A Bitten Curse: A Darkness Bites Paranormal Romance Novel

by Nicole Marie

  I then tossed my head back and tried to catch my breath. “Okay, I don’t know how many of those you can give me before it’s your turn.”

  “How high can you count?” he teased.

  I laughed and rested my cheek against his face as he nuzzled into my neck. “I have a feeling tonight is going to be exhausting,” I laughed. “Beautifully exhausting.”

  His chest vibrated against me as a deep growl made its way from inside of him. “Oh, baby, you have no idea.”

  He then reached up and untied my hands from the headboard and flipped me over onto my stomach. I reach back to grab him and pull him forward, but he lifted my arms up again and tied them back. I lay sprawled on my stomach with my hands tied again, unable to move with his weight on top of me, pressing me down.

  I felt his body warm against my back, and I raised my ass against him and spread my legs. He had a lot of restraint, but I knew a man could only hold himself back so long. I curved my hips up and pressed my ass into his hard flesh, pressing up and down, building friction between the two of us. I could feel myself so wet and so ready, I so desperately needed him inside me.

  He dug his nails into the back of my neck and scratched down my back, leaving long lines of stinging flesh in their wake. I moaned under his touch and my body quivered, but he didn’t relent.

  He ran his hands down my entire body, kissing and tasting my skin as he went. He worked for my shoulders down to my ass, down the back of my thighs to my feet and back up again. Only then, when he finally made his way back up to my neck, did he give any hint that he was ready to take me.

  He pressed his body up against me, mounted behind me like an animal. He wrapped his arms around me, and I used every ounce of my strength to keep my hips up in the air, supporting his weight. His hands grabbed my breasts and massaged them deeply as he pulled my body against his. He then worked his hands down between my legs, his fingers running circles around my clitoris as his other hand pushed his fingers deep inside of me. “Oh fuck, baby. You’re so wet.”

  I moaned at the sensation of his fingers working inside of me, and I push my hips back against him. “For the love of fucking God, James. Fuck me already.” I bit the pillow as I tried not to scream in frustration.

  “Well, if you say so.”

  He then pushed himself up off me, ran his hands down my ass and grasped my hips, and with one swift thrust he pushed himself inside of me completely. The sensation took me off guard, and I wasn’t expecting him to be so forceful. His entire length consumed me, filling me completely, and he pressed his body so hard into me that I felt like he was going to split me in two.

  He then wrapped his hands around my hips and pulled me into him even deeper as he rotated his hips and gyrated inside me, without so much as pulling out an inch. I moaned loudly into the pillow, the noise of my hot deep breaths and mild screams muffled by the fabric. He then pulled himself out slowly and slammed back into me, and I screamed. When I finally caught my breath, he’s pulled himself out again and began picking up a slow rhythm, in and out and in and out. He poked me from behind so deeply that I wanted to cry with relief.

  He ran his hands around my ass in the front of me, his fingers rubbing my clitoris as he thrusted inside me. The pleasure grew inside of me and I knew I was going to climax again. “If you keep doing that I’m gonna come,” I said into the pillow.

  “Perfect,” he purred behind me. His rhythm picked up from the wetness around my clitoris in swift motion. I pressed my hips back into him as we moved as one, and as the pleasure built, he worked harder and harder with his fingers and plunged deeper and deeper with his cock. The orgasm hit me as I shoved my face back into the pillow and screamed, and he brought it long and hard and kept pumping into me, unrelenting. It is my third orgasm of the night, and it was the most consuming. I felt it from the tips of my toes all the way up into the my shoulders, and my body shuddered under his weight. When the waves of pleasure finally subsided, I collapsed onto the bed, and he slowed his pace. My mind was fuzzy, and I lay there completely like Jell-O. The soft music played in the background as he reached up and untied my hands. While still inside me and thrusting slowly at his own pace, he massaged my back and I moaned into the pillow with pleasure.

  It was then that the chatter in my mind picked up again. And my stomach growled again. “Still hungry?” James asked from behind me. I turned my face back into the pillow and nodded, hiding my face slightly. Anger flared up inside me at the thought that Erik was still inside my head, feeding. The hunger and need for red meat consumed me again, and I knew I was feeling his desperate hunger.

  You have no business here, I thought to myself. Get the fuck out of my head and out of my body. I don’t want you, I’m spending tonight with someone else, I thought loudly in my own head, desperate for him to hear me.

  James flipped me over onto my back just then, and kissed me deeply as he pressed himself back inside of me. I wrapped my legs around him as I tried to push the thought of Erik from my mind. He didn’t answer me and hadn’t heard him communicate all day. But I could feel his hunger, his desperate need for blood. It made me angry, absolutely livid. I wasn’t going to let it ruin my night with James, though, as I focused on his hot naked body fucking me. I looked into his eyes and let the thoughts of how much I cared for him fill my mind, hoping that my affection for James would be enough to push Erik from my mind. If the sex wasn’t enough to scare him away, maybe the deep emotional feelings I felt for him would push him over the edge. Vampires had no heartbeat, so how could they feel? I let my emotions and feelings for James consume me, and the hunger in my mind subsided. I couldn’t help but smile as my plan worked, I knew I’d gotten to Erik and I could now spend the night focused solely on James.

  I took James’ hands into mine and looked deep into his eyes. “I want to feel you come inside of me,” I whispered to him and then bit my lip. The deep feral growl that came out of his throat nearly threw me over the edge, and by the look in his eyes I knew that I had him completely. He bent forward and kissed me passionately as he quickened his pace, thrusting harder and harder. He was completely unrelenting and his stamina blew me away. He fucked like this for what felt like the best part of the night. And finally, just when neither of us could take it anymore, with one final thrust he pushed me over the edge, into my final climax. He rode me deep and hard as I felt him release inside me. We pressed her bodies together and rode a long waved orgasm together, our bodies completely intertwined, our tongues deep in each other’s mouth, as we rode each other as one to the end of what was the most intense orgasm I ever felt in my life.

  When it was all over, we both laughed into each other’s skin, and laid there, panting together in silence. Without another word, or another thought, we both closed her eyes and fell asleep, intertwined in the bed, sweaty, physically tied together as one.

  17

  My body lay rigid on the hard stone surface of the ledge below the window. The moonlight poured in through the small opening overhead, casting long shadows across the damp room. Slow drips of wax that fell along the last candle echoed through the room like a thousand waterfalls. The sound was deafening.

  My eyes were closed but I could sense the movement of shadow across the room as the moon rose and set, night after night. An endless cycle that seemed to grow longer every day.

  Echoes in the distance told me that the young girl was coming again, as she did every night, consistently, without fail. I lay there waiting, for what else could I do? I counted the footsteps as they grew louder until she finally stepped through the door with a fresh candle.

  “Master, you must feed.” Her voice sounded forced, and I could feel her heartbeat pulsating in her chest. I could smell the coppery taste of her blood through her skin as it coursed through her body.

  The muscles in my body clenched, and I forced my eyes open, painfully. The dim light from the moon nearly blinded me, and I shut them again.

  “You know I cannot,” I said through clenched teeth. My v
oice was hoarse and raspy from two months of not consuming any liquid. I slowly opened my eyelids again and with every last ounce of energy, I turned my head towards the girl. “You must leave.”

  The girl fell to her knees and bowed, tears streaming down her face. “Please, Master. You must feed. You can’t go on much longer in your state.”

  The girl’s concern for my well-being was touching, but it meant nothing. She was but a mere human, having sworn herself to the coven as a concubine and blood donor. She was tied to my people through a strong force.

  “Your concern is sweet,” I said through ragged breaths. “But you must leave now, beautiful girl. You’re not welcome here any longer.”

  I heard the ruffle of her clothing as she moved to stand, but she collapsed again on the ground in a heap and sobbed even louder. “Please, Master. What will happen if you’re gone? What will happen to me? What will happen to your coven?”

  I slowly turned my head back up to face the ceiling. My eyes followed the lines of the stone around me as I pondered the consequence of my end. “I know not.” I closed my eyes as exhaustion took me. I had been the head of this coven for over 200 years, and I hadn’t groomed anyone to take my place. I couldn’t think of one vampire that was fit enough to replace me, which made this whole situation that much more difficult.

  The sobbing grew quieter as her tears dried, and I could sense her heart rate slowing. She slowly pushed herself up to a standing position and when I didn’t say anything further, she bowed and turned to leave.

  I listened to the echo of her footsteps growing softer as she walked down the corridor, far away.

  I thought about the humans that devoted themselves to us, and I thought about the vampires who I’d grown so close to these past few centuries. I didn’t know how much longer I had, nor what would happen to me. I’ve never known a vampire to go through what I was experiencing as the situation is unprecedented.

  I squeezed my eyes shut as the sour scent of wolf consumed me. My teeth clenched, and an all-consuming anger coursed through my veins. I pushed the thought from my mind, and used every ounce of my remaining strength to not let the link take over my mind completely.

  I could feel the heat of her body and smell the scent of her sweat. The hunger in me roiled, but the weakness quickly overtook it. It had been two months since I had blood, and my being slowly withered away in agony. It took all the strength I had at first not to feed, but I knew the effect it would have on her if I did. It was worth risking myself if it meant saving her.

  My mind flared again as the link grew stronger, and I could feel the heat of their passion against my skin. I squeezed my eyes tighter as I willed myself to think of anything else. I ran my hands on the cold, damp stone surface of the ledge beneath me. I traced my fingers along the rough cut stone, and the crumbling mortar that held it together. I forced myself to breathe in the dampness of the room and listen to the slow dripping of the moisture as it fell down the stones from the window above. If I focused hard, I could even hear the hooting of an owl in the distance, and the faintest sound of a bird that flew by overhead.

  I could hear her heartbeat and the sound of the birds suddenly disappeared. She moaned in pleasure and the taste of her lips was so sweet in my mind.

  The pain I felt from their embrace was difficult to manage, but the knowledge that she was happy and satisfied was enough to get me through until the end. I forced myself to ignore the smell of the disgusting wolf, and focus solely on her sweet scent. I love the sound of her heartbeat consume me and the tastes of her lips filled my mind as I slowly wasted away.

  I tried to open my eyes, but I couldn’t and I knew the end was near.

  Had I known my fate would’ve ended so young, I would’ve done things differently. But it was all I could do to protect her. As hard as it was, it was worth it. As I felt my last of my life energy slowly fading away, I let the sound of her moans fill me and I took one last deep breath of her sweet scents of her body.

  My eyes flew open suddenly in the hands grabbed into the duvet that I lay on. My breathing was heavy and I could feel my heartbeat loud in my chest. It took me a moment to orient myself, but I turned my head to the side and saw James’ beautiful body lying naked next to mine. This moon was bright in the night sky to the window, and I gazed out into the stars as the memory of my dream consumed me.

  My body felt cold and clammy as though I was weak and starving. I ran my hands along my exposed skin and realized that those sensations didn’t belong to me. My body was warm and very much alive, and I breathed in the sweet smell of the pleasures of the night before. I let out a deep breath, and tried to focus on my own body.

  My mind was silent for once.

  But as I stared out the window at the moon, I realized just how strangely quiet my mind had gone. Even when it was most calm, I could sense Erik’s presence in my mind. That link that pulled me towards him and connected our minds. That link was weak and I couldn’t hear the chatter of his mind anymore. All I could feel was the strange sensation of weakness and cold, and the hunger subsided to something so barely reachable. The feeling of sadness consumed my own mind. As I stared out of the moon, I couldn’t help but wonder what happened to my link to Erik.

  I turned to look at James as he lay beside me, his warm, comforting body rising and falling as he breathed deeply in his sleep. I ran my hand down his back and traced the lines of his muscles. I could smell the scent of our night together, a mixture of us, sweat vanilla, and something else. I ran my fingers through his hair as I watched him sleep, but I couldn’t help but think of the dream and what it meant.

  My stomach growled and my craving for red meat flared again through my body, and I realized that my hunger hadn’t been because he was feeding, it was because he had been refraining from food for so long. My desperate need for red meat was really his starvation and lack of blood. If the dream was accurate then that meant he was starving himself because of me. Because he wanted to protect me.

  I placed my hand against my stomach as it clenched into a knot of hunger. I couldn’t help but feel guilty for the angry thoughts toward him before. I thought about the passionate lovemaking James and I had made the night before, and even my escapades the week prior in the nightclub. Guilt coursed through me and I couldn’t help but feel like the most terrible person in the world. Erik had been dying in an effort to protect me, and I paid him back by forcing him to experience my sexual exploits with a species and his sworn enemy.

  A tear streamed down my cheek as I thought back to my meeting with Erik, and everything started to make sense. I believed him now when he said he had no control over the link. I wasn’t the only one forced to be tied, for he was also tied to me. He refrained from feeding because of me. He was dying because of me.

  Erik, are you there? I thought in my own mind. I rested my hand on James’ sleeping body, but it was Erik who consumed my thoughts now.

  As I thought his name, a soft energy buzzed in my mind, and I felt that light, invisible string that connected the two of us and I gave it a mental tug.

  A sudden deep sensation of torment and longing, desperation, and love coursed through me. I gasped as the overwhelming sensation took over my body, and I could feel Erik’s dying life energy flow through me.

  My mind was consumed with guilt and I knew I had to do something. I had spent these past few months so angry and full of hate that I had let it consume my mind, so much that I hadn’t even considered the alternative. I had to do something and find a way to make it right. As much as I didn’t approve of his lifestyle as a vampire, what he had done to protect me had proven to me the kind of person that he was.

  I moved to get out of the bed and go to him, to do everything in my power to make things right. To save him. But as I stood, I felt his life energy slowly slip away.

  His voice came soft and ragged and painful in my mind, and an utter silence followed his words.

  “You’re free.”

  Also by Nicole Marie

&nbs
p; Darkness Bites:

  A Bitten Curse

  A Pull of Moonlight

  A Promise of Protection

  A Taste of Pleasure

  A Trick of Temptation