Ethan released by spreading his fingers wide and met Quinlan’s battling energy, both streams engaging in the middle so that sparks flew in every direction.
“Ethan, what the f**k are you doing?” Quinlan’s deep voice broke through the fireworks, but Ethan’s mind had become locked onto the necessity of killing the vampire who’d gone after his woman.
“You need to die,” left his mouth.
“Fuck. Sweet Goddess. Vojalie, do something. Get Samantha to intervene.”
Ethan, calm down.
Samantha’s sudden voice in his head startled Ethan, jarring him for a moment from the energy he kept focused at the enemy.
You need to feed and I’m ready. Ethan come to me. Take from my vein. Take what you need. I want my hands on you, stroking you until you’re ready for me. Let me lie down for you, pull you down on me. My vein is ready.
The erotic images began having an effect. He felt confused and his battle energy began to fade. At the same time, the enemy’s eased back as well.
That’s it. Come to me. I’m here, to your right.
Then he felt Samantha’s touch, her hand on his arm, and he shifted his attention to her. He had to get her out of this place, he had to take her to safety, and he had to let her know she was his.
Without looking back, he gathered her in his arms and flew her at a speed he’d never used before. He saw women scatter as he sped through the halls and down the stairs. Once he reached the open doors that led to the fairgrounds, he shot into the night air, Samantha tight in his arms.
He couldn’t take her back to his main house. He needed someplace safer, where he could be alone with her. He had a secure cave-dwelling not far from here.
He flew west, Samantha’s raspberry wine scent pouring over him. She wrapped her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck. Ethan, I need you. Her h*ps rocked even while he flew.
Oaks gave way to a forest of beech trees.
Skimming over the top, he searched for the opening in the canopy, the only overhead signal to his fortress home. He flew almost straight down, one arm holding Samantha over her back, the other supporting her bottom.
She was his, and Quinlan couldn’t have her. No other mastyr would ever have Samantha. She belonged to him. He’d been inside her, branded her with his seed, made her his even if they hadn’t completed the joining that would mark her permanently.
Once below the canopy, he flew along a narrow path, one he’d flown thousands of times before. He knew every twist and turn. Finally, he reached the hillside and the house he’d built of more steel and glass that fronted a cavern and grotto he’d created for his own use. Of his several homes, this one was the most secure.
He touched down in front of the door, but never let go of Samantha. He unlocked using a keypad, passed over the threshold, then sealed up his hiding place.
If he’d ever wondered at his purpose in creating a retreat like this for himself, he now understood why.
The chemicals that still raced through his blood, fogged his mind, telling him his woman was in supreme danger. His rational thoughts hung back, shouting at him, but he couldn’t hear the words.
Nothing made sense except the woman in his arms.
She looked up at him, stroking his cheek with the backs of her fingers, turning into him and biting his shoulder through his woven shirt. He must have lost his coat when he’d gone after Quinlan.
He carried her down a set of stairs, shifting into levitated flight so that he floated.
I hear a waterfall.
Yes, we’re in my grotto. I need your blood.
A soft groan left her lips and this time she bit his muscled arm, then moved upward to sink her teeth into his shoulder once more.
When he reached the waterfall, at the far end of the cavern, he settled her on her feet then stripped her out of her flowered dress. He might have ripped her bra into two pieces, he wasn’t sure.
She stuck close as he got rid of his shirt. She helped him remove his boots and battle leathers. He drew her backward, toward the waterfall and sat down on the stone bench so that the warm spring water struck his back. He spread his legs and drew her between them, pulling her close to take a breast in his mouth.
In this position, he plundered both br**sts, sucking on her ni**les, working each with his hands, plucking with his fingers, riding his tongue over each mound and rigid tip. She held onto his shoulders, her body undulating as she flexed the breast in his mouth, pushing, wanting more. He sucked harder. She cupped the back of his neck.
Take what you need, Ethan. Take all that you need. Everything. My heart pounds for you now, laden with the supply you’re after. Let me feed you.
Samantha, he’s not for you.
He’s not for me. You’re for me.
You’re mine.
I’m yours.
He left her br**sts and rose to his feet, taking her in his arms. He kissed her hard, driving his tongue between parted lips.
She encircled his neck, dropping her arms to embrace his shoulders, then sinking her nails. The sensation worked him, like everything else worked him right now, whether her voice in his head, her body plastered against his, or the soft recesses of her mouth that he drove into again and again.
How do you want my blood? At my neck? Or how about at my groin, or my arm while I nurse on you low?
He groaned hard. Hold your breath. I want you to experience this while I make you come.
Experience what?
The water.
She glanced at the waterfall, then at the stone bench. He turned and pivoted the bench to lie underneath the flow of water.
Oh, I see. Genius.
Ready? He didn’t need an answer, not really, not when the scent of her sex now permeated the moist, cool air.
He pulled her backward, beneath the waterfall, protecting her from the full force of the water. He then stretched out on his back and beckoned for her to lie on top of him.
She glanced around first. Ferns grew in abundance because of a natural crevice of light high overhead.
Paradise, she murmured.
Because you’re here, yes. He met and held her gaze and took her hand, pulling her close. Now, mount me. Take me inside you.
She shifted a leg over his h*ps and looking down, used one of her hands to guide him to her opening. Her back arched as she sank down on his cock.
I’ve needed this. Her voice in his head rocked his h*ps and she moaned heavily.
He held her waist, his h*ps moving to seat himself deep. Now lean over me, I’m going to shift beneath the waterfall so that it hits you just right.
She obeyed, a good thing right now given his mood.
He enfolded her in his arms and wondered if anything could feel better than his woman, pressed against him, locked in his embrace.