Page 41 of Blood Day (Blood Alliance #7)

Lily

I screamed, the unexpected pain shredding through my mind and yanking me back into the moment.

A moment filled with danger.

Unadulterated terror.

Pounding water.

Bottomless floors.

I’m going to die here. I could feel it all the way to the core of my being that this vampire was going to change me irrevocably. He already had. But this union, this moment , felt pivotal. Like the rest of my life hinged on whatever happened next.

And there was a very good chance I wouldn’t survive it.

His grip on my neck tightened as a low growl rumbled through him, vibrating my nipples and sending a shudder through me.

He didn’t otherwise move, our bodies locked together as his eyes held mine. A myriad of emotions burned in his gaze, darkening his irises to a black shade.

There wasn’t much light coming through the water, the moon above only providing an eerie glow that added to the threatening ambience.

I held my breath, his devastating expression promising violence.

My nails dug into my elbows as I fought the urge to grab him, to hold on to him for dear life.

He wasn’t my savior or my hero. He was the villain in my world, the one who demanded I bow and give him everything before tossing me away to the literal wolves.

Yet I couldn’t stop this fascination brewing between us, this impulse to claim him in some way, this foreign need to ensure he never forgot me.

I desired him more than air.

It was dangerous to my health, an addiction that would absolutely kill me.

But I refused to deny myself this one pleasure of choosing him. He’d phrased his desire to fuck me like a threat. I’d accepted it and turned it around by telling him it was what I wanted.

Now we were joined, his cock so deep inside me that I felt every inch of him like a hot brand against my very soul.

This felt more intense than a simple intrusion. It was as though he’d locked a cage around my heart and stolen the key that would allow my emotions any freedom.

He owned me.

Possessed me.

Enchanted my very being.

His name was the only one I knew, the world around us redefined by this meaning of existence.

I didn’t understand it. He hadn’t even moved other than to thrust up into my untouched center, stealing my innocence and claiming it as his .

His lethal features remained unchanged, his dark irises burning with a fury I didn’t understand.

Did I do something wrong? Is he going to fuck me until I drown?

My pulse raced, my heart beating so wildly that it made me dizzy.

His thumb brushed my throat, telling me he could hear and feel my reaction.

His other hand squeezed my hip, guiding me off of him just to shove back inside again.

I gasped, the sensation even more intense this time. But in a warmer way, causing my muscles to spasm around him in a silent demand for more.

He slid forward on the bench, taking me with him, and I suddenly had an image of him pushing me beneath the waterfall again to fuck me while I choked to death.

It was a strange mix of arousal and terror, exciting a thrumming need inside me that I didn’t quite understand.

I liked his power over me.

I liked how easily he could kill me.

Because, deep down, I knew he wouldn’t. I trusted him to hold me, to give me the air I required to survive, to provide me with a life worth living.

It was a heady realization that had me panting for more, my mind utterly lost to his presence.

He introduced me to an entirely new world, one where my pleasure mattered.

That’s why he stopped moving.

He’d wanted me to acclimate to his presence inside me.

I wasn’t sure how I knew that, but the moment I thought it, the more real it became.

Everything Cedric did was meant to help me in some manner, to guide me to a refreshing existence.

It was temporary.

We both knew that .

But he wanted to provide me with enough memories to last a lifetime.

How do I know that? I marveled, seeing him in an entirely new way. Where are these realizations coming from?

He still wore that same expression, sending a chill down my spine. But one twist of his hips chased away the cold, replacing it with a searing kiss against my skin.

My stomach twisted, my thighs clenching around his legs. I needed something more from him, something I couldn’t define.

His fangs?

His kiss?

His power?

My elbows ached from grasping them so hard. I wanted to release my arms and hug him, touch him, worship him with my hands.

But I didn’t want to risk destroying the moment by moving without permission.

His nostrils flared, his pupils conveying the predator lurking within. He was eyeing his prey and debating what he wanted to do.

Play a little more?

Slaughter her?

Devour her?

Worship her?

They weren’t my thoughts, his deep voice seeming to whisper the questions into my mind.

I shivered. “Cedric.” I wasn’t sure why I said his name, just that I needed to speak. His silent intensity overwhelmed me. It left me feeling uneasy and uncertain.

Which, of course, only made me burn that much hotter.

Because I didn’t know what he intended to do. That passionate blend of fear and lust created an inferno of demanding need inside me.

I arched and nearly lost my balance with my arms behind my back.

His grip loosened, suggesting he’d let me fall.

Yet, deep down, I knew he would pull me back up again.

I almost let it happen just to prove my point.

But his palm tightened again as he yanked me more firmly against him.

And captured my mouth with his.

Adrenaline surged through me as he dipped me backward again, his tongue following mine all the way into the water behind me.

My nails bit into my skin, my instinct to grab him hitting me hard in the chest.

But he stilled, keeping me just on the surface with my nose above the water, allowing me to breathe while he dominated my mouth.

It was an intoxicating embrace that left me completely at his mercy, forcing me to trust him.

So I did.

I relaxed my shoulders and arms, still clasping my elbows behind me, and gripped his shaft with my core.

His tongue expressed his gratitude, his thumb gently stroking the column of my throat as he pulled me up again.

I felt even closer to him now, connected in a way I couldn’t define. Not just because of his presence inside me, but something more.

He didn’t want to hurt me. Scare me, maybe. But he would never do anything to cause any true damage. He just wanted me to live. To be who I wanted to be. To express my emotions and desires and break the mental construct inflicted upon me by the university programs.

It was another of those bursts of knowledge that I didn’t understand, coming from a place blossoming between us.

Tell me what you want, Lily, he whispered into my mind, his voice surprising and yet oddly right. Tell me and I’ll give it to you.

Am I imagining this? I wondered dreamily.

He didn’t reply, his lips instead leaving mine as he speared me with another of those dark looks.

I wasn’t sure if he’d really spoken to me or if I’d made it up.

Perhaps I’d merely created the statement as a guess regarding his intentions. He’d told me last night to voice my desires. So I did it again now.

“I want you to fuck me, Cedric,” I said. “Show me what it’s like to be yours.”

He smiled. “A dangerous request.”

“There’s no alternative.” He would always be dangerous to me. Yet something deep down whispered that he would also be dangerous for me, that he was making decisions and choices that put himself at risk, and he would burn the world down if it meant saving us both.

The ferocity of that knowledge licked a hot path up my spine, painting a brand-new reality around us.

One he embraced by saying, “Wrap your legs around me and grab my shoulders.”

I didn’t waste a second in considering my options. I simply obeyed. The action of wrapping myself around him deepened our connection both physically and spiritually.

And then he started to move.

Really move.

To the point of pain .

Exquisite, blissful pain .

He grabbed my hips with both hands, directing my body to receive his punishing thrusts. All I could do was hold on and take it.

But oh, it was beautiful. Intense. Exotic . It hurt in the best way, his carnality consuming me and drowning me in a sea of Cedric. Dominating me. Completing me. Ensuring I would forever remember this first time, branding his name into my very soul.

I attempted to meet his movements, but the water slowed me down.

It didn’t bother him, his speed and agility and power plundering me with little resistance.

His lips went to my neck, his tongue tracing my sensitive skin.

“Bite me,” I begged, needing that final intrusion, the one that would claim me just as fiercely as below.

He drew a circle with his tongue instead, prolonging the moment while my body begged for more.

It was so overwhelming, my vision coming and going as he took me with a strength that could easily kill me.

But he wouldn’t let me die.

He wanted me to bloom.

To live .

I felt that truth in my spirit, that link between us wide open and pulsating with renewed vigor.

His incisors struck then, drawing me back down to our reality, reminding me of his power and virility.

I screamed, his name a curse and a prayer as my world dissolved into rapturous waves of nonsensical bliss.

Air no longer mattered.

The water around us was no longer a threat.

All I could feel was the orgasm ripping apart my soul and destroying me entirely .

Cedric.

Cedric.

Cedric.

His name whirled through my mind, slid off my tongue, and echoed all around us.

He didn’t stop drinking.

He didn’t stop fucking me either.

He just forced me into a darker oblivion, demanding more pleasure from my body and leaving me weeping against him.

I couldn’t take any more. Not another second.

Yet he forced a third climax through me, stirring sounds from my throat that were inhuman in nature.

Only then did he follow me over the edge, his own orgasm drawing a thundering growl from him that would haunt my dreams for eternity.

So passionate and intense.

Monstrous and savage.

Oh, Goddess…

He was breaking every part of me, dismantling my views on the world and compelling me into this new one.

An existence where our souls danced. Where our hearts beat as one. Where his sole purpose in life would be to protect me.

An impossible future.

One I knew was a fantasy more than a reality.

But for the moment, I contented myself in believing this could truly be our destiny.

I absorbed his pleasure and allowed it to fuel me, loving the way our bodies connected and reveling in the sensation of his hot arousal inside me.

We were nowhere near done.

Something he proved as he phased us to the familiar surroundings of his shower .

The cold tile made me hiss as he pressed me against it.

Freezing water followed, but he took the brunt of it with his back.

Then the warmth slowly trickled in, and he started to move inside me once more.

Slow.

Steady.

Purposeful movements.

So intensely right.

He kissed me, letting me taste my blood on his tongue. Then he added his own essence, feeding me his power.

It invigorated me in an unexpected manner, one I hadn’t felt before.

Because this kiss felt like a promise. A forbidden vow. An ancient claiming that I didn’t fully understand.

Yet the truth of it whispered between us, some term I’d never heard before— Erosita .

I shivered, the power of that single word caressing my soul.

You’re mine now, Cedric whispered, his voice again in my head. Your life is tied to my immortality.

“How?” I breathed against his mouth.

“Blood and sex.” His tongue traced my lower lip as he slowly moved inside me, his cock stroking a place deep within that had yet another orgasm stirring. “We’ve shared blood too many times, and your virgin cunt claimed me.”

He sounded amused.

Yet darkly troubled at the same time.

“I don’t understand.” I arched into him.

“It’s a scarcely performed ritual.” He drew his nose along my cheek, his lips finding my ear. “One that allows vampires to claim human mates.”

My eyes widened. I’d never heard of such a thing.

“The only way to break it is to allow another man to fuck the mate,” he continued, his words holding a hint of ice to them that left me feeling cold. “Which means you’re mine until someone else fucks you. Then the mating is shattered.”

I blinked, my nails digging into his skin. “You’ll let that happen?”

He didn’t reply, his mouth returning to the open wound on my neck. He traced a sensuous path with his tongue, humming with satisfaction.

Yet the answer whispered in his mind, words that had me clenching around him.

I won’t have a choice.

Meaning he would share me and allow someone to break this bond. Not necessarily because he desired it, but because he would have to.

My heart shriveled inside, my mind blanking out for a fraction of a second.

Until he began to move again, reminding me of his claim.

The bond thrived, forcing my body to react favorably to his intrusion.

Another climax built, spilling through me in pleasurable agony.

But in its wake was a weakening heart.

A heart that had just begun to beat for the first time.

Just to startle at the realization that Cedric could only temporarily be mine.

Our destinies were simply meant to cross for this brief moment in our lives.

In a blink, that link between us would end.

He would go on surviving.

While I would suffer a fate worse than death.

All because he chose to mate me for a brief experience, knowing I could never truly be his .

He kissed me, his tongue voicing an apology I didn’t want to feel. But he left me no choice, his body still taking mine, his arousal a hot brand that demanded release.

When he came, it was my name he whispered. However, it didn’t sound pleasurable so much as pained.

A pain I very much understood, as it rivaled my own ache deep inside.

This was the cruelest game of all—a glimpse into the life we could have had, knowing full well it would die just as quickly as it’d begun.