Page 152 of Immortal Bastard (The Order of Vampires)

She lifted her hand slowly and pressed down with a feather-light touch. He flinched at such tenderness, but he didn’t sense her pity.

Frowning, he tried to identify the feelings she held in that moment. There was extreme concentration paired with her unbreakable will.

His muscles jerked as a strange sensation traveled over his mangled skin and soothed the nerve damage with a cooling wave. He sucked in a sharp breath when the sore spots started to tingle. “Abwehre.” He took a step but she caught his arm.

“Stay still.”

“What are you doing?”

She returned her focus to his back. “I’m healing you.”

Another cool wave rushed over his battered skin, penetrating deep into the nerve and muscle in a way that instantly relieved the inflammation. “Delilah…” He’d never experienced anything so soothing. “How did you learn this?”

She concentrated in silence, too focused to answer. The longer she moved her hands over him the more his pain eased. Not only did his back start to feel better, the inflamed burn under his skin dissipated.

He moaned at such sweet relief and shut his eyes, swaying as the removal of pain literally transformed into pleasure. When she lowered her hands, the ache was gone. He looked through her vision and saw his skin was once more smooth.

He faced her in such awe he didn’t know what to say. “You healed me.”

“It takes a lot of energy.” She swayed and he caught her arm. “I think I need blood.”

Gathering her in his arms, he carried her to a kitchen chair. “Take what you need.”

She shifted on his lap, blanketing his body with hers, the act of feeding from his vein now a natural practice in her life. Her teeth sank deep, and he stiffened the moment she began to feed.

Dragging his palms down her back, he rocked his hips, stealing whatever friction her body provided in such a position. She moaned softly, the scent of her arousal filling the air as she suckled at his vein.

He wanted to get inside of her, but she needed to regain her strength. It had been days since they were last intimate, and his need in that moment was great.

Rising, she gripped his shoulders and rocked over him as she fed. Take me, Christian.

He reached between them, loosening his pants. Her hand followed his, closing around his thick shaft as she dragged her body over his length, drenching his hard cock with her arousal. Her clothes were an annoyance he wanted gone.

She squeezed him tightly in her fist, tugging him to a point of no self-possession. Only raw, carnal need existed between them in that moment. As soon as her mouth lifted from his vein, he was rising from the chair and carrying her to the table.

Her back hit the surface and he shoved her skirt to her hips, growling at the obstacle of her underclothes. “I need you.”

“I’m yours.”

Jerking her to the edge of the table, he stripped her legs bare and lunged forward, stabbing into her heat with possessive force as she cried out in pleasure, her body accepting him. He slowly withdrew. His cock rested in her opening, not buried the way it had been, but still touching her, taunting her needy sex.

“Christian, please.”

He loved when she begged, and he rewarded her, taking her hard, rocking the table and holding her thighs wide as he thrust quickly, demanding she take his full length.

“Yes,” she cried, so supple and open to him. So willing and responsive.

She belonged to him. She brought him more pleasure than he’d ever dreamed possible. She healed him. She loved him. She claimed him as her mate. “I love you, Delilah.”

“I love you, Christian.” She pulled him down, demanding a kiss and he delivered.

The table skidded across the floor with every hard pump of his hips until it slammed into the adjacent wall. She lifted her arms, surrendering to his lust in such a beautiful show of trust and submission. His seed rushed into her as a roar exploded from deep within his chest and her climax echoed his own.

He collapsed forward, panting hard as his body twitched and his cock pulsed inside of her. “You’re perfect,” he rasped, pressing a kiss to her throat.

She sighed, her fingers dragging slowly down his spine. “How does your back feel?”

“Incredible.” He stood, wincing when his body pulled out of hers. That was always the worst part. “How did you learn to do that?”

“I’ve been practicing with the animals.”

“You healed me without blood.”

“Your mother said it’s a gift.”

“My mother knows about this?”

“She watched me help the animals around the farm a few times, but you were there the first time it happened. Remember when I saved the bird in the woods? I’ve gotten better with it since I started feeding.

Guilt penetrated his pride. She’d discovered a gift and honed her skill without him even realizing. “I’ve been a bit preoccupied of late.”