Page 138 of The Firebrand
Rein pushed her back, his fingers tearing into her shoulders. “No. Go home.”
“You are my home. Do you think I could be happy with anyone else? If you believe that, you haven’t been listening. Besides, what are you going to do when I leave? Screw Miss Pink Sweater?”
“You’re obsessed with Zora.” Rein shook his head, but a small smile tweaked his lips, the tension in his muscles relaxing. “You make me crazy, Brae.”
“Then my job is complete.”
Rein’s resolve slipped, her grin, her freckled nose, her sweet scent, her soothing voice eating away at it. Her irises, no longer hazel flecked with purple, were the amethyst of a pure-bred witch. He stared at the tall, auburn-haired beauty who had challenged him since the day in that alley. Somehow, she had burrowed into his heart. He lowered the cowl on her robe, fingering her hair, picturing her curves, her long legs. If only she could be beside him for a lifetime. “I’ll consent. But you must promise to do exactly as I say.”
“I promise.”
Upon agreeing to the ceremony, Rein’s beast clawed at his skin, fighting to get out, but he caged the savage vampire while explaining to Braelyn how to survive.
Please don’t let me hurt her.
He pulled Brae into a tight hug, whispering into her ear. “I won’t be the Rein you know. Believe that. Two hungers will possess me—feeding and fucking. If you were a vampire, you’d be stronger. But you’re human. In my frenzied obsession, I could kill you. In fact, bringing you to the edge of death will increase my pleasure, my desire for ultimate dominance. So, fight, Brae. Use your mind to attack me. If you can plant images in my head, you can manipulate my thinking. Create imaginary bullets, knives, arrows and aim them into my brain. Make me hurt. Go nuclear on my ass.” His mouth trembled against hers with a gentle kiss, his beast scraping his flesh, the pain excruciating. “Stay alive. Without you, the world would be empty. Please don’t let me be the cause of that emptiness. I’d rather die by your hand a million times. This is the only way I’ll consent to mate.”
Braelyn’s breathing quickened, her fingers caressing his cheek. She nodded.
“When I can’t find you, I’ll become enraged. If you stay out of my clutches long enough, my aggression will ease somewhat.” He continued talking, the beast angry, scratching, growling, his erection pulsing against tight pants.
“You won’t hurt me.”
Rein looked her square in the eye, a lifetime passing between them. “You can survive, Brae, only if you believe I will hurt you.” He grabbed her chin, pinching, yanking it up. “What do you see?”
Braelyn gasped. “Fury. I see…”
“Yes. The real me. The beast.” Rein exhaled a long, slow breath, grabbing for what little control he had. “Both of us must take blood during the ceremony.”
“I understand.”
“In that way, the bond is sealed.”
Larisa returned to the cave. “The time is up. What is the decision?”
Rein waited for Braelyn to nod before he spoke. “We’ll proceed.” His gaze fixed on Brae’s throat.
Mark her. Fuck her.
Stepping to the altar, Larisa said, “Does the Earther know what the Bludhunt requires of her?”
Rein’s heavy chest expanded with each labored breath. He stared into a crystal-clear puddle of water at his feet. The eyes that leered back at him were not his. They glowed with a ravenous crimson fire. The mouth, also not his, was curled into a snarl, his fangs sharp, long. The face in the reflection was an animal’s, all hard angles and planes, the skin tight. His beast neared the surface. With tented fingers in front of him, he glided around the watery mirror. “She understands,” he rasped. “Get on with it.”
Mine.
Braelyn splayed fingers over her heart, her legs wavering.
“Earther, are you prepared to mate Rein?” asked Larisa.
“Braelyn, the name is Braelyn. Not Earther. And I am.”
An amber-eyed vampire, clothed in red like the high priestess, floated behind Rein, removing his weapons along with his clothes. His broad, muscled chest moved in a pounding rhythm. His biceps bunched, rippling beneath his skin, preparing for the hunt. His abs constricted. Between long, taut legs, his thick shaft jutted out, pulsing with need. He shuddered as desire snaked through him. Throwing back his head, he roared, the beast free at last.
The female acolyte trailed pale fingers along Rein’s pecs and downward to his groin. Dropping to her knees, she clenched a hand around Rein’s cock. Before she could suck it into her mouth, he backhanded her, sending her flying across the cave. “Do not touch me.”
Rein’s gaze latched onto Braelyn’s. A feral smile twisted his face when he bent to pick up his robe. Before slipping it on, he stroked his hard length, seeking relief from the ache.
The second of Larisa’s acolytes, black hair swishing along his shoulders, his irises obsidian, his face cold like a marble sculpture, advanced on Braelyn. While her breasts rose and fell beneath the cloak, she backed away from the male’s light touch.
