Page 91 of Fated to the Vampire Prince
Cora shrugged, and I noticed she was holding a demonic relic in her hand. The others were stuffed inside a bag.
“Not sure,” she replied, casting a forlorn glance at the burning witch. “All I know is that I can’t stay here.”
I offered her a place at my court, but she only shook her head. Then she handed the curved sheep horn to Claire.
“This was my Gran’s favorite relic. Charge your powers. Learn the ways of our people. Make her proud.” Then she snatched up her broom and stalked out of the graveyard without another word, her white raven squawking after her as she mounted the broom and took flight.
“I didn’t know dark witches could fly,” Claire breathed.
“Most can’t. It’s a rare gift. Much like the fire you possess.”
We watched her silhouette disappear on the horizon in silence. Our breaths mingling in frozen puffs. We were truly alone. Not another soul around. For the first time ever. Standing in the middle of carnage.
Claire bit her lip. “Hera was right. I can’t control it.”
Something had changed in her. I wasn’t sure if it was her new magick, but I could feel the difference.
“You don’t know how to control it. Yet. But you will learn.”
She nodded, then gathered her red hair at the nape of her neck and tilted her head to the side. “Drink,” she whispered. “You need it.”
I knew she thought I looked weak. It struck at my insecurities. I’d let myself get hit by a spell, and because of it, she’d nearly died. If it hadn’t been for Cora, we’d both be dead. Shedropped her hair and took my face between her hands. Holding me even though I was a ruin of a man. A cold-blooded murderer. She looked at me like I was still an honorable prince. “You need to eat.”
Her blood wasn’t the only thing I wanted. No. Far from it.
I pressed a kiss to the corner of her mouth. Then another to her jaw. Feathering kisses until I reached her earlobe, teasing her with the promise of teeth, but never biting.
“Take what you need,” she demanded. “Don’t be stubborn.”
I couldn’t help the smile that curved my lips. “There’s only one thing I need from you, my darling.”
Slowly, haltingly, I slanted my face to hers and brushed our lips together. As soon as our mouths connected, it was as life giving as drinking from her veins. Her. Just her. It was all I needed.
She was the only thing I craved more than blood.
“Please, Bastien,” Claire said, breaking off our kiss. “I need you to live. This can wait until after?—”
I swallowed her words with another kiss that was anything but halting. It was demanding. “This can’t wait.”
Sliding my hands down, I cupped her beneath the thighs and lifted her higher, coaxing her legs around my waist.
“Bastien,” she gasped as I sidestepped gravestones and bodies and began walking us toward the now-vacant house. Kicking open the back door, I strode inside the darkened kitchen, kissing Claire’s neck as I searched the first floor for a bedroom. Her wolves padded in behind us and curled up beside the door. “What are you doing?” she asked breathily. “Please, you need to eat.”
Pausing, I eased her back against the nearest wall and ground my hips between her thighs, letting her feel just how well I was. How very alive I felt. She tried to say my nameagain, but it turned into a moan when I kissed the soft spot just below her ear. I braced my hand against the wall, rocking into her, but it wasn’t enough.
I caught her lips in a kiss that consumed me and somehow made me even hungrier for her. Slowly, I fisted sections of her heavy skirts and dragged them up until my hand could slip between her warm thighs. Like the starved man that I was, I massaged her sex over her undergarments while she moaned in my mouth. I swallowed each little sound like it was the sustenance I needed to survive.
I’d resisted Claire as long as I could. But now, after what we went through together, I didn’t want to wait any longer.
“Bastien, please,” Claire gasped between kisses. “Please.”
I didn’t know what she was begging me for. To let me drink from her or for something else. Something deeper. Something that would seal our bond so we could never be torn apart. Something that would twist our souls together.
Tucking my hand inside her undergarments, I found the slick seam of her sex and ran my finger through it, dipping the tip just inside her tight entrance. The sound that escaped her lips was delectable.
“I want to make love to you on the bed of our enemies,” I whispered. Letting my breath fan across her skin as I continued to curl my finger inside her, coaxing more little whimpers from her. “I want to bury myself inside you, filling you with all the pleasure you deserve while the woman who dared to hurt you burns outside. That’s what I need.”
I searched her face for disgust or hesitation but found neither. Still, I asked, “Tell me now if you’re not ready or don’t want the same thing.”
