At last.
The thought spun through his mind, picking up strength with every revolution, digging into his gut. At last, he had his mate. She was here, needing him. Nothing else mattered as he feasted on the delicately perfumed flesh so open to his hunger. Every whimper, every cry just encouraged him. There was only Allie and the drive to mark her, satisfy her, brand her as his. Caleb fought the primitive lust, fought for coherence, struggled to hold on to his humanity, but it was a losing battle. The vampire lust was upon him. Darker than bloodlust, stronger than could be imagined. A scream echoed above his head.
Allie. Dear God, Allie. He dropped his forehead against her, sucking in air, reaching for the little bit of coherence he had left that told him he was almost out of time. Definitely out of control. He pulled back.
In a move too fast to register, he switched positions, bracing her thighs apart with his, using his hand to align himself before coming down over her and pressing in. He rubbed his thumb on her most sensitive spot, kept his mouth at her breast, working both simultaneously, prolonging her orgasm, easing her through the power of his claiming because he couldn’t stop. The beast was fully upon him.
Damn, she was tight. Too damn tight.
Through their mental connection he sent a command into the confusion that consumed her a split second before he thrust. Relax.
Either she couldn’t or wouldn’t. Confusion and passion warred. He slipped through that crevice, filling her mind with his pleasure, his need. The resistance gave, and he entered her in a slow, smooth glide. He held himself still within the tight fist of her channel, cries of victory screaming through his head. She was his now. Only his.
Beneath him Allie moaned and shifted. Her heel rode up his leg, opening herself to more of whatever he wanted. And suddenly what he had wasn’t enough. He needed more. More of her cries, her passion, her taste.
Caleb pulled back. Allie twisted away. Another growl welled. It was too late to turn back. They were joined. In a few minutes it would be irrevocable. Had to be irrevocable.
He couldn’t get close enough, deep enough. He lifted her thighs over his arms, spreading her wider, grinding his groin into hers on every downstroke, her joy at the contact spilling over him in a hot incentive. He bent over, drawing her nipple deeply into his mouth with every withdrawal, keeping her with him until the explosion burned up his spine. He pulled all the way out, releasing her nipple from his mouth, releasing the wild flare of emotion in her eyes with two words. “You’re mine.”
She shook her head. He thrust back in, letting her take what she could, easing her into the idea with his body seeking with his mind as well. He didn’t just want to possess her, he wanted to bind her to him. Ensure her acceptance of him as her mate. Forever blend their lives.
He watched as she took a fraction of an inch, and then another, her body stretching to his need, her gasps sensual little punctuation marks to their passion.
“Mine.” The claim sprang out of the deepest part of him. “Tell me you’re mine.”
Another inch disappeared. And then another. With every inch the urgency increased. He leaned in, bending over her, centering his thumb over her clitoris, rubbing in cadence with her gasps. Her energy pulled at him with the same desperation, drawing him into her with her strength of will, tendrils of her energy wrapping around his. She cried out and her hips bucked, sinking him deeper.
“Say it, Allie. Give me that much.”
Her heel drew up his thigh, pulling him to her. Her inner muscles tightened, fluttered. Her back arched. Her lips parted, drawing his kiss. He changed his rhythm, capturing her cry, her gift, holding the declaration as close as he held her.
“Yours. I’m yours!”
Before the last syllable of her cry dissolved into the embracing darkness, he sank his fangs into her neck as cleanly as his cock sank those last vital inches into her body. Sealing himself against her, he took her scream—her climax as his, blending their minds, bodies, and souls, relaxing into the knowledge that she was his. At least for this moment. This time, he had her.
SHE was going to have to rethink her perception of herself as a lover. She was obviously much more into kink than she’d ever imagined. And Caleb had much more influence over her than she’d ever predicted. Allie shifted her position. He immediately pulled her against him, his hands spreading open on her back, sheltering her. Which immediately begged the question, from what?
She wiggled her fingers. My God, she’d let him tie her up. She tugged on her hands. “Could you untie me now?”
“In a minute.” His chin nuzzled her temple. A brush of his lips over the rim of her ear shot a shiver down her spine. His chuckle sent goose bumps chasing behind.
“I’d prefer now.” She had to get control of this situation. He reached up, his chest rubbing against hers. She sighed before she caught herself. His skin felt so good against her.
“I think you feel pretty good, too.”
“How do you do that?”
The soft bonds on her wrists fell away on a soft rip. “You think very loudly.”
“I do not.”
“You’ll get the hang of it.”
“Hang of what?”
“Controlling your thoughts.”
He brought her hands down, massaging her muscles. Her inner slut started to purr.
“I don’t seem to be able to control much.” Not the sickening clench in her stomach, not her reactions to this man, not what she was becoming. “And I’m not yours.”
“Are, too. You said so.”
“That was just the sex talking.”
He pulled her into his side and draped her thigh over his. “Damned good sex.”
Her head fell naturally into the hollow of his shoulder. “That doesn’t mean anything.”
“I’m saying it does.”
“Into self-delusion, are you?”
“Nope. I jut recognize the truth when it walks up and bites me on the neck.”
“I’m not a possession. You can’t just claim me.”
He cupped her stomach. “But I can hold you. You need me.”
Under his touch, the writhing pain abated. A reminder and salvation. “Until I’m converted.”
She didn’t expect him to agree, but the sheets rustled as he nodded, his biceps flexing under her head as he cupped her shoulder in his big hand. The warmth of his palm seeped into her skin, spreading beneath the surface, stretching deeper, feeding a hunger that had nothing to do with sexual desire. “But it does buy me time.”
She tilted her head back, squinting against the darkness. It was no use. She couldn’t see his face. “Do you ever give up?”
Short and sweet, his answer left no room for doubt. “Not if it’s something I want.”
And he wanted her. “And you want sex.”
A flex of his shoulder muscles and her face was tipped up. “I want you.”
Such a bald statement should have made her nervous, but it didn’t. Not coming from Caleb. There were depths to the man. The kind that harbored deep emotion. There was also a strength that suggested stability. He was the kind of man in which a woman could put her faith. If she discounted the fact he was a vampire.
Pain coiled in her gut. She frowned, remembering something he’d said. “You said you’d been through this before.”
He spread his fingers wide over her stomach. It didn’t help this time.
“Yes. With my brothers.”
She’d never heard so much said with so little emotion. She reached up, brushing the bristle on his chin, searching until she found his mouth. All the tension missing from his voice was in that tight line. She curled her fingers into a fist. “What happened?”
“I converted them.”
“Why?”
“We’ve always been close-knit.”
“They asked you to change them?”
Still that same flat monotone. “No. It just happened.”
She pushed away from him, sitting up, clutching her stomach as nausea rolled th
rough it. “How does something like that just happen?”
The darkness thickened. The hair on her arms rose as the very air stilled. “I got hungry.”
“I don’t understand.”
His hand touched her cheek with infinite tenderness. “You will.”
7
OH God, not another one. Allie clutched her stomach against the crippling pain and watched as Jared half dragged, half escorted a handsome young man into the study. Inside, the wild voice she didn’t recognize screamed, Yes!
Elation and horror rose as the lust came over her. She shook her head, backing away, running smack up against Caleb’s chest. His arm came around her, sure and strong, keeping her there. This wasn’t a dream. It was a nightmare. And worse it was one from which she’d never wake up. There was no more fooling herself. Vampires were real and she was one of them. And if that wasn’t bad enough, Caleb expected her to suck someone’s blood. The shake of her head was as instinctive as pressing back against him. She wouldn’t live like this.
“I can’t do this, Caleb.”
He wasn’t pushing her at this one as he had the others, though there was no give in his drawled, “You have to feed, Allie.”
“No.” She shook her head harder as her fangs cut through her gums. “I can’t.”
“Pretend it’s carrot juice.”
Carrot juice never affected her like this. Jared pushed the young man closer. She heard his heartbeat, felt, with total repugnance, the lust for his blood that rose within her as his scent came to her. Clean and healthy. She clapped her hands over her mouth as her newly sprouted fangs ached, and again shook her head at Jared.
She would not do this. She didn’t have to feed, didn’t have to live. She had a choice.
“You can’t possibly object to this one.” Jared lifted the hypnotized man, front and center, by the back of his coat. “There isn’t a speck of dirt on him.”
Behind her Caleb growled as the man gazed at her through vacant gray eyes, smiled, and then presented his neck. A glance over her shoulder showed Caleb looking at the young man, an aggressive set to his jaw.
“Oh, for goodness sake.” She waved her hand at the poor victim, grateful for the exasperation that helped her contain the wild hunger. “He’s enthralled, and breakfast. How can you be jealous?”
Her comment was ignored. Caleb glared at Jared. “You couldn’t find anyone else?”
Jared let go of the man, who immediately slumped to the floor. Allie yanked her foot out of reach of his hand. Yet another discovery. Enthralled people creeped her out.
“Who the hell else would you suggest? She won’t touch women, the elderly, and no matter how vile the person, if there’s a speck of dirt in sight, they’re off the chow wagon. In an area this remote, this time of year, you’re lucky I even found him.”
“You’re wasting your time.” Maybe, if she said it often enough, someone would believe her.
With a disgusted prod of his boot, Caleb edged the man’s groping hand away from her leg. “Well, she’s not feeding on him.”
“You worried she’s going to want more, and you’ll have competition?”
More? No one had told her about more. Allie looked between Caleb and his brother. “What more?”
“He didn’t tell you about that?”
“Jared . . .”
That was definitely a warning in Caleb’s voice, and it raised her suspicions nearly as much as the quirk at the edge of Jared’s mouth. The man never smiled. She glanced up at Caleb, not liking the set of his jaw. “No.”
“It’s not something she needs to worry about.”
“Not when you’re bringing her derelicts for her first feed, that’s for sure,” Jace offered from the doorway, thankfully no offering in his hand. “I’ve got to believe, even in that kind of heat, a woman could have standards.”
“Shouldn’t you be hunting up something to eat?” Caleb asked, the edge in his drawl verging on a growl.
The young man moaned. The inner beast that had taken up residence last night within Allie howled, demanding the meal who lolled on the floor. With every minute that passed the demand grew. Soon, she knew, she wouldn’t be able to resist. And now they were implying she had something more to worry about? Good God, who knew being a vampire would be so complicated?
“I’m not sucking anyone’s blood.” She included Jace in her glare this time.
He, in turn, leaned his shoulder against the worn wooden jamb. “You realize you soon won’t have a choice?”
“There’s always a choice.”
“Not in this.” The certainty in Jared’s voice made her want to slap him.
“In the feeding or the other?” Whatever that was.
“I won’t let anything go wrong.” Caleb’s hand shifted to her waist and pulled her back against him.
She looked at him over her shoulder. “Now something can go wrong?”
“There might be a concern if I wasn’t here.”
“What is this concern that you think you can control?”
The door to the back opened. The click of the latch sounded unnaturally loud to her ears.
Slade closed the door behind him with a decisive thud. “The lust for blood is often connected with the lust for intimacy.”
“I’m going to fall in love with them?” She turned all the way in Caleb’s arms and slapped his chest when he wouldn’t let her step back. “You wanted me to fall in love with that smelly, lice-infested old man you tried to get me to maul?”
Caleb caught her hand, his expression more grimace than anger. “It’s nothing as permanent as love, and it’s feeding, not mauling.”
Sex, they were talking sex. “I’d want to have sex with that derelict?”
Three yeses and one no. She didn’t know who to believe, but she wasn’t having any part of it, not the blood-sucking and not the indiscriminate sex. “I am so out of here.”
With a twist, she broke free of Caleb’s grip. As she stepped around the young man, he reached for her. The primitive, lusting voice inside her whispered how easy it would be to end both their pain. How simple it would be to sate the hunger. The voice grew stronger, the push to bend over and bite violently grew stronger. Too strong to be natural.
Feed.
She spun around. The command lingered in her mind. Faint and foreign, like nothing she’d ever felt before.
Who said that?
No answer came from the men around her. They were, however, all watching her with the same peculiar intensity as before, eyes glowing. Tendrils of invisible energy reached around her. Very recognizable, individual, and en masse. With a slash of her hand, she dismissed their influence. “Give it up already.” She pushed past Jace. She needed to get out of there. “I’m a damn vegetarian. Blood is not on my diet.”
She made it to the middle of the hallway before the dark wave of hunger rolled over her, impossibly forceful in its demand. Real this time, coming from within. A part of her. And according to Caleb, there to stay. Following the wave of hunger came the crushing pain. Harder. Longer. Building in intensity rather than diminishing. She fell back against the wall and closed her eyes. The moan she couldn’t suppress ripped from her throat. She pressed her hands into her stomach, sliding down the wall. It didn’t help. According to Caleb, nothing was going to help. She rode out the pain, panting as she’d seen women do on TV when they were in labor. As much as this hurt, it couldn’t be worse than that.
“You’re fighting a losing battle.”
She didn’t have to open her eyes to recognize Caleb. The sound of his voice, the whisper of his scent, the feel of his energy were as known to her as her own. Maybe that whole myth about whoever made a vampire owned that vampire was true, because she sure felt as if Caleb had stock in her. “So you keep telling me.”
His knee grazed her arm as he bent down. “Probably because it’s true.”
His heat enveloped her like a comforting blanket. She had the incredible urge to turn to him and let him make this all go away. E
xcept, she couldn’t. He was the enemy. “Go away.”
A cold wave of nausea swept over her, blending with the pain, making it more than it was and just slightly less than she could bear.
“I can’t.”
She believed him. Whatever bound her to him seemed to bind him, too. Making love with him had seen to that. At least the orgasm had been worth it. “You could try harder.”
The hand he placed on her brow was calloused and warm. She leaned into the stroke of his thumb. “I don’t want to.”
“I won’t feed on another human, Caleb.”
“You don’t have a choice if you want to live.”
She didn’t answer. The silence stretched, growing heavy with the implication. His thumb paused mid-stroke, pressed. Tension gathered within him and streamed to her through his touch. She opened her eyes to find him staring at her with those golden swirls gathering in his green gaze. Her hunger rose, swelled, and reasserted itself with the temptation he so beautifully presented. She brought out the compromise she’d mentioned before. “I could just munch on you.”
The swirls flared to flames. He definitely liked the idea. “We discussed this. You need to know how to fend for yourself.”
“I know how to fend for myself. Knowing isn’t the problem.”
“Now is the best time to get you around your distaste.”
Because they felt she wouldn’t be able to help herself, that her instincts would override her will. The naiveté of that almost made her smile. Almost.
“You just keep believing that.”
This time, when the pain came, it wasn’t a roll, it was a spear thrust through her gut. “Da-amn.”
Swearing didn’t help. The pain kept going deeper and deeper, riding its own momentum, burying itself in her abdomen. She knifed her knees into her chest in an effort to contain it. Caleb’s hand kept her head from slamming into her knees, and she resented the hell out of it. She needed to control something, and if the best she could come up with was beating her skull against her knees, he needed to let her do it.
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