Page 36 of Barely Breathing

“Only me,” he growls. “You are mine.”

I can’t form words before he’s thrusting inside me. The sensation is overwhelming—cold and heat, pleasure and pain, love and fury all mixed together. He takes me completely, riding me to the point of exquisite agony.

My nails dig into his shoulders as he moves. Each thrust drives me higher. I forget why I should resist him. The amulet pulses between us, but even Draakmar’s warnings can’t penetrate the haze of intense pleasure.

“Costin…” I beg, clutching his arms to keep him near me.

“Say it again.” His rhythm increases, one hand sliding between us to touch me exactly how I desire.

“Costin. Costin. Costin…” I do, over and over, my voice rising with each perfect stroke.

I sense that his control is starting to slip. I feel it in how his frenzied movements become more urgent and less measured. When his fangs scrape my shoulder, unable to bite through the amulet’s protection, the frustrated growl sends shivers through me.

Release builds like an oncoming thunderstorm, starting deep inside and spreading outward like lightning until my whole body tingles and shakes. When the sweet, fierce release finally hits, the sensations are powerful enough to make me forget, just for a moment, all the reasons we are a terrible idea.

Costin’s climax follows immediately after mine. Ihear my name as a harsh whisper against my throat. My heart pounds and my bones feel like they’re melting out of my body and into the bed. I can’t move. I don’t even want to try.

Costin shifts his weight off of me to lie down along my side. His hand lazily finds my stomach as he draws on my flesh. We lay tangled in his crimson sheets for a long, perfect moment. But then reality creeps back in, and I remember how I got here tonight. I trace the marks my nails left on his shoulder. The deep scratches are already healing, but the memory of how they got there burns hot in my mind. I let myself imagine what it would be like if things were simpler—if he was just a man and I was just a woman, if there weren’t secrets, and prophecies, and supernatural realities between us.

Daydreaming about being normal is a useless task. Costin will never be human, and I will never be as powerful as he is.

His fingers continue to trace lazy patterns on me, and I realize they’re symbols used to cast protection spells. Even now, Costin is trying to keep me safe.

“Now, will you tell me everything?” I ask, watching his fingers.

“No.” His weight shifts, and he pulls his hand away from me. He doesn’t move far as he settles next to me. “You first. What do you know about my sister?What did she do?”

“I know she’s dangerous.” I prop myself up on my elbows, trying to ignore how his naked chest looks in the candlelight. “I know she’s working with the Freemonts against you.”

His eyes narrow. “That’s not what you meant. You said you survived her. When?”

The amulet pulses against me, almost like a warning. I ignore it. I’m tired of secrets. “In that other timeline. The one that was erased when the amulet was shattered. She and her minions tried to kill me at a gas station in Kansas.”

His expression doesn’t change, but I feel as if the temperature in the room drops several degrees.

“Impossible. Elizabeth was in Europe when…” He stops, something clicking behind his eyes.

“Nothing from that timeline will make sense. You were dead. I’m sure you had whatever ceremony they do for vampires. She must have come back. Now, fair is fair. It’s your turn. If you want me to tell you what happened, you need to first tell me what you know about Paul’s?—”

“Show me,” Costin demands. Before I can process what he means by that, his fangs pierce his palm. Blood wells dark and thick, too thick to be normal blood.

“I don’t want to be turned.”

“My blood won’t turn you unless you’re dying.” The answer brings no comfort.

“No—” My protest is cut off as he forces his hand against my mouth. His blood drips from the wound. I sputter and gag as I thrash, trying to break free. His other arm wraps around me like steel.

The metallic taste is impossible to escape. The blood tingles on my tongue, almost painful. More than the strange taste, it’s the violation that makes me want to scream. After what we just shared, how dare he do this?

The bedroom begins to fade, reality bleeding away like watercolors in the rain. A small red dot appears, focusing my unwilling gaze. A flash of light comes past my face, making me blink. Dark wood turns into large glass door coolers filled with drinks in front of a white wall as my mind is dragged forcibly back into a memory I’ve tried so hard not to think about.

“Show me,” he whispers like a horrible mantra I try to block out. “Show me…”

Chapter

Eleven

Salina, Kansas, Several Months Earlier…

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