Shadow of the Vampire (36 page)

         
As it had when his mouth tasted her, the muscles of her core burned, knotting tight and hard before melting in a pool of fire. His low, satisfied groan rumbled against her throat, his body shaking as hers quivered to a mind-blowing release. Declan's palm flattened against her thigh, hitching her knee up to his shoulder.

         
"One more time," he coaxed, grinding his hips and pistoning into her with excruciating perfection. At the feel of his strong, assertive strokes, her back arced and a cry gasped from her throat. Before the first wave of bliss had even receded, another blasted her, overpowering and overwhelming.

         
This time, he followed her into oblivion. His body tensed and a shuddering groan fell from his lips. The sound of his wings snapping wide echoed in the chamber. Alexia opened her eyes, marveled at the sight of him above her. His body strained, his wings flared out to the sides, quivering with the force of his orgasm. She'd never seen anything more vibrantly arresting in her life than Declan releasing deep into the sanctuary of her body. Her heart surged, filling her chest until she thought it would burst free.

         
The raging need for this man, this dragon, to claim her having been fulfilled, her need morphed into the primal urge for his blood. A curtain of red shrouded her eyes and her otherwise replete body begged for something more. The tips of her fangs itched, burning to burrow into his gorgeous flesh. They lengthened, stretching out toward him.

         
As if sensing what she needed, he leaned his head, offering his neck. Alexia flitted her gaze from his throat to his face, looking for the approval she knew was already there.

         
"Please," he hushed.

         
At his verbal cue, she tipped her head to his neck, kissing the skin before plunging her teeth deep in his flesh. Another surge of pleasure raked her womb as the taste of him burst on her tongue. Potent and male, his essence coated her throat. She closed her eyes, savoring every drop of him.

         
The heat of his mouth covered her shoulder. Alexia shuddered in anticipation, groaning against his neck when his fangs punctured her skin. Her insides burned, her belly heated from his blood. Sated, she released him and fell back. His arm cradled her head, easing her down and pillowing her head against the bed.

         
Alexia smiled and turned her head, allowing him access to keep feeding from her. She wanted to be anything and everything he needed. Wanted him to feel complete and satisfied in every way possible, as if her love were food and enough to sustain his very life.

         
THE MOMENT D ECLAN dislodged his fangs, his arms gave out. He didn't fight the respite. Instead, he rested his forehead on hers, placing a kiss on her lips before dipping his head in the crook of her neck. Long and slender, her arms enveloped him, holding him to her.

         
Declan didn't want to leave her, but he rocked his hips back and up, slipping out of her body. A female whimper sounded in his ears and then the next thing he knew, she pushed on his chest. He fell back willingly, groaning when she sat astride him, her palms resting on his chest. Declan lifted a hand, sweeping aside the long curtain of hair to see her face. She met his gaze with a shy smile, one that made his heart melt.

         
"Are you feeling better now?" he panted.

         
Alexia dipped her chin, a blush creeping across her cheeks before her hair fell forward, covering her face again. "Do I look better?"

         
Although a laugh rumbled through his chest, the sight of her naked perfection above him was anything but funny. His gaze settled on the pink bite mark on her neck, the curve of her breasts, her hips. His head was reeling from the feel of her hands on his body, her perfect butt resting on his thighs and the enticing warmth settled oh-so-sweetly above him.

         
The weight of her atop him transferred as her hands lifted to push away the mass of unruly hair hanging all around him like a sultry veil. Declan reached out, grasping her wrist in his hand. She stilled the other arm, her body frozen in question above him. Slowly, he pulled her palm to his mouth, brushing his lips in the center of her warm hand.

         
He felt more than heard her shuddered inhale and it went straight to his already tightening groin. Releasing her hand, he lifted both of his to the edges of her hair, running its silky smoothness between his fingers before bringing it to his lips and kissing it.

         
She looked down at him with those amazing eyes and suddenly kissing anything but her lips was not enough. Tightening his abdomen, he curled up to sit, cradling her jaw in his palm. He kissed her mouth again, deep and slow. After a few unhurried strokes, Alexia's lips on his became demanding, hungrier. A sound between a moan and whimper hummed in the back of her throat and his body responded to it immediately.

         
Arms wrapped around his neck, and her hips rocked against his in rhythm with their tongues tangling in each other's mouths. And then with one pivot, Alexia worked him inside her again. Impossibly warm, her body took him in, consumed him. Now it was his turn to groan as she started to ride him.

         
Declan's entire body vibrated on the edge of bliss, about to fall over it again. Making sure she followed, he wound his tail between them. The tip found the place their bodies were joined, massaging the sweet little button he couldn't quite reach with his hands. A gasp tore from her lips and a shudder raked the muscles beneath Declan's palms. His victorious smile faded as her inner walls clenched and flexed, hugging him tight and sending him over that precipice with her.

         
TALLON PACED THE LENGTH of her chamber, her mind reeling. Declan had been gone for hours with no word and still the council would not act, would not go after him. She vibrated with anger, hate and confusion. She wanted to pull her hair out. Scream until she lost her voice. Smash something to pieces to match her fracturing soul.

         
Blindly, Tallon reached out, snatching a vase of half-dead flowers someone had given her at her parents' burial ceremony. With a howl, she pitched it across the room. The sound of the container shattering did nothing to ease the empty ache inside her, so she picked up another object and another until she'd broken every piece of glass in her chamber.

         
Chest heaving, she stared at the pieces of glass strewn on the floor, feeling every bit as broken, every bit as scattered. Tears threatened. She nearly couldn't keep them back. But she managed to swallow them down. Instead, she let the weakness, the helplessness she felt stoke and feed her anger. Pivoting, she grabbed the back of the nearest chair and sent it sailing across the room. She turned over furniture, tossed books from their shelves, decorations off their tables until there was nothing left standing.

         
The empty hole pulsing inside her didn't abate. Tallon braced her palms against the granite wall and closed her eyes. The strident pounding of her heart and her gasping breath was the only sound in the room. Desperation and misery suffocated her. Its claws were digging into her, dragging her down. Yet, the faint desire to not lose herself bubbled up from somewhere inside her. A desperate need tried to surface, to reach out and grasp any anchor that might keep her from floating down the dark path her heart had started down. She held her breath, letting it out in a low cry when her hope sank back into the abyss.

         
It was too late.

         
She didn't care anymore. About anything.

         
With a choked cry, she pulled back her fist, smashing her knuckles against the jagged stone wall as hard as she could. A lightning bolt of pain shot up her arm, momentarily silencing the storm raging inside her. She gasped at the sensation. Finally, she felt something other than hopelessness. Grimacing, she jabbed the wall harder this time. Again and again she struck the hard surface. Until her hand bled, until her bones felt shattered to powder, until a broad arm wrapped around her, pulling her away from the wall and pinning her back against a very hard, very male frame.

         
"Whoa, there, little one," a deep voice spoke in her ear.

         
Tallon bent forward, taking him with her before kicking back her elbow, lodging it in his side.

         
He grunted. "Ease up," he said, his voice calm, his hold on her tightening.

         
Ignoring him, she began to repeat the move. But his leg kicked out, swiping across hers, knocking them out from under her. Tallon let out a cry as she fell to the floor. However, she didn't hit the ground. Strong arms shifted their hold on her, spinning her almost three hundred and sixty degrees before slamming her up back against the wall.

         
Tallon gasped at the force, blinking once, twice before her vision cleared. At the sight of the hunter looming large and dark in front of her, carnal heat crackled through her. But her anger overrode it.

         
"You," she gasped. "Let me go." She squirmed beneath his hold.

         
"So you can punch walls again? I don't think so."

         
"This is my room. I can punch whatever I want to."

         
"Sorry, little one," Griffon said, his muscles bulging as he held her back with infuriating ease. "But if you want to hit something, it's going to have to be me."

         
Tallon stopped fighting to get away. Instead, she tilted her chin to meet his slanted gaze. "I'll do it," she panted. "Don't think I won't."

         
He regarded her for a moment before releasing her and stepping back, a slight smile tweaking his lips. "Go ahead," he said, opening his arms to the sides. "Take your best shot."

         
Without stopping to think, Tallon swung out her arm, landing a right hook on the side of his face. Although he didn't budge, her hand throbbed in agony at the contact. She realized she should have used her left hand instead of the one she'd used to punch the wall. Angered at the pain, at life and, most of all right now, at him, she swung again. This time her uppercut punch landed on his chin. Bone hit bone. His head kicked back, but straightened almost right away. Again, his lips curved.

         
"Feel better now?"

         
"No," she breathed.

         
His smiled widened. "Good. Then I guess it's safe to tell you that you hit like a fledgling."

         
A haze of red blanketed her vision, and her fangs dropped. Griffon's eyes flashed and he widened his stance, as if this was what he'd been waiting for. "Here we go," he said under his breath, preparing for her attack.

         
Tallon made sure not to disappoint. Snarling, she lunged, sending her arm out in a wide arc. He blocked the move with ease, his big body scooting agilely out of the way. At her startled reaction, he let out a chuckle, his eyes taunting her. Tallon narrowed hers and dove forward, and again, he deflected her. Only this time, a hand clamped around her wrist and pulled. The offensive move took her by surprise and she slipped into his arms. In a fluid move, he curved her back over his forearm and bent over her. His face hovered inches above hers.

         
"Do you want to dance or fight?"

         
For the first time in her life, Tallon snapped her teeth toward another dragon's throat with the intention to harm, perhaps even kill.

         
"Ah, finally a challenge," his smooth voice hummed as his grip tightened on her waist.

         
He leaned back just far enough to where she could not reach him. Tallon brought her leg up fast and hard. The ball of her knee crushed his side. Griffon let loose a grunt, his body instantly curling in on itself to protect the wounded area from another attack. Tallon used the advantage to push out of his hold.

         
For a moment, she thought she'd gotten clear of him. But in a quick move, he grabbed her, spun and released her. She landed on her stomach on the ground. Hands clutched hers behind her back, not painfully tight, but firm. A shadow darkened above her, the warmth of his big body covering her like a blanket as he settled in a squat above her, his knee at the small of her back.

         
"Do you yield?" he asked, his breathing short and taxed.

         
"No." She wriggled her shoulders, trying to break free of his hold. A deep male chuckle filled her ears and his grip tightened. Then he bent, his mouth hovering beside her temple.

         
"Come on, little fledgling," he said in a low voice, honey smooth against her ear, his words warming her skin. "Do... You... Yield?"

         
Frustrated and exhausted, Tallon rested her forehead against the cool stones, letting her body relax into the floor. Closing her eyes, she shook her head. At her surrender, Griffon released his hold and eased off her. Tallon exhaled and brought her arms forward, sliding her hands under her shoulders. Flattening her palms on the ground, she pressed her upper body off the floor. Sore and weak, her biceps shook with the effort and a small cry rent from her throat.