Page 21 of The Huntress (The Blood of Legends #1)

Chapter Twenty-One

A NEED TO TALK

G abe lay sprawled on his back, his white sheets once more stained with blood, but Callie didn’t pay it much attention. Blood had become an everyday sight in just a manner of days.

Days? Had it only been days since he had entered her life? It felt like much longer.

But blood was the least of her worries. She had other things she needed to talk to her…fiancé about. With her cheek resting over his left nipple, she twirled a pattern across his abdomen. Her engagement ring shimmered in the pale bedroom lighting.

As she recalled the last few days BG—before Gabe—she admitted she’d been lonely, with the fear of Val’s impending death deepening that loneliness. A manic panic had gripped her at times, but she’d thrust it down, forcing herself to focus on surviving day-to-day. Now Val was cured, sort of, and Callie had a fiancé, one who’d implied he loved her.

She assumed he did, although he hadn’t spoken the words. She studied his carved-in-stone chin, tempting her to kiss him there. Yes…she wanted to hear those words from him since this was a forever kind of relationship.

She couldn’t imagine an eternity in a loveless marriage.

“Gabe…” She chewed on her lip. “Did you get my message today?”

“Yes. I sent it to Leo. This might escalate the conflict to an all-out war. The shifters know how much this canister means to vamps everywhere.”

“Shit.” She winced, blaming herself for the future death of thousands, not to mention the humans caught in the middle.

He tilted his head and looped his arm around her, tightening his hold. “I won’t console you with platitudes, Callie. This could go either way. Not the results of the war, but whether there’ll be a war.”

“Fair enough, Gabe.” She rubbed her cheek along his chest, marveling at his heated velvet skin, the scent of him that tantalized her. “Heard anything about this clandestine meeting with Carter?”

He frowned, lowered his gaze to hers, then nodded. “Syl hasn’t seen the state senator since the ball.”

Leo could unweave lies, but would he cover for Syl? Yes, he would as he’d done at the ball, but what if he wasn’t? What if there was another regal suckblood terrorizing her city?

“We have a new player,” she said. “Phoenix? Does that name mean anything to you?”

“No, but it might mean something to Syl.”

“We need to visit him soon.” She pressed a wet kiss to his skin.

His breath hitched, and she peeked at him while grazing her teeth over his nipple. He moaned, unfolding his arm from behind his head to brush a curl off her forehead.

“Yes,” he said, his voice gruff. “He’ll explain the purpose of the canister’s contents as well.”

“You asked him for me?” Her head shot up, and she smiled, tweaking her nose. She clambered up, crushing her breasts against his chest. He lowered his hands to her hips, squeezing them.

“Have I told you how incredible you are, Gabe?” She feathered her lips across his parted mouth, their breaths mingling. “How sexy you are?” Nipping at his bottom lip, she drew blood.

She ran the tip of her tongue along the length of his lip before sharing the bounty with him.

Hooking his toes on her ankles, he spread her thighs. His pelvis dipped between them as he sipped from her lips. He trailed his hands from her hips, along the indent of her waist, to between her shoulder blades, overlapping his forearms to crush her against him. Her soft breasts trapped between them hardened her nipples, spiking the lust blurring her vision. A growl shredded his throat as he crashed his mouth over hers.

She loved his animalistic grunts of appreciation, his seeking fingers, his desperate touch. He took what he needed, took her breath, demanded her heart, claimed her soul for his own.

He unraveled his arms as he lay siege to her mouth, absorbing her gasps. His palms took hold of her backside, and squeezed, yanking her upward to position her at the head of his arousal. Holy fuck, he was potent.

She tore her mouth from him. “I have to breathe. Human, remember.” Her heavy pants lessened as her ragged breathing calmed. “Gabe…damn, you’re a fine kisser.”

He blessed her with a seductive curl of his upper lip as he thrust into her. Her just-drawn breath rushed out of her in a moan. Tingles started from her pebbled nipples before scattering down to her loins. She embedded her nails into his biceps as she followed her huffs of pleasure with a cry at his repeated thrusts. She couldn’t move her legs, still looped and trapped by his.

“Please…” she begged, this time for a different and more demanding need.

She was on the cusp of a momentous orgasm, drawing her full attention. Everything else blurred against this yearning ache throbbing in her core.

“What do you want?” he teased, peppering kisses along her jaw to nibble on her earlobe.

“Claim me hard, fast…now.” She made demands, not caring that her will was no longer her own. “Please, my love.”

His head jerked up, and he met her eyes. He stared at her, making her worry he’d stop. Stop doing such wonderful things to her. Stop before he satiated her. With her clouded mind, she struggled to understand the look on his face. It felt important, her instincts bouncing in urgency.

She struggled to form the question on the tip of her tongue, but he dipped his head to sample her mouth, his lips gentle, with both hands grasping her cheeks to hold her still. With a predatory elegance, he rolled them over, raised her legs to rest the back of her thighs against his chest, and proceeded to give her what she asked for. He thrust into her with a force that took her breath away.

She couldn’t recall feeling this good. The sheer length of him connecting with her on a cellular level inspired far more than a primal need. Every sense she had, even her so-called sixth sense, attuned to him, his every movement, the grunts and growls emitting from him as he shredded her inhibitions. He blurred the boundary where she ended and he began.

“Is this what you want, Callie?” he asked as he thrust hard and deep then withdrew, slow and methodical, before repeating the cycle.

Her mouth parted to say something, but words escaped her. Sensations bombarded her, overwhelmed her, drowning her thoughts—her very principles—leaving her weeping for him.

He bit her above her right breast, and she exploded, screaming his name as new endorphins saturated her from within and stars fluttered across her eyelids. She whimpered, shuddering at the psychic finger stroking her nub as he drank from her. Too much. Too good. Could her human body survive such pleasure? At least if she died right here, it’d be the best damn way to go.

He pounded into her, her knees touching her chest as he leaned back to look at her, her blood staining his lips.

He muttered incoherent words. “I can’t get enough of you,” she thought he said.

With his real finger, he parted her lips to stroke her nub and massaged her breasts with psychic hands.

She couldn’t hold back, didn’t know how to stem the tidal wave of burgeoning pleasure. She wrapped her legs around his waist and clamped onto the small incision he’d made once again, above his left nipple. She sucked on his skin as hard as he pounded into her, not bothered by the metallic flavor of his blood. He trembled against her, panting and grunting as he did so.

He stilled. Roaring his release—and her name—he shuddered and twitched against her glistening body. He’d thrown back his head, gripping her hips, and a beautiful, pained expression hardened his face. His strength mesmerized her, the controlled power coursing through his body. Coming to, he dipped his head, eyeing her, and a lazy smile spread across his lips.

Her breath hitched at his magnetic intensity. “You’re still bleeding.” She gestured to the crimson rivulet painting one pec.

He glanced down and grinned. Before her eyes, it sealed. The blood smear was the remaining evidence. She sat up and licked it off before falling back onto the bed with a satisfied sigh. He followed her down, lapping at her wound. New stirrings of lust, tendrils of desire, and decadent need made her core throb again.

But she had a burning question she needed to ask. “What will happen to my blood after you’ve converted me?” She gripped his biceps as he feathered kisses up her neck, his erection still buried within her.

“I don’t know,” he mumbled against her skin. “Regardless, I want you …your blood tasting like chocolate is a bonus.” He leaned back to cup her cheek, brushing his thumb across her lips. “In a normal conversion, you would lose your sense of taste, but you’re a legend, a myth.”

“You will want me even if I taste like other suckbloods?” Her eyes burned since she refused to let them blink, needing to see every expression that crossed his face. She wanted to know this was more than hunger between them, like she wasn’t a novelty. Some people married for money, prestige, or sex, and not for who their spouse was as a person.

Frustration hardened his jaw. “Woman, I want you all the time. I’m like an unschooled youngling.”

“Aren’t all vampires gifted with this amount of stamina?” She chuckled as she ran her nails up his sides.

He hissed, grinding his hips to remind her she was at his mercy. “Don’t for one minute think what we have is just sex. You bring joy and meaning into my life, sweet Callie.”

She stilled, losing herself in his gray gaze. Her stomach grumbled, and he chuckled, pulling out of her to bound off the bed. “Where are you going?”

“To get your food.” He bolted for the door, flashing her an exceptionally fine ass.

“Bring the pancakes. If you promise to behave, I’ll let you have a nibble.”

He flashed her a cheeky smile, left within a blink and was back just as quick. He placed her un-spilled coffee on the side table and handed her the diner’s unopened container. Sprawling on the bed, he rested his head on his palm and his gaze on her.

She sat up, folded her legs under her, and set the container on the nightstand. She extracted her files from the drawer, placing them on the sheet before her. Gripping a pancake between forefinger and thumb, she bit into it as she flipped through the file on Alan Hawkins, CEO of Floges. He made billions from an IT company he’d formed as a youngster, but now he employed thousands and had a generous charity department, gifting millions every year.

She sucked on her thumb before choosing another pancake, taking the time to dip it in a pool of maple syrup. She chewed the cinnamon sweetness as she opened the second file on the senator, Devlin Carter. He was charismatic and came from old wealth, so she wasn’t surprised he’d won folks over. But his smile was slimy. Even though her gut screamed there was something off about him, she couldn’t understand what her instincts were saying. Devlin circulated among the elite, which included the mayor and Hawkins. There was a link between the files and the three men. What did Hawkins, Carter, and the mayor have in common?

She slumped, sucking on her thumb and forefinger again, before offering her free wrist to Gabe. He shifted closer, grazing his fingers along her inner arm with breathtaking reverence. Before he bit into her, he glanced at her spread-out files.

“Floges means flames in Greek,” he said before pure desire coursed through her as he pierced her skin. His throaty growl drowned out her sigh. Their gazes locked, and a heated intensity poured from his stare. He fluttered his eyes closed and mumbled, “Syrup,” from around his embedded fangs. He licked the wound closed and bolted forward.

She yelped at his sudden movement then laughed when he tugged her thighs apart as he planted kisses down her lower belly. His thumbs spread her sleek lips so he could drag a tongue down, then up them. He groaned, the sound rumbling through to her core.

She writhed under his ministrations, but she was unable to look away, hypnotized by his enjoyment. He pressed a palm to her stomach, pinning her down, slowing the gyration of her hips before gliding a finger into her channel while he lapped at her. Biting down into her, his tongue continued its attack. With a cry of intense pleasure, she shattered under the assault, the intensity almost unbearable for her.

He gripped her hips and spun her onto her knees, looping an arm around her to pull her up and against his groin. He buried himself in her, bending over her to bite into her shoulder as his hips pounded a demanding rhythm.

“I’m dying,” she screamed as she exploded again.

This time wave after wave swept through her, extending the pleasure. Her breath caught, her world froze as if she hovered in a sea of sensation with her body, her senses. Her instincts focused on this man, her man. As if from far away, he roared, then collapsed onto his side, bringing her with him, his labored breathing cooling her damp nape.

“I’m never letting you go, Callie,” he said.

She caught those words, loud and clear. Relief melted the remnants of doubt darkening her soul, and she allowed her heart to trust.

“And I’ve ruined your files.”

She chuckled, wrapping his arms tighter around her. “Don’t worry. It’s the most action they’ve seen in a while.”