Mary trembled, bare and exposed. There was nothing she could hide from him. No feeling, no plan, no dream. Licking her lips, she gathered her courage and gave him what she hoped he sought. “I vow that I am your woman.”
Instantly, he crushed her against his chest, his arms steel bands around her and his face buried in her neck. His voice, when it came, was ragged. “Thank you.”
Mary nodded, her mouth open to respond when his fangs broke her skin for the first time. Her eyes sprang wide and her back arched against him as twin spears of pain punctured her neck and her blood rushed into him. Her right hand grabbed at his shoulders, holding him tight as if his own grasp had lightened. With her left, she tunneled her fingers into his hair, pressing his head against her as she finally understood what had previously been only a hint of a shadow in her thoughts.
She was needed in the most primal, elemental way. The most basic of animalistic, survival instincts ruled them both. He needed what only she could provide and she willingly gave, nurturing him with the comfort of her arms and the life from her body. It was a cycle of bonding she’d never imagined to be this intense. This necessary.
Then it was even more as Sebastian tightened his hold on her and lifted her, his lips never breaking their seal against her neck where he licked and suckled slowly and gently, savoring her taste like the most delicate of fine wines. Her knees met the mattress with her straddling him. Mary moaned and rocked her hips against his erection. The cycle wasn’t complete. Not yet.
Sebastian brought his hot hands to the top of each of her thighs and slid up, his fingers delving beneath the legs of her shorts and going up her hips. In one burst of strength he tore through the seams of both her shorts and underwear, peeling the shreds of cloth from her wet skin. When he had her finally bare, his fingers delved and stroked in the swollen flesh he’d revealed.
Mary cried out, a high, desperate sound. She’d waited so long for this moment and already it was beyond the capabilities of her imagination.
Sebastian laid back, Mary laying over him as he arched his hips enough to slide his sweats down to his thighs. He curled forward, the hard core of his abs holding him as one arm circled her waist, lifting her with the strength of his bicep and forearm. With his other hand, he wrapped her hand around his cock and guided it between her thighs. He would only glide inside at her pace.
Mary held him, rubbing the head of his shaft against her slick flesh, poised to give him the rest of her body. Another first.
Sebastian shuddered, moaning against her neck. “Yes.”
Dragging out each second of an experience that could never be repeated, Mary sank down, enclosing him within her body. A sharp pain gave way to tense muscles pulled taut. The cycle was complete.
Rising to the tip of his cock, she quickly reversed and brought him back inside, rocking her hips against him until they both groaned. Sebastian licked his marks closed, sealing her blood inside her veins, and fell back against the covers. Mary took her time, staring into his eyes as she rode his hard length, learning the rhythm and angle she liked best. Until they were close and he took charge, guiding her over the edge where all her muscles tightened in an excruciating pain, then released in bone-shaking, euphoric quakes.
Mary collapsed forward into his arms and he held her, her ear pressed to the now racing sound of his heart. When he slept, it was near silent. When he was hungry, it was barely a sluggish demand. But, for now, it beat for her.
Sebastian’s fingers tangled in her hair, brushing the newly damp strands from her nape. “I may have taken too much, though I drank slow.”
Mary smiled. “I’m not worried. There are medications that increase the production of red blood cells. I knew you would need to feed often this first week, but I didn’t want to risk having you appear to anyone at less than full strength. I’ll be fine.”
“I won’t endanger you.”
She kissed his chest and nuzzled up to his neck. “With the medicine, it would be more dangerous to my heart if I didn’t donate. But don’t worry. I studied the limits carefully. One week won’t hurt me.”
He chuckled and traced her cheek with one finger, his blue eyes clear and inviting. “You have a plan for everything, don’t you? Even to become the Murder King’s woman.”
Mary bit her lip and shook her head. “I’ve only wanted to be Sebastian’s woman. I have no designs on your title. It just comes with the total package.”
He eased her up, then set her back against the pillows, coming to rest alongside her. “I know. That’s why you have me. All of me. Heaven help you.”
She laughed. “I think it’s you who needs the help. Or, at least, you will. David isn’t done with you.”
And with that, her laughter faded.
Sebastian tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. “Don’t you worry about him. He’s mine to take care of.”
“While I what? Go back to college and play a young twenty something with no worries?” Mary grimaced and shook her head. “I can’t do that.”
Sebastian disagreed. “That’s exactly what you do. You have a plan, remember?”
Mary shook her head. “One that’s pointless if something happens to you.”
He pulled her close for a kiss, dragging out the contact with her bottom lip for one forever moment. “You saved me. Now I will do my job and you will do yours. Or, specifically, in a week when our time here is up.”
One week. They would have one week, then maybe in a few years, a future. Or maybe not. She bit her lip, staring into his eyes. Just as he had to accept her as the woman she was, she had to accept him as the incredibly sexy Sebastian and as the Murder King. Always at risk. Always in danger. Except for this one brief week.
Mary pressed her bare body against his, her voice hoarse but determined. “Then we’d better make it count.”
Letter from the Author
Thank you so much for buying and reading this short story! Some of you may remember The Murder King's Woman from The Mammoth Book of Vampire Romance 2. I love being able to put the story out in digital form for everyone. You may wonder why I'm doing so with a previously published story from an anthology. It's because I finished Mary's adventure for that anthology, but I discovered I haven't finished her story.
I have released her next adventure, a previously unpublished story entitled The Murder King's Summons. It will be at least twice as long as this one, but still a short story. In this manner, I hope to continue Mary's journey as a human raised among vampires and werewolves in the dangerous world of the Murder.
I hope you will join me.
If you have any comments or questions, feel free to email me at [email protected] or visit me at www.JamieLeighHansen.com. If you enjoyed this story, please consider joining my newsletter at the top left of my blog, www.JamieLeighHansen.com/blog, and receiving updates to future works.
The Murder King's Summons
Murder Tales 2
Available Now
The Murder King's Woman Page 3