Page 98 of This Blood that Bonds Us

“Call me the other thing.”

“Mrs. Calem.” I leaned to whisper it over the cool skin of her chest.

That had her rocking into me harder. Hard enough to take every other thought in my brain with it. Our bodies connected in a way that left nothing to be wanted.

“Aaron . . . please.”

I couldn’t take the begging. It lit every cell in my body aflame to tend to her. I’d give her any part of me that she needed. I would tear my heart out of my own chest if she wanted.

“Tell me what you need, Kim.” My fingers traced right under her belly button, and she arched into me while I was buried inside her.

“I don’t know . . . I just need you. I just want you.”

“Relax. I’m here.” I pressed into her deeper and placed my hand right below her belly button. She gasped.

“I’ll always be here, Kim. I’m not going anywhere.”

That seemed to be exactly what she needed because her fingers ran down my back, and she tightened around me as her orgasm shook through her.

I still wanted more. More of her saying my name. More of her breath in my throat. My blood raced with the need to satisfy her. To fill her completely with warmth and stifle all her desires.

I was eager.

So eager.

I’d do anything.

I moved her hair over her shoulder and whispered, “You’re perfect.”

With my tongue, I teased the skin of her neck, and she tugged my head closer. I would, of course, oblige her request. My fangs pierced the vein in her neck, and her blood poured into my mouth. Then she rocked into me, moving and moaning, and I couldn’t last.

She let go, seconds before I did, with a soft cry as she tightened around me. Nothing in the world could compare. My head rested in the crook of her neck while our breaths synced and our movements calmed.

“Burns . . . I . . .”

I couldn’t form words yet. How could I even begin to describe the feeling of being that close to someone? It was more than sex with the girl I loved. It almost felt spiritual. I didn’t think there could be anything else that good.

“Are you speechless?”

“Mm-hm,” I said before licking her neck to clean the blood off.

That brought a giggle and a smile to her face.

“This is . . .”Otherworldly.

“Intimate.” She played with the strands of my hair.

“Yeah, that.”

Our hearts beat steadily in the dark. I didn’t know where I ended and she began anymore. We were one heartbeat. One vibrant pulse. Her blood was my blood.

“You should ask me,” she said.

“Ask to marry me? Right now?”

We were bare and connected still.

“No. I mean. Yes, if you want. I used to think having a husband would be nice eventually. Maybe if I had to. But this . . . this is different. I like that you want me to be your wife. And it makesme want to . . . be a good one. Or be the best one. Like maybe that could be my thing too.”