Which was ironic, considering she had absolutely no idea what the hell she was doing, only that she wanted it to continue. She didn’t want it to stop.
There was a moment, a strange, silent communication passed only with their eyes. Thyos wanted to kiss her, she realized. And Aurelia wanted him to kiss her. So she dropped her eyes to his lips before slowly looking back into the blue pools. He seemed to acknowledge this as permission, and ever so slowly, he lowered his head until his lips brushed hers.
When his lips touched hers, everything inside of her stilled. It was an odd sensation; she’d thought that things would buzz and fireworks would go off, but for her, everything stilled. She was nearly paralyzed by his touch.
“Your heart is beating so loudly,” he murmured against her lips. He did not pull away from her. In fact, his left hand reached up to curl a stray strand of hair behind her ear. Her hair could never stay tamed. “I can feel it.” His eyes locked with hers. “I can hear it.”
Aurelia did not know how to respond to that. The ghost of a kiss still lingered on her lips. She knew she wanted more. She knew she wanted to kiss him again.
“Are you afraid?” he asked her. The tip of his nose brushed the bridge of her nose. Such a simple gesture somehow caused an influx of butterflies to erupt in her stomach.
“Terrified,” she whispered.
“Of what?”
The way he stared at her made her breath catch. As if she was fascinating, like she was something to be worshipped. As though she was beautiful. She didn’t understand why he looked at her in such a way.
“Of you,” she said. “Of this.”
He furrowed his brow gently but did not release her. “And why is that?” he asked.
She bit her bottom lip, afraid to confess. His eyes immediately dropped to the lip, and they flared a dark blue.
“Because I want this,” she told him. “And I know I should not want this. Not because you’re a vampire and not because you’re Berkano. But because you might not want me. And I couldn’t blame you because I’ve basically ruined your life since you met me—”
Before she could finish her thought, Thyos leaned down and closed the gap between them. His lips were more insistent than last time, holding her breath in place as his lips lingered. His hands dropped from her cheeks to tangle themselves up in her hair, tugging ever so gently on her roots, making the pleasure hurt just enough that she let out a small, soft moan.
“You talk too much,” Thyos said when he broke the kiss.
Aurelia nodded. Her head was getting light, but everything remained still, except the erratic beating of her heart. “I know,” she agreed. “I do it when I’m particularly nervous—”
He cut her off again by claiming her lips for a third time. This kiss was rougher, almost demanding. His tongue slid against her bottom lip, requesting permission for her to open up.
She complied willingly.
Aurelia reached out to wrap her arms around Thyos. The position was awkward and slightly uncomfortable, but she did not care, could not feel anything but his tongue in her mouth, dueling with her own, fighting for dominance.
Her fingers ran through his short hair, and she wanted to feel closer to him. She wanted to press her body against his and feel his body beneath her.
“Wait,” she murmured as she pulled away, a thought forming in her head. “Wait.”
He looked at her, silent and patient.
“Don’t you need to feed?” she asked.
Chapter 16
Thyos could not help but kiss her. He could not stop himself from doing so. She tasted of his blood and goodness that he did not deserve, that should not be tainted by anything of him.
He paused upon hearing her question. Yes. He desperately needed to feed. He was tired and exhausted, and this surge of energy at watching her feed on him, at watching her gain pleasure from feeding on him, made him forget how weak his body was.
He looked into her eyes, noticed how dark they were. She was consumed with desire, not just for his blood but for him as well. He leaned forward and kissed her again, this time with less passion. He found he simply liked kissing her, and she responded willingly.
Thyos stood up, breaking their kiss, only to crawl over her on the bed. His arms were on either side of her, trapping her between them. He could hear that heartbeat that haunted him in his sleep, that prevented him from thinking clearly. But Thyos knew it wasn’t out of pure fear. It was a fear that was internal, a fear that captured her own feelings and forced her to realize that she wanted him nearly as much as he found he wanted her.
Being careful not to press his full weight into her body, he leaned down and kissed her again. When he felt her arms wrap around his neck, when he felt her fingers dig into his clipped hair once more, he knew he was doomed to want her for the rest of his years. Just her touch caused a shudder to go down his spine, and he slowly opened her mouth with his tongue.
He was surprised at how willing she was to trust him, to open herself up to him even though this could only go one way. He could not love her; then again, she had never asked. And yet he could smell the desire she had for him. She wasn’t lying when she said she wanted this, too.
The thought that someone like her could desire someone like him made his cock twitch. This made absolutely no sense to him since he had been exhausted to the point of collapse moments ago. It did not help that Aurelia had taken his blood. It should have made him weaker. But the thought that he could have her, that he could feed from her while his cock was buried deep in her warmth was enough to give him a burst of energy.
His lips trailed from hers so he could kiss her cheekbone, the tip of her nose, the end of her chin, down her neck.
He heard Aurelia sigh in contentment and tilt her head to the side, asking him for more, and he gave it to her without hesitation. His lips started sucking on the exposed skin, pinching it, leaving tiny little marks on her skin.
Another way to claim her as his.
His hands cupped her waist, his grip tight. He refused to let her go, refused to let her move anywhere that was not in his direction.
“I’ve never,” Aurelia whispered through her gasps, through the delicious noises he was causing to spring past her lips. “I’ve never done this before.”
This caused Thyos to pause. He’d had a feeling she had never been intimate before—he could taste it and smell it in her blood. But the fact that she was admitting such a thing to him was enough to make him stop and consider what that truly meant. The fact that she did not tell him to stop, per se, was a good sign. His senses told him that even though she was afraid of wanting him, she did want him. She had not pushed him off. She was allowing him to tower over her body and to take what he wanted as his.
“I didn’t know if that made a difference or not,” she murmured, feeling her face turn pink as she continued to look deep into his eyes. He admired the fact she could hold his stare, even admitting to something as private like that. Despite their intimate behavior, they were still strangers. And yet she continued to show different ways that she trusted him. “But I wanted you to know. So yeah.”
He looked down at her with awe and wonderment in his eyes. Before he could stop himself, he reached down and cupped her cheek in his palm, tracing her bottom lip.
“You are beautiful, witch,” he told her, as sincerely as he could. He was not used to dispensing compliments, was not used to showing feelings and affection. But somehow, Aurelia made it much easier than everyone else, and he could not help but think that maybe he liked her a little more than he’d initially believed.
Thyos knew that did not address her concern, but he hoped she understood that he did not care about the fact that she was pure. Actually, it mattered to him in that he felt privileged that he was her first. Other than that, it would not stop him if she wanted him to take it from her. And judging by her scent, she did.
His hands reached for the side of her dress and began to untie the soft silk, unraveling it so all he h
ad to do was slide her sleeves out of her arms until she was completely naked for him to see. She was beautiful, glowing, and before he knew what he was doing, he traced the outline of her body with his hands, almost as if to ensure that she was real.
“You’re not real,” he murmured.
“I am,” she told him, a smile curling her lips up, her eyes slitted. “I can feel you touching me.”
“Do you like it?” he asked, quirking a brow.
“I do,” she said. “Very much.”
His hand trailed across her waist until his fingers found her mound. She stilled under his touch, but she did not tell him to stop.
Her warmth was magnetizing. He could not pull his hand away from her. Her folds were silky soft, and he found that he wanted to bury his face against her, to know what she might feel like against his mouth.
Aurelia was quiet for the most part. It was almost as though she was challenging him to get her to make those noises that he longed to hear, that he knew she could.
He would save the meal her cunt presented him for later. Now he wanted to consume her body. He wanted to bury himself so deeply inside of her that he lost all track of time and space. He wanted to feel what it was like not only to have a witch, but to have her.
However, he wanted to test something, to see what would happen. After crawling over her and positioning himself so he would cover her entire body, he reached down and slid his finger into her warmth. Gods, she was tight. Tighter than he’d originally realized. He nearly let out a groan when he felt it, felt how warm and wet she was. She might still be tense, worried, which he could understand, but she wanted him just the same.
A long, low moan popped out of her mouth, surprising even her. Her eyes rolled to the back of her head, and she spread her thighs open even further, trying to give him more access to her. The sight was more erotic than Thyos had even seen, and his eyes widened as he watched her body react. This was all instinct, and instead of being afraid of it, she embraced it. He slid his finger out before sliding it back in, just so she could feel what it would be like when he was inside of her with his thick cock. He wasn’t planning to finger fuck her this way, but he did so anyway, completely in awe of her reactions, in the noises she was making.
He’d known he would find them tempting, delectable, but hadn’t realized just much he would feel.
When he could wait no longer, he removed his finger, garnering a moan of disapproval from Aurelia.
“In all due time, witch,” he told her, an amused smile on his face at her impatience. Who would have thought she would want him this badly?
He crawled back on top of her and carefully positioned himself so his cock was at her opening. He knew this part was going to hurt her. It was going to stretch and tug and pull her, and he wanted to make sure he was gentle and respectful that this was truly her first time.
Thyos found her eyes again and stared deeply into them, trying to read them. They were open, so full of the emotion she seemed to love so much. She desired him, that much he was certain of. More than that, she was worried, perhaps hesitant because she knew there would some pain.
When he pushed inside of her, her breath caught in her throat, and her eyes rolled to the back of her head. He leaned forward and began kissing her skin, kissing her face, kissing the tension in the wrinkles around her eyes.
“I will never hurt you, Aurelia,” he told her, and he was surprised that he meant it.
She opened her eyes so she could stare into his. “I know,” she told him. And he knew she meant that as well.
He waited another moment until he finally felt her relax. Her arms looped around his neck, and he began to move inside of her, slowly at first, until he felt her heels dig into his waist, and her nails dig into his back. The noises he was getting out of her were enough to make his cock twitch, even inside of her wet cunt.
Thyos had never felt this way before. Truth be told, he had to bite his bottom lip to keep in control. If not, he knew he would release too fast, and that would be embarrassing. More than that, he wanted to make sure she felt pleasure, that she was taken care of. He wanted to please her. He wanted her to beg him for more. And in order to do that, he had to control himself.
His lips found her neck, and he enjoyed the salty-sweet taste of her skin. He could suck on her all day, suck on every inch of her body, and he wanted to. Gods, he wanted to be buried deep in her for the rest of his lifetime.
Her breathing quickened, and he could tell that she was close. Thank goodness because it was getting harder and harder for him to hold back.
There was a nagging feeling in the back of his head that there was a chance he could impregnate her, that he actually had that capability. He had never thought about such a thing before, always using some form of protection to prevent such a thing from happening. He didn’t want to sire any child, and even if protection prevented absolute pleasure, he would sacrifice it for the safety this provided him. No worry, no stress. Pure pleasure at his hands.
With Aurelia, it was different. It was always different with her. He was not surprised. Because he was currently fucking her with absolutely no protection, and since she was a witch who could not control her own powers, there was no way for her to use her ability in order to protect them.
Which was fine.
He wanted absolute pleasure with her. He did not want restrictions or boundaries. He needed to feel her completely.
And he was glad he did, because she was too perfect. Too good.
That was it. He was completely finished. He did not even pull out of her, instead releasing himself inside of her just as she began to shatter over his cock. Her orgasm was long, and she was not sure how to handle what she was feeling so he bit her neck and she let him.
Gods, he was done.
He sucked her blood and immediately felt his power return to his body. The incision in her neck almost reignited her orgasm once again.
This was perfect. She was perfect. He could see himself doing this with her over and over again.
Thyos slowly retracted his fangs, licking every last drop, before leaning over and placing his lips over the bites, kissing away the pain. Aurelia was already fast asleep, and it wasn’t long before Thyos followed suit.
He could get used to this, he realized as he slowly drifted off to sleep.
Chapter 17
That evening, Aurelia stood up on shaky feet and padded to the window. She had a single bed sheet wrapped around her frame, which seemed silly, only because Thyos had seen her naked and there didn’t seem to be anyone around here for miles and miles. There was no need to cover up.
Regardless, it was cool tonight, so the sheet helped keep her warm, and if she closed her eyes, she could make out the storm on the border, fueled with magic and danger, beauty and destruction.
Thyos was sleeping in the bed. He was beautiful in his stillness. It amazed her how paralyzed he truly was while sleeping. It was probably why most vampires chose to sleep alone. They had no one they could trust with such an intimate part of who they were. Anyone could easily stake them while they were sleeping. Their sharp abilities would not be able to wake them up, alert them of a threat.
He must trust her to fall asleep with her. And that was saying a lot, for a vampire to trust a witch. Especially a vampire like him, who probably did not trust anyone. He could not even trust his own clan.
Her eyes found the purple storms. Every time lightning flashed, the sky turned lavender. The storms were too far away for her to hear thunder, but she could not help but be awed by the dangerous beauty the storms possessed. There was part of her that had longed to attempt to race to the storms, back when she was young, when she had not manifested her powers. She’d thought that exposure to the storm would get her to manifest her powers. One time, she was even planning to run away to the storms, tired of Adela’s picking on her. Ashana had stopped her, saying that she had to wait, just like everybody else. And if her powers did not manifest, they would figure out what to do from
there.
It wasn’t so bad being here. It was almost beautiful in all of its swampy, noisy, smelly glory. It helped that her company was Thyos and only Thyos. They had only known each other a couple of days, but since meeting and having gone through all of that together, it was hard not to feel close to him.
“You’re staring at the storms,” his silky voice murmured from the bed.
“I am,” she agreed. She looked at him over her shoulder, her messy hair tumbling over her shoulder like a waterfall. “They’re so beautiful.”
“They’re deadly, like you,” he told her, finally opening his eyes into slits.
“Deadly?” she asked with amusement.
“Fatal,” he said. “A poison.”
“I am not poisonous,” she told him.
“I beg to differ,” he said. “You are a tempting poison I would gladly kill myself on each and every night.”
Aurelia let her mouth go dry. “Is that so?” she managed to get out.
“Come over here so I can show you,” he instructed, his voice low. She had never heard anything that reminded her of silk. She thought something like that could only be felt. And, she supposed, the way it slithered down her back and found a home at the base of her spine, she certainly felt the effect of his voice on her skin.
Aurelia hesitated only because she was surprised at how badly she wanted this, wanted him. She knew she would enjoy sex. She enjoyed reading about it, about the forbidden pleasures an unmarried woman was not supposed to know of. She wondered what it would feel like, what would bring pleasure and pain and addiction simultaneously. And she had found it in him, in this vampire in bed, giving her a wolfish smile as he bid her over to him for more.
He had her crawl on top of him, her lips curling into a smile. The sheet slipped away at some point, she didn’t know when, but his hands on her hips were firm and possessive. She wouldn’t be surprised if he left bruises on her hips the way he left marks up and down her body.
Poisonous Temptation: Division 2 (The Berkano Vampire Collection) Page 10