The Wicked Kiss (Alexa O'Brien, Huntress #2)(93)

I watched him pensively, a question in my eyes. Without words, Shaz merely nodded, waiting with acceptance and even a hint of excitement. Because it was him, I didn't snap in a frenzy of blood hunger. However, I was clinging to sanity by a very thin rope. And, I could feel that I was slipping quickly.

I had to do this. It was vital to preventing my quick descent into blood madness, and it meant something to Shaz. If I didn't act soon, I was going to lose it.

With shaky hands, I encircled his wrist with my fingers. I was virtually salivating when I drew in the clean wolf scent of him. I indulged in the urge to rub my face against that perfect skin. Pressing my lips to his pulse, I closed my eyes and savored the sensation of his life force pumping just beneath the surface.

That was all it took, and there was no going back. I bit into his wrist fast, hoping to ease the pain. When Shaz gave a small gasp, I thought I had hurt him. The pleasure that oozed from his energy indicated otherwise.

Once released, the blood dripped fast and steady. I rushed to catch it with my tongue.

The scent, taste and feeling of it in my mouth hit me like a tornado. Everything around me seemed to fall away. Nothing was left in the entire world but Shaz and me in that moment.

Along with the hot, flowing, crimson stream, I took in the freely exuded energy of a male Alpha wolf. It was like having electricity poured over and through me. Tasting Shaz was like sipping from a fount of lively power, one that I couldn't get enough of. He tasted like heaven.

It didn't take much to satiate the hunger for blood. I didn't need it to survive. Not yet.

The craving for the energy high that was building had only just gotten started. My need for my mate was immense, and giving the slowing bleed a long satisfying lick, I began to kiss my way up his arm.

Shaz reached to pull me close. The power ruled us both as we fed it with our voracious desire. He kissed me roughly, his tongue delving into my mouth between my fangs. Tasting his own blood, he shuddered and reached between my legs.

I was ready for him, already slick with feminine moisture. The wolf in me was impatient, needing him now. I needed him to claim me as I had claimed him in taking what he gave. He pressed his shaft against me, long and hard, throbbing in time with his heartbeat. That was all I needed to set off a series of small explosions in the pit of my stomach. I wrapped my arms around his neck and, at his encouragement, my legs around his waist.

He put me down against the soft carpet so that he was above me, peering down at me with eyes that had gone full wolf. Shaz thrust his way inside my warmth, and my body instinctually hugged him close in response. He plunged deep in one long stroke, bringing a small yelp from me that was both surprise and pleasure.

Something had changed between us, something that transcended everything we'd known so far. His devotion was strong enough to move mountains. Allowing him to meet one of my needs had enabled him to be my mate in every sense. He needed it as badly as I'd needed to be dependent on him; my trust spoke louder than any words.

Every one of my senses blazed like an inferno. I clung to him desperately. The sweat rolled from each of us to create slick, wet sounds as our bodies danced and united as one.

Epilogue

The taste of human blood lingered on my tongue like sweet copper. With a pinky finger, I wiped a minute trace from the corner of my mouth. Breathing hard, I glanced at Arys, who watched me like I was the most delicious thing he'd ever seen. The dead pimp at my feet stirred no emotion within me. He'd been a peddler of teen girls barely old enough to drive a car. Worthless.

How I had managed to avoid slaughtering an innocent was beyond me. The bloodlust was a strange and funny thing. It no longer assaulted me when Arys neglected to feed. It assaulted me on a nightly basis. My hunger was my own, yet, his neglect reverberated through me when his energy infected me with his inner desires. That's when it became too much for me to bear, and my control was stripped away in layers until I was a maniacal mess.

On the flipside, nothing had changed for Arys as far as my personal weaknesses go.

My wolf lurked inside him due to our metaphysical bond, but Arys was long past mortal afflictions, and he experienced nothing further in that regard. Though as far as connections go, ours had undergone many transitions.

We could now open a telepathic link by will and tap one another's power when we were nowhere physically near each other. If Arys had been packing a loaded weapon before … well now, we were really something to be feared. Of course, that would be more accurate if I knew how to handle half the power I possessed.

Arys insisted that we could command this power ourselves, wield it as needed, however needed. Lena once told me that we were two souls cut from the same magical cloth, destined to unite as one regardless of our physical forms. If this power is to be of any real use to me, I need to be the one in control, and that is something that I intend to focus my strength on.

It nagged me to no end knowing that Harley has the valuable information that I seek.

He can't possibly be the only one. Finding a source willing to share was among my priorities.

I wasn’t naïve enough to believe that I was safe because of sharing the wicked kiss with Arys. Harley's warning continued to haunt me. If he wanted a piece of me so bad, who else out there did? As a mortal with this kind of power, I was a walking snack to bigger, badder predators than me. My biggest fear continued to be endangering those I loved. Though they can all protect themselves, there are things out there that may not hesitate to use them to get to me.