat. “Take.” He could handle this for a few minutes. He’d lock down his mind. Pretend he wasn’t being used as food and–
She snatched her hand back. Horror had her green eyes widening. “I can’t!”
She sure as hell could. “You’ve got the fangs, sweet, just sink them in.” Not like this was her first bite. She must have bled plenty of humans in her time. Bastards.
Without blood, vamps would turn to dust.
But she was shaking her head at him. “I-I’ll just take a quick shower and wash up. I’ll heal soon, and everything will be–”
Well, damn, didn’t she want his blood? Now he was starting to feel insulted. “Drink from me.” Her whole body was shaking. She needed blood. Take it.
He wasn’t gonna sit there while she got weaker. He could help her. Her fangs would sink into his flesh, and she’d feed on him. The other wolves would think he was insane for offering his neck to her. So what? Screw them.
This was for her.
Only she was still shaking her head and looking like he’d just shoved a snake at her face. “I can’t.”
“You got something against shifter blood?” Which wouldn’t make a bit of sense. Paranormals had blood that was far more powerful than that of humans.
And vamps were always about power.
Her gaze dropped to his throat. He saw her eyes widen. Saw the flicker of raw hunger on her face. She wanted his blood. No missing that.
Why wasn’t she taking it?
“Y-you don’t…understand…” Her gaze was still on his neck. “Drinking is…”
His hands curled around her waist. “I don’t want to hear about all the men you’ve tasted.” Because he’d just want to give those jerkoffs a whole world of hurt. Her mouth, on them. His beast roared. Kill. “Just…do it.”
Her laughter held a wild edge. “You’re not listening to me! I can’t!” Her voice dropped as she confessed, “Because I never have before.”
What the hell?
The words were a lie. They had to be. Drake’s hands tightened on her. “You’re a vamp. You have to drink to survive.”
“Not from a live s-source.” Her lips quivered. “I’ve never…When I drink, I-I use blood bags. I don’t take from people! Not directly.”
He frowned at her. He’d heard the rumors and whispers about some vamps going all bite-free and trying to blend better with the rest of the world. A newer, more human-friendly vamp.
He’d thought those stories were bullshit.
The vamps who’d attacked him tonight sure hadn’t been the blending variety.
“Just…give me a few minutes,” Paige told him. She pulled away. Stripped off the rest of her clothes–sweet hell–then stepped into the huge shower with its curtain of steam. “I’ll be okay.”
The hell she would.
She was in his home, back with him, and he was supposed to just stand back while she needed?
His jaw clenched as he gritted out, “We don’t have blood bags.” Why would they? It wasn’t like werewolves entertained vamps. No blood bags on the premises, and there wasn’t any damn way to get them right then.
Her body slid beneath the pounding water. Paige sighed softly and the sound was like a stroke right over his cock.
As she turned beneath the spray, letting the water pour down her back, her eyes began to drift closed. Did she really think he was just gonna walk away? He hadn’t bothered to put on a shirt when he’d raced outside. No shirt, no shoes. Just a pair of jeans stained with blood. His hands went to the snap.
When his zipper eased down with a hiss, her eyelids flew back open.
Ah, heard that, did you? A vamp’s hearing was almost as good as a shifter’s.
Almost.
“Drake?”
He loved the way she whispered his name.
He dropped the jeans and stepped into the shower. Then he positioned his body near hers. “You’re drinking from me.” He’d be her first at this, just as he’d been the first to take her body.
But she shook her head. “I don’t want to hurt you.”
“You won’t.” He pulled her against him. The water covered them both. Washing away the blood and death. Drake tilted his head to the side. His fingers curled around her chin, and he pulled her toward him. “Just start with a kiss.”
Her lips feathered over his skin.
His cock hardened even more–and the damn thing had already been swollen with need.
Her tongue slid out and licked the side of his neck. The small touch sent a rush of hot need surging through him.
He was supposed to be suffering through this. Giving her sustenance, nothing more. Dealing with the pain of her bite–
Only there wasn’t any pain yet.
Only pleasure.
“I-I can’t,” she told him again and tried to pull away.
Fuck that.
His hands locked tighter around her. He pushed her back, caging her against the tiled wall of the shower. Then his mouth took hers.
He knew one thing about vampires and their bloodlust…sex and blood were always tied for the vamps.
Sex and blood.
Her mouth opened beneath his. She kissed him back with a hunger to match his. If this was her when she was weak…
He couldn’t wait to see her when Paige was back at full strength.
His tongue slipped into her mouth. Tasted. Enjoyed the moan that rose in the back of her throat.
His cock thrust eagerly toward her, pushing hard because he damn well wanted to be inside of her.
Would be…soon.
His breath heaved out when he lifted his head. “Drink from me.”
The edge of her fangs glistened behind her slick lips.
Drake lifted his hand to his throat. His claws were out, and he sliced a thin line down the side of his throat. The better to tempt his little vamp.
The darkness of her pupils expanded in her eyes. “Drake.”
“I want you to drink from me.”
Her gaze was on the blood that dripped down his throat. Her fangs were lengthening. “Don’t…don’t let me hurt you.”
What was a little pain? Sometimes, it could even make the pleasure sweeter. He’d learned that lesson long ago, but he just told her, “You won’t.”
Her mouth went back to his throat. Kissed the skin. Sucked lightly along his flesh.
Damn. He held onto his control with every ounce of strength he had. But her body was wet, soft, and smooth. Her silken legs rubbed against his. Her breasts–tight with those pebbled nipples–pushed into his chest.
Then she licked at the blood on his throat.
His teeth ground together. His cock was so aroused that he felt like he’d erupt any minute.
Only in her.
She moaned low in her throat and licked him again. Again. She sucked his flesh once more, and he felt the score of her teeth on him.
Okay, this is it. She’ll slice into me, but it won’t last long and–
And her teeth sank into him.
Fuck, fuck, fuck!
This wasn’t about pain and degradation. This wasn’t about a vamp’s bite tearing and slicing prey.
It was about pleasure.
Because that was all he could feel then. A white-hot burst of pleasure that seemed to fill his veins and course through his body. So much pleasure that his control shattered in an instant. There was no holding back.
There was only…Paige.
He lifted her up against that tiled wall. Spread her legs.
Her mouth was still on him, lips, tongue, teeth…
His fingers slid over her core. Pushed inside her sex. So wet. So hot. She clamped down on him and held tight.
The water thundered down over him. Steam surrounded them.
In her.
He positioned his cock. Stroked over her clit. Loved her ragged moan.
The head of his cock pressed into her. Her sex stretched, straining around him. He wanted to see her, wanted to pull back–
But he couldn’t.
Drake drove into her as deep and as hard as he could. And it was just like he remembered. Tight. Hot. Heaven.
He pulled back. Thrust deep. Again and again. He lifted her up, positioning her so that she had to take all that he gave her. There was no hiding or holding back, not for either of them.
His fingers kept stroking over her clit. The way he knew she liked. The way that would make her–
Scream.
Paige lifted her mouth from his neck. Her eyes were wide, wild, and her lips were flushed red. The scream of pleasure slipped past those red lips even as he felt the contractions of her orgasm around his cock.
So good.
He kept thrusting. Faster. Harder. Rougher.
The wolf liked it rough.
So did the man.
She wrapped her legs around his hips. Wrapped her arms around his shoulders.
And she kissed him.
This time, the pleasure was his. A deep, wrenching pleasure that washed over him as he climaxed inside of her. The release blinded him and fucking seemed to gut him as it went on and on, hollowing out his body.
When the climax ended, he didn’t release her.
Because he wasn’t letting her go, not ever again.
Chapter Five
Dawn didn’t bring light. The polar night had come to Alaska weeks before, and now they were lucky if even a faint twilight would brighten the day.
Just darkness. And more darkness to come.
It was the kind of darkness most vampires loved.
Paige knew that she had never
been like most vampires. Hell, she wasn’t even a particularly good vampire.
After dressing, she carefully crept toward the bedroom door. When she’d opened her eyes, she’d been alone. The sheets beside her had been cold. Alone.
It wasn’t like she’d expected Drake to stay with her, just holding her in those quiet hours. Cuddle time wasn’t so big with vamps and werewolves, she got that.
But had the guy really needed to haul ass so quickly? Would it have killed him to just stay with her for a little while?
Her hand pressed against the wood of the closed door. She could still taste Drake on her tongue.
And feel him between her legs.
The sex had been as good as she remembered. Actually, way better than good. Drake had always been one fantastic lover and–
Someone was screaming.
The screams tore through the house, echoing, and her body tensed in instant response.
She’d screamed before, for Drake, but those screams had been about pleasure. This time, the cries filling the air were from pain.
Paige yanked open the door. The screams and yells and shouts to “Stop!” had her racing down the hallway.
Faster, faster she went. She bounded down the stairs, taking three at a time, and Paige realized could she smell blood.
Her fangs were already coming out.
“Stop, dammit, stop!” A man’s ragged plea.
She rushed down another flight of stairs, one that led to some kind of basement or–
A line of werewolves blocked her path. Paige stumbled to a halt just seconds before she would have barreled into those guys.
The screams continued, coming from a room directly behind that living wall of werewolves.
What the hell?
Her gaze darted over the men. She recognized the two werewolves who’d escorted her in…jeez, had that just been last night?
The smaller one–the guy who’d made the mistake of touching her before–shook his head. “He doesn’t want you going inside.”
Yeah, well, screw that. “He also doesn’t want you touching me.” Drake had been more than adamant on that point the last time he’d squared off with this wolf. What had been the guy’s name? Mark? Matthew?
Michael. This wolf was Michael.
Drake had been more than clear when he’d said the guy wasn’t supposed to touch her again. If Michael couldn’t touch her…