Page 91 of To Crave Madly
“I was born without one. I am soulless.”
Oh, god. I was out of excuses. Out of reasons not to give in and take what was being freely offered. In Torsten, I had a rich supply of energy which I could consume without the fear of taking too much.
“Are you sure?” I breathed past the fluttering in my throat.
“Yes.”
I took one last deep breath before finally succumbing to the hunger. It unfurled slowly, calmly. Without the ferocity of an attack or anger wrapped around my need to feed, I could control the way that I took the energy from Torsten. Heat blossomed in my core as I walked into his mind to find the dark energy that he offered.
Every time that I had previously fed, it was in a fit of rage, dragging my victim’s sins to the forefront of their mind and making them relive them as I devoured their pain. It was dark and devious, but this was completely different. This felt peaceful.
I never thought feeding off dark energy would feel so serene. I could taste the anguish and the pain that I was pulling from Torsten but somehow it felt different. I wasn’t forcing him to face his sins as punishment; did that somehow mean I was absolving him of them instead? Was I taking his pain rather than making him re-experience it?
He certainly looked at peace. His eyes were closed as I fed from him. His chest rose with shallow breaths as I satisfied my demon’s hunger. Warmth spread through me as I watched him, tingling all the way to my toes. I was aware of another hunger sparking to life deep within me as my demon stretched and purred contentedly.
“More,” he gasped. “Take more.” His eyes flew open and his hands slid up my back, pulling me closer to him. One hand stopped between my shoulder blades and the other gripped the back of my neck. The hard length of him pressed against me and I moaned at the delicious friction.
Oh, god. This was getting out of control, but I was in too deep to pull back now. My body was now filled with pulsing dark energy and it left me craving a different kind of satisfaction.
But I waited. I didn’t want to be the one to instigate anything. I had to know that if he kissed me, he did it because he wanted to, not because I had asked him to.
His gaze dropped to my lips before flicking back up to my eyes. I could see the confusion written across his face. Fuck, what had I done? I pulled back from him, mumbling an apology, but his hands held firm and wouldn’t let me go.
“Lori… I…” His eyes bored deep into mine as desperate hunger darkened their mercurial depths.
And then he kissed me.
I arched into him on reflex and opened my mouth to him. His tongue was long and thick and rough against the softness of my mouth. His kiss was punishing and, before I could think about it, I was thrusting my hands into his hair and tugging fiercely on the strands.
He growled into my mouth, making his chest vibrate against me. The friction had my nipples hardening and begging for attention. I was aware of the dark energy swirling through my system, fuelling my desire and heightening my senses.
I rocked my hips against his and whimpered as his arousal met my centre at the perfect angle to drive me fucking crazy. His hands roved my body, expertly touching me where I needed it the most, setting my body aflame for him. A wave of pleasure built in me, churning with all that dark energy I’d just consumed. I rocked my hips into his over and over again until the pleasure built. Until I was wet, and throbbing, and ready to come.
“Fuck.” He tore his mouth from mine, yanked my head to the side and sank his fangs into my neck.
It was nothing like a vampire bite. Jasper’s bite was a heady concoction of bliss but this… this was violent and dark. It was an attack on the sensitive flesh of my neck and it had my body screaming as I came.
My thighs clenched around his waist as an orgasm ripped through me. Wave after wave of exquisite pleasure rolled through me as Torsten bit me. It didn’t feel like he was feeding on my blood, though, but I was in too much of a euphoric state to think about anything other than riding the waves.
Torsten finally retracted his fangs from my neck as I came down from the high. He swept the rough surface of his tongue over the wound, eliciting a delicious shiver from me. Then, instead of pulling away, he wrapped his arms around me and held me against his large form for a few glorious moments as I recovered from that orgasm.
“Well…” I said breathlessly. “I certainly know where to come if I get hungry again.”
He pulled back to look at me. “Of course.” Fuck, his voice was husky. “I am here to serve at your pleasure.”
I gestured in the direction of my neck. “What did you take from me? It didn’t feel like you were taking my blood.”
“I did not take anything. During intimate moments, Shadow Fiends have a need to claim their lovers with a bite that warns off other would-be suitors.”
My jaw dropped. “You do that every time you have an intimate moment?”
“No. Not everyone is worthy of it. Forgive me, I should have asked before I marked you. It was wrong of me to assume—”
I placed my fingers on his lips, silencing his destructive tirade. “I don’t mind. I actually rather enjoyed it.”
“You shouldn’t say things like that,” he growled.
“Why?”
