But what a way to go.
She wasn’t thinking the way she would normally be, yet she couldn’t bring herself to care.
"I can hear your heartbeat," Drew murmured, his lips still on her pulse. "It beats in time with my own."
He kissed her again, and she could not help but close her eyes and let out a moan.
He pressed himself against her so she could feel every part of his hard body—feel his desire against her thigh—and her breathing quickened.
She had never been in this position before. She didn’t know what she was doing, and it scared her. She liked to be perfect, she liked to ensure that she was good at whatever task she took part in. But she had never even thought about sex before now; she assumed it was something that would happen in the future. Now, she wished she had prepared for it.
"We don't have to," Drew said, his voice low.
Kelia lifted her gaze from his broad shoulder so she could lock her eyes with his. The sincerity in them sent a hot shiver up her spine. He was much more compassionate than she realized. Or perhaps it was just now, in this moment, that made the compassion a special circumstance.
"You are nervous," he said. His hand continued to caress her hip in soothing circles. "I can feel it. I would never want to make you do something you are uncomfortable with."
The problem was, everything he made her feel was not safe. And yet, she wasn’t comfortable with anyone else. She did not know the right words to adequately describe her conflicting emotions. After all, how could someone make her feel both safe and unsafe at the same time?
"Will something happen to me?" she asked. Her voice came out rough and ragged, and she paused to swallow, hoping to moisten her throat. "In the breeding program, Shadows said they could smell my purity. If we...if we did this, what would change?"
“Shadows can smell innocence, Kelia,” he said. “They would be able to pick up my scent on you. It is almost like—”
"Like you are marking your territory?" she guessed. A frown touched her lips at the thought that she could be nothing more than property.
"I suppose," he agreed. "However, that is not always the intent. It's just because Shadows have a strong sense of smell and we can easily pick up the scent of other Shadows. If you were not innocent, I would be able to pick up the scent of whomever it was you did this with before."
Kelia played with his dark hair, pushing the tresses from his face before running her fingers through them, and nodded. Her hand dropped to his face where she touched his cheekbone with her thumb. She was surprised to see him close his eyes and lean into her touch. The light that filled the room flickered across his face, and she decided she had never seen him look more beautiful than he appeared right now.
"What do you want?" she found herself asking, staring at his closed eyes, at his gentle lips that had been kissing her like it was their last night together.
Drew slowly opened his eyes, and the corner of his lips flickered up. He reached out and curled an errant strand of hair behind her ear.
"You, Kelia Starling," he said.
Her name coming out of his mouth and sent shocks like little bolts of lightning straight to her pelvis. The hairs on her arms stood erect, and her nipples hardened.
"I want you in whatever way you will give me. I do know I don’t want to be your friend. I want to be able to touch your body. I want to be able to kiss your mouth. I want to be able to protect you with my life and to make you moan and to do things to you that will make you melt in my hands and scream my name and beg me to do them over and over again until you are incapable of rendering a single word, let alone standing on your own two feet.”
Kelia pulled him to her. Her whole body was on fire, and she needed to kiss him before he caused a painful sort of pleasure to pulse even more in her pelvis. But the way his body rubbed against hers, it felt as though the sensation would only get more intense.
He met her kiss with the same ferociousness that she possessed. One hand gripped her waist with rough fingers, and the other cupped her cheek so his thumb, placed gently on her chin, could control her head. He pushed it back so he could deepen their kiss, his tongue already probing the depths of her mouth.
Kelia's legs came up and wrapped around his waist. She had no idea what she was doing or why, but she knew she didn’t want his body away from hers.
His mouth dropped from hers to her chin, down her neck. These were not innocent kisses any longer. His tongue traced the line of her throat. His lips sucked on the skin gently, and Kelia moaned a sound had never heard from herself before. She didn’t realize kissing could elicit such pleasure to take hold of her body and reduce her to little more than putty.
He lowered his mouth to her collarbone and ran his tongue along the line down her chest before he stopped at the valley between her breasts.
He lifted his head and trailed his hand across her chest, slowly pushing the tunic open so the material fell off her shoulders. His hand was rough, blistered, and it scratched her soft skin, but the contrasting sensation gave her another jolt. Soon, the material fell off her body and he moved so he could tug the sleeves, leaving her in nothing but a corset.
Without waiting for her to turn so he could unlace the contraption himself, he reached to his boot and grabbed a small dagger hidden within its confines. In a blink, he slid it down her torso, shredding the corset in two. Quickly, he removed it so it fell off his bed and onto the floor, exposing her breasts to the cool room.
She could not help but feel nervous. Her fingers began to bury themselves in the blankets beneath her, and her eyes latched onto Drew, hoping to pick up any sort of sign that would indicate what he was thinking, what he was feeling.
He reached and flattened his hand in the space just above her body. He did not touch her though, not yet, and that seemed to get more of a reaction out of her than if he actually did place his hand on her.
She let a moan, and his eyes snapped into hers. Desire clouded the sincerity, and she bit bottom lip, anticipating what he planned to do next. His eyes left hers only to drop to that bottom lip, and he lowered his head until his lips were just before hers.
"Tell me to stop, and I will," he promised, his voice a ghost of a whisper.
Kelia's eyes closed, and a shudder ripped across her body. Her nipples hardened more. It amazed her that something as innocuous as Drew's voice had such power over her. She shook her head, unable to form the words just yet. After a pause that lingered, she opened her eyes. Drew continued to look down at her, his gaze dark and heavy.
"I," she said, her voice coming out jagged and sharp, like the points of Drew's fangs. "I don't want you to stop."
She didn’t know how it was possible, but his eyes got even darker until they resembled the ink on his fingertips, the sky at night. The way his gaze roamed over her body, Kelia was certain they would haunt her dreams and send her body into a tizzy, even if he wasn't physically present.
He leaned forward and gently kissed her lips. His hands went back to her hips, his grip solid, teasing on possessive. Her legs were locked around him, and he pushed his pelvis so it grinded against her mound. A startled gasp fell from her lips, and her eyes sprung open. She had not expected that
His mouth went to her neck once more. This time, she could feel the edge of his teeth caress her skin. At any moment, he could bite her, he could rip off her skin and drink from her. The thought both terrified and thrilled her.
"I can smell your desire for me," he said in a low whisper.
His hand dropped from her waist, his fingers dragging across her stomach and down to the curls of her mound. Her breathing quickened, her heart pounded against her chest, but she could not—would not—tell him to stop. He pushed farther and farther until his rough fingers grazed her lips, and she inhaled sharply, finding his eyes. He looked at her with such fierce adoration that she blinked, thinking she was seeing things.
But no.
That look was still on his face.
"You are mine, Keli
a Starling. No man will ever be able to touch you, to kiss you, to please you, the way I am about to," he said, his promises coating her body with heat. "Are you certain you don’t want me to stop?”
Kelia could only nod.
“What say you?" he asked.
Kelia took a breath. "I am yours," she replied. "Do what you will to me. I long to feel everything you can offer."
Chapter 20
Drew didn’t think Kelia truly understood the effect her words had on him. His cock throbbed painfully, and he clutched her hips once more, needing something to hold onto. A reminder to slow down.
He knew Kelia was a virgin. Knew how it would feel for him—something he had not felt in a long time—but also how it would feel for her.
His fangs had slid out. He needed something to bite, especially since he was overwhelmed with her scent, with the thud of her heart beating, her pulse knocking against her throat.
Kelia's eyes were hazy with lust, half-mast as she stared up at him. Her lips were slightly parted, lips he longed to always be attached to. Her naked body all but trembled underneath his. He could smell her anticipation, her fear. He wanted to reassure her to trust him. She would not be here if she did not—but he still wanted to ease her turbulent thoughts.
He took in a slow breath and slid off his tunic before letting it drop in a heap on the floor, next to Kelia's clothes. He leaned back over her and kissed her neck. It still awed him that someone like her—a woman with options of where to take her life—could be with him. Hopefully she would be so enraptured by him that the thought of being with anyone else would not even cross her mind.
Her hands reached up to rest on his chest. An innocent touch, and yet, somehow, he found her hesitation endearing. Her hands were soft on his skin, as they explored his solid torso, her eyes focused and awed.
He twitched at her obvious attraction to him. He’d been aware of his appearance, and it had been important to him to ensure that he kept in shape as a pirate and as a man who enjoyed the company of women, but it was only now that he appreciated the time and effort he put into cultivating his body.
"You've gotten into a lot of scrums to get these marks on your body," Kelia murmured.
She placed soft, hesitant lips on where the scar started at his ribs before moving up along his pectoral muscles until she reached the end of it as his collarbone. Then she moved onto another scar, this one a bullet hole in his opposite shoulder, and pushed herself on her knees, sliding her arms underneath his so she could reach up and pull him down closer to her.
Her fingers glided across his shoulders and down his arms until she reached his hands. Grabbing his hand, she brought it up to her face and kissed his palm before moving to the inside of his wrist.
A small moan fell from his lips.
This was not supposed to happen. He was the one who was supposed to be doing this to her. She...she was not supposed to know what she was doing.
She caressed his right forearm, bringing him back to reality. "What is this?"
"That..." His gaze dropped to his arm, and a frown tugged at his lips. The P had been singed into his flesh before he was ever a Shadow, which was why it had not healed when he was given unending life. A brand that stated what he was and would forever be: Pirate. "That marks me for a what I am."
"I did not know P stood for good man." Her voice was quiet, but her eyes were clear.
"The fact that you would think of me as such," he began, but he didn’t know how to finish that sentence and left it there.
"I can admit when I’m wrong, Drew," she told him. "And I was completely and utterly wrong about you. You are more than I expected, and I know everyone else is wrong about yo, too."
She kissed his wrist once more before bringing his hand and placing it firmly on her breast.
"You wore your hair down," he said. He probably should have noticed it before, but he had been too consumed with everything, with possibility, with what he planned to do with her.
She nodded.
"It looks lovely." Keeping one hand on her breast, he reached out with the other and grabbed a lock of her hair, twirling it around his index finger, feeling the silky gold strands of hair coil around his skin like a bond. He cleared his throat, gently tugging on her hair so she was closer to his face. "You are so goddamn beautiful."
As he kissed her once more, his hand squeezed her breast, his thumb grazing over her nipple. When Kelia moaned, the sound shot straight to his cock, and he slid his tongue inside of her mouth, needing to feel her, needing to kiss her with fervor and insistence. He could not wait any longer. He needed to consume her.
"Kelia," he whispered. Her flesh pinched with tension, and he could not help but smirk at his power over her body. He was not lying when he said he was honored for this opportunity to prove himself to her. "Tell me to stop. Tell me to stop, and I will. But please if you are going to, tell me before I consume you."
Her eyes cracked open, and she swallowed. She shook her head. "Please," she said again. "Please don't stop."
Drew hummed. Typically, he did not have to question his partners, but he wanted to be sure Kelia was ready for this. He wanted to give her every opportunity to say no. Even if she hesitated, he would take that as she still needed more time. But each time he asked, she seemed more certain than before. And he trusted her self-assessment.
He repositioned himself, and slowly, gently, pushed a little bit inside of her. He pressed his lips together to refrain from letting out a moan. Though he was not yet fully inside of her, he could feel the heat and pressure of her walls around him. She was so tight, he wouldn’t have been able to push himself in faster if he wanted to. But he wouldn’t even if he could. He didn’t want to rush this, and he never wanted to hurt her.
He gave her light kisses, trying to ease the tension in her face as he pushed through. Kelia was strong, though, and while it was clear she was in pain, he could also see her resilience.
It was one of the reasons he loved her.
The thought struck him so quickly, so hard, he did not have time to think about it. Even now, he removed it from his mind. He would not dwell on thoughts in the heat of an intimate moment.
He pushed deeper, and she tensed, so he pulled back a little to give her time before trying again. With each effort, her body felt more and more ready. If it wasn’t such a tease to himself, he might go this way for hours with her just to watch her beg for him.
The rain pattered against the deck above and splattered on Drew's window. The flame flickered, fading lower and lower as time continued forward even though it felt as though it remained still.
Drew's hands over her body, his tight breathing, his grunts and moaning—she reveled in it all. His teeth played with her skin, and she was certain, in his passion, he would forget himself and leave a mark. Somehow, she trusted that while he might nibble on her, he would never actually bite her. She didn’t know how she knew this, but it was something she believed.
He was someone she believed in.
Her hands traveled across his shoulders, sinking into his strong back as he snaked a hand between their bodies and started playing with her already-swollen nob. It was sensitive, almost painful to touch, and she let out a shudder as he moved his fingers over it quickly, with purpose, continuing to keep his pace moving inside of her steady.
Still she tried her best to hold back her pleasurable moans. Not because she didn’t want Drew to hear her, but because it embarrassed her to think the rest of the crew might hear her as well.
But as Drew continued on, rocking into her harder until she could not contain herself any longer, the tension building in her pelvis started to overwhelm her. Not long after, that now-familiar feeling of her upcoming climax came over her.
"There it is," Drew said.
Kelia didn’t know how he knew she was ready to release again, but he seemed to shift his tempo just enough to ease her orgasm out of her sooner than she’d expected. Then, the moment Kelia went limp against him, he grabbed h
er hips and cried out, burying his face into her shoulder.
He swelled and released into her, and it brought her a surprising sense of pleasure, though slightly different from her own orgasm. The sensation of him finishing between her thighs was more a feeling of completeness than anything else, and she clutched his body against her own to hold onto that feeling a little longer.
When he was done, he all but collapsed on top of her, his strong arms wrapped possessively around her waist, but the majority of his weight positioned so it wouldn’t fall onto her.
Kelia felt...content. As she stared up at the ceiling, trying to make it out through the darkness, she could not help but smile.
As Drew rested on her body, her fingertips playing over his forearms, everything felt right.
Kelia awoke only a few hours later. Drew was still holding onto her, his breath invading her shoulder and collarbone, as he inhaled and exhaled.
She closed her eyes for a moment to listen to the storm outside. It had quieted. In fact, she wasn’t certain it was even still raining. She tried to fall back asleep but failed. She’d never been good at waking up and going back to sleep.
Perhaps some fresh air would help cool her down, especially now that her mind was starting to fill with analytical thoughts regarding what had transpired, what it meant, and what would happen next.
She removed Drew's arm from her waist, picked up her clothes, and put them on. She ran into the desk on the way to the door—the candle down to its last moments of life—and was certain she would have a bruise on her shin.
Despite all her ruckus, though, Drew somehow did not wake. Was that a good thing, or a bad thing?
As she slipped out of the room, the cool air caressed her cheeks, and goosebumps ran along her skin. There was no rain, though judging by the grey sky and the loose clouds, this could just be a break before the storm picked up. She probably wouldn’t be out here very long, so she just wrapped her hands around her arms to ward off the chill.
Gift of Darkness: Book 3 in The Vampire Pirate Saga Page 16