I padded barefoot into the room, my eyes adjusting quickly in the shift from the light outside in the hallway to the darkness of his chamber. The scent of him filled every inch of the room, and my soul uncoiled at the sight of him sprawled across his bed.
A black silk sheet covered his lower half, exposing the sharp muscles in his back and one large muscular thigh. Face down, only his profile was visible, but he was just as devastatingly handsome in sleep. Softer, somehow, not as menacing, but still powerful.
I reached out a fingertip, unable to resist the urge to run it down the ridge of his back—
A low growl broke the silence in the room. One second I stood at the side of his bed, the next my spine hit the mattress in a whirl of movement that sent my head spinning.
Alek’s fingers were firm around my throat, his muscular body covering every inch of my own, those eyes glowing and fierce and hungry.
I smoothed my fingers over the wrist at my throat, my eyes flared wide as I searched his, as I waited for recognition to hit him.
One heartbeat.
Then two.
“Lyric?” His voice was like gravel as he tilted his head.
I nodded, my heart thumping against my chest, my body arching into his. Despite his hold, despite the power coiling around his body, I knew he wouldn’t hurt me. Knew it like I knew how to breathe.
“Lyric,” he sighed my name this time, drawing his hand back but not shifting off of me. “What are you doing here?”
“You need me,” I said, my voice a whisper as I smoothed my fingers over the muscles in his arms, down his back, and up again. He shivered under my touch. “I’m here.”
“Lyric, I could hurt you—”
“Stop,” I demanded, shaking my head. I arched beneath him, feeling his desire for me through the flimsy silk of the robe. “Stop staying away from me. Stop saying you’ll hurt me. I know you won’t. And I can’t stand the fact that you’re in pain. It stings every inch of me. Please,” I said, hooking my leg over his hip.
Alek hissed, his fangs descending in a blink. I reached up with my free hand, rubbing the tip of my finger over one. So sharp, strong. He closed his eyes, arching his head back as he pressed his hips between my legs.
“What in all of Hell are you wearing?” he growled, opening his eyes to scan the length of me. I smiled up at him, at the way his body relaxed against my touch. He shifted all his weight to one arm, freeing his hand to explore. With a few strokes, he’d untied the robe, allowing it to fall open to reveal my silk shorts and tank top. “Goddamnit, Lyric,” he groaned.
“What?” I asked, breathless as he touched me with the lightest of pressures.
“You look like dessert,” he said.
“As long as I’m your dessert—”
“Mine,” he cut me off, pressing harder against me. I gasped, rolling my hips, needing more of that pressure.
“Yours,” I sighed, my head whirling, my heart racing.
The word unleashed something in him because one second he held so still I wanted to scream at him and the next? He crushed his lips on mine, parting my lips with his tongue. He tasted dark and sweet and hot, and I moaned at the feel of his tongue on mine. Careful of the fangs, I flicked my tongue along the edges of his teeth, teasing him just as he teased me. He snaked one arm beneath my back, hefting me upward, situating his hard cock against my center. I could feel the heat of him through the shorts, and I hated the thin fabric barrier between us.
“Alek,” I moaned between his lips, rocking against him, begging him with my body to put me out of my misery. “Please,” I sighed, nipping at his bottom lip.
He smirked against my mouth, slipping his free hand between us, diving beneath the hem of my shorts. “Fuck,” he hissed when he found I wore nothing beneath them. His fingers were strong as he slid them through me, and was instantly drenched with my need. “You’re soaked for me,” he said, teasing my clit with light flicks.
I rocked upward, needing more pressure, more of him. He slid through my folds, rubbing up and down, slipping in and out for seconds at a time. Winding me up so tight I was certain I’d shatter.
“Alek,” I practically growled, digging my nails into his bare back. He hissed, and I saw the hunger in his eyes as he plunged in one finger, then two. I arched into his touch, needing him to fill me in every way possible. I moved on his hand, seeking out that release that he controlled. Body, mind, soul, this man had possessed me completely. I could feel him in every cell in my body, hungered for him in every inch of my soul.
And I made sure that shone through my eyes as I locked with his, and turned my head to the side, exposing my neck.
He growled, pausing his torture of me, stilling so completely I whimpered.
“Feed,” I demanded, begged. “Now,” I said, and rocked on his hand for emphasis. I wanted to take care of him just as much as he cared for me. Wanted to give him this, the one true value I had to offer him.
“Lyric,” he groaned, lowering his lips to my exposed neck. “Fuck, you’re perfect,” he whispered against my skin. He pumped his fingers inside me, harder, faster, finding that spot deep inside and curling his fingers against it. And just when I was coiled as tight as I could possibly be, just as I couldn’t breathe from wanting this man, needing this man—
He sank his fangs into the soft flesh of my neck.
And I screamed.
Moaned.
Shattered as I burst into a thousand pieces beneath him.
My entire body sparked and ignited, shimmered and sighed a gasp of pure release as electricity barreled down my spine.
I shuddered, warmth cascading over my skin as he sucked and drank from me, as my orgasm shivered and shook. And when he drew his head back, his lips stained with my blood, I nearly came again at the sight. At the primal claiming written in the depths of his eyes.
He lapped his tongue along the tiny puncture wounds, sealing the holes with one stroke.
I reached for him, pumping his hard cock in my hands, shifting beneath him to get him right where I needed him—
“Lyric,” he groaned, shaking his head and pulling away just out of my reach.
I whimpered again. “Don’t you want to—”
“More than anything,” he cut me off, scooting to the opposite side of the bed.
I gaped at his retreat.
“I told you,” he said, smiling a rare smile I’m sure few people ever saw. “I need to marry you first,” he said, trailing one finger along the edge of my arm and down. I trembled under that touch.
“Don’t you think it’s a little unfair?” I asked, turning on my side to face him. “I keep having all the fun while you’re left wanting—”
“You give me everything, Lyric,” he said, shaking his head. “Watching you come? Making you shatter?” He licked his lips. “I’d be content doing that for the rest of forever.”
“But what if I want to take care of you?”
“You fed me,” he said.
“More than that,” I said, my heart still racing. God, I wanted him on a level I never knew possible. I wanted him to feel as undone as me. Wanted to unravel him the way he did me. Wanted to drive him mad in the same way.
“Then you know what you have to do,” he said, his voice all tease.