Page 66 of Discovery of the Vampire
I reached for her, pulling her into my arms. "Good."
Then I moaned as she rose up on her toes and her lips found mine. She was right. The serious talk could wait.
25
ESME
Ididn't want to think. I didn't want to talk. I only wanted to feel.
Not scared. Not angry. Not desperate or lonely or frustrated or sad.
Dios mío, I was so fucking tired of being sad.
I only wanted to feel Brogan, his skin against mine, his heartbeat racing my pulse, the heat of his body searing away the chill that had taken up permanent residence in my bones since this whole mess with Marcus began. I needed him, needed this connection more than my next breath, and as I straddled his hips on the bed, I knew he needed it, too.
His hands tightened and released and tightened again on my hips, but he didn't make any advances otherwise, as if he were still fighting the urge to push me away. But I wasn't having any of that tonight. Tonight, I was done with running and hiding and being afraid. Tonight, I was going to live—reallylive—and damn the consequences tomorrow might bring.
"Brogan," I whispered in his ear, nibbling on his lobe as my fingers tangled in the soft hair at the nape of his warm neck. He smelled incredible. Like something wild and wicked and masculine. "Look at me."
With hesitation, he lifted his eyes to mine, and the conflict I glimpsed within him almost shattered my resolve—hunger fighting against shame, passion struggling against self-hatred. This internal battle of his flared up whenever we were together like this. One that,dammit, I was set on conquering.
"I need you." My voice was unsteady as our eyes locked together like magnets drawn by an unstoppable force. "And I know you needme," I continued, pressing my lips to his collarbone and inhaling his scent before trailing my mouth along his jawline until our lips met in a searing kiss that left us both gasping for air. "So,please, take what you need from me."
"Esme…"
I loved the way he said my name when he was lost to me. Like it was torn from him against his will and there was nothing else but the two of us.
"There's no one here but us," I whispered, my lips a fraction of an inch from his. "Just you and me. I'm yours, Brogan.Please." I was begging now, but I felt no shame in it. I would gladly get on my knees tonight for this male if that's what it took.
With a long, shuddering exhale, he groaned against my mouth, finally giving in to this thing between us. Suddenly, the room spun around me so fast my stomach lurched and my back landed on the mattress. Brogan's weight pressed me down, one hand wrapped in my hair and the other beneath my ass, lifting my hips off the bed as he buried his face against the side of my throat and ground his hard length against my stomach. The strength and ease with which he held me sent a wave of longing through me. Though I barely came up to his chin, I wasn't a tiny woman, and no man had ever handled me the way he did. Of course, he wasn't a normal man.
I moaned at the feel of his hard body. "Yes,mi diablo." My devil. That's exactly what he was. A devil with sharp teeth and haunted eyes who made my blood burn for him even when he was nowhere around.
And he wasmine.
The word sighed through me as I staked my claim on this beautiful male. And then I said it aloud as I tightened my arms around his neck. "MINE."
He pulled back just enough to look at me, his bright green eyes meeting mine for a brief moment before they devoured my face, my hair, ending at my mouth. The raw vulnerability there was a mirror of my own. It was terrifying and exhilarating all at once, this connection between us, as if our souls were reaching out for one another, desperate for the solace only we could provide to each other. And when his lips took mine, there was no control in his kiss. Instead, it was fierce and desperate, a demand that ignited a fire beneath my skin, giving me no choice but to surrender to him.
I clung helplessly to his shoulders as the world tilted around me, my fingers digging in hard, like I was afraid he'd disappear if I let go.
I need all of you.
Don't hold back.
Please, please, please, please…
His response was to growl deep in his throat, a possessive sound that resonated all the way to my very core. I stiffened. Had I said that out loud? Then I completely forgot what I was worrying about when his fangs scraped my bottom lip, not enough to draw blood, just enough to cause goosebumps all over my body.
Do you feel that?
His kiss softened, growing more reverent, until our lips were barely touching. "I felt it the first time I saw you sitting at the bar," he whispered. "All red lips and dark hair and sad brown eyes. The first time you looked at me. The first time you spoke. The first time you touched me. The first time I felt your lips," he pressed his mouth to mine briefly, "against mine." He paused, his hands coming up to cup my face between his palms as he held himself up on his forearms. Those green eyes burned into me. "The first time Itastedyou. I feel it every second of every fucking day since you came into my life, Esme."
I could only stare up at him as his confession shoved aside the fear and anger I'd carried with me all of these weeks, making room for him in my heart. "You can hear me?"
A small smile teased the corners of his mouth. "Only when you let me in."
Dios mío…
