Henry hovered above her opening and turned his eyes up to stare at her. Echo’s heart raced in anticipation, her breathing was labored, and she could feel a sheen of sweat appear on her body. As he slowly dragged his tongue along her slit and flicked it across the tip of her clit, the audience faded from her sight and she moaned out in pleasure. The layer of venom from his tongue seeped into her flesh and sent a spark into her clit, causing her hips to buck in response. He flicked his tongue across her clit numerous times, teasing her, and her body writhed under him begging for more. Echo could feel her desire build, and the promise of an orgasm tingled through her. He wouldn’t even have to fuck her she was so turned on.
With the hunger of a starving man, Henry’s mouth fell onto her pussy. He dug his fingers deep into the flesh of her thighs and his tongue plunged in and out of her entrance as he fucked her with it. She screamed out in pure rapture and tried to push her hips harder against his mouth unsuccessfully as the ropes still constricted her movements. With intense passion, he devoured her, sucking her clit hard between his teeth. The sharp edges sent a shiver of pain deep into her core but the pain was intoxicating and she suddenly craved it. As he nibbled her swollen nub, his tongue flicked across the tip, triggering her orgasm. The pulsing pleasure slammed into her body, her juices flowing into Henry’s mouth. He lapped up her cream. The feeling of his cool tongue twisting with her heated explosion kept her desire pulsing in high gear and she writhed beneath him, feeling the sharp edges of the slab under her cutting into her back. Off in the distance, seeping in through the haze of desire Echo swore she heard someone yelling at him to finish her off. When Henry pulled away from her pussy, she whimpered, her ache for him coursing through her body. Juice-slicked kisses trailed above her mound across the flat of her stomach and she looked down to see that he was moving his way up to her breasts.
Impatience raged through her and Echo’s mind was wracked with nothing but utter need for Henry to take her. She needed him, craved him, and she couldn’t hold still as her anticipation took control. His tongue teased across her nipples before he sucked the left one deep into his mouth. He bit down and she squealed as pleasure shot into her. He pulled her nipple tight before releasing it and clamping down on the other one. Another squeal as he pulled tight on her right nipple before letting it pop free from his bite. He trailed his tongue up along her neckline as her veins pulsed, begging for his bite as she panted heavily awaiting it.
When the bite didn’t come and Henry pushed himself up from her, Echo screamed in rage and pulled against the ropes, causing them to scrape against her flesh. Her lust for Henry was out of control and she couldn’t explain it, nor did she care to. All she wanted was to feel him planted deep within her body and for him to feed from her.
Numerous moans and groans and even a few subtle laughs found their way to her from beyond the haze and she briefly wondered if her behavior replicated fear in the eyes of the onlookers.
Henry suddenly hovered above her body, planting his hands firmly on the slab above her shoulders, and she knew it was time. The glaze of lust in his eyes told her he would not be gentle like before. He was going to fill her to the hilt and her pussy was excited by the intention. Needing his massive size, she tried to spread herself as wide open as she could.
Henry reached down, guiding his dick so the plum rested just at her entrance. She wiggled beneath him, eager to be filled. He pushed in, teasing her with just a taste as he ran his hand up the length of her body, tweaking her nipples before once more grabbing hold of the rock. His hips shifted, sinking himself in another inch and Echo moaned as she struggled against the ropes when everything seemed to slow down. With a firm push he plunged deep into her body, her pussy screaming in pain as her lips stretched around his girth. She welcomed it, needing the ache that quickly turned to pleasure and with great effort he rammed his cock in and out of her slick hole, grunting with the effort, sweat from his body dripping down onto her. The echo of their bodies slapping together resounded throughout the cave, Henry’s groans filling her ears. The promise of another orgasm hovered in the distance and though she hungered for the sensation, Echo focused on keeping it back. She had to hold off, to allow Henry to be ready.
With each thrusting motion, Echo’s body was slammed against the rough rock of the slab beneath her. She could feel the burn as her skin was scraped away and blood seeped from the wounds. She found the whole scene oddly erotic and the pulse in her clit told her she wouldn’t be able to hold off much longer.
As if he’d read her mind Echo watched with fearful desire as Henry bared his fangs, their points glistening in the candlelight as his dick twitched inside her.
“I’m yours,” she whispered as Henry leaned down and sank his teeth into her neck, piercing her flesh, causing her blood to pour into his mouth.
Searing pain coursed through her and as she screamed out she heard Corrine screech, “No! What are you doing! Stop him!”
But there was no stopping him. Henry drank in her blood laced with her gift, as he continued to fuck her. Echo felt her life force being drained from her body as her orgasm raged throughout her and she came in full force. Through her sensory overload she felt Henry’s dick spasm, and with one final thrust, hot spurts of his semen filled her pussy. A flash of light assaulted her vision as she pulled against the ropes, tiny flame igniting them, freeing her to clamp herself around Henry’s body. She wrapped her legs up around his torso and dug her fingernails in the meaty flesh of his back, bringing droplets of his blood to the service.
Echo’s body tingled as Henry’s essence filled her and with his dick fully seated in her pussy, his fangs piercing her neck, the bonding began. Her mind swam and her body suddenly felt as if she were floating as her emotions were overwhelmed. She felt Henry’s presence, their life forces blending together until it became difficult to distinguish whose feelings were whose. She could suddenly hear his thoughts and experience his emotions. His fear that he was not a good enough mate for her, that she would never truly love him, his unbridled devotion to her, and his rage that the tall Vampire had taken liberties by touching her all coursed through her mind. Her vision filled with sparks of light and the hole in her heart that had been left by Charlie was healed by her love for Henry. Without doubt she knew he would never leave her, that they would be together forever.
She also felt the explosion of her gift course into her veins as her awakening had been completed.
With a flash of movement, Henry pulled back, releasing his hold on her neck. Her blood dripped freely from his lips and rage pulsed in his vision as his eyes darted around the circle. Vampires screamed and hissed, crouching down defensively as they backed away from the one who had just betrayed their coven and had signed each of their death warrants. A deep guttural growl boiled from within him and sent shivers across her flesh. He was in full protective mode and not a single body in the cave was safe from his wrath.
Needing him to break free from his rage, Echo reached up and cupped her hand against his cheek, instinctively releasing a sliver of her gift into him.
“Henry.” Her voice was a mere whisper, but he looked down at her in response, an expression of serenity softening the anger that had been etched there. He slid free from her body and pulled Echo up from the rock, turning her to check her back for injuries. He’d rammed her into the stone pretty hard and although she could feel the ache from the cuts and bruises she envisioned were splattered across her flesh, she wasn’t concerned. If her body could heal deep cuts from impaled glass, it could heal scrapes from the rock of love.
“I’m fine,” she reassured him as he dragged his hand gingerly down her shredded flesh.
“Oh love, I’m so sorry.” His remorse deeply pained her and Echo reminded herself that it would take a while to become accustomed to their bonding. Henry’s emotion consumed her and her desire was simply to comfort him, but before she could attend to his wounded heart she needed to attend to Corrine.
“Really, Henry. It barely
hurts, plus I can feel it healing.”
From the look in Henry’s eyes, he was struggling with his own overwhelming reaction to their bond. It was going to be interesting to say the least. She internally chuckled at the thought of a premenstrual Vampire and hoped that they would figure out the balance before it came to that.
Movement to her left snapped her to attention, and Echo turned to find the two creepers watching her in fear. Echo was now the deadliest enemy they had and they’d crossed the line with her on more than one occasion. Her need to crush them coupled with Henry’s rage at their behavior boiled in her and before she could think it through, she released her gift, engulfing them in angry blue flames. Their screams filled her ears, her desire to destroy them only satisfied when they fell silent.
“Do you see what you’ve done? She’s a monster!” Corrine’s screeching rebuke aimed at Henry echoed throughout the cave. “She’ll kill us all—you included if you cross her! How could you?”
With startling swiftness, Henry rushed Corrine and gripped her neck in his hand as he slammed her against the cave wall. She scratched and clawed at his hand as she hissed and bared her fangs at him. “Let…go!” Her words were choked and did not come out in the screeching tone Echo was sure she’d meant them to.
“I could snap your neck, end it all, right now if you’d like.” His words were dark and venomous as he held his sister pressed into the wall.
Corrine’s eyes widened in fear as she shook her head, and for a brief moment, Echo felt a twinge of sadness for the woman. She walked up to Henry and placed her hand on his arm.
“Let her go, Henry. She can’t hurt me now.”
He looked down at Echo then back to Corrine and she wondered if the sadness she felt came from Henry’s heart, not hers. Slowly, he lowered her to the floor of the cave and released his death grip on her neck. She choked past the pain and rubbed her hands against the red marks that shadowed where he’d held her.
“Run.” He spoke a single word, but it had more meaning than anything else he could have said. She was to run and never come back, run and leave behind her vengeful intentions, run or he would make good on his threat and snap her neck. With a final glare at both Henry and Echo, Corrine fled the cave, following the rest of the coven in an effort to find a safe haven, as far away from Echo as possible.
Now alone in the candlelit cavern, Henry walked over and grabbed his white dress shirt from the ground and helped slide it onto Echo’s body.
“Are you okay?”
She looked up into his baby-blue eyes and smiled.
“I am now. Take me home?”
Chapter Twenty
The drive back out to her house was quiet. So much had happened and Echo chose to allow Henry to process, knowing that he needed it as much as she did. She stared out of the car window and watched the starry sky pass by, reflecting on how her life would be forever changed from this night forward.
When Henry had proposed the bonding, she’d originally scoffed at the idea. Giving herself solely over to one man was absurd, let alone a man she struggled to trust. She admitted that she didn’t really understand the intensity of bonding or how it would save her, but Henry had sworn to her that if she allowed the bond to take place, Corrine would be powerless to steal her gift. With hesitation, she’d agreed but only after Henry had promised that once they’d bonded he would back off and give her time.
He’d told her he understood her trepidation in trusting him and assured her that though they would become one in a spiritual sense and be bound to protect each other, he would keep his distance unless she found she needed him. She’d asked him why he was so willing to risk everything for her and his answer was simple. Against everything that was right or wrong, he’d fallen in love with her. There had never been another woman in his life that had made such a deep impact on his heart and he knew he would never recover if he had to watch her die because his sister was power hungry.
“You can’t possibly love me, Henry,” she’d argued. “I think you mistake lust for love.”
“You love me,” he countered. “Why is it so hard to imagine that I could love you in return?”
She hadn’t realized her feelings had been so transparent and her cheeks had flushed in embarrassment when he’d called her out on it.
“Please, Echo. Let me do this. I find myself consumed by you. See it as my own selfish desires if you will, but I do not wish to live in a world where you do not exist.”
His openness had caused her to lose herself in his words and she’d finally agreed.
“What does the bonding require?”
As he’d explained everything, desire burned in her although she wasn’t sure how she’d felt about being so public with their coupling.
“I know it seems barbaric but a bonding ritual is something sacred. I promise to do my best to distract you from the prying eyes. I–I will bring you more pleasure than you have ever experienced and those who are watching will vanish from your mind.”
He’d stepped up close to her as he spoke, his fingers trailing down her cheek, his touch igniting an ache in her.
“O–okay.”
He sealed his promise with a passion-filled kiss and Echo welcomed his gentleness, fighting the urge to push his affection further.
“Would you like me to walk you up to the door?”
Henry’s voice snapped her out of her thoughts and she realized they were parked in the circular driveway in front of her house. The sudden reality that they would soon part slammed into her gut and triggered a pain she hadn’t expected. She didn’t want him to leave her.
“Yes, please.” She waited in the car as he walked around to her door to help her out and wondered if he would find her too overwhelming if she begged him to stay with her.
He opened the car door and took her hand, lacing his fingers with hers. As he led her to the door, the grip of his hand sent a sense of security throughout her. When they reached the outer gate and she unlocked it, she proceeded to main door but he stayed back and did not follow her.
As the lock unclicked and she pushed the door open, she hesitated before walking in and turned to face him.
“Do you—would you like to come in?”
She could see that he wanted to, but Henry was a man of his word. He’d promised her space and he was hell-bent on giving it to her.
“No.” He shook his head. “I think it’s best if I just go.”
“Please?”
He stared at her for a long moment before agreeing.
Once they were inside, the house became filled with an awkward silence. Henry was keeping his distance from her and all she wanted was to feel his arms wrapped around her body, giving her the comfort that she so desired.
“Can I get you a drink?”
“Sure.”
Echo headed into the kitchen and pulled two wine glasses down from the cupboard. The unfinished bottle from his previous visit sat corked on the counter and she proceeded to fill their glasses with the aromatic liquid. When she turned to face him and hand him his glass, he stood away from the kitchen, his hands clasped behind his back, a somber expression on his face.
“Henry, I wouldn’t have invited you in if I didn’t want you to be here. You should at least know that much about me by now.”
Her reprimand seemed to lighten his mood a little and he loosened up his stance and stepped up to take the wine.
They drank in silence and she could see a wave of various emotions play over his face. He seemed to be struggling with an internal battle and she worried that he was regretting their bonding.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered.
“For what?”
“Your misery. I should have never agreed to the bonding. You obviously regret it.”
Anger flashed in his eyes and he took the wine glass from her hand and set them both down on the counter.
“Just because we’re bonded now does not mean that you get to assume that you know how I am feeling.”
His
rebuke stung and she was at a loss for words.
“I fret because I worry about your injuries. I worry that I hurt you and I fear that you are having second thoughts. I do not regret what we did. I regret that your choice was me or death and that you felt obligated to pick me.”
Echo could feel the tears sting as they welled in her eyes.
“I told you I’m fine,” she snapped. “My back heals as we speak! And I did not feel obligated to choose you over death! Geezus, Henry, you sure know how to ruin the mood.”
Tears rolled down her cheeks. It pained her that he didn’t understand. Echo rarely did anything without weighing her options and though death was not something she looked forward to, she could have found another way around it, or at least she believed that she could have.
He stepped up to her and wiped the tears from her cheeks.
“I’m sorry. I just—I just don’t want you to run. I made a promise to give you space and I don’t want my presence to make you question whether or not I intend to keep my word. The bond can be overwhelming. We will share every aspect of each other and there are parts of me that are ugly. My thirst alone may drive you mad and if it doesn’t, the satisfaction I experience from the feed will.”
His baby-blue eyes stared deep into her soul and Echo could see his pain. She felt his concern that his true nature would scare her off or worse, make her view him as a disgusting monster. None of that mattered though. She accepted him for who he was the moment she agreed to the bonding, although it did still make her a little nervous. Regardless, she needed to curb his insecurities. He needed to know that she wanted him, needed him, or he would walk away.
Echo in the Night [Echo's Song] (Siren Publishing Allure) Page 15