****
Alex considered him for long moments, torn deep in her soul. She wanted so badly to forgive him and forget about it all. She wanted to tell him that it was all okay. That she could put it all behind her. But he’d shown her over and over that he didn’t trust her. Not as he should if they were going to be together. He hadn’t trusted her with the truth of what he was. She’d had to stumble upon Styx feeding to force the truth from him.
He’d been so quick to jump to conclusions where Griffin had been concerned, and, despite what she may have claimed earlier, that still stung a bit.
Then there was the matter of Deacon. She’d been a target, for God’s sake, and he hadn’t trusted her enough to give her all the facts. He’d withheld vital information from her, and ended up putting her life in jeopardy. Every time he’d finally told her the truth, it had only been because his hand had been forced. His wounds had begun to heal, but blood still covered him, head to toe.
Deacon’s blood. Cole’s blood. Hers…
Her eyes roamed over his face, over features she’d come to know and love. Hopelessness engulfed her, twisting her heart. He didn’t trust her. Without trust, there could be no future, love or no love. That was the bottom line.
She closed her eyes against the look on his face as she carefully, ruthlessly, untangled their hands and pushed to her feet, walking away from 326
him. Alex paced to the far corner of the room, before turning to face him, briskly rubbing her arms, chilled to the bone. Despite the fact that every mark of Deacon’s cruel treatment had already begun to heal, she died inside, little by little. Her words were the knife plunged into her own heart, twisted by her own hand.
“There is no future for us, Cole. You don’t trust me. You’ve lied to me, again and again, and I can’t be with someone when there’s no trust.” She paused, aching inside, as he shot to his feet with shock and anger warring upon his beautiful face. With voice carefully controlled, meticulo
usly modulated…emotionless…she quietly ordered
him, “I need you to leave now.” His reaction was instantaneous. Explosive.
“The hell I will!”
“Cole…”
“No! Don’t you dare stand there and calmly ask me to leave as if you don’t feel anything for me anymore!” He was across the room in a flash, stopping only when he towered over her, glaring down at her with poorly restrained temper. “I’m not leaving here, do you hear me? I’m not leaving until we get this all sorted out.”
“It is sorted.” She raised her tortured gaze to his, gritting her teeth against the pain in her heart, pain reflected in his eyes, begging him to go before she dissolved completely. “It’s over, Cole. Please, just walk away.” When he didn’t move, she made to skirt around him, biting back a sob, but he planted a very large, very angry palm hard against the wall in front of her. She stopped, backed up a step, and turned.
His other palm slapped against the wall, effectively caging her in. “Neither one of us is going to walk away.
Ever again
.” 327
How dare he make this any harder than it already was? Alex spun on her heel to face him.
Bracing her hands against his chest, she shoved with all her might. He didn’t budge. Tears coursed down her cheeks now, unimpeded, and angry words rolled off her tongue. “Damn
you, you conceited, controlling,
domineering…
Vampyre
! How
dare
you decide what I will and won’t do? I don’t have to—” Her words died when Cole abruptly captured her lips beneath his. His hands slid to her waist, even as her small fist beat futilely at his chest.
When she tried to turn her head away, he fisted his hand in her hair, holding her firm, immobile, completely at his mercy. Cole leaned into her, his lips playing over hers with fierce insistence. And he didn’t stop there.
He didn’t just use his lips to kiss her senseless. He used his entire body. His tongue thrust and tangled with hers, his hips rubbed against her with alluring suggestiveness. His knee pressed between hers until she rode the hard muscle of his thigh. The muscles of his chest bunched and rippled, massaging her aching breasts. Damn him.
And his hands—his glorious fingers—explored and claimed every inch of her between jaw and knee. By the time he pulled back, not a single thought of refusal resided in her brain. Not a single ounce of resistance existed in her entire body. Even her very blood betrayed her, heating and throbbing in her veins, rushing to her head making it impossible to think.
“Now tell me no, Alex.” He brushed his lips over her ear, nibbled at the sensitive flesh just below it. “Tell me to leave and never come back. If I have to…if that’s what it will take…I’ll go down on my knees and beg…”
328
She couldn’t make the words come out of her mouth, couldn’t even form them in her mind. She shook her head in mute denial of his offer.
“I was a fool, Alex, a jealous, stupid fool crazy in love.” Kisses rained down over her face. “I was wrong not to tell you the truth. I’ve gone it alone for a long, long time, Alex. Give me a chance…I can get this right. I know I can. I need you. More than I’ll ever be able to explain. I want you. I want forever…with you. Not just today. Not just this lifetime, but always. For all eternity as my Bride, Alex.” Hot, open-mouthed kisses seared her neck.
“You’re not leaving me, and I can’t walk away from you. I won’t let you walk away from me. Not without a fight.”
“You’re fighting
dirty,”
she accused,
breathless, unable to keep her hands from splaying over his shoulders, rubbing down his delicious back.
“I don’t care.” The kisses, the rubbing intensified. “I’ll do whatever it takes to keep you. I can’t go on without you, Alex. Mated or not, I won’t survive without you. I’ll take you anyway I can get you.”
His lips skated across her bare shoulder, and she wondered hazily where her shirt had gone.
His fangs grazed the base of her throat, and she instinctively cringed.
“It’s okay, sweetheart,” he murmured. His tongue lapped hungrily at her skittering pulse.
“It’s not supposed to be like it was with him. It’s not supposed to hurt. I won’t hurt you, I swear!” She paused a moment, desire battled learned knowledge. Drawing a deep breath, trusting in him, Alex tipped her head back, giving him better access to her throat. She groaned aloud when he growled in response and kissed her flesh, open-mouthed and reverent, feverishly suckling the 329
sensitized flesh. His fangs grazed her skin, and she battled back the unease. She couldn’t take it any longer, couldn’t deny him—or her heart.
“Yes.” The word floated to Cole, husky and alluring.
He froze as if he’d crashed headlong into a brick wall. Slowly, he straightened and stared at her. He whispered, “What?”
“Yes.” The word came out strong and steady now. Absolutely certain.
“Yes? You would agree? The Mating…” His eyes were hungry, his frown hopeful.
She gave a tiny nod.
He seized her by the shoulders, demanding,
“You’re sure? Gods, what am I saying…I should just drag you to the floor and have my way with you before you change your
mind.” But his hands remained firm on her
shoulders.
“You’re
sure…really sure?”
She blinked up at him, and burst out laughing. Her heart filled to bursting with the love and the hope in his eyes. Slowly, definitively, she nodded. “Yes, Cole. I want to take you as my mate.” Then she quickly clarified, “I don’t want to be changed…but I do want to be your Bride.” Cole blinked, stunned. His hands flew, tugging and yanking, ripping and shredding, until they stood, naked in the pale moonlight streaming in through her windows. Spare moments before he gave in to instinct and dragged her to the floor, Alex managed to tear her lips from his, panting.
“Wait…”
“No!”
His reaction was harsh,
uncompromising. Obsessed. “I told you there would be no going back. It’s too late…” His lips sizzled along her jaw.
“I’m not changing my mind. Cole…” She bit 330
back a groan as his hand slid down over her backside, cupping and kneading the soft globes of her bottom, pressing his straining arousal insistently against her stomach. Pulsing against her.
He growled low in his throat and buried his lips against her neck, punctuating each word with a branding lick, a stinging nip. “Then why wait?”
“Because…” She gasped as he lowered his head to suckle at her breast, drawing her nipple hard into his mouth, grazing her with his fangs.
“Cole!”
With a labored, resigned sigh, he lifted his head to frown down at her. His gaze was ravenous, glowing with impatient, relentless need as he slowly slid up her body, towering over her once more. She forced herself to draw breath, and pushed sound past her dry throat.
“It’s just that I’ve…been wanting something for such a long,
long
time now…” She smiled up at him, licking her lips suggestively.
His fierce gaze locked on her lips, on her tongue. “What do you want?”
“You see…” She drew the last word out slowly, tracing the line of his neck with the tip of her fingernail. “I’ve been wanting to see you naked and covered in soap bubbles for ever so long now…”
Cole’s eyes flared. He sucked in a sharp breath, shuddering. Faster than a beat of her heart, he swept her feet out from under her and carried her to the master bath. He made short work of running a tub full of water, bestowing generous kiss after generous caress while the water rose and the mountain of fragrant bubbles grew.
As Cole settled back in the deep tub, Alex 331
straddled his lap, the smile spreading over his face was by turns wickedly sinful and blissfully elated. She’d never beheld such a vision, such a sexy, divine creation as the work of art in her arms…this ancient warrior wearing nothing but soap bubbles.
The look in his eyes sent shudder after shudder of pure need coursing through her veins.
His shaft pulsed against her thigh, demanding attention. More than happy to oblige, she took his thick, engorged arousal firmly in hand, guiding it to her core.
He slipped inside her, hips rocking, thrusting deep, a low growl of satisfaction rumbled deep in his chest. His large hands found her waist, controlling her tempo. Once more, he stared deep in her eyes, and rasped, “You’re absolutely certain?”
In answer, Alex leaned forward in his arms, lifting her hair away from the side of her neck, baring her throat in invitation.
Cole’s entire body leaped expectantly. His
entire
body. He wrapped his arms around her and sat up straighter while her hips continued to undulate. His heat, deep inside her, burned, branding her. She slid up and down his swelling erection, gasping as it thickened, stretching her farther. Her whole body tingled, the sparks radiating from deep in her womb.
He surged his hips, thrusting deeper still.
Cole’s deep, dark voice sank through her, swam in her head and shuddered through her veins. “Your blood and my blood. My soul and yours. We are mated. I am forever yours.” Alex tensed at the sharp sting of his fangs sinking into her flesh, then melted against him as he began suckling.
The world exploded behind her eyelids in vibrant, life-altering
color.
332
Sensation, warm and gilded, rushed through her, overwhelmed her until tears streamed down her face from the sheer rapture of it.
****
He had to remind himself to go slowly, not to take too much. Despite the healthy color on her cheeks and the stamina with which she met each thrust, she was still weak from what Deacon had taken from her, and it would take time for her to recover. Still, he lapped hungrily, already addicted and aching for more. Her warm, rich blood filled his mouth and slid down his throat like fine, aged whiskey, racing fire through him, pooling heat in his gut.
His nerve endings began to vibrate, his hands to shake. Emotion swelled and surged inside his chest until he feared he might explode with it. He could
taste
her love for him. Dazed, humbled, he reluctantly let saliva surge into his mouth and licked one last time at the puncture marks, watching as they healed before his eyes.
Cole leaned back and gazed up into her face.
Need surged anew at the look of utter ecstasy softening her features. She lowered her gaze to his, tilted her head down and sealed her lips over his, grinding herself down on him, hard and fierce. Stifling a groan, battling the urge to spill himself deep inside her then and there, he tore his lips from hers and set his fangs to his wrist for her once more.
The taste of her blood lingered on his lips.
Sweet. Erotic. She was a ball of fire in his arms, sizzling, pulsing. Ready to burst. Watching her through lowered lids, he lifted his wound to her lips.
Hungry anticipation filled him. He burned for her. Insatiable desire. Eternal love. All for her.
“Your blood and my blood.” Her voice was 333
soft, yet filled with emotion. His blood stirred, boiling in his veins. “My soul and yours.” His heart kicked up speed, fluttering so fast in his chest his head swam. “We are mated.” His arm convulsed around her, his body spasmed. “I am forever yours.”
She cupped his wrist in her gentle hand and pressed her parted lips against his skin. She drew his blood into her mouth slowly at first, tentative, and then faster, harder as power ripped through her, making her jerk in his arms. Cole’s whole body tightened, then exploded. Spasm after delicious spasm of pleasure rolled through him.
Everything he felt for her surged through his veins and into her, leaving him lightheaded and hovering on the edge of a second climax close on the heels of the first.
His head fell back against the side of the tub, and a soul deep, joyous howl erupted from his chest. His hips shot upward, driving his shaft hard into her. His fingers bit into her bottom as he drove her up and down his erection. She coiled around him, squeezing him tighter. Alex released his wrist, wrapping her arms around his shoulders, offering up her mouth as his sacrifice.
He gripped her hips, thrusting vigorously into her.
Water and dissipating bubbles flowed over the side of the tub and splashed onto the tiles, and still he rocked inside her. Their shared blood, the Vows they’d given to each other, and the needs of their bodies coalesced and surged until he exploded inside her again in a cataclysmic, volcanic eruption.
He wasn’t through with her. After licking closed the gash on his wrist, Cole swept her from the bath, carrying her dripping, limp body to the bed, where he showed her all the other things his 334
Vampyre mouth was so good at. Time and again, as the moon crested and began its descent, he surrendered to the moonlight and passions of the night. Her body clung to his as their souls met and merged until only one remained between the two of them.
Solid. Whole.
Complete.
A long time later, as the moonlight poured over them, blanketing their joined bodies in the softest of silver, Cole pressed a tender kiss to the side of Alex’s damp forehead. He fell back against the pillows then, his great Vampyre stamina weakened at last, his passions slaked as only could be done with his true mate. His Bride. His arms held her sleeping form cuddled close, and a slow, well-pleased smile curved his lips.
One word, reverent and proud, whispered past his lips, before he, too, gave himself up to satiated sleep.
“
Mine
.”
335
A word about the author...
Always a voracious reader,
closed the cover on a book by one of her favorite authors, and said to herself…I can do this! Ever fascinated by all things mythical and mystical, Brenda decided to try her hand at Paranormal Romance and dove into her second great passion…writing. She lives in Iowa with her husband and two children.
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this Wild Rose Press publication.
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