Page 70 of Those That Are Lost (Hidden Vampires #2)

My mate is in stitches as I manage to get my hair out of my eyes enough to find him treading water like some ancient god. Seriously, those curls when wet are my kryptonite.

I’m still furious that he finally managed to get me to jump off the ledge, even if it was against my will. I swim a little closer before sending a wave of water straight at his chest.

He, of course, doesn’t let it phase him and is quickly splashing me back.

‘I can’t believe you threw me off,’ I yell down the bond.

‘I didn’t throw you.’

‘You picked me up and threw me! I don’t remember getting a choice.’

‘Pretty sure I held you the whole way.’ He laughs .

I get closer still and try to force his head under the surface. He goes under too easily and before I can retreat, he wraps his strong arms around the tops of my thighs and lifts me out of the water as he surfaces once more.

I make another undignified noise as he spins, forcing me to grab onto his shoulders so I don’t topple backwards.

My squeals turn into laughter as we play in the water for a little while longer. Once the cold does really start to set in, we climb out of the pool and walk around the edge, back up to the blanket set up at the top.

I remove the wet dress, which was plastered to my skin, and lay down in just my soaked underwear. I hadn’t been wearing a bra as the bodice was supportive enough.

Ty joins me, after shucking his trunks, and props himself up on an elbow as he stretches out on his side. We warm up in the last of the sun’s rays. His fingers automatically start stroking my stomach and then running along the band of my panties.

I shiver from the delicate touch and feel his growing erection against my hip. Our attraction to each other only grows with each passing year that we’re together.

“Do you ever think about kids?” his question takes me off guard completely.

“Having them?” I seek clarification.

“Yeah,” he confirms. His eyes look up at me through his dark lashes. I see a vulnerability in his gaze that I haven’t seen in ages. We’re so open with each other, there’s not a topic we feel uncomfortable broaching, at least I thought not.

“I can’t say that I’ve given it much thought. But yeah, I can see us having kids. One day. Have you been thinking about it?”

“Not much, but I think it would be fun. We’d be good parents, don't you think?" His fingers continue to distract me by brushing the skin between my hips, running just under the band of my underwear now.

“I think we’ve had plenty of practice. That lot back at the ranch have certainly wanted a lot of guidance.

” I laugh. It wasn’t something I anticipated when we talked about becoming leaders but apparently there’s an expectation that Ty and I will listen and give advice on all sorts of personal issues.

Antares, in particular, needed me a lot for a while there.

“True.” Ty chuckles too.

“Not yet, I’m not ready yet,” I tell him truthfully. “And we still have decades to have them yet. I’m only twenty-six.”

“I’m not asking for it right now. But I think I’d like it in the future.” Ty leans forwards to brush his lips over my jaw, placing little kisses along it until he reaches my mouth. “I want more time with only you first.”

He claims my lips as he moves to pull my underwear free from my body. I untangle my legs from them before widening my thighs, silently gesturing for him to move between them. Our lips don’t break apart as he sleeks his body over mine and presses me down into the hard ground.

I run my hands over his sun-dried skin, soft from the water, and kneed his firm muscles, pulling him tighter to my body.

One of his hands is braced beside my head, supporting some of his weight. The other plays with my breast, rolling the nipple between the pads of his fingers. The twist of the sensitive skin sends hot need to my core.

Ty has become a true master of my body. He can bring me to climax in mere seconds or stretch it out for hours depending on how much time we have and the mood we’re in.

I can play him just as expertly. Releasing a groan, I tilt my hips, pushing his erection through my folds, wetting his dick and driving him crazy above me. On the next pass I make, he changes the angle which notches his cock to my entrance.

“Want something Red?” he purrs into my ear.

“Yes, please.” I whimper. “I need you inside me. Need to feel you.”

“Like this?” He pushes in, right to the hilt, in one long slide.

I cry out at the stretch. Even though I’m used to accommodating his size by now, that first thrust when we’ve skipped the foreplay is on the brink of my limits. On the brink, but just the right side. The kind of pain that melts into unbelievable pleasure.

“That’s my good girl.” He smooths his hand down my side. “You like when I’m pushing you to the edge don’t you?”

“I like you stretching me,” I pant through his next thrust, taking him easier. “It feels like you’re claiming me.”

“I am claiming you.” He punctuates each syllable with another thrust of his hips, pushing so deep I have to grip onto his chest to stop myself moving. “Now and forever, Red. You’re mine.”

His words send a flush of heat over my skin. I feel claimed, possessed by him and I love it.

His hand moves from my side to my thigh. He hitches my leg higher, switching the angle at which he’s fucking into me and hitting that nerve inside me harder. My entire body coils tighter as the pressure builds.

I move one of my hands between us to stroke my clit. Ty’s eyes track my movement and I feel his control stumble as he watches my fingers rub circles over the sensitive nub.

My orgasm slams into me hard. The world around us falls away and my back arches with the force of the release. Multiple waves crest and all I feel is him. All I can smell is him, us, the scent of sex, it’s so potent I can taste it.

And then he’s there, lips and tongue claiming my mouth. His fangs catch my lip and blood pools over our tongues. It tastes exquisite but I need his blood.

Sensing my request, Ty sits back onto his haunches, pulling me up with him, so I’m straddling his thighs, his cock still buried deep inside me. His hands spread over my ass, encouraging me to grind on him as my lips find his throat.

Sinking my fangs into his vein brings another orgasm hard and fast. With the first mouthful of his blood, my body lights up once more. Gasping around the onslaught of feelings, my fangs pull free of his skin and blood trickles down over his collarbone.

Keeping one hand wrapped around his broad shoulders, I bring my fingers to the red liquid seeping from his neck and smear it across his chest.

I lick the wound I’d left, lapping up more droplets of his essence and sealing his skin. His scent, however, is more potent than ever as sweat mixes with the blood on his chest. His breathing becomes ragged as he continues to thrust upwards and I post up and down his cock.

“Red, I’m so fucking close. Let me take you from behind.” I’m scrambling at his request. Pulling off him, I turn on my knees and look back over my shoulder. My mate looks feral, covered in his own blood and on the edge of falling apart.

He presses up behind me, and pushes into me as he brings one hand to my neck. His palm wraps around the front and he squeezes with his thumb and first two fingers, right over my pulse points. It forces me back, to lean into his chest as he fucks me.

I gasp at the new angle, more pleasure radiating from my centre. I thought I’d finished coming but now I feel the pressure building once more.

Ty thrusts into me harder, his hand on my throat keeping me upright and sending me lightheaded. My own hands grip onto his forearm for balance. His other hand wraps around my front, moving down my belly until his fingers slip into my folds and find my clit.

“I need you to come for me again. I need to feel your cunt gripping me tight as I cum inside you.” His words have me panting and on the edge once more. A few more strokes between his fingers and his cock and I’m exploding for the third time. I’m barely aware as he floods me in his own release.

It’s a couple hours later as we shower back in our ensuite and dress for the party that’s happening downstairs. We took out time recovering from the incredible sex and making our way back to the house.

As I exit the bathroom having reapplied my makeup I catch Ty buttoning a dark grey shirt over his magnificent chest. I’m already having flashbacks of it covered in blood and the primal feeling I had of knowing it was my scent his blood is mixed with.

“Don’t look at me like that or we won’t be leaving this room,” Ty almost growls. “I really don’t want to upset Claire and Bree, or have them dragging us downstairs naked. Because they would.”

“I know.” I laugh, knowing my best friends wouldn’t take something like sex as an excuse to miss the party they’ve planned for me. Even really hot, mated sex.

Ty finishes buttoning his shirt, and tucks the ends into his black fitted jeans, before pulling me into his arms. I’m wearing a low-cut long gown now. It's floaty and several shades of grey. The mix of tones reminded me of Ty’s shadows as soon as I saw it in the store and knew I had to have it .

“I love you,” he says, and sends the full depth of those feelings down our bond. I’d be flawed by it if I didn’t mirror them myself.

“I love you too,” I reply, suddenly feeling emotional simply by having him in my arms. There have been so many moments in our story where this ending didn’t feel like a possibility, let alone the inevitability.

Yet, here we are.

Creatures that shouldn’t exist.

Thriving.