“You’ll feel everything,” I warn her. “The pleasure. The pain. The hunger.”
Her thighs open, cradling my hips. “Then give it to me. All of it.”
I growl low and possessively, kissing her like I’m drowning. My tongue sweeps into her mouth, my hands clutch her hips as I grind against her, letting her feel the weight of what’s coming. She arches into me, panting, needy.
“Please,” she gasps. “Don’t be gentle.”
“Gods, you don’t know what you’re asking.”
“Yes,” she moans, pulling me tighter. “I do.”
I trail kisses down her neck, my breath hot against her throat. Her pulse beats wildly beneath her skin, so fragile, so sweet. Myfangs brush her flesh, and she shudders, her hands clutching my hair.
“Now,” she whispers. “Do it. Make me yours.”
With a groan that’s part agony, part ecstasy, I sink my fangs into her throat as I sink my cock into her body.
Her cry is sharp and sudden, but she doesn’t pull away. Her body tenses, back arching hard as my venom floods her system. Her heartbeat stutters. Her hands seize mine, fingers laced tight.
She trembles and writhes beneath me, her legs locked around my waist as if anchoring herself to this world. To me.
I drink—not deeply, just enough to taste her, to know her, to mark her.
My fangs are bloody as I pull back, my cock throbbing inside her slick heat.
I slice my wrist with one sharp fang, pressing it to her lips. “Drink, Drusilla. Take all that I am.”
She doesn’t hesitate. She wraps her lips around the wound anddrinks—greedily, desperately, reverently. I groan, watching her throat work as she swallows mouthful after mouthful of my blood, binding us in a way no vow ever could.
The change hits her like a storm.
She thrashes beneath me, her body shaking, her nails dragging down my back in wild, instinctive pain. Her eyes widen, her breath catches, and her mouth opens in a silent scream.
“Shhh,” I croon, wrapping my arms around her, holding her as the ancient magic burns through her veins. “I’ve got you. I’ve got you.”
I cradle her as she shakes and shudders and finally stills, whispering words in Latin—words older than the Empire, older than light.
Amor. Mea. Aeternum.
Love. Mine. Forever.
The wind quiets. The sea stills.
And then…
Her fingers twitch.
Her lashes flutter.
She blinks once. Twice.
When her eyes open, they’re no longer mortal. Still molten brown, still the eyes I love, but the pupils are now ringed with gold.
Drusilla inhales sharply, and her lips curl into a wicked, wonderstruck smile. “Is this what it’s like”—her voice is lower, richer, laced with something dark and dazzling—“to be free?”
I don’t answer with words. I kiss her like a man who’s found his salvation. Like a lover who’s been born again in her arms.
I pull out and plunge deep inside her. She moans as she flips me onto my back. Bracing her hands on my chest, she rides me, rolling her hips as she takes me deep. Fuck, she’s so beautiful as she comes apart on my cock, dragging me over the edge with her into forever…