Amber moaned and he felt the change in her blood, felt her respond to him as her hand grazed his face, her emotions those of tenderness and deep affection. She loved him too. She wanted to be with him forever.
He closed his eyes and held her close to him, until their skin stuck together with the heat of their lovemaking and his heart felt as though it couldn’t take any more and would burst with their combined feelings. He moved deeper inside her, capturing her moans with his lips, savouring the sound of each one.
Her body tightened and her blood begged him to make her climax again and to find release within her. He gritted his teeth and pressed his cheek to hers, struggling to control his hunger to thrust harder so he could bring her to a sweet climax, one full of love.
Amber moaned into his ear, uttering his name in a way that drew a groan from him. Her heart beat in time with his, slow and steady. Soon it would always beat as his did. Soon he would have her completely. She would be always his. Forever. Eternally. His Amber.
She bucked up against him and arched into his chest, moaning her release. Her body pulsed around his, luring him to his own climax. He plunged deeper, harder now, his body tight and ready, and his desire pushing him onwards. Close.
Amber kissed his shoulder, his neck, teased him until he was on the brink of insanity and surrendering to his desire to take her roughly. He needed to come. It felt as though he was going to explode.
She saw to it that he did. Her lips brushed his shoulder and then she bit gently.
Kearn’s eyes shot wide and he jerked hard inside her, his length throbbing with his release, spilling his seed into her waiting body. He trembled and collapsed against her, aware of the point where her teeth still pressed into his flesh.
She had bitten him.
He breathed hard against her throat. The smell of her blood wafted back at him. His fangs extended.
He had seen her as a vampire above him, moving on his hard length, her head thrown back in pleasure. She had leaned over him, her teeth sharp, and he had bared his neck to her because it was forever hers and hers alone. She had sunk her fangs into him and he had experienced his first bite.
“Kearn?” She stroked his back in slow gentle circles as though seeking to soothe him.
His blood was rampant, speaking words to her that were probably frightening. He wanted her to sink her fangs into his throat so he could wear her marks and everyone would see that they were together, eternally bonded, exclusively each other’s.
“You okay?”
He stared at her neck and the bandage on it. He wanted to taste her.
Her fingers appeared in view. She untied the bandage and pulled it down. His gaze shifted to the cut on her neck. His neck. His and his alone. He would heal it for her and look after her forever so she would never be hurt again.
“You can if you want to,” she whispered and her blood backed up her words. She wasn’t trembling because she was scared. She trembled out of desire. She wanted him to take her blood again.
He wouldn’t bite her though.
He would only calm his hunger and strengthen the bond between them.
Kearn retracted his fangs, closed his eyes and licked the length of the cut. She hissed out her pleasure and he licked it again. It was still bleeding in spots. He covered it with his mouth and sucked to reopen the wound. Amber held him closer, one hand against his back and the other on the nape of his neck. She cradled him to her, giving herself to him, body and soul, and he felt awed.
Honoured.
He held his fangs at bay and sucked harder, until blood trickled into his mouth, sending his mind swimming and reigniting his lust. He held that in too, unwilling to become a slave to his desires when under the influence of her blood. He would never do that. They would only ever be together because of their feelings, not because he was drunk on her blood. He drank deep, satisfying his need for her. The connection grew stronger, until he easily felt her emotions and her heart beat in his veins. They hadn’t gone this deep before. Would it frighten her? She would feel everything he did and his heart beating within her. She would know him wholly. He wouldn’t be able to hide anything from her.
Her mind would be open to him.
And his would finally be open to hers.
With this much of her blood in him, he wouldn’t be able to deny her or close the connection, not until it began to fade again.
He stopped drinking and licked the cut, cleaning every drop of blood off her neck and sealing the wound.
Amber held him as she had done the night he had told her that he would bite her, embracing him and accepting him without words. He kissed her throat and reaffixed the bandage, and then leaned his head on her shoulder, fatigue washing through him. He could sleep like this forever with her—his body half on hers, naked against each other, content.
She placed a kiss on the tip of his nose with the corner of her mouth, sighed and rubbed it. She was tired too. He listened to her blood and drifted away with it into a deep sleep.
When he woke, he would meet with Archduke Pendragon and discover what he knew about the vial and the man he was after.
Until then, he would rest soundly in the arms of his woman for the first time, safe from the world and content at last with his duty and life.
CHAPTER 25
“Wake up, Amber.”
The voice drifted into her mind through pleasant dreams, shaking her from sleep. She frowned and rolled over. She didn’t want to wake up. It felt so nice under the covers, warm and relaxing, and the dream was so good that she wanted to catch it and bring it back.
“Amber.” Someone shook her.
Her eyes fluttered open. Kearn stood over her, dressed in his black shirt and trousers, with his hair wet as though he had showered.
“What is it?” She rolled over again.
“We have to leave.” Kearn caught her arm and pulled her into a sitting position.
There was worry in his green eyes.
“Has something happened?”
“We are not safe here.” He pulled her out of the bed and shoved her clothes at her. “Get dressed.”
She frowned when he left the room, rubbed the sleep from her eyes and tried to figure out what was going on. Had something happened with the archduke? The curtains were open and it was night outside. She threw on her jeans and hooded top, zipping it up over her chest, and then put on her shoes.
Kearn came back in, his holster around his shoulders now and the gun in his hand. The marks on his right arm weren’t glowing. The man couldn’t have come for her. Kearn would have been using his power if he had.
“Did something happen with the archduke?” she said and Kearn didn’t reply.
He took hold of her hand and led her down through the house to the door. He held it open for her and she walked out into the night. It was pitch-black save the single light emanating from the door behind her and the distant house. She went to go to Audi and Kearn grabbed her arm, tugging her right instead.
There was another car there. A large black Bentley with a dark haired female driver.
“Why aren’t we taking the Audi?”
Kearn opened the rear door of the Bentley for her and held it. She stopped and looked back at the Audi. It seemed strange that he was leaving it behind.
“Where are we going?” She looked up into his eyes. They were dark, emotionless except a spark of anger that she couldn’t feel in him.
In fact, she couldn’t feel anything in him.
He had taken her blood last night and the connection between them had run so deeply that she had been aware of him as though he was a part of herself. Now she couldn’t feel anything. Had he shut her out again?
She walked forwards and went to get into the car, and then straightened again and looked at him. Something wasn’t right.
“Where are we going?” She wanted an answer this time.
“Get in the car.”
“Tell me where we’re going.”
His jaw tensed.
&
nbsp; Amber’s mind felt heavy. It spun and twirled, sending her vision out of focus, and she closed her eyes. A deep throb pulsed through her and then cold darkness swallowed her.
Her head was splitting when it receded and the world slowly came back. Sound came first, trickling in through her thick mind, and then she managed to open her bleary eyes and the haze in her head cleared enough for her to take things in, only there wasn’t much to see.
A dark room.
Was she back in the lodge?
She tried to sit up but her head spun and she collapsed back again. She fumbled around in the dark. Soft padding cushioned her back and her right side, and formed a pillow beneath her head. Her left leg dangled over the side. She touched the top, fingers tracing the elaborate carving there.
A sofa?
She hadn’t seen one in the lodge.
She sat up more slowly this time, clutching the back of the couch to steady herself.
Was she in the main house?
Her head throbbed and she closed her eyes. She touched her temples, feeling her blood pounding through them, and held it together. She didn’t want to pass out again.
Amber tried to think back to what had happened.
She had been going somewhere with Kearn. He wouldn’t tell her where. He had looked angry and then she had felt incredibly tired and sick.
Had he hit her?
It was a ridiculous thought. Kearn would never do such a thing and she hadn’t seen him move. All he had done was look at her.
Maybe he had used his powers to knock her out.
She frowned in the darkness. Maybe everything was getting to her. She had felt sleepy last night after making love with him, so bone deep tired that she had slept through to tonight. Kearn hadn’t even woken her when he had left the bed.
Bright light flared into life, chasing back the darkness, and she squinted against it.
“How are you feeling?”
Kearn.
It was good to hear his voice. She tried to look at him but her head hurt and the light was too bright for her eyes.
“I’ve been better.” She squinted until her eyes adjusted and then looked around the room. She didn’t recognise it, but it definitely wasn’t the lodge. The room was large and stately, with antique gilt-framed furniture and old oil paintings hanging on the deep green walls. She cast her gaze around, scanning over the Chinese rug covering most of the dark wooden floor, and the beautiful inlays on the black cabinets. Kearn stood to her left, a closed mahogany door as his backdrop. Was she somewhere in the main house?
Her eyes settled on Kearn when he moved towards her. He was shirtless, his toned muscles shifting deliciously with each step, and his hair was damp again. He knelt in front of her, concern bright in his green eyes, and placed his hands over hers, bringing them away from her temples.
“Let me see,” he said and searched her eyes, and then checked her over, touching around the side of her head and running his fingers through her hair. “You had me worried.”
She wished she could feel that emotion in him as well as see it in his eyes.
“What happened?” She struggled against the pain throbbing in her skull.
“I am not sure, but I believe it might be related to the stress you underwent when meeting the archduke. It must have been difficult for you to cope with him communicating with you through touch alone.” He sighed and held her hand, and warmth travelled up her arm and into her heart. His smile soothed some of her hurt, chasing away the darkness inside her, and she nodded. It made sense. She had felt strange and out of sorts after meeting the archduke. Her head and body hadn’t felt as though they were her own, and some of her memories of meeting him were still tangled into tight knots that were impossible to undo. Kearn squeezed her hand. “You are feeling better though?”
“A little,” she said and his smile widened. There was relief in his eyes but she couldn’t feel it in him.
Amber focused on him and closed her eyes, trying to sense his feelings. Nothing came to her. He was a void before her. Why had he shut her out? He had been so open with her, and she had felt as though he loved her too, but now he had closed himself off again. Had she done something wrong?
She wanted to ask him whether his feelings had changed, but she was afraid of the answer. She had begun to believe in his fairytale of undying love and being with him forever. He had said that he would cherish her and treat her like a queen when he made her into a vampire. Right now, she felt as though he would treat her as those women at the ball had been by their men.
“What happened back at the house?” She opened her eyes and searched his.
“We had to leave.” Annoyance laced his voice.
Was it because they had left the safety of his family’s estate or something else? She studied his eyes, trying to decipher the truth and his feelings from them. They were cold now, as emotionless as they had been when they had first met. She hadn’t seen them like that in a long time.
She started when his fingers brushed her cheek. They were warm against her and she was tempted to lean into his touch because she was cold. Only his warmth could chase away the chill in her heart.
“The Pendragons turned against us.” The look in his eyes when hers leapt to them said that he had been shocked too. She caught a glimmer of his anger. “The archduke is in league with the man we are after. That is why he had my blood.”
She believed him. When she had met the archduke, she had felt his power and had been afraid. She hadn’t wanted Kearn to go alone to see him and had meant to tell him that she wanted to go with him, but it had slipped her mind last night and then he had gone while she had been asleep.
“Your neck is bleeding again.”
Amber felt his eyes on it, burning through the crepe bandage. She sensed his intent and his desire. He wanted her blood.
Before she could utter a word, he was removing the bandage. His hands skimmed her throat, sending shivers tripping over her skin and building the anticipation inside her. It didn’t frighten her when he drank from her. She knew in her heart that he couldn’t help his hunger for her and that it wasn’t only her blood that evoked such a strong response in him. It was his feelings too. He needed her.
His cheek warmed hers and he held her waist and drew her closer to him, until her bottom was resting on the edge of the sofa and he was between her thighs. He breathed in deep and then sighed.
“You smell divine,” he murmured against her neck and heat flashed through her.
He kissed her throat and her eyes slipped shut. His tongue traced a line over the wound and it stung but the pleasure eclipsed the pain. He was gentle with her, softly licking her throat. It was nice to have him being so tender. It made her feel that he did love her after all.
He sighed again. “We need to be ready for the man. He will come soon, I am sure of it.”
She barely heard the words. He uttered them quietly on her throat, his breath tickling and teasing her.
“You must give me enough blood for me to feel the true effects so I can be strong enough to protect you.”
Those words frightened her a little. How much blood was he talking about? He had taken quite a lot in the past and hadn’t shown the effects that he had told her about. It hadn’t made him invincible and stronger than anyone. The archduke had felt ten times more powerful than Kearn ever had to her.
She nodded anyway and swallowed her trembling heart. She had to do this for him. She needed him to defeat the man so they could be together.
Kearn’s lips closed around the cut and he sucked. It hurt at first and she felt lightheaded. She had never felt so conscious of her blood leaving her before. He was sucking hard, his fingers closed tightly over her ribs, squeezing as though he wouldn’t let her escape.
She clutched his biceps when her neck hurt again, fiercer now, and squeezed her eyes shut. How much blood was he taking? The sound of his suckling turned her stomach. She wanted to push him away but he needed her blood and she had offered it. She had to
give him the advantage over the man so he would survive the fight.
Her heart missed a beat. Her head spun and her grip on Kearn slipped, her hands falling to her lap. She was too tired to hold him now. Would he ever stop drinking? Every inch of her felt drained, as though he was sucking the life out of her.
His tongue traced her throat, sparking her arousal. He murmured quiet words against her skin about the sweetness of her blood and how he loved the taste of her. Desire chased away her fatigue but couldn’t erase it completely. Not even the feel of him sealing the cut could bring life back into her veins.
The connection between them reopened and she was glad to feel him at last, and to feel his hunger for her and his desire to protect her and keep her safe. He wanted her to be his, and she wanted nothing more. She wanted to give herself to him so his loneliness would end. She would be with him always.
“I want to bite you,” he whispered in her ear, low and sultry, his hot breath tickling her. “I want to make you mine. Do you want that too?”
Amber closed her eyes. “I want to be yours.”
“Soon.” He pressed a kiss to her throat and she trembled. “I will not let anything happen to you. You are mine now.”
Amber smiled and ran her hands up his back and into his hair.
She froze. Long lengths were under her fingertips, tied in a ponytail. Kearn’s hair wasn’t long enough to tie back. She pushed him away and her eyes widened, terror gripping her heart when she saw his face.
“You.” Her voice quivered and her heart thudded hard against her ribs, making her dizzy.
He grinned, revealing fangs.
It wasn’t Kearn.
It was the man who wanted her blood.
He had been Kearn a moment ago. She hadn’t been dreaming it. He had worn Kearn’s face and had Kearn’s voice. He had felt love towards her.
Amber panicked.
She lashed out, slapping him hard across the face, and quickly brought her feet up and kicked him off her. He fell backwards, landing on the Chinese rug, and she scrambled towards the back of the sofa. He caught her ankle before she could clamber over it and dragged her towards him.
Forbidden Blood (Vampire Venators Romance Series) Page 28