I met her eyes. “Never,” I said fiercely.
“So how does this work?”
“The best time to do it is during or right after an orgasm,” I explained. “The endorphins mask the initial pain. I’ll bite you here,” I touched a spot on her lower neck, “then I’ll close your wound by licking it.”
“And that’s when you’ll drink some of my blood?”
“A few drops. For both of us, it will be a powerful aphrodisiac. We’ll feel a surge of euphoria, and as the mate bond strengthens, we’ll be able to feel each other’s emotions in a way that we can’t now,” I explained, trying to remember everything I’d heard about the initial joining. “I’ll be able to sense where you are, when you’re close. And even if your feelings somehow change in the future, I’ll never even be able to look at another person and find them attractive.”
“You’d better not look at another person,” she said firmly. “I’d have to stake you and turn you into a pile of dust. I don’t like cheating.”
“I told you that doesn’t work on vampires in real life,” I reminded her. “There’s no turning into dust unless you throw us into a fire or something.”
Ruby stepped on her tiptoes, her face moving closer to mine. “Don’t cheat and I won’t throw you into a fire.”
It seemed important to her, making me wonder if someone she’d dated in the past had cheated on her. Or maybe she was afraidI’d turn into my father or something. I was curious, but this wasn’t the time or the place. I didn’t want to distract her from the business at hand – me finally claiming my mate.
I closed the distance between us and gave her a rough kiss that left us both breathless.
“You’re mine now,” I whispered against her lips. “My mate.”
“Are you going to talk all night?” she sassed. “Or are we going to seal the deal?”
With a smirk, I picked her up and tossed her on the bed, ripping off my clothes and following her down. Ruby wiggled out of her ridiculous rubber ducky pajamas, leaving her naked, and shoved all the stuffed animals onto the floor, clearing space on the bed for us. It wasn’t the biggest bed, but at least it wasn’t a twin.
We rolled into each other, meeting at the center of the bed in a mash of teeth and hands. Kissing, touching, whispering sweet nothings like we had all night. And technically we did. Tomorrow morning we’d have to go to the Sapphic Security meeting, then Lois would expect me to give her a written report on everything that happened at the banquet. But for tonight, we had the luxury of time. We could focus on each other, and on the commitment we were making. A commitment that would last for the rest of our lives.
Ruby was still in danger, and we still had a group of Romanians trying to fulfil a blood oath by killing her teammates from the International Games, but right now none of that mattered. Allthat mattered was the feeling of silky skin under my fingers, the way her mouth latched onto my breast, giving me long, hard draws of suction that sent zaps of electricity right to my clit, and the way my heart beat in perfect rhythm with hers.
When I’d had enough, I pushed her on her back, making my way down her body and lifting her legs onto my shoulders. I blew a hot breath over her pussy, making her shiver, then licked my way in between her pussy lips.
My mate was already gushing with arousal, and I didn’t hesitate to lap up her sweet essence. Ruby made a gasping noise, her hips punching upwards, and when my fingers tightened on her thighs I realized that I’d partly shifted without noticing. Mindful to not stab her with the claw-like nails that had extended from my fingers, I held her in place while I ate my fill of her.
When Ruby was thrashing below me and making little whining noises, chanting “please, please, please” over and over again, I put her out of her misery and bit down hard on her clit, sending her right over the edge.
Ruby
Iwas still shaking from the force of my orgasm when Cassie slid back up my body, her slick skin dragging over mine in a way that only ratcheted up my excitement. I gave her a little shove, pushing her onto her side so I could move my eager hand between her legs. She was so slick that my fingers slid inside her easily, and after a few strokes I added a second and then a third finger.
Cassie’s hips rolled towards me, riding my hand as we continued to kiss like we couldn’t get enough of each other. When we pulled back to catch our breath, I caught the shell of her ear between my teeth, biting down lightly as I continued to fuck her with my hand.
My lips traveled down her jaw to her neck, and I couldn’t resist giving her a hickey, wanting to mark her the way she’d soonmark me. I caught a hunk of skin between my teeth, sucking it hard.
Suddenly Cassie stiffened as her orgasm hit. I watched as her mouth opened in a silent scream. She was beautiful when she came, all the tension fading from her face, leaving only a mask of pure pleasure.
I loved knowing that I could make her lose control like this, that I could give her as much pleasure as she gave me. I bent my fingers inside her, finding the spot that made her orgasm crest up harder and higher. After so many weeks together, we knew how to bring each other the maximum amount of pleasure. We knew what spots made each other go crazy. And we knew how to prolong the pleasure.
In a flash I was rolled onto my back, Cassie dropping on top of me. My hands fell away from her body as she clamped down on my neck in almost the same spot where I’d marked her a few minutes ago. But this wasn’t a hickey, this was a mating bite, and when I felt her fangs tear through my skin, I couldn’t help the scream that erupted from my throat. I didn’t care who heard it though, because her bite triggered another orgasm, one so strong that it eclipsed every other orgasm I’d experienced in my life.
“Mine!”
Cassie’s voice was more vampire than human as she looked at me, a stain of blood on her lips. For once, I didn’t feel squeamish though. I was too busy feeling the creation of the mate bond, acombination of rightness and euphoria and love unlike anything I’d ever felt before. My new mate lapped her tongue at my wound, and I felt the skin closing back up with the help of some magic I couldn’t even begin to understand.
“Cassie.” There was a world of meaning in my sigh.
Her mouth crashed down on mine again, and I could taste a hint of copper on her tongue from my blood. Somehow I didn’t mind. Not when it was part of the most erotic experience of my life.
We stayed wrapped together, exchanging increasingly gentle kisses as we came back down to Earth. I could feel Cassie in my head now, not her voice or her thoughts, but an impression of her emotions, sitting alongside mine in that part of the body that we didn’t fully understand yet. The soul.
