Love Bites

Chapter 9

If I thought that Phyllis tasted good, then Zane is fucking Michelin star restaurant quality. Rich, tangy and oh so smooth, his blood has me hooked. I could get lost in this, in him. Is this why vampires don’t drink from each other? Because they would never get anything done?

As soon as his blood hits my tongue, my vampy instincts kick in. Grabbing him by the shoulders, I spin us around and slam him against the wall with far more force than I meant to, if his grunt is anything to go by. I do feel stronger. In fact, I feel flipping invincible.

Zane doesn’t complain though, and if anything, it only turns him on more. His arms wrap around my waist, and he pulls me flush against him, burying his face into the curve of my neck. His tongue flicks out and licks a trail from the corner of my jaw down to where my pulse beats. As he presses kisses against it, and I continue to feed, I think that it couldn’t possibly get better than this.

His teeth scrape along my neck, and my back arches at the sensation, arousal hitting me like a freight train. I’m so wet for him, and I want him now. Before I can say anything, his hands are on me, sliding past my waistband and between my legs. He growls at the wetness he finds there, making me clench with want.

I’m still locked on his neck, drinking deeply as he pushes his fingers inside me, making me bite harder. As he circles my clit with his thumb, he drives me fucking crazy.

“Fuck me,” I snarl, releasing my grip on him for a second to hiss the words, and then I suck his blood once more. I’m vaguely aware of his hands fumbling between us, followed by a metallic sound that makes me realise he’s undoing his trousers. Cool air meets my ass as my loose trousers and underwear are practically ripped off me. He hoists me up, and I wrap my legs around his waist instinctively. The hot press of his cock against my entrance is enough to make me release his neck. My back arches, and I dig my nails into his shoulders as he lowers me onto his length.

Every touch is electric.

The noises we make are animalistic and like nothing I’ve ever heard before. There is no way that this is going to go unnoticed. I really don’t care though, and everyone is wisely leaving us to it, not daring to interrupt.

As we feed and fuck, I feel us becoming closer—not physically, but it’s almost as though I can feel him in my mind. Even that doesn’t describe how it feels properly, as he’s not able to read my mind or anything, but the pull that was between us before feels like a cord now, tying us together.

Part of me remembers him mentioning bonds forming when vampires feed from each other. Is that what this is? It feels like more than just a connection, like a part of me that was missing has been returned, which is strange considering I didn’t even realise he existed until a few days ago.

I quickly stop thinking about that connection as I feel my arousal begin to peak. The volume of my pleasure reaches new heights as I rock against him, needing more.

Blinding pleasure washes through me, so much so that if Zane hadn’t been holding onto me, I would have fallen to the floor in a heap. My hips buck, my pussy clenching down on his length. This only causes him to rip from my neck and roar his own pleasure as he comes inside me.

That cord suddenly seems to glow brightly, becoming strong and unbreakable. His orgasm reignites my own, and I buck on his cock as the pleasure moves through me. Once the aftershocks finish, I slide down his body until my feet touch the ground, then I rest my hot, sweaty face against his chest. I’m pleased to find that his chest is moving as much as mine as we try to calm our breathing. His arms wrap around me, holding me there as we wait for our brains to fight through the post-sex fog.

“Fuck.” His curse catches me by surprise, and I jerk in his arms, looking up in shock. Our eyes meet, and something warms in my chest, making me want to spend the rest of my day wrapped around him.

His eyes widen, and then his whole face twists as he gently moves me out of the way and begins pacing the small space in the cupboard. “Fucking fuck,” he mutters, running his hands through his hair in annoyance.

What’s happening? He was happy a moment ago, and now he’s acting like he regrets the whole thing. Is that what this is? He’s regretting having cupboard sex with me? My heart twists, and my breath is momentarily stolen with the stab of pain that thought brings. His head snaps towards me, his emotions crossing his face too quickly for me to work out what he’s thinking. It only lasts a moment, and then he continues pacing, mumbling under his breath so quietly that I can’t even hear it with my vampire hearing.

“Um… Are you okay?” I ask tentatively, not really wanting to know the answer. It’s pretty clear that something is wrong, and I’m terrified I am the reason.

Stopping in his tracks, he spins around to face me, his expression almost feral. “Can’t you feel it?” he demands, his voice a growl.

I can feel a lot right now, so trying to identify one particular emotion or sensation is like asking me to find a needle in a haystack. My confused expression must tell him everything, because he grumbles and grabs my arms.

“You’re my mate.” Each word is accentuated by a thudding in my chest, his face so close to mine now that he could kiss me—or bite me. There is something about those words, as though some intrinsic part of me recognises them. They don’t mean much of anything to me, and I’m guessing that when he uses the word “mate,” he’s not calling me his friend. The only time I have ever heard that word used in any other context is in popular fiction.

“Wait.” My brows furrow as a thought strikes me. “Like in Twil—”

He snarls, his fangs descending with frustration and what looks a little like fear as he cuts me off. “Don’t you dare mention fucking Twilight to me right now.” Taking a deep breath, he manages to rescind his fangs and squeezes his eyes shut. He opens them slowly, looking a little calmer. “But essentially, yes. You’re my mate, the female I’m destined to be with.”

I haven’t missed the fact that he’s still holding onto me. His grip is hard, but not hurting me in any way, and I’m pretty sure that he would release me if I tried to pull away. He doesn’t seem to be able to move away from me, even his gaze tracks my every move. I can almost feel his desire for me, not just sexually, but to have me in every way possible. Why is he so upset about it? Is there something about being my mate that I am missing?

Searching his face for answers, I frown up at him. “And this makes you unhappy?”

Laughing without humour, he releases me and pushes his hands through his hair. “I’m fucking shocked. I am old, Emmy. I have been searching for a long time, and I gave up on ever finding you.” Sighing, he shakes his head, still watching me the entire time. “No. No, I’m not unhappy. I just wish this had happened differently. I hadn’t planned on fucking and feeding on my mate in a broom cupboard to seal our connection.”

I’m not complaining, but all of this is new to me, and I need some answers. His reactions are giving me whiplash. “So what does this mean?”

“It means, Emmy, that we’re connected forever.” His voice lowers as he steps closer and grips my chin with his hand. “You are mine, and I am yours.” Something seems to occur to him, and he curses, looking around as though he could see through the walls. “And you’re currently locked up.”

Arousal floods through me at his possessive words. I never thought I was into that, but coming from Zane, it turns me on beyond belief. Knowing that we are bonded, connected forever, should frighten me. I hardly know him, but I can feel a piece of him inside me, and a part of me knows that he is destined to be mine. The idea of being parted from him now causes a huge rush of emotions to crash through me, a turbulent mix of fear, anger, frustration, and sorrow. I just found him, just became his mate, and now we have to part. Trying to push down the crushing anxiety in my chest, I take several deep breaths and focus on what I know.

“My assessment is tomorrow,” I point out, my voice only betraying a fraction of the fear I’m experiencing right now. “I should be out then.”

He curses again as he looks down at his watch, returning to his pacing. “And now we have a meeting with fucking Officer Perfect, and we’re both covered in blood.”

My eyes widen. Fuck, he’s right. Glancing down at myself, I wince at the amount of blood that stains my clothes. I look like I massacred the town, not the best thing when I’m trying to prove that I am safe and responsible.

“Oh shit. We should probably get cleaned up.” I don’t know how much time we have until the meeting, but I get the impression we’re running late, which is the last thing I want to do. However, turning up covered in blood and smelling of sex is not going to go down well either. Turning towards the door, I move to leave, but his hand catches my arm, pulling me to a stop. Glancing over my shoulder, I see his serious expression.

“I have something I need to do first.”

My brows pop up in surprise. He seemed so sure that we needed to get moving. “Oh, what—”

I’m cut off as he pulls me against him and presses his lips to mine. It’s a slow, deep, and decadent kiss, the type that feels as though you’re being consumed, body, mind, and soul.

I don’t know how long we are like that for, but it feels both like a lifetime and not long enough. He pulls back, his smile smug as he takes in my glazed expression.

“Much better,” he purrs, igniting my arousal once more.

Before I can do anything stupid, like act on it, he takes my hand in his and walks from the cupboard. Reluctantly, he drops it when we are in the main corridor, but he sticks close enough to me that our shoulders brush as we walk.

It’s the strangest sensation, as I can feel him hovering in the back of my mind, yet it’s more of an awareness of his presence rather than specific thoughts. I know that he hates the distance he has to keep between us though.

On top of all these new emotions and feelings I’m experiencing, my stomach is so full I feel like I’m about to burst. In fact, I feel like I could roll down the hallway, much like that scene in Indiana Jones, when he rolls from the boulder. Yup, that’s me right now, the boulder.

How am I still craving blood? Before I mated, I was hungry but able to control myself. Now, it is a whole different story. What happened to me, and why am I suddenly so desperate for blood? My stomach is so bloated, and I feel like I’d be sick if I were to drink anything else, yet my fangs ache just at the thought of blood.

“Why do I feel so…” I trail off, not sure how to explain myself. Instead, I make a fang motion with my fingers to gesture biting someone.

Smirking, he shakes his head. “I told you before, you’re like a teenager in vampire years, and you will have some swings in your urges. They will be stronger for a while and sometimes come out of nowhere, but they will pass. You just have to learn not to act on them unless you’re in a safe position to do so.”

He makes it sound so easy. My teenage years were ugly, so the prospect of having to go through all of that again, while also wanting to bleed everyone dry, doesn’t fill me with hope.

We reach the top of the stairs and come to an abrupt stop as we come face-to-face with Gabriel. His eyes land on me and my bloody state, and he immediately turns to Zane, fury changing his face into someone I don’t recognise. His wings extend wide behind him as he leaps forward and slams Zane into the wall. The whole building seems to shake with the force of it, and for a split second, I’m frozen in place.

“What the fuck did you do to her?” Gabriel demands, looking like an avenging angel. His body seems to flicker, and shadows leak from him, crawling across the ground and up the walls until the two of them are completely surrounded. An ominous feeling fills the room, and my breath mists in front of my face, the temperature dropping dramatically.

Gasping and coming to my senses, I try to jump forward to break them apart, but his wings stop me from getting close. Frustrated and fearful, I contemplate plucking one of his feathers to see if that will make him pay attention to me, but honestly I’m more afraid of the creepy shadows that surround them.

I’m vaguely aware of others entering the hallway, but no one dares to come any closer. I could ask them for help, but so far, no one has been particularly welcoming, so I’m not going to risk it.

“Gabriel, he didn’t hurt me! I bit him!” I shout, my admission ringing around the hallway for everyone to hear. Right now, I don’t really care who hears me if it means he’ll release Zane.

“I can see the bite marks on your neck, Emily,” Gabriel grumbles, not taking his glare off Zane. “Do not lie to me.”

Usually I hate people calling me Emily, but in his accented voice, I find I don’t mind it. In fact, it sends a little thrill through me. To be honest, he could probably read the telephone book and make it sound sexy.

Stop getting distracted by the cute, winged creature, Emmy. Back to business.

Zane growls and pushes the other male off him in a show of strength that makes my knees tremble. “She’s my mate.”

Gabriel stumbles back and stills, then he slowly looks to me, his expression unreadable. “That is impossible.”

“Scent her, and you will know I tell the truth,” Zane snarls, his teeth bared and hands balled into fists at his sides.

I have no idea what that means, but the idea of anyone smelling me right now makes my nose wrinkle. “Look, I’m tired, sweaty, and covered in blood. I’m going to shower and get cleaned up. Can I trust the two of you not to kill each other while I’m gone?”

Glaring between the two posturing males, I spin on my heel and push through the crowd that gathered to watch the drama, and then I storm to my room.