It’s too dangerous for Axe. He grunts, flipping me onto my stomach. When he fills me all in one stroke, my vision flickers like my brain’s just been cut off from oxygen. He doesn’t dare increase the speed of his thrusting, holding my hips steady while I pant and writhe against the sheets, wishing I could be digging my nails into him instead.
Warm fingers skim along my neck, carnally fisting my hair. “Now that I know what this feels like, it’s all I’ll ever be able to think about. This perfect view. Right. Here.”
“Don’t stop,” I cry, taking the brunt of a deeper thrust. I may be small, but that doesn’t mean I want it tame. This he seems to know intuitively, delivering another magnificent stroke.
But after a moment, he does. Before I can object, I’m hoisted off the bed, back pressed against a cool wall. He slides in again without warning and my eyes roll back into my head.
“No,” he growls. “Look at me.”
I pull back to make the eye contact he demands. Axe smirks, driving into me again and drawing frantic pleas out of me, only to devour them with his kiss. The angle he’s found is exquisite. His thumb finds my greatest weakness, kneading me, watching my face twist with pleasure while forcing the white-hot sensation to return. It’s an act of intimacy that’s foreign to me, so arousing that it doesn’t take long before I feel the pressure of a barreling climax overtake me.
Sweat rolls down his forehead as he pounds with punishing force. Feverish and aching, I clench my legs and tumble over the edge again, swearing as I do.
“Mine,” he rumbles into my ear, more wolf than man. “Every fucking inch of you.”
My eyes feel the need to droop, but he grips my jaw, demanding reciprocation. I groan as he slams into me with a desperate pace. He is so nearly there.
“Yes, Viggo.” I cling for dear life as the words slip from my mouth.
Axe roars, but I don’t feel a spilling contraction. I feel a razor-sharp pressure tearing through my neck. Teeth invading skin.
At first, the pain is excruciating. But my scream lasts only seconds before something else takes hold. Something calm that quells the flames of our joining. A softer pull. A need to always feel him near. I see it then, through those wild blue eyes. His soul.
Within a labyrinth of barbed wire is a shaggy black beast ravaged by anger. Violence. This demon guards the center of the maze where a child kneels in a pool of blood, lightning rippling from his fingertips.
When he withdraws, Axe brings the back of his hand to his mouth, wiping the blood away. His massive chest heaves with sweat. “What did you just say?”
Chapter 35
AXE
Vessa’s cheek rests against my tattooed heart, bare skin basking in the dim glow of the candlelight. With her limbs strung over my torso, she traces the scar etched along my ribs. For a while, we remain like this. Winded. Silent.
I didn’t expect that. For her to be able to look straight through me. To walk through a wall I’d sworn was impenetrable.
“Yes, Viggo.”
That name on her lips. No one’s ever had the power to undo me like that.
When I stiffen, her fingers halt. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you. I don’t even know why I said your other name.”
Rolling onto my side, I extend an arm, reaching for the bottom drawer of the nightstand. Vessa shifts into a seated position when I hand her a bundle of grey fleece. It’s not as soft as I remember, but a trace of my mother’s smell is still there. As is the letter V stitched in the center.
“Back in Belcarra . . . my sister didn’t tell you everything.”
Her brows knit. “This isn’t your blanket, is it?”
I inhale sharply.
“Burn it all.”
Sweat and tears stung my eyes. Before I could register the order, smoke ascended. A fire igniting, licking at my heels. Swallowing a hearty breath, I began my climb to the opening, not knowing if I would have minutes or seconds to escape. But the baby’s bleating grew closer. Frantic. Then, hysterical.
One of the vampires tossed her atop the logs. The shrieks pierced my ears, stunting my heart. I didn’t think. I dropped down and snatched her, smothering the flames against my pants. But the fire became enraged, claiming me instead. Blazing heat singed my legs, the skin hissing and popping. I couldn’t hold back my own sobbing then as I flung out my arm, patting and stomping out the fire once more.
Vallery wheezed against me as I raced upwards, fighting not for one life, but two. By the time I broke through and heaved us over the ledge and onto the roof, her fragile lungs had given out.
Vessa’s arms drape over my shoulders. I swallow tightly, staring into the crackling fire.
