Page 138 of You’re So Vein

“I…” His face twists. “I did not prepare for this infernal excursion to be our first time. I have no protection with me…”

I know what he’s not able to say. But Dhampir. A vampire man and a human woman can give birth to a child like Hannah, and while neither of us believes she is the evil creature mythology holds her to be, Dhampir are still forbidden by Conclave law, and a child between us could be hunted their whole life.

Except…

I swallow, biting down on the hard truth. “We don’t need to worry about it. I… I can’t have children.”

Augustin stills, his eyes burning down to warm embers.

“When we are done here,” he whispers, “I will hold you, and you will spill the pain of this into me, so that I might carry it with you. But right now, all I want to do is make you smile again.”

I nod vigorously. “I am absolutely on board with this plan.”

The tendrils hold me as Augustin leans me gently backwards, sliding my knees from his shoulders so that I’m lined up. His plants circle his body, removing his shirt and trousers and designer boxer shorts and folding them in a neat pile on the back seat. He watches them work with wry detachment, as if they are not part of him, while I writhe beneath him, desperate for him.

I drink in the sight of him. I’ve spent far too much time imagining what he might look like beneath that grey suit of his. Never did I picture the wiry musculature of him, the perfect shimmer of his skin, and the beautiful vine tattoos curling along the length of his arms and across his back and chest. Sigils hide between the vines – Dusk Court magic written on his skin.

Only once everything is neat and tidy does he bend over me, taking my mouth in his, kissing me breathless, boneless. I’m liquid in his arms as his golden eyes hold me captive, and the head of his cock teases my entrance.

We both hold our breath as he slides in – just the head at first, kissing me softly, stretching me so tenderly. He does this until I’m wriggling beneath him, desperate for more.

And this is how Augustin Durant enters me, one slow, infuriating inch at a time, until I am a mess beneath him, until I’m nearly ready to come again just from the delicious stretch of being so full of him.

Then he has the nerve to gaze down at me and smile – the smile of my rival who has finally, finally bested me.

“You are perfect,” he says as he drives in that final inch.

This time, he doesn’t give me a moment to breathe, to adjust. The monster takes over, the creature who hunts, who hungers, and he thrusts deep and long and so hard I would have slammed my head into the door if not for the tendrils holding me in place.

We rock together, our bodies more entwined than the vines around us, every part of me touching him, wrapped in the cool solidity of his embrace. And even though his pace is punishing, and he’s so big that I ache, and even though behind his head is a window that looks up into the black nothingness of the night sky, I can think of only one thing.

Safe.

I’m finally safe.

Something untwists inside of me, a demon I’ve been carrying alone for so long. And it’s replaced by him – by the cool reassurance of his embrace, by the fire in his eyes that I’ve stoked, by the softness of his lips, by his magical vines that still stroke my clit, by the heat of his cock driving deeper than anyone else could dream.

We fall over the edge together, his cries and my moans echoing off the helicopter’s walls. Our hips meet as he pumps hard into me, and our bodies go supernova together. I’m no longer sure where my edges are – which parts of me are me and which are him. Augustin Durant is under my skin now. He’s in all my darkest, most secret places.

Damn him, he’s even in my heart.

I assume that’s all our bodies can take, but no one warned me about the all-night stamina of vampires (Winnie has a lot of apologising to do). Augustin somehow pretzels his body between the seats to go down on me until my screams drown out the storm, and then we go for another round. This time, he has me crouch on the seat while he enters me from behind, scraping his teeth over my neck as he unleashes himself upon me with a fury I had no idea Augustin Durant possessed.

When we’re finally spent, we collapse onto the back seats, and I pull a safety blanket over our knees. Our body heat and the light blossoms have fogged the windows, but there’s nothing much to see outside anyway.

Augustin pulls me tight against him, resting his chin against the top of my head. “It will be sunrise soon,” he murmurs.

“I don’t want you to burn to a crisp. Do you think that if I wrap you up in this blanket, it will provide enough protection?” I ask.

“I suppose we’ll find out.”

Augustin’s cool fingers lace in mine, and the little flame blossoms bob around us, but neither can disguise the fact that a wild storm still rages outside. Lightning threatens to split open the sky, and the wind rocks the helicopter on its skids. I’m so light-headed from all the orgasms that I don’t even think to be afraid, but I feel Augustin tense.

“You’re worrying yourself for no reason,” I tell him. “Hannah’s safe now. She’s at Black Crag and the husker isn’t going to go near her with so many people around.”

“I can’t help it. What if the husker took advantage of the storm to get to her? Or if Kael has another Ordo Exsecrati knight waiting to—”

“I know.” My voice catches. “If I had a daughter, I’d be thinking the same things.”