Reclamation (The Ravening #3)(13)
Author: Erica Stevens

We’d spent many nights wrapped in each other’s arms, but there had also been twenty other people with us. We were alone right now, in my simple sheeted room. The half smile slid from his face as something else sprang forth and he began to stare at me like I was the last peanut butter cup on earth.

A shiver raced up my spine as my throat went dry. He didn’t move, didn’t come any closer as he stood in the "doorway." There would be no turning back after this, if I reached out to him now things would never be the same, but it was going to have to be me that made the move. He wouldn’t come unless I offered myself to him, not because he didn’t want me, but simply because this had to be my choice.

I knew what he needed from me; I could see it in the lines on his face and the harsh set of his jaw. I’d offered myself to him before, but this time I knew he wouldn’t turn me down. This time there was nowhere else to go, nothing else to turn to for the soul and blood that he required.

I savored in the harsh beauty of his carved cheekbones, full lips, and midnight hair and eyes as I tried to control my leaping excitement and alarm. I forced the lump in my throat down as I stretched my hand out to him.

"I didn’t come here for this," he grated out from behind clenched teeth.

"I know." The corded muscles in his lean arms stood out as his hand clenched on the sheet and he glanced behind him. I rushed on before he took off on me. "It’s only a matter of time Cade before it happens anyway. I… I want to know what it feels like and I’m here. There’s no one else…"

"There are others," he whispered.

"Cade." I wasn’t going to spend time arguing with him. "This wasn’t why you came here but it’s why you’re still standing here."

He eyed me like a deadly cobra as I rose to my feet and took a step toward him. I was convinced he would bolt as I moved closer to him, rested my hand on his arm, and pulled it toward me. There was so much strength in the corded wrist I held before me, even more than met the eye as I knew what was inside of him, I knew what he was capable of, and what it took for him to suppress it as he stood before me. If he ever let himself go…

I broke the thought off. There was no room here for fear. Though he resisted it, he finally allowed me to pry his fist open and lift his palm to my cheek. "Bethany…"

I stood on tip toe to press a kiss against his compressed lips. He remained unrelenting for a moment and then the sheet fell into place with a rustle as he released it. His hands grasped my waist with the speed of a striking shark. A startled sound escaped me as he lifted me up. Instinctively, my legs wrapped around his waist as his hand entwined in my hair and he kissed me with an urgency that stole the breath from me. His tongue swept in to taste the deep recesses of my mouth in sure, strident thrusts that left me trembling and aching for more as I pressed closer to him.

Inhaling deeply I relished in the fresh scent of him. His hair was still wet and tussled from his shower as my fingers slid through it. On him however, the scent of soap was faint as it mingled with the enticing aroma he emitted. We were far from outside, yet the scent of the outdoors clung to him, making him seem even more wild and dangerous.

Those eyes were entirely black as he pulled back to look at me. The veins in his face were visible as the darkness residing within him spread throughout his body, but instead of finding it hideous or frightening, I found myself loving him even more as my fingers trailed over a vein that ran from his forehead, down his cheek, to his lips. All of this was always within him, he could easily kill any one of us, and yet he was still looking at me as if I were the most priceless artifact in the world.

My chest heaved as I struggled to catch my breath and control the desire thrumming through me. I knew what he needed from me, but right now all I craved was him. His hand traced over my cheek and skimmed down to the base of my throat. His breath was warm against my cheek, his body slid tantalizingly against mine as he slowly lowered me to my feet.

Tingles slid over my skin as his fingers traced my collarbone. My heart lurched with excitement, my body yearned for something more, something I instinctively knew that only he could ease. I didn’t see the walls surrounding us, didn’t smell the stale air as everything in me was focused on him.

"Lovely," he whispered against me. "My lovely."

"Yes," I breathed. I felt disoriented and out of my depth as my head spun. I didn’t know what I was saying yes to anymore and right now I didn’t care.

His lips were a bare whisper against my cheek as they moved over me. I leaned closer to him, my hands clenched upon his arms as I sought something to help keep me grounded. Touching him though was like seizing hold of a lightning bolt as it had the absolute opposite effect on me. I had to swallow in order to wet my suddenly parched throat. I was tingling all over, my body felt strangely malleable. I was putty in his hands and he knew it.

A low growl escaped him, his hand wrapped around my neck as he held me against him. With my cheek pressed against his chest I was able to hear the forceful beats of his heart. His scent was stronger, heightened by his passion as his fingers caressed the nape of my neck and his muscles stood out rigidly against me. He was still fighting his urges and I didn’t understand why.

"Bethany."

"It’s ok." He had come here in order to satisfy one hunger but I knew now he would be taking two things from me tonight. "I want this. I want you."

"It wasn’t supposed to be like this. Not here."

"I know."

"Somewhere else…" He said the words, he meant them, but his restraint was unraveling. "Somewhere better. Somewhere special."

"There may not be somewhere else, or some other day."

It had been the wrong thing to say as black raced through the veins in his arms and his hand clenched briefly on my neck. The midnight of his veins was stark now as he pulled back to look down at me. It was such a disconcerting thing to see, but I didn’t find it ugly or frightening. In fact, I now found the color in him beautiful even though I knew that it meant the man standing before me, the man I loved with all my heart and soul, wasn’t human.

"I’ll keep you safe," he grated.

I nibbled at his full bottom lip as I sought to ease his ire and bring back the passionate man that had just been embracing me. We both knew he would die to keep me safe, just as we both knew there was a chance that we wouldn’t survive this; that our time together may be coming to an end. I intended to savor every second we had and hold onto him for as long as I could.

His mouth yielded to my kisses as his tongue swept back in and he deepened the kiss. A low moan escaped me; goose bumps broke out on my skin as his hands slid under my shirt and stroked over my stomach before traveling upward. He caressed me until my muscles were nothing but liquid and I was certain that I was going to fall apart or scream from the sheer wonder of it all.