Daughters of Lyra: Heart of a Commander (9 page)

“
Van?” she
whispered again, hoping he would hear her wherever he had gone off
to. She didn’t feel as though he was here with her. He had said
that she might be able to get through to him when he was lost in
the bloodlust. She hoped that he was right.

He dipped his head and
kissed her neck, constantly returning to lick the arch of it above
her collarbone. It tingled and then she felt nothing. Whenever his
tongue brushed it now, it felt as though he hadn’t touched her. It
felt missing, numb.

Her eyes widened as it hit
her.

She couldn’t let him do
that when he was like this. She wanted it but she wanted him aware
of what he was doing when it happened.

Amerii pushed her arms up,
hoping to get his attention. He growled and pressed his body harder
against hers.

“
Van!” she
snapped and he paused at last.

He slowly drew back and
blinked at her, the shine back in his red eyes along with a look of
confusion.

“
Are you with
me?” she said and furrowed her brow, hoping his answer would be
yes.

He looked at his hands
where they gripped her wrists and snatched them away, moving to
kneel on the bed between her legs.

“
I...” He
swallowed visibly and stared at her.

Sitting up, she took hold
of his hands, wanting him to see that he hadn’t overstepped the
mark and she wasn’t angry with him. She smiled, kissed his fingers,
and brought his trembling hands back to her breasts. His pupils
narrowed and then widened when he palmed her breasts, his breathing
heavy.

“
My neck is
numb,” she said with another smile.

His gaze flickered to it,
his eyes brightening.

“
I...” he
started again.

Seeing that he was on the
verge of another apology, Amerii caught him around the back of his
neck and pulled him to her. Her lips claimed his, her kiss slow and
gentle, an effort to keep him calm. His thumbs grazed her nipples,
arousing them again, sending tingling waves over her skin. She
slowly leaned back, taking him with her, until she was lying on her
back with him on top of her.

His hands moved down over
her stomach, skimming her sides in a way that tickled her, and then
ran along the line of the waist of her trousers. She bit her lower
lip and looked down at his hands, silently urging him on. When he
looked as though he was going to spend the whole journey to Varka
Two just skimming his fingers back and forth along her belt, she
stepped in and undid it and then her trousers. He pushed himself up
when she brought her legs up and shoved her trousers down them.
They hit her boots. An awkward smile settled on her lips when Van
sat back and helped her by removing her boots. She probably should
have taken those off first.

Naked, she felt a little
exposed when his dark red eyes trailed over her body, making her
burn wherever they touched. She went to cover her breasts but his
growl stopped her. Instead, she found herself toying with her
nipples just to see the hunger in his eyes.

His hands went to his belt
and he was naked before she could make out what was happening. When
he went to cover her body with his again, she pressed her hand to
his chest, stopping him. She wanted to see him in all his glory. He
was magnificent, his body as breathtaking as she had imagined it.
Pure lithe muscle and strength knelt before her, his hard length
thrusting eagerly from its home of dark curls, enticing
her.

She sat up and leaned
forwards, pushing him back. He frowned at her but she didn’t give
him a chance to protest. Whatever words he had been on the verge of
saying came out as a garbled mutter as she wrapped her lips around
the sensitive head of his cock and sucked it. He thrust forwards
into her mouth and she took him in deeper, suckling his length and
imagining how good it would feel when he was inside her.

His hands claimed her
shoulders. She moved closer, wrapping her hand around the base of
his length and moving it in time with her mouth as she sucked him.
His fingers tightened against her, bordering on painful and then
crossing that border into true pain when his claws penetrated her
flesh. She released his length and gritted her teeth.

His grip loosened. His
eyes were wide when she looked up at him. They were bright red too,
shining, speaking to her of his hunger. He wanted blood. She
glanced at her shoulder. He had drawn it. Where each of his claws
had broken the skin, a drop of crimson trembled. She smiled up at
Van and touched one of the cuts. When blood coated her fingertip,
she brought it to her mouth and sucked it clean, her eyes locked
with his the whole time.

She was playing with fire
but she wanted him to bite her. She knew him well enough now though
to understand that he would need a little convincing while he
wasn’t lost in his bloodlust.

She crooked a
finger.

He licked his
lips.

He had drawn blood. It was
his duty to clean it up and kiss it better.

She smiled, wide and
seductive. Her eyes narrowed on his.

His gaze flicked between
her eyes and the cuts, his breathing turning heavier with each
passing second. She needed to get him to bite her before he lost
control completely.

Her eyes shot wide when he
tackled her to the bed and began hungrily licking at the cuts,
sucking occasionally. His movements were frantic, desperate, and
made her realise how hungry he truly was for her.

His tongue traced the
marks and then he kissed down her body, his hands roughly gliding
over her breasts and then her stomach.

“
You still with
me?” she whispered, afraid to ask but needing to.

He nodded and she could
see in his eyes that he was fighting the bloodlust. He moved down
her and, for a moment, she thought he was going to kiss the apex of
her thighs, but then he did something far more erotic.

He bit her just above the
hip.

The only warning she had
was a sweep of his tongue, a momentary sense of numbness, and then
his teeth were in her. She arched off the bed and cried out as a
wave of pleasure crashed over her, so intense that her head spun
and every bone in her body became liquid. She trembled against him,
her body humming and throbbing as though she had just climaxed. He
locked his arms around her, feeding greedily, each pull on her
blood sending another wave through her. She writhed against him,
her groin slick with need and her abdomen aching for release. He
growled against her skin and bit deeper, tearing another cry from
her throat as she shuddered with her climax.

He hadn’t even touched her
there.

He had made her climax
with just a bite.

Amerii melted into the
bed, too warm and fuzzy inside to care what happened to her. A lazy
smile wound its way across her lips and she sighed, her focus
scattered to the four edges of the galaxy. Van continued to drink
for a while, slower and deeper now, a pace that matched how she
felt, and then released her. He licked the mark on her hip and she
smiled at the ceiling, stretching her arms out and toying with the
short strands of her hair.

Van appeared above
her.

She smiled at him
too.

His lips were red. Stained
by her blood. She pulled him down and kissed him, tasting herself
on them, wanting to know what it was about blood that made him
wild. His hard length pressed into her groin and she raised her
hips to it, rubbing herself against him. He moaned into her mouth
and then broke the kiss.

“
I need you,”
he whispered against her neck as he kissed and licked
it.

She needed him
too.

“
Hmm... come
and get me then,” she said on a sigh, still a little delirious from
her orgasm.

“
Are you... I
mean, do we need to...”

Her smile widened and she
managed to open her eyes properly.

“
My father
insisted that I had sterilisation injections.” She had wanted to
reassure him but the mention of her father seemed to make him even
paler. She touched his cheek. “I choose who I love,
remember?”

Van nodded, frowned and
then reached between them. She shuffled up the bed and watched as
he guided his length into her. Their sighs combined as he eased in,
deep and slow, and she hoped he would be able to keep control. The
tight lines of his face spoke of restraint as he withdrew and
thrust in again. He had tasted her blood without losing his mind
but that didn’t mean that he would remain calm. Anything could send
him over the edge.

His body covered hers and
he buried his face into her neck.

Anything.

He licked her throat and
she felt it turn numb.

Or perhaps he didn’t need
a push. Perhaps he had already made his decision and was only
holding back the bloodlust for her sake. He hadn’t hurt her so far,
not really. She had expected more than just a few minor
scratches.

She moaned and her mind
went blank when he thrust deeper into her, his pace increasing, and
he breathed hard into her ear. His hands closed over her shoulders
and she wrapped her arms around him, skimming her fingers over the
shifting muscles of his back. She arched into him, tightening her
muscles around his length as it drove into her, so deep that her
insides coiled tight, ready to explode again. A few more thrusts
and a warm rush burst through her, her body convulsing around
his.

Van growled and she
squeaked when he pulled out of her, turned her over onto her front
and pulled her hips up. He thrust into her from behind, harder now,
so deep that she lost her mind a little more with each plunge of
his length. She pushed herself up onto her hands and bit her lip,
moaning each time their hips met. He growled again and she sensed
his restraint snap. His fingers tightened against her hips,
clinging to them as he pounded into her, seeking his own release.
She clenched his length in her depths, hoping to help him find it,
loving the feel of him thrusting into her. She felt every ounce of
his power in each thrust, every ounce of his strength.

It felt divine.

Her breasts wobbled back
and forth with each deep thrust, her moans combining with his and
filling the room along with their hard breathing. She closed her
eyes when her insides began to tighten again and begged him not to
stop. He moved faster, deeper, taking her out of her mind. Close.
She was so close.

With a roar, he came,
filling her with his warm seed. He grabbed her around the ribs and
pulled her up so her back was flush against his front, his length
still inside her. She ached and writhed against him, desperate for
release again. It had promised to be mind blowing.

Van made sure it
was.

He snarled and then sunk
his fangs into her neck. Intense pleasure tore through her and she
convulsed against the restraint of his arms as she came, her whole
body quivering with her release. The universe turned bright white.
Her ears rang.

Pain was the first thing
Amerii felt on coming back to the galaxy. Her neck hurt with each
hard pull Van made on her blood but it felt good at the same time.
She leaned back into him, unable to resist as he drank deeply from
her. She sighed when he began to slow and then shivered when he
withdrew his fangs and licked her neck.

Her neck.

He had bitten her
there.

Van released her and she
collapsed into the bed, dreamily touching the pronounced bumps on
her throat.

With a sleepy smile, she
looked at Van. He looked troubled. She crooked her finger at him,
wanting him to come to her. He hesitated a moment and then lay
beside her. She didn’t press him into speaking.

There were no words that
could convey what this moment had meant to her, and she knew that
he would find it impossible to find the right words too.

She lay close to him and
smiled again when he carefully lifted her, moved the covers away,
and then settled her down on the bed. He pressed a kiss to her
forehead and lay beside her before covering them both with the
blanket. She snuggled into his back when he rolled onto his side,
her forehead pressing against his shoulder.

Her hand skimmed down his
arm and she smiled. It was all a little overwhelming, but she knew
that it was so much more so for Van. She could feel the tension
radiating through him. What thoughts were troubling him? She ran
her fingers back up his arm, her touch light. She hoped it
comforted and reassured him as she intended it to. Moving closer to
him, she pressed the length of her body into his and kissed his
back and shoulders, memorising the feel of his skin beneath them
and the warmth of him.

“
Van?” she
whispered against his back, afraid of disturbing him but wanting to
reassure him as best she could.

He was silent for a long
time and then said, “Amerii?”

“
I love you.”
She pressed another kiss to his back and wrapped her arm around
him, her hand splaying out against his chest. “Nothing will change
that.”

Silence.