Marked: City of the Damned Book 1

by Everly Drummond

  Sara lifted her other hand to his cheek. Her fingers trailed lightly over the rough, unshaved skin of his face, and she watched as Gedeon’s stunning aqua blue eyes flared black. She knew that look, and she knew that only one thing could cause his eyes to change. Slowly, she tilted her head and brought her lips to meet his. Wrapping her arms around his neck, the sheet that had been covering her slim naked form fell down and gathered around her waist.

  Gedeon hesitantly pulled away. How could this stunning creature still want him after everything she’d been through, after everything he’d put her through? Sara should be running in fear, but instead she sat on his bed, offering herself to the beast. His gazed drifted down her long slender form, and his body trembled as he drank in the sight of her. Never in his life had he seen such a beautiful woman.

  Sara moved over to make room for him on the bed. She could see his body shudder as she pulled down the sheet, exposing herself to him, and waited patiently as Gedeon removed his shirt and boots. Gedeon lowered himself onto the bed beside her. “What about your jeans?” she whispered as a lopsided smile played at the corner of her mouth.

  “All in good time,” he whispered. Bringing his lips to hers, Gedeon kissed her hard, his moist tongue exploring every inch of her hungry mouth. He wanted to take her right then and there. The need to have her was overwhelming. But first he had to make sure she was ready for him, he had to know that this delicate little body that lay open and waiting before him could accommodate his massive girth. He reached up and gently stroked the tip of her nipple with his finger, but a touch wasn’t enough. He had to taste the sweetness of her skin. Kissing his way down her long slender body, his mouth found her perfect shapely breast. A moan escaped his lips as he took her into his mouth and suckled.

  Sara gasped at the feel of his mouth against her skin, his kisses leaving a trail of fire in their wake. Her body ached for him. She reached over and tried to unbutton his pants, but Gedeon swiftly pushed her hand away.

  “Not yet,” he murmured. Gedeon was amazed at how responsive her body was to him, and his erection grew even harder. He lifted his hand and cupped her other breast, the one he had been neglecting, and could feel her body stiffen at his touch. The tips of his fingers played with Sara’s rock hard nipple, flicking and squeezing her rigid bud until she groaned with desire. His cock twitched at the sound of her groan, and strained painfully against the confines of his jeans. He would have her soon, but not yet. She wasn’t quite ready for him yet. Gedeon continued suckling her breast, laving her with the tip of his tongue, tantalizing her nerves and fueling the raging fire as his hand trailed lightly across the skin of her belly, and to the small triangle of hair at the juncture of her thighs.

  “Let me in,” he demanded, his voice hoarse with need and desire. Gedeon gripped her thighs and parted her legs.

  “Please, Gedeon,” Sara begged. She moaned as his fingers gently stroked the soft folds her pussy. She could feel the tension mounting, but she wanted to come with him inside her, filling her. She wanted him to feel the pleasure of her release.

  Gedeon lifted his head, and once more his mouth found hers. His kiss was rough and fervent, and he couldn’t hold back any longer. His thumb pressed hard against her clit as he parted the folds of sex and slid two fingers deep into her core. God she was tight, so tight, and he would enjoy having her. His finger moved in rhythm to her thrusts, and he plunged deeper into her again and again as she screamed his name.

  Sara moaned into his mouth. Her hips, now moving at a frantic pace, drove harder against his hand. “Take me now.”

  “Soon,” he promised. Gedeon brought his hand up to his lips and licked the sweet cream from the tips of his fingers. The beast inside him broke free. He could wait no longer to take this beautiful creature that lay open in front him, waiting for him, ready for him. He would take his time with her, savor every stroke, and savor the tightness of her as he entered her. Yes, she would take him. She would take every inch of him, but first he needed to taste her.

  His unshaven faced brushed roughly against the soft, tender skin of her thighs, and she gasped as his tongue took her in one long luscious lick. Sara arched into him, pressing herself harder against his mouth as his fingers gently parted her slick folds, his tongue driving deep into her sex. Her body shivered in anticipation as his hungry tongue found her swollen clit, licking it and stroking it as he brought her to the brink of release. Just when she thought she couldn’t take anymore, he plunged his finger deep into her core.

  “Gedeon,” Sara cried out as the climax tore through her body.

  He could feel the ripples of her release against his tongue, and drank deeply as her pearly cream filled his mouth. Gedeon reached down and unzipped his jeans. His erection sprung forward, finally breaking free from its denim restraints. Pulling off his jeans and tossing them on the floor, Gedeon positioned himself between Sara’s silky thighs. The scent of her sex was driving the beast into an uncontrollable frenzy. A snarl escaped his mouth as the tip of his shaft brushed against the warm, wet folds of her pussy. He watched fervently as the plump head of his cock penetrated her, his shaft slowly inching further and further into her. But his body stiffened as he met resistance. “Sara,” he groaned.

  “Don’t stop,” Sara begged.

  “I can’t,” Gedeon said in a pained voice. “I can’t be gentle like you need me to be.” The beast roared in disapproval.

  “Please, Gedeon. Fuck me!” Overcome with need and desire, Sara pivoted her hips upward, inviting him in. She cried out in pain as Gedeon entered her in one swift thrust. His girth proving to be more than her delicate body could handle.

  Gedeon froze at the sound of her cry. Afraid to hurt Sara if he moved so much as an inch, he waited until her muscles relaxed around him. But the tightness of her sex drove him to the brink of madness, and he didn’t know if he could hold out much longer. He needed to feel the softness of her flesh against him as he drove balls deep into her. If he pulled out now, stopped before the beast took control, he wouldn’t hurt her. Slowly and reluctantly, Gedeon eased himself out, taking extra care not to cause her any undue pain, but Sara resisted.

  “No, don’t stop.” She raised her legs and wrapped them tightly around his waist, driving him further into her warmth. She winced as Gedeon slid into her, but with each stroke of his cock, the burning pain faded.

  “Sara,” he groaned, the sound of his words muffled against her skin. Gedeon’s control shattered. His movements became faster, his thrust harder as he plunged into her again and again.

  Pleasure replaced the pain as Gedeon drove deeper into her, his cock filling her, stretching her, with every move of his hips. The tension in her body grew as he brought her closer and closer to climax. “More,” she screamed as she arched her back and pressed her body into him, her hips moving in sync with his. Sara tightened her thighs, feeling him pulse within her, and it was glorious. Each luscious stroke brought her closer to the edge. Hesitantly, she brushed aside tendrils of loose hair and tilted her head, exposing her neck. She offered herself to him and watched in wonderment as Gedeon’s fangs unsheathed.

  “Sara,” he murmured between short ragged breaths. “Are you sure?”

  Sara nodded in agreement. She’d never been more certain of anything else as she was of this. She wanted Gedeon in every which way possible. Her body stiffened as his fangs grazed the sensitive skin at the nape of her neck. Pleasure exploded through her, and every sensation in her body intensified, as the tips of his fangs slowly and deliberately penetrated her skin. She wrapped her legs tighter around him and met his thrust with her own, their bodies moving in perfect sync, fighting for release.

  Gedeon tensed as he drank deeply from her. The sweetness of her blood, sweeter than any he’d ever tasted, rolled across his tongue and warmed his throat. He had to get deeper. He had to fill every inch of her as they shared the blissful passion of the bite. Wrapping his hands around her waist, Gedeon pulled her closer, thrusting deeper into her than he ever
thought possible, but Sara’s body melded to him as if it were made for him and only him. He could feel his own release coming hard and fast as he mercilessly slammed into her again, and again, and again. Sara’s muscles clenched around him and he knew that she was almost ready. He drove his cock balls deep into her pussy, savoring the feeling as her muscles tightened around his shaft. Reaching down to the thatch of hair between her legs, he gently pressed her swollen clit with the tip of his finger. One touch was all it took to send her over the edge. Gedeon could feel the ripples of pleasure rolling through her quivering body as her sex milked him. He drove into her, again and again, each time impossibly deeper than the last, until he couldn’t take it anymore. His balls tightened and his cock exploded as he thrust into her one last time, spilling his seed deep within her.

  “Sara,” Gedeon moaned, and collapsed into a heap on top of her, both of them gasping for breath that wouldn’t come. Pulling her into his embrace, Gedeon waited for his breathing to slow before asking, “Why me?”

  Her body trembled as tiny shockwaves of pleasure continued to ripple through her. Sara gasped for air as she cupped his face with her hands, and watched as the blackness faded from his eyes, “Because I need you, Gedeon.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me you were a virgin? I should’ve been gentler with you. I could’ve made things easier for you instead of taking you like an animal. Your first time should’ve been better than this. Your first time should’ve been with someone normal, someone human. I’ll never be able to give you the things you deserve.” Gedeon let out an exasperated sigh. He rolled off her and lay beside her on the bed, stroking the long, golden brown that cascaded down her shoulders, and gazed intently into the depths of her deep brown eyes.

  “You lied to me, Gedeon.” A hint of anger tainted her voice.

  “I’ve only ever told you the truth. I’ve been straight forward with you since the day we met.”

  “No, you haven’t. You told me that vampires can only feel two emotions; hunger and lust. I could see the hunger and the lust in your eyes when made love to me. I could see hatred on your face every time you spoke Pryse’s name, but more importantly, I can see love in your eyes when you look at me like you are right now. You may think that love is just another silly human emotion, but no matter how much you deny it, I see it in your eyes and I feel it in your touch.”

  “Sara,” he whispered softly against her skin. “Why choose me? Why would you want to spend your life with a monster?”

  “Because, I’ve seen what’s inside,” she whispered, and placed a hand to Gedeon’s chest “and I know that you’re not the monster you think you are.” Sara cupped Gedeon’s chin in her hand and lifted his face to hers. “If you truly want me to leave, I’ll walk out of that door and never look back, but first you have to look me in the eyes and tell me that you don’t love me.”

  “Sara, if you choose me, you choose a life of solitude. I can’t offer you the same things a human can. I can’t give you children, or marriage, or even do the normal things that humans do for fun. I can’t even go to the store in the middle of the day if I run out of milk.”

  “I choose you,” Sara whispered.

  “I love you, Sara Bishop.” Gedeon pressed his mouth to hers. The roughness and the urgency was gone, but the need to be with her, to touch her, lingered just below the surface. Gedeon could feel the pressure building in his groin, and sighed. Sara needed time to rest and recuperate, but as soon as she was ready for him, he would have her again, and again, and again, and every day for the rest of her life if she would allow him the honor. “You need to rest.”

  “I will, but I want you to answer a question first.”

  “Okay,” Gedeon responded hesitantly.

  “What did you mean when you said I could fight him off? Did you mean I could fight off the effects of Pryse controlling me?”

  “That’s the beauty of being human,” Gedeon smiled. “Even if you’re marked, you still have freewill. You just have to learn to use it.”

  “Hmm,” Sara mused. “So if you were to mark me I would still be free to make my own decisions?”

  “Sara, I would never ask you to do that.”

  “I know you wouldn’t,” Sara replied “but Pryse told me that I have sweet blood, and that it was only a matter of time before a vampire marked me.”

  “He’s right, your blood is intoxicating,” Gedeon said, and buried his face in her hair, deeply inhaling her scent “but that’s not a good enough reason to mark someone. Besides, I’ll protect you. You’ll never have to worry about being bitten by anyone but me.” A sly smile crept across his face.

  “Gedeon, I want you to mark me,” Sara said with determination. “I can live without having children and getting married, but if I’m going to give those things up, I want to know that there was a reason for my choice. Besides, you told me yourself that the pleasure is better for both of us if you mark me, so it’s a win-win situation right?”

  “I suppose you could look at it that way,” Gedeon laughed, but his mood quickly turned somber. “I don’t know what would happen if you were marked a second time. I’ve never seen it done before. Usually when a human willing lets a vampire mark them, the bond doesn’t break until the human or the vampire dies. You know how painful it was the first time. I can’t promise that the pain won’t be worse if you’re marked a second time. It may last for days or even weeks, and I couldn’t bear to see you go through that again.”

  “But you’d be with me, right?” Sara asked. “You’d make sure I was as comfortable as possible.”

  “Of course I would.” Gedeon squeezed her hand tightly in his. Sara was right, it was possible for him to feel more than just hunger and lust. What he felt now was something he thought he’d lost forever when his humanity was stolen from him over 450 years ago. He loved Sara, and he would do whatever he had to do to make her happy. “Are you absolutely sure this is something you want, because once we start the process there’s no turning back? If you take my blood and I bite you, I can’t reverse the effects. My bite will seal the mark, and no matter how much pain you experience, I will be unable to stop it. I’ll do everything in my power to ease the pain and make you comfortable, but the minute my fangs puncture your skin, you have to see it through till the very end.”

  “Gedeon, I want this. I want you in every way possible.”

  “Alright,” Gedeon sighed, reluctantly. The idea of Sara enduring that kind of pain made him cringe. His instinct was to protect her, not cause her immeasurable pain and suffering. “I’ll do it, but only after you’ve rested. I’ve already taken too much blood from you today, and you need to recuperate.”

  Sara rolled over and cuddled into him. His body always seemed to feel cool to the touch, but it was a feeling that she could get accustomed use to. A smile crept up the corner of her mouth as his erection pressed firmly into her lower back. No rest for the wicked, she though and turned to face him. A scratching noise drew here attention to the bedroom door. “Oh God, I hope that’s not another mouse.”

  “I think Phineus took care of all the mice in this apartment,” Gedeon laughed.

  “Phineus is here?”

  “I couldn’t leave him all alone in your apartment, could I?” Gedeon pulled Sara closer into his embrace. “Oh, and that reminds me, you have to call your aunt.”

  “You were talking to my aunt?” Sara asked anxiously. “When were you talking to my aunt?”

  “I went to your place to pick up a few of your things and Jean stopped by while I was there. She was worried that you hadn’t called her in a couple of days. I told her that you were feeling under the weather, and that I was taking care of you.”

  “Oh my God,” Sara blushed “what did she say?”

  “She said to call her back in a few days when you’re feeling better. She also laughed and said to not rush your recovery on her account. I gave her my phone number, but I doubt she’ll be calling anytime soon.”

  Sara laughed and wrapped her arms aroun
d Gedeon. The soft contours of his body, and the heady scent of him, made her shiver in anticipation. “What are we going to tell her when you mark me? How am I going to explain not being able to call her for a week?”

  “We’ll just tell her that we’re spending a week at my condo in Florida,” Gedeon mumbled as he ran his hand across the silky skin of Sara’s thigh, and smiled as felt her legs part in invitation, ready and waiting for his touch. He could already feel her climax building as he slid his fingers deep into her taut core, her muscles gripping him tightly as he slowly began to stroke her. His thumb pressed firmly against her still swollen bud and she gasped. This time he would go slowly. He would pleasure her in ways she never imagined possible. “I think we’d better make that two weeks.”

  Hellfire Sneak Peak

  The comfortable chill from the air conditioning immediately gave way to the hot and humid breeze as Sara exited the plane, walked down the stairs, and stepped onto the tarmac. Even though the sun had set, Sara could feel the heat radiating from the pavement beneath her feet and suddenly wished that she’d wore something lighter than the jeans and t-shirt she donned. When Gedeon told her that he had a condo in South Beach, she thought it was a joke. Why would a vampire who can’t go out during the day own a condo in one of the sunniest places in North America? Not that she was complaining or anything. Spending two weeks in Florida with a gorgeous man that absolutely adored her was like having a dream come true. The only thing that Sara wasn’t looking forward to was the pain she would have to endure when Gedeon marked her, but he’d promised to make her as comfortable as possible during the process.

  In the past month, since being attacked and unwilling marked by Pryse, Sara had spent every waking moment with Gedeon. If they weren’t in bed making love, then she was getting spoiled with gourmet dinners and lavished with exotic flowers. Sara had even gone so far as to introduce Gedeon to her aunt and uncle. After she’d all but moved into his midtown apartment, Gedeon invited them over to dinner and wooed them with his above average culinary skills, not that it would’ve taken much to win them over. Beneath his rough and brutish exterior, he was the most loving and sensitive man Sara had ever met.