Page 19 of Hunger in His Blood (Brides of the Kylorr #3)

CHAPTER 19

KALDUR

I n all the studies I’d read of human-and-Kylorr blood bonds, one thing was clear: While humans would not feel the intensity and pull of a bond as a Kylorr would, there was still a physical reaction that began to take place on the onset of their Kylorr’s venom. From the very first bite.

A human might not have felt the pulsing, entrancing, maddening need as a Kylorr would. But they would certainly feel an unexplainable connection, one they themselves might not even understand.

It could’ve been the lore smoke that had Erina writhing in my lap, yes. But I had a feeling it was the bond that had brought her to me in the first place. The bond that made her gaze soften on me. The bond that ratcheted up her heartbeat at the mere sight of me.

It was the bond that made her lean close…but it might’ve been the lore that made her bold enough to press her lips to my throat.

The lashing of lust felt like a whip. The heat of her mouth and rushed exhale across my skin made my cock harden almost painfully. Through my tunic, I felt the pointed press of her nipples, and it took everything in me not to palm them, to keep my hands firmly off my mate.

It didn’t stop me from tilting my neck as I dragged in another deep draw on my lore pipe, as I debated what to do.

The hunger in me already felt punishing. For three days, I’d longed for this wisp of a female. This treacherous little human who made it difficult to think.

The facts were this…

There was a Luc Denoren in Laras. I’d had it confirmed. He had grown up with Erina right here in Vyaan. According to Maudoric, who posted all letters in the village, Erina and Luc were in frequent contact, even as recently as yesterday.

And Erina Denoren was my kyrana .

After Lydrasa and Velle’s account, which was at least partially true, based on what I’d discovered, I realized I couldn’t trust Erina’s intentions. Not in the slightest.

Leave it to the gods to give me a deceitful mate.

Perhaps this was my punishment for my younger years, when all I’d truly thought of was myself and my own pleasures.

I was pissed and jealous and hungry…and I still fucking wanted her.

That made me angriest of all. The trip to Salaire had been a much-needed distraction. The business with my brother, Thaine, had helped divert my attention away. But now that I had returned, it brought everything I’d tried to escape back tenfold.

Fuck this, I thought. If she was going to use me to create a better life with the male she actually loved, then on Raazos’s blood, I was going to use her too.

“I can make you come without my fangs in your neck, dallia ,” I purred. “Is that what you want? Is that why you came to me?”

“That’s…that’s not why I?—”

“But you knew that I’d give you what you wanted, didn’t you?” I rasped. I heard the bitter twinge in the words, but I was certain she didn’t. I felt her shuddered breath against my neck just before I felt her dull little teeth bite into my flesh.

I groaned, my eyes closing, and I felt the last of my will leave with the surrender.

With my free hand, I slid my touch up her thigh, delving beneath her dress, bunching the material up around her hips.

The moment my fingers registered between her thighs, she moaned against my skin. I nearly hissed at the slick heat of her. She was dripping, coating my fingers with her desire.

My fangs bit into my lip when I gnashed my teeth together. The scent of her skin mingled with the lore spun me up into her web.

“Let me look at you,” I growled, pushing her back, away from my neck. Partly because I wanted to watch her come apart, but mostly because I thought I might feed from her if I was any closer to her neck. And if I fed from her right now…there was no coming back from it. There was no way I would have the control to resist her.

Erina’s cheeks were flushed, her eyes half-lidded.

I couldn’t help but rub my cock through the loose material of my pants with the base of my palm. A flood of pre-come was already wetting the front.

“What do you want from me?” I growled.

My wealth? My family name? I wondered. That was what this was all about, wasn’t it? Just like the keeper my uncle had destroyed his entire life for. I wouldn’t be made a fool.

“I want you to touch me,” Erina mewed.

I wondered what her beloved Luc would think if he saw her like this. A possessive part of me burned with the thought. It made me even harder, imagining fucking her while he watched. I would never allow him to touch her. I would own her completely because she was my kyrana . Never his. I would be everything she needed so she would never have a reason to return to him.

Madness, I thought, growing angrier with the thoughts. It felt like an untamed beast was rising in me with the aggression. Coupled with my hunger, I feared it might be a dangerous path to venture down.

She wanted me to touch her? I would give her what she wanted.

Erina cried out when I drove a finger inside her tight, slick cunt. So tight I nearly frowned. But her hips snapped over my hand, pushing me deeper inside, as if she couldn’t help herself. When I rubbed her sensitive clit with my thumb, her head tilted back, a soft moan falling from her throat that nearly scrambled my entire brain.

I hated that I would remember her like this. I hated that this erotic image of her would forever be imprinted on me. I hated that my venom began to drip at the mere thought of her, that her scent calmed me in a way not even lore could.

I wedged another finger inside her, pressing harder against her clit. Her lips were parted, and she gazed at me with something akin to disbelief.

“I want to watch you come,” I told her. To center myself, I took another slow drag of the lore and billowed it around her like a veil. She gasped in the smoke, rocking her hips in a practiced slow rhythm that had me wondering how many times she’d done this before. With him . “You’re close already—I can feel it.”

I watched as she rode my fingers to her orgasm. And when she was there, her whole body tightened up and she froze, holding her breath, held on the precipice of the fall. Her expression was locked with drawn brows and full parted lips I wanted to bite.

Then she hurtled into her pleasure and her body came alive. Her skin flushed pink, and she rocked her hips in a wild way, chasing and prolonging the orgasm for as long as she could, the greedy little thing. The knot at the base of my cock was beginning to swell, my balls drawn tight. Fuck. This was not supposed to happen like this .

I managed to keep my control, even as the slick sounds against my hand rose between us and I could smell her arousal all around me. I didn’t know how I controlled myself, truthfully.

But when it was over and Erina was gasping to catch her breath, I simply took my hand away and leaned back in the chair. I dragged in another slow inhale of my lore , hoping my expression was impassive as I studied her.

“Go.”

Erina nearly jumped at the word. “What?”

“Leave,” I ordered her, gesturing with my chin toward the door. “Go clear your head of the smoke before we both do something we’ll regret.”

I maneuvered her off me, shifting my legs so that she stood. She was unsteady on them. I didn’t want her falling, so I rose, taking her by the arm and guiding her to the door of my quarters. I needed to get her out of here and fast . It took everything in me to pull the door open, to push her through.

Out in the darkened hallway, she met my eyes in confusion, blinking, as if she didn’t understand how she’d ended up out there.

She was frowning. “Kaldur?—”

“ Go. ”

Then I shut the door before I could second guess myself. I gritted my jaw hard enough that I thought I’d snap a fang as I returned to the fire. I snatched the half-empty tumbler off the table and drained it, feeling the fiery burn of the liquor heat its way into me.

Then I sat, resting my elbows on my knees, prodding between my brows with my thumbs. I could still smell her everywhere. My fingers were still wet with her desire, and my cock was still fucking throbbing like a banging drum. Gods , I needed to fuck. I needed to feed.

I heard the latch of the door click. One I hadn’t locked. It banged closed, and I heard her footsteps, her scent sweeping toward me.

Raazos, help me, I thought.

I closed my eyes, leaning back in the chair. I didn’t have the strength to resist her a second time. I’d tried to do the right thing.

When I opened my eyes, Erina was standing in front of me, backlit by the firelight. She was studying me now, her warm brown eyes sweeping over me. My sagged wings, my tented pants, and perhaps even the defeat on my features.

“Erina,” I growled in warning.

She took my lore pipe from between my fingers, turning off the ignitor and placing it beside the empty tumbler on the circular table beside me.

Then her hands went to the straps of her dress.

“You can try to push me away, but I’ll always want you,” she told me. Her voice was a balm, smoothing down the ragged edges that were tearing me up inside. “I always have.”

Gods , I wanted to believe her.

The dress slipped off her shoulders, skimming over her breasts, catching on her hips before she wiggled it down. The light material pooled at her feet like water, leaving her standing naked before me. The most tempting of offerings.

She had a beautiful body. Soft curves and smooth skin. Perfectly sized breasts with brownish pink–tipped nipples I wanted to tease. There were sparse, soft curls between her legs giving way to strong, shapely thighs.

“I’m not afraid,” she said, though she said it as she tried to hide the way her hands trembled.

She crawled into my lap again, the same position as before. Only now, I couldn’t resist cupping her exposed body, squeezing everything I could get my hands on. Her ass, her hips, her waist.

Her lips landed on mine, gasping when my palm skimmed over her nipple. The kiss was hungry and aching and desperate. She could taste the venom on my tongue from my fangs, and she lapped at it, squirming in my lap.

“I’m yours,” she breathed. A guttural sound rose from my throat, harsh and unexpected. “You can have everything.”

I kissed her harder and then pulled away. “Do you mean that?” I growled.

Her eyes were unfocused, gazing at my lips. “Yes.”

“Tell me you’re mine,” I ordered, my hand gliding up her neck to dive into her hair, holding her in place. “I need to hear you say it again.”

“I’m yours,” she whispered. “I’ve always been yours, Kaldur.”

The last of my willpower shattered like glass on stone.

I felt her hands come to my horns—and I nearly went feral with need. The feel of her tight, warm grip, guiding me down to her tilted neck for the purpose of feeding…it locked a new kink into place for me.

I felt her groan vibrate into me when I bit deep. The taste of her blood made the world go hazy. Everything fell away. Nothing else mattered except her . Except this moment.

I began to feed from her.

And I would take everything she offered to me. I wouldn’t resist anymore.