With a growl, he lifts me, and I wrap my legs around him. He kneels on the bed so that I’m straddling his hips, then positions himself against my entrance. His cock teases my opening. As wet and ready as I am, my body invites him inside and I lower myself slowly onto him. He stretches me to my limit, working himself in and out. I breathe deeply. He’s enormous, and it’s been months. It feels like the first time. He slows until my body acclimates to the sheer size of him.
His nails scrape gently along my spine, tracing the length of my tattoo. I arch against his touch, and then I start to move.
“I told you not to risk your life for me,” he says with a deep, punishing thrust.
I moan, the pain giving way to the most intense pleasure. “And I told you I wouldn’t let you die in there.”
“You should have kept yourself safe.”
“Safety is death if it means living without you. I promised I’d come for you. And I did.” I drag my parted lips along his neck to kiss behind his ear.
“I guess you fucking did.”
Our mouths meet in a wild tangle of teeth and tongues. It’s like he’s trying to touch all of me at once. His hands are everywhere. I’m wrapped in his shadows. He’s in me and around me. A second skin. A shield for my flesh. Intense but protective.
Our lovemaking has never been like this. It’s always been hot and it’s always been passionate, but this time he makes love to me like it could be our last time. It’s slow and hard and deep. His teeth are sharp, and he’s strong enough to snap my bones, but his eyes and his touch are tender. He gently lowers me onto my back and melts into me, so deep it feels like he’s trying to possess me. He slows, breathing me in, our hearts beating in time, our skin flushed with exertion.
Every second I only want him closer.
His enormous hand strokes up my side, over my armpit, along the soft underside of my elbow to thread his fingers into mine above my head. He moves over me, picking up speed like a gathering storm.
He hovers. He strikes.
Heat branches through my body, my climax rolling through me until I throw my head back, lost in a cascade of showering light. This is more than an orgasm. As Damien follows me over the edge, it feels like a missing part of myself snaps into place. Like I was walking around with half my soul gone and didn’t know it until this very moment. Now, finally whole, it’s not just pleasure I feel but joy. Pure elation. Connection.
He meets my eyes and he’s trembling. No. It’s not him. It’s me. I’m shaking, our arms locked around each other, breathing each other’s air.
Only then do I realize he hasn’t taken my blood. I tip my head to the side, offering my neck.
“I don’t think you have any extra to give.” He looks at me sadly. “Although I’ll be do my best to change that as soon as the sun sets. Marabella can be bought, but if I can’t find the right price, I won’t hesitate to pay a visit to the vampires on your schedule and show them what it feels like to donate blood.”
His building anger turns his skin cold, and he rolls off me.
I snuggle into his side, stroking his chest. “I don’t think you should,” I say softly.
He scowls at me, flashing fang.
“I have to believe that part of these trials is mental, Damien. Valeska has an entire hive cheering her on. I know this is hard for you to hear, but the men who have fed from me act as if they’re bonded. One of them is the commander of the guard. I don’t know what’s going to happen, but it seems wise to keep someone like that in my corner. Keep a bond like that in my back pocket.”
A low growl rumbles in Damien’s chest, and he stares up at the ceiling. “I hate this idea.”
I sigh. “I don’t like it either, but I’ve come to realize lately that sometimes getting what we want in life requires doing a great deal of things we don’t want to do. The magic of this challenge means you can’t leave Night Haven. If you’re not feeding from me, you’re going to have to feed from someone else. Is it so much worse for me to donate blood to someone else than for you to take it?”
He doesn’t answer my question but presses his lips to my temple and sighs deeply. “Sleep now, little bird.” He pulls the blankets over us both.
Only then do I realize just how tired I am. I close my eyes, thinking about how far I’ve come for Damien and just how far I’ll go. My mind still hasn’t settled on a limit when I finally drift to sleep.
33
Gathering Allies
ELOISE
I’m sitting on the green velvet sofa in the parlor of Harcourt Manor, a cup of hot tea in my hand and a book in my lap. My grandmother is singing in the kitchen, the smell of her favorite grilled cheese wafting from the hallway. The grandfather clock ticks from the corner of the room beside a cozy fire.
For a few beautiful moments, it feels real, but then Phantom is there, curled near my feet. The fox wouldn’t be in the house if my grandmother was still alive. I’m dreaming. Still, when I sip the tea, it’s my favorite flavor, peach.
“Oh, thank the goddess!” Maeve stands in the center of the room, looking like she was dropped unwittingly into my dream. She’s wearing a set of Evil Queen pajamas, and her hair is wrapped in a messy bun. “You are a difficult person to catch dreaming.”
