Page 56 of Barely Breathing

The predator inside him emerges. Costin groans and buries his face against my shoulder. Fear should be clawing at me. But instead I feel anticipation of the bite. His power wraps around me like a physical caress. My body arches into him, wanting more.

I tense and wait for him to drink, only to be disappointed when he doesn’t.

My nerves tingle. Costin’s mouth travels along my unprotected body. Soft light dances along his perfect muscles. He’s so beautiful it makes me ache.

He kisses a winding path to one breast, then the other, and back again. With each press of his lips, I stiffen and wait for that sharp, painful stab into my flesh. When it doesn’t happen, I release a small gasp of disappointment, only to tense when his mouth returns. Each contact is calculated to amplify my need.

His hips rock, hinting at the rhythm to come. I cry out in frustration, my fingers tangling in his hair to force him closer. I open my legs, wrapping them around him to pull him in. He’s too strong for me to force down. His tongue traces patterns on my sensitive flesh, over my nipples, and down the valley of my breasts. I squirm beneath him, pushing and pulling, trying to end the building ache inside me. I forget where we are. The room fades into the fog of oblivion. Nothing matters but this moment.

I need him.

I want him.

I love him.

He knows exactly how to touch me, how to drive me to the edge and keep me there. His supernatural strength holds me effortlessly in place when I try to move. Control is just an illusion. I never had it. I will always be at his mercy.

My vampire.

The desperation courses through my blood like a fire needing to be extinguished. I hearmyself begging, but the sounds feel far away, and I don’t know if I’m thinking it or saying the words aloud. “Please, Costin, oh, please…”

When his fangs graze my inner thigh, I inhale sharply and try to force him toward my sex. I need to feel him against me, releasing the growing tension in my body. All the stress, fear, frustration, and doubts whirl around in my head. I am helpless against them.

“Mine,” he growls against my skin. The possessive tone should anger me, but instead, it sends the fiery heat pooling low in my belly.

Then, finally, he bites down on the tender flesh of my inner thigh. All my frantic thoughts instantly stop under a sharp sting of white heat and then the warmth flooding through me. Pleasure-pain drowns out every thought but him.

His hands grip my hips, holding me still as he intimately drinks. I feel the pull of his mouth as he sucks against my skin. I don’t know if it’s the erotic sensation or the blood loss that’s making me lightheaded. All I know is I don’t want him to stop.

The more he drinks, the warmer he becomes. I have no concept of time. When his mouth finally pulls away, he leans his head back and makes a strange noise of pleasure. I watch as his jaw bites at the air as if he is forcing himself to stop before hekills me. I feel the tickle of blood dripping down my thigh to the crack of my ass.

And still, I’m not scared of him, at least not of this part of him.

“Please,” I beg, not even sure what I’m asking for.

Costin leans over me and licks the wound with a loud moan before flicking his tongue along my sex. I can’t control myself as I convulse in response.

He rises over me like a dark angel, all dominance and barely contained violence. I see my blood swirling in his eyes and staining his lips. I feel the tremor in his body as if he’s trying to rein in his power. But his touch remains gentle as he brushes the hair from my face. “Tell me you’re mine.”

It’s a command I can’t deny. I nod and manage on a breath. “I’m yours.”

His mouth crashes against mine, desperate, demanding. Like he’s trying to brand me with his kiss. I taste my blood, and his continual growls of pleasure vibrate through me.

There is a fierce tenderness to the way he draws his body to mine. When we finally join, it is pure ecstasy. I feel connected to him. My nails dig into his shoulders as he drives deep and hard, claiming me completely. The sensations are overwhelming. His supernatural strength lets him set a pace that would break a mortal man. Each thrust feels like he’s trying to mark me from the inside out.

His mouth crosses over my throat, and his hot breath makes me shiver in anticipation. I turn my head, offering myself again to him. His fangs pierce my skin at the height of our passion, and the dual sensation sends me spiraling over the cliff. I’ve never felt anything like it. The sting of his bite only intensifies my climax. I cry out as release comes over me in waves.

I feel him drinking, taking my essence into himself, and somehow, it makes everything more intense. His grip tightens as my blood fills him. When he finally breaks away from my throat, his mouth finds mine again. I taste a coppery sweetness as his kiss deepens.

For one perfect moment, there are no threats, no rituals, or complicated choices. There’s just us, connected in the most primal way possible. I feel his power surrounding me, filling me, claiming me in ways that go beyond the physical.

“Stay with me,” he begs against my mouth. “Choose me.”

I want to. The feel of him still courses through me, and his body presses to mine. I want to promise him everything. But dawn will come to shed its hateful light, and with it, all our complications will return.

He settles on the bed next to me. Seeing mypenthouse bedroom draws me back into reality, a place I don’t want to be.

His hand moves over my neck as if tracing his bite. He leans to nuzzle my neck, licking me.

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