by Lucinda Dark
“He’s a man, Barbie,” Torin interrupted, reaching up and touching a lock of hair that had fallen from my ponytail over my shoulder. I froze. My entire body went on lockdown. As if that one small touch had caused all brain functions to come to an abrupt standstill in deference to my internal lust.
You know you want it, Barbie… Satrina’s laughter echoed in the back of my head along with images of Vampire Torin looking up at me between my naked thighs. The sharpness of his fangs as they slid against delicate, vulnerable skin. The wicked feeling of his tongue against my core. The devil on my shoulder far worse than the one before me. While I could deny Torin with fallacies and lies, I couldn’t do the same to myself. Not anymore.
“And you mean a lot to him,” Torin went on. “Can you really say you blame him for coming along?”
I scowled, smacking his hand away as I took a step back. “He helped me out once,” I snapped. “That does not a relationship make.”
Torin’s smirk fell away and was replaced by a look so intense and threatening that I automatically reached for my weapons. But they weren’t there. I’d left the swords he’d managed to smuggle into the country back in my room. Torin’s eyes flashed red as he approached me, a fire of anger burning within their depths, causing the color to darken and the luminosity to heighten.
“You are a dangerous creature, Barbie Steele.” Torin’s voice was quiet. Low enough that my ears had to strain to hear him despite how close he was. “With a face like an angel, the mouth of a demon, and the body of a temptress. I wonder…” My lips parted as he moved ever closer. His hands snapped up, fingers against my cheeks as he tilted my head back, forcing me to look up at him. “I wonder if you even know the power you hold.”
His eyes danced over mine. My chest grew tight as he leaned forward. “W-what are you talking about?”
He stopped. His lips a scant inch from mine. He was so close that I couldn’t see them, but I knew when they curved up into a smile. It was there in his gaze. His irises glowed, the green there, the colors a swirling mixture as they were joined by a dull, quickly growing burgundy. “Maverick loves you,” he said. No. I started to shake my head. He couldn’t. We had sex, but we weren’t—“He does,” Torin confirmed, interrupting my thoughts and answering my unspoken denial. Against my will, tears began to gather at the corners of my eyes. He pulled back, his lips dropping into a frown. “Why does that scare you so much?” he asked.
It wasn’t a hard question, and I knew the answer. The people I’d cared about my entire life were dead. People who loved me always seemed to end up dead. It was the true fear I’d had as soon as I’d met Elizabeth and Jonathan McKnight. Maverick had been a fucking asshole when I’d first met him, and yes, he still could be. We had changed, though. Both of us. I’d stopped running away from him and his family. I hadn’t answered them yet, but I knew Jon and Beth were still waiting on me to push the adoption through, but I wasn’t ready for the commitment of another family.
Even if they didn’t know why, my reasoning was completely valid. Beth and Jon were the kind of people who donated to charity and attended high school football games to support their son. They worked hard, loved each other well, and were an inspiration on how to turn out right. But their future was not mine. Theirs was a life full of love and laughter and all those stupidly annoying motivational quotes people put on the most ridiculous of shit—like decorative throw pillows. Maverick, as their son, deserved the same fate.
My life was going to be centered on something completely different. Blood and death. Ash and bone. I wasn’t upset by that. In the end, it was my choice to make. Maverick, however, was getting too close to the same path I walked. So, yes, I hoped like fuck Torin was wrong. It was my truest, deepest fucking wish that Maverick fucking McKnight would figure out that I was nothing more than a plague and instead of getting closer, he should run far, far away.
If there was one thing I knew well, it was that to kill a monster, you needed to become one. And I’d followed that to a goddamn tee.
But instead of voicing that, I shook my head as a tear slipped from one eye and ran to meet his fingers. Backing up another step and dislodging his hold, I turned away and sucked in a breath.
“I came here for some blood,” I said. “Let’s just do that and get this over with. I don’t want to hear any more about Maverick.” That was something I could put off for now. I slid that towards the collection of things labeled ‘to be dealt with later.’
Behind me, Torin hummed. The sound echoing throughout the room and sending shivers cascading down my spine. Goosebumps broke out over my arms and I rubbed them absently. It had nothing to do with my reaction to the sound of his voice. Nothing at fucking all.
Keep telling yourself that, kiddo, Satrina sighed. Maybe one day you’ll believe it.
If I throw a stick, will you go the fuck away? I snapped internally.
Woof, she snickered.
“Fine then,” Torin whispered. I jerked when I realized he’d approached while I’d been distracted and now stood right behind me. “I can’t say I’m unhappy to drop the subject of Maverick.” The sound of his voice drifted over my shoulder and as I turned and looked up at him, his face dropped closer to mine. I swallowed reflexively. “I’d much rather talk about you and I.” His hands rose up to my shoulders and he pressed me back. I took one step and then another and another until the backs of my legs hit the bed. Only then did he stop.
“What about you and I?” I countered, lifting my chin in a jerky motion.
His lips twitched as his fingers rose and skimmed down my jaw. Fire erupted in his wake, leaving my skin feeling like a flame had been dragged along the same path. “I let the subject drop after Esperanza’s. In the face of my father’s summons, I thought it better to focus on getting to Italy. I kept my distance from you—”
“Distance?” I lifted a brow and pursed my lips. “If anything, you’ve been hovering around me even more than before.”
“I mean metaphorically,” Torin replied. “I’ve allowed you time. I haven’t questioned you or your intentions.”
I gaped at him. “What the fuck are you? A Victorian maiden? What the hell do you mean by ‘my intentions?’”
“You are my vampire’s mate, Barbie.” Not this again… “I know you heard me talking about it, your comment left much to be desired.”
“I’m not your mate,” I deadpanned. “I can’t be.”
He tilted his head to the side, a lock of hair sliding across his forehead. I clenched my hands into fists at my sides to keep from reaching up and touching it. “Why do you think that?”
“I hate vampires,” I said. He stared at me as if waiting. When he didn’t speak, though my continued silence had made it clear that I’d already given him an answer, my skin grew hot. Itchy. I turned my cheek. “I refuse to be.”
“It’s not something you can refuse,” he said quietly, leaning down as my shoulders tensed. His breath moved over my neck and I inhaled sharply. “The bond between mates can’t be denied. It is what it is.”
“I don’t have to do anything about it, though,” I argued.
“No,” he agreed with a dark chuckle. “You’re right, you don’t, but the longer you’re around me—the stronger the pull will be. You can’t tell me that you don’t feel it, too.” My chest seized as he touched his warm lips to my skin. I slid my eyes shut as my teeth sank into my lower lip. Torin pressed a kiss to my collarbone before moving up to the space where my neck met my shoulder. When he spoke, his words drifted over my flesh. “Your presence sets me on edge,” he whispered. “Whether I’m asleep or awake, you consume my thoughts. Whenever I close my eyes, I see your face. You’re the worst sort of addiction, Sweetheart. A vampire’s mate is his living weakness and his one true strength. Without you, I would descend into madness. I know this as I know my own being. You are an impossible dream for me because you will live and you will die. Whereas I do not know how long the span of my existence will last. But as long as I have on this Eart
h, I want to keep you by my side.” Fingers locked onto the side of my jaw, making my eyes pop open as he pulled back. His eyes glittered dangerously as he parted his lips, the tips of his fangs visible as they descended. He sank them into his wrist, watching me as he did so, and when he lifted his head again—cupping the back of mine and bringing me slowly forward—his mouth was stained with his own blood. “I will do whatever it takes,” he said as my mouth touched his wound. “That’s the only warning I can give you. No matter what happens, I will keep you safe.”
This was the first time I was drinking his blood while awake. I couldn’t say what it had tasted like the previous two times, but in that moment, it was pure heaven on my tongue. Rich. Warm. Delicious. Like the finest strawberry sauce poured over the top of some ridiculously expensive ice cream. I moaned low in my throat as it flooded my mouth. Torin’s hands held me close all the while, his fingers stroking my hair as I drank from him. My core pulsed as our eyes remained locked. I swallowed one mouthful, two, and three until I lost count and my vision began to blur.
“That’s enough, Sweetheart.” He pulled his arm away, but it wasn’t enough for me.
As soon as my lips were free, I reached up and yanked him down to me—sealing them over his.
Chapter 38
Barbie
Torin tasted like nothing I’d ever had before. His skin beneath my fingertips was soft and smooth and I wanted to tear it open. I wanted to claw my way past his flesh and sink into his fucking bones. I never wanted to stop. He kissed me back like I was the last meal he’d ever have and I relished in it. Every touch against my skin burned and made me want to dance in the fire that had burst forth between us.
When I kissed him, everything else fell away. My demon. His father. My vengeance. My mind cleared. It was a strange feeling—torn between tranquility and chaos.
“Barbie,” he whispered my name as I scooted back onto the bed, my lips leaving his for a brief moment as I hurried to strip my shirt off. I flung it to the floor and reached for his. “Are you sure you want to do this?”
“Listen,” I said sharply, “I don’t want to think anymore. I want this. You want this. Let’s not bring anything else into it. You can stay, but your clothes have to go.”
Torin’s hands found the edge of his shirt and in a split second, he had it off and was crawling back over me, his chest sliding over mine. “You have no idea how long I’ve waited for this,” he whispered coming down to meet me.
“I think I have an inkling,” I replied. His mouth found the upper swell of my breast and licked a path over the edge of my bra. Fingers reached around me and the clasps were undone. As soon as my breasts were freed, all hell broke loose. We lost ourselves in the madness. My pants were undone and ripped down my legs along with my underwear. Torin hurried to divest himself of his own, and soon our bodies were sliding along one another.
Thick fingers gripped the underside of one of my thighs and spread me open. A gasp left my mouth as Torin’s eyes flashed red. Don’t stop. Don’t stop. Don’t you dare fucking stop. My desires had completely taken over me. All of my reservations—gone. Like smoke in the wind. I wove my fingers into his hair—not unlike the first time—as Torin moved down my body, his lips trailing into secret places.
The first brush of his mouth on my pussy was electric. I arched my back on a moan. Almost instinctively, my legs tried to close, but he wouldn’t let them. Darting a look up at me, Torin tightened his grasp and forced my legs open wider. His tongue flicked out, licking a path from my entrance to my clit. Hot. Bold. Daring. Sexy as fuck. He was all of these things and more.
“Torin!” I gasped out his name and clenched my hand against his head as a bolt of pure pleasure shot through me. My nerves were living things—buzzing with the excitement, the thrill. And in the blink of an eye, they had overtaken me completely. Ricocheting through my body—lighting me up until my vision disappeared. In the distance, I heard a scream and it took me several moments to realize that it was me.
As I came down from the unexpected orgasm, I felt the telltale scrape of two sharp canines. I jerked my gaze down as Torin moved back up my body. His lips were wet as he parted them—his fangs edging out and drawing my attention. “I want you,” he whispered, “like I’ve never wanted anything else.”
I could understand the feeling. What he’d said earlier—it was true. I was drawn to him. I could feel it—a tugging inside my soul that called out for him. A desperate craving. My hand dipped low against his body—sliding over the rock hard hollows of his abdomen as I trailed against his Adonis belt and then to the base of his cock.
“Condom?” I whispered, the word raw in my throat.
Torin’s eyes fucking blazed. I don’t know what I was expecting. Perhaps a “yes” or a “no,” but is that what I got? No. No the fuck it was not. What I got was a disappearing act.
I blinked as his body practically fucking vanished right before me. I looked down at where my hand had been and now … it was fucking empty. What the actual fuck? Just as soon as I had that thought, however, he was back.
The realization hit me. “Vampire fucking speed…” No sooner had the words left my mouth than Torin’s hands gripped my hips. He dragged me to the end of the bed, a square foil clenched between his teeth as he flipped me over onto my front. Palms down against the bed, I lifted up as the sound of foil tearing reached my ears.
“Comes in handy,” he said as my feet touched the floor and he nudged them slightly apart.
“Yes, it d—oh fuck!” Torin hadn’t waited—hadn’t probed or hesitated. He spread my thighs and sank into me in one smooth, forceful thrust. I slapped the mattress as my pussy tightened around him at the unexpected invasion.
“Jesus Christ.” Torin bowed over my back, his forehead pressed flat against my spine as his hips met my ass. The irony of a fucking dhampire calling for God was not lost on me. Good sex would do that to you, I supposed. And this was more than good fucking sex. It was monumental. Unnatural. Supernatural, a voice whispered in my head. Perhaps there was something more to two supernaturals having sex. I hadn’t thought to ask Satrina, but as Torin spoke through a throat thick with desire, the concerns fell away. “You feel so fucking good.” The curse slipped from him, sounding almost foreign on his tongue. He groaned as he lifted his head and withdrew his cock from me until I could only feel him at my entrance.
My head dropped back as a moan slipped from my throat. Even as my body tensed, power slithered through my veins. Satrina’s power. Fuck, I’d forgotten what sex could do to me. I opened my eyes and blinked. When had I closed them?
Fangs traced up my naked back as Torin pushed back in. I could feel every single fucking inch of him. The heat. The goddamn texture on the pads of his fingers as he dug them into my flesh. The world was brighter. The tone of the room clearer. I arched my shoulders back, my hands leaving the bed as I reached for him. My fingers glanced over his skull, cupping the back of it as I turned and captured his mouth with mine.
“Harder,” I whispered against his lips. Both a plea and a demand.
Torin didn’t make me ask again. Even as he continued to kiss me, his hips moved. He thrust into my core, using his grip on my sides to maneuver my body how he wanted. It. Was. Fucking. Magical.
My pussy tightened around him once more. Fire flooding my veins as I gasped for air. I fell back onto the bed, gripping the sheets with an uncontrollable half-scream. Torin pumped into me. Harder and harder. I could feel the sweat collecting on my back. The same dripping from him to me and I relished in it. He set a pace that would not have been possible for a human. Fast. Hard. Rough. I loved every single second of it.
A dark, sinister voice—not Satrina’s, but something completely my own—whispered that I should tear open his throat and bathe in his blood. The image was there along with a strange desire to roll around in his scent. To make him mine. To claim him. Own him. Give myself over to him.
Sex with Torin was rough, almost violent in its all-consuming haze. It
was terrifying how fucking much I realized I wanted those savage actions to take place. Sharp pinpricks had me looking down at my hands. I blinked. Had my nails grown sharper? There were tears in the bedsheets. Long rips into the hotel’s moss green bedspread that revealed the crisp white sheets beneath. What was happening to me?
Torin’s hand left my hip and slid up my back and over my shoulder. Hard, undeniable fingers gripped my jaw and turned me towards him as he leaned over and kissed me again. His mouth pressed against mine, his tongue sliding into against mine. His fangs drew down over my lower lip and I felt a line of wetness rise up. Torin touched the small cut with the tip of his tongue, drawing it down over where the small amount of blood had formed in a slow and precise movement. I shivered against his chest.
“Fire and brimstone,” he whispered. “Your taste … it drives me mad.”
His hips snapped against mine sharply and catapulted me over the edge, driving me into a blinding orgasm. As it rolled through me, ripping away all coherency, I could have sworn I felt something inhuman slide down my spine beneath my skin.
I choked out another cry as Torin’s hips stilled against mine and he bent over, growling into my hair. His fangs pricked at my shoulder. I gritted my teeth against the unwanted desire that was spiraling out of control. It was a vicious need that I suddenly had. For him to bite me, to rip into my skin and imprint himself as far deep as he could go. I was practically salivating at the idea even as the very thought of him doing so scared me far worse than anything I’d ever known.
An image cropped up and it was my own face. The lower half covered in blood, the red liquid dripping from two sharp, monstrous fangs as I smiled and my eyes glowed a deep ruby red. And even as Torin slipped from between my thighs and helped me clean up, even as he urged me beneath the sheets and curled against my back—his warmth to my chilled flesh—the image remained.