Page 90 of Burn for Her

With everything that’s happened, he didn’t want to go too fast with this commitment. What Lena thought she wanted now, could change later when the adrenaline wore off. He wanted her to see the ceremony tonight before pulling from her vein again and start the true process of making her his vampire mate. Once they did that, there was no going back.

Her blood felt like bubbles in his system. Lively, fragile, excited. He didn’t trust those to be her true feelings though. They were most likely from the thrill of victory. He caught that wild gleam in her eyes when he conceded to her earlier—she loved playing with danger. She was a junkie for it.

Dorian refused to be her drug right now.

He also couldn’t deny that he’d longed for a woman like Lena. To have a female regard him with such fearless adoration. He wanted to have her look at him that way forever. But he wasn’t selfish enough to make it happen now by turning her too soon.

Since this was their first time, Dorian wanted to give her the gift of her desires instead. To pleasure her beyond reason. Fling her into that glorious headspace between numbness and electrified intensity. While sipping from her, Dorian suspended her in euphoria for as long as he could, relishing how she screamed his name while coming undone from his touch. Fuck, how he loved feeling her tremble against his hardened body.

She’d played with an animal and became one.

As he drank from her vein, Lena hissed, bit, clawed and roared while he brought her to orgasm over and over. Did she remember any of it? Doubtful. That was okay, Dorian committed every second of it to memory. How her body undulated, skin blushed. Her sweet mouth opening and slender fingers biting into his arms as she clung to him.

Clung. Like he was her lifeline while her soul scattered into space.

He wanted always to be that for her. A line she could wrap her hands around and tug when she needed backup or a boost. Pride swelled in his chest. The taste of her blood lingered on his tongue, making his dick rock hard. He wanted to fuck her so badly while he took her vein, but she’d exploded long before he could get his pants down.

Lena probably thought he drank her blood for hours. In reality, he’d barely pulled from her vein, too worried he’d go too far in his current state. Gorging on her blood could kill her, and he wasn’t about to let that happen. He would rather starve than risk it.

So he took a sip of her life source, and gave her a feast of sensations. Just before sinking his teeth in, Dorian wished he had the ability to make her immobile. He imagined her standing stock still, unable to wiggle away from him. It wasn’t because he wanted to cheat or take her freedom away, it was because he was scared with that much temptation spread before him, he’d hurt her when he pierced her vein. If she’d jerked even a little, it could have torn her skin unnecessarily and Dorian didn’t want that to happen.

To his astonishment, she stiffened beneath him the instant his hand gently wrapped around her throat. Lena stayed perfectly still under his mouth once his lips touched her skin. He’d punctured her vein without any accidents.

Holy Hell, she was a magnificent creature. And she was all his. How phenomenal was that?

Dorian smiled when her body slackened in his embrace. Her light snoring made him feel like a king. She trusted him. Gave him the greatest, most precious gift in all the world. He didn’t deserve her. He knew that, but he was still going to keep her.

Cherish every motherfucking minute they had together.

Next time he took her vein, he’d go slower on the seduction lift and make sure the aftercare was exactly how she needed it to be, so the drop wouldn’t be so severe. For now, Dorian held her close and whispered a thousand loving promises to her…

And ignored the burn blazing down his back.

A soft knock snapped him out of his enthrallment of watching Lena sleep. Slipping off the mattress, his movements were sluggish. Weird. He cracked the door open.

“Dinner is being served,” Alistair said softly. “I brought you two a plate.”

“Thanks.” Dorian flashed a quick, appreciative smile. He never ate at the large ceremony dinners. No Lycan other than the Woods family would suffer sharing a meal with him because of what he was. What his father had been. Dorian never blamed them or took offense by it. Lycan and vampires never got along, the anomaly, of course, being Alistair and Marie and their kids with Dorian.

“Will you be watching?” Alistair’s deep voice remained quiet. With his keen shifter hearing, he most likely knew Lena was asleep by the sound of her deep, steady breathing. He probably also knew what Dorian just did to her. If her screams of ecstasy hadn’t tipped them off, the scent of her blood on his breath would.

“Yeah. I want her to see the ceremony. She needs to understand the severity of this decision.” The blood curse on Lycan was different than the vampires but damning just the same. He swallowed around the tightness in his throat. “Is Emily going to do it?”

Alistair shrugged and only said, “I’m glad you came, son.” He placed a hand on his shoulder and squeezed. “You make us proud, you know that?”

He couldn’t help but cringe. “I’m a killer.”

“Aren’t we all?” Alistair turned and walked away, never answering the question about Emily.

Holding the plates of food, Dorian willed the door shut with his mind and sat at the foot of the bed. His veins burned as though the fizzy bubbles he felt earlier had turned to acid and were eating him from the inside out. It hurt like hell.

He’d tolerate it.

Looking over his shoulder, Lena’s eyes locked on his instantly. She reminded him of a cougar just awoken from her nap. He stood up, and Lena tracked his movements. It cranked Dorian’s lust up to dangerous levels. He was a sucker for a predator.

“You need food,” he said cautiously. He might not have taken much blood from her, but he couldn’t recall having seen her eat a damned thing in… too long.

They both sat across from each other on the bed. Dorian held a plate in one hand, a fork in the other. “If I may?”

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