by Nora Ash
Warin leaned back in the couch, a half-smile on his face. “I appreciate your gift very much, little one. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” I mumbled, clearing my throat in an attempt not to word-vomit all over him again.
“Does this mean you are done drawing me?” he asked.
“Oh… well…” I bit my lip and tried to find the courage to ask something I’d wanted to since the first time he fed me his blood. “I know you have… a couple tattoos. The one on your arm, and… on your collarbone?” I’d glanced that one when he’d asked me to bite his shoulder.
“Yes?”
“Would you maybe be okay with me drawing them?”
His eyebrows rose. “You wish to draw my tattoos?"
"Yeah, from what I've seen of them, they look really cool, and it would be so insanely amazing to trace up real, centuries-old tattoos.” I frowned. “Er, if… they’re from your human years, of course. Can you get ink after…?”
“It’s impossible to permanently mark vampire skin. They are from my human years.” He sighed good-naturedly. "If it will please you to draw them, I don’t mind.”
I think I squealed a little bit, if Warin’s chuckle was an indicator, but I was way too excited care. I jumped up and speed-walked to get my sketchbook and pencils (because running would be too undignified). When I returned, he was standing up, and just as I realized that wait, this had to be done shirtless, Warin would be topless, he easily un-tugged his crisp shirt, pulling it over his head in one, swift motion that made the muscles in his torso flex and contract in a most hypnotic way.
And then there he stood there, right in front of me, bare from the waist up so I could see the entirety of his muscled, lean upper body.
It wasn’t that I hadn’t had my share of perverted fantasies of Warin naked, but… somehow, my imagination hadn’t been sufficient.
His skin was smooth and wintry, rippling over the tightest six-pack I’d ever seen. His pants hung low enough on his hips that I could just make out the top of a distinct “V,” and his chest broadened into well-defined pecs decorated with a gray-blue tattoo running along his collarbones. He wasn’t bodybuilder big, but he’d obviously been at his absolute physical peak when he was Changed.
The arm tattoo traveled all the way up his bicep and joined with the collarbone tattoo by his shoulders.
Oh, good goddess!
It wasn't until I pulled my eyes up high enough to notice his sly smirk that I realized I’d not only been thoroughly ogling him, but at some point I’d also started… panting? Oh, holy wow, Liv, way to be a fucking creepo!
"Uh…" I quickly looked down at my sketchpad, all the while pretending like I wasn't blushing. "They’re nice." Oh goddess, were they nice, stretched over hard muscle and smooth skin. So. Much. Bare. Skin.
"Hmm." That damned smirk was evident in his voice too. Yeah, I really hadn't been subtle.
I glanced up, willing myself into artist mode. With determination, I grabbed a pencil and walked over to him, careful to keep my eyes on his tattoos. They seemed reminiscent of tribal tattoos, but when I got closer, I could tell they’d not been made with modern needles. The edges weren’t as crisp, and his skin was slightly raised over them. I let my gaze follow the curve of the design, until the heat between my legs reminded me that I was balancing on the edge of being a creepster again.
Clearing my throat, I quickly stepped around him to see if he had more on his back.
He did.
“Oh, wow,” I mumbled at the intricate blue ink that ran the length and breadth of his spine. But instead of just geometric lines, it looked like it depicted a tree of some sort, intertwined with runes. Without thinking, I brushed my fingertips up along it, letting the raised skin tell me the story of every line that had gone into this piece of art. I’d never seen anything like it.
Too late, I sensed Warin tense, his strong back muscles locking up tight.
“Oh, sorry!” I quickly pulled my hand back. “I was just so amazed. I didn’t think…”
Warin exhaled slowly. "No, it’s okay. You can touch, if you wish."
Well, I did sort of see with my fingers… I let my pencil-free hand smooth back down his spine, noticing how the shape of his muscles gave depth to the design.
“Does it mean anything?”
“It’s the symbol of my people’s belief of the world. The runes are signs of a warrior’s path through it.”
“You were a warrior?” I asked. That explained his incredible shape.
“I was.”
I let my fingers stroke up higher, across a particularly intricate set of lines. “Was it painful to have done?”
“Very,” he said.
I smiled at his complete lack of masculine posturing. I guessed a thousand years calmed down a guy’s need to pretend nothing ever hurt. I rubbed my hand gently against his spine, part of me wishing to soothe the pain that no longer lingered, before I moved back around, dragging a finger along to rest against his shoulder tattoo.
“And this? Does this mean anything?”
“A mark of my clan.”
My hand found the neck tattoo, and I stroked across it with my palm.
"It’s meant as a protective ward," he said before I could to ask.
Something husky in his voice made me look up from his neck to his eyes.
They were dark, and that something down low in my stomach pulsed hotly in response.
And then his gaze flickered to my mouth.
I didn't pause to think—I just leaned in and pressed my lips against his.
Warin drew in a sharp breath the second before my mouth touched his, and then he just stood there, frozen… for about three seconds.
Strong hands landed on my hips, and for a moment, I thought he was going to push me away.
I was wrong.
Suddenly, I was flush against his hard body, his mouth opening under mine, and I had time to think “oh, yes!” before instinct took over and I was kissing him with all I had, enjoying his lips and tongue claiming mine, egging me on.
He pushed me back until I slammed hard against the wall, and I groaned on impact as he body pinned me there, pressing into my soft curves.
My hands slipped up over his naked chest and locked around his neck, trying to pull him closer still, until I had to turn my head from his forceful kiss so I could inhale a few gulps of air.
Warin didn't waste time, dipping his head to my now-exposed jawline and neck. He pressed his lips desperately against my skin, over and over, moaning in need, until I heard a snick, followed by a groan.
I couldn't help the small laugh that escaped me as he pulled his head back and forced his fangs to retract, running his tongue over his teeth as he did, as if to alleviate some pressure.
"Having trouble?" I breathed. My fingers snaked into the short hair at the back of his neck and I ground my hips into his, making it clear I knew his fangs were not the only parts of him wanting to break free.
He growled—actually growled—at me and attacked my mouth again, fingers digging painfully but deliciously into the swell of my hips so he could lift me.
Obediently, I wrapped my legs around his waist, only to gasp into his mouth when the pressure of his body was now focused right against my clit. He pulled his hips back a little, only to slam them back against me, rubbing me in just the right way,. This time, I was the one to groan as moisture rushed from my core, readying me.
Warin inhaled deeply, only to growl again, one of his hands moving from my hips to fist in my hair, pulling my head back roughly. Exposing my throat to him.
His kisses to my neck were fevered, demanding my submission, and I whimpered in response, my brain and body happily giving in to him.
Pleased with my surrender, Warin pulled back a little, letting me slide to the floor as his hands grabbed my shirt and ripped, sending buttons flying. He snarled at the sight of my bra, ripping it off with one hand, carelessly throwing it to the floor.
Oh, wow, this was actually going
to happen!
His demanding kisses continued down my chest, nibbling and licking at my heated skin. When he reached my left breast, his hand coming up to cup the right, I leaned forward and bit down on his shoulder, right where I’d taken his blood last.
Warin responded with a hoarse moan before he sucked my left nipple in between his soft lips.
I laughed as the tips of his fangs grazed my sensitive flesh—he was obviously struggling to keep them retracted.
"You don't have to hold them back for me," I whispered, my voice too thick with need for anything louder.
Warin pulled from my breast a little and let his fangs slide out, moaning in relief before he buried his mouth in my cleavage again. He sucked my nipples into aching points, teasing them with his sharp fangs until I was panting hard.
Only then did he sink to his knees in front of me.
“Oh,” I breathed as he looked up at me with desire thick in his lust-darkened eyes. “You want to…? You don’t have to…”
“Liv, I’ve ached to taste you since you opened the door smelling like sex and blood,” he said, a wicked smirk pulling at the corner of his mouth. And then he grabbed my pants and ripped, sending them to the floor in a shredded pile. My panties followed before my dazed brain caught on to what he was referring to.
He meant the time I’d been on my period.
I’d thought he wanted to eat me.
Not… well, eat me.
“I’m not… um, on,” I said, not entirely sure if I was feeling awkward about any potential disappointment he was about to experience, or the fact that I’d entirely misunderstood his reaction back then.
Warin didn’t respond—he leaned in to give my stomach a nip—and then lifted my left leg over his shoulder and stroked his thumbs up my slit, parting me.
I whimpered and clutched frantically at the wall when he buried his mouth against my already soaking pussy, groaning as his tongue brushed up along the center once before his cool lips closed tightly around my clit.
He wasn't gentle, and he didn't ease into it. My hips bucked fervently for his lashing tongue, and I groaned when he slipped two fingers into me with ease without ever letting up. When he curled them after that spot, pressing roughly, I flew over the edge with a wail, fingers grasping desperately at his hair.
“Oh, my goddess. Wow, Warin, that…Oh! Holy—!” My broken cry died on a long moan when he delved right back, giving my swollen clit no respite.
He licked, sucked, and finger-fucked me through three orgasms, until there was no shred of doubt left in my mind that he was definitely not disappointed. He wasn’t as loud about his pleasure as I was, but the sexy noises he groaned against my pussy were unmistakable.
Finally, when my clit couldn’t take anymore and I feebly pushed at his head to give my screaming nerves a break, he relented and eased off.
But before I could slump back against the wall and try to collect myself again, a sharp sting in my inner thigh paired with sudden and rough pressure against my G-spot sent me over again so hard I saw stars.
Through a haze of spent pleasure I looked down at Warin still kneeling between my legs. His mouth was against my inner thigh, sucking a few more times before his tongue darted out, licking the skin and sending delicious shivers up my body.
"Hungry?" I teased.
Warin looked up from his crouched position with a dark smirk. "Oh, Liv, you have no idea."
Pleasant tingles spread through my body at his dark voice and equally dark eyes, centering between my thighs. I tugged at his hair, willing him to get up so we could continue.
In a blur of speed he was on his feet, picking me up and—apparently—getting out of his pants. His naked flesh chilled my thighs while he rested me against his own.
"There is no going back now, my love,” he whispered, staring into my eyes with fire in his gaze.
I wrapped my arms around his neck, leaning my forehead against his. "I wouldn't dream of it." My voice was hoarse. Needy.
He lifted me up higher and pressed me hard against the wall again, and then, with no further warning, he entered me. Fully
“Fuck!” I stiffened and grasped onto his shoulders as my body struggled to adapt to the sudden intrusion. I was plenty wet enough to take him, but he was thick, and the difference between our body temperatures made my pussy clamp tight around his hard flesh.
Warin hissed his pleasure out as he held me to his body, his muscles shaking with the iron control he was exercising in order to give me enough time to accept his presence within me.
We both felt the moment I was ready.
I threw my head against the wall as he pulled back, only to slam right back, filling me completely.
I had honestly imagined sex with Warin many, many times, courtesy of the blood exchanges, but even in the most desperate times, I had never imagined this.
His need was as intense as my own, and he drove into me mercilessly, my paintings plummeting from the wall we were fucking against. My back slammed against the surface, but he bracketed the impact with his arms as he kept fucking me harder and faster than any human could ever replicate.
I don’t know how long he took me up against the wall—I was too lost on hazy pleasure of the delicious friction against every sensitive spot inside my clenching sex—but some time later, he decided it was time to change position.
He swung me around so swiftly my vision blurred, tossing me on the couch. I bounced once, and then he was between my legs again, anchoring me with the weight of his pelvis as he penetrated me all the way to the hilt once more. As if being parted from me was physically painful.
My only focus, the only thing I could even register, was the delicious, unrelenting, too-fast friction that was pushing me closer and closer to the brink of insanity for every smack of his hips against mine. When he reached in between us, rubbing my still-aching clit just so without ever stopping the brutal pace, I came again. And again. Bright lights burst behind my eyelids and I convulsed underneath him, keening my pleasure out as he took full control of my body.
At some point, the couch gave up underneath us. Warin braced me from the impact with his arms, easily rolling us off the ruined piece of furniture and tipping over the coffee table in the process.
We landed on the floor, still with me beneath him. I clung to him, desperately clawing at his skin, my hips slamming into the floor with enough strength for bursts of pain to seep through my lust-induced haze.
"Bed!" I managed to gasp.
He grunted and lifted me up, my legs still around his hips, only to slam me into the wall in the hallway, his arms taking the brunt of the impact.
I came again before we made it to the bedroom, just as Warin buried his fangs in my neck.
My pleasured scream turned into whimpers, not from pain, but from the intensity of the emotions burning through my body and mind as he drank from me.
Warin lifted his head from my neck at the sound of my whimper, my blood coloring his lips and teeth. The most intense look I’d ever seen burned in his dark eyes as he stared into mine. Into my soul. "You. Are. Mine."
"Always been yours," I gasped, feeling the truth of the words as I spoke them. He may have been claiming me with his body and words now, but I’d belonged to him from the moment I first saw him.
In a blur we were in bed, and soon my body was once again straining under his, fighting for release.
"Please," I begged as he tossed his head back, pinning my shoulders to the mattress, lost in our shared pleasure. "Please, Warin, I need you to… Oh, goddess, I need… with you!"
He heard me.
Letting go of my shoulders, he leaned back on his knees, pulling my lower body up by the hips while he increased the impossible speed he was driving into me with.
I was faintly aware of his growling shout of release as my entire body arched up, tensing every muscle in almost pained bliss. And then there was nothingness.
* * *
When I came to, it was to the feeling of Warin’s slow
licks along the side of my neck where he'd bitten me.
I cracked an eye open. "Still hungry?" My voice was hoarse, probably from screaming.
He looked up, his eyes softening. "No, my love. I’m not."
Love, huh? Someone certainly got in the sweet-talking mood after sex. Mind-blowing, out-of-this-world, fantastic-beyond-description sex.
I moved to scoot into his embrace, but winced when several of the muscles in my torso protested.
“Liv,” he murmured. "I was too rough." His fangs snicked down and he lifted his wrist, without a doubt to bite into it.
I slapped a hand down on his arm. “Knock it off. I’m fine, just a bit sore." Okay, a bit more than a bit. But it was a comfortable, sultry ache that confirmed that I hadn't just passed out and had the best dream ever. I rolled over so I could cuddle into his armpit, nuzzling his chest.
“If you’re sure,” he sighed.
“I’m sure. Some of us don’t get off on drinking blood, ya know.”
He pulled me in closer and buried his face in my hair, muting his rumbling chuckle in my tangled locks.
We lay in comfortable silence for a while, and as far as I was concerned—basking in the best afterglow I’d ever experienced. Sex with Warin was good—so good I was pretty sure he’d ruined me for human men forevermore, but… there was so much more than the physical pleasure between us. In my bones, I knew everything was finally… right.
I knew then that I loved him.
Not as a friend. Not even as a bit of a crush.
No. I loved him with everything I was, and everything I’d ever be. I loved him like I’d been born with the sole purpose of loving this man. There was nothing else, and there would never be anything else.
“Your heart’s beating faster again,” Warin murmured into my hair. “And you smell of fear. What’s troubling you, little one?”
“Nothing, I just… You never told me what you found out with the skinwalkers. Did you get an idea of who’s helping them?”