“Witch, get your ass in here,” a deep voice rumbled from down the hall.
She flinched. He sounded upset.
Tuned to the foreign energy pulsing in a bedroom down the hall, she entered and found a giant, dark-haired male with red eyes and fangs wearing nothing but a ragged and stained pair of jeans. His chest and arms were corded with muscle, his chest spattered with dried blood despite the healthy skin beneath, covering what looked like a tattoo she couldn’t quite make out.
Though not bound, he couldn’t be comfortable in those dirty pants, could he?
He snarled, “Where the fuck have you” —he added in a lower voice— “been?”
His gaze raked her, and she studied him as well. Tall, dark, and not so much handsome as fiercely captivating, the vampire attracted with a presence no one could ignore. He was justthere,so much power in a raging male form. He looked more muscular than the upir she’d once seen. Delicate was not a word she’d ever use to describe him. He was brutish, with so much height and mass.
The word “fast” described him though, because he had her up against the wall, caged in his bare arms, between heartbeats. He didn’t seem to feel the cold as he stared into her eyes and smiled.
“Finally, you’ve returned.” He stroked her cheek with a gentle finger, threading his hands in her hair.
Pleased he didn’t seem ready to bite her, she relaxed.
She wasn’t prepared for the kiss that came next.
CHAPTERFIVE
Orion had missed the witch more than he’d thought. Having lost sense of time, he only knew he’d talked to Mormo at some point after biting the woman. She’d kissed him a few times, left him to have sex with lycans—which he only knew because he’d smelled the connection upon her return—then ordered him to wait for her without causing a problem.
Orion never made problems. He solved them, and he’d do anything for the beauty he’d promised to protect with his life. For some reason, that knowledge had troubled him, but then he’d rationalized the worry away. Who wouldn’t want to protect a woman who looked and smelled like her?
He’d slept a good bit while waiting, not bothered by anything but her absence.
And here she was, looking sexy yet demure, smaller than he remembered but even more mesmerizing. So fucking gorgeous and neat in a navy sweater and skinny jeans, a bit less grand than the way she’d been dressed before. But he liked it. She looked more approachable, a woman he wanted to savor, kissing and touching and fucking until she couldn’t walk.
The kiss lit him up from the inside out, not with any bitterness or fire, but with a drugging pleasure better than the finest of bloode wines, so it took him a moment to realize she hadn’t responded, stiff in his arms.
He pulled back. “Witch?” He cupped her cheek, bemused by the affection making him feel so tender toward her. He’d promised he’d do nothing to harm her, and he meant it. Even if he had to protect her from himself.
“Y-you kissed me,” she said on a breath and seemed so much younger than before.
“You’re beautiful, and you stir me.” He pressed into her, giving her no question as to what he wanted from her. Pushing her hair from her throat, he leaned close to nuzzle her neck and grew dizzy at the alluring scent pulling him closer. He normally never mixed blood with sex, but the two seemed tied with his sea witch. “Woman, you smell so good.”
She put her hands on his shoulders, and he took that as an invitation to lift her for better access, his hands on her ass as he nestled between her legs and nuzzled her neck again.
“Y-you... Oh my God. Did you justlickme?”
“I want a bite, sweet. A small sip of that red perfection under your flesh.”
She shuddered, and he dragged a fang over her pulse point, breaking the fragile skin there.
“No b-biting,” she said, her voice thick.
He could smell her lust and smiled against her neck, deliberately licking up the drop he’d earned.
His entire body locked up, so turned on he feared coming in his pants. “Fuck, woman. Take off your clothes.” He paused. “Please.”
She kissed him back, and he knew he’d never forget this moment no matter how long he lived. The feel of her was everything. No other female had ever affected him so. She’d been made just for him. His other half.
By the Night.He’d met his mate.
“Mate,” he muttered as he pulled back to look into her eyes, her irises no longer dark but a bright blue so light they seemed to glow.
He studied her, taking in the thin face, full lips, and pert nose. Her long, black hair flowed around her shoulders and down her back, waves of sensuality floating around her. Capturing him in a spell only she could sunder.
