48. Huntyr
Chapter 48
Huntyr
T he next day was quiet. Most of the vampyres were gone by the time we woke up. I didn’t miss the way Jessiah slept extra close to Rummy that night—the same way Wolf slept extra close to me.
The vampyres were fueling up for the fight.
The thought should have scared me, especially considering we were some of the few people here with blood to feed from, but it didn’t. I trusted the others completely, even the ones I hadn’t met yet.
Wolf took me to the edge of the ruins to let me feed. I argued with him and insisted I was fine, but he could feel my hunger. He knew my magic needed this if we were going to put up a fight.
And because of our bond, we both needed it.
“The others are feeding off animals nearby, aren’t they?” I asked.
Wolf shrugged, rolling up the sleeve of his black shirt. “The others aren’t you.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
Wolf stopped messing with his shirt and looked up at me. “It means you’re my wife now, Huntress. You’ll drink my blood. I don’t care if you grow to hate me. I don’t care if you travel thousands of miles away. It will be my blood and my blood only that feeds you, understand?”
The fierceness in his voice made me freeze. He was completely serious, completely unhinged.
I swallowed then nodded. “Fine.”
He stared me down with his darkening eyes for a second longer before breaking into a smile. “Good. Now, drink.”
My own vampyre fangs protruded from my teeth, but I resisted. “That hardly seems fair.”
“What’s not fair?” He stepped closer.
“That I drink your blood while you drink none.”
His eyes held mine as he took a long breath. “I told you, Huntress. My blood is yours. All of it.”
I held my wrist out then, rolling up my own sleeve. I made this decision long ago, I realized. The thought of him drinking anything else—animal, fae, or angel—made me sick.
He would drink my blood.
His eyes flickered to my wrist then back to mine. “You’re under no obligation to share your blood with me.”
“Aren’t I, though?” When he didn't move, I stepped closer. “You are my husband, just as I am your wife. You offer me your blood; I want to offer you mine.” I stopped a few inches away. “ That is fair.”
“Fairness doesn’t exist here, Huntress. I can easily find blood from?—”
“Mine,” I interrupted. “You’ll drink mine.”
I knew why he hesitated. The first time he drank from me, I went against everything I was raised to believe. I went against my morals, my self-respect. I gave everything up so he could feed.
Why? Because I loved him. Because I trusted him completely, even though he was a vampyre.
Hells, so much changed since then. Wolf would never ask to feed from me. He would never put me in that position, the position to compromise myself again.
But everything was different now. Forced or not, Wolf was my husband. Our lives were tied together. All this betrayal, this hurt, it all had a purpose.
Wolf cared about me more than anyone else. It took me a long time to see that, but Lord never loved me. Lord never truly cared about me; he only cared about what I could do as a powerful queen.
With Wolf standing before me, my chest welled. He wouldn’t care if I was a queen or not. He wouldn’t care if I was fae or angel or vampyre. He would protect me all the same, no matter who I was to him.
His loyalty to me came before anything else.
Something possessive and dark rumbled in him, lower than a growl. “If you’re sure,” he added. “I can’t say I haven’t been dreaming of the taste, of what it would feel like again to have your blood dripping from my lips.”
Heat pooled in my stomach. “It’s better this way. We both need to be strong before the fight.”
Wolf leaned back onto one of the short stone walls behind him, tugging my hips forward so I straddled him as he sat on the edge of the wall. The hunger in his eyes funneled through our bond until I couldn’t keep his feelings apart from mine.
His eyes flickered to my lips and darkened before I kissed him without hesitation. Without guilt. Without question. It was soft and quick, but it sent my stomach fluttering all the same.
Wolf held me like my body was made for him. I settled onto his lap, instantly warming at the closeness of him.
He pulled back enough to say, “Can I ask something of you, Huntress?”
I nipped at his bottom lip. “Anything.”
He reached up and pulled the collar of his shirt down with his index finger. “Will you bite me here? Will you do me the greatest honor of wearing your mark upon my skin so even our enemies know who I belong to, so even the angels know who I’m willing to die for?”
I wasn’t expecting that . Tears instantly rushed to the surface as my breath hitched in my throat. I held his face in my hands as I lowered my forehead to rest against his. “If you’ll have me,” I started, trying and failing to keep my voice steady, “I would love nothing more.”
When he kissed me this time, he was not gentle. He was not patient. He ravished my lips with his, slipping his tongue into my mouth and letting me taste him with every last ounce of restraint gone.
And I kissed him back with just as much hunger, with just as much need. I held his face to mine as I kissed him with everything I had. The heat in my body roared, begging for more.
When I moved to tilt his head to the side, exposing his perfect, muscular neck, he easily obliged. His breathing shallowed as I kissed his ear and ran my mouth down his jaw.
His blood called to me, pulled me closer like a siren in his veins. I kissed his neck with a fierce need before letting my sharp teeth pierce the skin there.
The bite mark would normally disappear within a few minutes due to our healing abilities, but I sensed Wolf’s magic pulsing through me as he forced the healing to avoid this bite mark. This wound would remain, marking us both forever.
I never wanted anything more.
Wolf hardened beneath me, clearly not affected by the pain of the bite one bit. His blood in my mouth was fucking euphoric. I made sure the bond was wide open as I drank, letting him feel how it affected me.
Blood was one thing. But the taste of his power? It sweetened his blood and tingled in my body as I swallowed.
And swallowed.
And swallowed.
A few seconds later, I pulled back. Wolf was reaching for my wrist, but I stopped him, pulling my hair away from my own neck.
“A mark for a mark,” I breathed. I knew blood smeared my mouth, but I didn’t care. “I want them to know who I belong to, too.”
He smiled, his fangs already protruding. “My wicked Huntress,” he teased. “We both know you belong to no one.”
He leaned up to kiss me, but I stopped him. The smile fell from his mouth as I said, “My heart is yours, Wolf. It has been since Moira. Mark me here. I want everyone else to know we belong to each other.”
A second passed, and I thought maybe he wouldn’t do it, that maybe I pushed him too far. He was always so careful about my boundaries, even when I didn’t want him to be.
But that ounce of hesitation vanished within an instant, and Wolf was bringing his own mouth to my neck, ravishing the skin there with his lips before biting me.
And then, he was drinking.
I felt the moment he let himself relax, taking what his body wanted. Our bond protected us; I knew he would never take too much, because he could feel how badly I wanted this. Needed this.
He drank from me, I drank from him. Our bodies intertwined under the beating sun in the Scarlata ruins. Thank the goddess we were alone, because a few moments later, when I reached between our bodies and fumbled with his belt, he growled in agreement.
It was a haze of lust and blood and passion, but it was also clear as day in my mind. Nothing ever felt so right.
I shoved his trousers down his thighs, and he did the same to me, not even bothering to take my pants off completely before I slid down onto him. Neither of us cared about anything but this . I slid up his length then gasped as I let him fill me again.
His magic buzzed inside me, mixing with the perfection that was this moment. I leaned forward and bit him again, pulling more of his blood into my mouth as I rode him with a rough, eager need.
“Fuck, Huntress.” He leaned forward to lick up more of my blood. “Nothing is more perfect than this moment right here.”
I moaned in agreement and rode him faster. He guided my mouth down to his. Both of us smearing blood on the other, neither of us cared.
He licked my mouth clean of every last drop, pulling my tongue into his mouth to taste.
I came too fast, filled with ultimate perfection between Wolf pulsing inside me and his blood heightening my senses. He crashed too, holding me tight against him as he shook with release.
As quickly as it started, it was over.
Neither of us moved for some time. We waited until both our breaths returned to normal, until the buzz of the bloodlust faded.
I sat up and cleared my throat. “Well, I wasn’t planning on that.”
Wolf loosened his arms around me and helped me readjust my pants to their original position.
I crawled off his lap, giving him space to do the same. My face heated as I glanced around. We just had uncontrollable vampyre sex in public in the middle of the day.
“None of that.” Wolf stood up and placed both of his large hands on my face until I was forced to look at him. “You don’t get to feel ashamed, Huntress, because that was fucking incredible.” He leaned down and gave me a wet, sloppy kiss. “And you just might be my saving grace, because now, I can die a happy man.”
I gasped and smacked him playfully. Wolf’s confidence, his steadiness, calmed me in an instant. He was right; I had nothing to be ashamed of.
Wolf was my husband. I had been fighting this for so long, but why?
Nothing so divine could ever be wrong.
“You’re not allowed to die,” I argued. “I already got pissed at you for it once. We’re going to fight those bastards and prove to everyone that the vampyres deserve to live in peace.”
He nodded in agreement, leaning down to kiss me again before freezing and looking somewhere in the distance.
Every ounce of my now-fueled senses lit up.
“What? What is it?”
Wolf stood with a calmness and fierceness I only saw on him once before. It was the vision of a warrior. A soldier. “They’re coming.”