Page 30 of Orion: Galaxy Huntress

Her scent was too much, and I quickly lost control. The more she used her immense strength and will to fight me, the further she drove the predator in me into a frenzy. Drums beat in my temple in time to the pulse of her blood. I slammed my eyes shut, quieting my urges, dulling my senses. Calmer, I placed a finger over her lips, staring deep into her eyes, using my powers to still her.

“Shh, Little Star. Quiet. Relax. Do not use your magick on me.”

She responded to my stony, commanding voice, stilling and sagging against the wall. Now, she was under my command, glamored into silence and stillness. I rewarded her with a stroke of her thick, silky hair. One wasn’t enough and I went back for seconds. I was always greedy like that. Always had to have more.

“That’s it. Good girl.” Unable to fight my desire, I leaned down, inhaling her, licking her skin, making her shudder, her body temperature scale, and her core to flood with moisture. I both frightened and aroused her. The vampire mark affected her just as much as it did me.

“Don’t kill me, vampire,” she begged. “Let me save my sisters.”

I crushed my fingers into my palm to stop myself from clutching her neck and hip, bringing her body to me, her neck to my lips. “You and your sisters are nothing more than food and will die.”

Her eyes fill with hot, angry tears, and my heart thudded in protest. “You cold-hearted bastard.” Women still possessed a vile tongue, even though I’d drained the fight from her body. Her power helped her resist the entirety of my glamor.

Resistance and spunk aroused me. Every predator loved the thrill of the hunt. The fight of its prey to escape. Little Star was the ultimate prey and food. Enriching, empowering, healing. I needed her blood more than ever. Vexlel would kill me for tasting her before him, but I didn’t care. I was dead without it.

My heart thumped harder, and I grabbed her by the back of the neck, forcing her gaze to meet mine. “Of course, I’m cold-hearted. I’m dead, Little Star.” I swiped my thumb along her perfect, pillowy bottom lip, prompting her to jerk against me. “I seem to recall you stabbed me through the heart. Talk about heartless.”

“You’re a monster and you tried to kill me,” she spat. “Your kind feeds off others to sustain yourself. You’re a new breed altogether.”

“Monster.” The word tasted dirty on my tongue. “That, I am. Just like a lion is a monster for feeding on gazelles, zebras and antelopes. What you are for hunting and eating meat.” Annoyed at her hypocrisy, I shoved her away. “My kind is just top of the food chain. The ultimate predator.”

Her eyes darkened at that. My words took her aback and she didn’t have a response. She stretched her jaw as if my grasp had hurt her. I forgot how strong I could be. Three beats echoed in my chest. Remorseful, I reached for her again and she recoiled. Fine. Play it that way.

I asked the question on the tip of my tongue. “Why do you make my heart beat after all this time, Little Star? Why do I wear your mark on my chest?” I trailed a finger down her cheek, desperate to know why the vampire mark struck me. Why her, when my heart belonged to another. The little star had done something to me after I passed out. “What magick did you use on me?”

“None,” she answered honestly, the pulse in her throat showing no sign of speeding up and lying. She wriggled, trying to break her bindings. “You’ve done something to me that stops me from using my starlight.”

That, I had. “It’s called vampire glamor. It speaks to the primal part of your brain. The flight or fight instinct.” It took everything in me to not deploy it on her again, to make her completely submit while I defiled her body and drank her nectar.

Little Star leaned her back and head against the wall. “Not a very fair fight, vampire. Let’s even the stakes and fight monster to hunter. Next time, I won’t miss your heart.”

I laughed again. Hadn’t laughed so much in a long time. The little star amused me. My heart pounded so hard that I hunched over, clutching my chest.

“What’s wrong?” She shuffled forward. “Are you hurting?”

What did she care? She’d stabbed me. For that she ended up my prisoner. Cunning little thing probably played a trick on me. Learned it from the demon.

“Nothing, huntress.” I let go of my chest and stood straighter, clashing with my urgent hunger begging me to taste her, make her mine in blood and body.

“My name’s Orion, vampire.”

“And mine’s Reznor.”

“What do you mean when you say your heart beats but you’re dead?” Her gaze dropped from mine to my chest, my eyes feeling the loss of hers instantly.

“I don’t know,” I lied. Not a conversation I wanted to have with her. My heart didn’t belong to her. Never would. Soon Vexlel would extract her power and leave her for dead. Then she wouldn’t be my problem, and neither would the mark on my heart.

Now I must leave her and commence negotiations with my leader.

But my body refused to move without a taste. Without answering the lingering question on my tongue. It must know. I crouched beside her once more, leaning over her, taking her mouth with mine. At first, she sank into my kiss, letting me press harder into her, then she wised up and refused me, drawing back, but I held her harder. My chest ached from how hard my heart slammed against my ribcage. Fuck. We were marked, all right. Overwhelmed by her addicting scent, the hunger lapping at me, my slipping control, I moved to her neck. My fangs sank into her soft, sweet flesh, releasing a rush of power that hit my veins. I jolted from the intensity of it. She moaned, scoring my arms with her nails. I dug my fingers into her harder to keep her still. Blood and starlight streamed into my mouth and I swallowed every delicious swell. My God, I’d never tasted anything remotely like it, nor would I again. Heaven had landed on Earth and at my feet.

Tiny shards of silver that had infected me from contact with the blade mobilized and I felt them push out the wound in my chest, making me whimper and clutch her harder. Her blood was everything and more. A force unlike anything else. And now it flowed through me. I felt strong enough to split a planet in two. One taste was not enough. Her blood was addictive not just for the heavenly sweet taste but for the power it promised me.

“My little goddess.” I stroked her hair as I drank.

Her body slackened and weakened with each mouthful, forcing me to withdraw. Too much could kill her, and as much I hated to let her go, I needed her for my freedom. I sealed her wound with a lick to her flesh. She moaned softly, her head lolling, eyes shutting. My attentions had sent her to sleep, where she’d stay while I visited Vexlel.

The moment I returned to the coven, my leader descended on me. “Where is she?” he demanded like a pompous king expecting to be paid his taxes.

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