Marked (Dark Ties Book 1)

by A. Vers

  My eyes dip to my sheet in her lap and how it clings to her skin. “Liar.”

  Heat colors her face. “Do you want something?”

  I tremble. “Oh yeah. We never ate. And now I want dessert for dinner.” Every inch of me wants to seat myself to the hilt. Even with the bandages on her slim neck still so dark. I want to erase that memory from her mind, to replace it with my fangs and my body filling hers. But I will settle for her taste on my tongue.

  Her nipples tighten through the fabric, drawing my eyes like lasers. She makes a sound, part need, part surprise. The lovely beat of her heart skips in my ears before it races anew, thrumming under her skin. “What?”

  I pull gently on the sheet, exposing her body for my hungry eyes. “I want my dessert.” My fingers flow up her calf. Every inch of her skin is warm and so soft. Her thighs are slick. Wet. I play my fingertips over the damp expanse.

  Then, with my eyes locked in hers, I suck every damn drop from each digit before trailing my hand across her apex and those silky folds. She bucks.

  My hand grips her full thigh, digging deep into her skin. “Easy.”

  She quiets bit by bit, watching me with an innocence and trust that fucks with my insides. With my calm.

  Slipping my fingers along her opening, I tease her until more of that damn nectar coats her skin. And it does. Gleaming and making me ache with how ready she is. I slide one digit deep into her wet, silken body and ease it back out tortuously slow. My jaw flexes at how hot she is.

  Holy fuck.

  She scrambles to hold onto something.

  “Do you like that, beautiful?” She whimpers as I whisper to her. “You would feel so damn good around me. So soft. So wet.”

  Her sapphire eyes fly wide, and I swear there are flames in their depths. “Ruin.”

  My name from her lips is near my undoing.

  I pull my hand free and ease further on the bed. “Lilah, I need to taste you.”

  She watches me, gaze so damn stark, I start to unravel. Her head inclines in one dip.

  It’s the last straw of my tenuous control. Not that there was much left anyway when it comes to her.

  I climb up next to her and kiss her full mouth. She parts easily at a swipe of my tongue. I devour her with lips and teeth, memorizing everything that draws a response and discarding what doesn’t. She rises up, arms winding around my neck with the same fervor from the club. The alcove. From her room. Fire scorches my gut like lava.

  She’s wanted this all along. Wanted me.

  The slim line of her neck is glorious. Her scent is damn intoxicating and the thrum of her heartbeat is musical this close to her pulse. Heady. My fangs press into my mouth.

  Forcing that hunger as far down as it can go, I nip playfully before moving on. My lips trail over the silk of her skin and I nibble along her collarbone. She shifts restlessly beside me, pulling at my shirt. Demanding.

  Her breasts are full, little pert nipples peaked from desire. Palming the heavy globes, I squeeze gently, massaging them. My head lowers to lick one bud in a small tease. She cries out.

  I suck it between my teeth and pull before turning to the other side. I want her as needy as I am. As restless. She tosses her head, hand winding over the base of my skull and scratching in my flesh. I nuzzle her skin, inhaling her fragrance and listening to the sounds she makes. It’s like being lost in her. Like the world disappears and there is only Lilah.

  Grabbing her hips, I ease her legs open and slip between her thighs. She’s darker now, swollen from the need coating her skin. But smoother than a baby’s bottom and wide open and ready for me. My mouth waters.

  Burying my face into her fucking drenched heat, I lick up in one long line. Her flavor explodes on my tongue, and I suck on her little pearl. She screams, hands fisting in my hair over and over. I growl in encouragement.

  “God, Ruin!” Her shout makes my hips buck into the mattress.

  I feast at her, taking my time to learn every little nuance that she responds to. Soon, she grows near frantic, grinding against my face. My fangs nick her skin and salty blood mixes with her flavor. Every inch of my body tightens.

  Fucking Hells.

  Her blood is like electricity over my tongue, sparking a thirst that makes my vision darken. The pain in my fangs and jaws is excruciating. Hard to breathe past.

  Her heels dig into my shoulders, hips rocking up to me. I jerk inside my jeans, the sensation bordering on torture. But it’s the best thing I’ve ever felt as it forces the hunger elsewhere. I press my thumb to her little pearl and swirl softly. Her inner muscles start clenching around my tongue and those full thighs tremble around me.

  She bows damn near in half, her cries echoing in my ears and off the walls.

  My head swims at the wash from her release; lilac nectar soaks my chin and mouth.

  Goddess yes.

  Lapping up every damn drop, she screams again and again. Her nails turn into ten pinpricks of delicious pain in my scalp. Shaking in earnest, she pushes at me.

  “Ruin. God. No more. Please.”

  I pull away with another gentle swipe.

  She quakes and her eyes flutter. My lips tug, but I’m not done with her yet.

  Taking my shirt off, I wipe my mouth. “You still with me, beautiful?” I caress her face.

  Her moan is like velvet around my length. But I hesitate, giving her a second to breathe. To find a touch of coherency.

  “I’m okay.” Her fingers scramble over my thigh to lock in the loop of my jeans. “Take them off, Ruin.”

  My lips part.

  She peers at me from under those long fucking lashes. The fire in her gaze is more about who she is than what. “I know you didn’t think that was it? I want you inside me. Now.”

  I crow at the bold command and shuck the denim as fast as I can. She watches me in part amusement and part hot need.

  My length rests against my stomach, heavy and so damn hard it hurts. Palming it, I stroke my hand up and down, and she makes a noise deep in her throat.

  I smirk. “You can take it. Promise.”

  Her eyes dart as I climb up between her wet legs. I knead them in my hands, massaging even as I spread them wider.

  “You’re a damn rainmaker, baby girl. And it’s the sexiest fucking thing I’ve ever seen. But I want you to soak me too. Can you do it again?”

  She flushes. “Umm ...”

  I stroke my hands up her legs to grip her full waist. Her legs wind around me on instinct, pressing her slick center over me.

  Fuck, she’s hot.

  My hips buck, rubbing over the pearl at her apex. She moans, and more nectar coats me.

  “Oh yeah. You can do it again,” I rumble. Grasping my length, I ease into her scalding opening.

  She still pulses in time to her erratic heartbeat, like little damn kisses over my sensitive tip. But tight. Too damn tight. I pant, trying to be gentle, patient, despite the fire building in my groin.

  I slide deeper through her folds, stopping long before I reach the end. I pull back. She arches, trying to keep me in her. And my body tries to draw up from even that small sensation.

  My teeth grind. “Damn, woman. Give me a minute.”

  She flushes, eyes almost feverish. “Please, Ruin.”

  “What do you need, beautiful? Tell me.”

  She trembles, skin so pink and lively that I can damn near see her blood as it courses through her. “You. I need you. All of you. Please.”

  Another low rumble rips from me. I grip her face, forcing her to watch my eyes.

  My hips drop.

  She screams as I bottom out against her farthest wall. I push deeper and roll my hips over that rough, sweet spot at the top of her body. Her scream fades to nails down my spine. Pain and heat sear in their wake as blood scents the air. My eyes roll back in my skull.

  Oh sweet mother of...

  My mouth covers hers hard as I move in and out of her heat. Every mewl of sound flows through me, ratcheting the need higher.


  “You’re fucking wet silk around me. And tight. Goddess, you’re tight,” I murmur against her bottom lip before nipping it between my teeth. “You feel so fucking good, Li.”

  She gasps in my ear, ankles locked into the small of my back. Every thrust is met with a tremble that makes stars dance before my eyes. “God, Ruin.”

  The first small ripple flows through her core. I grab her hips, angling her up, and she cries out at the sharper angle.

  “Are you going to come for me?” I ask, watching her head toss as I roll in and out of her flesh. She whimpers, teeth deep in that damn bottom lip. The one that has haunted me since the first night at Carnage.

  A trickle of hot fluid flows down my thighs. I glance down, watching as I move inside her. It’s like fucking poetry. Those dark pink folds part for my length like they were designed to. Like they were meant to. White hot pleasure shoots down my spine at the sight, and sweat beads on my brow.

  “Fuck.” I drop my thumb to her pearl and swirl the little, wet bud. “Come, Lilah,” I command, losing my rhythm. “Now.”

  Her back arches and her body clamps like a vise around me. My eyelids flutter, and my shoulders and neck strain against the force building in my groin.

  White dots move behind my closed lids and I pound between her thighs. My sac draws up in a knot as the orgasm hits me like a sucker punch somewhere between the knees and my heart.

  Oh fucking goddess.

  Neck corded and eyes throwing sunlight over the ceiling, I roar.

  With all my reserves lost, my eyes glow and my fangs pierce my bottom lip as I jet into her heat in one never ending wave.

  I am yours and you are mine...

  Flesh to flesh...

  The words seem to come from nowhere. Like listening at the end of a tunnel, they fade in and out, echoing and incoherent. I shake my head to clear it.

  Lilah’s heartbeat slams in my ears, filling me until there is nothing but her.

  I set out to own her. But now she owns me.

  And there isn’t a damn thing I won’t do to feel that again. To have it every fucking day for the rest of my life.

  Panic replaces that happy edge, and I peer at her flushed face in the dark.

  What the fuck has she done to me?

  34

  Lilah

  SOMETHING TRAILS ALONG my spine, and I arch into the sensation. Gooseflesh flows over my body, and I can’t stop the sigh of contentment as my body aches in ways it never has. I smile into the pillow.

  “You’re up early considering all the work you did last night,” I say into the quiet.

  A low masculine laugh pours behind me, and I roll onto my back to find Ruin gazing down at me in all his decadent glory. He wraps his arms around my waist and rolls until I straddle his lean hips. “Which is why it’s your turn this morning.”

  He presses against my core, and I pulse with need. I lay my palms over his chest, and rise up. Staring deep into his eyes, I rock back over him until he is as far inside me as he can go. He hisses and fangs flash up at me.

  Despite the numerous times he filled me last night, he never asked to feed. I know he worries over the bandage still covering me. Every time I think he will take me, fill me with his body and his fangs, his eyes drop to my neck and a dark emotion flashes over his face. But I want all of him, and I’m determined to have it.

  I roll my hips over his length, working my body more than his. The first orgasm catches me within minutes, slow to build. Languid. But no less powerful than the others. My head falls back.

  It’s addicting being with him. How he makes me feel.

  His large hands close over my breasts, kneading and teasing my nipples as I ride him in ecstasy. That’s the thing about Ruin. If I’m having a good time, so is he.

  He grabs my hips, lifts me with vampire strength, and works me wider. Every thrust is timed to the erratic beat of my heart. The faster it beats, the quicker he moves. My frazzled body heats rapidly as I try to keep up with his insane stamina.

  But when he comes, his strong neck arching back as his fangs pierce his lip, it’s enough to bring me again too.

  I collapse over him. Spent in ways I never thought possible. “God, you’re good at this.”

  He chuckles and strokes my hair back. “And you, baby girl, are terrible for my ego.”

  I prop up on his chest to look at him. Blood dribbles from his bottom lip. Without thinking, I scrub my thumb over the drops and suck my finger clean.

  He grabs my hand with horror. “Fuck, Lilah. You can’t do that.”

  I stare at him, confused as the delicious spicy copper flavor explodes on my tongue. “What?”

  He climbs nude from the bed, depositing me on the disheveled mattress, and rushes to the bathroom.

  The sink runs for a moment before he comes back, damp rag in one hand, glass of water in the other.

  His brows knit and he leans down to look at me. “Why did you do that, baby girl?” He swabs at my mouth and then at my hand before offering me the glass.

  “I don’t understand. What did I do?” He grips my face and just holds me. I lay my free hand over his.

  “You can’t drink from me, baby. Humans don’t always react well to vampire blood if they aren’t being changed into one of my kind.”

  A trace of fear fills me. “How ‘not well’?”

  “Think like the flu from hell,” he murmurs, dark eyes tight. “My blood is what helps heal me, but in you ... Your white blood cells would attack it like cancer.”

  I grimace. “Oh.”

  “Which is why the council decreed changing humans to be illegal. Some survived, but a lot more died.” His brows knit. “Don’t do it again.”

  He strokes my cheek with one calloused thumb, and climbs back in the bed. His long arms go around me. I sink into his embrace. It’s easy. Safe. Like I was meant to be just like I am now.

  “Drink,” he commands.

  “I feel fine though.” But I take a few sips anyway.

  One hand runs up and down my shoulder. “Tell me if that changes.”

  We fall silent in the dimness. He continues to idly pet me, almost like, now that he can, he wants to touch me as much as possible.

  “Eventually I’m gonna have to leave,” he says finally. “The team has work to do, and I’ll need to feed before sunset.”

  I stroke my finger over the glass’ rim. “You could feed from me.”

  The elephant in the room trumpets loudly, and his sigh as he pulls away is like a knife in my chest.

  “I can’t. And you know that.”

  “Why?”

  He looks away. “You know why, Lilah.”

  I watch him climb from the bed again, his broad back and tight ass flexing. “Do I? Do I really?”

  “I can’t drink from you.”

  “No, you won’t.” I raise a hand. “Look, I know why you don’t want to. Because I lost so much blood yesterday.” He winces. “But I’m fine. And you clearly are not.”

  He snarls. “I’m fucking peachy.”

  “Says the guy that can’t orgasm without flashing long, pearly whites.”

  His body leans down, long arms caging me in. “My fangs drop because you feel so fucking good that I can’t stop them. Your scent–our scents together ... the feel of you, your heat ... It all fucking does me in.”

  I flush so damn fast it leaves me dizzy.

  “Do you understand? I want to sink my teeth in that pretty neck of yours until you are marked inside and out with me. With this.” He motions between us. “I want to fucking brand you as mine in every way I can. That is why I don’t feed on you.”

  My eyes remain riveted on his face.

  Those chiseled plains are stark and almost slack with a need resting just beneath the surface. A very dark need. One that is nowhere near human. My stomach gives a little flip of nerves. “You’ve been holding back.”

  It’s not a question, but he answers anyway. “I don’t want to hurt you, Lilah. Any worse than you’ve alre
ady been hurt by my kind, but being with you ... It’s testing every fiber of my self-control.”

  I lick suddenly dry lips. “How much, Ruin? How much are you keeping from me?”

  He pales. No easy feat for his gorgeous crème skin. He walks to the end of his bed, grabs a hold of one of the four-poster rails and snaps off a two foot section like he broke a toothpick.

  There is no strain in his body. No difficulty. He did it like blinking.

  I reach for the sheet and pull it up around my body as the enormity of the differences between us sinks in. He glances from me to the piece of wood and back.

  “Not every human can be bitten by a vamp. And not every bite hurts.” My mind casts back to the excruciating pain of the newborn vamp at Lock Lake. He nods, almost like he knows what I am thinking. “I don’t know that my bite won’t be like that, baby girl. And I can’t do that to you. Not again.”

  “Do you understand now?” he asks, almost angry. “I can hurt you, Lilah. Even without meaning to.”

  I watch him. “But it’s my body. My choice.”

  His head shakes. “Not with this, Lilah. Not with this.”

  I huddle on the bed, pulse racing at the implications. He’s been rough-ish. But he hasn’t hurt me. Not really. His size, even when he moves excruciatingly slow and careful, fills me to a point that the pressure is this side of pain. But it’s been in a good way.

  Always riding that line.

  But what he just did ... He hasn’t given me all of him yet. Hasn’t committed wholly to being with me.

  We fall silent, simply staring at each other as the new found closeness seems to break and shatter apart. For the first time in years, I found something I want. Something that makes me feel alive. But it’s getting destroyed before it can ever begin.

  “I’m going to go shower,” he murmurs and walks off, bed rail in hand.

  I don’t get up to go after him. There is no reason to.

  He’s made up his mind, and there isn’t a damn thing I know to do about it.

  But there may be someone who does.

  35