If I couldn’t take her fully like every cell in my body demanded, then I would at least taste her orgasm singing through her blood.
I supported her back, then scraped my nail across the lace covering her clit, and she gasped.
I pinched, and she groaned, her thighs trembling.
I pressed and rubbed, and she came apart, screaming my name and going limp under me. Sweet, addictive, nectar rushed over my tongue, and I drank and drank as she shuddered again and again each pull of my mouth brought another wave until we were both lost.
Her heartbeat stopped pounding and…stuttered.
I broke my bite, swiping my tongue over the small puncture marks to seal them shut and kick-start her own healing process, then jerked my head back to look in her eyes.
They were hazy with satisfaction, but her cheeks had paled. Her breathing slowed.
“I took too much.” Fear chilled my lust in less time than it took to blink.
“I’m okay,” she insisted, her words slurring.
“You’re not. Fuck, Lyric, I’m so sorry.” I couldn’t remember the last time I’d apologized to anyone, but I’d spend the rest of my life pleading for her forgiveness. Her head rolled against me as I gathered her in my arms, carrying her limp frame over to the couch and settling her in my lap.
Slow. Her heartbeat was too slow. I hadn’t just taken too much, I’d nearly drained her.
Her beautiful eyes fluttered shut.
“Damn it. Lyric, open your eyes.” I held her head upright. “You’re dying. I took too much. You have to drink.” It was the only chance she had.
Her eyes flared open, but only for a second. “I’m not drinking blood again. Yuck.”
“Look at me.”
She forced her eyes open, meeting my gaze.
“You have to feed, Lyric. I can’t lose you.” Panic formed a pit in my stomach. “It doesn’t…” I battled my own instincts, my fangs descending even though I’d just fed. “It doesn’t have to be me. I can get you someone else, but you have to feed.” I’d simply kill the other vampire directly after. No one else would be allowed to live after being inside Lyric in any way. Ever.
“I’ll die?” Her brow furrowed as if she finally understood the gravity of our situation.
I nodded, my lips pressing into a firm line. Even now her heart was slowing, the euphoria from the bite and her orgasm fading.
“Only you,” she whispered.
Thank fuck. She was going to feed. I scored my wrist with a fang and pressed the small cut to her lips. She’d been nearly unconscious the last time I’d done this.
She swallowed once, then locked eyes with me and didn’t look away as her mouth opened against my wrist. Then she drank, her eyes flaring at the first sip.
“You’re doing great.” My dick surged as I watched her lips on my skin, felt her soft, drawing sucks. I listened to the rhythm of her heart steady, then grow stronger. “Just a little more, baby.” Where the fuck did that endearment come from?
Her skin flushed with health, and I sighed in relief. “That’s enough. You can sleep off the rest.”
She broke the suction at my wrist, and I quickly ran my tongue over the cut to seal it shut.
“Are you okay?” I asked, cradling her against my chest. It had been so close, and I’d been so utterly fucking stupid to lose myself and endanger her like that.
She nodded, touching her lips with her fingers. “Is it weird if I say that you taste really good?” Her forehead scrunched.
I laughed. “I’ll take it as a compliment because you taste fucking incredible.” I already felt stronger, my powers flexing and expanding to fill the room, the house, the estate. I knew instantly where every vampire was and who they were with. I was back.
“As good as the humans you keep over in the other house?” She arched a brow and licked her lower lip.
I cradled her face and stroked her cheek with my thumb. “You taste better than anyone I’ve ever come across.” My brow furrowed. “It’s why I took too much.”
She lifted her hand and smoothed the skin between my eyebrows. “Don’t worry so much. I’m fine. I’m better than fine.” She grinned.
I caught her hand and pressed a kiss to her palm.
That’s when I saw it.
Gravity shifted again, but this time I wasn’t floating away, wasn’t lost. I was tethered to her—to Lyric.
The cravings. The need. The possessive, primal feelings. It all made perfect sense, and there was no denying it anymore, not now that she’d even opened the door to the battle room. “I know why the door let you in,” I muttered, studying the circular tattoo that consumed the inches beneath her wrist.
It was identical to the mark above my heart—the heart that now lurched at my ribs like it was the only barrier to get to her.