“You’re sure this is okay after…” My words are breathy and weak through my parched throat, but I have to be sure. After what Valeska did to him…
His large hand strokes up my spine and massages the base of my skull. His lips brush the shell of my ear and his baritone rumbles, “Do you think I’d let my mate feed from any other man? You’re mine, little bird. You’ll feed from me and only me.”
His words are slathered with heat and need. The smoky scent of him is more complex to me now. More unique. He’s leather and spring rain, oak and something uniquely him, uniquely male. It smells delicious, and I can deny my hunger no longer. Instinct guides me. I strike, my teeth piercing the pulse at his throat. Hot deliciousness pours over my tongue. It’s the best thing I’ve ever tasted, like someone translated an orgasm into a flavor. I moan as it fills me, my mouth, my stomach. It warms me to my fingertips and toes and then drives heat between my legs.
My nipples pearl against his chest, and I grind my hips, desperate for sensation. He hardens under me, his full, thick shaft parting my folds. God, this is heaven, but when he moans, I’m afraid I’ve taken too much. With all the restraint I can muster, I draw back and lick his neck, closing the wound as I’ve seen others do. I’ve had my fill, but the taste of his skin is decadent. I lick again and again, molding to his body and nibbling his earlobe, content as a cat.
He reaches around me, stroking along the crack of my ass, circling my tight entrance before continuing all the way to my hungry pussy. “You’re so wet,” he says, nuzzling my cheek. “Is this what my blood does to you?”
I reposition my hips until he slides into me, hard and fast. I moan, tipping my head back. In this position, he’s almost painfully deep, but I love it. We fit. We’ve always fit.
“Are you well, little bird? Am I hurting you?” He stops the movement of his hips and meets my eyes, tucking a wild red strand of my hair behind my ear.
I offer an easy smile. Wrapping my arms around his neck, I raise and lower my hips ever so slowly. “You’re not hurting me. I was just thinking how amazing it is that we come from two different worlds a universe apart and somehow you found your way to me. Somehow my soul found its other half. And right now, with you in me, your blood coursing through my veins, it’s like finally feeling whole again, even in a different skin.”
He runs his hands down my hair, my outer arms. He fists my hips. “It’s your skin, Eloise,” he whispers against my throat. “It’s just less fragile.”
I lick along the seam of his lips. “Show me.”
Damien starts to move. I ride him, the movements slow and gentle at first. He fills every inch of me as I explore his chest with my touch, tease his nipples with my teeth. A current flows through me, a dark electricity, tangling into a storm of energy and need. I come down harder, and he meets me thrust for thrust. He’s pounding into me now, his fists gripping my hips, moving my body in time with his. He’s so deep I can feel each surge of his body through my torso and into my throat. This sex is almost punishing. Almost. In this new body, it doesn’t hurt. It’s not too much.
My breasts sway as we connect again and again. Bending his head, he captures one of my nipples in his mouth and flicks his tongue across the sensitive tip. The sensation feeds something wild in me, and I move faster, ride him harder.
Smooth as silk, he lifts me and turns me around, setting me back on his cock with my back to him. The feeling is so different this way. So much fuller. He reaches around my hip and rubs circles over my clit as we start to move again. His other hand captures my breast, rolling my nipple between his fingers.
Pressure builds, drawing me closer to a cliff that might be higher than I’ve ever flown over before. Everything is just so raw. The way he stretches me to the limit, his adroit fingers between my legs.
His hand slides from my breast, down my side, and then I hear him lick his fingers. Warm wet pressure teases my back entrance and pushes inside. The pressure, the fullness. My climax barrels into me, and it’s so much stronger than when I was human. It feels like I’ve broken the restraints of my body entirely and am nothing but expanding energy. I cry out, arching my back, as he follows me over the edge.
He fills me, his shadows coiling around me. His growl of ecstasy is almost a purr against the side of my neck. We stay that way for a long while, until I remember something.
“You can take from me if you need it.” Damien can survive on vampire blood as well.
His kiss lands where my pulse once was. “I am well fed, and right now you need to keep your blood. Your body needs it to transition.”
“Then I have a request.” Slowly I climb from his lap, feeling satiated and truly happy for the first time in months. I also feel strong. Damien’s blood has healed whatever was still broken in me. I cup his chin. “Damien, please take me home. I don’t want to be in Night Haven any longer. This place holds too many painful memories.”
He kisses my palm. “I couldn’t agree more.”
45
Home Again
ELOISE
“I did it. She’s dead. She’ll never hurt anyone again.”
Maeve squeals on the other end of our call. “You won! You beat the vampire queen! Goddess, I thought you could do it, El. I did. But hearing your voice… Praise the goddess.”
There’s a pause while she processes it all.
“But… if you killed her, who is ruling Night Haven?”
“I released all her power back to the individual coven masters.”
“I bet the vampires at Bad Witches’ Club are shitting their pants right now. Huge changes coming their way. I’m sure my phone will be blowing up with the news as soon as it reaches the witch community.”
“It’s so good to hear your voice. Listen, I’ll tell you everything when I see you, but right now I need to go home.”
