Page 43 of Ashvale: The Vampire's Thrall

"You happened, love." His tone was fond but his words sounded strained. "I'm sorry."

"For what?" I said, rubbing my neck and then slowly lowering my hand as some of what had happened started to come back to me. Anger was a slow burn inside me as he took another step closer. "What did you do?"

His face was partially illuminated by a stripe of light from his window as he watched me, no remorse on his face. "If I hadn't done it, you would have killed yourself with the amount of power you were wielding."

I narrowed my eyes. "What. Did. You. Do."

"What I had to,” he said, voice cold, and I nearly growled.

"Say it."

"I snapped your neck."

Bastard.

He moved before I could, appearing by the end of the bed and pinning me down as he leaned over. "I wasn't going to watch it consume you again, Leonora. I will always protect you," he murmured, adding as an afterthought, "even from yourself."

"Again?” I shoved him off of me, wanting answers before I could allow my hunger to win out and I became distracted. "The lake."

He nodded. "You were out of control, running high on blood and confused by the block in your mind—your rage drew your power to the surface and I thought it would be better for you to discover it on your own. Clearly I was wrong.” He looked away, mouth a tight line on his face. “You thought I'd hurt the girl you'd killed."

Now he was saying it, I could picture it all perfectly. The way the sky had darkened as a storm unexpectedly rolled in, the grass greying beneath my feet as I pulled life from it to funnel my magick. Some of my anger abated, but only slightly.

"So you snapped my damn neck?Again?"

"Better a temporary death than a permanent one," he snapped and I hissed. "Your body was literally steaming from the power you contained. You may be immortal, but even an undead vampire wouldn't survive spontaneous combustion."

I'd thought Hayes was keeping his distance because he feared my anger, but now I could see him clearly and I realised he had kept his distance because ofhisanger.

"Damn right I'm angry," he said, face suddenly looming above mine as he clasped my jaw in his fingers. "I could feel you drowning in your own fucking magick, you were about two seconds away from burning from the inside out. I was two seconds away fromlosing you."

God, he cared. He really did care, even if it killed him.

The growl that left him was wild, a sound of pent-up anger, sorrow. His mouth found mine and I didn't try to resist the pull, my hands fisting roughly in his hair as he climbed onto the bed, straddling my body and gasping when I bit his lip and licked away the blood.

"Don't ever shut me out like that again," he said, the words a desperate plea that somehow sounded both reprimanding and tender.

"I didn't mean to," I said honestly and he didn't reply, only kissed me harder.

I didn't know if it was the bond or just something abouthimthat made it difficult to do anything but give in when we kissed, but it was like my body was his for the taking.

Our kisses were rough, sloppy almost, his teeth biting into my mouth and trailing down over my chin and throat until he sank his teeth in and I gasped, arching up into him.

He didn't drink for long. Instead he smoothed one hand down my side and over my waist to curl around my hip as he pushed my legs open, settling between them in one fluid movement that had me aching. His mouth found my breasts, tugging the nightdress down roughly so I was exposed to the air as he bit down. It was like liquid fire had been poured into my veins as he drank, all my nerve endings coming alive as the pleasure mounted at the tip of my breast. Hayes' hands pushed higher, sliding under the tiny hem of the dress, closing on my arse and dragging me closer so he could press the hardest part of him against my softness.

I laughed breathlessly when he sat up with a curse and ripped the silk and lace straight down the middle. He looked at me like he was starving and pressed kisses to my stomach, licking and nipping at the skin as he made his way between my thighs. I tilted my hips up for him, and his answering smirk was pure smug satisfaction as he bit my inner thigh at the same time that one finger pushed into my pussy. He curled the digit and I ground down helplessly as he pulled from me in deep drags that only heightened the pleasure from his finger moving inside me.

I shivered at the remnants of red lingering on his lips when he looked up from between my thighs and licked the bite mark before he withdrew completely, sitting back and pulling off his shirt. His broad shoulders filled the space between my parted thighs as he sank back down and closed his mouth on my clit, the flat of his tongue drawing aching, torturous circles as he pressed his mouth in firmly.

My hands fisted in his crisp sheets and when I pulsed in time with the motion of his tongue he stopped, ignoring my whimpered protest as he flipped me over and the sound of his jeans hitting the ground followed shortly after.

Warmth hit me as his thighs weighed down the backs of mine, his hands smoothing their way up and down my spine as he kissed my neck, leaning down to bite my shoulder until I writhed underneath him.

He sat back up and his palms on my arse made me squirm as he parted the cheeks as he squeezed. A sharp sting made me yelp and I tried to peer back, grunting when his hand pushed my head back down into the bed. "Did you just bite my arse?"

He did it again, and I would have found it funny except I knew it was his vampiric side taking over, telling him to claim me in the best way a vampire knew how—through blood and sex. I must have truly been close to death for his instincts to react like this.

"Are you ready for me, Leonora?" His voice was rough, husky, and when he nudged at my entrance I pushed back eagerly. He spread my cheeks again and paused, making me pant with need before he finally thrust into me in one long motion. I clamped down around him eagerly and he growled when I tried to rise up to meet him.

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