Page 18 of Fated In Blood (Nocturne Vampire Clan #1)

18

EVANGELINE

I gripped the window tighter and heaved, shoulders straining.

How many fucking layers of paint were gluing this thing together, anyway?

One more wrench tore off a chunk of splintered wood. Then another. And another, until the entire window frame disintegrated. I slammed both palms into the glass and the thick pane shattered outward, spraying shards into the ivy-covered bushes.

My head was clear, but my body was drunk, like there was a disconnect between my brain synapses, the well of power building at my center, and these weak, worthless muscles. My skin itched like I had poison ivy and beads of perspiration dotted my upper lip, dripping between my aching breasts.

But my instincts worked just fine. I had to get out of here.

Get back to my apartment. Regroup.

Even though my fingers had ripped through solid wood and smashed through leaded glass, I didn’t even have a broken nail. When I leapt through the opening, I landed perfectly upright, soft as a cat…with not so much as a strained muscle.

I’d never considered the benefits of being a bloodsucking scourge, but I couldn’t deny I felt pretty fucking invincible.

I wasn’t even winded after racing away from the monster who’d brought me here against my will. Well, the joke was on him, because I’d left him clutching his crushed balls, looking at me like I’d hurt his fucking feelings .

I chuckled and accidentally nicked my bottom lip again with my new fangs, blood flooding my mouth, rich and salty and warm. One swallow sent shivers skittering across my skin, my stomach a twisted knot of want. I didn’t understand this strange, driving urge, only that my cravings were getting harder to control.

I clenched my fists, trying to decide which way to go. My apartment. I had to get to my apartment. I needed time to sort through last night, to figure out what went wrong and what to do next. I should go to Valentine’s…there were lots of people there, drunk, unsuspecting humans, and I was so, so hungry…

My eyes flew open. No . I might be starving, but I would never give in to this hunger.

I would not become one of them . I would never be a monster.

I dug my bare feet into the ground, barely feeling the glass cut into my soles. The next second the garden blurred, bushes and trees speeding past as I raced away from the building, hair whipping against my back as I barely avoided crashing into a tree.

I’d never realized how fast vampires moved. Or how bad my body could hurt when I slammed into a solid object at this speed.

Blake—he of the highly chiseled cheekbones and sultry yet broody personality—appeared in front of me out of nowhere, a solid wall of muscle with zero give.

One second I was closing in on freedom, the next I was flat on my ass, barely covered by the tattered remnants of my blue dress, staring up at fathomless hazel eyes and a full mouth curved in what I’d bet my last dollar was a perpetual smirk.

He looked like some pagan god of death, surrounded by an unnatural darkness, almost like the shadows had gathered behind him.

“Going somewhere?” The bastard just stood there, nostrils flaring. Didn’t even have the decency to give me a hand up, not that I’d take it. “Most newborns can barely walk on their first day, yet here you are, tearing through the gardens like a fucking deer.”

“You can’t keep me here.” A musky smell hit me and that knot in my stomach became a writhing snake of need, my gums aching. Thump, thump, thump. His heartbeats filled my ears. His sweet-spicy scent filled my nose, saliva gathering in my mouth as I climbed to my feet, never taking my eyes off him. “I’m going home.”

“There’s no going back. You’re a danger to anyone around you until you learn to control your hunger,” he said like that was a given. “You’ll stay here until you’re through your transition, then the king will decide what happens to you.”

I snorted. “Nobody makes my decisions for me… Blake. ”

His pale skin pulsed with light, that thumping heartbeat echoing inside my head like an unstoppable drumbeat. I twisted my hands together, digging my fingernails into my palms to stop myself from lunging for him.

Because so, so badly…I wanted.

I wanted to do things to this male I could barely wrap my head around. Wanted to suck him dry. Wanted to fall on my knees before him and…

“Your eyes are glowing. You have to feed. Another few minutes and your hunger will turn you into an animal.” He tugged the collar of his jacket to the side, tendons stretching taut. “Take my blood now while you can still reason, that way I can walk you through the process, explain what’s happening.”

I couldn’t describe what it did to me, that triangle of warm, tanned skin, bared for the taking.

The cosmic shift that happened in the very center of me, like moving across a chessboard, pawn to queen—prey to predator. My fangs slipped out the rest of the way, leaving a bloom of blood coating my mouth, every cell of my being hyper focused on that powerful, corded neck.

“A nice offer, but I’m afraid my answer is…fuck no.” Unfortunately, one of my too long fangs sliced through my tongue on that final word, blood dribbling out of my mouth, down my chin. His eyes flashed like a match ignited.

Ever so slowly, he grinned, lips parting to reveal huge, curved fangs, and I stepped back, turned, then ran, not even caring where I was heading, fear and excitement intertwining as I wove through the trees.

Branches tore at my face and what was left of my dress, feet pounding against the ground, energy humming through me like I’d been struck by lightning. I could run like this forever and the feeling was the closest thing I’d ever felt to flying.

The ground beneath me thundered as I wove through bushes and around stone walls, then a fountain of dancing fish. I was so caught up in the glorious sense of freedom I didn’t realize the shaking was Blake closing in on me until his arms captured my waist and we tumbled into the grass.

“Get off me.” I kicked out and was instantly pinned, flattened to the damp ground by two hundred pounds of pissed-off male vampire. Leather-encased thighs rubbed against the bare skin of my legs, one huge hand banding around my throat to hold me in place.

“What the fuck are you?” he hissed in my ear. “You should barely be walking right now, much less being a pain in my ass. Stop fighting this. Stop fighting me .”

I elbowed him in the stomach with everything I had, and he trapped my hand like he’d trapped my body, poised over me like a cage of flesh and bone. “You need blood before you’re too far gone.” Blake lowered his head until the soft skin of his throat brushed my clamped-together lips.

“Fucking drink or I’ll force-feed you, stubborn girl.”

All I wanted was to tear at him, viciously, ruthlessly, like the animal I now was.

No. I couldn’t become like them .

I whipped my head wildly from side to side, my fangs so long they cut through the insides of my cheeks, every panicked breath I drew saturated with his heady scent, which was torture and temptation and fucking sin all wrapped into one.

He dominated me in both weight and strength, effortlessly trapping me with his powerful body until friction burned between us, delicious heat smoldering between my legs, hunger riding me too hard to deny for much longer.

But I’d fight this compulsion until the bitter end.

“If you deny your body sustenance, your biology will change. There is a chance you will become a thrall. A mindless creature incapable of reason or independent thought.” Blake sounded detached, like he was narrating one of those nature shows. “So if that’s how you want to end up, then keep fighting your instincts. Otherwise, stop being stubborn and just fucking feed.”

God, I wanted to.

His soft-as-velvet skin rubbed against my lips, and coupled with the weight of his body…my rationale was slipping away, right along with my self-control. I opened my mouth, and the second the tips of my sensitive fangs touched his skin I moaned, the sound so primal I sucked in a shocked breath.

“That’s it, let your instincts take over. Bite me, little one. Your body will take over from there and tell you what to do.”

My tongue snaked out of its own accord and slid up along the tendon, dancing over the pulsing vein I would give my life to taste. God, Blake smelled irresistible, and when my lips fastened over his pulse, he groaned, his body tensing against me.

Something just…snapped. Self-control vanishing as I turned into a writhing ball of mindless need.

Before I could stop myself, my fangs sank deep into the vein, warm, rich blood pooling in my mouth like a river of fire. I guzzled down gulp after gulp of pure power and never wanted to stop.

This was addicting. Exhilarating. Dangerous.

And I didn’t care.

Explosive, strange energy rippled through my body like wildfire spreading through the underbrush, until all I heard was the roaring in my ears.

My fingers bruised his shoulders while I savaged his throat like an animal, barely aware of what I was doing, only that this relentless hunger wasn’t lessening—it was growing more intense. His fingers twisted into my hair, and I growled, fangs sinking in deeper, but he only adjusted the angle of my head so I could take blood faster.

Dimly, I understood this was wrong. I had to stop this. My humanity was shredding away, leaving only the animal beneath.

But I was an animal—a ball of primal, raw need, nothing but pure instinct driving me, hyperaware of everything, especially the male at my mercy.

The earthy smell of the crushed grass beneath us, Blake’s rich male scent, his blood hitting my system like a drug, the lovely brutality of our bodies writhing together as I drank him down like I’d never get enough. The edges of my world blurred as I writhed against Blake’s hard cock, so wet between my legs I was soaked.

The world tipped as he flipped our positions, then I was straddling him, his hardness pressing against my core, wicked pleasure streaking through me in wave after delicious wave. I clawed until I reached skin, his shirt shredding beneath my fingers, needing more than just his blood inside me.

I wanted him.

I was so tired of being empty and alone; I wanted to be full. I wanted every part of him inside me, filling up every crevice.

“Then that’s what you’ll have,” he rumbled like he’d read my mind. He worked his hand between us, his thumb brushing across my clit. That featherlight touch had me moaning against his throat, hips grinding against his, seeking more heat, more friction.

More, more, more.

More of everything.

“Enough.” Blake’s other hand tightened in my hair, and he dragged my head back, ripping my fangs free when all I wanted to do was sink them back in. “That’s enough . Lick the punctures closed. Use your tongue.” I growled softly and he jerked my head back again. “No fang, I mean it. Lick the wounds closed then you can feed again, after we take a break.”

The words were tenuous as spider silk, but I flattened my tongue and dragged it across the wounds, picking up every last drop of blood, lapping greedily until there was nothing left.

“That’s enough for now. Let that settle while you rest.”

“I don’t need to rest.” I gyrated my hips against his cock, panting with need, all pretenses gone. “I fucking need you inside me.”

I’d hate myself for this later. Hell, I hated myself right now, but there was no overriding this driving impulse with logic. Desire lit me up like a torch, fire burning hot in my veins, like I was a volcano ready to explode, every piece of me screaming to let this male claim me.

My fingers dug deeper into his bare chest, skin tangled into a knot of primal need, chasing pleasure with every jerk of my hips, dragging my core along the length of his cock in a desperate attempt to find relief.

There was nothing left of my dress, while Blake was fully clothed, his leather pants soaked from where I was riding him like I’d lost my fucking mind. “Get these off.” I tore at his waistband until the leather gave, buttons popping as he rumbled beneath me, a sound somewhere between a chuckle and a growl.

The garden had disappeared behind a nebula of shifting shadows, darkness wrapping around us like a shield. Dimly, I knew this was his doing, though I didn’t understand how.

“You are fucking exceptional.” He paused long enough to stroke his fingers down the side of my face, that spark igniting in his gaze once more. “We are going to get on so well, you and I.”

“Now, Blake.” I braced one hand on his chest, wrapping the other around his thick, engorged cock, fingers barely touching as I frantically stroked him up and down, his body arching up into my touch.

Oh, I liked that. Liked making him tremble for me.

Liked him making that husky, needy sound.

“I’m going to make you fucking scream my name,” I promised as I rubbed my thumb over the head of his cock, spreading fluid over the tip. I’d only been with a man—a male—once before. That had been one of the most anticlimactic experiences of my life, but this…

I couldn’t even think around this need to have him inside me.

And while I might not have a lot of experience, I’d read enough steamy books to know exactly what to say. Or at least, what the books said a man liked to hear.

“Do you enjoy that, Blake?” I gave him a particularly rough stroke and his mouth parted, the tips of his fangs showing, that scar pulling up one side of his mouth. “Do you like how I touch you?”

“Yes.” The word ripped from his lips, like I’d forced it from him, and I decided I liked that, too. I’d spent my whole life sneaking around in the shadows, but this was a different kind of power.

This was me, finally taking everything I wanted from a male who’d taken my choices away from me.

Blake’s blood was settling into me, fusing power into my bones, strength into my muscles, my senses sharpening to a razor point. But nothing could keep me from touching the male pinned beneath me, my hand stroking up and down his thick cock, my gaze fixed on those parted, wet lips.

I kissed him hard and like a match to gasoline we ignited, two clashing Titans, fire and ice, or maybe fire and fire from the way I imploded, stars crashing, the world falling away until only this was left.

Lips and tongues and a tidal wave of panting need.

“Make me yours, Blake.” The gold in his eyes glowed like newly smelted metal, my stomach bottoming out at the raw emotion shimmering there, like he’d given up trying to hide behind his arrogant mask. “I need you,” I whispered, because that’s all there was left.

Want. Need. Emptiness craving to be filled.

“Then that’s what you’ll have, little monster.” He gripped my hips and flipped us again, my back pressed against the cool ground, his knee working my thighs apart, one hand gathering my wrists together and pressing my hands up over my head. “You smell like fucking heaven. I want to eat you alive.”

“Yes.” I arched my body up off the ground, trying to rub against him, trying to work my hands free so I could touch him.

His knees spread me wide and held me there, his other hand cupping my sex before his thumb strummed across my clit again. “Please, Blake. Fucking give me what I want. I need you to touch me.”

But all he did was stroke his fingers through my folds, hissing when he discovered how soaked I was, then plunging them into his mouth and sucking them clean. “Fucking perfect. Why the fuck are you better than anything I’ve ever tasted?” Again, his fingers stroked, his tongue licked, eyes dilating until the gold disappeared and his pupils blew wide.

“You’re like a drug, little monster.” His words were slurred. “A fucking perfect drug. I’m going to lick you clean now. Don’t you fucking move.”

He released me and slid down my body, stopping only to undo my empty thigh sheaths and toss them to the side before hoisting my leg up over his shoulder. By the time I realized what he was doing, he had one hand flattened over my belly, his mouth on my pussy, and I was fucking lost, riding a rollercoaster of sensations that threatened to rip me apart.

This was too much, too overwhelming, shivers of pleasure and power and aching emptiness rushing through me as I strained to raise my hips, trying to get…more, even though the sensations were already more than I could take.

“Please. Please, Blake.”

He chuckled then went back to licking, his tongue stroking through my folds with broad, sure strokes, lashing across my clit when I least expected him to, which only ramped up the tension coiling inside me. I ripped through grass until my fingers sank into dirt, trying to hold on, to ride out this cresting need that kept building with no end in sight.

“You want to come? Ask me nicely, baby vamp.” His tone was soft, his lips even softer, and his fangs…little nips of pain only punctuated the utter decadence of this intimacy, putting a dangerous edge on our lovemaking that I never imagined existed.

The nickname didn’t register, only that he would finally release me from this prison of aching need. “Please, Blake. Please let me come.”

This time, when he licked up through me, he sucked my swollen nub into his mouth and pressed down with his fangs. I came so hard my body bowed off the ground, his mouth working me hard, licking like a man possessed.

I’d orgasmed plenty before, always by my own hand.

This was nothing like that. This was achingly real .

I willingly disappeared into that tempest of sensation, letting that rolling wave swallow me up, letting myself tremble helplessly in my enemy’s hands while his mouth worked me relentlessly, my mind blank as I shattered into a million pieces.

I exploded like a dying star, a crescendo that blinded me, stole my breath, took away every thought. I wasn’t even sure I was still alive, nothing but shaking, sweaty muscles in the aftermath of a cataclysmic explosion.

I was still piecing myself back together when he kissed his way up my body then dragged his knuckles down my cheek. “Are you okay? That was pretty…intense.”

“I’m…” What? So fucking inexperienced I’d just had my mind completely blown ? “That was incredible,” I finished lamely, even though words couldn’t begin to describe the absolute destruction I’d just experienced. “More than incredible, actually.”

You are an idiot, Evie.

“Feeding makes sex more intense. Since this is all new, things might be a little…” A slow smile crept over his face until it became a lopsided grin. “ Much . But you’ll get used to this life. I’ll teach you, help you learn. You can…”

I laid my fingers over his lips.

I didn’t want to talk about my new life. Didn’t want to think about how everything had changed. How I’d changed.

Didn’t want my enemy to tell me how I was going to end up just like him .

I pushed up and kissed him, tasted that smile that seemed like such a rare thing, our lips moving together until I couldn’t breathe. I tasted myself on his tongue, then my hands were twined in his hair and I was exploring his mouth, swallowing every throaty groan. Heat ignited between us again, quicker this time, burning hotter with every stroke of his tongue against mine, every brush of his fingers as he greedily explored my body.

Another crescendo built inside me, and this time, I craved more than his fingers, more than his tongue. I reached between us and stroked him, dragging my fingers along his hard, engorged length. I moaned at the thought of him shoving all of this—his cock—deep inside me.

I was so tired of being good .

Tired of living my life by everyone else’s goddamned rules.

His shining lips crashed into mine, tasting of salt and musk, his tongue giving no mercy as he plundered my mouth like he owned me. Every muscle in my core clenched tight enough that needy ache came roaring back.

I wanted that tightness to shatter like glass. I wanted Blake to ruin me until there was nothing left.

I broke our kiss. “I need you inside me. I want to know what you feel like.”

Power. This was only about power, I told myself. I wanted to taste his power in a different way. I wanted to feel him inside me, like his blood was inside me. “I want to drink from you while you’re fucking me.”

Yes, that made perfect sense in my head, even when nothing about this was logical.

“Are you sure? You smell like a…” Blake stared down at me, eyes heavy as I ground myself against him. He lowered his weight onto me, my back sinking deep into the soft grass. “Are you a virgin? Because if you are, we should go slow.”

No. Yes. Kind of?

“No, I’m not,” I decided, digging my fingers into the nape of his neck to pull him to my mouth. “This is what I want. Don’t try and talk me out of it.”

“Fuck. Fuck .” He panted, the tips of his fangs brushing my cheek before he swallowed hard. He reached between us and slid his fingers through my swollen folds then into me. The tip of his finger stroking up inside me felt amazing.

Too much yet not enough all at the same time.

“You are so fucking tight.” He groaned, pulling his finger out and plunging them into his mouth, tongue working furiously to clean them before his hand went back between my legs. One finger, pumping in and out, then two, and my hips started to roll up to meet each shallow stroke.

“I need more.” I arched my back, trying to push those fingers deeper, to where I needed them. “I want your cock. I want you to fuck me, Blake. Please, this isn’t enough.” His throat was only a few inches away, my fangs throbbing as viciously as my core as I twisted between hunger and need, like a flag torn by the wind. “Please, Blake.”

He slowly pulled his fingers out, pink tongue working between them as he studied my face. “I’ll give you anything you want. Anything you need. Tell me, and it’s yours.”

“You. You’re what I need, Blake.” His groan was rough when I dragged my hand up and down his cock, the skin hot and hard and smooth as velvet. I guided him to my entrance, gasping when he took over, pushing my legs wider, dragging his cock up and down through my folds, where his mouth had just been.

“Deep breath. I’ll go slow.” He eased into me, my body stretching around his girth, a tug of war between pleasure and pain before he stopped, eyes at half mast, teeth sunk into his bottom lip.

“Almost there. I’m going to make you scream, little monster. Just wait and see.” Heat gathered in my body when he pressed into me slowly, a little deeper. Then deeper still.

Short, shallow strokes became longer, every one reaching deeper, stretching me wider, my arousal coating the insides of my thighs like honey. I smelled myself above the scent of crushed moss and spiced musk, the pain turning into a storm of aching need that had me digging my fingers into his shoulders.

“God, you’re tight as a glove. Feels so damn good,” he hissed, sweat gathering along his spine, my fingers digging into his muscled ass as he tipped his hips forward for another plundering stroke. He was so big, so thick, I whined at the invasion, while at the same time trying to take him deeper.

“You are so…fucking…tight.” Rough, calloused hands gripped my hips, and he groaned then drove himself into me in one long, hard thrust. A flash of pain rocketed through me, but before it took hold, I sank my teeth into his throat, my world imploding.

“Okay?” He grit out the word and I moaned, savoring the way he stretched me tight, the taste of him in my mouth, all these strange, foreign sensations combining into the most perfect storm. I tore my fangs from his throat, barely remembering to drag my tongue over the punctures, whipping my head back and forth, my entire being tensed against the coming explosion.

He didn’t go slow, didn’t go gently, instead thrusting fast and hard, and I dug my heels into his hard ass, feeling every powerful flex as he fucked me, my hands gripping the shirt stretched tightly over his strong shoulders.

I lifted my eyes, enough to see a corded neck glistening with sweat and the sharpened point of white fangs, then I was falling. Plummeting through a world frozen into stillness as I shattered.

Blake groaned out something that sounded a lot like baby vamp , his cock jerking inside me. I was so swollen around him, every pulse felt like an earthquake. Then he groaned again and rolled over onto his back, taking me with him.

Cool air kissed my heated skin, and I half opened one eye, making out another scar on his chest, visible through the shirt I’d shredded earlier.

“Are you…” He dragged a hand through his hair, eyes wild. “Are you okay? I meant to go slow, but I got…carried away.”

“I’m fine.” I was so exhausted, my words slurred together, only the heat from his body tethering me to consciousness. “I’m just…so…tired.”