Broken (The Captive #5.5)(31)

"And I'm dying to know what your blood tastes like," he told her.

A jolt went through her body as she pulled back to stare up at him. Her eyes searched his face and her mouth parted in surprise. He could well imagine she was horrified and unsettled by what he'd just said, he would have been. If anyone had said it to him, he would have walked out, or killed them if they tried to do it. He'd had to tell her though; it would be impossible to keep it hidden from her. Even now, his fangs were extended and throbbing. He'd fed last night but hunger burned through his veins as relentlessly as lava streaming downhill from an erupting volcano.

His fingers slid over the silken flesh of her throat. "I've never…" she shook her head; her eyes darted briefly away before coming back to him.

"It's not what we do, I know," he assured her. "But I want it so badly from you that I'm having a difficult time controlling it." Her vein kept him mesmerized as his fingers rested against it. "It's all I want."

He'd expected fear in her eyes when he met them again but there was no fear; there was only curiosity, and a hunger that more than matched his own. "Then do it."

"You don't know what you're asking for."

"I don't," she agreed. "But I know it's something that I can give to you that will bring you pleasure, and that's all I need to know."

His fingers slid away from her throat, his eyes remained locked on hers. The excitement thrumming through him caused the hair on his arms to stand up. Not even when he'd been about to lay with his first woman had he been this aroused by the prospect of what was to come, and there was nothing sexual about this.

She'd given him permission, yet he hesitated. He sensed there was something more to this, something completely irrevocable. Even with the weight of that realization pressing upon him, his fangs ached to slip into her skin and he could feel his self-control wavering. It didn't matter if there was no going back after this. It was Genny that he would be experiencing this with, and he found himself already bound to her in some intrinsic way.

Her hands moved away from his hips, they caressed up and down his sides before slipping around to his back. The heat of her gaze continued to hold his as her fingers curled into his clothing and skin. Unable to resist, he smoothed her hair back from her face and kissed her tenderly. It took everything he had to go slow but his body screamed for her blood. Her natural scent became stronger with her need as she pressed her body flush against his.

This isn't what vampires do, he thought again. She'd be able to find him anywhere afterward, be able to track him through her blood inside of him, but even as he thought it he realized that he didn't care. Her lips were warm against his skin, her mouth hot as she placed a kiss to his shoulder. The pressure of her fangs against his flesh caused a jolt to go through him. They scraped against him but didn't break his skin. His fingers curled into her thick hair as he realized she was fighting with the same urges driving him.

What he would have killed another for trying to take from him, he found himself saying instead to her, "Do it."

There was a second of hesitation and then her fangs pierced his skin. His body reacted as if it had been hit by a bolt of lightning. He jerked against her, his grip on her intensified. The flow of his blood entering her system was more erotic and profound than any sexual act he'd ever had with a woman. Nothing had ever given him as much satisfaction as the sensation of her feeding from him and gaining nourishment did. He could feel the pleasure she took from him as she bit deeper and a small mewl escaped her.

He bowed his head, his lips pulled back as his mouth rested against her throat. There was no hesitation, not anymore, as he sank his fangs into her enticing flesh. In that moment there was nothing in the world except for the two of them, nothing except for her and the joy of her blood filling him. It strengthened him in ways he'd never dreamed possible, in ways that no human's ever had. He could feel the power of it seeping through his body and pulsing through his veins.

With her was where he belonged, where he would always belong. She was his now.





CHAPTER 11


Half-asleep in his arms, Genny curled against his chest as they rode back toward the clearing where they'd originally met. His arms tightened around her when she nestled closer to his chest. His lips pressed against the top of her head as he bowed his head to hers. A smile curved her mouth, her hand wrapped around his powerful bicep and she inhaled the enticing scent of man, horse and leather that adhered to his smooth skin. She could also detect the scent of her blood within him now, flowing through his system. It was a link that no vampire sought to share with another, and yet it made her feel so incredibly whole and secure that all she wanted was to taste him again.

"Genny?"

"Hmm?" she murmured.

"What just happened…" She stiffened against him when his voice trailed off and braced herself for him to say that it couldn't happen again, that he regretted it, or that it had been a mistake. She didn't think she could take that kind of a blow; it would devastate her more than Felix's fists ever could. "I love you Genny."

Her head shot up, unexpected tears burned her eyes as she met his shadowed gaze. His jaw clenched; he looked as fragile as an icicle as he braced himself for her response. She rested her palm against his cheek, the stubble already beginning to form there prickled against her palm. "I love you too," she whispered.