“It’s okay, Ethan,” she whispered. “I’ll protect you.”
That rogue bitch would be toast before she laid another finger on her mate.
Chapter twelve
Ethan
“It’s almost a shame,” the vampire said, her tongue swiping out to lick up a drop of blood from the corner of her mouth. “To have to kill someone so… intriguing. So intelligent. A pity, really.”
Ethan swallowed roughly, putting all his strength into wrenching free from her tight hold that refused to yield. “Do it,” he bit out. “I’d rather die than spend another second looking at your hideous face.”
Her lips twitched, almost as if she was suppressing a grin. “In that case,” she replied, her hollow eyes drawing him into eternal darkness, “your wish is granted.”
A second set of teeth descended behind her normal ones, and when the fangs were fully exposed, she struck.
And luscious lips caressed his neck.
Jerking away, his body no longer locked in place, he stared at Tressa as she smiled at him. “It’s okay, Ethan,” she whispered. “I’ll protect you.”
He sank into the depths of her bewitching gaze, a sense of warmth and security pulling him in. Shewouldprotect him. He didn’t know where the sense of absolute certainty came from, but he trusted her.
“Tressa,” he murmured, holding her tight against his body. He dropped his mouth to herneck, smelling only that delicious bubblegum aroma. The cloying coppery scent of blood faded away until there was simply her and him. No monsters. No murdered best friends. No laboratory coated in streaks of red.
He peppered kisses up the long line of her neck, pausing for some reason when he felt the steady drumming of her pulse beneath his lips. Moving without thought, he gave a tiny nip. He’d never been into biting before, but with Tressa, it felt right. To sink his teeth into her sweet skin and relish in the moans that followed.
The soft whimper that came from her was a stark contrast to the hard length growing in his slacks. “You taste so good,” he mumbled between kisses as he made his way to her lips. “And you feel even better.”
“Ethan,” Tressa sighed, running her hands along his taut chest.
“Fuck…” He let out a deep, desperate groan. “I need you. Why do I need you so bad?”
Tressa wrapped her arms around him tighter, the iron grip triggering something at the back of his mind, but he mentally brushed the distraction away.
Then all thoughts disappeared entirely when her pebbled nipples brushed against his chest. “Take whatever you need, Ethan,” she purred. “I’m yours.”
He captured her mouth with his own, his hands gliding along the smooth skin of her bare shoulders. Every part of her was silky and sensuous, and it awoke something inside him when she surrendered so completely to him.
As his tongue delved into her mouth, she pressed her hips into him, rubbing herself along the length of his very ready and willing cock.
He met her teasing with his own, grinding against her just as hard as she worked him. Then he slid his hand lower and cupped the treasure between her legs that was already so wet he could feel it throughher thin, silky pants.
“Ethan,” she moaned, gently rolling her hips against his strong palm.
“Tressa.”
“Ethan.”
“Tressa.”
“Ethan?”
Her voice changed, the sensuality giving way to confusion. “Ethan, are you with me?”
He wanted to say yes, of course he was. But her voice grew distant, as if drifting through a cloud.
“Tressa?” he called. She was still in his arms, but she sounded miles away.
“Ethan, you need to wake up.”
