Hunted

  * * * * *

  Sylvan was having the most incredibly erotic dream. Sophia was naked in the shower and warm, soapy water was dripping from her tight pink nipples. God, he loved her ripe breasts, the curve of her hips, the round fullness of her ass. Just the sight of her had him hard and aching in an instant and his fangs wanted to come out too. Sylvan held them in grimly until she stopped washing herself and started… Gods, is she really doing what I think she’s doing?

  Sure enough. As if the sight of her gorgeous bare body wasn’t enough, Sophia’s slim hand slid down the rounded curve of her abdomen and settled between her thighs. A long, slow sigh fell out of her as she parted her pussy lips and began to stroke her clit with one finger.

  Sylvan could barely hold back a growl. He had the sudden urge to drop to his knees right there and let the water run over both of them while he lapped her cunt. He wanted to press her back against the wall of the tiny shower stall and lick her from top to bottom, to press his tongue deep inside her honey well and taste her juices until she came for him again and again. And then he would stand behind her and part her legs to fit his cock inside her.

  Sylvan could almost see it in his mind’s eye…Sophia’s slender form bent over with her legs spread for him. She would be bracing herself against the tiled wall, trembling slightly. But he would take things slowly…so slowly. He could almost feel the wet heat of her pussy against the head of his cock as he rubbed it against her, making her hot, making her ready…His shaft would be coated in her honey and she would feel so tight and silky and perfect around him as he pressed up into her, filling her inch by inch.

  She would be moaning his name as he took her, making those soft, helpless little sounds she made when she was hot and in need as he pressed up and up, searching for the end of her channel with the head of his cock. Sylvan would reach around in front of her and cup her breasts, tugging lightly at her nipples to heighten her pleasure and then he would let his hand slide down to slip between her thighs and stroke her soft, wet pussy just like she was stroking herself now.

  He would fuck her slowly, sweetly, whispering in her ear how good she felt around him, how much he loved her, how he never wanted to let her go. And then, when her pleasure built until she couldn’t stand it anymore and he felt her coming around him, he would do it. He would blood her.

  Piercing the tender skin of her throat with his fangs, he would fill her bloodstream with his essence as he filled her pussy with his cum, while she moaned and cried and gave herself to him completely and without reservation. And in doing so, he would make her his. His forever.

  Sylvan could almost hear her calling his name as it happened.

  “Sylvan…oh God, Sylvan…”

  His eyes flew open. That’s no dream. She’s really calling me! What’s wrong? Jumping up he rushed to the bathroom and threw open the door. The small room was so filled with steam he couldn’t see a thing.

  “Sophia? Are you all right?” Without waiting for a reply he plunged into the steam filled room, heading for the shower. One yank and the door to the small stall was hanging off its hinges, revealing a very wet, naked, and surprised Sophia.

  “What…what are you doing here?” She tried unsuccessfully to cover her breasts and sex with her small hands.

  “What am I doing here? You called for me.” Sylvan frowned. “You sounded…upset.”

  “You heard that?” Her eyes were wide with disbelief. “Over the water and everything?”

  He spread his hands. “I’m here, aren’t I? Are you all right?” He tried to keep his gaze impersonal as he scanned her for possible injuries but it simply wasn’t possible. Though he had spread her open and tasted her pussy the night before, he had never seen her completely naked except in his dreams. Her high full breasts and shapely hips, bare and slick with water, were almost too much for him. He wanted to climb in the shower with her, just as he had in his dream. Wanted to touch her and taste her everywhere and make her come over and over, her pussy honey flowing freely until he could smell her sweet, secret scent…

  Her scent! Gods, Sylvan realized with a jolt, I can smell her scent again! It filled the small bathroom as completely as the cloud of steam, bathing him in its delicious fragrance, making his mouth water…and no doubt seeping out of every crack in the cabin on the warm air escaping from the bathroom. Calling the urlich to them.

  “Sylvan,” she said, breaking into his grim thoughts. “Please, as you can see I’m fine. So if you could just shut the door and let me finish—”

  “No.” Reaching into the shower he turned off the water and took her by the arm. “Get out and dry off. Now.”

  “What? Why?” She looked at him, her eyes suddenly wide. “What are you going to do to me?”

  I have no idea. What could he do to repair the damage? They didn’t have time

  for a long, leisurely marking again, even if he thought he could resist going further than she wanted to go. And besides, as he’d told her earlier, the scent glands around his mouth weren’t nearly as strong as those around his groin. But there was no way he could mark her that way. Not without bringing back the memory of her attack.

  “I don’t know,” he said shortly.

  “Sylvan, please…” Her face was suddenly filled with fear. “You…you’re scaring me,” she whispered.

  “I’m sorry.” He felt his heart twist. “That’s the last thing I want, truly, Sophia. But your scent is everywhere in here and it’s being carried outside by the warm, moist air.”

  She turned suddenly pale and grabbed for a towel. “I…I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to wash your scent off me but I thought it would be okay because you said the urlich were incapacitated by sunlight.”

  “Bright, direct sunlight,” he said, pulling her out of the bathroom. “I know you probably didn’t notice last night but this cabin is completely surrounded by dense vegetation. We may have to go miles to reach open ground. Not that that’s an issue right now—there’s no way we can leave here with your scent so strong in the air. And if the urlich catch it…” He shook his head.

  “I…I don’t know what to say.” Sophia was knotting the too-short towel around her chest as she spoke. “I’m sorry I misunderstood you but I thought it would be safe to take a shower. I…I guess I should have asked first but you looked so tired, I wanted to let you sleep.”

  Sylvan sighed and ran a hand though his hair. “You taking a shower isn’t the problem. That would wash off some of my scent but not completely eradicate it.”

  “Well then I don’t understand how—”

  “It could only be caused by you coming,” Sylvan said, more roughly than he’d intended. “An orgasm floods your body with hormones causing it to put out pheromones. Not to mention the fact that your pussy gets wet, washing away any scent but your own. And you know how wet you get…numala.”

  Sophia lifted her chin, embarrassment and anger warring in her gaze. “You never told me that. Never told me I couldn’t…couldn’t…You know.”

  Sylvan blew out a breath. “I was trying to last night when I asked how often you touched yourself. You acted like you never did. If you’d been a little more forthright I could have warned you not to.”

  “I can’t believe this.” She crossed her arms over her breasts, glaring at him. “How was I supposed to answer? I mean that’s private.”

  “Well, it’s about to be very public once the wind carries your scent back to the urlich.” Sylvan could hear the snarl in his voice but he couldn’t quite help it. Her delicious scent was affecting him too—calling to him as surely as it would the urlich that would come running to it. And he couldn’t get the image of her wet and naked out of his mind! It was enough to drive a male crazy.

  I’m not acting like myself. Need to calm down, take control… But this time he couldn’t. Turning abruptly, he stalked away from Sophia, trying to put some distance between them. He took a deep calming breath…and felt her small hand on his bare shoulder.

  “Sylvan?” When he turned
to look at her, all the defiance in her face had melted away, leaving only fear and regret. “Sylvan, I really am so sorry,” she said softly. “I never imagined I would put us in danger again just by, uh, indulging in a fantasy.”

  “It’s not your fault,” he said hoarsely, trying to keep his eyes on her face. “I should have told you instead of—what’s that human expression? Beating up the bush?”

  She smiled. “It’s beating around the bush. But, Sylvan…” She let her hand slide down his arm and he swore he could feel the soft touch on his cock. “Can’t we…can’t we just solve this the way we did last night? I mean couldn’t you just, uh, mark me again?” Her cheeks were pink and her voice was breathy as she asked the question. For a moment her scent got even stronger.

  She wants it. Wants me to taste her, to bury my face between her thighs and lick her pussy until she comes and comes… Sylvan wanted it as well. Too damn much. So much he felt like he was going to explode. “I—” he started to say.

  “Oh!” Sophia jumped back from him, a hand to her mouth. “Your fangs…”

  “I’m sorry, Sophia. I can’t always hold them back—even for you.” Sylvan tested the point of one jagged, double fang with his tongue, drawing blood. The sharp pain was nothing to the ache in his cock…in his entire body. Gods, he wanted her so damned badly. “I can’t mark you with my mouth this time,” he told her. “I want you too much and I’m right on the edge.”

  “You…you think you’d cut me by accident?” She gestured timidly at his fangs.

  “No, I know I wouldn’t do that. I could go down on you for hours, even with my fangs fully extended, and not leave a scratch on you. ” He gave her a level look. “But I don’t know if I could stop myself from biting you when I felt you coming.”

  “Oh,” she whispered again, her eyes wide. “You…you don’t?”

  “It’s the way of the Blood Kindred. To inject our essence at the moment our female reaches her peak. An instinct so ancient it’s nearly impossible to overcome. I was able to repress it last night, before I tasted you for the first time. Now…” Sylvan shook his head. “The flavor of your honey, the taste of your hot, wet pussy under my tongue…you lit a fire in me, Talana. And nothing but sinking my cock and fangs to the hilt in your sweet, soft body will put it out.”

  Sophia was backing away from him now. “You wouldn’t,” she said in a shaking voice. “You promised…”

  “A promise I have every intention of keeping,” Sylvan said roughly. “Don’t worry, you have nothing to fear from me. But I can’t mark you again—not with my mouth.”

  She went pale and sat down on the bed. “But Sylvan I don’t…don’t think I can handle the other way either. Not…especially not when you’re like…like this. So close to the edge, like you said. Your eyes…your fangs… I’m sorry but you scare the hell out of me right now.”

  Sylvan ran a hand over his face, as though he could change what she saw there by touch. The rage was on him again but it wasn’t just because he might have to fight the urlich. It was a claiming, possessive blood rage. An extremity of emotion brought on by his intense longing for her.

  His blood was boiling in his veins and a red veil had drifted over his vision. The urge to make her his permanently, to mark her and bond her until he never had to worry about losing her was so strong he had to turn away again. “I’m sorry, Sophia,” he growled, hating the animalistic tone of his voice and not being able to change it. “I don’t know what to do, how else to mark you. And I don’t want you to fear me. Although maybe…maybe you should.”

  There was a long silence and he half-thought she must have retreated back into the bathroom. It wouldn’t have surprised him at all. In fact, it would have been a very sensible move. But then she tapped him on the shoulder again.

  “No,” she said, when he turned slowly around. “I…I refuse to be frightened of you. I know you won’t hurt me, Sylvan. Because that’s not the kind of man—of male— you are. I know I can trust you.”

  “But I can’t trust myself.” He risked taking her small, soft hands in his. “Please, Talana, I’m touched by your faith in me but tasting you…it flipped some kind of switch inside me. Caused a fundamental change. I can’t mark you the way I did last night and you don’t want me to mark you the traditional way. So we’re out of options—there’s nothing else I can do but wait for the urlich and try to fight them off.”

  “No, that’s not true.” Sophie’s face was still pale but her chin was raised and she had that glint in her eyes—that look of determination she got when she was about to do something that frightened her. “You…you just need to rub against me to mark me, right?” she asked, gesturing to the clear outline of his cock in his black flight pants. Gods, he was so hard even the soft fabric that restrained him hurt!

  Sylvan nodded. “There’s a little more to it than that but yes, that’s the essence of it.”

  “Well…” Sophie bit her lip. “Why does it have to be you rubbing against me? Why can’t it be the other way around?”

  He frowned. “What are you saying?”

  “I’m saying why do you have to be the one on top? What if you lay on the bed and I got…got on top of you?” Her cheeks were crimson with embarrassment but she was clearly determined to get the words out. “I could press myself against you. Against your, uh, scent glands. Couldn’t we…wouldn’t it work that way?”

  Sylvan closed his eyes for a moment as a vivid mental image filled his mind. Sophia on top of him, naked and rubbing her hot, wet pussy over his aching cock. He nearly groaned. Gods, could he stand it? Could he possibly just lie there and let her touch him so intimately without wanting to flip her over and penetrate her hard and deep, filling her with his shaft and fangs and claiming her completely?

  “I don’t know, Sophia,” he said, opening his eyes to look at her. “Don’t know if I could let you do that and not…respond.” He had a sudden idea. “But maybe if you used my belt.”

  “What?” She took a step back. “Look, Sylvan, I’m not that kinky. I don’t care what you want to do to me, I’m not going to beat you with your own belt for it.”

  “No.” He shook his head. “I mean if you tied me up—fastened my wrists to the headboard.”

  She looked at the black leather belt he wore around his waist and then at the wooden headboard. “Are you sure?”

  Sylvan took a deep breath. It was going to be pure torture—feeling her against him without being able to enter her. But there was nothing else they could do. He nodded. “Do it. And quickly—we don’t have much time.”

  * * * * *

  I cannot believe I’m doing this. Sophie checked the fit of the black leather belt around his wrists for the third time, making sure it was securely fastened around the center strut of the wooden headboard. If anyone would have asked her she would have sworn without a doubt that there wasn’t a single kinky bone in her body. And now she was trying a guy down so she could rub against him naked without him biting her. It was crazy and a little bit frightening but Sophie knew she would be lying if she didn’t admit she found it a little bit exciting too. And it was certainly less scary than the idea of having Sylvan’s big body on top of hers, making her feel helpless and smothered.

  Less scary but a hell of a lot more embarrassing. She resolutely didn’t look below his waist. He’d undressed before lying on the bed so she could bind him, and the few glimpses she’d gotten of his big cock made her blush. He was already hard for her—that much she could tell. And his massive size hadn’t been a figment of her overheated imagination the night before either. His shaft really did match the rest of his large, muscular body. Huge.

  She finished checking the belt for the last time and then sat back, acknowledging that it was time to get on with things. Sylvan was looking up at her with a waiting expression on his face and every muscle in his big body was tense, as though he was ready to pounce.

  She wished he didn’t look quite so frightening. The pupils of his eyes were blood red and his fangs
were still fully extended. It made her feel like she was about to perform a perverted sex act with some kind of animal or demon—something that would certainly bite if it got loose.

  Don’t think of him like that, she told herself sternly. Remember how he was last night when he cried for you, when he tasted you. That Sylvan, the sweet, kind, sensitive male…he was the one she wished for. But she had an idea that for the time being, at least, he was gone and wasn’t coming back.

  “Sophia.” His deep voice was a low, lustful growl. “It’s time.”

  She bit her lip. “I know. It’s just… you’re a big guy,” she said, trying to keep the quiver out of her voice. “I mean, really big. Aren’t you strong enough to break either the belt or the bed or both?”

  Sylvan shrugged. “Of course. The belt is more of a reminder than anything else. Being held down makes me stop and think before I act. Before I… do something I might regret,” he finished in a low tone.

  Sophie tried not to shiver. “All right, then. And I guess we want you to be able to get out if the uh, urlich come, don’t we?”

  “If I hear them I’ll shred the belt and snap this strut like a twig.” His biceps flexed, giving truth to his words. “But the sooner we get you marked, the less likely that is to be necessary.”

  “Yes, I know…” Biting her lip again, Sophia scooted a little closer until she was kneeling right beside him on the bed. “I guess I just…don’t know quite how to start.”

  “Start by straddling me,” he directed in that deep, growling voice. “Come on, Sophia—I won’t bite,” he added more softly. “You tied me down so I

  couldn’t, remember?”

  She realized that despite his own inner tension, he was trying to make a joke, to make this a little easier for her. “All right,” she said, trying to smile. “I’ll do it.”

  She was still just wearing the pink towel knotted above her breasts and nothing else, so she maneuvered carefully, trying not to flash him. Finally she had herself settled with her knees planted on either side of his hips and there she stopped…unable to go any further.