“Yeah, kind of, but there are differences.” With her heart-shaped face, golden-brown eyes, and smaller, more curvaceous figure, Aida was prettier, but Mollie wasn’t going to share that info with him. She’d lose part of her argument if she told him what Aida looked like. “I’m also not going to let you risk your life for my sister while I sit idly by.”
“If you’re in there, you’ll be a distraction to me,” Mike said.
“Then don’t let me be one.”
Doug twirled his thumbs together as he looked from one spruce to another like they were the most fascinating trees in the world. She felt his discomfort as clearly as Mike’s growing ire.
“That would be impossible,” Mike grated.
“I think,” Doug said, “I’m going to hunt for some dinner.”
“It’s almost sunset and not safe out there,” Mollie protested. “There’s no reason for you to leave.”
“I’ll be fine. I have another location I’ve camped in before; I’ll spend the night there and meet you two here in the morning.”
“Wait—”
“Thank you,” Mike cut off her protest as he clasped Doug’s hand.
“No reason to thank me, I’m happy to be out of here,” Doug replied with a grin.
Mollie scowled at Mike when he chuckled. “It’s not safe out there now,” she insisted.
“It’s less safe to stay here,” Doug muttered. He swung the crossbow onto his back, and before she could respond, he slid through the trees.
Mollie glowered at Mike. “Are you happy now? You put your friend in danger because you're a stubborn ass.”
“He’ll be fine,” Mike assured her.
And besides, it probably was safer for Doug out there than in here with the two of them. Mike wouldn’t hurt her, he had enough control over himself to know that much, but if pushed to the edge, there was no telling what he would do. And no one could push him to the edge like Mollie.
“He’s made it this far, and Doug isn’t stupid,” he said when she glanced anxiously at where Doug had exited. “Besides, if he’s hungry, then he shouldn’t be around you.”
“And you’ve never been hungry around me before?”
“You make me ravenous in every way,” he murmured as his eyes ran over her.
Mollie tried to hold on to her indignation but found it impossible when he looked at her like that. Everywhere his eyes touched, her body heated until her clothes became stifling. If she weren’t so determined to go with him tomorrow night, she’d start stripping, but they had to sort this out.
“I’m going with you to the mansion tomorrow,” she said.
Mike tore his gaze away from her breasts when she spoke. His fangs lengthened as his fingers dug into the earth; she had him as aroused as she did infuriated. His hand encircled her neck before he pulled her toward him.
“And if I refuse to take you with me?” he asked when their faces were only inches apart.
“I’ll follow you.”
He was so close that Mollie saw the glint of a fang behind his parted lips. Those same words caused him to snap Holden’s leg; with his hand where it was, he could easily break her neck, yet she felt no alarm.
She tried to pull away from him, but he held on to her, refusing to let her go. He admired her will, but she had to know he was the one in charge here. “You’ll follow me?” he growled.
“Yes.” Not even the red seeping through his royal blue eyes could deter her from her course of action. “You need me in there, and you can’t tie me up; you don’t have any rope.”
“Oh, I can find a way to tie you up, Mollie.”
The words were a bit of a threat, but the way he purred them had her nipples pressing against her bra and her sex aching for his touch.
“Try it, and you’ll regret it,” she said.
“I don’t think I would, and I know you wouldn’t.”
Chapter Thirty
He looked like a wild creature with those eyes and his fangs visible. Every part of her should be screaming to run as fast as possible, but her fight-or-flight instinct had abandoned her. Instead, she found herself entranced by him.
“Perhaps I wouldn’t,” she murmured. Leaning forward, she ran her tongue over his bottom lip before nipping it. “But if you tie me up and leave me behind, I can guarantee it would be the last time you ever touched me.”
“Would it?” he murmured and slid his hand up to cup her breast. He ran his thumb over her nipple and watched as her lids drooped to half cover her exquisite eyes. “Your body tells a different story, and I bet if I slid my hand between your legs, I’d find you already wet for me.”
Mollie buried the resentment his knowledge of her body caused as she cupped his erection. Mike’s breath caught when she rubbed the rigid length of him through the denim. “Maybe you would, but I already know you’re hard for me.”
“You’re playing with fire, Mollie.”
“Good thing I know how to put out the flames.”
Before she knew what he intended, he lifted her and laid her on her back. His mouth smothered the startled cry she released over the abrupt movement. The breath she’d been struggling to catch left her when his tongue slid into her mouth. He’d been demanding with her before, but now she sensed something savage beneath his kiss, and an unraveling she didn’t understand.
Somehow, she instinctively knew she could ease this unraveling from him if she didn’t fear him. She met every remorseless thrust of his tongue and opened her thighs to him. When he settled between her legs, her fingers dug into his back as a part of her she never knew existed rose to the forefront. She suddenly felt as unrestrained in her need for him as he was in his need for her.
Without thinking, she bit his bottom lip. When he growled and pushed more demandingly against her, she bit harder and tasted the coppery tang of his blood when it landed on her tongue. Pulling back, she broke their kiss as horror engulfed her.
“I’m sorry!”
“Don’t be,” he said, and with his hand still around her neck, he guided her back toward his mouth. “Do it again.”
“Mike—”
He crushed his mouth against hers, and when he found her tongue, he tasted his blood on her. His erection throbbed so painfully, he had to undo the button and zipper of his jeans. When Mollie nibbled on his bottom lip again, his heart hammered in anticipation of feeling her small teeth piercing his flesh once more.
Then she gave a sharp tug that spilled more of his blood. Her tongue slid over his skin, licking away the beads of blood as he fumbled with the button on her jeans. He craved her with an intensity bordering on obsession, and if he didn’t possess her soon, he would go mad.
Pulling away from her, he sat back to remove her sneakers, socks, underwear, and jeans. Mollie watched as he traced the curve of her calves and then her thighs with his hands. For the first time, she was glad Aida had convinced her to start going with her to have her legs and bikini line waxed. The pain and annoyance had been worth it as she’d probably be a wooly mammoth by now, but then, she didn’t think Mike would care as his gaze devoured every inch of her. His hands were gentle as he slid her shirt up and tossed it aside before undoing her bra.
Mike groaned when her breasts spilled free and her nipples stood starkly up from her pink areola. All he wanted was to taste every inch of her ivory flesh before sinking his fangs into her.
Mollie watched each of his graceful movements with fascination as he undressed. She’d felt him last night, and seen him in flashes, but those brief glimpses hadn’t done him justice. In the fading light of the day, he was even more magnificent.
Blond hair sprinkled his upper chest and traveled down the line carving through the center of his eight-pack abs. The trail of hair led to the edge of his jeans, and as he tugged them down his hips, Mollie got her first good look at his erection. She gulped as she took in the length of him. Like the man, his cock was more intimidating and enticing in the daylight, and she ached to feel him inside her again.
; Mike tossed his jeans aside and focused on Mollie as she lay panting and vulnerable beneath him. He ran his knuckles down her flat stomach, savoring the silken flesh beneath his hand, as touching her helped to appease the demon within him clamoring to claim its mate.
“I’m going with you tomorrow,” she whispered.
Mollie bit back a gasp when his hand stilled on her and his eyes flared like rubies glinting in the sun. The muscles she’d been admiring vibrated with tension as he battled for control. Her words had turned him from a man to a monster in a split second; she didn’t fear him, but she didn’t understand what had happened.
“Michael?”
“You’re human.” The words were so guttural he barely recognized his voice.
“Yes, but you knew that about me.” Her attempt at humor did nothing to ease the stress he emitted.
His gaze fastened on her neck. “You could die.”
Mollie resisted the urge to squirm beneath him when his eyes remained on the marks he’d left on her. The only problem was, she didn’t know if she wanted to get away from him or closer to him, as monster or man, she still wanted him.
“And so could you,” she said.
Then his eyes were on hers again. “You’re mine.”
He snarled the words, but she sensed a softening behind them, or maybe confusion as he bowed his head.
“Mine,” he murmured again.
“Mike?”
His hand slipped between her legs, and her wetness slid enticingly over his fingers. Her hips rose as he stroked her clit before dipping his finger inside her. The look of determined resolve on her face faded as her breath quickened.
Then he withdrew his hand and, gripping her hips, turned her over until she lay on her stomach. He lifted her into a kneeling position and ran his palms over her taut ass before rising to his knees behind her. The heady scent of her arousal intoxicated and unraveled him.
She smells like this for me, and she has to know who is in control.
But even as he thought that, he knew there was no control for him, not anymore. He wanted to dominate her into submission, to make her understand she had to listen to him, but he wanted, even more, to make Mollie his and to shelter her from every horror in this world, including himself.
Mike gripped his shaft and guided it to her entrance. When he rubbed the head teasingly over her clit, Mollie pushed her hips back toward him, and Mike smiled. He couldn’t control her anywhere else, but he had complete control over her body. The only problem was, she had as much control over him, maybe more, as he couldn’t get enough of her and never would.
When he thrust forward and buried himself inside her, a sense of calm descended over him as her body embraced his. He’d found where he belonged, and he wouldn’t lose her.
Gripping her hip with one hand, he ran the other one up her back. He followed the delicate curve of her spine up to her nape as he pulled back before sinking deep again. He brushed the bite he’d left on her last night before bending over her to run his tongue across the punctures.
Releasing her hip, he clasped one of her breasts as it swayed with his increasingly demanding thrusts. He nipped at her ear before grasping her hair and pulling her head back. His eyes fastened on the pulse in her neck, and bending his head, he felt the beats of her heart as he licked the vein.
Mollie had never experienced anything like this. It wasn’t just that she’d never tried this position, but it was also the closer they grew, the more Mike worked his way into her heart and soul. She’d never been so possessed by a man before that she couldn’t tell where he ended and she began.
When he licked her vein again, Mollie tilted her head to give him better access to her throat. A rumble of satisfaction vibrated his chest against her back, and she knew he recognized what she offered him.
His fangs slid into her flesh, piercing her vein above where he’d marked her last night. But as soon as he broke her skin, he retracted his fangs and Mollie moaned in disappointment.
“Would you like to taste my blood?” His warm breath tickled her ear when he asked this. “More of it than you did earlier?”
Mollie’s heart jackhammered at the question. Did she want to drink blood? The few drops she’d already tasted were sweeter than she’d expected, but the idea of drinking blood was repulsive. But if it was so repulsive, then why did it sound so enticing? She knew what it felt like when he was feeding on her, but what would it feel like to also drink from him? It was a question she had to have the answer to.
“Ye-yes,” she stammered. If she didn’t like it, she could always stop.
Mike froze, uncertain he’d heard her right. Before she could change her mind, he released her hair, lifted his wrist to his mouth, and bit deep. His blood spilled free, and he held his arm before her.
Mollie gazed at the streaks of red sliding down his skin before taking his wrist and drawing it toward her. She’d never pictured herself doing anything like this, but then she’d never expected to be having sex with a vampire either.
Mollie brought his wrist to her mouth and licked the trails of blood from his skin. The second his coppery, yet sweet and potent blood hit her tongue again, Mollie’s eyes rolled back, and a wave of ecstasy crashed over her.
When her hand gripped his wrist tighter and her small teeth bit down, Mike nearly lost control and ejaculated inside her. Somehow, willpower kept him from doing so, but he couldn’t stop his vampiric nature from taking over. His eyes fell to the new marks he’d created on her, and he sank his fangs into them.
With Mollie’s blood filling his mouth and her pleasure cascading over him, Mike lost the last tenuous thread of control he’d maintained. Giving himself over to the ecstasy of her, he pounded into her, and she eagerly met the unrelenting rhythm he set. When his hand dipped between her legs to caress her clit, she screamed against his wrist as she came apart. Mike plunged into her once more before pulling free and spilling his seed against her back.
Chapter Thirty-One
Mike cradled Mollie against his chest as her breathing gradually returned to normal. She stretched like a contented cat before rolling over to face him. A smile lit her eyes, and they twinkled in the twilight. He traced the contours of her cheek before sliding his thumb over her swollen, red lips.
“You’re my mate, Mollie.”
He hadn’t planned to tell her, but he was walking a thin line, especially now that they’d exchanged blood. He’d just found his release and tasted her, yet his body clamored to be inside her again and to turn her. She had to be prepared and understand that he would destroy anyone who tried to take her from him.
Her smile vanished. “What?”
“Do you remember what I told you about vampires and their mates?”
The haze of euphoria slid away as she recalled their conversation. “You said when a vampire finds their mate, they mate for life, and their mate can be a human.”
“Yes.”
“But you also said they could not remain human, and the vampire would be driven to make them immortal.”
“Yes.”
She didn’t know how to respond to him or what to say. She’d been jealous of the possibility of another woman out there that he would spend his life with, but she never expected that woman to be her. And she’d never considered becoming a vampire.
She couldn’t deny she was falling for Mike, and she would have considered dating him if they made it out of this alive, but not binding herself to him for eternity.
“You don’t have to say or decide anything now,” he said. “I couldn’t change you until we were off the island.”
“Change me?” she squeaked.
His hand stilled on her face as he sought to control his emotions over the terror etching her face. He had dumped this on her while she was dealing with so many other things; she had every right to be freaked, but her response roused his demon instincts.
“If you agree to it. I’m not telling you this because it’s set in stone that I will change you. You will d
ecide that, Mollie.”
“Then why are you telling me this?”
“Because you have to understand why Doug felt the need to leave and why I’ll be more volatile if you’re in danger. The mate bond is forged through an exchange of blood and sex between vampires, but what happened between us has accelerated my need to complete the bond. I won’t hurt you”—he prayed he could keep his word and not snap and force the change on her—“but I can become a threat to others. Doug understands that as we’ve seen it happen before.”
Mollie’s brain felt like it had joined the circus and was swinging from one trapeze to the other while she tried to sort through his revelation. “How do you know I’m your mate?”
“How do you know the sky is blue?”
“Because I can see it, and sometimes it’s gray or red or pink. You can’t see the mate bond.”
“No, but I can see spending an eternity with you by my side. However, more than that, I can feel the rightness of us.” He clasped her hand and held it over his heart. “I feel you all the way to the center of my soul. I’ve never given my blood to another, but I would give you every last drop to keep you alive.”
“Mike—”
“I’m not asking for a commitment from you. I’m only asking you to understand why I might change and become angrier, more distant, and unpredictable around you. Seeing you with another man or knowing you’re at risk might push me over the edge. I’m asking you not to fear or distrust me if those things happen.”
“That’s why you were so hostile and acted so weird around Holden!” she breathed as understanding dawned.
“Yes, plus the guy was an asshole who got everything he deserved.”
Mollie disliked Holden for what he did to her, but she still cringed when she recalled his screams and the brutality of Mike’s actions. “Would you have been so vicious to him if I wasn’t your mate?”
“No,” Mike admitted.
Mollie gulped. “You say I’m your mate, but I barely know you.”
He ran his fingers across her cheek and back into her hair to draw her close. He kissed her tenderly before resting his lips against her forehead. “You know me, Mollie. Deep inside, you do. Maybe you’re not ready to completely trust me, or yourself when it comes to that truth, and I understand why, but you know me.”
Consumed: The Vampire Awakenings, Book 8 Page 18