Chapter Thirty-Four
Winifred was alive, and his bonded mate.
Marcus buried his nose against her neck and inhaled. Smoky air filled his lungs and made him cough, but he didn’t care. The earthy scent of humanity still clung to her skin like droplets of water after exiting a bath, but there were traces of a richer, sweeter aroma, like freshly baked cherry pie.
Her vampire strength was growing.
Her tumultuous emotions washed into his mind. Concern regarding the fire in the village, anger at her cousin’s actions, relief that she had survived the attack, curiosity regarding her new powers, and an overwhelming desire to—she cut the connection.
“Your thoughts are too loud,” she said. Then she wrenched the stiff collar of his shirt down and ran the tips of her fangs along his chest. A mere scratch, but it shot directly to his cock and made him growl. She was a fledgling but dared to show dominance over her maker.
“Wait.” He threaded his fingers in her hair and yanked, forcing her to tilt her head up. “The fire in the village.”
Her pupils dilated. “Don’t go. I can’t… I’m afraid of what I might do if you leave me alone.”
He winced at the thought of not helping, but Winifred was right. His place was at her side until she was fully in control of her new abilities and bringing her anywhere near humans would only worsen her cravings. He would have to rely on Jonathan, Cordon, and Kitty to assist in his place.
The musky scent of his mate’s arousal intensified. “Take me, Marcus.”
He brought their mouths together and kissed her roughly, spearing his tongue into her mouth so powerfully that she cut him with her fangs.
The salty, almost fruity flavor of her blood was the most delicious thing he’d ever tasted.
He moved his mouth to her collarbones and licked the smooth area of flesh that had once held her scar.
The actual damage inflicted by her family would take much longer to heal, but at least she no longer had to wear her trauma on her flesh.
“Don’t hold back,” Winifred said as she clawed the few remaining buttons of his shirt. “I want all of you.”
He kicked a chair over, grasped her hips, and lifted her onto his desk. Any other night, he would have leisurely peeled each layer of clothing away to build her arousal by denying what she so desperately wanted for as long as possible, but the lust trickling through their bond eroded his patience.
“Faster,” she whined.
He channeled his blood into his fingertips, forming razor-sharp ruby claws.
He placed the tip of one between her breasts, then swept down in a single smooth motion.
Her dress, corset, chemise, and drawers split cleanly in two.
She flung the fabric away and reached for him, but he formed his claws into shackles and wrapped them around her wrists.
She wrinkled her nose. “What are these?”
He created a long chain between the shackles and tossed it over a hook in the ceiling, the remnant of a pulley system he’d created months ago but never finished.
Then he merged the links until her arms were drawn above her head.
When she was fully at his mercy, he shoved the fingers of his left hand between her legs and made her squeal.
“So wet for me,” he said. “But are you ready for what comes next?”
She squeezed her legs around his hand. “Yes.”
He slapped her arse with his other hand. “Are you sure?”
“God, yes!”
She had suffered enough. He tore off the tattered remains of his clothing and guided the glistening head of his cock to her entrance.
At the first touch of her inner lips caressing him, he moaned.
Their bond was only open a crack, but he could feel his own cock impaling her as if he were penetrating himself.
“Do you want more?” he asked. “There are other places I could enter you.” He spanked her again.
She was breathing so harshly that she could barely speak, but she nodded furiously.
He channeled a thin, thrashing tail out of the end of his spine and used it to snatch a bottle of oil tucked in his desk drawer before winding the appendage around her thigh and down her arse. After properly preparing her rear entrance, he slithered inside her.
“Oh!” She tightened around him and moaned.
He clasped her hips and drew her body up and down on his cock while copying the motion with his tail. Within seconds, her orgasm rippled through the bond and made him come apart. When the throbbing faded, he dissolved her restraints, gathered her in his arms, and carried her back to his bed.