"We can't have sex."
He snapped his gaze to hers. "Repeat yourself."
"I can't do it tonight."
Not to be inside her? He was about to shut this down, but curiosity got the better of him. "Why not?"
"I'll only have sex in an exclusive relationship. You're as inclusive as a guy can be. And I don't want you to knock me up."
"A vampire female is only fertile if she's been eating food for some time. Have you been?"
She glanced away. No denial? Hadn't she invited him for coffee? She lived in the mortal world, could have been eating to blend with humans.
He swallowed. Her body might be ready for seed. Inner shake. "In any event, I have a demon seal. I can't ejaculate inside you unless you're my mate. Which is impossible."
He knew his crossbreed species had been forsaken by fate. But if a creature like him miraculously had a mate, and if Josephine was miraculously that one female, nothing could be more disastrous than claiming her.
His semen had been awaiting release for seven thousand years, its potency--and poison--strengthening with age, just as the rest of his body had. One of two things would happen if he released it.
She'd withstand his most concentrated poison and become pregnant.
Or his semen would prove so deadly, she'd perish with him still inside her.
But Josephine wasn't his. So this conjecture was moot.
She faced him again. "Define mate."
"Define one of the most universal concepts in the Lore?"
"Define a demon mate. Might be different from a vampire's." She had a point.
"It's the sole female, out of any time or any world, a demon male is most compatible with. Destiny would pair her with him, then bond them eternally. But again, I'm only half demon."
"Eternally." Her eyes glimmered, as if she liked the sound of that. "So you figure out a woman is yours because you can come in her?"
"A demon would have some indication before the actual claiming. He would've reacted fiercely to a specific female. He would know there's a good chance of burning away his seal. Still, most demons do try out many, many different females. It's a process known as attempting."
"Ah, so you've been out attempting nymphs."
"No, I don't believe dark fey get mates. We're anomalies, outside the reach of fate."
That challenging aspect was back in her expression. "Still, I want to be one hundred percent extra careful."
His fists clenched as the demon in him flared. "Extra careful?" Because carrying his offspring would be such a catastrophe? Did she think she was too good for him?
"Is sex all you've got in your playbook?" she asked. "There are lots of other things we can do to each other."
The rich promise of lots of other things placated his demon. "Then we're in agreement."
She grinned. "Awesome."
Awesome?
She dashed to the bed, leaping atop it to sprawl on her back. "Let's get to the Q and A."
TWENTY
Jo turned on her side, head propped in her hand as she watched Rune unbuttoning his fly.
She could barely wait to see him naked.
Never taking his spellbinding eyes off her face, he hooked his thumbs at the waist of his jeans and slipped them down, lower.
Lower . . .
His cock sprang free, bobbing for her riveted gaze. The thick shaft jutted from crisp black hair. Smooth skin stretched taut over prominent veins.
Mouthwatering.
His dusky balls looked heavy. She wanted to cup them, weigh them. Tug and watch him groan. His sac tightened before her eyes.
He stepped from his jeans to stand fully nude before her, arrogant as ever.
The sight of his lean, muscled frame and tattooed skin left her dumbstruck. She took her time, gaze roaming from his sexy hair, to his handsome face and penetrating eyes. To his brawny chest. The flexing ridges in his torso called to her claws.
As if Rune liked her eyes on his body, he grew even harder. Blood flowed to his dick so fast, it jerked. The broad crown strained toward her.
Her fangs sharpened for that veined shaft. She tapped one point with her tongue as she imagined grazing him there.
Would the dark fey shudder if she drew a line of blood and lapped it up? She'd never even had a blood kiss, yet her mind had already skipped ahead to a blood blow job.
What fun she would have with this guy tonight. Her lips curled. Best. Date. Ever.
His voice was gravelly when he said, "You like what you see." It wasn't a question.
She nodded happily. Just when she'd realized how wet she'd grown, he inhaled and tensed. Could he tell how he affected her? Of course, he'd scented her.
"You're ready." With a lethal grace, he lay back on the other side of the bed, all seven feet of sculpted fey/demon physique. A long, tall drink of blood.
He used a claw to prick his finger, and a bead of black arose.
Her eyes locked on that drop. The scent filled the air, making her light-headed.
He curled that pricked finger, summoning her. "Come and get it, dove." Then he drew a line directly over that maddening pulse point in his neck!
Her fangs were aching.
"Look at your little fangs sharpen. You crave the forbidden, don't you?"
Gaze fixed on that line, she went to her knees, climbing over to join him. She couldn't believe he was giving her his blood this easily. She bent to lick--
He grabbed her arms with his unnatural speed and tossed her to her back, securing her wrists in metal.
"What the hell?" The cuffs from before? He'd attached them to a chain leading from the wall. She fought to get free, but they were still unbreakable. "This wasn't part of the deal, Ruin!"
"This is my show, vampire. You follow my lead. And do not call me Ruin again."
"Asshole!"
His dark laugh sent shivers over her. "Do you want to rethink our wager?"
"It'll make it that much better when I win!"
"Vampire, I'm going to have you begging for me." He leaned forward as if to check on the cuffs, putting that line of blood in front of her face.
"Oooh! You dick!"
Blood had dried on his thumb, the scent remaining. He rubbed it on her face, along her cheekbones and jawline. Her lids slid shut, her head spinning.
"My vampire loves her baneblood, thinks it sweet."
God, I do. I do. Her eyes flashed open when his other hand glided to her chest. Through the thick fabric of her robe, he kneaded one of her tits.
They felt swollen, aching as much as her fangs.
She moistened her lips, and he groaned. "Fuck, you make me hard when you do that." His accent was heavier than she'd ever heard it.
"Will you kiss me?"
"I've wanted to. Have imagined it. But you'd steal blood from my tongue, wouldn't you?"
She couldn't deny it when she was licking one sharp fang.
He sounded as if he'd stifled a groan. "Then a kiss will be your reward for confiding in me. Once you've told me all, I'll take your lips and give you blood. But not before." He shook his head hard, reaching for the tie on her robe. "I'm keen to see the rest of your body."
She wanted to feel his gaze too, was panting in anticipation. Slowly, he bared her.
At the sight of her tits, black forked out over his eyes. He unsteadily sank back on his heels. "Your nipples are pierced? Were you a pleasure slave?" Had that been a hopeful note to his tone?
"No, I was never a slave."
He leaned forward, his head descending. He put his mouth right above one peak, so she could feel his hot breaths.
Her nipples had never been so hard. "Oh, God . . ." She didn't know where to look--was greedy to see every detail about him. His sensual lips. His rapt eyes. Were his hands balled into fists? His cock was pulsing.
"You had this done yourself?"
She nodded.
"You wicked little girl." His tongue flicked one nipple.
Sensation shot through her. "Ahh!"
/>
He wetted it. Blew on it. She arched up to the sizzling stimulation.
"Did a lover want you pierced?" He widened his knees. His straining shaft swayed with the movement.
"N-no. I like it."
He gazed at her face, as if to gauge her truthfulness. He held her eyes as he bent down . . . as he took the peak between his gorgeous lips . . . as he sucked. God, that smoldering sensuality was in full force.
Over her moan, she heard his teeth click against the piercing, which seemed to delight him. He sucked harder, tugging at her nipple to the point of discomfort--as she'd always wanted it.
Though he hadn't touched her below the waist, she wondered if she could come this way. She was soaked, her clit throbbing. Her core tightened, lusting for something to fill it.
He kneaded both of her tits, his black claws digging in. Something about his possessive grip on her body turned her on even more. She panted, perilously close to coming. So much for edging!
Against her nipple, he murmured, "Sweet as a meadowberry." Leaving that one wet, he kissed his way to her other breast. "You're already close." He couldn't sound smugger. "I haven't even touched your pussy, but you're drenched." His lips were just above her other nipple.
She arched that side of her body up. "Rune . . ."
"Patience, vampire. We've days of this ahead of us."
Days? She'd pass out. Die. Combust.
He touched the tip of his tongue to the peak just as his fingers tweaked the little barbell.
"Ah, yes!" Her pussy quivered in readiness, her own claws digging into her palms. So close to coming . . .
As he suckled with hungry pulls, her eyes slid closed, and sounds bombarded her. Her desperate moans. The rattling cuffs.
The wet suction of his mouth . . .
Heightened emotions brought on ghosting. But she didn't fear it. She was tethered by the cuffs, by every throb and every pang that told her she was more than air.
She was embodied. Carnal. How could she ever float away when it would mean missing this?
Once he'd left both nipples damp and swollen, he kissed down her torso to her pierced navel. With another groan, he nuzzled the tassel there.
Hips rocking, she widened her knees.
He hissed in a ragged breath. "I scent your sweetness. Need to see it." In a blur, he clawed through the robe's arms and yanked the entire cloth from her.
When he'd left her nude and gasping, his gaze descended from her face to her breasts to her navel to her pussy. He narrowed his eyes at the tiny ring at the top of her clit, as if he wasn't seeing correctly. "Gods almighty."
She swallowed. Before, she would've killed to have him between her legs; now she grew nervous.
He looked like he was about to consume her.
She drew her knees up protectively.
"Ah-ah." He'd shoved her legs open before she could blink. "Never close yourself to me." Like an animal, he glided between them.
Licking his lips, he gently parted her folds. His nostrils flared and his cock jerked. He wrapped his big fist around it to give an absent stroke. "I am going to eat my wicked girl alive."
TWENTY-ONE
The vampire's glistening sex was offered like a prize before him. At his words, she rolled her hips, tantalizing him with her spread lips, with her intoxicating scent.
Sounding out of his head, he growled, "You pierced your pussy for me." He leaned down to tease the ring with his tongue.
She went wild, her thighs flexing around his ears. "Yes, Rune!" They met gazes over her mons. Her eyes were bright, glimmering black. Between breaths, she said, "You. You are exciting. This is . . . so freaking fun."
Fun? She wouldn't think so for much longer.
Though he could have played with that ring for decades, the scent of her arousal drew him to her opening.
Honey. Warm from the source.
His first time to enjoy this act would be indulging in the most beautiful pussy he'd ever imagined. Mouth covering her, he thrust his tongue for his first taste.
"Ahhh!" She twisted in her bonds.
His eyes rolled back in his head. He dug his claws into her ass, then panicked, retracting them.
No, no, my vampire can take it. She even seemed to like it. He flexed his claws again and gripped her hips. She moaned and undulated to his mouth.
"Fuck, you get so wet. You needed this, didn't you?" How was he going to keep from plunging into this tight slickness? The pressure in his cock made him gnash his teeth. The crown swelled, the slit so sensitive. His balls ached as if they'd been booted. Was this what it felt like with seed?
Agony! Want more.
He curled his tongue for another helping, groaning against her entrance. He would never get enough of this. Her little lips flared in offer. He sucked one, then the other.
She was watching him, eyes hooded. "You haven't done this before, right?"
He shouldn't call attention to his inexperience with this.
"Well, what do you think?"
Power dynamics, he reminded himself. But he wanted to roar about his discovery, to share it. "You're fucking addictive," he rasped with another lick. And another. Another. Can't get enough!
"Oh! Good. Ohhh."
I'm eating her, and it's bliss. He pinned her to the mattress as he began to feast in earnest.
Her head thrashed, her long hair streaming over the bed. She was about to come, and he didn't care. Nothing could tear him away.
"Oh God, oh God!" She yanked against the cuffs, writhing under his kiss. "You're doing it!"
He gazed up her body. Her pierced tits quivered, her mouth open from her cries.
Between licks, he said, "There you go, Josie." He sounded crazed. "Give your come to me." His vision blurred until she appeared to flicker before him.
"Rune, I'm . . . COMING!"
She screamed with pleasure; he tasted her orgasm; his mind turned over.
He buried his face between her legs. Snarling. Sucking. Feasting. Fucking her with his tongue. Groaning as he consumed her.
Her pussy was a revelation. Her body was everything.
The throbbing in his length commanded him to move his hips--to rub his shaft, to sink it, to penetrate her wet core with cock instead of tongue. He fucked the sheets, rutting the bed in a frenzy. Anything for the agonizing pressure to end. Friction burned the crown, the slit. His heavy balls drew up.
About to come already? Control it, hold off!
She was peaking again, and he wanted more of her luscious honey. "AGAIN!" he ordered, clawing her ass.
She obeyed with a wanton cry, bucking against his probing tongue to give it to him.
Sensation coursed up and down his spine. His shaft jerked violently between the mattress and his torso. Pleasure lashed him, so much pleasure . . . so much--
He gave a brutal groan against her slippery, plump pussy.
RELEASE.
He threw back his head. His yell was a fucking war bellow--as wave after wave seized his body, flinging him to some place he'd never been before.
He was out of control. Control was a jest. He surrendered. Shattered.
His back bowed, his cock pulsating as if to shoot seed. Heart-stopping tremors . . .
On and on and on.
Gradually that exquisite pressure relented, and his yell ebbed in his chest. As the world spun, he lay with his head on her pale, trembling thigh, heaving his breaths. Only the two of them existed; he was certain.
He licked his lips, her taste proving what he'd experienced was real. An hour passed, a day, an age. He didn't care; he needed to rest. Not because he was sated--solely because his release had seemed to alter him.
"Rune?"
Her drawling voice roused him. What the hells had he done? So much was at stake, and he hadn't even asked a single question!
With effort, he sat up. Making it to his knees, he swiped his forearm over his mouth. He'd seen her naked and lost his godsdamned mind--as if he hadn't been doing this his entire life. As if he didn't
pride himself on his prowess.
He'd come from rutting the sheets. How the old queen would laugh. He gritted his fangs. Get control of the situation. Begin anew.
He surveyed Josephine's body for the next round. Where was his clinical detachment? For the first time in his life, he didn't know what sexual thing he wanted to do next. Bed sport had always been about limitations--can't do that, can't touch that, can't put my mouth there.
Now the options were dizzying. His repertoire hadn't prepared him for this. "Good. We got that out of the way." His voice sounded off. Strained. From his war bellow.
Still panting, she said, "I was so close to telling you everything. No, really. Swear." She flashed him that bedazzling smile. "Next time I'm sure I will. Should we get to it?"
Rune was going to make her eat her words. "You've just made me that much more determined, vampire."
TWENTY-TWO
Maybe Jo shouldn't have taunted the dark fey. Over what had to be hours, or even days, he'd teased her mercilessly.
Again and again, he would take her right to the edge, patiently toying with her. Whenever she reached the very brink, he backed off. At times, he would nick himself, spicing the air just to make her insane.
Her body from the waist down was one tender ache. The cuffs had chafed her wrists. Her eyes were wet with pink tears, her mind reeling.
But . . .
She was a woman of flesh--a yearning, empty, horny woman. And she loved it.
Releasing his suck on a nipple, he leaned up over her breasts, his expression ominous. He'd questioned her as he tormented her, to no avail. "You must be so thirsty." He sliced the pad of his forefinger.
The scent hit her. Her thirst scalded her. "Just a taste, Rune. . . ." Her claws dug into her palms till her own blood spilled. With a cry, she punctured her bottom lip with a fang.
"Tell me anything about Nix."
She shook her head. "Can't."
He ran his bleeding finger across her chest, painting her. His blood was searing, a brand over her skin. He traced it over one swollen nipple, and she could only moan.
He eased down her body, making himself comfortable between her thighs once more.
She whimpered, anticipating what was to come--namely, not her.
"Look at your lush little slit." He'd discovered what his dirty talk did to her. "My cock would fill you to the brim, vampire, have you screaming for mercy." He tickled her opening with his tongue, French-kissing it. "For now, do you need my fingers fucking you, dove?"
"Yes, fucking me!"
He slipped in one, and her needy core clenched it, her body trying to capture it.