He tasted like champagne and the blood he drew when he scored his tongue with a fang. Pain flared as he scored my tongue next, though his blood healed it almost instantly. That coppery flavor increased, yet when I pulled back in instinctive aversion, his grip tightened.
"I thought 'all of me' included sharing each other's blood."
Testing my vow already. I expected no less, but if he thought I'd wave the white flag, he was wrong.
"Don't hold anything back."
I felt him smile against my lips. "I don't intend to."
Then he picked me up, taking us not to the bed, but the fireplace. He set me onto the thick fur rug in front of it, his eyes never leaving mine as he took off my shoes and stockings.
I reached for his pants, but he caught my hands, holding them over my head as he unhooked my bustier. My breathing quickened when it fell away, leaving me in nothing but my panties. The hunger in his gaze made my ni**les harden, and when he dropped it lower, I could almost feel my blood rushing to follow. Desire plumped all the parts I wanted him to touch while my loins seemed to throb with a pulse of their own. It had been so long since I felt him inside me. I didn't want to wait another second.
I tried to pull him onto me, but his grip on my wrists tightened. "Not yet."
I disagreed, and he might have my hands restrained, but my legs weren't. I hooked one around his hip and rubbed our lower bodies together, a gasp escaping me at the feel of his thick, hard flesh. His low laugh was both erotic and threatening.
"You'll enjoy regretting that."
His mouth lowered then, his hot, wet tongue making my ni**les tingle with its rapid flicks. He released my wrists to stroke my back before drawing my panties slowly down my legs. Every time I reached for his pants, though, he blocked me with a low chuckle. Once my panties were off, he pressed me back, his body covering mine. I had a few moments to revel in his weight, the feel of his muscles, and sensual way his chest hair teased my ni**les before his mouth sealed over my breast. He sucked until tingles turned into throbs, and when I felt his fangs lengthen, I arched in silent invitation.
Pleasure followed the momentary sting in less time than it took me to moan. Then warmth spread, the effect from the tiny drops of venom in his fangs. He sucked harder before flipping me over and pulling me on top of him, switching to my other breast.
He drew on it strongly, making me clutch him with growing urgency. I let my legs slide down until I straddled him, and when that jutting hardness in his pants grazed my clitoris, sparks shot from my hand at the deluge of sensations.
He bit down the same instant, flooding my breast with warmth and making my nipple erotically burn. My head fell back while an animalistic sound came from my throat. Vlad grasped my hips, molding me closer. Then he arched forward, increasing the friction while his fangs penetrated more deeply.
The double assault of pleasure was too much. I cried out as thousands of nerve endings clenched at once. That cry turned into a moan as ecstasy washed over me, turning need into sweet release. My pulse, once thundering, seemed to slow while languorousness stole into my limbs, making them feel heavier.
Vlad's mouth left my breast after a final lick. It slid in a searing trail across my shoulder and up my neck before he kissed me, pressing me back against the silky fur. This time, I barely noticed the coppery flavor to his mouth. I was too focused on the way his tongue stroked mine, the feel of his hard chest against my overly sensitive ni**les, and the desire that flared anew when he took off his pants.
I opened my legs, moaning as he grasped my thigh and pulled it against his hip. A delicious expectation caused my inner muscles to clench, making me even wetter. When he reached down and his fingers invaded my depths, I gripped him and arched with more demand than invitation.
His chuckle ended in another fiery kiss. Those fingers went deeper, intensifying the ache that had me moving against his hand. My breath came in muffled gasps as he continued to kiss me with increasing fierceness, ravening my mouth with his lips and tongue. Then his hand stopped its sensual torment and slid beneath my hips, lifting me.
I was more than ready, but he was big and it had been a while. Inner walls stretched as he moved deeper, and when his full length pushed inside me, I let out something like a sob.
His hand left my hip to tangle in my hair, thumb caressing my jaw. His kiss changed, too, matching his slowness as he began to withdraw. My body hadn't fully adjusted yet, but I wrapped my legs around him and sent him a single, fervent command.
Don't stop and don't hold back.
The sound he made. Harsher than a moan, more primal than a growl. Then he thrust forward while his fangs buried into my throat.
Both sites flared with quicksilver pain and then overwhelming, molten pleasure. I didn't have a chance to cry out before another thrust/bite, sending more shattering sensations through me. My nails raked down his back as the electricity I couldn't control surged into him. It only made him grip me tighter as he continued to move with those rapturously rough strokes. By the time I realized he'd stopped biting me, I didn't care. He could've kept drinking me until there was nothing left. As long as it felt like this, I'd welcome it.
My senses sharpened as pleasure built toward a crescendo. Vlad's smoke-and-spice scent had never been more intoxicating. His body was scorching, muscled thighs harder than stone against mine, and his mouth ravished everything it touched. I felt lost in him, and when those incredible spasms shook me from the inside out, the strangest sort of vulnerability filled me. He'd wanted all of me and that's what I'd given him. Did it mean I had nothing left?
"No," he muttered, voice thick with passion. "You have me, and I love you."
Then he kissed me, moving faster, and reality blurred once more. By the time his climax surged powerfully through him, I couldn't remember what I'd been concerned about. Losing myself was gaining him, and vice versa. That was well worth any cost.
Chapter 30
Yesterday, I woke up in the infirmary still nursing a broken heart. Today, I woke up in Vlad's bed as Mrs. Dracula. What a difference a day made.
"If you introduce yourself to anyone as Mrs. Dracula, I'll bite you in a manner you won't enjoy."
I smiled without opening my eyes. Some things didn't change, like Vlad being grumpy when he first woke up.
"I'm quaking with fear."
"As you should be, and I've been up, my lovely bride."
Now I did open my eyes. Vlad was dressed, to my disappointment, sitting in a chair with an iPad on his lap. He rose and came toward me, expression so serious that I tensed.
"What's wrong?"