Chapter 12
Every muscle in my body jerked to life, straining with a debilitating tension.
For a moment, I floated out of my body, suspended in the breath between desperate need and salvation.
The next second, my focus narrowed down to one sense and a scent so enticing my fangs throbbed.
It was fragrant and velvety rich, and a memory of whisper berries tingled on my tongue.
Liquid meant to numb my bite pooled in my mouth. Hunger consumed me…and pain. Like a spike being driven through my skull. Tremors racked my limbs and animal need prevailed. My shaking muscles complied—forced by instinct, not reason—and I struck.
Lightning fast, heart beating at warp speed, I flipped my prey onto his back and pinned his arms to the mattress with one hand.
Fangs dripping, I lowered my mouth. Inhaling his heady aroma, I sucked at his flesh, licking over the pulsing vein that flashed like a life-giving blue beacon.
Fangs pierced flesh, plunging into the vital life source. Alive with flavor, hot liquid burst against my tongue. I groaned. Would I ever taste anything so all-consuming again?
Like a second chance at life.
My prey wriggled beneath me. I slammed his arms into the bed, digging my knees into his hips to hold my captive down. The thirst took hold. My world narrowed to dizzying heat, satiating blood and the mindless thrust of my rigid length against my target.
I sucked until my mind drifted away. Weightless, images formed in my mind.
Silver’s kind eyes as he carried me to Thermal Station C.
Water beading on the planes of his powerful body as he showered under the biodome’s overhead sprinklers.
His joy when he bit into my hanyan pie. The solid weight of his hip against mine as we watched movies.
“Fuck, D’alton. Not yet.” Silver’s groan had me fighting through the murk. “Let go of my cock. I don’t want to cum yet.”
When did I grab it?
Silver! Sola’s hellfire! My eyes flew open as I retracted my fangs from his neck. Two jagged holes streamed with blood. “Blant, blant, blant.” Arms trembling, heart galloping, I licked over the place where I’d pierced his skin much too roughly.
Frenzied, my eyes sought Silver’s, glazed and half-closed. He could almost have been asleep if it weren’t for the red flush on his face and the erection pressing into my stomach where I hovered over him, petting and patting, searching for damage.
“I’m so sorry.” I wrung my hands at the sight of the bruises forming on his wrists where I’d had him pinned.
What would I do if he never forgave me? “The bloodlust…it consumed me. You have to know”—I dropped my face into my unsteady hands—“that wasn’t me.
Well, it was me…but…” I searched his eyes. “Please forgive me.”
“Do I look hurt?” He gripped the base of his cock through his thin white shorts and began to stroke.
The familiar way he handled himself, the slight tilt of his wrist, the fluid rhythm—I memorized every movement.
That was how well I wanted to know his most intimate parts.
“I didn’t tell you to stop.” His voice vibrated with need.
“Just dial it back a bit. I want this to last.”
He must not have liked the expression on my face, because he let go of his cock, shifted out from under me and moved to stand. I gasped when he pulled me to the edge of the bed, spread my legs and stepped between them.
“D’alton.” He pulled me into his chest and wrapped his arms around me. “You fucking scared me when you didn’t come back. I’ve been beating myself up since the moment I let you walk away.”
I sighed into his bare chest as his blunt nails dragged over my scalp.
“I’m tired of pretending there’s no connection between us. Faking that you’re just my good buddy.” He shoved his thin white shorts the rest of the way off, the large wet splotch on them unequivocal evidence of his lust.
My mouth watered as his cock smacked his stomach, and he adjusted his tight balls with a quick tug. I wanted to push my nose into the nest of blond hair there and nuzzle.
Silver held out his hand, and I took it. He guided me to my feet and into his warm arms. Naked flesh to naked flesh. Then he whispered in my ear, “I promised myself that if you came back to me, I’d be real with you.”
I slid my hand into his hair and ran the other palm over his silky skin. My heart thudded in my chest. I’d never wanted real so badly in my life. I’d been hoping and waiting for this moment, but never pushing.
Silver leaned back so he could look me in the eye. The adoration shining there lit me up brighter than the twin suns at noon.
“You came here in your busted-ass ship and turned my life upside down. You’re the reason I wake up in the morning.
I would’ve given up by now if it weren’t for you.
” We stood nose to nose while his calloused hands mapped every part of me he could reach.
“So I don’t ever want to hear a shred of doubt when you take the blood I’m offering of my own free will.
The blood your body needs to survive. I’m not one of your whisper vines that you have to coax seeds from with a gentle touch.
I like it rough. If I haven’t made myself clear, I’m telling you now, and I want you to listen. Are you listening?”
“I’m listening.” My voice broke.
“I want you.”
Silver’s hands ran down my arms, stopping when our fingers intertwined. “There’s not a thing about you I dislike.” Silver smiled at me. “Except your inability to care for yourself first.”
I wanted to say something, but every cell in my body hummed, buzzing with his blood and now his words.
“How could I not love the guy who saved me from green smoothies?” He thumbed my lip away from my fang, leaving a trace of blood on his nail. I’d been smiling so big my fang must’ve pierced the flesh.
Like the instant a shuttle loses gravity, I spun in the weightlessness of the moment. A connection hummed in my veins, pulsing with energy. The vitae tie…the Boola mating bond.
Holy blanting hellfire, I just bonded with Silver.
Drunk on his smile, I let it fill the deepest recesses of my soul. The softest, most vulnerable parts of me were safe and warm, tucked under the blanket of Silver’s love.
He loved me.
An incoherent sound escaped my mouth as I mashed my lips against his in a kiss that lacked any finesse.
“This means I can touch you, right?” I didn’t care how young and naive I sounded.
It didn’t matter that my hands shook or that I might do something wrong.
He loved every part of me. I was safe in his hands. “Wherever I want?”
He groaned under my inexperienced fingers. “Fuck yeah.”
“What if I say you’re pretty or strong or so blanting clever?” I held his gaze, hunting for the truth. “Because you are.” When he turned my body into nothing but sensation, I couldn’t guard my words, and his shutting down and turning me away the first time had been more than enough.
“I’m working on it,” he groaned as I smoothed my hands over his muscled ass and jerked our hips together. Silver’s eyes sparkled. “Have we talked it out enough?”
Tongue flicking, I nodded, capturing a bead of moisture from my lengthening fang. Silver’s heady gaze froze on my mouth, and my nostrils flared as his rich scent flooded my nose. He’d taken the edge off, but I needed more.
I wanted him to offer, but I was prepared to beg. I wanted him to freely give the gift of his blood this time.
And his body.
My gaze traveled over the light dusting of hair on his legs until it met his straining length, the rounded tip an angry red.
“Ignore that.” Silver fidgeted, cupping his groin.
It seemed both of us had taken a step back, nerves taking over after being so forthcoming.
I licked my fangs and wrestled my gaze away from what promised to be a good time, up to his face. “Never in a million annums would I be capable of ignoring that.”
Silver stepped closer and blurted, “You need more blood, right?”
A rushing sound filled my ears, and my senses surged to high alert. Silver stared at my mouth as I gathered more liquid off my fang. Though he was holding back, his pupils were blown so wide I could practically see desire swirling in their depths.
Heart pounding in my chest, I trusted his words—he doesn’t dislike a thing about me—and scooted backward on the mattress until my butt hit the wall and spread my legs open. “Come here.” I beckoned with one finger.
Without hesitation, Silver climbed after me.
His scent enveloped me, a spicy aroma that drove my mind to madness, but I resisted the enticing call of his blood. He needed to mean it with every spark of his being. I bit down on my lip, the sting allowing me to concentrate. “Closer.” I patted my bare thigh.
“All right,” Silver whispered, the knot in his throat bobbing as he straddled my lap.
Despite how much I loved the solid weight of him, his closeness, the slight tremble in his hands as he hunted for a place to put them—anywhere—I sensed his reluctance. Why was he so unsure? It wasn’t like him to lack confidence.
“Ask me again.” I stroked my hand down his spine, stopping at his hip, and pulled him in even closer.
He sucked on his plump lip. “What?” he asked in a throaty hum.
“Offer me your blood once more.” Offer me everything. I guided his face to mine, twisting his wet hair around my fingers until water trickled down his back. It did nothing to cool the fire burning in my veins.
Eyes hooded and lips parted, Silver licked the corner of his mouth. “It’s yours. Take it. Take whatever you need.”
I teased a fang over the pulsing vein on his neck. “Say please,” I growled, my voice ravaged after days in a sandstorm. “Tell me you want me the same desperate way I want you.”
“Quit fucking playing with me.” Silver’s hand rode up my thigh, cupped my balls, and gently squeezed. The deep timbre of his voice turned my already hard length to steel.