Part 17 (1/2)

Leo grabbed the woman's arms and pulled her up. ”Mind be free, respond only to me.”

”Yeah, that didn't work so well the first time...”

But Leo ignored him. ”Tell me the plan. When you find Rose, what are you supposed to do?”

She blinked her wide, blue eyes. ”Don't have to do anything. He's already coming...I already told him she was here. Saw her from my boat.” And then Keri smiled. ”Simons says...we will all die.”

”Julian?” She had him on the bed. He'd stumbled out of the shower with her then collapsed on the mattress. His eyes were closed and he barely seemed to be breathing...and he was terrifying her. ”Julian, wake up.”

Her shaking fingers pressed to his throat. The wounds she'd made with her bite were still there. They usually faded-he usually healed so quickly.

But he'd been tranqed today. And I...I took too much.

Guilt ate at her soul. She knew she'd taken too much. But she'd been caught in some kind of firestorm. She'd seen herself from a distance, and she hadn't been able to stop. She'd fed and fed and the fire inside of her had demanded more. It had demanded that she keep taking. Taking. Until nothing was left.

A tear slid down her cheek. She brushed her mouth against his. ”I'm sorry.” She'd hurt him. But she could make this right. He was still breathing. His heart beat...it was just slow. I have to make this right. She bit her wrist and then forced it to his mouth. He'd take her blood and he would get stronger. It had worked before for them. It would work again.

”Julian, drink.”

She kept her hand shoved against his mouth. Her blood trickled inside his mouth, but he wasn't swallowing. She was straddling his body, and while she kept one wrist at his mouth, her other ma.s.saged his throat, forcing him to swallow. She made him take her blood. She wasn't just going to watch him die on her. That wasn't ever going to happen- Oh, my G.o.d.

As she just realized what she'd thought, her heart stopped.

I can't watch him die...just like he couldn't watch me die.

Then his eyes flew open. Julian's stare burned with power-with the force of his beast. His golden eyes were glowing and she felt his canines lengthening. Then he was biting her. His hand flew up and held tightly to her wrist, forcing her even closer to him. He bit, he drank, and he...

”More.” His hands curled around her and he brought her down closer to him, putting her neck right in front of his mouth. ”I want to taste more.” And he bit her again, this time, right on the curve of her neck and the pleasure/pain of that bite had her hips rocking against him.

She was naked and so was he. She rocked against him, pus.h.i.+ng her neck closer to him, pus.h.i.+ng her s.e.x against him, and the friction just made her desire mount.

For vamps, bloodl.u.s.t and physical l.u.s.t always went hand in hand. The more blood you took, the harder your l.u.s.t burned. The hotter. The darker.

Her hand pushed between them. His c.o.c.k sprang toward her, fully erect and ready. Thick. Hard. She wanted him in her. She wanted his teeth in her neck and his c.o.c.k in her body. She lifted up her hips, positioning him even as he continued to drink, and then she came down on him, taking him all the way inside and gasping because he felt so good.

So right.

Her desires were darker now. She never would have thought drinking and f.u.c.king were a combination she wanted. She never would have thought her dream lover was a man with a savage side.

She'd been thinking all wrong for far too long.

His hand slid down her body, his claws were out and he raked her skin-didn't hurt her, but he had her gasping and arching toward him. She was so sensitive and he touched her-he touched her everywhere.

His mouth slid from her neck. He nuzzled her again. ”Never letting go...” His gaze glowed at her. ”Remember that.” A warning.

Then...

Then she felt his control shatter. His hips withdrew, then slammed hard against her. The bed jerked beneath them. A feral growl came from him and he rolled her on the bed. He trapped her beneath him, yanked her legs up high so they were over his shoulders...

And he took.

And she took.

And they both moaned at the raw pleasure. His thrusts sent his c.o.c.k over her c.l.i.t, every fierce drive heightening her need. Her nails raked down his back and she didn't use the care he had. She wanted to mark him. He was hers, and she wasn't letting go. Her nails sank into his skin. He laughed and thrust even harder.

”Mine.” His word, but it could have been hers. That moment was so primitive, so basic. It was a claiming. An owning, and there was no going back.

He'd given her his blood.

She'd given him hers.

He'd taken her body.

And she wanted his heart.

The release hit her first, blasting through her and sending pleasure bursting inside of her. Her s.e.x spasmed around him, contracting against his c.o.c.k, and she felt his release as he surged hotly inside of her. When he came, he kissed her, thrusting his tongue past her lips, and she swore she could taste his pleasure. Her heart thundered in her chest, her body quaked, and Julian was all she could feel and see. Julian with his bright eyes, his feral smile. Julian, with his beast inside.

Her beast.

Her Julian.

Hers.

And that thought was utterly terrifying. She'd spent so much time running from the one man that she wanted most...because he was the one man who held the power to destroy her completely. He'd done it before. Could she trust him never to do it again?

Chapter Fourteen.

A sharp knock sounded at Julian's door. ”If you two are done in there...” Rayce's voice bellowed. ”I need your a.s.ses out, ASAP. I've got a p.i.s.sed off Lord of the Light down here...and a human who could seriously use some vamp blood.”

”I'm going to kill him,” Julian muttered as he raised up onto his forearms.

But Rose smiled. ”No, you're not. You care about him. You don't kill those you care about.”

If only that were true. ”You don't know panthers.” He pulled from her body, hating to let her go, but knowing there wasn't a choice. Rayce's footsteps had retreated, but he couldn't ignore reality-and his reality was currently one big nightmare.

A faint furrow appeared between Rose's brows. ”You're right. I don't know panther s.h.i.+fters. You're the only one I've ever met. So maybe you should tell me...what am I missing?”

He stalked to his closet and yanked out a pair of jeans. A t-s.h.i.+rt. He dressed quickly, his movements tight and jerky. He grabbed a pair of shoes- ”Julian?”

He looked back. She was standing by the bed, naked, her body a perfect temptation. He would have loved to get her back in that bed. To get her under him. Over him. To spend hours tasting every single inch of her.

But the danger wasn't going to wait.

”You want to know about us? We're brutal. Savage. When we attack, there is no other beast that can match us. Our favorite way to kill?” His voice sounded cold. He felt cold. ”We stalk our prey, never making a sound. We kill large prey-prey like other paranormals or...humans-with a bite to the back of the neck. That bite severs the spinal cord, so there is no chance for the prey to fight back.”