Until the Sun Falls from the Sky (The Three #1)(15)

“Leah,” he called but I couldn’t tear my eyes from his mouth and my h*ps started moving against his.

“Leah, stop, you’re making this harder on me,” he warned and his hand at my ass moved up my back.

But I couldn’t stop. I was driven, for some reason out-of-control.

It was then I made a near fatal mistake.

In an effort to get closer, I hooked my leg over his hip.

The instant I did, his head jerked down nearly colliding with mine and he glanced down between our bodies in the direction of my lap.

I heard him draw another breath through his nostrils. This one seemed urgent, primal, animal.

When his head shot back up, I saw his eyes were blazing.

Hungry.

Hungry.

Hungry.

Hunger was written all over his face.

“Fuck,” he growled, rolled over me, pinned my upper body with his colossal weight, one of his arms wrapped around me creating a warm, tight cage and two things happened at once.

The first, his mouth was at my throat. I felt excruciating pain there as his teeth tore through my flesh and my blood burst forth into his mouth.

The second, his other hand went between my legs, cupping me over my nightgown, my panties, superhumanly strong fingers pressed in, invading.

I gasped, grabbed his broad shoulders and pushed with everything I had.

He didn’t budge.

I lost track of what his hand was doing between my legs because the pain at my neck was agonizing, unbearable, my lifeblood rushing out of me in a warm, hideous flood.

“Lucien!” I cried, bucking, pushing, fighting.

He didn’t move, he just drank.

It hurt. Killer hurt.

Intolerable.

I felt the strength leave me as my blood poured out of me into his mouth, weakening me.

“Lucien,” I gasped, still pushing, blackness penetrating at the sides of my eyes. It was my body’s response either to the terrible pain or the loss of blood or both.

I welcomed the loss of consciousness. I could take no more.

My hands fell away from his shoulders as the blackness crept closer, my strength vanished and I lay limp in his arm.

Before the blackness permeated, I felt his head rear up away from my throat and the last thing I remembered was saying on a frail whimper, “You promised.”

Then there was nothing.

Chapter Four

The Day After

I opened my eyes and saw it was morning. The sun shone weak around the edges of the heavy, drawn curtains.

I felt a moment of confusion, not knowing where I was, my surroundings unfamiliar.

Then I remembered.

My body froze stiff.

There was movement behind me and before I could register this I was gently rolled to my back. Lucien fully visible but shadowed in the feeble light, was up on a forearm towering over me.

Stark terror surged through me. I tensed, preparing for escape.

The next second I was crushed in his arms, my face tucked in his throat, his big hand cupping the back of my head, one of his heavy thighs thrown over both of mine.

“Leah,” he whispered.

My name sounded tormented on his lips.

I didn’t care. He could feel as badly as he wanted. He could be tormented forever by his actions and forever was a freaking long time for a vampire.

Promising he wouldn’t hurt me and then inflicting the worst pain I’d ever felt.

Promising he’d stop and then nearly killing me.

I assessed my options.

I couldn’t fight him, I’d never win. Even if I did get away, he could control my mind, my movements.

Therefore, I had no options.

God, I really hated him.

“Please, let me go,” I demanded to his throat, my voice sounded raspy, brittle and that scared me too.

“Leah, you must listen to me.”

I shook my head. This didn’t hurt. I felt no pain at my throat where he’d torn my flesh apart, just an odd but profound numbness, like getting your gums shot with Novocain. I decided not to think about that bit of weirdness at that moment.

I decided to focus on something else.

“The contract didn’t say word one about me having to listen to you. You feeding on me, yes. You f**king me, yes. Me listening to you, no.”

His hand left my head and went to my jaw. His thumb under my chin he pressed up cautiously as he tilted his head down to look at me.

“I’ll explain,” he declared.

I had no idea this was a remarkable declaration. Since I’d been expelled from Vampire Studies, I had no idea vampires didn’t explain themselves. Even if I had an idea, I wouldn’t have cared about that either.

“Are you hungry?” I asked.

“Leah.”

“Well? Are you?”

“Of course not,” he said on a sigh.

“No, of course not,” I shot back. “Had your fill last night, did you?”

His face grew dark as his arms grew tighter, just to the edge of pain but not quite there. “Listen to me, pet.”

“Stop calling me that,” I hissed and watched his face grow even darker.

This should have scared me.

It didn’t. I knew the worst he could do, outside actually finishing the job.

Ignorance is not bliss. Ignorance is torture.

“Are you going to f**k me?” I snapped in the face of his anger.