Chapter 34 #2
She scoffed. “He never got to. When the Chains rescued me, they severed our connection, and I… I lost control. Arcane thralls don’t need to eat, since they’re fueled by the lifeforce of the witch or warlock who made them.
I had never fed. I was starving. So starving that I didn’t see the people around me as people at all.
They were just prey. Even now, months later, I have no idea how many I killed. ”
She could still remember the feeling. The hunger. The taste of their blood. It had run down her throat like charred syrup, and she’d been too ravenous to do anything other than savor it.
It was like a dream, remembering it. She saw everything clearly, felt everything clearly. But it was like she was playing the role of someone else. A stranger, with the focus and drive of a rabid predator.
But that monster, terrifying and ravening, wasn’t a stranger.
It was just her.
Harper hadn’t moved. Her hand rested on her shoulder, eyes settled on Maya’s. Blue, bright, and as soft as morning dew.
“You’re pretty messed up, huh?”
Maya smiled, though it was a struggle to get it in place.
“Yeah. I guess I am.”
“I’m messed up, too. We fit pretty well together.”
Harper leaned in. Slowly, hesitant, before pressing her lips against Maya’s. A more tender kiss than she had ever received and which she found herself hoping would last forever.
“I love you, Maya.”
The words were less than a whisper. So frail that any response would shatter them, even if it was a repetition.
Harper averted her eyes. “Don’t say it back. I know this isn’t the time. That it’s too soon, but… I just needed to say it.”
Too soon? It was the opposite of too soon. Somehow, it felt like Maya had already said the words, several times.
When Harper had called and said she missed her. When she’d leaped into Maya’s arms only days before. When she’d looked at her with tears and trust in her eyes, as though Maya’s presence was the only thing keeping her centered.
Saying it back wasn’t an admission. It was just stating the obvious.
Maya pushed her chin up, bringing Harper’s eyes back to hers. Saw them glitter and then soften. But before she could speak, Harper’s gaze fell again. Her hand followed, finger tracing the curve of Maya’s upper lip.
“Can I see them?”
Maya stiffened. No one had ever asked her that. She had never even extended her fangs on purpose. It had always happened outside of her control. When she was angry or starving.
Or when this woman presented herself in the most tempting ways possible.
She opened her mouth, jaw aching as she let her fangs extend.
Harper stiffened, and a gust of smoke mingled with the sharp scent of her citrus perfume. A hint of fear.
Of course that would be there. Her teeth were murder weapons. They had tasted the blood of innocents, had torn through flesh like knives. When near them, of course you would be scared.
But then the fear vanished, another scent taking its place. A sweeter smell, growing in intensity as Harper stared at her.
As she brushed a fingertip down the length of a pointy canine.
“Being honest… I’ve always had a thing for people who were a little dangerous. Another bad habit.”
Her gaze returned to Maya’s. But it wasn’t the same careful one as before. It was darker than that. Hungrier than that.
“If you want to… I wouldn’t mind if you fed on me.”
Desire filled the air. Sweet, potent, and thick like melted sugar. A vein pulsed at her neck, its rhythm quick and strong.
It wouldn’t take much to make the blood flow. Just a prick and Maya could have her fill of it. Get a proper taste.
She tore her eyes away. She sat up, retracting her fangs with a wince.
“Don’t,” she said tightly. “Don’t ask me that. It’s too risky. I could hurt you.”
She focused on her memories. The ones she usually suppressed, but which she needed right then.
Torn flesh and rivers of blood. The cracking sound of snapping necks. Screams. So many screams, which the monster inside her had delighted in, because it meant her victim was still alive. That their blood would still brim with the taste of fright and vitality.
Soft fingers touched her face, displacing the dark thoughts as she turned in Harper’s direction.
She had sat up, the covers bundling around her legs. Naked and gorgeous, but the only thing Maya could focus on were her eyes.
“I want you to.” Harper leaned closer, and Maya matched her approach without thinking. “I’ve wanted you to for a while. Fantasized about what it would feel like.”
She crawled onto Maya’s lap. Sitting in the same position she had been in only a little while before, but this time, Harper wasn’t the one being pushed.
This shouldn’t happen. It was risky. Dangerous. But despite those thoughts, Maya’s gaze still drifted to Harper’s throat.
Her hair had fallen to cover her neck, and Maya pushed it aside. Traced a finger over her skin, feeling her pulse quicken in response to the touch.
She knew how this was done. Aleksander had said she was ready. Had shown her how and where to bite to minimize pain for the person being fed on, while still ensuring a steady flow.
She hadn’t needed that lesson. Just looking at Harper’s neck, she knew where her fangs should go. But no matter how careful she was, one thing couldn’t be avoided.
“It will hurt,” Maya whispered.
Harper swallowed. But she didn’t move away. Nervous. But not afraid.
“I know.” Harper kissed her lips. Her cheek. Then nipped at her earlobe, making Maya shudder. “But as it happens… I like when you make it hurt.”
Maya’s mouth had gone dry. Her attention lost to the sight of the neck vein dancing under Harper’s fair skin.
So soft. Void of scars. No one else had fed on her like this. No one had marked her as theirs, though plenty desired her in that way. Be it for a night or for forever, having Harper was the dream of many. Maya included.
She would be so sweet. The taste from a few weeks before was still haunting, and that had only been a few drops. Stolen as part of a kiss cut short.
This would be better. No, more than that. This would be transcendent.
Her fangs extended. It didn’t hurt this time—a faint pressure rather than an ache—and her mouth lowered to Harper’s throat as though pulled by a string. The tips of her fangs grazed her skin, not breaking it. Just pushing in enough for Harper to stiffen.
Her breathing turned shallow. Sweat beaded on her skin, and her heart rate was no longer steady, but fast and thumping. Eager for a kiss of teeth.
Prey. At the mercy of a predator. And going by the sweet smell in the air, Harper liked it.
Maya sank her fangs into her neck. Hard and sudden, making Harper gasp and dig her fingers into her back.
And then… she moaned. A low, strained, hungry moan, that Maya perfectly matched as warm blood flowed past her lips.
Euphoria rushed through her. Not just on her tongue but all of her. A prolonged lightning strike, firing pure bliss through her muscles.
So rich. So sweet. So far from the smoggy taste she had associated with feeding on the living.
She snarled against Harper’s throat, pushing her down and pinning her against the mattress. Sucking harder, wanting more. Harper moaned again, much louder this time, and she cut off the noise by clasping her hand over her mouth.
This was what she had wanted, for so long. What her fantasies kept returning to. The salivating thought of tasting this woman as she fell apart.
Maya moved her thigh between Harper’s legs. She pressed against her, feeling her damp underwear against her skin, and Harper let out another stifled moan.
Fuck. The taste of her pleasure was decadent. So sweet it made her teeth hurt.
Groaning, Maya pressed down again. Maintained the touch, felt the spike of sugar in her mouth. She paused, trying to savor it, when Harper arched against her body.
“Yes.” Harper pushed her hips up, grinding against her thigh. “Yes. Do that again.”
Maya grabbed the mattress so hard that the sheet nearly tore.
“Beg.”
“Please.” She whined. A weak, drawn-out noise that might be the hottest thing Maya had ever heard. “Please, I… I want… I want more.”
“Tell me what you want.”
Maya barely recognized her own voice. All hard and snarling, and though the harshness of it sent a shiver down her spine, the air turned sweeter because of it.
“Please fuck me,” Harper breathed. “Fuck me while you bite me. Please.”
A gasp nearly cut her off as Maya grinded hard against her. She was so fucking wet already, and her whining only turned more intoxicating as Maya grabbed her hair and pulled. Making the air thick with desire.
Every other taste was tainted now. Nothing could ever measure. The taste of her ecstasy set Maya’s nerves on fucking fire, making her skin so sensitive she could feel the dust particles in the air.
Harper clung to her. Clawed at her skin so hard it would leave marks, but Maya didn’t care.
She wanted them. Wanted her back to be a red mess of bleeding scratches. She wanted to feel everything Harper did. The pleasure, the pain. All of it.
She wanted her forever. Wanted to taste her forever. Feel Harper’s blood mingle with her own, have her vitality be the foundation of her strength. She wanted to make this woman hers.
And she wanted it now.