Page 31 of Between Bloode and Death (Between the Shadows #5)

CHAPTER

THIRTY

Val had no idea what was going on, except that her vampire was growling under his breath, the large, black whispers of wings caging her while the four of them stumbled back into the living room of the vampire house.

Everyone seemed to shout. Mormo yelled at Rolf for interfering while trying to heal his body, she noticed, spotting first his blond hair.

Then what remained of his back.

She shuddered and barely contained a loud, “Ew.”

Rolf lay belly-down on the floor. She could see bands of muscles and ribs. In some places, his vertebrae. He held out a thumbs up though he sounded in pain when he said, “It’s all good.”

“What the fuck? Are those wings?” a deep voice she hadn’t heard before came from the couch, where a giant vampire even taller and more muscular than Khent stood. He had short black hair and dark eyes, dressed in jeans and a ragged tee-shirt.

From behind him peered a gorgeous woman with dark blue eyes and white hair. Oddly, she put Val in mind of a fairytale princess with luscious red lips and pale skin that seemed almost unreal, especially when she moved and Val swore she saw a pale blue light shimmer over her before fading.

But there was no hiding that definite baby bump.

“Orion, what are you doing here?” Khent asked, as if it weren’t unusual to flex giant black wings made of what felt like death energy. “Shouldn’t you be out with Varu and the others?”

“I won’t stray far from Kaia, no matter what that asshole who thinks he’s in charge tells me. Good thing I didn’t. Some dickhead with necro vibes tried breaking into the ADR.”

“Technically, he didn’t try. He broke in,” Kaia said, amused, as she tried to stand and tugged on Orion’s arm for support.

He lifted her carefully then tucked a muscular arm around her shoulders.

“Yeah, broke in and about got his ass handed to him when I told him to get lost. He had a bunch of undead magir doing his bidding. I can tell you MEC is really not happy about it.” He glanced at Val, looked her over, then sighed.

“You must be the other necromancer they want to burn.”

Khent growled low.

Everyone stared at him in surprise.

“Relax. I’m not going anywhere,” she told him as well as the others.

“Ha. I knew it.” Orion looked giddy. “Sucker.”

“Shut up, vryko,” Khent seethed. “You know nothing.”

“Kraft owes me money.”

Kaia sighed. “I need juice.”

Orion kissed the top of her head. “Apple or orange?”

“Apple, please.”

He left them for the kitchen, where Val heard rattling. She couldn’t help watching in awe as the pretty pregnant woman had a vampire dancing to her tune. Kaia saw her staring and winked.

Khent pulled Val closer. She struggled to get free, aware he wasn’t behaving rationally. And those wings… She ran her fingers over them and startled. “This is real. Not energy.”

Khent seemed to realize he still had them out, surrounding her, and they vanished.

“You’ll explain that,” Mormo said, his attention still on Rolf’s now-healing back.

Khent sniffed. “I’m busy. Come, Valentine.”

He didn’t give her a chance to argue and pulled her with him toward his room.

Once inside, he slammed the door behind them and turned to face her.

She had questions of her own. “What hap—”

He didn’t give her a chance to finish. He kissed her, his touch electric, searing all thought from her mind. She moaned into his mouth, feeling his smile as his lips curled over hers.

A fang nipped her lip, and the tiny spark of pain only enhanced the pleasure surging through her. His hands were everywhere, cupping her breasts, sliding down her hips, then between her legs, plumping her clit before his finger slid inside her wet heat.

Before she knew it, she faced the bedroom door, her pants and panties at her feet, while Khent lifted her higher to slide into her from behind.

Unlike their last encounters, where he’d nearly driven her insane by taking his time, this taking was rough, and so incredibly erotic she started coming before she’d realized. He swore her name and murmured something while he fucked her, his tone possessive.

His touch all-consuming.

As he surged once more and filled her with warmth, he bit the crook of her neck and sucked.

She couldn’t breathe, caught in a web of such extreme pleasure she felt faint.

A well of connection cemented their bond, an exchange of energy she felt leaving her. But she willingly let it go, accepting its loss even as she drew Khent into her on every level.

Death and life, a mix of pain and pleasure swirling inside her while Khent moaned and sucked down her blood, giving her so much ecstasy she lost herself to the moment, blacking out.

Val blinked up into a darkened room to see Khent staring down at her, the pair in his bed and naked. Skin to skin.

He watched her stare up at him and nudged her thighs wider.

“Khent?” she whispered.

He murmured what sounded like merit while he entered her.

She gasped, staring at him while he took her, the intimate act leaving her no room to hide, her every expression exposed.

But the same went for Khent. He seemed enthralled, lost to passion and to Val as he surged in and out of her, his movements growing faster, his eyes bright red, his fangs out.

“Fill me,” she said, dragging her nails down his back.

He swelled inside her, moved even faster, and had her coming around him so hard she saw stars, tugging that bond of energy connecting them so that he climaxed and held her close, staring through slit pupils.

A demon lover, more beast than man, though the reaper felt so familiar to Val.

A part of her she’d been missing for so long.

The uneasy power that roiled inside her settled. Val imagined her own inner beast purring, so pleased with the vampire lover who made her lose her mind when he kissed her.

Still lodged inside her, Khent felt a part of her. So right. She had trouble believing so little time had passed since they’d been intimate. It felt as if she’d known him forever. From before she’d been born, which made no sense.

Val wasn’t one for reincarnation or prophecies. Hell, her life was weird enough. She had a vampire inside her, and she still lived.

She shifted, and he withdrew finally, still semi-hard. He rested his cock on her belly, and she had to reach down to touch him, thrilled when he shivered above her and closed his eyes.

The ability to affect Khent gave her a sense of power. The reaper barely tolerated anyone. He’d never seemed afraid of her or influenced by her. But now…

“Valentine, I’m consumed with you,” he growled and blinked his eyes open, the irises still a blood-red.

“It must be the magic of sex,” she teased, wishing the marks she’d left on his back had remained. She felt nothing but smooth skin as she petted him. No sign he belonged to her.

Which is stupid. I do not want a vampire as a pet.

A lover, on the other hand…

He brushed his lips over hers, and she stared up at him, lost in his spell.

“How are you so handsome?”

“How are you so lovely?” He looked wondrous, an expression she’d never seen on the vampire. “You are human, yet you are powerful.” He placed his hand over her heart, and she felt her heartbeat slow, felt it matching his, though she had no idea how she could sense that.

“I must…” He didn’t finish his thought. Instead, he moved to her breast. After one more look at her face, he lowered his mouth and sucked her nipple, biting the flesh around it.

He moaned as he sucked her blood, his dick pressing into her belly with insistence.

To Val’s shock, she wanted him all over again.

“This isn’t normal,” she said on a breath, not caring.

“No. It isn’t.” But Khent didn’t seem to care either, for he started making love to her all over again.

It was hours before they ceased.