Steal the Light (Thieves #1)(31)

“God, Zoey, the hunger. You can’t imagine it,” he whispered. I could feel the tension in his body. “Just being near you makes me crazy. You’re really beautiful, Z.”

I sat up and looked down at him. He was the beautiful one. Death had taken all the small imperfections humans possessed and turned him into the ideal version of himself. His eyes were dark, and I could feel the need coming off his body. His pupils were slightly dilated and so blue I thought I could get lost in them. Desire flooded me. Every girl part I had went soft and wet. I wasn’t sure what he was doing, but the air around me felt soft. My nipples peaked, straining against my shirt.

It was all coming from him. Desire poured off him, like a wave rolling over me.

He wanted. He was hungry and I could feed him. I wanted to feed him.

I shrugged out of the shirt I was wearing, and his hands began to shake. I didn’t think about the implications. I just knew he needed blood and I had plenty.

“Do you think it hurts?” I wasn’t really scared of the prospect. I just wanted to know what to expect.

Daniel pulled away. “No, this isn’t a good idea, baby.”

“Don’t you want me?” If he didn’t, I wasn’t sure what I would do.

“I don’t want to hurt you.”

“You won’t.” If there was one thing I knew in the world, it was that Daniel Donovan wouldn’t hurt me. “I trust you. I love you, Danny.”

Daniel pulled me to him, and I could feel my heart racing. I should have been afraid, but all I could think of was just how excited I was. I thought I’d lost him forever, but I was going to make love with him. I was seventeen again, and Daniel and I were discovering the world together. We’d had no one but each other. The world had changed and we would figure it out all over again.

I got to my knees, getting rid of my bra in the process. With anyone else, I was insecure, but Daniel was my home. Daniel was love and safety and all the good things of the world in one package. I could be naked and exposed and perfectly happy because he never looked at me with anything but desire.

“Zoey.” My name was a benediction on his lips. A promise of a future I thought I’d lost. “Be sure.”

“I’m always sure of you.” I reached out and touched his shoulders, smooth skin covered by muscles. His flesh was cool, but just his touch ignited my senses. I could feel the blood flowing through my veins.

I understood why he found that first feeding so distasteful. There was a sexual element about it that would bother Daniel. The room was heavy with anticipation, and Daniel’s fangs were full and large. They weren’t the only part of him that wanted to play. His erection tented his pants, his cock pointing my way.

“God, baby, you smell so good.” He groaned as he nuzzled my neck, the sound skimming across my flesh. He ran his tongue across the smooth skin, and I shivered in anticipation. I let my hands roam. It was like his whole body had tightened, reforming into a perfect version of Daniel.

I could feel his cock against my belly. He moved against me as though he couldn’t quite help himself. I couldn’t either. It felt right to be near him. Perhaps his death simply focused my consciousness to him, but there was a deep, physical connection that hadn’t been there before. I loved Daniel, but this closeness felt like something more.

It was right and good to feed him.

He leaned over and kissed me, his mouth covering my own. I was deeply aware of how much bigger he was than me. I was small in his embrace, but that was all right. He would never hurt me. I was his. I was precious. Our tongues tangled, the feeling heightened beyond anything I’d known before. Daniel seemed to inhale me, his every cell focused on my body, my soul.

I was aware of my own heart. I could hear it beating in my chest, making a rhythm we could move to. My heart was visceral, real in a way it hadn’t been before. It pumped blood through my body. Blood that kept me alive. Blood that would feed my Daniel. My heart was the center of our universe.

Daniel’s eyes glowed in the dim light as he rubbed our foreheads together. “I love you. I’ve always loved you. I don’t remember a time when I wasn’t full of you, baby. I think I loved you before I knew you.”

I let my head fall to the side to give him better access. A delicious wave of desire pulsated across my skin. His magic. Vampires had ways to persuade their blood partners, to make the feeding process a pleasurable one. He was seducing me with his newfound skill, and I let it wash over my whole being. His arms wrapped around me. Our legs tangled together. I wasn’t sure where he ended and I began, we were so close.

He growled just a little, the sound low from the back of his throat. The moment lengthened, blood pulsing, heart pounding, body aching.

And then he struck, fangs sinking in, finding the vein. Pleasure, pure and undiluted, coursed through me. My womb fluttered, orgasm blooming from the center of my body. I was with Daniel in that moment, feeling the glory of blood and trust and the promise implicit in the exchange.

We were more than we’d been before. I’d changed as surely as Daniel had. I was more than the woman who had wept and thought about joining her lover. Larger. The moment Daniel fed, I’d grown larger somehow.

He pulled at my neck, and another wave crested and darkness took me.




Warmth and heat surrounded me when I came back to consciousness.

“Welcome back, princess,” he said, smiling down at me.