Forbidden Hunger (Forbidden #8): Siya & Ram

by R. L. Kenderson

  When he’d first become the alpha, his first group of sentinels were some of his best friends back then—and still were—but they’d all retired from the life, and Vance understood why. He might be a shifter with a long life, but he was getting old, and he wanted to enjoy some time with his wife and travel before it got too hard to move around.

  There was always something going on with the pride, and he used to love it, but he’d recently realized it was wearing on him.

  “Vance, honey, are you okay?” Lilith asked.

  He took a deep breath and smiled. “Yes, but I have been thinking…”

  Thirteen

  Siya woke to an almost-pitch-black room and tried to piece together where she was. She must have been sleeping hard because it took a minute to remember Emery and Monica, Ram bringing her to the cat-shifters, and Demi letting her lie down in her bed.

  With a sigh, she rolled onto her back and ran into something hard. It wasn’t the wall though because it was warm, and Siya froze.

  Her first thought was that somehow, Demi hadn’t been able to warn Saxon, and he had accidentally crawled into bed with her. But she quickly dismissed it. Saxon would have smelled her, and unless something tragic had occurred with Demi, she would never let that happen.

  Which meant she was probably no longer in Demi’s bed. She had to be in Ram’s.

  Going off her memory, Siya carefully felt around for the nightstand next to the bed. She found it and felt a phone on top. She wasn’t sure if it was hers, but all she needed was some light. She hit the power button and quickly directed it around the room and then over to the hard warmth she’d run into minutes before.

  She was definitely in Ram’s room, and it was Ram sleeping beside her. It was also her phone she was holding.

  Someone must have carried her and her stuff from Demi’s room instead of waking her up to ask her to move. So much for sleeping on the floor.

  Just before the light went out, Ram’s eyelids twitched, and a set of yellow eyes stared at her. She swore she could still see them in the dark.

  “Sorry,” she said. “I didn’t mean to wake you.”

  Ram didn’t say anything. He didn’t even let out a grunt or any other kind of noise.

  Warily, she reached out her hand until she touched his chest. “Ram?”

  He growled and yanked her toward him. He licked her wrist, and without any warning, he bit down.

  Siya squeaked out a noise, but it was more from surprise than pain. Ram had drunk from her wrist—and only her wrist—once before when Demi was in trouble, but he had let her know it was going to happen. This had come out of nowhere.

  But while that might have been different, her reaction to him wasn’t. She was just as turned on now as she had been all those months ago.

  Ram growled again so loudly that it vibrated against her wrist.

  Can he smell my desire?

  She wasn’t sure, but after he closed up her wound with his tongue, he placed her hand on his very hard, very large dick.

  She gasped as he formed her hand into a fist around him, and as he pumped his hips toward her, he used his free hand to grasp the back of her neck and bring her mouth to his.

  She didn’t know if she should, but she opened her mouth for him and squeezed his thick shaft as she grew wet between her legs. She didn’t like to admit it, but she’d been fantasizing about having sex with Ram for months. Sometimes to the point that she thought about him when she pleasured herself.

  Being so close to the real thing was like setting herself on fire, and for the first time in her life, it occurred to her that she might orgasm without a single touch to her clit or her vagina.

  So, why was she denying herself?

  She swung her leg over Ram’s hip and pushed his length against her center.

  Her mouth broke from his when she made a sound that was a half-gasp, half-sigh.

  Apparently, Ram didn’t like it. Or maybe he liked it too much because he growled again and went for her clothes.

  Her pants and underwear were off in one fell swoop, and her shirt was gone with one pull. Her bra disappeared somewhere in there, too.

  He kissed her again and rolled her onto her back. Rubbing his dick over her clit, he said, “Wet,” in a low voice.

  “Of course I am,” Siya whispered. “You’re naked and between my legs.”

  Her eyes had adjusted more to the darkness, and she caught his eyes flaring before he struck.

  Both his cock and his teeth pierced her body, and it felt almost like she’d been hit by lightning.

  As a kid, she’d been afraid of vampires—or rather, what Hollywood portrayed vampires as—but now, in the present, having Ram’s fangs in her neck was probably the hottest thing that had ever happened to her.

  Even though he was inside her body, he held himself still. His body was rigid, to the point that he was almost shaking.

  She ran one hand down his back and cupped his ass while she dragged the other up to grasp the back of his head. “It’s okay, Ram. Take me. Take me the way you want to.”

  And just like that, she unleashed a monster. The sexiest, perfect kind of monster.

  His hips thrust forward as he pounded into her. His mouth sucked on her skin, taking her blood. She felt raw and open and like every nerve ending was on fire.

  Her neck was going to be bruised tomorrow, but she didn’t care. She wanted everything he was giving her.

  When he pulled his fangs from her skin, she almost felt sad, but when he lifted his upper body over hers, she was mesmerized by how beautiful he looked.

  Staring down at her, he gazed into her eyes as he fucked her. If she’d thought she felt raw before, it was nothing like now. It was like her soul was exposed, and she didn’t know what to do, so she turned away.

  Ram grabbed her chin and jerked it back in place. He shook his head, and she knew he meant for her not to turn away again.

  He leaned closer until their noses almost touched but not so close that they couldn’t focus.

  “It’s time,” he said.

  She didn’t understand. But suddenly, her body stiffened as her orgasm hit her from almost out of nowhere.

  Ram slammed his mouth down on hers, and he continued to drive into her over and over again. She tasted the copper of her own blood, she tasted Ram, and then she tasted a hint of sweetness that she couldn’t pinpoint.

  But she forgot about it as Ram tensed above her when he also came.

  Her heart was still racing, but it didn’t stop her from realizing that she’d just had unprotected sex with him. She had no idea if it was something she needed to worry about. She didn’t even know if vampires and humans could have babies.

  Ram lifted himself over her and slowly withdrew from her body.

  She didn’t like it. She felt…naked. Which was weird because she’d been naked the whole time they had sex. She figured it was because now that his body was no longer close, she felt more exposed.

  She also felt empty. He was so big; her body needed to adjust to not having him there anymore.

  She was about to ask him about pregnancy when he tilted his head to the side, as if he suddenly didn’t know who she was. The way he looked made her want to cover up.

  Ram fell to the bed by her side, and she quickly yanked the covers up to her chin.

  Why had he looked at her like that? Was he regretting sleeping with her?

  What have I done? Letting herself get possibly hurt by him again.

  She rolled away from Ram but didn’t get far. His arm wrapped around her waist, and he yanked her back toward him.

  Well, now, she didn’t know what to think. Except there was no way she was going back to sleep, next to him.

  She slipped out from under Ram’s arm after he fell back asleep, found some clothes—her other clothes Ram had taken off her were who knew where—and opened the door.

  Right outside was a sleeping bag, a pillow, and a blanket.

  Lot of good it did her now. But it was better late
than never.

  She brought the stuff in the bedroom and made up a sleeping area for herself. Then, she went to the bathroom to clean herself up.

  Thankfully, no one was around. Everyone must be either out or sleeping, so at least she didn’t have to talk to anyone.

  Her wrist looked fine under the light, and her neck wasn’t bad either. Both had tiny pinpricks, but that was it so far. Siya pushed on her neck in different spots to test for pain, but it was only a little sore. Nothing that felt like she’d be bruised tomorrow.

  She knew there were healing properties in vampire saliva, but this was truly amazing. To think of all the patients she could help at work with a little magic spit. It sounded gross when she put it that way, but with everything else she’d learned about vampires and shifters, there probably weren’t any germs in it.

  Feeling inferior, she finished up, went back to Ram’s room, and lay down on the floor. As she stared at the ceiling, she could only hope that tomorrow would be less adventurous.

  Fourteen

  Ram slowly sat up and let his senses finish waking up.

  Something was…different. Not necessarily wrong, but different. Something had changed.

  He couldn’t put his finger on it, and he feared the sun had taken more out of him than he’d originally thought. But…

  He wasn’t as hungry as he had been when he went to sleep. He smacked his tongue in his mouth a few times. It tasted like blood. Human blood.

  What the fuck?

  Even though he could see well in the dark, he could see even better in the light, so he leaned over and flicked the switch to the lamp on his nightstand.

  He lifted up the covers to peer underneath and saw clothes that didn’t belong to him in his bed, and he was beginning to figure out what had happened.

  He looked down at his dick, and even though there wasn’t any physical evidence to the naked eye, he could smell her.

  He’d caught the scent of Siya’s desire months ago, and he hadn’t forgotten it. He’d even caught a hint of it outside. But his cock? It was covered in it.

  He slammed his hand to his forehead and fell back on his bed.

  He’d thought he’d dreamed it. He’d been so hungry and horny that he imagined Siya in his bed. It was the best dream his brain had ever conjured. There had been a moment, after he withdrew from her body, that it didn’t seem like it was all in his head, but he’d dismissed the feeling. Turned out, he’d been wrong.

  Because it had been real.

  Fuck. What was he going to do now?

  He licked a fang and tasted her blood once more, causing him to stiffen and fly up again. If he’d drunk her blood and had sex with her, why couldn’t he sense her emotions? Why wasn’t she full of rage toward him?

  He flung off the covers, prepared to run out of his room, naked, and call everyone to find her because, surely, Monica had gotten to her, when he saw her sleeping on the floor.

  He stopped short and stared at her.

  That explained why he hadn’t detected her wrath. She wasn’t awake enough to think bad things about him.

  The sense of relief that washed over him made him feel almost scared. He hadn’t realized how worried he’d been, and he needed to sit down before he passed out.

  But once he knew she was safe, it really registered to him that she was now sleeping on the floor.

  He’d really fucked up.

  He would need to figure out how to make it up to her once she woke up.

  But first, he was going to get her off his hard floor.

  It had carpet, but it couldn’t be that comfortable, so he carefully picked her up and set her in his bed.

  He made sure she was tucked in tight before kissing her on the forehead and whispering he was sorry. Then, he got ready since he was up for the night, and he waited for Siya to wake up and go back to hating him.

  Somehow, Siya was back in Ram’s bed. People really needed to stop moving her. The good thing was that this time, she was alone, and it was light outside.

  The room still had the shades drawn, so no direct light could come in and hurt Ram, but it was pretty impossible to block it all. And she was glad it was finally morning.

  She heard someone yell something in the kitchen about pancakes, and her stomach growled. She didn’t blame it. Pancakes sounded delicious.

  She lifted her wrist again and saw that it looked even better than when she had gone to bed. Did the healing properties keep working, even after they were applied, or had a good night’s sleep helped repair her wounds? It was probably a combination of the two, and just her luck, both were thanks to Ram.

  She had thought she wasn’t tired after they had sex, but after she had lain down on her makeshift bed, she didn’t remember struggling to lie still or even getting tired. She must have simply drifted off.

  She rubbed her hand over her neck, and while she couldn’t see it, that area felt fine, too. She was actually a bit disappointed she wouldn’t have any marks there. She’d seen Demi’s marks that Saxon had left on her, and she thought it was sexy as hell.

  Her inner feminist was screaming at her to not let a man mark her as his possession, but secretly, it was still hot. And the fact that Saxon wore Demi’s mark as well made it more acceptable in her mind. Possession was a two-way street with the shifters.

  Speaking of Demi, she hoped her friend was up, so she could give her crap for not waking her to move to Ram’s room. Demi was going to be shocked when she found out that Siya’d had sex with Ram.

  Ugh. That wasn’t something she wanted to think about right now.

  Ram had been weird last night, and she didn’t want to deal with anything awkward between the two of them. Or rather, anything more awkward than things had already been.

  Knowing she couldn’t stay in bed forever, she shifted to get out of bed and winced.

  She’d forgotten about one area on her body that might be tender and not healed by Ram.

  Her fricking vagina was sore.

  Not horribly. She wasn’t going to develop a limp, but it had taken her by surprise. A nice, long, hot bath would help with the pain though.

  Forcing herself to get up, she quickly got out of bed.

  She winced again but had expected it.

  But what she hadn’t been prepared for was Ram to be sleeping in his chair and for him to jump up like someone had poked him with a sharp stick. He only wore a pair of gray sweatpants, and normally, she would admire him in such attire, but he was on high alert for some reason.

  “Are you okay?”

  Ram slowly looked over to Siya, who looked at him like he was a freak. But one second, he’d been sleeping, and the next, he’d felt pain coming from her, and it had shocked him.

  “You’re hurt,” he told her.

  He sensed her blood rising to her cheeks, and he stepped forward to pick up her arms. He inspected both because he wasn’t sure which one he’d bitten last night. Both looked good with one showing two small teeth marks.

  He pulled her shirt to the side on both shoulders. Again, she looked good with only one side showing a partially healed area.

  She backed up a step. “I’m fine.”

  “No, you’re not.”

  “You just looked at where you’d fed from me. I’m fine.”

  He narrowed his eyes. She was lying. He could sense it through her blood in his body. He could also tell she didn’t want him to know, but he could figure out why.

  “I’m fine,” she said again and went to step around him.

  He felt her pain shoot through her body. To him, it felt like someone had squeezed his balls.

  He gasped and stopped her with his body. “Your pussy.”

  Siya’s eyebrows flew up, and she chuckled. “Excuse me?”

  He looked down, as if he could see through her clothes somehow. “Your pussy. You’re hurt.”

  In the back of his head, it occurred to him that he was responsible, but the protective part of him was more focused on helping her than letting his g
uilt take over his emotions.

  “I—I don’t know what you mean.”

  “Liar,” he said and picked her up to set her on the bed.

  Fifteen

  “Lean back,” Ram told her as a test.

  If Siya didn’t want him to do anything, she wouldn’t follow his instruction. He wanted to make sure she was okay, but he didn’t want to violate her any more than he already had.

  To his surprise, she didn’t tell him to fuck off. Instead, she did as he’d asked, resting on her elbows.

  Despite already having her consent, he still warned her, “I just want to make sure you’re okay.”

  She blushed again. “I’m really okay. Just a bit sore.”

  Ram winced. “I’m sorry about last night. I wasn’t quite myself.”

  Her eyes hardened, and he felt her emotions go dark through her blood. “Are you saying you regret it?”

  “Yes.” Siya’s rage filled him. Fix it, his brain shouted at him. “Not in the way you think.”

  Her anger cooled some. “Explain then.”

  Ram figured he could talk while he inspected her, so he got down on his knees. “I think I underestimated how long I had been out in the sun. And while I’d fed not that long ago, I was hungry last night,” he said as he reached for her bottoms and cleared his throat. “I thought you were a dream. I didn’t know it was all real until I woke up.”

  Her eyes rounded. “Oh. Wow.”

  “Yeah.” He slowly pulled off her pants and underwear. “I always imagined our first time being a little less…rough.” Hands on her knees, he spread her legs open.

  “You pictured us having sex?”

  He didn’t hear her. He was too busy staring at her pussy. It was beautiful. Whoever had come up with the phrase bumping uglies was wrong and had never taken the time to truly look at a woman.

  “Ram?”

  He lifted his eyes to her.

  “You pictured us having sex?”

  He frowned and tilted his head to the side. “I’m pretty sure I told you that the first time we met.”