Chapter Fourteen #2
Tessa huffs out a shaky breath and reaches up, her fingers sliding into my hair, tugging just enough to make me meet her eyes.
“Stop asking me that,” she whispers. “I’m sure.
I’m terrified of what’s going to happen when you feed from me.
I don’t know how it’s going to feel, or what it’s going to change.
” Her voice trembles, but her grip doesn’t.
“But I’m still excited. Still choosing this.
Probably making a massive mistake... but I am absolutely, completely sure. ”
“It might hurt,” I warn. “The bond when we join like this, it’s going to intensify everything. Every sensation, every emotion. It might be overwhelming.”
“Then overwhelm me.”
God, she’s perfect.
I kiss her again, slower this time, learning the taste of her. My hands find the hem of the hoodie, and I pull it up and over her head, revealing smooth skin and a simple black bra. The mark on her shoulder pulses with cold light, responding to my proximity, to our shared desire.
I trace the edge of it with my fingertips, and Tessa shivers.
“Does it hurt?” I ask.
“No. It’s just... cold. And it feels like it’s aware somehow. As though it knows what we’re about to do.”
“Let it watch.” I lean down, pressing my lips to the mark, and power surges between us. The bond flares bright and electric, and Tessa arches off the bed with a gasp. “I don’t care what that thing thinks. You’re mine.”
“Yours,” she agrees breathlessly.
I work my way down her body slowly, mapping every inch with hands and mouth. When I reach the button of her jeans, I look up at her for permission. She nods, lifting her hips to help me slide the denim down her legs.
She’s beautiful. All curves and soft skin and strength hidden under grace. I want to worship every inch of her, want to make her forget everything except this moment.
But the hunger is rising too, sharp and insistent, and I know I’m running out of time before the monster demands to be fed.
“Vex.” My name on her lips is half prayer, half command. “Stop thinking so much.”
“I’m trying not to hurt you.”
“You won’t.” She sits up, reaching for the hem of my shirt. “Now get naked before I change my mind.”
Barking out a laugh, despite myself, I help her strip me out of my clothes. When we’re both finally bare, skin against skin, the bond between us hums with shared need.
I settle over her, my weight balanced on my forearms, and claim her mouth again. This kiss is different, deeper, more desperate, full of promises and threats and everything in between.
When I finally slide into her, we both freeze.
The sensation is overwhelming. Not just the physical pleasure, though God, that’s intense enough, but the emotional connection amplified through the bond.
I can feel what she feels, the stretch, the fullness, the slight edge of pain that bleeds into pleasure.
And she can feel what I feel, the tight heat of her, the way every nerve ending lights up, the overwhelming need to claim and protect and possess.
“Move,” she gasps, her nails digging into my shoulders.
I do.
We find a rhythm together, slow at first, then faster as the need builds.
Every thrust pushes us higher, every touch sends sparks racing across our skin.
The bond pulses in time with our heartbeats, well, her heartbeat and my phantom one.
The mark on her shoulder begins to glow with cold, blue-white light.
Power surges through us, not just mine, not just hers, but something ancient and primal that has nothing to do with the ice-devourer and everything to do with what we are together.
Warden blood and vampire power.
Mortal and immortal.
Human and monster.
Us.
“I love you,” Tessa gasps, her body tensing beneath mine as she climbs toward release. “God, Vex, I love you—”
The words shatter the last of my control.
I bury my face in her neck, fangs extending, and I need, not blood, not yet, but something more primal. I bite down gently, just enough to break the skin, and the taste of her floods my mouth.
The bond explodes.
Light, cold and brilliant and ours, fills the room. The mark on her shoulder blazes like a beacon, reacting to the blend of our essences, and for one perfect moment, we’re completely, utterly connected. No barriers, no fear, no holding back.
Just us.
Tessa comes apart in my arms with a cry that echoes through the cabin, and her pleasure crashes through the bond and triggers my own release.
I hold her through it, through the waves of sensation that threaten to drown us both, and when we finally collapse together in a tangle of limbs and sweat and satisfaction, the mark slowly dims to its usual faint glow.
For a long moment, neither of us speaks.
I can hear her heartbeat, fast and steady, slowly returning to normal. Can feel her contentment through the bond, warm and golden and uncomplicated. Can smell myself on her skin, a claim that goes beyond anything physical.
“Okay,” she says finally, her voice muffled against my chest. “That was... intense.”
I huff out a laugh. “That’s one word for it.”
“Did I survive?”
“You survived.” I press a kiss to her hair. “You did more than survive. You were perfect.”
“We’re in so much trouble, aren’t we?”
“Probably.” I pull her closer, tucking her against my side. “But I don’t care anymore.”
“Me either.”
She yawns, and I feel exhaustion pulling at her through the bond. The sex was intense, the emotional release even more so. She needs rest.
“Sleep,” I murmur, running my fingers through her hair. “I’ll keep watch.”
“You always keep watch.” But she’s already drifting, her breathing evening out, her body going soft and pliant against mine.
I lie there in the darkness, holding the woman I love, and make a silent vow.
I’ll protect her. Not just from the ice-devourer or heaven’s tests, but from anything that tries to harm her. The club, the land, the ancient forces stirring beneath Alaska’s permafrost, I’ll stand against all of it if I have to.
Even if it means changing my nature. Even if it means becoming something more than just a vampire.
Whatever it takes.
Tessa makes a small sound in her sleep, burrowing closer, and I tighten my arms around her. The mark on her shoulder pulses once, twice, then settles into a steady, almost peaceful rhythm.
Outside, the night deepens.
And as my eyes finally drift closed, I notice something.
Silence.
Complete and utter silence.
No wind rattling the windows. No distant howl of wolves. No creak of trees bending under snow.
Nothing.
Just... nothing.
My eyes snap open, every instinct screaming danger, but before I can move, before I can wake Tessa, the temperature in the cabin plummets.
And I know.
The lull is over.
The storm is coming.