He wandered around the kitchen, checking in cupboards as he muttered to himself about any more blood bags or bottles that he might have misplaced. It had been over a week since they’d arrived and she knew, with all their training and the stress, she wouldn’t be able to go much longer without properly feeding. Niamh was the last person she had fed from, but even blood as strong as hers would have worn off by now, and bottled blood was nothing compared to the euphoria of feeding from the source.
“Is there anyone nearby who would be willing?” Adriana asked. “Or maybe a club near here. I haven’t ever been back to Cornwall but they’re all over the place, aren’t they?”
“I wouldn’t know, I’ve never been to one.”
Adriana raised her eyebrows at his confession. “Never?”
Xander rose from the cupboard he’d been searching through, slowly lifting his head to look at her. “I haven’t fed from anyonein a very, very long time. I drink from blood bags if I have access to them or, failing that, my brothers bottle their blood for me.”
“I don’t understand,” Adriana said as she stood from the sofa and walked towards him. “So, when was the last time you fed directly from someone?”
“The night of December 21st, 1884.”
Adriana stopped in her tracks, her eyes wide as she took in what he said. Xander had never fed from anyone since the last time he had fed from her, since he killed her.
He had told her long ago that he didn’t want to feed from anyone but her. She knew he had meant it back then, but she had never expected for him to still feel that way.
“You haven’t fed properly in over a century,” she whispered. “How did you keep frenzies at bay? How did you stopherfrom coming back?”
Xander stiffened and let out a shaky breath, “I didn’t have to, she let me go. She let me live with the memories of attacking you, torturing you, killing you. Knowing, or thinking, that I had lost the love of my life seemed to completely change my bloodlust. Even if I had felt the urge or impulse to feed from someone, I wouldn’t have let myself. But since then, I’ve only ever needed blood for sustenance and strength. I’ve not felt a desire for anything more. Until…”
Xander’s words drifted off, his gaze roaming her body again. He didn’t need to explain, he didn’t need to continue, Adriana knew what he meant.
She couldn’t imagine not feeding from anyone directly for so long. The longest she had ever gone was a few weeks and that had been a huge struggle not to give into a frenzy. He had deprived himself for so long because of the guilt he felt for what he had done, and she had deprived herself of him because of the fear of losing control. But it was just as he said: she needed tofully lose control before she regained it. And there was only one way to do so.
Adriana stepped forward, running her hands up his chest before resting them on the sides of his neck, her thumbs stroking his jaw. Allowing herself a moment of weakness, she pressed against him, feeling his growing hardness push against her stomach. She was done depriving herself, she was done waiting. She was starved of blood, of power, of his touch.
“Kiss me,” she said, struggling to keep the pleading from her voice. He stared down at her, his face completely unreadable. “Please, Xander. I am asking you, again, to kiss me.”
His mouth crashed down onto hers as his hands flew to her face. His lips were harsh, pouring his obvious desperation for her into the bruising kiss as he pulled her closer to him.
He backed her into the wall, holding the back of her head with one hand to stop her from smacking it against the stone. She allowed him to tilt her head, to control the kiss as she wrapped her arms around the back of his neck. His other hand trailed down to grip the side of her waist under the shirt, rubbing and pinching her skin.
He released a low moan as she parted her mouth, letting his tongue slip inside and brush against hers. Her hands clawed at the hem of his t-shirt, lifting it higher until he had to raise his arms for her to take it off. She threw it to the side and grabbed the waistband of his joggers, frantically tugging them down, when his fingers circled round her wrists and paused her movements.
“Adriana,” he spoke between ragged breaths. “Is this what you want? Am I really what you want? Because I cannot lose you again, I just can’t.”
She stared up at him, her lips swollen and her cheeks flushed. “It is right now,” she replied, her voice husky and low with the hint of her Lure. She knew he was able to resist it with his magic,but she couldn't help herself. “We need each other, Xander. I want you.”
She saw him smirk slightly before he slammed his lips to hers again, his hands gripping the shirt she wore and tearing it away from her body, letting the buttons fly across the room and hit the stone floor like raindrops.
“Jump,” he growled against her mouth.
She did as he asked and wrapped her legs around his waist as his hands reached underneath her to catch her. He pushed her against the wall again, the cold stone against her bare back causing her to shiver. His lips attacked her neck, eliciting a moan from her lips.
She clung to him as he walked them out of the kitchen and to the bedroom, managing to kick his joggers down as he walked. He stepped out of them and flicked them into the corner of the room, before sliding her down his naked body and letting her stand in front of the bed.
Xander knelt down before her as he tucked his thumbs into the waistband of her underwear and slowly pulled them down her legs. He kissed across her stomach, nipping at her hip bones, before he grabbed the backs of her knees and tipped her back to fall on the bed.
His hands pushed her legs apart and he moaned in appreciation before his face dove between her thighs. She cried out and fisted her hands in his hair as he wasted no time at all in completely devouring her with his tongue.
Adriana pushed down all her worries, all her fear and anger, and just let herself feel what he was doing to her. She could feel every swipe of his tongue over her, every vibration from his moans, every bit of pressure from his fingers that dug into her thighs. She felt it all.
Xander pried her hands from his hair and pushed them to cup her breasts, guiding her to play with them. She moaned as she pinched and rolled her nipples between her fingers.
Are you going to come for me so soon?Xander’s deep voice spoke in her mind.
Adriana could only gasp in reply as he pushed two fingers inside of her, curling to stroke that sweet spot only he had ever seemed to truly find. He hummed against her as her legs began to shake on his shoulders, licking and sucking in rhythm with his fingers, working her closer and closer. Her body felt so tense, her skin felt too tight. She was so hungry for blood, so hungry for him.
