His humanity had been shredded with his shirt, now hanging in shreds down his naked chest. He stared at her, still unable to speak. The scent of blood tickled his nose, made his head spin with decadent thoughts. How could he be expected to be a man when blood tinged his world and a naked woman stood before him with such passion flashing in her eyes?
His silence only seemed to piss her off further. Anger crackled in the air she stalked toward him, one slow graceful stride at a time. Her eyes bored into his as if roasting his soul and the ire in her gaze only heated his blood further.
“I am lupa of the Red Water clan. An insult to me is an insult to my pack and there is no greater insult than the attack you offered me tonight.” She halted, shaking her head. “I came here tonight because you seemed to be the lesser of two evils. I was misinformed.” Her eyes narrowed to slits. “You call me half-beast. At least I have a human form.” She turned away, throwing her parting shot over her shoulder. “You’re the beast in this room now.”
Her words landed on deaf ears. He was beyond words, beyond logic. The sight of her walking away from him sparked a sense of possession too strong to ignore. He didn’t know where it came from and he didn’t care. He clenched his teeth. She wasn’t leaving.
Anger hadn’t made her stupid. Even his supernatural speed wasn’t enough to get to her before she heard him move, smelled the blood all over his chest coming closer. He dove for her and she whirled around, raking her claws across his face before ending in a defensive stance with her hands raised. Black claws had pierced her human fingertips and her eyes glowed like tiny suns as she snarled at him.
Blood dripped down his cheek and he threw his head back in a roar. Pain gave his frenzied passion a knife-like edge and he smiled as he turned back to her. She’d rejected his manners, shredded his gentleman’s clothing. He stared into her eyes, a dark joy springing to life in his heart. Even a gentleman had his limits.
Come and get me, you condescending bastard.
Anger burned so hot in Gia’s veins she thought she’d boil alive. Her mate had betrayed her, her pack had humiliated her, and this vampire had nearly killed her. Someone was going to pay for the Hell her life had disintegrated into and right now it looked like that someone was Sorin.
He leapt at her again and this time she didn’t wait for him. With a snarl that would have done her wolf proud, she charged forward, eager to drag her claws through the healing wounds on his chest. He’d taken so much blood from her—she wanted it back.
The black claws sprouting from her fingertips flexed in preparation of reentering Sorin’s flesh, but before she could make contact, Sorin reached out with his left hand to grab her by the neck. Growling in frustration, she swiped at his face, but to no avail. His reach was longer than hers. His fingers tightened around her throat and he jerked her toward his body.
Her pulse thudded in her throat, echoing in her ears. The restriction around her windpipe made the edges of her vision fuzzy with the threat of unconsciousness. Forcing herself to calm down, she relaxed her muscles as much as the rush of adrenaline would allow.
“I could crush your throat with so little effort,” Sorin whispered. “Do you know what stops me?” He paused as if waiting for her to answer, but the iron grip he kept on her throat prevented any response she may have offered. He tilted his head. “What stops me, my dear Gia, is my humanity. I am a gentleman.”
Hysterical laughter bubbled from somewhere inside her as she remembered the wild look on his face when he’d come to her room.
Gentleman my furry backside. I’ll bet if I spread my legs . . .
Inspiration widened her eyes. Her head swam as her brain fought to operate with less and less oxygen, but somewhere in her mind an idea made itself known. She moved her foot to the side, standing with her legs spread further apart.
“You will not insult me and then turn your back on our deal,” Sorin continued. “It would dishonor me to benefit from our arrangement without recipro—”
His nostrils flared and the words died on his tongue. Gia thought back to her bedroom, before he’d opened her vein. She thought of his cock pumping hard and fast into her body, thought of the pleasure that had sang along every nerve until the glorious ecstasy of orgasm had erupted deep inside her. She opened her mouth, fighting to take a breath and almost crying with joy as his grip eased ever so slightly.
Her arousal rose like heavy perfume in the air. Sorin’s green eyes bored into her face. She could see his thoughts shift, see the hunger flare to life in the dilating of his pupils. She tensed to drag a clawed hand over his face just as his right arm fell down out of her sight.
Her fingers never made it to his eyes. Being deprived of a deep breath had slowed her down, made her almost clumsy compared to his vampire reflexes. Her hand was still only halfway to his face when his finger dipped between her legs.
Every nerve in her body spasmed as his finger slid into the wet heat of her pussy. Fireworks erupted in a brilliant display in her mind, sending flares down her body and setting off tiny explosions along her nerve endings. In seconds her aggression turned to need and she couldn’t think beyond the desire to take what he had to offer. The memories she’d used to work her body into a fragrant beacon of arousal swarmed her mind as reminders of what the vampire had to offer. The hand that had been going for his face went rigid and it took her several swipes to find his shoulder and hang on for dear life. His grip on her neck slid to the back so that instead of choking her, he was pulling her mouth to his.
Passion poured from her center, soaking her thighs as he flicked his fingers in a come-hither motion inside her. A deep pressure began to build in her womb, promising pleasure beyond her wildest dream. She wrapped her arms around his neck, her palms cradling his head to hold it to her as his lips slid over hers. His fangs presented a delicious challenge to her tongue as she slid it past his lips, delving into his mouth to taste him. Traces of blood lingered in his mouth, reminding her of how close he’d come to killing her. The thought should have scared her, should have pissed her off. It didn’t. Instead, waves of satisfaction rolled out from her wolf. The bitch was pleased at finally encountering a strong male. Someone worthy of being tested.
Like a rock cast into the ocean, her mind was lost in the waves of sensation rolling over her body. One after another they tumbled her around, rippling out from the swift plunging of his fingers into her silken folds. Her hips thrust in time with his fingers, striving toward the peak she could feel building inside her.
Something cold and hard touched her back and her eyes flew open. She didn’t remember closing them. It took her a few seconds to think past her pleasure to realize he had laid her down on the floor, his fingers still pumping slowly, but firmly in and out of her body. He began to pull away from her and her body tensed, panicking at the thought of losing the ecstasy his motions promised her.
He chuckled, a deep masculine sound. Without a word, he gently eased down her body, settling himself on the floor. She swallowed twice before she finally managed to force words past her suddenly parched lips.
“S-Sorin? What are you—”
He took a deep breath through his nose and she was suddenly hyper aware of the scent of her own arousal. Helpless to move or speak, she could only watch in desperation as he lowered his face. She wished he would pull away even as she hoped he would come closer. Her desire for control fought with the agonizing need throbbing in her womb, almost rending her in two. The caress of his breath on her thigh sent delicious shivers through her entire body and she whimpered as her legs parted wider of their own accord.
The helpless sound coming from her mouth sent a wave of outrage pouring over her. Aphrodite was at it again, filling her body with need and overwhelming her mind. The lupa of the Red Water Clan did not submit to a vampire’s will, lying on the floor like some wanton. He had insulted her, calling her a half-beast and now he expected to partake in the behavior he’d spoken of in such a disdainful manner?
The anger helped her think, fighting back the passion if only for a minute. She ground her teeth, steeling her nerves against the pleasure pulling them tight. She planted her hands the floor, preparing to sit up and shove herself away from the vampire’s questing mouth.
Before she could move, he opened his lips and trailed his fang over her flesh. As the sharp point caressed her femoral artery, arousal flowed strong and sure between her legs. Even as he seduced her, melting her defenses with the heat of his passion, he kept the threat of violence just close enough to the surface to remind her he was a force to be reckoned with. Her muscles quivered as her mind hovered between courses of action, torn between wanting the pleasure his mouth promised and needing to assert her own dominance. His eyes met hers.
As if he knew of her indecision, he blew a warm current of air along her skin so it caressed the lips of her pussy like the faintest touch of a hand. She scrabbled for a handhold on the floor, clenching her teeth when her clawed hands only found wood paneling. Helpless to do anything but fight to breathe, she froze as the heat of his breath ignited a fire inside her and turned her entire body into one throbbing hormone.
She needed him to touch her, needed him to quench the flames between her thighs. She watched him with eyelids grown heavy with anticipation, her body screaming its impatience. When his tongue made its first tentative lick along the wet lips of her pussy she gasped.
“Oh, goddess . . .”
He licked her again, a long sure stroke and she squirmed on the floor. The sensation of his probing tongue parting her folds melted her resistance, reducing her to a puddle of need. His arms snaked around her thighs, his hands curling to hold her open to him. He licked the flesh around her opening, teasing her until she whimpered. Every lap wound her tighter, every swirl constricted her chest. Suddenly he pressed his tongue to her clit and licked once, hard. Pleasure spiked through her so strong and forceful it hurt.
She cried out and suddenly his tongue was everywhere. He suckled her clit until her hips bucked and then went back to lapping at her dripping center. He alternated long sure strokes with short desperate ones until her nerves crackled with pleasure.
Something pricked her hand. Her gaze fell toward the ground and she realized she’d clawed the floor, splintering the wood. She grit her teeth and struggled to keep herself from destroying the panels lest she end up nestled in a pile of splinters.
The shining edge of orgasm loomed in front of her and she ran toward it, riding every delicious shiver caused by Sorin’s probing tongue. Her climax hit like a tidal wave, rolling over and over her. She tumbled and fell, bandied about on the currents of pleasure until she lay gasping in its wake. She slumped boneless against the floor, the world floating on waves of bliss around her.
It was never like this with Claudiu.
Gia’s eyebrows furrowed with guilt at the thought of her former mate. Hadn’t this whole plan been designed to make sure that when the full moon waned, she would be free to return to Claudiu? Isn’t that what she wanted? So why was she spreading her legs for this vampire--and enjoying it?
An image of her former mate floated into her brain. Claudiu was handsome, his shaggy blond hair always falling just in front of his eyes, a mischievous grin always pulling at his lips. He was over thirty, but he’d never lost even an ounce of the boyish charm that had given him all those laugh lines. What he lacked in the more typical male attributes, like brute strength and superior hunting skills, he more than made up for in attentiveness and . . . she almost choked. For just a second, she’d been about to add loyalty.
She held the image, trying to press it into her mind, trying to force herself to feel the same rush of warmth and attraction that she always had before. She’d fought too long, sacrificed too much to preserve this relationship to lose it this quickly. She gritted her teeth. Aphrodite would not choose her mate. That decision was hers.
At some point she had closed her eyes again. Despite her determination to the contrary, her body was still sailing on a sea of pleasure, her flesh tingling with awareness. She took a deep breath, determined to fight her way out of this haze. She opened her eyes, her lips parting to tell Sorin to get the hell off of her.
She raised her eyelids just in time to see Sorin sink his fangs into her thigh. Panic roared through her as her orgasm-addled mind threw up pictures of her bedroom, the floor soaked in her blood as she lay in his lap sliding into shock. Ice frosted over her nerves and a warning growl trickled from her lips.
“No more blood.”
He didn’t respond, didn’t appear to have heard her. His throat worked as he began to swallow the blood he sucked from the thick vein in her thigh. Anger rose like a phoenix from the ashes, throwing off the haze of her afterglow, and she pulled back her lips to bare her teeth at him.