“You…love… But…” she stammered. “You said that you didn’t.”
“I lied,” Kallias said. “Obviously, I lied. Even Theron could see I was lying.”
She continued to gape at him for a moment. “Say it again.”
He chuckled, and then, his eyes darkened. “Come closer, and I will.”
With a hesitant smile, Rose crawled onto him, straddling his hips. He raked his hungry gaze down her body, his eyes lingering on where their bodies met. She gasped as his fingers curled around her hips and jerked her closer. He leaned forward and pressed his lips against her jaw as he rolled her T-shirt up.
She couldn’t help but moan softly as his fingers brushed her bare stomach and her breasts. He tugged the shirt over her head and tossed it aside. He pulled back for a moment to stare at her. She blushed as she remembered that she’d worn a simple, white cotton bra that looked extremely unflattering against her pale skin. He didn’t seem to notice, though, as his gaze lingered on her breasts, darkening with lust. His fingers trailed along her stomach and hips as he leaned forward to press his lips against her collarbone, then her shoulder, and then trailing up her neck, seeking the pulsing artery. Rose gasped as he sucked gently on her neck. His fingers entangled in her drenched hair, tugging her closer to him.
Kallias moved his lips to her ear and murmured, “S’agapo, psychi mou.”
Her breath caught at those words: I love you, my soul.
Before she could respond, he tugged gently on her hair, tilting her head to the side to expose her neck. Then, with no further warning, he sank his fangs into her neck. She tensed at the brief pain as his fangs tore through the skin, but as quickly as it started, that pain subsided, replaced by intense waves of pleasure.
Kallias groaned as her blood poured into his mouth. The hunger took control, drawing out the more animalistic side of him. He licked and suckled the blood, intoxicated by its sweet and powerful taste. It tasted better than he had ever imagined, and after two and a half millennia of hunger, he couldn’t get enough. He clutched her hair tightly with one hand as the other hand tugged at her hip, holding her close to him as he continued to feed from her. Her soft, breathless moans filled his ear, which only intensified his hunger and desire for her.
Rose grasped his shoulders, one of the few uninjured parts of his body, as the intense euphoria continued to wreak havoc on her body. The sensations caused by the blood sharing only seemed to intensify the longer he fed, overwhelming her with pleasure and desire. She looped her arms around his neck and leaned her head against his shoulder, showering his skin with light kisses.
Kallias pulled away from her neck, panting. Blood dripped from his mouth and fangs. He stared at her, his gaze dark and intense. He suddenly grasped her thighs and pushed her onto the dusty floor. He climbed on top of her, nuzzling his face against her neck, inhaling her soft, alluring, intoxicating scent.
“I love the way you smell,” he growled against her skin. He licked the blood on her neck. “The way you taste.” He lifted her legs and wrapped them around his hips. Rose gasped as their bodies pressed together. “The way you feel.”
The floor, not yet warmed by the fire, felt cold against the bare skin of her back. She could feel his body pressing against hers, his weight pinning her to the floor. Every curve of her soft body molded to his rougher, harder body. And it was all too much and not enough at the same time. Her fingers tugged at his hair, urging him back to her neck. He smiled against her skin and sank his fangs into her neck again. Their bodies moved almost involuntarily, and the friction of his body against hers, despite the barrier of their jeans, intensified the sensations caused by the blood sharing. Soon, Rose felt lost in those euphoric sensations again, moaning softly and arching her back as he fed eagerly from her.
Kallias reluctantly tore himself away from her neck, his breath coming in harsh pants as he tried to control his feral hunger. Blood dripped from his mouth, the dark red drops landing on her breasts. “You’re letting me take too much.”
She smiled a cute, goofy smile. “I feel fine. No, awesome. I feel awesome.”
He snorted, “Yes, well, you’re also a little high from the blood sharing, so I’m not sure your word is reliable right now.” He licked some of the blood from his lips and tilted his head, listening to the slow pounding of her heart. He sighed as he realized it sounded too weak. He lifted his wrist to his mouth and sank his fangs harshly into his skin. Then, he held his hand out to her with his palm up, blood pooling on his wrist. “You have to drink this, Rose. You need it.”
Her goofy smile faded, and her nose wrinkled in disgust.
“It’s not that bad,” he said. “It doesn’t even taste like human blood.”
“That’s not necessarily encouraging,” she muttered, her words slurring.
“You need it,” he insisted. “It is too late to back out now.”
Rose nodded and wrapped her hand around his arm, pulling his wrist closer to her mouth. She grimaced as she watched the blood pour from the holes, and finally, she placed her mouth over them, gently suckling and licking the blood. She realized that he was right. Vampire blood tasted nothing like human blood. It didn’t exactly taste good, but it didn’t taste metallic and salty like human blood. She closed her eyes and forced herself to swallow the first mouthful of blood.
Kallias rolled off of her, curling against her side as he clenched his jaw, fighting the urge to bite her again. His hunger continued to gnaw at him, burning and clawing at his stomach and throat. He watched her, mesmerized by the way her soft alabaster skin looked in the flickering light of the fire, aroused by the sensual way that her tongue caressed his wrist. He ran his hand through the wet strands of her hair that shined bright red each time the light fell upon it.
Her eyes opened, and her breath came in quick, sharp gasps. “Kallias?”
“It’s the blood bond,” he murmured as he kissed her freckled shoulder. With a mischievous smirk, he traced his finger along her pale stomach, chuckling as she squirmed and clenched her thighs together. “I told you that it was intense.”
“Yeah. Intense,” she squeaked, unable to handle even the slightest touch.
He barely brushed his fingertip across the tops of her breasts, and she moaned. Smiling, he pushed her bra aside to reveal her soft, round breast. Her fingers dug into his arm as he took her breast into his hand, massaging it. She moaned and pressed herself into him, her breast overfilling his hand. He trailed his hand downward and wrapped his fingers around her hip. She rolled toward him, her fingers digging into his jeans as she pulled him as close as possible.
Kallias froze as he noticed her eyes. No longer blue, her eyes glowed red again. The swirling red haze that covered her eyes was unnerving and terrifying.
She frowned as she noticed his sudden discomfort. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” he lied, not wanting to worry her. He smiled and ran his hand through her hair, leaning forward to kiss her on the forehead. “It’s nothing.”
She grinned at him. “You have blood all over your face.”
“Sorry,” he laughed. “Not very romantic, is it?”
She wrinkled her nose, still smiling. “It is a little weird,” she admitted.
Kallias wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer to him. “We should get some rest anyway. We need to be ready for tomorrow night.”
Rose nodded, staring up at him with her glowing, red eyes. “Okay.”
Kallias stared at those blood-red eyes, wondering what the hell she was.
25
The Blood Bond
Rose awoke with her heart racing. Her breath caught in her throat. Her stomach fluttered. It wasn’t fear that caused these reactions. It was Kallias.
His feverish lips pressed against her neck, parting to allow his tongue to trace her artery. His front pressed against her back, his body curled behind her, as he held her tightly, his arms crossed around her stomach. It was the most intense sensation of her life because she coul
d feel him. And not just in the physical sense of the word. It was much deeper than that. Everything—their bodies, their emotions—felt connected, and it was enough to drive her mad. She gasped as his lips moved, trailing along her skin until they pressed against her bare shoulder.
She opened her eyes and watched the light from the fire dance across the wall, flickering around the shadows of their intertwined bodies. The floor felt unforgivably hard and cold against her side. Yet, her skin felt overheated as he continued to tease her with his lips and teeth. “Kallias, please,” she whispered.
“Please what?” he growled softly in her ear. He sucked on the lobe of her ear, drawing a strangled gasp from her lips. His fingers traced her stomach. “Please stop? Please don’t stop? What do you want, baby? You have to tell me.”
Rose groaned in frustration, “You can read my freaking mind, can’t you?”
Kallias laughed, the sound low and gravelly in her ear. Rose gasped as he rolled her over in one swift movement, his body suddenly on top of hers. With his skin still stained with both his blood and her blood and his fangs gleaming in the glow of the fire, he looked less like a human than ever before, but she didn’t care about that anymore. It didn’t change the way she felt about him. It didn’t stop the need for him that ached throughout her body. She loved him, all of him.
His hand curled around her neck, his thumb tracing her artery, as he leaned down to kiss the sensitive skin between her ear and her neck. He moved his lips to her neck, stopping to tease the most sensitive spot with his lips and fangs. She moaned and squirmed beneath him, her fingers digging into his hip.
Kallias tensed. “Skata,” he groaned into her skin. “Patience, agapi mou.”
“Too intense,” she complained. She tugged at the waistband of his jeans.
“I did warn you that it would be intense,” he reminded her, chuckling.
“Yeah, yeah. This is not really the time for an I-told-you-so,” she muttered.
“Oh? What is it the time for, then?” he asked, his voice low and seductive. “This?” he murmured as he returned to teasing her neck with his teeth and tongue. “Or this?” He traced her skin with his tongue until he reached her collarbone, kissing the bare skin there. “Or this?” He trailed his tongue down to the top of her breast, chuckling as she squirmed and moaned at the sensation.
He moved the bra aside as he lowered his lips to her bare breast.
“Hey, you two,” called a voice from the other side of the room.
Rose managed to separate herself from him so quickly that even the two vampires in the room were impressed. She wrapped her arms around herself.
“You’re an asshole,” Kallias muttered, narrowing his eyes at his friend.
Erik leaned against the doorframe, one eyebrow raised. “Usually.”
“Why are you in here?” Rose hissed, her arms still crossed around herself.
“The better question is: Why are you wearing a cotton bra?” Erik muttered.
Her cheeks turned crimson. “My shirt, Kallias. Where is my shirt?”
“You can’t expect me to remember. I was dying,” Kallias complained.
Her eyes narrowed at him. “That’s not an excuse.”
Erik pushed away from the doorframe and walked into the room, his boots echoing loudly on the floor. He knelt and snatched something off of the floor and tossed it to Rose. She caught it, frowning at the blue T-shirt in her hand.
“And another important question,” Erik continued after he tossed the shirt at her. “Why do you wear clothes like that when you have breasts like those?”
Rose blanched. She turned toward Kallias. “Can I kill him?”
“I’m just saying that it wouldn’t hurt to show them off a little,” Erik said.
“Shut up, Erik,” Kallias muttered. He ran his hand through his hair, exasperated. “Why are you even in here? You knew that this was a bad time.”
“Yes, and I’m sorry to interrupt,” Erik sighed. “Really, I am. It’s one of my rules. Never stand in the way of good sex. But…the sun is setting, and if we’re not gone by nightfall, Theron will kill us. So, I figured this might be more important.”
“We didn’t have sex! Why would you think we had sex?!” Rose squeaked.
Erik raised his eyebrow, his lips twitching as he tried not to laugh.
“Yeah, I suppose you’re right,” Kallias sighed as he climbed to his feet. He gathered his own shirt from the floor, where it set next to a puddle of his blood. He turned back toward Erik as he pulled on the shredded button-down shirt. “Now, could you please leave the room before you give Rose a heart attack?”
Erik performed a melodramatic, sweeping, sarcastic bow. He cast another amused glance at Rose as he left the room, heading into the hallway.
A smile tugged at Kallias’s lips. “I guess we’ll have to continue that later.”
Rose blushed. “Uh…yeah,” she stammered. “So…you’re feeling better?”
He laughed at her quick change of subject. He moved closer until the light of the fire illuminated his body. He spread his arms out, allowing his shirt to fall open, revealing his bare torso. He smiled. “You tell me. What do you think?”
Her eyes widened as she realized that his wounds were gone. Blood stained every inch of his skin, but the wounds were healed, as if they’d never existed. Only scars remained where the gruesome, fatal wounds had been.
“Wow,” Rose breathed, blinking in shock.
“That’s what your blood did,” he said. “I don’t know how to thank you.”
“It was,” she said, blushing, “not so bad.”
He smirked. “I bet it wasn’t.”
Her cheeks grew hotter. “Shut up.”
Kallias laughed as he buttoned his shirt. Rose wasn’t sure why he even bothered buttoning it. The shirt was so shredded that it barely covered anything anyway. His clothes, hair, and skin looked so sticky with blood that he looked as if he’d just stepped out of a horror movie, but he dressed as if he didn’t even notice, walking smoothly across the room and kneeling to pick up something.
He dropped the black hoodie in her lap. “Get dressed, babe.”
Rose blinked and nodded quickly as she remembered that she was sitting in the middle of the room without her shirt. She quickly pulled the T-shirt over her head, hiding her flushed face. As she pulled her arms through the sleeves of the hoodie, she glanced up and froze as she met his intense, unblinking gaze. His dark, dilated eyes were focused on her. “Uh…Kallias? Are you all right?”
He ran his hand through his hair. “Sorry. It’s just… Sorry.”
She frowned, confused by his nervousness. “It’s all right…I guess?”
He held out his hand to her. As she placed her hand in his, he jerked her to her feet. Her body collided with his, and he placed his hand on the curve of her back to steady her. Her hands went to his arms, and her breath caught in her throat at their closeness. Her skin grew warm again. She shivered as he buried his face in the curve of her neck, his lips brushing her skin, his breath raising chills. He inhaled deeply, groaning as her scent sparked an intense wave of hunger.
“Oh, wow,” Rose said, blinking, as she actually felt his hunger.
“Sorry,” he breathed, his lips against her neck. “You think that the blood bond is intense for you, but it’s worse for a vampire. And you smell so good.”
She pulled back and smiled. “It’s okay. I’ve accepted your weirdness.”
“My weirdness?” Kallias repeated, scowling at her as she zipped up her hoodie. He followed her as she stepped into the hallway. “Have you met you?”
“Kallias, you drank my blood last night,” she reminded him.
He chuckled and wrapped his arms around her stomach. She gasped as he scooped her off the floor mid-step and pulled her back against him. He buried his face in her neck, his fangs grazing her skin. “I remember,” he whispered.
She giggled at his playfulness. “You’re in a good mood tonight.”
Kallias
kissed her neck. “Hmmm, yes. Very good mood.”
“Hurry, lovebirds. We need to leave in thirty seconds. The sex can wait until we get home,” Erik called as he leaned against the wall, waiting for them.
“Why does he always assume we’re having sex?” Rose complained.
Kallias set her on the floor. She expected him to release her and step back so that she could walk, but instead, he scooped her up again, this time with his arm beneath her back and the other arm beneath her knees, cradling her bridal-style. He laughed at her shocked expression, “We have to move quickly.”
“You better not drop me,” she warned, poking his chest with her finger.
He smiled and, so quietly she almost didn’t hear him, he said, “Never.”
—
“You’re alive!” Emma cried, latching onto Kallias as soon as he opened the door, her small arms wrapped around his neck. “I’m so glad you’re alive!”
Kallias patted her awkwardly on the back. “Thanks, Emma.”
Emma extracted herself from Kallias and immediately latched onto Rose, nearly breaking Rose’s ribs with her tight embrace, and then, after she pulled away from Rose, she hurled herself at Erik who, more prepared for the attack, hugged her easily. “We were worried when you all didn’t come home last night!”
“We didn’t have time to make it home before sunrise,” Erik explained.
Geoffrey stood behind Emma, already fully dressed in his black dress pants, white button-down shirt, and tie. His dark eyes assessed the blood on Kallias’s clothing and skin. “I assume that this means that Rose was correct?”
Kallias glanced curiously at Rose. “About?”
Erik answered for him, “Rose knew that you were injured, and she knew where you were. That’s the reason that we showed up to save you last night.”
“I tried to stop her from going,” Geoffrey said, “but Erik let her go.”
“Thanks, Geoff,” Erik muttered, narrowing his eyes at him.
Geoffrey shrugged. “I told you…I am not taking the blame for this.”
The Stone of the Eklektos Page 71