A Vampire for Christmas(110)

He thrust upward, pressing hard against her core. “Glad you liked it, but that was just the appetizer.”

What if I want dessert first?”

Her question was accompanied by a lingering kiss and wandering hands. If she kept that up, it would all be over before the party really got started. He picked her up and laid her back down on the bed, capturing those talented hands with one of his, holding them prisoner over her head.

As he looked his fill at her curvaceous body stretched out for his enjoyment, she blushed. He loved that hint of innocence mixed in with the siren. He nuzzled the lower curve of her breasts, deliberately taking a circuitous route to finally capture her pert nipple with his lips. So sweet. He worked it hard, enjoying the way her entire body undulated on the mattress in response.

Eagan, you’re driving me crazy.”

That’s the whole idea,” he murmured as he moved on to pay homage to her other breast.

As he learned what she liked and what she craved, her pulse called to him. He vowed not to take her vein. That didn’t mean resisting the urge was easy. He pressed a kiss against the pulse point in her wrist, loving the soft throb just under the skin. Even that distant connection with her life’s blood ramped up his need for her to a whole new height.

He needed to claim her. Now. With everything he had.

He closed his eyes, knowing they were more black than blue, not wanting to remind Della that her lover was something other than human. Then she opened her arms, her legs, her body to him. Her touch was so welcoming that he had to look, had to watch her pretty face as he took her.

Hold on, sweetheart. I’ll try to go slow. I don’t want to hurt you.”

They both knew he was talking about far more than just the joining of their bodies. There was a world of womanly understanding in those dark eyes gazing up him. She eased her hand between them, wrapping it around his shaft and guiding him right to where they both wanted him to be. With a series of sharp thrusts, he seated himself firmly in her welcoming heat.

He let out a slow breath, for the moment content to savor the profound connection. But then she stroked her hands down the length of his back to dig her fingernails into his ass, making a few demands of her own.

Now, Eagan. Fast and hard.”

Her demand flipped a switch, sending him right into overdrive. His hips flexed sharply, seating him even more deeply. He withdrew almost completely, only to immediately plunge deeper yet.

And again, over and over, until he was no longer conscious of himself or Della as individuals. There was only pounding sensation and burning desire coupled with a craving to claim her in every way he could as a man—and as a vampire.

Just as she keened out her second release, he buried his face at the juncture of her neck and shoulder. Before he realized what was happening, his fangs pierced her soft skin, and he took a long sweet pull directly from her vein.

Her legs clamped down around his thighs as she rode out her climax with a scream. That combined with the coppery beauty of her blood flooding down his throat was enough to throw Eagan plummeting over the edge with her. With a shout, he retracted his fangs and shuddered in her arms, pouring out his own release deep within her.

When the last wave of triumph crashed over them both, he briefly collapsed in the sanctuary of her arms before rolling onto his back. He tucked Della in at his side although right then he really needed to put some space between them. If he did that, she might interpret it as rejection, and he wouldn’t risk hurting her that way.

But as he thought about what he’d just done, his lungs refused to fill with air even as his fangs throbbed with the need for more blood. Her blood. As much as she’d let him take. To stake his claim on Della, to make her his permanently.

What a damn fool he was. His rational mind argued that this was a fling, a momentary escape from a life spent alone hunting in the cold shadows. It had to be.

But the truth was that he’d inadvertently completed the circle of connections that could link his life with Della’s in the way vampires did when claiming a mate. In a very short time, he’d tasted her blood while treating her wound, and then she’d taken his blood even if it was without her knowledge. Those two things alone wouldn’t have caused her lasting any harm.

But in a moment of weakness, he’d lost control and taken her blood a second time while they’d made love. All of it within the time frame needed to seal the connection.

The only thing that would save them was if the amount of blood he’d given her had been too small. The hand she had on his chest was the one that had been lacerated. He turned it over.