Lord of the Vampires (Royal House of Shadows #1)(25)
Author: Gena Showalter

Not once did she experience any pain, but the pleasure, oh, God, the pleasure…exactly as she’d imagined, beautiful in the most erotic way. The missing piece to the puzzle of her life.

The burn of his mouth, the suction of his tongue, both caused riotous reactions in her body. She clutched at his back, pulled at his hair, lost to a bliss that should have been impossible. Soon she was even writhing and thrashing against him, desperate for completion.

He purred against her, his breath warm. Then something hot, so wonderfully hot, entered her system. And okay, she hadn’t truly known pleasure before that moment. This was pleasure. Pleasure in its purest form. Strength, heat, power. She felt those, too.

Her thrashing became a single-minded pursuit for the elusive satisfaction that still hovered so close. She ground herself against his erection, over and over again, little shivers of sensation coursing through her every time he swallowed. God. She could climb him like a mountain. Could eat him up, one tasty bite at a time. Could remain in his arms forever.

He wrenched free of her vein. “Have to…stop. Can’t take…too much.”

There was no such thing as too much. “Take more.”

“Promised to be careful.” He licked the punctures, shooting more of that liquid heat into her system. He growled, “Now you are marked. Mine.”

His, just as he was hers. Hers, and no one else’s.

“So good. Never tasted anything…so sweet. Addicted…already…”

Yes. Addicted. He was a drug. Her drug, and she doubted there was a cure.

With her painkillers, she’d had to stop using cold and flat. The withdrawals had been nightmarish. Yet she knew with sudden, shocking clarity that those would not compare to what she’d experience without Nicolai.

He replaced the hand on her breast with his mouth, flicking his white-hot tongue over her nipple, shooting more of those gratifying lances through her. He didn’t bite, though, not again.

She wanted him to bite her everywhere. “Please, Nicolai.”

“Anything you want, I will give you.”

She arched into him, locking her ankles at his lower back. The long, thick length of his erection hit her just right, more liquid dampening her panties. “I want it all.”

He still wore the loincloth, but the leather must have bunched up, freeing his cock, because she could feel the heat of his silky skin, soft yet, oh, so hard, pushing at the cotton in a bid to move it out of the way. Just a little more, and they’d be skin-to-skin. Strength-to-wet.

She ached for that. Wanted it with every fiber of her being. But Nicolai had other plans. He continued his downward journey, tracing her scars with his tongue, laving her navel. She would have been humbled by the decadent attention, but she was too aroused. Goose bumps broke out, sensitizing her skin to an almost unbearable degree.

“Mine,” he growled.

Yes. Yes! His. Always. She frowned. No, not always. The repercussions of his druglike lovemaking hit her like a hammer to the head. She could go home at any moment. This wasn’t permanent, and she couldn’t forget that fact. Couldn’t become attached to him. To this.

You already are.

Yes, she was.

How could she return to her old life now? She’d tasted the forbidden fruit, was addicted just as she’d suspected, and she needed more. More of his hands and his mouth and his teeth and his fingers. More of the heat and the sweetness and the ferocity. But if she didn’t finish this, if she attempted to walk away now, she would always wonder about what could have happened.

So, she would worry about the consequences later. Right now, she would simply enjoy.

“Mine,” he repeated.

“Yes,” she found herself agreeing.

“You want me.”

“You, and only you.”

“You’re so wet for me. I can feel you, feel how ready you are.”

“Ready for you, and only you.” She was repeating herself, but she didn’t care. The words were true.

“You’re so hot for me.”

“Yes.”

“You’ll give me everything.”

“Yes, I…” Jane’s thoughts derailed completely. Finally he was there, between her legs, shoving her panties aside the rest of the way. She anchored her calves over his shoulders as his tongue stroked her.

At first contact, she screamed. So good, so damn good. He licked, sucked and nibbled at her, building her desire to a fever pitch. So close, closer than ever before.

“Like?”

“I like!”

His fingers joined the play. First one, sinking in and out, then another, in and out, in and out, stretching her, preparing her for his possession. “Could stay here forever,” he rasped.

She was incapable of responding, what little breath she had left caught in her throat.

“Taste so sweet here, too.”

A sound escaped the knot. A whimper.

“Come for me, sweetheart.” A command from the animal he’d unleashed at the palace, frothed into a frenzy, desperate, a conqueror. “Let me see that beautiful face light up.” With that, he bit her, right there, between her legs.

He sucked the blood that beaded, and then, thank God, then he shot whatever his fangs produced straight inside her core.

Sparks of utter bliss ignited there, then spread, quickly burning her up from top to bottom. Every muscle she possessed clenched, spasmed, shooting her to the stars. Another scream left her, this one tearing through the encroaching daylight.

The climax was intense, soul shattering. Then Nicolai was looming over her, one of his hands ripping at her panties, his c**k probing for entrance. His eyes were glitter-bright, his fangs bared in a determined scowl. Not of anger, but of agonizing need.

“More,” he said with guttural harshness.

“Let me have you.”

“Now,” he growled.

Just before he thrust inside, the bushes to their left rattled, the leaves dancing together. His attention whipped there, a growl of pure menace leaving him.

Jane was still too lost in the throes of passion to care. “Nicolai! Please. What are you waiting for?” Make me your woman in truth.

“Protect.” He jerked upright, severing all contact. She reached for him, but he placed himself in front of her, acting as her shield.

The time for pleasure had ended. The time for fighting had arrived.

CHAPTER NINE

NICOLAI’S MORPH FROM tender lover to savage vampire warrior shocked Jane back to her senses. She was naked—ripped panties didn’t count—and her camp had just been invaded. By giants. Four of them.