Page 113

He grinned.

I liked his smile. I wanted it more often, but we did not have much to smile about outside this room.

He gripped my thighs and ground his hips into me.

“This will not last long,” he said. “Though I will enjoy it while it does.”

I reached for his hands and brought them to my breasts.

“You said no one has ever taken blood from you before. How did those you changed feed?”

Annoyance flashed in Adrian’s eyes, but he answered, “I gave them my blood, but I drained it for them.”

“And the sex? How many did you indulge?”

“Do you really want an answer to that question?”

In truth, I did not know. I could already feel the jealousy gathering in my chest, thick and hot.

“Did any of them try to bite you?” I bent over him, my lips hovering near his.

“Plenty,” he said.

“What happened to them?”

He raised a brow. “I’d rather not answer a thousand questions about the hundreds of vampires I have turned in two hundred years.”

Then he rolled, and I was on my back, pinned beneath his body.

“Suddenly I am no longer interested in fucking you,” I said.

“No?” he asked, holding my gaze for a moment before his tongue swirled over one hard nipple, then the other. I could not help the way my body responded, tightening, widening, preparing. He chuckled and then sat back and flipped me onto my stomach. Dragging my hips up, he ran his palm over my ass before smacking my skin.

“Fucking beautiful,” he said, his fingers diving into my flesh from behind. “Not interested in fucking me, hmm?”

“Adrian.”

I wasn’t sure why I was saying his name—it was half warning, half plea. He knew I hadn’t meant what I said, and now he intended to teach me a lesson. I wanted it. I even widened my legs and he chuckled as he smoothed his hand up my back until he reached my hair, which he pulled, tilting my head back, my throat taut.

“So rarely under my control,” he whispered. “I like you like this.”

He withdrew his fingers and pressed a kiss to my lower back before he guided himself into me. He still held my hair, and once he gained momentum, he released me and placed his hand flat on my upper back, pushing me to the bed. His movements were rough and hard, and I loved it, wanted more of it.

I panted, ragged and raw, and the only thing I hated about this was that I could not see the pleasure on his face. He moved his hand to my clit, rubbing furiously, and then suddenly he was bent completely over me, my whole body resting against the bed. He bit me in the hollow of my neck, and I completely came apart.

When he was finished, he rolled to the side and draped his arm around my waist. I was too tired to move.

He kissed me and then nuzzled my neck in the spot where he’d taken my blood over and over tonight.

“You are my light,” he said as I descended into darkness.

***

I was conscious that it was bright. I could tell, even though I had yet to open my eyes. There was a part of me that did not want to face the day, not in the aftermath of Sorin’s betrayal. Today I’d have to talk about it and feel the pain—but it was not just my pain. It was also Adrian’s and Daroc’s.

“I know you are awake,” said Adrian.

I opened my eyes, blinking up at my husband, who stood beside the bed, naked. His body was smeared with dried blood.