Gaslight (Crossbreed #4)(113)
Christian wrapped his arms around me. “I won’t let you fall apart.”
With those words, he reclaimed my lips.
My fingers were lost in the tangles of his hair, my hips rocking against his. I put away my past so I could savor this moment without regret or fear. Christian’s kiss branded my soul, and though I still wasn’t sure what to believe about our relationship, I knew without a doubt that we’d kissed before. Maybe it happened two months ago or maybe in another lifetime, but my lips had known his.
An invisible connection held me to him, rousing my desire like never before.
He lifted me up with one arm and lowered me onto the enormous bearskin rug. Breathless, I watched as he admired my long legs with a fervent gaze. His fangs were slightly extended, exciting me on a level I’d never known. When his finger trailed up my thigh and stroked the outside of my panties, a soft moan caught in my throat.
Oh God, I’ve never wanted anything more in my life.
“Let me see what’s mine,” he growled, slowly pulling them off.
Christian’s roguish good looks were defined by his midnight eyes and dark hair. As he stripped out of his shirt, I ran my fingers over the whiskers on his jaw and neck. Though I’d teased him numerous times about his beard, I never wanted anything more than to feel the scratch of his jaw down my breasts and thighs. Firelight cast shadows on the sinewy lines of muscle in his chest and biceps. He didn’t doubt himself. He didn’t hesitate or second-guess his actions.
“You’re nervous,” he said. “I can hear your heart racing.”
“Don’t eavesdrop on my heart.”
Taking his time, he crawled over me and hooked one of his fangs through the center of my bra. With a sharp tug, the fabric ripped apart.
I arched my back when his hot lips brushed against my nipple. Watching him, I wasn’t sure if his tongue or fangs excited me more. His mouth hovered above my breast, breath heating my skin while he peeled away my bra and tossed it aside.
Mage light surged to my hands, the sexual energy so intense that it flooded my body.
“Your skin is soft like butter,” he groaned.
A distant part of me wanted to laugh at his analogy, but he intoxicated me with his textured voice. They weren’t honeyed words but ones spoken with gratitude, as if speaking his thoughts aloud.
Christian moved to my other breast, one of his fangs grazing across the peak of my nipple.
I gasped. “Do that again.”
A dark smile touched his lips. “This?”
The second time he did it, I felt the pulse of a gathering orgasm. I was familiar with my Mage sexuality, but my Vampire impulses were new and completely unexplored.
I snapped my arm away when he touched my hand. Though I knew Mage energy wouldn’t hurt a Vampire, I instinctively protected him from my power.
Why was protecting Christian instinctual?
When I reached for his belt, he seized my wrists and straddled me. There was a flicker of uncertainty in his eyes, and he must have been wondering if I was going to flip out and stake him.
Had Fletcher ruined me?
“I’ll never know unless I do this,” I said.
I unlatched his belt, and a strangled moan escaped his lips when I pulled down the zipper on his trousers.
“I should warn you that I’m well endowed,” he said, a crooked smile hovering on his lips.
“By your Creator? With certain unalienable rights?”
“That among these rights are life, liberty, and the pursuit of your body.”
His smile disappeared when I freed his shaft. Christian might have been teasing, but he certainly had a reason to be cocky. As I circled my thumb over the sloped head, his eyes hooded. All the strange gaps in my memory closed, replaced by an inexplicable desire to know him. Memories of Fletcher disappeared like the dying embers of a fire.
I squeezed and twisted my hand, his body tensing in response.
Christian hauled me off the rug and stood up. His pants fell to his ankles, and he stepped out of them before carrying me over to the table. When he set me down on it, he dragged it away from the wall by a foot and planted a hand on either side of me.
“Do you trust me?” he asked.
I stared, my legs trembling and heart thumping out of my chest.
He reached between my legs and cupped me, fingers sliding along my entrance. “I want to taste your blood.”
I swallowed hard. “What?”
Christian’s mouth moved to my ear, his words silken. “I want to drink you, but I won’t do it without your permission.”
He leaned back, and his gaze followed the movement of my tongue as I licked the corner of my mouth. When I pressed my thumb against the tip of one of his fangs, a drop of blood wetted his lips. He sucked the tip of my thumb and read my desires like the pages of a book. My blood gave him the answer that my lips could not.
Christian reclined me onto my back, sucking my nipples before working his way down to my navel. When he parted my legs, I quivered.
“It’s been years,” I admitted.
He chuckled darkly. “I once went two decades. Are you able to top that?”
When his sharp fangs dragged against my groin, right where my leg joined with my body, I knew exactly what he was going to do.
He licked my skin, and I sucked in a sharp breath. Was I ready to experience Vampire lust? Desire pulsed between my legs when I felt the sharp pressure of his exquisite bite. Without skipping a beat, Christian sucked hard and drank deep.