Vengeance (The Captive #6)(68)
Her own hair had faded to a lighter color, but the blonde pieces were still obscured. She pushed it over her shoulder when he turned his head to look at her. His eyes ran over her from head to toe, the hungry gleam in his gaze causing her blood to quicken. She’d meant to stay away, but she found herself irresistibly drawn toward him.
She had to protect her heart, what he planned to do was completely insane and might get him killed. Her chest constricted and a lump formed in her throat. She’d known him for such a short time, yet he’d come to mean so much to her. He took hold of her hand when she extended it to him and pulled her against his side. She stared out at the side yard before turning to look at the vampires moving up and down the street.
“If you survive this and somehow manage to get free, then what?” she inquired.
“We’ll go to my sister.”
“Can’t we just go to her now?”
“I have to know what we could be facing with this woman and who she is. The war was awful Tempest, the fighting, the death…” His eyes were haunted when they met hers. “If there’s any way I can help to prevent even one death, I’m going to do it.”
She closed her eyes, unable to argue with him further as she rested her forehead against his chest. There was far more at stake than just their happiness or their future. No matter how selfish and childish she wanted to be, and it was taking everything she had not to stomp her feet and throw a tantrum like a child denied their toy, but she knew she couldn’t act that way. Other lives depended on her ability to stay level headed and focused on something other than her own wants and needs.
Therefore, she remained mute and inwardly weeping for all they might have had. She was petrified she might never see him again, and if by some miracle she did, she didn’t know what the circumstances might be. No, she had no idea what would become of him, or them, but she would get the children out of here. It had always been her main goal, and she had to stay focused on it.
Her hands curled into his shirt. She didn’t think she could bring herself to release him. His lips were warm when he pressed a kiss against the top of her head. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her against his chest.
What of us? The question stuck in her throat. She couldn’t bring herself to ask such a needy question, not when she was afraid of the answer, and not if these moments could be the last they had together.
More tears burned her eyes, but she refused to let them fall. “I’m going to be fine,” he said. “I’ve put myself in worse scrapes than this one, and I’m still here.” A small laugh escaped her; she turned her head into his chest and inhaled his earthy aroma. Beneath her hands she felt his skin ripple. His hands ran over her arms in a comforting gesture. “You have to keep yourself safe too; you have the most important part in all of this.”
“Don’t worry about me; I’m used to going unnoticed. Just don’t get yourself killed.”
“It’s impossible for me not to notice you,” he whispered against her ear. “And I won’t.”
He kissed her cheek before the warmth of his mouth steadily moved lower. His lips slid over her ear; his tongue swirled out in a way that caused her to quake in anticipation. The scrape of his fangs against the sensitized flesh of her neck made her instinctively press closer to him. Her head tilted to the side. She couldn’t think; her fingers dug deeper into the solid flesh of his chest as her mind and body spun out of control.
Liquid lightning pooled low in her belly; anticipation sizzled over her skin. She wanted to scream at him to do it, to put her out of her misery, but words completely failed her. All she could do was stand and shake as his heated kisses soothed the scratches his fangs left over her flesh.
A groan escaped her when the next scrape broke her skin. He emanated a low rumble when his tongue swirled over her flesh, licking away the blood beading there. Maybe vampires didn’t exchange blood with each other often, but she craved this more than anything else in her life. If he tasted her, she’d be able to find him anywhere, and with what he planned that could become a necessity.
He turned his head away; his warm breath was ragged against her ear as he inhaled greedy gulps of air. The muscles of his back rippled when her hands slid around to flatten against them. The struggle within him tore at her heart, but she couldn’t find the words to tell him to do as he pleased. Instead, she turned her head into his throat and pressed a tender kiss against his silken flesh.
Her fangs burst free before she could do anything to stop them. It had been such an instinctual reaction; one she didn’t know how to fight. He clasped her closer against his neck, giving her permission without saying a word.
Tempest’s lips skimmed back, her fangs thrummed as saliva filled her mouth. Her body quivered as she fought against what she’d always believed to be wrong. He’d know where she was from now on too, always be able to find her. What would have frightened her and left her feeling exposed a month ago, now thrilled her.
Giving into the driving compulsion, her fangs pierced his skin and sank deep into his vein. He pulled her closer and lifted her off her feet at the same time his fangs drove into her shoulder. His flesh muffled her cry of ecstasy; her fingers raked down his back as pleasure swamped her.
Her knees gave out, but William’s arm around her waist held her upright as she continued to feed from him. The pulsing waves of warm blood filled her and satisfied her in a way no blood ever had before. His blood reminded her of him; it tasted smoky and woodsy as it pulsed into her mouth and seeped into her system. She didn’t realize she was crying until she felt the wetness of her tears dripping off her cheek and onto her fingers wrapped around his shoulder.