Page 28 of Bitten By Desire

“That’s too dangerous.” Julian stiffened. “The others have been trying. Daphne is the woman on the inside, and she hasn’t found anything. She’s been paying special attention to any visitors also.”

My shoulders slumped. “What about Gladys? Is she on our side?”

“She is a good person who does her job and trusts her employer.” Julian squeezed my hand at the mention of the administrator. “I don’t want to ask anyone else to put themselves at risk unless absolutely necessary.”

I nodded with a sigh, then slipped my fingers from his and began to pace between birch trees as I thought. “The only one that probably has that information is the general. We need to surprise him.”

Julian’s expression was horrified, but I continued. “I just have to be able to get in the word ‘freeze’. Then I can question him. Surely, with the element of surprise?—”

“You were at the funeral when several powerful supes were barely able to hold him off. You know how reckless an idea that is.” Julian spread his arms in an attempt to reason with me. Too bad once I had an idea in mind, I was so stubborn.

“Yes, but he was the one who surprised us. And you hadn’t fed properly.” I narrowed my eyes as I turned the focus on him. He’d fed earlier, but still he seemed pale. That silver had really hurt him. “You should feed from me before we go in.”

“No.”

Stupid stubborn bloodsucker. “Yes.” I folded my arms across my chest. “I’ve been told my blood enhances vampiric abilities.”

“And you want me to leave you weaker when confronting an unknown power?” Julian hissed as his eyes glowed scarlet. But he couldn’t frighten me anymore.

“No. You can give me a bit of blood after. I know how this works now, Julian. That’s how pledges are kept full of blood.” I stepped up toe-to-toe with my vampire, and he softened slightly.

“If I feed from you, you will experience pleasure,” Julian said in a low, panty-soaking voice.

“Is that a problem?” I nearly laughed hysterically but held it in.

“We both know you aren’t ready, and if my magic forces it…” He let his voice trail off as he grabbed my upper arms. “Most humans, I can simply will not to hurt, but you are my mate, Charlotte. When it comes to you, it’s either all or nothing. Do you understand?”

My heart swelled. He was worried about hurting me emotionally and would sacrifice anything to be gentle with me. Julian had suffered so much in his long life, and yet he’d only grown to be better and more empathetic over time. If I had to be someone’s mate, I was grateful it was him I belonged to. And he belonged to me.

“I love you.” I stood on tiptoe to meet his mouth before he could respond to my words, seeking out his fangs with my tongue. When he sank into the kiss with a moan, I turned my head and tugged his face down to my throat. “I am completely aware of what I’m doing, and I want this.”

His hold on me tightened, stealing my breath as he traced the sharp tips of his teeth over the skin of my neck, targeting the perfect point. Still, he hesitated, even as he grew hard against me. I reached down with one hand to stroke him through the material of his pants and pressed upward toward him, forcing him to prick my throat with a gasp. Then he sank in, and familiar euphoria washed over me from the top of my head to the tips of my toes. I gripped him harder. I’d missed this sensation like warm electricity thrumming through every inch of me.

Relaxing into the pleasure, I found myself grinding against whatever bits of him I could reach at my angle.

With a rumble in his chest, Julian turned us and laid me on the soft mossy ground, never disconnecting from my throat. I wrapped my legs around his waist, sliding clothing against clothing as I rubbed along his length with the heat of my core.

“Julian,” I groaned as he slipped his hand between us to apply the pressure I sought. The intimate sensation of him pulling my life’s blood from my body coupled with his ministrations sent me rapidly over the edge of oblivion.

I shattered into a million shards of ecstasy as he withdrew his bite and licked the wound closed. Still coming down from the rush, I found his wrist pressed to my mouth, and I lapped at the warm, sweet blood with another moan, wondering when the taste of him had become a delicacy to me.

“Oh, gods, Charlotte,” Julian rolled to his back, pulling his wrist away to hold to his chest as his complexion warmed even in the faint light of the moon.

I propped myself on my elbow and drank in the sight of him, realizing he was still rock hard for me. I couldn’t leave him like that. Not when he’d proven over and over that he’d do anything for me.

And I wanted him. I wanted to feel his shudder as he throbbed inside of me. Still, my throat tightened with the thought of climbing over him to take him like this. Tears of frustration squeezed from the corners of my eyes, and I wiped them away roughly as I crawled over and undid his zipper, letting his cock spring free.

Immediately, he propped himself up, but I’d already bent to take his tip in my mouth. Stroking the base, I lowered myself over him, drawing him as far in as I could.

“Charlotte, I…you don’t have to?—”

I cut off his complaints by sucking back up to the top as I ran my teeth lightly along his skin. Reveling in the guttural sounds I pulled from him, I bobbed my head down again until I nearly choked. Finding a rhythm was both easy and erotic. The feeling of power over my nearly invincible mate turned me on as much as the act itself.

His fingers caught in my hair, and he held me gently yet firmly as he lost control. The hot pulse of his release forced matching sounds of pleasure from my own throat. Then he collapsed back on the grass, and I sat upright, wiping my giant grin with the back of a hand.

I didn’t think I’d ever seen a vampire breathe so hard or be at such a loss for words, as he stared at me.

“Don’t you dare say I didn’t have to do that.” I decided to cut him off at the pass. “I am unbelievably happy I did.”

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