A cold sweat awakened me, and I bolted up out of my sleep. Vague flashes of horrifying dreams crossed my memory, but not in full. As if I were watching an old reel of film on fast-forward, bits and pieces of scenes broke into my vision. They came so fast, I couldn’t tell if I was even in them. I couldn’t even tell whether they were dreams I was remembering, or reality. My breath came fast, as though I’d been running; yet my heart pumped slowly, sluggishly, almost inhumanly, and I could hear it echo inside my head like a deep, bellowing gong. I glanced down at myself. Only a pair of panties and a tank covered my body. All else was bare. My inked dragons burned, as though literally searing into my skin, my back, my arms, as if they were alive. It was nighttime. The sky was an eerie blue hue, darkness surrounded me, and a slight breeze wafted through the gaping front of my tent. It grazed my skin, and it cooled the burning. I craved … something. To eat? I wanted it badly, with the same intensity of having the freaking munchies after a toke party. But I didn’t want corn chips and soda. I wanted … steak—very, very rare steak. I moved to get up but was stopped.
A strong arm snaked around my middle, and only then did I realize Eli sat behind me on the makeshift quilted bed. We were still on Da Island, I supposed. With his legs on either side of me, he cradled my body and pulled me against him. After a few seconds of trying to figure out where the hell I was and what was happening, I relaxed and rested my head against his chest. The craving was still there, but it eased.
“What’d I miss?” I asked, vaguely thinking how odd it was not to feel his heartbeat at my back. Eli Dupré was a creature of the afterlight. He didn’t have a heartbeat. But he did have heart. I snuggled into his warmth—well, as much warmth as a vampire could have, anyway. I snuggled into his lukewarmness.
“About another week,” he admitted, grasping my hands, pulling them to my waist, and lacing his fingers through mine. “You had me seriously worried this time, Riley.”
“I don’t remember,” I said, and turned my head to the side, looking up at him. His face was lost in shadows. “The last I recall, you were kissing me, then … nothing. And I don’t like having chunks of my life missing. So tell me.”
Eli let out a deep sigh—funny, since he didn’t need lungs or air to breathe—and tightened his arms around me. “You did pass out, but not for long. When you came around, you were wild. Bad withdrawals, Riley. Crazy-bad, as in mad-dog, foaming-at-the-mouth, rabies-type withdrawals. I could barely restrain you. You had night sweats, day sweats, chills, and you pretty much tore up Estelle’s camp. That pain caused you to make sounds I’ve never heard a human make before.” He brushed his scruffy jaw against my cheek. “You were like a newling, having the strigoi blood inside you. It was torturous, Riley, and I never, ever want to hear it come from you again. I felt … as if it were happening to me.” His lips grazed my skin, and I shuddered at the intimacy. “I felt hopeless. Never again, baby.”
“I remember flashes of weird dreams, as if I were attacking someone,” I said, struck by his endearing name for me. It was the first time he’d used it. I stared into the darkness. “Jesus, tell me I didn’t attack someone. What else?”
“You kicked my ass—that’s what else,” he said, and I could feel his grin, his teeth, against the skin of my neck.
That should have caused me a little fear—especially since I had flavor-of-the-month-for-vampires blood. But, it didn’t. “Strong as a freaking horse, you are, woman,” he continued. “Phin, Luc, and I had to take you to another island, just to keep the others safe.”
I turned in his lap and stared in the vicinity of his face. “What?”
Eli’s low, soft chuckle filled the night air. “We had to leave Da Island before you hurt someone else. We’re close by—just another barrier isle. We had to put a little water between you and the others.”
“Someone else?” I asked, almost shrieking. “I can’t believe I attacked anybody. Who did I hurt? Are they okay? Oh my God, tell me it wasn’t Estelle.”
“Shh,” he said, tugging me backward. “Lie still and relax, and stop squirming all over the place. Everyone’s okay, and no, it wasn’t Preacher or Estelle.”
“Who?” I demanded, but allowed Eli to settle me against him. “I need to know, Eligius. Tell me. Now.”
Again, he chuckled, so it must’ve not been that bad. “Let’s just say Zetty won’t cross you again for a while. At least, not without a few more protective charms from Estelle. Neither will Riggs.” He laughed. “Jack and Tuba won’t come near you without a blade. And I think the Romanian swear words were enough to damage all of them for life. Nasty language, Riley. Seriously—freaky-filthy.” He nuzzled my neck. “Good thing no one else knows Romanian. I know it, though. At least the curse words. And I like it.” He nipped my skin. “I got the worst of it, though. I guess because I stayed by you.”
I sat up again and turned toward him. “God, you’re a perv. Come on. What did I do to you? A two-hundred-year-old wicked-tempered vampire?”
In one quick move, Eli picked me up and turned my whole body around, then settled me in his lap, face-to-face. “Besides beating the holy hell out of me,” he said, resting his hands on my hips, “you tried to drain my blood. Not that I have any—but that didn’t stop you.” He rubbed a hand over his throat. “Damn, my neck is still sore.”
I closed my eyes, mortified. “I’m sorry,” I said, and looked at him. “I can’t believe I did that.”
“Freaking weird, huh?” Luc suddenly said, ducking into the tent. Phin followed. “You were like, on vamp crack or something. Went after throats as if there were no tomorrow.”
“Yeah, Ri,” Phin said. “Wrapping those long legs around your prey. Like some weird spider monkey or something. You’d make one badass strigoi, that’s for sure. Eyes all wide and scary, teeth gnashing.” He shuddered dramatically. “Scary.”
“Like, Underworld badass,” Luc said, then studied me. “Pretty hot, though.”
“Too bad I didn’t turn on you,” I said, thinking it vaguely funny that they, vampires themselves, thought it was all, well, funny. I narrowed my gaze. “Watch your neck.”
Luc laughed. “Don’t worry.”
Phin squatted down and looked at me with a grin. “If you ever get tired of being with an old man”—he inclined his head to Eli—“you know where to find me. I dig kick-ass chicks with long legs and tats.”
I shook my head. “You’ll be the first to know.”
I was silent for a moment, then cleared my throat. “Okay, so here we are, on another barrier island, isolated, with unpredictable teeth-gnashing scary me in my freaking panties, straddling your brother. How ’bout a little privacy, huh?” I said, then turned to Eli. I couldn’t see his features—just his silhouette; his very beautiful silhouette. “Is it safe yet?” I asked him.
“You mean, are you safe yet?” Luc corrected.
“We won’t know for sure for a while,” Eli said, “but I think I can handle it. Luc, Phin—get out of here.” Eli’s hands slid around my waist, pulling me closer. Fire shot through me.
“Are you sure, Bro—”
“Now,” I said. It was more of a growl.
Eli’s brothers laughed and, just as fast as they had appeared, they disappeared into the darkness. I didn’t stare after them; I didn’t wait to see if they’d actually gone. Fact was, I didn’t care. They could stay and watch for all that it mattered. What I wanted—desperately needed—was right in front of me; rather, beneath me. Obsession to take him claimed me.
I eased down, shoved my fingers through Eli’s hair, and pulled his mouth to mine with more force than I’d meant. The desperation to have him crushed me, frightened me, made me breathless, reckless, and, thank God, his craving matched mine. As if we were starved, our mouths met hungrily, taking whatever was being offered. Eli’s hands eased up my side, palming my breasts through the thin cotton tank I wore. Unsatisfied, I slung his hands away, yanked the thing over my head, and threw it aside. Thankfully, Eli wasn’t wearing a shirt. His hands were on me again, skimming my bare skin, my ribs, my back, caressing my breasts, and I savored his mouth as though tasting an exotic flavor for the very first time. Hot and sweet, our tongues and mouths slid against one another, the slick friction an aphrodisiac that nearly made me lose my mind. I lifted a hand to our melded mouths, slipped a finger between our lips, and felt his tongue tangle with mine. I groaned at the sensation, then felt Eli’s hands skim my spine, cup my buttocks, and pull me hard against him. Again, I groaned.
“I want you inside me,” I whispered hoarsely, breathless, running my palm over the hard ridges of his abs, lower, groping. I dragged my lips across his neck, to his ear. “Us. One. Now.”
I quickly found myself hard on my back. A whoosh of air escaped my lungs, and, before I could catch my breath, his nimble fingers had grasped my panties and ripped them right off me. The sound of ragged material cracked the still night air, and the roughness excited me. Filtered moonlight reflected off Eli’s eyes; a dangerous gleam that sent a thrill through my body. I wrapped my legs around his waist, grabbed him by the neck, and pulled his mouth down to mine.
I don’t know when Eli lost the board shorts he was wearing, but I was damn glad for it. Skin to skin, his just a fraction cooler in temperature than mine, we melded. As he pushed into me, I groaned, dug my heels into his ass, and gasped as he moved, seductive, possessive, wild and out of control.
A slow, tumultuous orgasm built from somewhere deep within me, growing in strength, making me struggle for breath as it peaked, and crashing over me in shuddering waves until my body shook. I wanted to sink straight into Eli—into his soul. I buried my face in his neck as he wrapped his arms around me; total bodies embraced, limbs entwined, and his shudders rocked me as an orgasm wracked him, too. With his mouth at my ear, his full lips dragging seductively across my skin, he whispered, gasped, spoke unknown words in French, muttered my name, and clung to me as though our lives depended on it. I felt him so deeply, I couldn’t tell where he ended and I began. Eli made me feel more vulnerable than I’d ever care to admit. And it scared the hell out of me.