Aleksei and his brothers came to her mind in that instant. She remembered all of their powers, all of their strengths, and the way they could heal.
“Oh my God, you’re one of
them
, aren’t you?”
“One of them? What are you talking about?” He took a step toward her, a look of confusion crossing his features.
Adrenaline pumped through her bloodstream, not from fear, but from the unknown.
Could Adrik really be one of them? A Blood Breed?
“Yes, one of
them
.” Her words were a whisper.
Kayla didn’t have this kind of reaction when she saw the powers Aleksei wielded, but here, standing in front of Adrik, a man she had known all her life, it seemed too surreal. She watched as his pupils started to dilate and constrict, turning that inky darkness that washed the whites of his eyes away.
“Are you a vampire? A Blood Breed?”
He stared at her for a suspended moment, no reaction flickering across his face. The fact that he hadn’t questioned her what a Blood Breed was, and the fact that he didn’t laugh at her calling him a vampire, proved he knew exactly what she was talking about, even if he chose to stay silent.
He ran his hand over his mouth and averted his gaze to the floor. He shook his head, but stayed silent for another suspenseful moment.
“A vampire, Kayla?” He glanced up at her, and although he tried to look shocked by her statement, he fell short of his mark.
“You know exactly what I’m talking about. Don’t play dumb, not with me, Adrik.” Anger started to mount inside of her. “What other explanation can you give me for what happened to your hand?”
“I don’t have an explanation, Kayla.” He straightened and stared directly in her eyes. “I told you not to look.”
She stared at him in stunned disbelief. “That is what you have to say about this situation?” She gripped her hands together tightly, twisting her fingers together until it bordered on pain. “Don’t try blaming this on me. Don’t say you warned me not to look.”
He didn’t respond, a fact that infuriated her.
“Tell me the truth. Why can’t anyone just tell me the damn truth?” Her voice was rising in octaves, but she didn’t care. She wanted to know the truth, wanted the man she still loved to tell her what the fuck was going on.
Adrik’s haunted gaze caught hers and held it. “It looks like you already know the truth, Kayla.” He started to pace, his big body moving quickly back and forth. “I want to know how the fuck you even know about any of this.”
Is he fucking serious?
She felt her mouth drop open in furious outrage. “First of all, you have no right to question me. You’ve been lying to me my whole life. Why couldn’t you just be truthful with me?” She was on the verge of tears, not from sadness, but from her blind fury that the person she loved most had kept something so fantastical, so monumental from her.
She wasn’t bringing Lana into this. Adrik didn’t need to know that her friend had been the one to reveal everything to her. If Lana and Aleksei hadn’t told her about the Blood Breeds and this situation had gone down, Kayla didn’t know how she would have reacted.
Probably screamed and run out of the damn house.
“So, are you going to be honest with me?” His silence was killing her.
He breathed out heavily and turned to grab a glass from the cupboard. Adrik grabbed the whiskey bottle, filled the cup to the brim, and then downed it in one swallow. He did this several times. “I didn’t want to scare you.”
His voice was husky, a deep timbre that shouldn’t have made her feel a spike of lust. This whole situation seemed ludicrous, as though she was trapped in a crazy dream with no way to escape.
“You still haven’t answered my question.” She needed to know if he was one of them. Could she really accept it if he was a vampire? Did she really have a choice? She loved Adrik, loved him for who he was, not
what
he might be. She took a deep breath and sagged against the counter. She was suddenly so tired. “Please, Adrik. Just tell me the truth.”
“Will it make a difference?”
Blinking in rapid succession, she licked her suddenly dry lips. “Will what make a difference?”
She heard him swallow, the sound seeming so loud. “Your feelings for me. Will they change if I told you what I was?”
She looked down, his question spinning through her mind. She knew the answer to his question, knew how she felt about him even though she felt deceived.
“No, it wouldn’t make a difference.” She heard him exhale and met his eyes again. “Why didn’t you tell me? I know something like that seems too unreal to be true, but you knew how I felt about you. You should have known you could trust me.”
He smiled softly at her and stepped closer. His eyes seemed to roam over her face before he spoke. “I didn’t want to scare you. I am what I am, Kayla, and I thought if you knew what I was, there would be a part of you that I lost.” He chuckled, but it sounded humorless. “Would you have believed me anyway? Would you have accepted that I was a Blood Breed, a vampire?”
She thought about his question. It wasn’t difficult to understand what he meant, but she still found it hard to answer. “Yes, I would have. I know you wouldn’t lie to me, no matter how crazy the subject is.” She glanced at him, saw the worry clear on his face, and felt her heart palpitate.
“Are you afraid of me now?” His voice caught, and she saw his throat working as he swallowed.
She smiled. “No, I’m not afraid of you. I am afraid of the whole idea of vampires, but I could never be frightened of you. I know you would never harm me.” She took a deep breath, questions slamming into her head one after the other. Aleksei hadn’t gone into great detail about his kind. She hadn’t pried for answers, more stunned by everything to the extent that she hadn’t been able to actually think of anything to ask. Now, staring at Adrik, question after question bombarded her.
“Adri—” He didn’t let her finish, just held up his hand and shook his head.
“Please, I just want to hold you.”
Her breathing was unsteady. She felt her heart race with anticipation. She nodded and watched in trepidation as he moved closer and snaked his arms around her waist. Once she felt his body heat, the strong beat of his heart, and smelled his wild and untamed scent, she knew the questions could wait.
She took a step into him and laid her head on his chest, closing her eyes and sighing in relief. She realized there had been a small part of her that feared something might feel different. She didn’t know what, but there was that tingling feeling that kept her on edge. As she let him hold her, she smiled, feeling only the strong pull of her emotions for Adrik.
“Kayla?”
“Hmm?” She didn’t lift her head, didn’t want to move from the warm protection he offered.
“I love you. So much.”
She did look up at that. Craning her head back, she stared into the deep blue pools of his eyes. Her breathing increased.
Oh God, he’s going to kiss me.
She could see it in his eyes, could see how his gaze dipped down to her lips.
“I love you, too.”
“I want to kiss you. Can I, Kayla?” His voice was low, husky, and filled with his desire.
She could hear the beat of her heart in her ears, could feel it thumping in her throat. Nodding, she watched in excitement and nervousness as his head descended. His mouth was only inches from hers, their breath mingling, their gazes locked. She tilted her head to the side as he closed that last inch that separated their mouths.
His mouth pressed against hers, soft at first, but soon becoming hard and demanding. She gripped his forearms as he moved his hands to the counter behind her. His upper body pressed against her, causing her to arch her back, which made her breasts press against his hard chest. His tongue teased her lips, urging her to open, to accept what he had to offer.
“Open for me, Kayla.” He whispered against her mouth, low, sensual, needy.
She didn’t hesitate, not when she felt him all around her, felt his heat, his power, the very strength he yielded under his skin.
His tongue immediately swept inside and slid against hers. He tasted wild and unadulteratedly male, addicting, potent. His lust was clear, and her body warmed up with every stroke of his tongue. Her pussy became wet, and her nipples beaded into hard points that rubbed against her dress. She couldn’t help the moan that escaped.
His hands went back to her waist and lifted her onto the counter easily. His strength astounded her. Spreading her legs, she felt his massive frame take residence in the now open spot. Hands still on her hips, he gripped her and pulled her slightly down so that her pussy came flush against the thick bulge pressing against his slacks.
He broke the kiss and dragged his tongue along the shell of her ear. “Do you feel that? Do you feel how hard I am for you?” He emphasized his words by grinding his cock against her cunt. “Every time I think about you, my cock gets like steel. You make me ache, Kayla.”
His words speared straight to her clit, and she slanted her mouth over his again. She needed his taste, needed his intoxicating flavor to fill her body and heighten her senses. Hesitantly, almost shyly, she moved her hands to the front of his shirt and started to unbutton it.
“Wait.” He broke the kiss and placed his hands over hers. They stared into each other’s eyes, and the silence surrounded her. “Are you sure about this?”
Blinking a few times, she breathed out, just now realizing she had been holding her breath. “I’ve been sure about this for the past eight years.” She had been waiting to touch his flesh since she was sixteen. Her feelings had grown from a crush into a deep love that engulfed her completely. After a long pause, he finally slipped his hands off hers and placed them on the counter by her thighs. She continued to unbutton his shirt, her hands shaking, her palms sweaty.
Once she undid the last button, she pulled the edges apart and looked down. Her breath caught in her throat at the sight that greeted her. Pushing the material off his shoulders, she couldn’t help but feel purely feminine at the sight of all his hard, rippling muscles. The muscles and tendons in his chest and arms were defined to perfection, bulging just under his perfect skin and making her pussy convulse with need.
Flicking her gaze back to his, Kayla saw the unadulterated lust reflected. She knew it matched her own. His eyes were half lidded, and when she licked her lips, his gaze dropped down to her mouth. He inhaled deeply, a low growl vibrating in his throat.
He was like a wild animal, ready to attack, ready to claim. It turned her on.
Looking back down at his chest, she ran her hands over his smooth, flawless skin. He lifted her head with a finger under her chin, and she looked at him questioningly. Before she could wonder what he was doing, he dipped his head and kissed her passionately. She felt his hands back on her hips, clenching and unclenching before finally lifting her.
Gasping against his mouth lightly, Kayla instinctively wrapped her legs around his waist and curled her arms around his neck. They deepened the kiss. Adrik started to move, and even though she didn’t know where he was taking her, she honestly didn’t care, as long as the end result was the two of them in a bed with no clothes on.
When he broke the kiss, he immediately dipped his mouth to the hollow of her throat. She tilted her head to the side and shivered when she felt his tongue run up the side of her neck.
“Ya palyubil tebya s pervova vzglyada.” His words were muffled against her flesh. He held her tighter. “Gods, how I have wanted you.”
His teeth nipped at her flesh, and she moaned. “That feels so good, Adrik.”
“Not nearly as good as it makes me feel,
angel moy
.”
Whenever he spoke in Russian, she couldn’t help the arousal that spiked within her. The language was gruff at times, but filled with such hidden sensuality it made her toes curl. The way the words rolled from his tongue ignited her body to a fever pitch.
Adrik ascended the stairs rapidly, and when he reached the loft, she glanced around. It was clearly his bedroom, if the monstrous bed, masculine colors, and distressed leather furniture were anything to go by.
He set her on her feet, the movement causing her body to slide sensuously against his. Every hard line that made up his body pressed against her, making her wetter. Her whole body tingled with arousal. Breathing in deeply, she became dizzy with the rush of sensations around her. His scent penetrated her, infused her arousal to a scorching level. How many times had she fantasized about this exact moment? How many times had she dreamt of having Adrik filling her, thrusting into her pussy with such force and abandon she couldn’t breathe? Too many times, that was for sure.
His eyes were averted. “Look at me, Adrik.”
Her words were softly spoken and didn’t hold any authority. She wanted to see his crystal-blue eyes, wanted to see how much he wanted her. He didn’t look up right away, but when he finally did, the sight had her gasping in shock and awe.
Chapter 7
Adrik looked Kayla in the eyes. He didn’t want to frighten her, but he knew it was inevitable. When she saw his eyes, she covered her mouth in shock and took a step back. He knew her reaction would be like this, but still, seeing it was a bit different. She had seen his healed hand, but the change in him now was more pronounced, more startling. He ran his palm over his mouth.
His eyes were fully changed, the blue of his iris and the white of his eyes completely black with his arousal, with his need for her. His fangs had grown and now pricked at his bottom lip. His teeth ached to pierce her tender flesh, to suckle at the life source that flowed just below her skin. It’s what he dreamt about, what he needed whenever he thought of her.
He took several steps back, giving her the space she needed. She dropped her hand and pulled her shoulders back. He couldn’t help the tilt of his lips at how strong his female was.
“I’m sorry.” She still seemed a little apprehensive, completely understandable, but it didn’t make him feel any better. “I was just surprised.” She took a step forward and stopped inches from him. Her small hands twisted together in front of her. “Can I see them? Your fangs?”