Total pages in book: 53
Estimated words: 51358 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 257(@200wpm)___ 205(@250wpm)___ 171(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 51358 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 257(@200wpm)___ 205(@250wpm)___ 171(@300wpm)
Annika shudders, her hands splaying and balling into fists over and over again, like she doesn’t know where to put them.
I know exactly where I want her to put them.
I move back, looking down at her with a gaze I hope is confident and not desperate. I haven’t been able to get her out of my head or her taste out of my mouth since the last time we were together. She’s become a craving more powerful than blood and that scares the ever-loving shit out of me.
“Maybe they did,” she fires back, but her breath is shaky. “Maybe they fed me while they fu—”
A low growl rumbles from my chest, cutting her off. Just the thought of another male feeding her while he sinks into her has my instincts roaring.
Mine.
Claim. Bite. Drink.
The torches surrounding the pool flare to life, the orange flames crackling.
Shit.
Annika has the audacity to smirk. “Having trouble controlling your power?”
I clench my jaw. “Careful,” I warn, but it’s more of a tease. Clearly, I’m the one losing control right now. She does that to me. Makes me lose all sense of anything outside of her.
She tips her chin in defiance, those perfect lips painted red and in the most lickable pout.
Need spears down my spine, my hands itching to touch her again. I let my eyes graze over every part of her I want to explore.
“You’re young,” I grumble, trying like hell to speak some sense into us both. “I haven’t been young for a long time.”
“You slept for five hundred years,” she says, exasperated. “I’m a grown female. I’m not some adolescent vampire with a crush.”
I rake my fingers over my face. God, I’ve never wanted anyone more. I’ve never had to physically stop myself from going after what I want.
But it’s the desperation that’s giving me pause. I need her on a molecular level. Every fiber of my instincts is pulsing with a need to claim her.
That’s almost as dangerous as me being out of control.
“You should go back to those men you speak so highly of.” The words are almost a roar with how much I don’t want her to do that.
But I need her to. I told her this was purely physical, but every instinct is begging to fucking differ.
I need her to be the stronger of the two of us, because I’m breaking by the minute.
She needs to turn around and go back to where she’ll be safe. Pick someone who won’t put her in danger every second just because of what I am.
“I’ve been with the men,” she says, rolling her eyes. “Noble vampires who viewed me as a prize to win over, not an individual to grow with. You think I want to spend my nights obsessing over my prick of a teacher? Trust me, I’ve tried to stop it. I can’t.”
I grin down at her. “Prick, huh?” I tilt my head. “What was the word you used to describe me moments ago to Cassandra? Enthralling?”
Her blue eyes widen. “You heard that?”
I nod, my smile deepening. She’d cut through every one of my walls with her words to Cassandra. The way she saw me for me, and admired me for it. Wanted me more for it.
Fucking hell, I’d ran because I knew if I stayed a second longer, I’d scoop her up and spend the rest of our nights on this island claiming her as mine.
“I…I…” she shakes her head. “Fine. Whatever. Maybe I did say that. Maybe I meant every word. But you can still be a prick.”
I laugh, reaching out a hand to graze down her cheek. “And you can be a spoiled brat sometimes.”
She narrows her gaze, shock flickering across her features.
The pool water next to us bubbles.
That’s her.
The torches flaring higher and hotter?
That’s all me.
She motions to them. “You want me too,” she says. “You can’t hide that.”
My resolve crumbles with her stating the words out loud, and I glide my fingers into her silken black hair. I bring our mouths a breath apart, fighting every instinct I have to devour her right that second.
“What did I teach you about our powers?” I ask, my heart pounding furiously against my chest as she tips her head back, submitting to me entirely. “It’s not about want, it’s about need.”
“Fine,” she breathes the word. “I need you, Dagon.”
Everything inside me narrows to those words. I latch onto them, burying them deep inside the recesses of my soul.
“Fuck, Annika,” I growl. “You really shouldn’t have said that.”
I crush my mouth on hers.
She opens for me immediately, and I swipe my tongue against hers, moaning at her taste. I haul her against me, bringing our bodies flush. She gasps between my lips, her fingers fisting my shirt as I take her mouth in sipping kisses and sweeping dips.
I can’t get enough of her, touch enough of her, even as my hands are roaming everywhere I can reach.